If That's Not Love

Marceline's icy eyes rolled in her head. Who did this guy think he was? "Stop calling me that!" She snarled back to him. She wasn't a beautiful girl. This guy was just messing with her. She did wish he would leave her alone.

She turned away from him and stuck her nose back into her comics, trying to ignore him, but the boy was being persistent. She wasn't sure if he was trying to make friends or come on to her, but either way, she didn't like it. Maybe this is why she was such a lone wolf. She just despised the normal method of friendship making.

"Marceline," She replied, disinterested. "But if you truly fancied me, then you would've already known that," Marceline added.

Christine had noticed the chocolates on the table but she ignored them.  She would not touch any because they were not hers.  Instead she focused on the valentine decorations and sighed sadly.  Why was it that no-one was looking her way?  Were all the wizards of her age too dazzled by her looks that they were afraid to approach her? That could be the only explanation because Christine knew she was the prettiest girl in her year.  How could any resist her.

She looked around the table with envy at the couples and then stopped when her eyes rested upon her sister. What was Stephanie staring at?  Christine looked in the direction her sister's eyes looked to be in but could not work out who or what they were focused upon.  She turned her attention back to the chocolates sitting there on the table again.  No.  She would not take one.  It would stain her teeth and they were not hers.  "Charlotte," she whispered to her dormmate, "have you tried one of these yet?"  She gestured to the chocolates as yet untouched by herself.  They were still tempting her and she thought perhaps if a friend ate one also it would be acceptable.

"Yes, perverted! You found fun in drugging a boy with love potion just to please yourself, probably. Bet you liked that attention!" Malachi replied, staying strong. "Bet you liked those kisses," He faltered a bit. His precious, sweet, first kisses. Gone. He cleaned his face with his sleeve, drying it off, but his eyes remained red and his nose irritated. "And yet you don't even care. That's twisted!" Malachi spat. He didn't care that the boy thought his insults were weak. He wasn't aiming to fatally wound Ryan. He just wanted Ryan to feel guilt for what he had done, for how he had made him feel.

"Maybe next time you should get to know a boy before you give them love potion," Malachi retorted, feeling his heart being crushed along with the poems beneath the boy's foot. As Ryan turned and walked away, Kai dropped down and picked up the love poems, looking as abused as he felt. His brown eyes flitted over the first few lines of one of them before he crumpled it up in his ire and launched it at the back of Ryan's head. "Schwein!"

Translate: Pig!

Philip just kind of stared at her. “I have offended you, haven’t I? I’m sorry.” He quickly apologized. He watched her as she returned back to whatever she was reading. “What are you reading?” He asked curiously, tilting his head. Philip had no boundaries or common sense at the moment, though he generally lacked in the latter.

“Marceline.” He tried her name out. “A very beautiful name and I apologize for not knowing it soon. You are very correct in that statement. I will make it up to you.” When she wasn’t looking he leaned over to the table behind him and snagged a flower off of. Philip presented it to her with a lopsided grin. Her icy persona wasn’t going to scare him off yet.

Charlie was not the prettiest girl in their year. She didn't need to even think about it. It wasn't surprising no guy ever looked at her like she was special, and she'd noticed Philip fawning over Marceline, and that, that had rubbed her the wrong way. As had Philip being friends with Kayla, but there were other factors with that one. Charlie blinked when her dorm mate addressed her.

"Uh, chocolates?" She looked up and saw them. "Oh no, I haven't had one. I'm not a big chocolate person. Though everything at this school tastes so good, so you never know." She popped a chocolate in her mouth. Yeah, not too good. She looked back at Christine. "Nope, they're not that good." Then the potion kicked in as she looked at her dorm mate. God, Christine was so gorgeous, giggling, Charlie rested her chin in her palm and looked at Christine.

Christine waited to see whether Charlotte would take a chocolate. She still hadn't made up her mind if she'd follow suit. Whilst there appeared to be no-one yelling about someone else eating their chocolates there was still the issue of chocolate stains up one's teeth. Too risky. That was the final decision based on her dormmate's report. If they were not that good then Christine would not eat the chocolate she held in her hand.

She put the chocolate she'd held in her hand back in the box and heard the giggling. Christine blinked at Charlotte in confusion. Wasn't that the way Stephie had looked over at the other table earlier? "Oh um..." Had she just said um? Charlotte's current posture was making her forget how to speak. "Are you feeling well?" Much better. At least her speech was. She wasn't so sure she could say the same for the way Charlotte was behaving.

Stephanie felt an urge to get up and go over and talk to Ruby. Yet she also felt as though she were stuck to her seat. She was just so beautiful and Stephanie was sure she would be rejected if she dared to speak to the fifth year. Silly thinking she told herself as she sighed again. Ruby was so friendly and cheerful all the time.

She sat up straighter as it occurred to her that Ruby didn't look as cheerful as usual. Maybe she should go and talk to the girl. Stephie stood and walked around the Cerisier table. She would go sit next to her and talk to her over at Montagnard's table. It wouldn't at all matter would it?

"Ruby?" she asked in a soft voice. "Would allow me the privilege of sitting next to you?"

"I'm feeling so good." Charlie giggled. "How on Earth do you feel, beautiful?" Charlie wiggled her eyebrows. Merlin, Christine was an utter babe. "You must be a little feverish because you look like you're burning up to me baby." Charlie giggled again and scooted closer to Christine. "Tell me all abut your dreams. What do you aspire to do in life? Do you want to own a business? Fly airplanes? Model underwear? You should definitely tell me if you model that." She laughed and twirled her hair around her finger as she stared dazedly at Christine. "Honestly, you are perfection. I mean that and I always will. If I was half as pretty as you..." Charlie trailed off with a happy sigh.

Rub hadn't expected anyone to come sit with her so she was a bit caught off guard when Stephanie, an older girl from her Art and Music Club, came up to her. Normally they didn't talk outside of the club, they hardly talked at all. Stephanie was a year older and in the other house which meant there wasn't a lot of time to talk. "Um, hey. Uh, sure you can sit." She usually enjoyed company but she still wasn't feeling all too great.

But she had to act cheerful since she was in the presence of someone. She gave the older girl a smile. "Hi, Stephanie. Or do you have a nickname? Or do you like being just 'Stephanie'?" She rambled. She didn't mean to ramble, but that was just who she was.

Maybe a piece of chocolate would shut her up. She grabbed one from the box that was just slightly to the right of her. "It was nice of the school to set out chocolates," she said before popping it into her mouth and chewing. Her bad mood was gone and was now replaced with affection. "You have really pretty eyes," she gushed to Stephanie. Her smile widened as she stared at the older girl.

Marceline scoffed at the boy. He was so awfully persistent. She didn't like it at all. Why couldn't he mind his own business and stop insisting that she was some sort of fair maiden. "Listen here, Phillip," She spat out the name like it was something gross and tasted bitter in her mouth. "I don't know who you think you are or who you think I am, but you are not prince charming and I am not a damsel in distress. The only reason why I am in distress is because you can't take the hint and leave!" She nearly shouted, before burying her nose back into her comic book. She audibly groaned when he asked her what she was reading.

"Comics. Lots of guts and gore. Nothing a dainty boy like you would be interested in," Marceline replied, trying her best not to look at him. Maybe if she gave him the silent treatment, he would finally go away. Much to her surprise, the boy did disappear for a moment, but before she could release a sigh of relief, he was back.

Her blue eyes landed on the flower extended towards her. Her pale fingers with black nail polish gently grasped the stem of the plant as she lifted it to her face. She looked met with Philip's eyes, spotting the cocky smile on his face and then scoffed. Her free hand fished out her wand from her pocket, and pressing the tip of the wand to the blossom of the flower, she uttered, "Incendio."

Philip didn’t like where she was going with this next sentence. He could tell by the way she said his name. But…at least she said his name right? “No, you’re right, you’re no damsel in distress. You’re much to strong too be one. If you were in a fairytale you’d probably have it all figured out and finished by the second page of the book.” He still wasn’t going to leave her alone, love potion-Philip couldn’t take a hint at all.

“That sounds pretty cool, actually.” Philip said in regards to the comic book, challenging the dainty boy comment. But, he decided maybe he shouldn’t ask anymore questions about that.

He watched her pick up the flower and started to get hopeful. She accepted it. Their gazes met. Finally, this playing hard to get thing was getting old. Of course, then she made the flower burst into flames. That’s nice. Philip put some space between them. “Do you not like flowers? I’m sorry. What do you like? Books? Chocolates?” He’d run out and get her whatever she wanted.

Marceline didn't want to hear his poor attempts at flattering her. Yes she was the type of headstrong and independent damsel that would never make for a long and interesting fairytale, but she knew that herself and didn't need to hear it from any boy. She hardly found it flattering at all.

Hoping to put an end to all of Philip's advances by scaring him, Marceline thought she succeeded for a moment after the flower burnt to a black before collapsing on the table. It sure took the words out of Philip's cocky mouth and she even saw him slide back a little.

"I don't want anything from you! I don't like you, alright!" Marceline snapped, brushing the ashen flower away from her and then standing up. She collected her comic books and turned sharply to face Philip. "Nothing you can give to me will change that so why don't you go bother some other girl!?" She huffed and then took a few steps away and noticed what was going on around here. She always knew Valentine's Day was evil. People were kissing and hitting on each other all around her. She rolled her eyes. Philip must just be desperate, she told herself and then walked away.

Christine scooted back from Charlotte's advance. What on earth had gotten into her? "Oh um..." No. No . No. Not that thing which could not really be called a word. She had done it again. "I wish to be an actress." There was no way she would ever model unmentionables. Christine could not even bring herself to call them by that other name. It may be the norm but in her head it was not the right.

She pulled herself up with dignity. "I know I am pretty," she returned, "but I think that perhaps you may need to sit a little further back that way and calm down." Christine darted a look around the dining room looking for an escape. Her sister! Stephanie had gone over to the Montagnard table. Christine half stood until she noticed her sister was talking to someone else. The blonde witch sat down again. There was no escaping this without coming up with a polite and valid excuse.