la vie en rose • {shelby, tomie}

Shelby frowned, pulling the pair of cards towards her. "I guess," she said doubtfully. She was pretty sure her dad would be thrilled if Shelby went out for Quidditch - Ingvar wasn't very good at it but Dad seemed thrilled he had made the Ravenclaw team at all. "Still, it's a cool dream, and you seem really good at it from what I've seen." Which wasn't much, but she could see people zipping around on the Stowe field from the docks, and Tomie seemed to be holding her own. Shelby didn't really have a good grasp on it.

Shelby nodded as Tomie answered her question, thinking vaguely about her own family. Mum had her traditions, mostly about spirits, not like ghosts in Tomie's house or at Hogwarts but spirits like going to Korea once a year to clean her sister's grave. Shelby wondered if that was what Tomie meant, but she didn't want to bring the mood down and talk about death over a game of cards. She pulled the next pair towards her - she seemed to be winning.

"I dunno," she said, flipping another card. That was Tomie - she pushed them to the other girl. "I feel like fate is like, people making decisions at the right time to meet each other, not necessarily the choice itself?" Flip a card. "Like, it's fate that we would meet because our parents had us the same year and the same country, buuuuuuut," she looked up from the cards and smiled. "That didn't mean we were gonna become friends, right?"

“Thanks,” Tomie said, flashing a half-smile. She appreciated the compliment, but truthfully, she wasn’t good enough. Not yet. Tomie had been working pretty hard over the past year; apparently her Gryffindor-ish stubborn streak was powering her through. She didn’t push the topic; she hadn’t explained it properly, and she wasn’t sure she could.

Tomie slid the cards she’d won over to her pile. “I dunno,” Tomie said, mirroring Shelby’s words, but not mirroring her smile. Her expression was a little more thoughtful. “Maybe it’s fate that we’re friends.” She glanced up at the other girl for a second, then back down at her cards. She flipped, lost. Her card pile was getting a little thin.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and it made Tomie jump. “Lights out, girls!” Carla’s voice called through the door. “In bed please!” She looked down at their card piles. “I think it’s safe to say you were gonna win that one,” she said, pointing at Shelby’s card stack with a smile.

“Maybe it’s fate that we’re friends.” Tomie didn't seem pleased about it, though. Maybe this was too deep a conversation for them. They were twelve. Maybe it would make sense when they were older.

The knock at the door took Shelby by surprise. She wished so much that they were allowed to do magic here - it didn't seem fair to have a camp for wizards and witches and they couldn't even cast Lumos. She looked at her stack and grinned. "Yeah, maybe. Better luck next time." She gathered up the cards and slid them back into her box. Carla rapped on the door again - Shelby climbed out of bed and turned out the lamp. "Night, Carla!" she yelled, watching the counsellor's shadow leave through their window. She felt her way back to her bunk in the dark, Tomie having already climbed up to hers.

She tucked herself under the comforter, laying on one side facing the room. It wasn't that big - just the two of them and some space for clothes and then the washroom. "Tomie, are you sleeping yet?" she whispered. It wasn't that late.

Tomie sighed as they were ordered to turn the lights off. She let Shelby climb out first, then bounced out of her friend’s bed, making her way to the ladder at the end. She’d called top bunk as soon as they’d stepped into the room, and Shelby hadn’t objected. Maybe it had something to do with the smaller gap between bed and ceiling on the top
bunk.

The lights went off and Tomie sat in the dark for a moment, her thoughts buzzing. Talking about her parents had thrown her a bit, and then she’d been weirdly serious there at the end because of it. “Nope,” she said into the dark, half-smiling even though Shelby couldn’t see her. “Not that sleepy,” she said, “you?” Tomie stifled a yawn despite her words, and shifted a bit so she could lean up against the corner part of the walls.

Shelby smiled - she heard a little bit of a yawn in Tomie's voice. Not that she could judge - the minute the lights went out her own circadian rhythm started to kick in - it had been a pretty long day, all things considered. "Not really, not yet," she replied, shifting a little bit under the covered. Five weeks on these mattresses wasn't ideal - they were spoiled by Hogwarts and the four-poster beds, Shelby had realized after talking to some of the students from other schools.

Her thoughts ran in circles, hopping from one subject to the next. "Do you miss home?" she said into the dark. "Like, we were home for a bit of June and July, but after camp, there's only a week before school starts." The Trickett summer barbeque had been postponed to let all the cousins come home from camp. "Do you think that's like, too little?"

Did she miss home? Her thoughts turned to her parents, her brothers (who were not at camp), her baby sister who was a way less fun roommate than her Ravenclaw friend. “Ummm…” She thought about it for a bit. “I miss the food,” she said. Very on brand, for her. “Hogwarts is great and all, but the menu could do with some more rice,” she stated rather bluntly. And then, after a beat – “Risotto doesn’t count.”

She was quiet for a bit, then. She wanted to talk more about her parents – that whole thing was still on her mind. But there was another thing, she realised, and she was reluctant to bring that up, too. Tomie ran a hand back through her hair. She should, though. “But also, um... I’m only here for the two weeks,” she said quietly.

Shelby laughed a little. "Risotto really does not count!" She scrunched up her face. "It's got cheese in it!" Not that she was fundamentally opposed to cheese on rice, but it was just like, cheesy mush with chicken in it. "We should try to sneak in some rice next term, if we find a clean cauldron we could make our own."

Shelby jolted upright, bonking her head on the top bunk again. This was news to her. "Why didn't you say so before?" As she asked the question the answer became obvious. "Oh, never mind." She sunk back under the sheets. "That's a bummer, but you get more good food before school starts, right?" She was panicking a little bit - would she get a new roommate for the last three weeks of the program? Maybe she could owl her dad and ask to go home early. "Well, when I get back, you should come over for dinner. We're on the Floo and everything, so." She didn't want to make Tomie feel bad or self conscious any more than she probably did already. "My mum makes really good spicy food - have you had kimchi before? You'll love it." She was confident in that assessment, at least.

“Wish I could just bring my mum’s rice cooker into my dorm,” she commented offhandedly. Tomie yawned, properly this time, not bothering to cover it.

She jumped as Shelby headbutted the bed underneath her. “Um,” she said, but Shelby kept talking. Tomie readjusted again, feeling a weird sort of restlessness settle in alongside the new sleepiness. She kicked the thin blanket out a bit, untucking it from the bottom of the bed before wriggling in underneath and pulling it up to her ears. Her nose poked out just enough.

“Kinda dampens the fun, right?” she said quietly, half-answering Shelby’s first question. Tomie knew she was going to miss out on a lot by not being here for the last part of the camp. Everyone would probably emerge with like, best friends and boyfriends. Benny and Wendy had been getting closer, she thought with a frown. All the social dynamics would be different. There’d be a million stories from camp without her in it.

She and Benny had applied at the same time for the scholarships, with almost identical applications, but hers had been rejected. The application sheet had said there were a limited number of them; she’d just assumed that hers must have been processed after the cut off. The only reason she was here at all was because of JR. They’d only talked about it briefly, and she hadn’t told anyone else. She felt really grateful to him, but also like she needed to make it up somehow.

“I’d like that,” she said, feeling a bit awkward and embarrassed and not really sure what to say now. There was a bit of silence. "If my parents will let me out of the house, that is," she added, only half joking. "There's probably a million things they'll want me home for," she said with a bit of an eye-roll.

Oh, to have a rice cooker at Hogwarts. Mum had a magic one from Korea, but it was more expensive than the muggle one and Shelby doubted she could sneak it to school. "I wish," she said. Cauldron rice would at least be something.

Tomie was right, though. "I mean, it'll be less fun without you here," Shelby said, rolling onto her back and staring at the top bunk. Would she and JR and Benny even like, hang out? Without Tomie? Shelby hadn't hung out much one on one with either of the boys - Tomie was the glue of their little group. "I'll have to talk to some of the Americans, I guess." Isis seemed kind of cool, but Shelby was not the best at meeting new people, especially if she didn't have snacks to give out. "Probably less exciting."

"We'll figure it out - you have to go shopping for your second year supplies, right?" Shelby frowned - Tomie might be using hand-me-down books. No shame in that, Shelby was doing that too for some classes."They're always adding a new book to the list somewhere. We can go together, and you can come for dinner after." She paused, yawned once. "Ooooooooor we make up an excuse - say I'm doing a review session for Potions or something." That seemed plausible, Tomie's parents cared loads about her marks. "My mum would love to meet you, anyway." THere had to be a work-around.

Tomie smiled when Shelby said it’d be less fun without her, even though she wasn’t entirely convinced it was true. Her smile faded a bit when Shelby mentioned shopping. There were probably things she’d need to shop for for her second year, right? Her mum would let down the hem of her robes a touch if she needed it (she didn’t) and she’d inherit her brother’s books. “That might work,” she said, thinking about the potions thing.

Merlin, she hated thinking about money.

It just wasn’t something she’d ever thought about before. She only ever really interacted with people from her estate, and there weren’t exactly any rich people there. She and Benny hadn’t really talked about it explicitly, but it was something that they’d both adjusted to when they’d come to school; this idea that there were all kinds of income brackets, and that people in different ones saw the world just a bit differently. Most people got brand new wands when they went to school, for Merlin’s sake!

“I’m sure we’ll think of something,” she said, sounding a bit more miserable now and not at all convinced about what she was saying.

Her sister’s birthday was mid-august and she was sure her father would lay on some guilt if she missed it. After being away all year, like she had any say in that. Despite her sassier thoughts on it all, though, Tomie also knew that he wouldn’t really have to lay it on much at all, because she already felt a little guilty for wanting to be at camp instead of home for Evelyn’s birthday.

Nope nope nope this was not working! Shelby could hear Tomie's tone changing, and not more positively. It was the shopping thing, wasn't it? Shelby was floundering in the deep end of a pool that she wasn't prepared for. Tomie probably never got sad talking to Benny or JR like this. She stared bug-eyed at the top bunk, like it was gonna give her answers.

Quidditch or sport was probably a sure positive thing, right? If it wasn't she could always pretend to fall asleep. Or fall asleep for real. She let the silence hang between them for a moment longer. "Have you tried Quodpot yet?" JR and Benny were trying to organize a game, or something like that. "Does the ball really explode?"

Tomie felt a bit awkward, not really knowing what to say. She wished she’d just acted normal instead of getting weird. Thinking about the scholarship situation and her parents’ expectations and money stuff just made her feel so… inadequate. The brunette pulled the blanket up the rest of the way, covering her face in the dark.

Shelby didn’t say anything, which meant she had to have noticed. Oh well. Tomie was resigned to leaving at that, saying goodnight (because she wasn't a total coward) and going to sleep. But then Shelby talked again.

"Quodpot?" she asked, a bit surprised. Her voice was muffled by the blanket, so she pulled it off her face. "Yeah it's pretty fun... not quite quidditch though." She paused for a second. "Have you watched any? Teddy played a game with some of the older students the other day. Carla was better though."

"I watched that one!" Shelby thought about it. "Yeah, she was, wasn't she?" Not that she could really tell one way or the other - the American game was very chaotic. "It looks - I dunno, kind of silly?" It made Quidditch look a lot more normal, anyway. "I kinda wanted to try it, but you know how I am on a broom." Absolute rubbish. She had been better at Flying than Hazel and that was about it.

"Who do you think the best players are back at school?" Shelby knew enough to root for her local team in the British and Irish League, but she hadn't really been paying attention to the games this past year. "Besides you, obviously."

Tomie had tried to help her Ravenclaw friend with flying, but it had been a bit of a hopeless cause. They'd made a deal; flying for potions. But Tomie hadn't been able to do much and it turned out that Shelby was a better teacher.

Tomie snorted, but it was well-natured. “I don’t know if I’m the best,” she said. “I’m good on a broom...” she admitted slowly. She didn’t have any fear when it came to dives and loops and things. She liked going fast. “But I’m still wobbly when I throw…” She trailed off. Throwing was really only important for chasers, and maybe keepers.

Recently she’d started wondering if she should try out for seeker instead; she still clearly wasn’t strong enough to thwack a bludger at someone across the other side of the pitch, and keeper just seemed so boring. There were three chasers, so she’d thought she’d have the best chance at that position, but… Seekers got to really fly, she thought. They didn’t have to worry so much about what others were doing, and they had some of the coolest moves.

“JR is good,” she said, rolling her eyes but not putting much effort into it. Was she a little jealous of her friend? Absolutely. Talking about quidditch was making her feel a bit better now though, so she skimmed over those feelings. “Kitty?” she offered. “There are a few. I’ll have to work hard next year,” she added.

"Well, you're doing the pushups every morning," Shelby countered, trying to combat her friend's self-doubt between sleepy sighs. "It's only a matter of time and practice on your throws, I think." She rolled over, settling into something closer to how she would probably sleep tonight. "Besides, seekers carry the game at school, right?" It seemed less important, but only a bit, for the professional teams. Shelby was scraping the bottom of her brain for this - even after a year of hanging out with these Quidditch fanatics, Shelby still didn't have the sport all the way down.

Shelby snorted. "Of course JR is good." It just made sense. "His dad probably had him on a broom when he was like, eight days old." It didn't seem fair, JR was able to fly at home and she was pretty sure Tomie didn't. "Kitty?" She hadn't really watched the other Gryffindor play - she had spent most of her time observing Tomie and Benny. And she didn't know Kitty that well in comparison. "Hm."

Her eyes were drooping now, but she was determined to not fall asleep until Tomie felt better or fell asleep herself. "What's your Hogwarts dream team? Like, Fantasy Quidditch lineup but with the house teams, and you and our friends?"