not my circus, not my monkeys [wendy]

“Yeah…” she trailed off, not really sure how to explain how she was feeling or if it was the right time to do it. Wendy had been crying in the bathroom, evident by the sniffling and the redness of her eyes and nose but she didn’t want to cry in front of JR. However, Wendy had never anticipated that he would apologize; JR had always seemed way too proud to do something like that. Wendy wasn’t even sure if she believed him when he said sorry.

But the blond girl had a difficult time holding a grudge for long, especially when she knew that she was probably making it a much bigger deal than it really was. “Thanks…” she added, still unsure of how she felt about the situation.

Wendy sniffled again, walking closer to JR but with caution. “Did Ms. Miranda send you?” she asked, though the girl had already anticipated that he probably had not come out on his own. At least based on how the conversation was going earlier, it seemed like he was convinced that he was right. Even so, Wendy felt a little guilty. “Sorry I’m so annoying,” she started, venturing to give him a small smile, “I just want us to get a good grade and I really like to write so I thought I could do a good job,” she continued. Doing the best work for her group had been a part of her consideration but not the complete picture. Wendy had wanted to show off her skills and in the end, had made a friend mad. “Are you still mad at me?”

"Yeah, sure," he said, wondering if it was right to say "you're welcome" after you made someone else cry. He wasn't exactly 10/10 on etiquette today so who knew at this point. He knew Wendy wasn't like his sisters at all, she was softer, gentler, but he was kind of surprised that she wasn't mad at him. Or ignoring him. Or something. Her reaction was confusing for him, almost more confusing than the conflict he had about how to act right then, but her question made him glance up from his shoes.

"No, of course not," he denied immediately even though it wasn't exactly the truth. He didn't need a teacher to tell him what to do, especially Ms. Miranda who hadn't even chosen his idea, but the facts had him sliding his gaze away from hers. He really envied Tomie in times like these. She seemed to get along with everyone so well, so easily. How?

JR turned a bit as they took a few steps back toward the art center and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he nodded. "No you're not.." he started and then added, "Yeah, me too," to wanting to get a good grade, but his words were awkward and stilted. He couldn't quite believe she wasn't mad at him. Her question proved it. "Shouldn't you be the one that's mad at me? I made you cry.." he asked, confusion but not censure in his eyes.

“Why would I be mad at you?” she asked, her voice sounding a little smaller after all of those tears. Wendy had been upset earlier, but the girl had never been the sort to hold a grudge for long. It was a little difficult to stick to her anger after she was reminded that she was being bossy. Wendy wasn’t trying to upstage her friends, and she felt responsible for starting an argument over something that essentially didn’t matter.

Well it did matter to her but camp wasn’t supposed to be about what she wanted. Wendy had resolved to make more friends during her time at camp and while she had spent more time with some of her housemates and other students from Hogwarts, she hadn’t really gone out of her circle. It was obvious that the young Willbond was no good at going out of her comfort zone in more ways than one.  “That class is supposed to be fun,” she explained, sniffling once again as she wondered whether she’d start crying again. She hoped not, JR had already seen her cry.

“You’re not going to tell them, are you?” she asked, though the question extended further than just the two kids in their group at the table, she didn’t want everyone to think she was a crybaby, especially not Tomie. She knew JR and Tomie hung out, so she didn’t want them talking about her behind her back either. “I mean I guess I know why you would but still…” she explained, trailing off at the end of her sentence. Even if JR wasn’t her friend friend, she still wanted him to think she wasn’t a complete crybaby as well.

Her question only confused him more so he just shrugged. If she wasn't mad at him on her own, he certainly wasn't going to give her a reason. He had three sisters, he had learned that lesson well. So JR nodded again, trying to be more agreeable so that she wouldn't start crying again. "Right, fun, mhmm," he said as he glanced back, his heart not really in it but a smile pasted to his face. He would be much happier when this whole thing was behind them and he was out at the rock wall or something. Somewhere he definitely knew he could dominate the competition and win. His eyes wandered in the direction of the rock wall for a few moments, but when he glanced back at her, hearing her sniffle, he grimaced. Merlin, I hope she doesn't start crying again.

JR shook his head at her next question. It's not like he was a school gossip, intent on sharing with the whole camp that she had cried, mostly because people would wonder why and all accounts would point back to him. But still he felt a little defensive over her assuming that he would. He crossed his arms in front of him and shook his head again. "No, I won't tell," he told her resolutely. It's not like he was the bad guy here... was he?

This was all too confusing and he yearned for the simplicity of the quodpot field or roughhousing with Benny. "Did you want to head back or.." he started to ask, nodding toward the art building before trailing off, wondering if she was going to start crying again.

“Thank you,” the girl managed a smile, a little more genuine than the last one but still guarded. Even if Ms. Miranda had sent him out here after he, JR was being surprisingly pretty nice about the entire thing. A part of her had half expected for a completely different scenario and the contrast had left her pleasantly surprised. Well as surprised as a twelve year old could be after crying her eyes out in the bathroom when none of her group mates wanted anything to do with her idea. Wendy was still a little bitter about that but didn’t want to dwell on it for too long.

“Actually,” she thought that she would much prefer to not return back there and face the music of her actions, “Wanna go out for a bit? It’s really nice today,” she offered instead. Contrary to popular belief, the girl enjoyed the outdoors plenty, but mostly because she was often in search of the next most comfortable space to sleep in and not necessarily because she wanted to play any sport but mostly because she wanted to read. But with JR maybe she could have a nice little chat and reconcile. “Or do you have something after Arts and Crafts?” she asked because walking in that direction was just as well, too.

JR nodded and shrugged away her thank you, unsure of how to handle it. At least she was smiling now instead of crying. She didn't seem so bad when she was smiling. He had turned back toward the art room, dreading going back in there when he really just wanted to go play quodpot or climb the rock wall again, anything where it would be obvious that he was good at something instead of a class where he felt like he was floundering a bit.

So when Wendy mentioned not returning to class, he slid his gaze to her quickly, surprised and a little suspicious, wondering if she was pulling his leg or something. He studied her expression and didn't find anything off so he asked, "You want to skip class? Think Miranda will mind?" He glanced back at the building, not really wanting to go back either, but the weight of approval and expectation from someone older and with authority felt a little heavy. Then the thought occurred to him that the Ravenclaw was suggesting to skip class and the Slytherin was questioning it. He grinned at the paradox.

"Let's do it," he said, deciding quickly as he began to walk away from the arts building, nodding his head toward the path for her to follow him. "Quick before she catches us," he whispered with a huge smile. He didn't think there were any repercussions to skipping class and that made him feel a bit better, but it still held a tingle of breaking the rules and that only made him walk faster, walking backwards waiting for her to join him.

“Uh—” she paused, not meaning it to sound like a rebel or anything like that, but more because she didn’t want to go back to class looking like she did, nor did she want her classmates to tease her for it. “I mean I don’t think she’ll mind, right?” she said slowly, not really sure if Miranda would take offense to it or just forget, the camp counselors tended to do that sometimes. “Plus it's so nice outside, Miranda’s teaching in the afternoon, too, maybe I can just come back then or something?” she offered instead.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to spend a long time making her case, his almost immediate agreement making her smile a little. Maybe JR wasn’t as bad as she had initially expected, she considered. “Oh, ok,” she nodded quickly, moving to catch up with him, suddenly feeling very nervous that Miranda or anyone else in charge at the camp would come out and yell at them or something. “Want to go hang out by the lake or something?” she offered, figuring it might help to have a little direction.

And just like that, the worries from earlier seemingly disappeared. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe she and JR could be friends.

[end]

Think she'll mind? JR shrugged. He didn't have a clue and honestly was not planning on asking. He figured the camp counselors weren't that much older than Nola and if Nola were a counselor she probably wouldn't care one bit if two students disappeared from class as long there were some others left to boss around and entertain her. Or was she just like that with him because he was her brother? Whatever.

"The lake is nice, let's go," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and trying not to give in to the urge to glance behind him at the building. He gave in two seconds later but the imagined picture in his head of Miranda bursting from the door to call them back was purely fiction. "Have you done the canoes yet?" he asked, already having done it twice, once with Benny where his friend had tipped them over (and he vowed never to go again with the Gryff), once with Tomie, and once with Bean.

He glanced at Wendy and gave her a tentative smile. She didn't seem like the type to capsize them. They disappeared down the path, the lake as their destination.

/end