Ariana hated waiting, she was already nervous enough, and trying very hard not to wring her hands together in her lap, but she couldn't stop herself from biting her bottom lip. She heard voices from the other side of the office door and her head snapped around to look, but the voices faded, and she sighed heavily, turning back to face the large desk in front of her, neatly stacked with paperwork and files.
She cast the door another look, pausing to listen closely to make sure no one was coming before leaning closer towards the desk, trying to catch what was written on the corner of the file, and, as expected, her name was scrawled in black ink. She was very, very tempted to just reach out and grab it, curious to know what it had inside about her, but before she could make another move, the door opened and she immediately straightened, stood, and automatically gave a curtsy.
Borusa cast her a long look, his eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion as he moved around her and to his desk, giving her a small nod and gesture to sit, which she gladly did, before taking his own seat. For a long moment he didn't move, simply observing her over his desk.
"Do you know why you are here, Lady Ariana?" he eventually asked in a cool voice.
Ariana swallowed, shaking her head, "No, sir," she hesitated, "I'm not in trouble, am I?"
He raised his eyebrows, "For once in the past five years of beginning your…" he seemed to search for the right word, "Relationship with Theta Sigma, you are not in trouble," she sighed in relief, her shoulder's almost sagging in relief, but it was short lived, "No, you have been brought here for another reason," she tensed again, feeling nervous once more, "Perhaps you can make a deduction?" he fixed her with a another look.
"Sir…" she shifted in her chair, biting her lip harder than before, quite certain that if she wasn't careful she was going to end up drawing blood, "I assure you, that I can't imagine what reason I could possibly have been brought here for…"
"Enough," Borusa's voice suddenly turned sharp and she immediately closed her mouth, sitting straighter, watching as he reached for his desk, and picked up the file with her name written on it, "Your botany results on your last examination was, to say the least, deplorable," Ariana almost physically winced, her face flushing, "Do you have any excuses?" he questioned with a bored tone in his voice, "Believe me, I have heard them all".
Ariana sighed and shook her head, dropping her gaze to her lap, "No, sir".
A look of mild surprise crossed Borusa's face as he watched her closely, seeming to be trying to detect any hint of a lie, but apparently finding none, "Well," he began slowly, "Perhaps there is hope for you yet".
A flash of anger hit Ariana as she realised that he was referring to Theta, and she was forced to pinch her leg through her robes, just in an attempt to stop herself from saying something that would only result in getting herself into trouble. She couldn't quite explain why she suddenly felt so angry about his remark, after all, it wouldn't have been the first time that she had heard such remarks, but there was just something about it in that moment that made her feel the urge to defend her friend.
The sound of papers being shuffled made her look up to find that Borusa, who luckily hadn't noticed her anger, had opened her file and was flickering through the paper inside, "Now, I have also reviewed your past results," he continued, not looking at her, "And it would seem that for the past several years, you have only just been receiving passing grades," finally, he laid the file out open in front of him, clasping his hands together as he looked over at her, "Tell me, why continue a subject that you are so obviously unsuited for?"
"My Mother…" she muttered, avoiding his eyes as she shifted again in her chair, "She believes that I am merely not working hard enough, and that if I only applied myself more, then I would became top of the class," she frowned, her eyes coming to rest on the wall slightly off to the side of Borusa's head, "She will not allow me to drop the subject".
"Indeed," he nodded thoughtfully, "Quite understandable. Your Mother is a botanist herself, yes?" she nodded in confirmation, "Yes, yes, but the fact still remains that you cannot remain in a subject that you are so poorly suited for," he remarked and her gaze snapped to him, trying hard not to look to hopeful.
"Sir, does this mean that I shall be taking on another subject?" Ariana asked carefully, still trying very hard not to sound too hopeful or excited by the prospect, "I mean, if I am to drop botany, then I shall need another subject to replace it".
Borusa cast her a long look, "That is a topic with which you will need to discuss with your parents," he told her, "I have already messaged them on everything we have already discussed today, and I am sure they will be…eager to quickly resolve this issue".
Ariana paled suddenly, her eyes widening slightly, "You…you have already told them?" she swallowed, suddenly feeling sick at the very thought of what their reaction must have been.
"Of course," he gave her a sharp look before he began to collect the file up, not even bothering to look at her again as he said, "Dismissed".
With a jolt, she quickly stood, her leg's shaking slightly as clumsily grabbed her bag, swinging it over her shoulder as she turned towards the door, and left. She hurried down the hall, grateful that everyone was at lunch by now, and practically ran back up to her room. The moment she entered the room, she threw her bag on the floor, for once not even caring about possibly damaging the books within, and threw herself face first onto her bed, a muffled groan escaping her.
She dreaded what her parent's reactions were going to be, her Mother was going to be horrified that her own daughter had been forced to drop her favourite subject, while her Father, who couldn't have cared less about botany, was still going to be appalled that anyone under his House was going to be pulled out of a subject in the first place. She supposed that she ought to be grateful that it wasn't political science, she might have given him a double coronary.
….
Time seemed to speed up in an alarming rate and before Ariana had even realised it, it was the end of the week, and she found herself grimly being escorted back to her family's estate, where she would be forced to spend the next three weeks under her parent's watchful eyes, not to mention her cousins. She couldn't wait until the three weeks were up and she would return to school, where she could at least have some form of freedom from her family. Still, it wouldn't be too bad, her parent's had grown curious, (and no doubt very concerned, too), about her friendship with Theta, and had invited him to spend the last two weeks with them all.
She still couldn't quite tell if she should be delighted or terrified, knowing just how her cousins, for one thing, would behaviour made her feel very worried, not to mention her parent's. She just very dearly hoped that everything would be fine.
Of course, her arrival home would hardly be called fun, as the moment she arrived, her parents had her brought to her Father's study, where they lectured her for over two hours about her studies, or though, her Father was surprisingly quiet throughout the whole thing, seeming to leave it mostly up to her Mother. Once she was finally allowed to leave, she began to head upstairs, trying to keep her head down and ignore the ringing voice of her Mother in her ears, wishing only for the peace that he room would provide. Sadly, the Universe apparently hated her.
She had just stepped onto the landing when she heard the voices of two people she very dearly wished not to have to run it, followed by their footsteps on the marble floor echoing from her right. Her eyes widened and she frantically looked around, knowing that there was no chance of making a run for it down the opposite end of the hallway without being seen, when they looked up and spotted her.
"No," Ariana groaned quietly, feeling dread wash over her as she watched matching looks of mocking glee cross her Cousins faces. Seeing no other choice, she began to turn on her heel to make a run for it, hoping that she might actually make it to her room, which was at the very end of the hall, but before she could, they managed to catch up to her, having the advantage of longer leg's really did work in their favour.
"Now, now," the oldest of the pair, Elora, smirked as she snatched Ariana's arm, forcing her to a stop with a painful wince, "You seem to be in quite a hurry, Cousin Ariana," she remarked.
"Indeed," the other, Ember, agreed in the same mocking tone, a matching smirk to her sister's on her own face as she eyed Ariana, who was strugglingly to pull herself free, "One would almost think that you were avoiding us".
Ariana tried to fix a friendly smile to her face, but she suspected that it came out more of a painful grimace, "I mealy wished to change out of my school robes," she told them as polity as she could, gesturing with her free hand down her front, "It was not my intention to avoid anyone".
Elora laughed, but it wasn't very pleasant, nor friendly, "You have changed," she titled her head curiously as she looked at the younger girl still in her grasp, a small frown settling on her face, "If I recall the last time we meet, you would have been a puddle of tears and begging us to leave you alone".
She felt her cheeks heat up, but refused to allow any of the emotions she truly felt show, "Those days are gone, dear Cousins," she informed them, a touch of coldness entering her voice as she straightened herself, "Now, please unhand me, so I may be on my way," she gave them a fake, pleasant smile, "For I am sure you have better things to do that do not involve bullying someone almost a hundred years younger than yourselves".
"'Bullying you?'" Ember's eyes winded in mock disbelief as she exchanged a look with her sister, "My, Cousin Ariana, we are only playing," slowly, she smiled, her eyes twinkling, "But, of course, if you wish to play…say, a different game, then we are more than happy to indulge you".
"Oh, yes," Elora nodded quickly.
Ariana remained emotionless, refusing to allow them to see just how rattled they made her feel. She had spent the past twenty five years being bullied by her cousins, and she had more than enough, "Call it what you will," she said coolly, "We all know very well what it is, just as I know exactly what you two are".
Both older girls looked at each other and burst out laughing, "And what are we?" Ember's asked after a moment through laughter.
A sly smile crossed Ariana's face, her eyes twinkling, and for a second, her cousins actually looked nervous, "I wonder…" she began slowly with a look of mock thoughtfulness, "What your parents would make of the fact that you have both been…shall we say…engaged in inappropriate relationships with two boy's from Lungbarrow," she almost grinned in triumph as she took note of the effect her words had on them.
Elora immediately let go of her wrist as if she had burnt her, a look of sicking horror on her face as she stared at her, while Ember's mouth fall open, her already pale skin seeming to turn serval shades whiter until she looked almost grey. They both stepped back and exchanged almost frantic, desperate looks.
"You…you know nothing," Elora finally managed to chock out, her voice suddenly sounding strained.
"Don't I?" Ariana smiled mysteriously at them, almost sounding bored as she forced herself with all her self-control not to jump around in victory, seeing as that would have certainly ruined the effect she was going for. She really needed to remember to thank Ushas and koschei for giving her two brilliant examples of indifferent, coldness to try to mimic, not to mention Theta, who had been the one to tell her about catching two of his cousins and hers, together, in an empty classroom several weeks ago.
"You little liar!" Ember glared furiously at her, reaching out and grabbing a handful of the front of her robes, pulling her roughly towards her so that their faces were only inches apart, all the while Ariana struggled to keep her facade going, "You just made all of that up to scare us!" she snarled in her face, "How dare you…"
"I'm only a liar if it's not true, Cousin Ember," Ariana replied as calmly as she could, struggling to hold back a wince as she was forced to stand on her tiptoes, "And I know for a fact that it is".
Elora grabbed her sister's wrists and gently pulled her away from Ariana, who gratefully took a step back, and out of easy reach, "Careful, Ember," she muttered to her with a stern tone, casting Ariana a look, dropping her voice to a whisper, "We do not know all the facts yet," Ember, who still looked ready to kill, reluctantly nodded as they turned back to the younger girl, "Why would you ever say such a thing?" Elora questioned.
"Because I happen to be friends with the boy who cousins you two are involved with," she answered, smiling again as both girls paled even more, if that was even possible, "Oh, and did I mention that he's going to be staying with us for the remaining two week of the holidays?" her smile turned into a full blown grin, her eyes twinkling with barely retrained satisfaction as they looked even more horrified.
Both girls swallowed thickly, exchanging looks before turning back to her, suddenly seeming grimly resigned, "Very well," Elora, who seemed to be the only sister still capable of speech, nodded, "You quite obviously know, so there is no point in denying it any longer," she sighed heavily, meeting Ariana's eyes, "What is it that you want from us?"
Ariana grinned broadly, "I want you, and the rest of the Cousins, to leave me and, when Theta arrives here, alone," she told them happily, "No more bulling, no more so called 'games'. Understood?"
"We have no control over what the others might do," Ember frowned at her, apparently regaining the use of speech.
"Oh, but you two are not the only ones who I know things about. And the things that I do know…dear me, the scandals they would cause…"
Elora eyed her carefully, "And how do you know about any of the others secrets?" she asked.
Ariana shrugged, "I listen," she replied simply.
Both girls stared at her as if they had never seen her before, "What happened to you?" they breathed in amazement, shaking their heads, "Five years ago you were this little girl who hardly said a word, and now you're practically blackmailing us".
A smile crossed her face, "I made some friends. Now, please excuse me".
And with that, she turned on her heel and walked down the opposite end of the hallway, trying to with every ounce of self-control she had left not to start shaking. Her heart was racing madly in her chest, and she felt almost sick just thinking about what she had done, because that was certainly not like her. Not once had she stood up to her Cousins before, and yet, despite how ill and shaky she felt, she also felt the urge to laugh excitedly and start skipping. Never before had she done something that made her feel so…refreshed and free. Of course, there was still a part of her that feared just what her Cousins might do to try to get her back, but right now she couldn't bring herself to worry too much about that. Oh, she couldn't wait to tell Theta.
Finally, progress! We're finally starting to get more of a glimpse of a young Hatter, one who isn't afraid to stand up for herself. And next chapter we get Theta, who I know hasn't made much of a appearance in the last few chapters, but it's going to be mainly just those two for a chapter of two now. I'm sure that anyone who remembers 'Utopia, Part 1' will realise what's coming up...Anyway, tell me what you thought, please review :)
