Where Is All This Coming From? {Open}

Mariah was starting to get lonely. She was no stranger to loneliness, of course, but it felt different this time around. It wasn't that she didn't have friends - she did. Several of them, in fact, which was more than she'd been able to say in a long time. She still hung out with Lyra, and Bushrah, and even occasionally Lilac Capulet, a younger girl she'd met on the train. And she liked all of those people, it was just that...well, she often felt she couldn't really talk to them.

Especially the younger two, Bushrah and Lilac, whom she'd pretty much taken under her wing when they'd needed someone to listen to them. And she was happy to listen - she empathized with them and wanted to help in any way she could - but she realized she didn't feel quite comfortable asking them to return the favor. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, it was just that they had enough problems of their own without being burdened with hers. And since she was the oldest, she got the impression that they looked up to her. She called them her friends, but for the most part they felt more like younger siblings that she was supposed to take care of. She didn't mind taking care of them, but the more time she spent doing that, the more she realized no one was around to do the same for her.

She missed Nikolai. It was weird to miss him, since she saw him all the time, but they hadn't been talking as much this year. They still texted occasionally, still greeted each other in the hall, but they hadn't been hanging out like they did last year. He was spending more time with his housemates, and with Mimosa Harrington in particular.

Mariah knew she was rich and popular and something of a celebrity, but she'd never quite understood why. She hadn't cared enough to ask. Celebrities were just people - popularity had never meant much to her. Still, she never seemed to go anywhere without a crowd of people following her, and Nikolai was usually one of them.

It seemed strange to Mariah. She'd never seen him as the type of person to follow the crowd or get caught up in popularity contests, but he and Mimosa seemed close. More often than not, when she saw him in the halls, Mimosa was holding his hand. Mariah never brought it up when they talked, and neither did he, so she just assumed it was old news. She had seen him kiss her at the end of the year last year - it had surprised her, since he'd never mentioned liking her that way before, but she figured maybe he preferred to keep his feelings private - so now she guessed it wasn't much of a stretch to assume they were together in some way. But whatever his relationship with Mimosa was, it seemed to take up a lot of his time and attention.

So Mariah found herself missing him. And when she missed him, she usually came to sit by the lake where they met, something inside her hoping, perhaps, that she might find him there. It was silly, but she kind of wished things would just go back to the way they were last year. Before everyone started getting all caught up in teenager stuff like romance and kissing and who-liked-whom. She just wanted friends.

As she approached the edge of the lake, she wondered idly if she was the only one in the whole school not interested in anybody. Even Bushrah and Lilac had crushes and they were younger than she was. It wasn't like she hated the idea of romance, she just didn't like anyone that way. Was that weird? Was she supposed to want a boyfriend or girlfriend? What did it feel like to be in love?

She sighed as she pulled out her journal and a pen, wandering down the short beach. Maybe she should ask Mr. Weber. He gave good advice, even if he didn't know what it was like to be a teenage girl.

Mariah looked out across the water. There was no sign of Nikolai today, but she did see someone else floating in the water. Not a lot of people went swimming in October, so she found it a little unusual. She bent down near the water and trailed her fingers through it, a little surprised by how warm it was. Perhaps swimming wasn't such a bad idea after all. She stood and watched the girl in the water for a little while, wondering if she should say something or just leave her be. She kind of did want to talk to someone, but she didn't want to bother this person if she wanted to be alone. Eventually, she sat down at the very edge of the water and took her shoes off, letting it lap at her toes while she thought.

Mariah looked up when she heard a splash, and then a voice. She was startled at how close the other girl had gotten without her noticing. She blinked a couple times, then laughed at herself a little, pushing some of her hair out of her face.

"I guess so, yeah," she admitted somewhat bashfully. She looked down at the journal she still held in her hand and realized she hadn't even opened it. She didn't really feel like writing right now, just thinking. She'd write a letter later when she got back inside.

Now that the girl was closer, Mariah could see she looked a little older than herself, and somewhat familiar. Had she seen her somewhere before? Maybe with Nikolai? Or just in passing, probably. She couldn't put a name to the face, but she was pretty and she had a nice smile. Mariah returned it shyly.

"Not usually a lot of people out here this time of year," she commented. "Do you come here often?"

Mariah herself had only gone swimming in the lake once last spring. Swimming was the sort of activity she associated with hot weather, and Scotland got nowhere near as hot as California, so she hadn't really felt the urge. She supposed it would be relaxing on a quiet day like this, though.

Mariah smiled as she listened to the other girl speak. It cheered her up to see this girl enjoying herself, and she loved listening to what other people liked - she felt like it gave her a deeper insight into who they were and how they thought.

Mariah actually was quite tempted to join the other witch, and she would have if it hadn't been for one thing. She looked down at her clothes.

"I'd love to, but I don't think I'm dressed appropriately."

It occurred to her after she said it that maybe there was some sort of spell that could keep her clothes dry. Even after all these years, she still sometimes forgot she could do magic. Still, if there was such a charm, she couldn't think of it off the top of her head.

"Apollonia. That's a pretty name," she mused. "Is it Greek?"

She set her journal and pen aside, away from the water, and leaned forward a little. "My name's Mariah."

Apollonia's name sounded familiar too, now that she thought about it. She didn't think they'd met before, but Mariah had definitely seen her somewhere...

"Oh! I remember you. You participated in the fashion show last year, didn't you?"