I CAN TASTE THE TENSION {Riley}

[Maddy Rush]

like a cloud of smoke in the air

[atrb=border,0,true] [style=width: 250px; height: 290px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px; font-family: calibri; font-size: 11px; text-align:justify; color: #333; line-height: 99%; overflow: auto]SUMMER WAS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND Maddy was stuck inside. Again. This time she was perfectly okay with it though. As much as she loved feeling the sun on her shoulders and the pollen in her airways, she could stand being inside for the day. It wasn't everyday she got partnered with one of the cool people. She liked to think of Riley as a friend, one of the few she had. She knew that the Gryffindor was one of the populars and generally didn't get along with the less popular students, but Maddy was excited to show the girl that she wasn't as weird as everyone said. Having been born into a mixed family, Maddy and her twin brother Orion had gathered some unusual customs. They had grown up playing muggle sports because their mother, the witch, hadn't known if they inherited magic. When all four kids did, they moved on to more practical things. Magic-culture lessons. Even so, Maddy's favorite childhood memories involved muggles. She had learned to keep those memories to herself, but it wasn't like she didn't have them. That was the reason so many people thought was odd, because she knew and liked so much about muggles. The hufflepuff's mind was drifting off again when she heard a door open in the classroom next to hers. She snapped out of her dream like state and jumped up to organize her thoughts, and the rest of the room. She had selected one of the study classrooms that was vacant during this hour. She hoped Riley could find it, and that she wasn't outside ditching. She looked at her watch that was in it's usual spot on her left wrist. It was almost noon, the time they had chosen to meet. After organizing the tables to that two face each other, Maddy organized her side-- placing her parchment, ink, quill, books, and various other supplies in perfect order. She was very quirky about her study habits, sometimes described as obsessivly organized. She liked lists, and parallel lines. Nothing bad about that, right? She had just finished when the door to her classroom opened and it was time to begin the project. [/style]

[/style]

[style=width: 450px; background: #CCC; font-size: 8px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #000; letter-spacing: 1px]words 365; outfit here; tagged Riley;
what class should the project be for?

[/div] template by sophia. Graphic by jenn.[/center]

[Riley Nichols]

When she'd received the name of the person she was to be pairing up with for the project, Riley couldn't help but groan. Seriously? Maddy of all people? The girl was so... odd, always on her own and definitely not in the same loop as her crowd. Hell, the girl hardly made it in with the group her brother hung out with, it was sad, really. The fact that the two of them were twins was definitely one of those things that made her really wish she couldn't believe the two of them had once shared a woman's body, unfortunately, the two looked so much alike that it was difficult not to believe. And since her brother wasn't walking around denying that he was related to Maddy, it just made it unbearably true.

Whatever, it wasn't like she had to be best friends with the girl, and she was smart so they were likely to ace the project. She shuddered to think about what would've happened had she been paired with one of the lazier kids in class. Puh-lease, she did not want to have to pick up for their slack, having already been there once last year. To say the project hadn't gone down well would be a total understatement, but at least Riley had been lucky enough to convince their professor she'd done most of the work and that she should get full credit for doing what she'd been told to do. If her partner couldn't pull his weight, she sure as hell wasn't about to do it for him.

However, Riley expected nothing of the sort to happen this time around. While Maddy may be an oddball, at least she did her work and pulled her own weight, ensuring an ace on the project for both of them. Or, at least Riley was going to put in the effort required on her part.

Dressing and throwing what she needed into her bag, Riley scampered down the stairs, pulling her hair up into a messy pony tail on her way, wishing she'd had time to stop and grab a bite to eat before the meeting. A noon-time meeting wasn't about to starve her, but her stomach would not be satisfied until it got its fill. Pushing the door open to the classroom she was pretty sure they were supposed to be meeting at, Riley was definitely not disappointed. It looked like the Hufflepuff girl had totally went out of her way to ensure they had a good space for studying and putting everything together. It looked almost a little over the top, but she wasn't about to argue.

"Hey," she greeted the girl, dumping her own bag onto what she assumed to be her desk. Looking at the organization and neatness put into Maddy's side, Riley hoped it wouldn't bother her for the mess that was about to implode when she emptied her bag. Dumping the contents unceremoniously out, Riley pushed things aside before sitting down opposite the other girl. "So, how'd you want to do this?"

Word Count: 529 ; notes: how about we say Charms?