Try To Break Free (tagged)

[Deleted]

Kinsey was waking the grounds, searching for a glimpse of Riley like she often did. She knew it wasn't healthy, knew she should leave him alone since Christmas break was over now and Priscilla was back, but Kinsey couldn't help herself. She just wanted to see him. Then she'd be all right. She didn't even have to talk to him or anything. Strangely, he was nowhere to be found. She walked past seas of blank faces, paying no attention to them as her eyes scanned the crowds. 

Eventually Kinsey made her way to the pond, the one place that still kind of felt like it belonged to her and Riley. It was where they met, and also where they'd broken up. It was one place that would always make her think of him, no matter what happened in the future. She might as well go there as she tried to figure out how she could move on, though she knew in her heart that she didn't want to. She didn't want to let her feelings for Riley go, she wanted him to change his mind. She would never ask him to, however. Kinsey had no intention of putting that kind of pressure on him. 

Then she saw a familiar figure up ahead, standing directly in front of the pond. Alone. "Riley?" Kinsey called softly, knowing she was right before he reacted at all to her. She would never not be able to recognize him. 

@riley
@priscilla
tobias charles watkins
@lydia
@dominic
@daniel
(K guys, join in when you feel like it works. We're not going in any specific order or anything)

[Deleted]

Riley stood alone at the pond, his gaze fixed on the slow ripple of the water as he waited for the great love of his life. Priscilla. How had he ever loved another? He couldn’t figure out how he had lived as long as he had without the girl on his arm. She was everything that he always wanted and she was the perfect trophy wife to bring honor to his family name. But when he heard the voice of another approach him from behind, the expression on his face turned from focus to disgust. He turned around to face his ex-girlfriend, “What do you want?” he asked. He looked at her and wondered how he had ever dated someone with such tainted blood. It was in his younger, rebellious stage, he guessed. What a laugh.

@kinsey
& tagged people
Mentions @priscilla

[Deleted]

The look on his face when he turned around to face her was almost foreign. What in the world was going on? A frown twisted at the corners of Kinsey's mouth. She froze for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer him. "I just, I was looking for you." The look on his face wasn't encouraging at all, but Kinsey continued to go for it. "I thought we could go for a walk ... or talk or something?" she made the suggestion a question, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with the way Riley was looking at her. "Are ... you all right?" Kinsey asked, taking a small step forward, concern in her eyes. 

@riley

[Deleted]

Priscilla was elated that she and Riley were back on good terms, not that they had ever been on bad terms, per se. Still, it was awfully nice not to be worrying about Riley and what he was doing and where he was going and who he was with. That especially applied to Kinsey Bainbridge. Whatever he had seen in her, that spark was gone now.

It didn't take Priscilla long to reach the pond, and she had a skip in her step as she walked. She rolled her eyes when she saw who was already standing there, talking to Riley: Kinsey. She was probably causing him trouble again, as per usual. Apparently she hadn't given him up.

"Is something bothering you, Riley?" Priscilla pouted, moving straight past the other girl as though she hadn't seen her and planting a kiss on the cheek of her husband-to-be.

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Kinsey’s words were lost on him as he saw Priscilla approach from behind her. The light of his life. He heard Kinsey ask him to go for a walk and a small laugh escaped his lips. “Why would I want to do that?” he hadn’t meant to be mean by his comment, but he just couldn't imagine why she would think that he wanted to go for a walk and talk to her. Priscilla walked past Kinsey and right over to him, kissing his cheek and asking if something was bothering him. He smirked down to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her right up to him, “Nothing worth caring about.” He said. His eyes wandered back up to Kinsey, wondering why she was still standing there.

@kinsey
@priscilla

[Deleted]

Riley laughed. He was actually laughing at her now and Kinsey's face lit up in a blush. Something about this wasn't right. Riley ... he wouldn't laugh at her, would he? He asked why he would want to go on a walk with her and Kinsey deflated. "Y-you said you wanted to be friends still," she answered in an extremely quiet voice, looking down. She should probably just leave. Obviously Riley didn't want her around.

That was when Priscilla joined them. Kinsey glanced up as she moved past, kissing Riley's cheek and pouting at him, making some remark about Kinsey bothering him. Kinsey should leave, but instead she stood, almost transfixed as she watched the way Riley pulled her close and smiled down at Priscilla. When did they get so close? Her heart stuttered and Kinsey started blushing again when he answered that it was nothing worth caring about. Kinsey wasn't worth caring about. It was as though Kinsey had been stabbed through the heard. She took an automatic step back, shaking her head and willing herself not to cry. "S-sorry," she muttered before turning away, feeling entirely broken. It happened. Riley didn't care for her anymore and it hurt more than she could have fathomed.

@riley
@priscilla  
(one more to close them out?)

[Deleted]

"Oh, good." Priscilla smiled broadly at Riley's response to her and his arm's being wrapped around her. "I wouldn't want my Rileykins to be upset." She had all of his attention, as she was supposed to, and it seemed that Kinsey had taken the hint that her presence was unwanted there.

The older girl wasn't worth anything, and she meant nothing to Riley anymore, but she gave them an apology as though it mattered what she felt. "She's only sorry that she isn't me," Priscilla giggled to Riley and ran a hand through his hair, watching as Kinsey turned away. "With the sweetest, most handsome fiancé in the world…"

@kinsey
@riley

[Deleted]

Riley raised his eyebrows when Kinsey said that he had said that he wanted to be friends still. He scoffed, “when did I say that? Are you that desperate for attention?” he shook his head. The two of them being friends. Him being friends with someone who had tainted blood. What a laugh.

With Priscilla in his arms, she made a comment about Kinsey being sorry that she wasn’t the one with Riley or that she wasn’t Priscilla, herself. Riley smiled down to his fiancee, wrapping his other arm around her too and pulling her in closer. “Everyone’s jealous that they aren’t you,” he said in a low, husky voice before leaning down and kissing her, not even noticing Kinsey walking away.

Riley and Prissy out

@kinsey
@priscilla

[Deleted]

What happened here? Kinsey knew that she wasn't in charge of Riley's feelings, that he could start caring for Priscilla whenever he wanted to, but did that mean he really forgot everything that happened between them. Wasn't it just the other day that he told her he wanted to be friends? That he spent a good deal of his time hiding from his sister and Priscilla? She shook her head when he asked if she was desperate for attention. This wasn't the Riley she knew. Kinsey was fairly certain that he would never treat her like this, even if he didn't care for her anymore. 

Even turned away from the pair, Kinsey couldn't help but overhear their conversation. She knew that some of it- everything Priscilla said at least- was for her benefit. Kinsey took a deep breath, her bottom lip quivering as she walked away from the pair, certain that if she turned around now she would see the two of them kissing. She did not want to see that. 

tobias charles watkins (You're turn now!)

[tobias charles watkins]

Toby was walking toward Kinsey, closing the distance between them quickly. The closer they got, the more disappointed he looked, it was impossible to hide it from his face. ”Oh, uh, hey Kinsey...” he greeted. Toby constantly felt like he was walking on egg shells with his best friend, he couldn’t even talk about the girl he liked with her anymore without getting her all weird.

Toby brown eyes narrowed to observe her face, but it didn’t soften like it normally would when he processed her sad expression. Toby had to hold back an eye roll, ”Are you crying again?” he asked her, his tone lacking any sympathy, oozing with utter annoyance.

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Kinsey couldn't handle this anymore. She needed to get away from Riley and Priscilla. She couldn't stand them anymore, she just couldn't. As she left, she saw a familiar figure approaching. Toby? She exhaled slightly in relief. Toby was her best friend. She could talk this through with him. He'd help her understand, or just try and comfort her like he always did. 

However, the closer she grew to him, the more she realized something wasn't right. He looked sad, or upset about something. He said hi, not looking excited to see her at all or anything. "Are you okay, Toby?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out why he'd look light that. 

He looked at her expression, which she was sure showed some of her pain at what she'd just witnessed with Riley and Priscilla, but something about his look was foreign to her. Her eyes widened at his question. She felt the need to defend herself arise, but at the same time it felt like a blow to the stomach. "I ... I wasn't crying yet," she answered softly, feeling like a complete idiot. "Why are you so angry?"

tobias charles watkins

[tobias charles watkins]

Kinsey looked like she was close to crying, even though she denied it. As usual... Toby swallowed, preparing for waterworks. This year she had been such a downer. Toby shot her a stone cold glare when she asked him why he was so angry. It obviously triggering him further. "I'm not angry." he fumed in protest, furrowing an eyebrow in frustration. Okay, maybe he was a little mad in dream land.

There was a brief pause. He looked at the ground awkwardly before looking at Kinsey again, his face softening for a second. "I have always supported you and Riley, and your decisions, even when I thought they were stupid.." he started, the words flowing slowly and dreamily from his mouth. "But you shoot down my own.. That's not being a very good friend, Kinsey." he finally said before turning on his foot and walking away from her without looking back. Toby didn't want anything to do with her, or her problems.

[Nightmare Toby out]

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Now Toby was glaring at her and Kinsey did not understand what was going on. First, Riley was all of a sudden into Priscilla and treating her like crap, and now Toby? He'd always been willing to listen to her before, even asked her to share her feeling and struggles with him. The only thing she'd ever kept from him was Dom, but he'd seen the aftermath of that. Her eyes widened when he growled that he wasn't angry and she lifted her hands in surrender. "O-okay, you're not angry," she agreed, perplexed. 

For a second, it seemed like he was calming down as he said that he'd always supported her, even when he thought she was stupid. Wait. He thought she was making stupid decisions and he didn't say anything? What decisions did he think were stupid? Kinsey wanted to ask, but before she could, he was telling her that she shot down his own decisions and that she wasn't a good friend. Then he was stalking away and Kinsey felt her lip quivering again. She knew it. She'd ruined their friendship permanently. She expected as much before break, but she'd hoped they'd work past it. Apparently that wasn't an option. She actually started crying then, not knowing what to do now. "I-I'm sorry," she breathed as she cried, much too late for Toby to be able to hear, not that the words would make any difference to him. 

@dominic
@daniel
@lydia
(Your turn Suz!)

[Deleted]

Delicious.

Lydia was watching from the sidelines. Being the only one who knew what was really going on made this a lot more fun. She was a little sad she couldn't share the experience with Priscilla or Dom, but this was her thing right now. Maybe later down the road she could figure out how to invite them along. This was far too advanced for her without adding another detail. It paid to have friends in dark places.

She smiled, cocking her head to one side as Toby walked away. She didn't approach, but instead just lifted a hand to give Kinsey wave. Her fingers gracefully danced across the air one at a time.

If the girl went crazy enough, maybe her brother would see sense.

Just then, an owl flew in the window. Just in time! Lydia nodded toward it.

@kinsey
@daniel is next though

[Deleted]

The owl flew in, flying straight toward Kinsey. It landed next to her, a letter attached to it's foot. It held it's leg out impatiently. If she didn't take it back the bird would undoubtedly snap at her.

The letter, from Daniel Hoh, read this:

'Kinsey Bainbridge,

Things have been really hard lately. In all honesty I've been trying to simplify some things in my life. You know?

Anyway... I don't want to seem crazy or anything but I think our friendship is making things worse. I'm sure you understand, with your ability and everything you probably get sick of people faster than I do. But it still happens to me too, so I guess you get it.

Good luck with everything, or whatever. I'm sure you've got lots of support at Hogwarts.

-

Daniel Hoh'


@kinsey (Okay, you go then Dom will come.)