A Night To Last (Tag: Kaden)

The sun had been shining brightly over the transfiguration courtyard. Many students were attending their Monday afternoon classes, distressed and begging to be let out early. The sun was a taunting thing, getting into the minds of the students. Who wanted to be in class on such a beautiful day? Certainly not many.

Ella was skipping her Charms class. She was usually good at attending her classes, and she always received high marks, but today her head was in the clouds. Besides, it wasn't hard for her to miss a class or two. She'd simply read the textbook and more, loving to learn and having a natural talent for it. There was no aversion to her and her studies, in fact to loved it. She had craved for the knowledge, and would do everything to obtain it.

Intelligence, she was always told that it was her most noteworthy trait, and for being a Ravenclaw student, that was something to note. She was the top of her class, of her year, and she enjoyed it. It wasn't that she was hiding herself, either, consumed by her studies or anything like that. Ella was social, and she loved attending the parties and was always invited to them. It was almost like there were two of her, yet they were so clearly mixed into one. A socialite, and an intelligent power. It almost didn't seem right, or natural.

Her hair was up in a messy bun, after last night's party she didn't feel like doing anything with it. She had on her large glasses, hipster as they used to be called, for she couldn't bother with her contacts this morning. Not after the night she had last night. A large t-shirt swung loosely on her body, tucked into her tight jean shorts. Even with the large shirt, you could tell that she was skinny.

And she sat there, in the shade of the overhang in the transfiguration courtyard, thinking, watching, and listening.

Into her gaze stepped a figure. A tall figure, one that was dark and handsome. One that she knew all too well.

The memories poured back into her mind, as though they were the fluid waters crashing over the restrictions that a dam had provided for many years. There was loud music, thudding into her ears. Bodies that were so close that she could feel the heat penetrating through her skin; her sweat and theirs mixing together through their shirts and dirty dances. The feeling of laughter broke through her chest, her shouting and others' no match for the music.

And then she remember the blurs of her legs walking beside another's, touching the soft damp grass. The soft sand that melted between her toes. The sand that melted to her skin. She could feel the tipsy laughs escape from the back of her throat, now seeming to be louder then ever, where she hadn't been able to hear her laughs before. The soft kisses that bit at her plump lips, she could feel those, too. Feel everything as if it were all still there, pinches of memories left on her skin.

Ella smiled, bringing herself back to the present, and back to another reality. She looked up and smiled at Kaden, staring directly into his dark, entrancing eyes, remembering her night last night. She was remembering their night last night.

"Good, are you not attending class this afternoon?"

Ella had known Kaden for a little while. Just friends, of course, and still they would be just friends. Or so it was how she had thought it would be, and how Ella would treat it to be. She had no regrets of the night they had last night, and she never would. Not the laughs that were shared as they bubbled from her chest. Not the skin that they shared in the cool waves of the shore. Not a moment would she regret, and not a thought would she be embarrassed about. Not her skin, not her face, and certainly not of the adrenaline that pumped as a race car down a track. She'd live with no regrets for spending a night with a friend. Nor would she be jealous if he were to obtain a girlfriend, because they were friends. Just friends, and only friends. Not a whisper more.

A soft breeze climbed its way down and into the courtyard, sending a single curl into her face, crashing softly into smooth skin. No motion was stirred into an attempt to move it, Ella simply let it go, as natural as it could be. Time would pass.

Her eyes never wandered the courtyard, always looking into the eyes to whom she spoke. She wouldn't be rude, and she wouldn't dare look away. Her gaze was not penetrating, not hard or crushing, but soft, and still. There was a smile in her eyes, a politeness to her stare, and she motioned to the grass next to her, inviting Kaden, if he so pleased, to sit down. But she didn't say a thing, so that if he were to turn her down, he didn't have to feel rude or pressured. He could simply act as though he hadn't noticed the gesture, and she'd feel no offense, nor would he need to feel it, either.

"What class would you have had?"

She smiled now, closing her eyes and leaning her head back onto the fountain that sat behind her. The vibrations of the water, hitting the walls, felt as though they were moving through her skin. As if there were no walls, only the water and her, transparent. Translucent. And then her mind caught a thought, just a little thread, but still a thought, and she turned from her moment of relaxation to sit up right, jumping on that thought as though it had been her prey, she the predator.

"Oh, I totally forgot, here's your shirt,"

Her hands crossed delicately over her body, softly holding the fabric that brushed against her skin, and slowly lifted. The shirt flew, soundlessly, up and over her head, and there was no panic in her face as she had taken off the boy's shirt. It may have taken a moment for Kaden to realize, or perhaps there wasn't a moment at all, but she had on a tight, nude tank top underneath, hugging her skin, opposed to where the shirt, his shirt, had seemed to float about her body. She had been so calm about giving him the shirt that belonged to him, taking the shirt off of her body, that at first it seemed so strange. But Ella wasn't one who didn't think.

"Charms with the Headmistress, but I don't think she'll mind."

Her back felt cramped from her poor posture against the fountain. It was as though all of the muscles in her body had been pulled, like a magnet, to the center of her body. Only they seemed to be glued there now, and reaching her arms far above her head she could feel the pull of her muscles against the glue. It was slow, but she could feel her muscles reluctantly unwind, pulling away from the glue and leaving stringy stretches of it behind, if only to lightly settle on a few other muscles of hers.

A breath escaped her lips, one which she hadn't realized she was holding as she had stretched. She had felt better now, not being used to having such bad posture. Ella had always sat in hard chairs, her back straight and her body focused. She wasn't stiff, but it was how she grew up. Good posture was appealing, her parents had always told her. It was part of your first impression, so when she were to get interviewed for a job, she'd have good posture and good dress. A pretty face, too, but she was never so self centered. Her pride was in her good grades.

It was after her stretch that she realized that Kaden had brought up their night, and it was as though the chilling winds were hitting her skin all over again. Caressing, yet frightfully sharp the air was last night. Her head began to shake, and her hand flew up, as if she could stop his speech with a flick of her fingers. She smiled though as she spoke, her original gestures only to draw his full attention onto her, so that she would be able to make her point without having to elaborate. There was not a sign of worry, or embarrassment, in her eyes. Just...kindness.

"No need to bring it up, let's just move on, okay? We're friends, remember?"

A softness blanketed Kaden's face, and a smile protruded. One of the most beautiful smiles that Ella had ever seen, she had wanted to say that it burned bright, very much like the sun, but she didn't feel that that was a proper description. It sounded too harsh, and too easy to burn and hurt. Perhaps his smile shined like the moon, a quiet light, but a necessary one that guided those on the blackened earth. Yes, that had seemed most accurate.

Ella began to open her mouth, to say that there was absolutely no reason for him to be thanking her, for there wasn't. It was a night, and they were friends. It was nothing more, and it didn't have to be made into anything more. They were teenagers, were they not? It was bound to happen, if not between the two of them, then with other partners, and personally, Ella preferred that it had been Kaden. But as her mouth began to open, a loud bell echoed viciously throughout the school, bouncing off walls and jumping high into the air. The footsteps quickly followed of anxious students, racing out of their classrooms. The doors could be heard, too, crashing against the wall as though they had every intention to take down the walls of the school.

Her feet had moved quicker then her speech. Ella was already on her feet, grabbing her discarded robes from the other side of the fountain. As the dark fabrics reflected the sun, Ella smiled and spoke quickly to Kaden. She knew better then to display to the student body their time that they spent together, skipping class, Ella without her robes and in a tank top, Kaden holding a shirt in hand. It looked like a rumor, ready to take flight, paper airplanes crashing with diversity into the ears of students, and surely their night last night would be exposed. Ella could handle rumors well, however she knew that if this were to sprout, it'd do more harm then good, growing to be poison ivy, and she hadn't wanted a strained relationship, not with Kaden. It would be best for her to move quickly.

"I'll see you around!"

And within a few seconds Ella has almost disappeared, making her way across the lawn and into the halls that surrounded the courtyard. It took her only a moment to meet up with her friends, and begin to laugh, still in full view of Kaden from where she had left him at the fountain. It was as though their conversation had never occurred, but so not to seem rude, she turned and gave Kaden one last smile before a crowd of students consumed her.