Preparing a Secret (tag Claudia)

Jackson headed out of the Great Hall and along the corridor, eating an apple and thinking. He'd have to tell as many kids as possible, and tell them to tell other kids, but not to tell professors, he'd have to pick a day and a time... He stuck the apple in his mouth to count on his fingers.

(I don't remember if they had already met or not so i am assuming that they have not)
Claudia had just left the great hall with a snack for her cat, Scarlett when she noticed a boy with an apple in his mouth counting on his fingers. She became intrigued to know what he was doing so she began taking quiet steps behind him to see what he was doing. She kept at a good distance so she wouldn't startle him or cause him to suspect someone was following him.

Jackson's cane bumped into a doorframe wrong and he jerked to a stop. He frowned around his apple and continued on his way, still thinking. Could he get in trouble for this? Was there a rule against it? If he got a whole loads of kids to join him, could the Headmistress really punish them all?

Claudia let out a quiet gasp when his cane bumped into a doorframe. She almost bumped into him but stopped herself before it happened. She stepped back a couple of steps and kept an eye on him. She could tell that he was in deep thought about something. What could he be up to.

Jackson was so busy thinking about everything he had to plan and check, he didn't notice he had to bite down further into the apple to keep it stuck in his mouth, until it broke off and fell. He tried to catch it but missed, it bounced off his shoe and rolled somewhere.
"Dangit!" He was a little garbled with the apple chunk in his mouth. He turned around to go back to the Great Hall and get another apple, his cane swinging round in front of him. A house elf or someone would pick up the apple he dropped, no way would he be able to find it.

Before Claudia knew it Jackson was turning around to head back to the Great Hall with his cane turning quickly with him. She tried her best to back up quickly but she only ended up falling backwards with a loud thud. Now there was no way that he didn't know she was there now. She knew she would never be good at sneaking around so this as not a total shocker to her but it was not anything she had planned on happening.

Jackson stopped and cocked his head to the side as he heard something fall to the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked. It had to be a person, he hadn't hit anything to make it fall over. "I'm sorry if I startled you or anything."

((Apologies for late reply!))

(It's ok no worries)

She felt slightly embarassed for falling and getting noticed. "I'm fine. I was just not paying attention good enough." She got up and brushed herself off. "My name's Claudia Evans by the way. What's yours?" She thought she might as well get to know him since she was in fact following him around.

"I'm Jackson Smith." He grinned. "I wasn't paying attention either, had my mind on other things. So it's not all your fault." He must have really not been paying attention, and Claudia Evans must walk quietly, he didn't hear her footsteps behind him.

Claudia wanted to get to the bottom of what he seemed to be focused on doing so she decided to go at a direct approach.

"So, what have you been doing lately around the castle if you don't mind me asking." She knew it was straight-forward but she really didn't care to think about it.

"Oh, er..." Jackson cocked his head to the side and frowned, thinking. "Not much. Classes and stuff, you know. Why d'you want to know?" He definitely wasn't expecting a question like that, and it was a rather specific question.

((Ask what he was thinking about to be distracted?))

Claudia knew she had to take a better approach to get the answer she wanted. "Just wondering. I noticed that you were distracted. What were you thinking about?" She always loved finding out things. It was just something she loved and when she knew something was worth finding out she went after it.

"Oh, that's what you meant!" Jackson grinned, then got serious, telling Claudia Evans "You can't tell any professors, okay?" before breaking out into a grin again. Maybe Claudia could help him plan or something.

Claudia knew he was up to something and she became intrigued by it. She moved in a little closer. "I promise, What is it? She liked knowing about things it made her feel good about knowing what some didn't.

Jackson couldn't keep the grin from his face. "I want to set up a, I dunno, sort of a giant prank. Just let loads and loads of kids know and no professors. I was thinking a giant pillowfight in the Great Hall once the kids from the other schools leave. Just for fun." He wondered what Claudia would think, and if she would keep her promise to not tell.

Claudia had to think about it for a moment. She stayed quiet for a few minutes. Then a huge Grin spread across her face. "That would be awesome." We need something like that around here. Count me in if you need any help." She needed something to think about other than school work right now even though she knew she needed to be getting to her studies. This could be fun.

Jackson got nervous as Claudia stayed quiet for a while. Then she said his idea sounded awesome and he smiled. "All I have is an idea so far, but I'll totally let you know. I have to figure stuff out, if we could get in trouble for it and everything." He shrugged, still smiling.

"I think its a great idea!" She was really excited for it and she could really enjoy it. If it all went through this would be the most fun she had all year that she could remember.

"Thanks." He grinned. Claudia sounded about his age, but it was still nice to know other people thought his his idea was good. "So, er, I'll send you an owl or something?" There wasn't really much to talk about...