Welcome to Gaia! ::

Unfortunately, the young second year had no idea why it was customary to bring a gift to a friend's house whom had just invited you to their abode. These were the customs and rules of higher classes of society, something the child had little to no interest in learning and, to no surprise, none of his peers seemed to understand, either. They all stared at the gift with worry leaking into their facial expressions, surely thinking to themselves, was I supposed to bring something?

Ralph hadn't intended for that sort of response with his gift. Of course it wasn't a birthday party or some strange jubilation in which it was required by tradition to bring something. In fact, if any one of his peers had asked him why he had brought something for the McHalens, Ralph would have shrugged and said, "I don't know, my parents told me too," and that would have been the end of that.

Instead, however, the second year was left in a predicament: now he looked like a complete suck-up, trying to one up everyone else at the party, when he was just simply trying to be polite.

Was that so wrong?

Ralph watched Aimee place the gift down on the staircase beside her, not even remotely interested in its contents yet. Her pup, however, gave it more attention than she, sniffing it and eyeing it curiously. Ralph stared at the dog hard, willing it away from the package. Go on, get! He thought to himself, hoping that with enough willpower, the dog would obey.

It seemed to help. The creature soon lost interest and returned to its owner's lap, watching Ralph with its saucer-wide eyes. The Slytherin couldn't stand to look at it.

"Oh! You guys can help yourself to the food. My cousin baked it all and had Dolly and Jupiter bring it over this morning! The cupcakes were made by Caty though." As soon as food was mentioned, Ralph's eyes returned to their original undressing of the table.

The cupcakes were definitely eye-catching. And that was putting it lightly. In fact, if Ralph was going to be honest with himself, they were perhaps the most intricate cupcakes he had ever seen made. Surely, Caty had help from someone? Or maybe she bought them? They alternated between red with white polka dots and white with a ladybug, leaf and stem, and a simple flower. They were - dare he say it? - adorable.

It made his boyish insides want to gag, yet he was intrigued. Were they going to taste as good as they looked? Ralph looked between Caty and the cupcakes, gauging his classmate's skill based on appearance alone. As if it would help him figure out his answer.

Ralph was intrigued, to say the least, so he grabbed one (a simple red and polka dot one) and inspected it closer. The shapes were crisply cut, the lines were vividly contrasted, and the colors were at least normal, instead of pink and girly. He pulled away the paper on the bottom and, with delight, found that it was vanilla. Ralph took a big bite, his teeth ripping apart half the sweet.

It was an explosion of taste and textures in his mouth that he had never experienced before and he practically fell backwards from it. It was such a surprise to him. How did Caty, the most air-headed person he had ever met (but swore he would never, EVER, tell her that to her face), learn to bake something like that?

Ralph finished his cupcake in five seconds flat and stared hard at Caty. He really took her in this time, wondering if he hadn't been too hard on her, if he hadn't made such rash judgments of her capabilities before... it suddenly felt like he was meeting her for the first time all over again. But this time, he noticed the shade of her hair was like sunshine, the way she smiled was warming, and even the way her nose scrunched up when she laughed at something Aimee said. She was... she was...

The second year turned around completely, breaking his gaze away from Caty. What was he thinking? Caty? Adorable? He dared another glance at her over his shoulder. His face flushed pink as he watched her get excited over the suggestion of music, "Music yes! I wonder if you have a radio around here or a wireless hidden around here, then we could get you up to speed on the good magical music. There isn't a lot to be honest but the few there is isn't too bad."

Trying to compose himself, the Slytherin boy took in a few deep breaths. He reached for another cupcake, pulled back the paper, and ate it in one humongous bite. He practically choked, the cupcake threatening to lodge itself in his throat, but he reached for a glass of pumpkin juice and downed it.

Still, he felt strange being here. It was as if he didn't belong, that he wasn't "part of the group" in some way. He was Slytherin, alright, but it felt like he wasn't authentic. Like he was trying to be something he wasn't. Was the hat right in thinking that he should have been in Hufflepuff? Ralph looked around at the other house guests, recognizing some, while he could remember very few of their names. The feeling of alienation rose in his chest and he felt the sting of it in his eyes. He needed to just get away for a second.

"Hey Aimee," he approached her a little off to the side, trying not to look at Caty as he did, "Where's the loo?"

Aimee courteously directed him in the direction of the bathroom, telling him which door it was and how to find it. Ralph thanked her and went on his way. He was relieved to escape the social setting, especially with his mind and body acting so strange. He didn't understand what was going on and why he felt the way he did, but it made Ralph uncomfortable. A quick splash of water on my face should shake me from this, the boy told himself as the sounds of the party faded away. It was quiet in the other part of the house. It would be good to get his bearings, at least.

--------------------------------------------

When Ralph returned to the party, everything was in full swing. Music was playing from a radio that had been dug up from somewhere, laughter and conversations filled the air, and Ralph had a sense of freshness that boosted his confidence.

He slid right up next to Caty, "So, you want to learn how to make candles someday?" That's a stupid question, Ralph, he kicked himself mentally. Candles? That was his strategy to getting to know Caty better? Talking about candles? Boy, he needed to get better at talking to girls...