Make new friends

Rise sighed. "I wish it were that easy.." She said to his comment about giving her time. She carefully pulled out a dented golden heart locket from around her neck, and looked down at it. "This is the only thing I have left from them.. besides the clothes on my back that were taken from me a long, long time ago.." She whispered, and then glanced at him. "It was like they targeted people like me.. boring people, people who wouldn't really be missed.. I didn't have anything wrong with me before that.. I was normal... I was quiet... and I stayed to myself! That was it! And then... he took me... and he made me into this!" She said this like it was the worst thing that could be uttered. She slowly looked up at him and saw his eyes were golden, and extremely wide, he stared at her like she was a monster, and she flinched away from the stare, the stare she got every time she managed to step out of her comfort zone and explain, the stare she had come to hate.

"Y-Yes..." She stammered, and then saw his gaze turn curious, less hostile, less... mean, and she stared back at him. "I hate it... I can't stand it! It wasn't my fault! And now people stare at me... people hate me because of something that was completely out of my control! I couldn't do anything! I didn't know where I was... I forgot myself, and who my family was.. I was beaten! Tortured, and worse!" She stared at him, hoping he understood what she meant without saying the actual word out loud, a word that not even Frank knew had happened to her, a word that she couldn't stand to utter, and a word that scared her. A word that people linked with criminals, a word that if she even uttered, even Ariel would be in trouble, and she couldn't do that.. he hadn't hurt her, the others had, and if she could help them find that camp, she would.. but she had no idea where it was.

Cradling her stomach, she stared at him, and frowned. "And you're a vampire.. and I'm supposed to hate you! But I don't.. I don't think it's right.. that in here.." She pointed at her head, "In here... she keeps saying over and over that I should hate you.. your my enemy.. your the monster, not me...But in here.." She pointed at her chest, right over her heart. "It says that you are in the same boat as me... that you have been put down... and hurt.. hopefully not as much as I have.. but to the extent of not being completely human..." She stared at him and leaned forward slightly. "They hate us and it's so degrading, it's so... mentally exhausting, and tiring, and horrible! I just want to... I want to cry all the time because no one understands.. so when I realized you were a vampire.. I ignored up here." She pointed to her head again. "And hoped you could too! I hoped you could look at me, and not see the werewolf.. but see the person, because we are in the same boat you and I! And I just want a friend." She was near tears as she looked at him, gripping the edge of the couch, pleading with him to understand.

Ryo laughed softly and scratched his head. "Hmm... I guess it's easier said than done, right?" he asked her. "She seems like a stubborn girl." he added, a smile forming on his lips. He looked at the locket in her hands and sighed. 'It wasn't your fault... what happened to you was something that was out of your control." he said. "What's done is done... No use crying over spilled milk." he added. He hoped that she wouldn't take what he said as being mean, because that was the last thing he was trying to be. There have been times, though, where he said almost the same thing and the person he said it to got mad, or sad thinking that he was trying to insult them. He didn't get why they thought that, the expression seemed harmless to him.

When she answered his question with a 'yes' he couldn't help but smile. "Then you and I are the same. I hate what I am." he said. He let out a small laugh. "We are to be natural enemies, but that doesn't always have to be the case." he told her. "I can easily ignore up here." he pointed to his head. "I ignore it all the time... which is usually why I get into trouble." he said, trying to get a laugh out of her. Then he cleared his throat and leaned in closer to her, putting his hand on hers. " I can see past the werewolf... trust me. I see the person you are." he said softly.

"Well in that case, you have a friend." he added smiling. He could tell that she wwas close to tears, and he wasn't sure what to do. He bit the inside of his lip and hugged her to show that he was willing to be her friend. That he could actually look past what she is on the outside, a werewolf, and he could see what she was on the inside, a person who has been put down alot because of what she is... Like him. "I know exactly how you feel. I wasn't easy for me to be born into a family of vampires." he whispered in her ear.

"I know.. I know I can't cry over it.. but... it hurts though.." She said putting her hand on her chest. "Parents aren't supposed to hate their children. They aren't supposed to do that.." she whispered, and then looked a bit surprised as she looked at him and he spoke. "It's not as hard for you though is it? You don't have a person up there... speaking to you... watching what you do.. and it's not like you're crazy.... it's totally legit, and people think you're different... They hate you.. and it's so hard." She looked at him as he laid his hand on hers, and she smiled at him carefully, "Thank you." She said and then felt his arms wrap around her, and she couldn't help but hug him back.

She heard him whisper in her ear, and she sniffled slightly, trying not to cry. "At least your family understands." She said softly, "Seeing as they are the same as you." She said and gently pulled away, carefully wiping her eyes on her arm, and smiling at him. "Thank you Ryo..." She said softly, looking at him and smiling as she wiped her eyes. "I know you know what it's like.. and it just feels nice to know that I can have a friend who doesn't totally hate me.. and that I can talk too.. I'm sorry...I don't mean to get emotional..." she said shaking her head and looking at him and hugging him again, feeling weird stirrings in her head and she pulled away from him quickly, putting her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry." She said moving away from him slightly.

Ryo shook his head. "Maybe not like someone like you have. But I do have a conscious, I'm not mindless." he said crossing his eyes trying to seem like he didn't have a brain. He laughed softly and brought his eyes back to their normal state carefully. "I know what you mean." he sighed. "The friends that I managed to make by acting like a human are all gone now. As soon as they found out I was a vampire they ran away... thinking that I was going to kill them..." he said softly, his eyes turning gray. "It's not fair that people judge you by how you look or by what you are... not everyone it the same and people need to learn that." he added.

He shook his head again and let out a laugh. "No they don't." he said. "They don't understand anything about me. My family doesn't get that I don't want to be a vampire, I want to be a normal guy, a human, or at least something other than a vampire. I don't want to have to drink blood all the time, the feeling you get when you just want it and you'll do anything to get it... it's disgusting." he hissed. "I hate the feeling, because then I have to find something that can help me calm down the feeling, just because I don't want to feed like the rest of my family. My sister's happy with that, and my uncle is too... but I'm not. And my uncle's wife isn't either, mostly because she's human." he smiled. "She's the only one who gets me, and my uncle keeps wanting to turn her into one of us, but neither she nor I will let him." he said softly.

Ryo smiled. "There's no need to thank me. That's what friends do, isn't it?" he told her smiling. He hugged her again and said, "I'll always be here for you Rise, so if you need to talk just tell me." something deep inside his didn't like his being so close to Rise, and he pulled away from her just as she did. He grabbed her hand gently trying to keep her from moving too much away from him. "Don't be sorry." he said simply and softly.

Rise couldn't help but laugh softly at his silly face. "I'm happy you're not mindless... I wouldn't have met you otherwise, I doubt you'd be let into the school if you weren't somewhat conscious." She said smiling at him. When he mentioned friends, Rise's face fell, and she stared at her lap. "I've never had friends really..." she said softly, frowning at her hands. "Before they took me, I was quiet.. no one knew who I was.. I went through life with no real purpose.. and then they took me.. and now I don't have friends because of who I am... I was forgotten so often, I got used to it.. the looks are so different for me.. because I'm used to fading into the background.. not being the center of attention."

"They are afraid of people like us Ryo.." she said softly, looking at him. "If I were to speak to you before this happened to me... I'd be the same way I bet... I was just like everyone else... and then... then I was made different.. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with it.." She said softly, still staring at her lap. "That's so weird..." She said softly, after he spoke about his family. "They want you to be more like a Vampire.. and you want to be more human.. and my family wants me to be human.. and I want to be human.. what's so special about being human anyway?" She got an annoyed look to her face.

When he hugged her again, she couldn't help but smile and hug him back, even though something inside made her feel really icky about it, like she wanted to go take a shower for touching him. She couldn't help but stare at his hand when he grabbed hers, and she smiled slightly, the puppy inside her head was growling, telling her to back off, wanting her to get as far away from this boy as possible, but it was the one thing she could do that the wolf had no control over. She could choose her friends, who cared what they were. "Who needs humans anyway?" She said softly, looking up into his eyes and blushing hard. "I mean... look at us! We're fine! Sure.. we tend to do things we normally wouldn't do... but that's what makes us.. us." She looked at him and smiled again, a large blush across her pale cheeks.

"I'm Rise, and you're Ryo.. we are two different people... and a Ravenclaw is a person, not a Hufflepuff, and he's still a person.. we are people, and even though people don't like to treat us as though we are.. we have feelings.. we think, and feel, and we can be friends with who ever we want to be! So we WILL be friends Ryo okay? You are so nice to me... one of the only people who have been nice to me.. and I do want friends, so thank you Ryo... thank you." she said smiling at him widely.

Ryo smiled at her laugh and raised his arms a little. "Finally, a laugh from you! I win!" he laughed and felt stupid for saying that. He seemed like a five year old playing with his best friend. "I think if I was mindless, I would have totally destoryed the school by now." he laughed. "I had few friends, and my sister made sure of that." he said. "I swear it's like her goal to take everything away from me, to have all the attention on her." he shrugged. "But I guess it wasn't all bad, it kept the weird people away from me all the time. I was never noticed so I was basically like you. I faded into the background, but only for a few years, because then alot of people found out I was vampire, and all the attention turned to me or Sayuri, though she took it like she was a super model and she loved it. I didn't, I felt sick to my stomache having everyone stare at me the way they did because I wasn't human." he told her softly, remembering the looks his peers gave, and still give, him when they found out what he was.

"I would probably be terrified of you, if I was like them and I was talking to you." he said seriously. "I would probably be gripping onto the edge of my chair, my insides screaming." he went back to his seat and gripped the chair hard staring at her like he was going to puke, "Like this" he said then relaxed his muscles and laughed. "But I know someone who no matter what you are, vampire, werewolf, anything she won't be afraid." he told her. "She's basically the only friend I have now, because she understands what it's like to be picked on and to feel different, and she's human." he added emphasizing the 'human' part. He shrugged at her question. "I don't really know... I guess it's just the feeling of being normal, of fitting in that makes it seem better than what we are." he said.

The feeling he had deep inside him that didn't like him being so close to a werewolf was gone, but what remained was the voice of his conscious, the one he had gotten to leave him alone for a while. Now it was back. It was telling him that he was stupid, he couldn't trust a werewolf. That RIse was his enemy. But Ryo ignored it, she wasn't his enemy, she was the same as he was, someone different who was always put down and he screamed that to his conscious. It shut up, knowing Ryo was right, but now he had a sort of uneasy feeling with Rise, he was trying to ignore it,, and when she spoke everything deteriorated and his mind left him alone. He smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, we don't need to be humans to be able to fit in. We just have to ignore what others say about people like us, and we'll be fine!" he said. He studied her eyes for a moment, before noticing the blush on her cheeks and he stared at her, wondering why she was blushing.

Boy, was he dense.

"Just because we aren't like them on the outside, doesn't mean that we aren't on the inside. We feel and think the same as them, maybe not all the time, but we are the same as them." he said softly. 'We WILL be friends." Ryo said nodding to reassure her. "Like I said before, no need to thank me, and I'll be here for you whenever you need me." he told her, looking into her eyes. "You are so unlike anyone I've ever met... but in a good way." he smiled at her

Rise couldn't stop the grin on her face when he laughed because she had. Rise's smile fell away quickly though when he spoke of his sister. "I wouldn't have listened to her." She said softly. "I don't like people who put others down... I can't stand it.. it's mean.. and rude, and most of the time it's wrong!" She said angrily, her fists clenched at her sides. "It's not fair... we didn't do anything." She whispered, staring at her feet, her eyes slowly sliding up to stare at Ryo, feeling a bit happier that he was there, he knew what she meant by all of this. She knew he knew, and it was such a comfort to her!

Rise couldn't help but flinch when he gave her an example of how he would have looked at her. She couldn't help but look down at her lap, and she felt that happy feeling be shredded in her chest for a moment. Until he slowly relaxed, and she looked up at him her eyes glistening. "It's such a horrible look." She whispered, looking completely downcast. "I've seen it so much.. I'm so not used to it." She said staring at him, and frowning. "I wear the scarf to hide it.. but the teachers.. they stare at me... I hate it.." Rise couldn't help but look up when he mentioned someone who was human and understood him. "Who? That's great! You're so lucky! I wish I could find someone like that.." She said staring at him, amazed.

Rise couldn't help but smile at him when he smiled at her, and her blush grew to amazing proportions. She didn't blush that often, and this time it was crazy. It crossed from her cheeks, to her ears, all the way down to her neck and up to her forehead, and she didn't know why! He was smiling at her in such a friendly way, and her werewolf side was panting with the heat of her face, she looked down at her lap, trying to avoid his gaze. When he said she was different, but in a good way, she glanced up and then back down. "You're different too I guess... I like having someone to talk to.." She looked up at him and smiled. "It's different.. different in a good way.. even though up here is yelling at me for talking to you." She said tapping her forehead. "Here is happy I am." She touched the spot over her heart and smiled at him.

Ryo looked at his open hand before he clenched it and looked at Rise. "I never listen to her, all she does is get in trouble, because she doesn't hide who she is." he said. "But she wasn't always like that. She was actually really sweet and kind, even toward me, when we were little kids." he said, bringing his hand to his chest. "I think that she changed after our parents died. And we became even more distant from each other when everyone found out we're vampires." he said softly, bringing his hand down to his lap. He stared at his lap for a moment before looking up at her. "I don't like people like that either, but we can't change who they are, the same as we can't change who we are." he told her, the same smile still on his face.

Ryo noticed her flinch at the example he gave her and he bit the inside of his lip again. "Uhh... sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad." he said, extending his arm toward her, but again he pulled it back quickly. "I see it all the time, from my peers... my family... everyone." he said, looking down at his hand again. "They all look at me like that for different reasons, and I'll never get used to it, even though I've been seeing that since I was born." he added softly, still staring at his hand. "She's still young, but she's been forced to grow up faster than she's supposed to because of her sister. And because of that she's always been picked on and she feels different from everyone else. She's a third year Gryffindor, Hitame Higurashi." he told Rise softly, smiling as he remembered his friend. "I'm sure she'll be your friend too. She doesn't care what you are, she'll understand all you've been through." he added his smile now directed at her, not at his memories.

His eyes darted across Rise's face looking at her blush. It had extended to her whole face, and Ryo still had no idea why she was blushing. Some part of his was saying it was because of him, and he was beginning to believe that part, though he didn't know if that was true. His mind had started talking again, but it wasn't saying anything about her being a werewolf. No, it was finally saying that she was his friend, and that she was someone who he could totally trust. His heart and mind were finally on the page and he couldn't help but smile at that. "Here and here." he touched his head and heart, "Are now both happy I'm talking to you. They finally made a decision." he said talking as though his mind and heart were two different people.

Rise stared at him and frowned. "You're parents died? I'm so sorry." She whispered, looking down at her hands. At least her parents were still alive, even if they pretended she wasn't.. "No one can change each other.. but we sure wish we could, right?" She said smiling slightly and then looking at her hands again, her mind going to the one person she wish she could change at that time. Not really change THEM, but change how they thought about her. She had never meant harm to be done towards Alice Longbottom, she hated the fact that she HAD caused harm.. but what else could she do? She had been taken in, and she had made herself at home, and not thought about how Alice would feel, and she hated herself for it.

"It's okay... I just..I'm not used to anything like that... I'm used to... passing glances, I was the unknown kid, I was... forgotten.." She couldn't help but feel sadder at that word. She had been forgotten to the extent of no one knowing she was even gone until the school year had started back up again. No one knew who she was, and no one missed her at all. It had been so easy to get away with kidnapping her, Rise couldn't help but feel frightened. They could do it again, she knew they could, if they wanted too, they could grab her again and take her away, and hurt her again if she didn't step up and make herself known to people, who would miss her if she was gone again.

Rise looked up when he mentioned his friend, and she smiled slightly. "She sounds nice.." She said softly, the blush still on her face. "She's human.. and knows what people like us go through... it's sad, but kinda nice in a way.. we can be there for her.. and she can be there for us... we can be friends." She said smiling at Ryo and perking up a little bit, smiling at him. When he spoke about his head and his heart being happy, she couldn't help but smile, and she looked at him happily. "Up here is still confused, and kinda shocked.." she said touching her head carefully, but pointed at her chest after that. "But here is making it rethink everything, and is slowly persuading." she said giggling lightly and blushing harder at her giggle. She didn't laugh to often, and it felt weird to have that happen, it embarrassed her even, she hated her laugh, because it was kinda shrill, and high pitched, and girly, and made her sound like a dumb blonde, even though she tried not to be. She hated a lot of things about herself, and she wished it wasn't like that... maybe Ryo could help with that though.

Ryo shook his head and gave Rise a sad smile. "Yes they died in a car accident. I was the only survivor of the accident, and I was about 7 years old." he said. "Maybe that's why everyone in my family ignores me, maybe they think that I'm mocking them because I survived and my parents didn't." he shrugged. "Even though I'm not mocking them, or at least I think I'm not." he added. He was being dragged into his thoughts when Rise's voice pulled him back out. He blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I wish we could change people." he said. "If we could I would change only one person..." he added softly, being dragged back into his mind.

"So was I..." he said softly, talking mostly to himself. He put his hand on her cheek and smiled. "But don't worry about that anymore, Rise. You won't be forgotten again." he told her. "At least not by me." he added a wide smile on his face. "I never fotget my friends, and you won't be the exception." he said to her, retracting his hand from her face quickly. If he couldn't change that he was forgotten by everyone, he could at least change that for Rise. All she needed was one person to not forget her, and that person could be him.

Ryo nodded and sighed. "She is nice, but it's hard to gain her trust, believe me. Especially if you're human." he said. "This summer alone has been worse than what she's been through in her entire life, she told me. And last year her new found brother had an accident with another vampire who was turned evil, and now he doesn't trust us." he added. "In fact he tried to kill me because he saw my close to Hitame. She stoppe dhim though, but not before he did some damage to me." he said, holding his arm where her brother had hurt him. "Yeah, we can all be friends, she'll like having a werewolf friend. She said she finds them fascinating." he smiled at her. "Well up here is going to be persuaded soon, trust me." he said touching her forehead lightly before pulling away. He smiled and laughed softly at her giggle, and he looked at her face again, seeing her blush harder. He thought she must not like her giggle because she blushed and he smiled. "You have a nice laugh, you know that?" he asked her softly.