Escaping the Negative

Standing at the entrance of the library with an assortment of books tucked under her arm, Jazmin blew a strand of hair away from her face as she contemplated her situation. It wasn't as packed as she anticipated, but she really had no other choice. She made a beeline to the farthest end of the library and tossed her things into the cleanest corner she could find before settling herself down. The library was quite big and if she really wanted to she could probably find a nice secluded corner on one of the upper levels. The fact was many of the bookshelves were secret passages that only the caretaker knew well enough and could creep about the castle relatively unnoticed. Perhaps all those times her mum warned her about creepy men snatching children finally started to sink in. Whatever the reason, Jazmin was not keen on exploring the library or the castle too much, especially not alone.

Jazmin's one hope was that she was well hidden enough to escape the clutches of her roommate, Cassandra. If she had to listen to one more sermon about the importance of well kept hair and fingernails, she didn't know what she would do to the girl. Maybe strangle her with her own hair extensions.

She inhaled deeply and didn't exhale for another twenty seconds, letting go of all the negativity that accumulated from her encounter with Cassandra. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.” she recited to aloud to herself, and cracked open her potions book to begin her homework.

Normally, he avoided the library but lately there had been a bit of 'inspiration brewing within the common rooms. Suddenly everyone wanted to be the next big-man, right not to ol' Voldey himself. It was begining to get to the point where people would just steal books for the sake of being 'bad'. He just needed to step away from it all, find some solace in the tensions the library held. There was an array of mocking to do...... The library had either two crowds, people who genuinely studied there, and people who seemed to think just by BEING there they were getting any smarter, and that by making index cards they would somehow pass the next exam. Now THOSE were the type he liked to mock.And to his dissappointment, not a singly one was to be found.

Pahhhhhhhh........... He began to roam around the library for somethign to do. Reading was out of the question. He almost passed a perfect opportunity as he walked his way back to leave when he noticed the mop of messy hair, though how anyone miss it was beyond him..

"..." His ears wiggled for a moment at the words he heard. Yepp..... It was begining to make sense now. He paused at the back of her chair, She probably hadn't noticed him on account of her reflecting on her wants and desires out of his life. Yepp. Little did she know he was everywhere and no secret was safe without being within an earshot of his. "Thats right Jaz...... Once you start letting all that denial go, you'll finally realize that all that hate was really a mix of love and envy of all this" he made a sweeping motion indicating himself. Seriously. This chick had to come to terms with the facts. She was like a modern day Helga for christsakes, minus the unibrow and pink dress.

Quill in hand and hunched over the table, it would appear to any passerby that Jazmin was hard at work. In reality, she read over the assignment five times and didn't absorb a single word. She hated writing essays for potions class. They were dreadfully boring and she always had to add BS sentences to stretch out the paragraphs, otherwise she would fall short of the minimum length required and never hear the end of it.

Sighing, she pushed the parchment and books to the side and lay her head down on the table. A little nap never hurt anyone and if she was lucky enough, maybe she'd have a really inspiring dream and wake up to write a novel.

....................

She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. The idea sent a chill down her spine and as she started to sit up to investigate, she was started by a horribly irritating yet familiar voice. Jazmin instinctively grabbed the nearest book and swung it at his big head.

"Jesus, what is WRONG with you? You can't just sneak up on people like that. What the hell are you doing standing behind me like that anyway?" She was on her feet now, facing the boy. So much for positive thinking.

She escaped one freak only to encounter an even bigger one.

For a second he forgot how she could get.... and it was his fault for not predicting the coming of events when the book smacked him square in the face. "Jeez.. You hit like a girl" he rubbed his head painfully, unwilling to admit completely that it hurt like a B****. He mumbled irritably under his breath "beefed up on steroids" He was half listening and half wishing he had dodged the book. Really.... how could she hit the moneymaker right there. Still...... she probably didn't know better, and those rash feelings could easily be read as embarrasement due to being overheard as she cried her lone melody of love and desires aloud. He stopped rubbing at his face now that they were face to face, not more than a few inches apart.

"Aw..... sorry." he pouted, his hand grazed her cheek and pinched it firmly, wiggling it for a moment as a grandma might do to her niece. "I forgot how you get when you cant see this face" he shook his head sorrowfully, her face read contempt but her eyes said different. It always was the case when it came to jazmin.

"it's alright...." He pressed his finger onto her lips "im right here, absorb it" he pulled his hand away before she bit it off, learning from his mistakes in the past.

Jazmin chose to ignore the crack about the way she hit. She didn't expect someone like him to understand her cause and besides, he was obviously looking for some kind of reaction and she refused to play into it. She was on to his game.

"Leon, I'm busy. Go away, please." she managed a smile and resumed her seat at the table.

When it came to Leon, and people like him, it was best to ignore. No matter how much she wanted to punch his lights out, sometimes it was better to pretend he didn't exist. It was the only way to ensure she didn't beat his ass. Jazmin was typically a non violent person, but there was something about the skinny little dweeb she just could not tolerate. He was just so...sure of himself...and pranced around like he was God's gift to women when in reality he was butt ugly and the sight of him made her want to vomit.

She smiled to herself and pulled out her DADA textbook from the pile in front of her, hoping to have better luck with an easier assignment.

THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD!

Jazmin decided to take the pissy route and try and ignore him. Did she really think that shit would work on him? "........................" He sat there trying to think of something else to do while attempting to catch his cool once more. The defeaning silence filled the atmosphere of the library, every so often the turningof a page could be heard. Okay. It did bother him. The mixture of silence and lack of response from her was so cold it caused the goosebumps to surface on his arms. Damnit. What a B**** and now she got that goddamn song in his head so now the only feelings arising in his manly soul were raging fury.

Hmph..... Now he was bored. He leaned back in his chair, balancing it on its back legs until.......... oh........... shit............ He brought the chair back to the floor with a loud chunk and began looking around Jazmins area where is it....... right. there He fumbled below her, pulling her bag closer to his legs and began rummaging through the miscellaneous papers. damn, and here I thought I was unorganized... It was like a pigsty in there, but hey.. he wasn't complaining. At last he found the homework for dada, and pulled it out in one swipe.

He got up from his seat immediately, and swagered toward the exit. He waved the paper in the air. "Thanks! I owe you one!" he turned briefly to thank her as if she had given him it on her own free will.