Everyone is just getting started!

(Reply) (Thread)

Grab your parent and 'round we go!

(Reply) (Thread)

Previous years Parents Weekend for Samir had involved moving chairs and giving directions, which suited him fine. It was easy and the downtime spent in the staff room away from parents was plentiful. This year however, he had been deemed professional enough to be right in the thick of the action with a little divination table set up and giving free readings to parents if they so wished. It was more effort but Samir wasn't giving proper readings, just generic ones aimed at turning the opinion of the subject around. The fact was divination was still seen as a joke, a easy pass and Professor Davis was keen to dispell any of that. Never mind that she was useless, in Samir's opinion.

Even with his short sleeves Samir was uncomfortable with the evening heat, not to mention distracted by the thought of Sunday's fireworks. He was perched on the edge of the little card table with his eyes closed when he had the odd feeling that someone was licking his shoe. Looking down, he was confronted with a dog and laughed gently, giving it a scratch behind the ears.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Dani hated parent's weekend, it was just another excuse for the whole family to come to campus and pick away at every little thing. The only thing she ever looked forward to was being able to spend time with her mom. Dani's parents had opted out of an official tour, choosing instead to have their own daughter walk them around and show them some of her favorite things. She had intended to take them to the quodpot field but Laddy other plans. The blue minipit had been pulling on his leash all night and when Dani was distracted he gave her the slip, sneaking out of his collar and bolting.

Laddy made his way around the field, checking out the tables and getting treats from random passers until he found his way over to Samir's table. A dog with a sweet disposition he greeted the scratches with a happy tail wag until he heard Dani's voice. His ears went flat to his head and his tail tucked between his legs.

"Laddy! You fat little shit!" she hollered as she crossed the field. Markus and Jada were right behind her, Markus looking embarrassed and Jada only smiling. "Oh fuck sorry Mr. Marciano," she said clipping Laddy's collar and leash back on. "You aint gettin' any treats tonight," she scolded the dog.

"Danielle Elizabeth," Markus barked sternly. "Watch your mouth."

Her eyes got wide, remembering that she was in front of one of the faculty members. "Well shit, sorry."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Samir never got used to being called 'Mr. Marciano' and it even took him a second to realise it was pretty inappropriate to go around cursing infront of staff members. He had to laugh anyway, a little light relief was a very welcome distraction. "Aw, it aint nothin'" he said, smiling at Dani and the girl's father. He knew who she was, just like how you ended up knowing who all the students were from talk in the staff room. Sam was pretty sure he'd supervised a dentention or two with Dani too.

Samir reached out to shake both her parent's hands. "Any of y'all interested in divination?" It was unlikely, juding by the luke warm reception he'd recieved the rest of the day.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Dani wiped at her forehead. That was the very reason she loved support staff, they were a little more lenient than the professors. "Thanks," she said scratching behind Laddy's ears and smiling at Samir.

Dani's parents both shook his hands in turn. "I'm Markus and this is my wife Jada. We must apologize for our Danielle's behavior, she's got quite the mouth on her," he said diplomatically.

Dani flushed a bit at her dad's introduction. "Daaad," Dani said her eyes getting wide.

"That would be fun!" Jada interjected. "Wouldn't that be fun Dani?" she asked pushing her daughter's hair behind her shoulders.

"Alright ma," she said a little defeated.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

This man seemed like a real trip to have as a daddy and Samir found himself biting his tongue a little to settle down. "Well we were all young once, sir" he replied, catching Dani's eye with a flicker of sympathy.

Stepping aside from the table Samir revealed a few tools, a crystal ball in an orante stand, a teapot charmed to stay full and hot and a few books with scribbles in. "I can do you a ball reading or look at your tea leaves" he offered. "Or a palm reading. What'll it be?"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sunny always volunteered to help out for parent's weekend. She figured one of her brothers or sisters would entertain her parents while she lead some tours for first years and transfer students and their families. She moved in front of the group assembled for her tour and smiled. "Hi everyone!" she said brightly. "I'm Sunny, and I'll be bringing you around the campus today. If you have any questions, ask away!"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

To Tatum, there were only two good things about the first day of parents weekend. First of all, Friday was the only day that she got to dress herself. Her parents had arrived after class, and so she was already showered and wearing her own choice of clothes. She had no doubt that her step-mother would be trying to 'help' her dress up the next few days that she was around.

The second good thing was her plan to give her parents the slip later, a perfect plan dreamed up with Sam. She was more than a little bit pumped for watching Dawn of the Dead. It had been far too long. With her head in the clouds thinking about zombies, she was glad to have something else to think about except this stupid tour she had to go on. Every single year since she had started at Blue Ridge, her step-mother liked to go on the student lead tours. Even though things rarely changed all that much, she always insisted on going and Tatum was almost always the one who got stuck going with her.

After the second year, everyone else learned to make up excuses.

With her headphones hung around her neck, the redhead had every intention to pull them up and listen to them once the tour actually got going. "Isn't that your friend, dear?" Madeline asked from beside her, snapping Tatum out of her thoughts and making her look up. She felt a weight lifting off her shoulders. She had lucked out and gotten Sunny after all.

Lifting her hand weakly, she gave the other girl a little wave. Beside her, the redhead's step-mother frowned a bit. What sort of greeting was that meant to be, the older woman wondered. It sometimes confused her how her oldest daughter could be so.. strange.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"Oh hey Tate!" Sunny called enthusiastically, giving the red head a wave. Distracted momentarily by a worried mom asking about parental supervision for trips into Bluebell Town, Sunny quickly explained that there were trips every other Saturday and no one was ever left in town.

She started walking the group around the campus. Bringing them from the quodpot field down to the muggle sports field and the quidditch pitch where she explained the sports programs at the school. She brought them down around to the green house. After that it was to the gym, the library, and then back around the housing buildings and the two class buildings. Sunny, as always, interjected a few stories throughout the tour to liven up the monotony of the tour. She answered a few more questions from first year parents and then meandered toward the back where she knew she had seen Tatum.

"Hey you, how was your first week back?" she asked brightly.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Tatum was more than glad to keep to herself for the majority of the tour. She would look up occasionally when her step-mother would raise her hand for a question, the redhead pulling her headphones down a bit to listen and make sure she wasn't asking something silly or embarrassing. But aside from the repetition of the tour, she spent every day navigating these grounds after all, it didn't seem to be going so bad.

When Sunny sidled up to her, she managed a weak smile and pulled her headphones down again. "N-Not bad," she replied quietly, looking to see that her step-mother was chatting happily with another mother. Presumably a first year's mom, as Tatum could now softly hear Madeline re-assuring the other woman that her son would be just fine, the staff were just brilliant and the student government was wonderful as well. Her daughter and her best friend were on it, she was saying, and Tatum quickly turned back to Sunny instead of listening to more endless praise for Sera.

"Just trying t-to, y'know, plot my escape.. no offense," she added, smiling sheepishly. "Sam is going to r-rescue me for a while later, I think. After the concert.. I'm pretty pumped."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sunny smiled warmly. "Yeah, Sam told me you were going to be on the tour again so I looked up the assignments and snatched your group from a second year," she beamed. Quietly, she leaned in a bit, "I'm actually surprised she still makes you go on these things," she said behind her hand, laughing a little.

"What are your plans? Going on a secret date?" she teased gently.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Freshly prepared by the culinary students.

(Reply) (Thread)

Much like all the other students at Blue Ridge, Michi dreaded parent's weekend. It was just another reason for her mother and her former step father to gush over Yori and criticize Michiko, at least that's what it felt like to her. It wasn't just parent's weekend though, Michi was sure was coming down with something. She had been suffering waves of nausea all day and was just trying to fight another one as they sat at one of the long dinner tables together.

"Michiko Anna," Mika snapped from across the table. "Stop playing with your food," she chastised.

"I aint hungry," Michi said sullenly.

"You want come of my dinner Cocoa?" Yori asked sweetly, pushing his plate toward his big sister. "We can share if ya want," he offered.

Michi couldn't help but smile and ruffle his hair. "Nah, it's okay Yor. I don't want you goin' hungry."

"You know Michiko, you're not really setting a good example for your little brother," Akio interjected.

Michi glared at him. "You barely say a word to me in twelve years yet you feel it's necessary to criticize me every second of the one day you see?" she asked, an incredulous look on her face. She was having a shit day and she just wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"Michiko, don't speak to your step father like that!" Mika said angrily.

"He aint my step dad," Michiko said, deliberately slow. "You two split and he signed over his parental rights. I can talk to that asshole any damn way I want," she covered her mouth and waited for the barrage, wincing slightly but was glad when she received silence. It was only then that she noticed they were no longer alone at their end of the table.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

She had tried really hard to hold back, had tried especially hard to mind her own business. But from the minute that she had picked out her own lunch, Hunter had been absently watching Michiko and her family as they sat at their family. Her seat, a few tables away, was perfect; her height let her look over other people's heads. She hadn't seen her girlfriend since the night before, and the last that she had heard, she still hadn't been feeling so hot. Hunter herself hadn't caught whatever it was yet, and that almost had her more worried.

Well, they had decided, at least she couldn't be pregnant or something. That was just silly.

It was no secret that Mika didn't care for Hunter, and the blonde had resolved that she wouldn't make this weekend worse on Michi than it needed to be. But it was clear, even though she wasn't close enough to make out what they were saying, it was already getting bad. Scowling, the blonde girl made one of her usual snap decisions and rose to her feet, picking up her lunch tray along with her.

Stalking down the aisles between the tables until she came to the one the four were seated at, Hunter stopped and stood at the end. When Michi finally looked up, the last to notice her, she met the younger girl with a waggle of her eyebrows. "Hey you girl."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Michi couldn't help but smile when she saw Hunter despite all the shit that had just gone down at the table. "Hey you," she said softly. "Join us," she said patting the bench next to her.

"Hi Hunter!" Yori said brightly from Michi's other side.

Mika was practically bristling and she had to wonder if Michi had made up with the crass blonde. She had known of their relationship the first time it happened but Michi hadn't told her that they were back together. That would just take the cake on the weekend, Mika thought to herself. "Aren't Jessica's parents here?" she asked. "Won't they want to see her?"

"Hunter can have meals with her parents whenever she wants," Michiko said turning her head to her mother. "Besides... I want to sit with my girlfriend."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Hunter didn't need any more of an invite than that. If Michi wanted her there, she was staying until the other girl told her to leave. And whatever Mika and her supposed husband thought about that were somewhere at the very bottom of the list of things the blonde cared about.

"Thanks," she said brightly, moving over and plopping down next to Michiko with her food. "Hey shrimp! What's up?" she answered, leaning forward on the table a bit to see around Michi and grin at Yori.

It wasn't hard to tell the tension that had set in from the adults across the table, but Hunter wouldn't let it deter her. She was just going to grin and try to keep them off of Michi's back as much as she could. She didn't plan to be rude to them, but if they kept looking at her like that..

When Mika asked about her parents, Hunter turned toward her with an unusually sheepish smile. "Well, my folks aren't exactly the visitin' type.. I mean, to come all the way up here, muggles an' all so they'd hafta fly.. I'm jus' by my lonesome this weekend," she explained, with a smile and a shrug. Trying not to seem like it bothered her. It sort of did in a lot of little ways, but it was expected. She was already over it.

She didn't even tense up when Michi called her 'girlfriend' in front of her parents, but she was a bit surprised. She remembered how well that had gone over last time. Leave it to her girl to cut to the chase. "Oh yeah, that too," the blonde quickly agreed, scooting over closer to Michi. "I mean, I sure did miss her all day, ma'am."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"Nuffin!" he said brightly. "Eatin dinner with Cocoa but she don't feel good," he pouted a little, putting his small hand on her back and giving it a rub.

"Thanks buddy," Michi said sweetly. She loved that kid but hated the fact that both of their "parents" had fought for him but not even lifted a finger for her. She hated the way that they were always plotted against each other.

Mika practically bristled at the blonde and the fact that Michi had called her girlfriend. Her eyes narrowed. "Of course, normal travel is much more inefficient for travel than your magical travel," she said stiffly.

"Whatever happened to Pascual?" Akio asked without lifting his eyes to the girls.

Michi grinned at Hunter knowingly and snorted a bit. "Well... he's history," she said. "I broke up with him."

"I never liked him anyways!" Yori said crossing his arms. "I like Hunter," he insisted.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Enjoy the show!

(Reply) (Thread)

What happens off campus, stays off campus

(Reply) (Thread)

Once the dance portion of the evening had begun, Tatum had no trouble in seeking Sam out in the dispersing band and choir students. She had seen Sera standing with their parents as the dancing began, but that was the last thing she saw as they ducked out of one of the side doors. She was fairly certain that as soon as the concert was over entirely, her sister would probably be chasing down Jenny anyway.

Really, the concert probably was actually over by now, as they were finally just settling in comfortably in Sam's room. It was really only next door to her own, but she had ducked home long enough to change into something more comfortable and roll a couple of joints. She smoked the first one in her room, knowing Sam really wasn't really into the scene. She'd duck out and have the other one on a commercial break later or something.

Now settled contently in his room for their little date and with Dawn of the Dead a few minutes in on the tv, the redhead made her way over to his bed with the tv remote. She tossed it lightly onto his chest before flopping down beside him, propping herself up on her elbow and grinning.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam grinned over at Tatum when she flopped onto the bed next to him. He had to admit he was a bit nervous about their "date" though in the back of his head he kept reminding himself about Colin. He couldn't help but ignore the other kid's existence when it was just him and Tatum hanging out though.

Franklin jumped up on the bed and settled in Sam's lap, stretching his neck to give Tatum kisses. "He's bein' a little flirt," Sam laughed.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"Could there be any finer music to liken orchestrate a z-zombie apocalypse than J-Johnny Cash?" she asked rhetorically, watching the opening credits play intently. Until Franklin began kissing her, making her scrunch up her face a bit and pull back smiling.

"Dog germs," she sighed dramatically, leaning her face over and wiping it playfully on Sam's shoulder, "Gotta spread the l-love!"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam hadn't exactly been paying attention to the opening credits. He was more focused on Tatum, her little grin and the way she wiped her face on his shoulder. "Hush that Franklin," he grinned scratching behind the dog's ears.

Ever so carefully Sam put his arm around Tatum's shoulders to test the waters, seeing if she would stay snuggled up to him. "Dogs mouth is the cleanest mouth on the planet," he laughed lightly.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Tatum reached out, scratching under Franklin's chin as Sam scratched his ears. "I hear that, but I've smelled dog food and I'm not sure I can deal," she laughed back.

She didn't move away from the arms around her, scooting in closer in fact and getting comfortable again. Her eyes were on the tv, and she didn't break her gaze as she spoke. "I'd still rather kiss Franklin than Mackenzie Dubinsky," she murmured. The blonde girl hadn't harassed her this weekend, probably due to Sera's request on the matter, but the party was still fresh in her mind. She scowled. "Idiot.."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)