gooseberryhigh | (no subject)

WHO: Pippa Nightingale & Jaime Castillo
WHEN: Monday afternoon, 24th April
WHERE: Azurcrest campsite
WHAT: Prom recon… and maybe more?

Pippa had been to visit Essie so many times that the path up to Azurcrest was almost as familiar as the one to the Ribbonfin campsite, but her heart had never pounded quite this hard while making the trek. It wasn’t just the steepness of the path: she was on a MISSION, and despite her bold words to Essie she was feeling a bit jittery.

Arriving at the top of the trail, Pippa paused to catch her breath and comb her fingers through her hair, hoping she looked casual while she scanned the campsite. Her hopes dropped when she couldn’t spot Jaime anywhere, but then -- thank Merlin! -- someone stood up and moved aside, and Pippa saw him sitting on one of the logs around the fire pit. He was directly in line with the sophomore girls’ cabin. Perfect.

Sauntering over in what she hoped was a very casual manner, Pippa stopped beside Jaime like she’d only just noticed him. “Hi!”

In all honesty, even if crafty Pippa had been considerably more conspicuous about her approach of Jaime the boy likely would not have noticed. Such things rarely occurred to him, and he especially wouldn’t expect Pippa to have any ulterior motives in coming to speak with him. Though somewhat surprised by her appearance and attention Jaime clearly didn’t mind it. He beamed up at the girl from his seat, curious but obviously unsuspecting. He’d never turn down attention, especially from a cute girl.

“Hey Pippa! Coming to see Essie?”

Pippa nodded, pleased that she didn't have to explain that bit. "Yep! But just for boring Transfiguration homework," she added hastily, rolling her eyes for good measure. She thought this was a very clever way of explaining why she wasn't immediately rushing off to see Essie, like she normally would.

"So, how's it going?" she asked, encouraged by Jaime’s wide smile. "How's, um, Quidditch?"

As Pippa rolled her eyes Jaime curled his lip a bit in dismay for the girl, though a hint of a smile remained to suggest his distaste wasn’t too serious. “Ah, well, at least you have someone to do it with, right? It makes it a bit more….fun?” He wasn’t sure anything could make homework fun.

Seeing that Pippa had no intention of immediately leaving, Jaime patted a spot on the log next to him, his smile back full force. “Good, good. Already ready for classes to be over, though. And I should figure out my senior project, probably. And maybe do some homework today too. But… Quidditch is good! Even if we are not winning it is still fun. But, how are you?? Anything exciting going on?” Though still a little surprised by the girl’s interest in speaking with him he saw no reason to overanalyze it. Sometimes people just want to catch up, right??

“Essie could make anything fun,” Pippa agreed loyally. She didn’t hesitate to sit down next to Jaime when he patted the log, feeling self-conscious but kind of thrilled to be so close to a cute junior boy. And Jaime was really cute. She was taking it as a very good sign that he wanted her to stay and talk to him. “Senior projects sound tough,” she said, wrinkling her nose sympathetically. “But you’ve got time to figure it out, and I know you’ll come up with something good!”

At Jaime’s question, Pippa shrugged lightly and said, “Oh, you know. Everyone’s super excited about prom right now. It’s all anyone can talk about.” She darted a quick sideways look at Jaime to see how he reacted to the mention of prom.

“I could see Essie making anything fun,” Jaime responded, sounding somewhat convinced even with just Pippa’s assertion. Essie certainly seemed fun, and who was he to question her??

Pleased that Pippa has sat down next to him, the Azurcrest boy shifted slightly to angle himself more towards her. “It is...kind of hard to pick one out, you know? But it will come to me. Probably. But I appreciate your confidence in me.” Though honestly slightly concerned about figuring out his project, he let out a laugh. “If you stay with us long enough I guess you will feel the pain of that, too. You will probably come up with something without too much trouble though.” While actually not certain of this fact by any means, Jaime was always happy to give the benefit of the doubt to others.

“Oh, yeah, I guess people are starting to think about prom, aren’t they? With all the nominations going on, even if it is a little while away.” Jaime’s reaction was… his usual peppy self, which was maybe not that helpful to Pippa. But at the very least he didn’t seem uninterested, and there was no indication that he had been thinking about it seriously… meaning he probably hadn’t considered asking anyone yet.

Senior projects seemed an impossibly long way off to Pippa, who had only just allowed herself to start imagining what junior year would be like at Gooseberry. But she didn’t want to remind Jaime that she was only a sophomore -- it was bad enough that the seniors referred to them as babies, honestly -- so she just nodded sagely, like she knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Prom’s only a month away,” she said teasingly, nudging Jaime gently with her elbow. “Everyone tells me that’s no time at all! I mean, I wouldn’t know. This is my first prom. But it feels like the build-up is half the fun.” Pippa glanced at Jaime again and tried to keep a hopeful note out of her voice as she asked, “So, you haven’t thought about it at all yet? No plans of who you’d like to go with?” Surreptitiously, she crossed the fingers of her left hand and held her breath, waiting for his answer.

Watching the girl curiously, Jaime laughs at the teasing tone and the nudge. “Ah, a month is kind of a long time though? I mean, I can’t even think a week out sometimes,” he says with a grin, gently returning her nudge. “I am maybe not the best person to ask about whether that’s ‘no time at all,’ then.”

Pippa’s question has him tilting his head as he considers, but it’s only for a moment because there’s not much to think about. “I haven’t thought about it at all, actually. Not that I do not want to go, just… yeah, maybe I don’t think more than a week out.” If the hopefulness bleeds into Pippa’s voice at all Jaime either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because he’s just smiling at the girl like she could have no reason to ask him about his plans beyond just being curious.

Pippa giggled at Jaime’s words, and went pink as he nudged her back. She was never sure when boys were flirting and when they were just being friendly, but this felt promising! And even being friendly was a good start, right??

A moment later, however, a crease appeared between her eyebrows as she wondered what this actually meant. THE GOOD NEWS: Jaime didn’t have a date! THE BAD NEWS: It didn’t sound like he was planning on asking anyone soon... or maybe ever... (Ugh, boys!!) Stalling, Pippa pulled her hair over her shoulder and ran her fingers through it in a move that she hoped was both nonchalant and flirtatious. (She’d seen this move in a rom-com, and so far rom-coms had never steered her wrong.) Should she wait? Drop more hints? Or be BOLD??? Her heart racing, Pippa made a split-second decision, and blurted out, “Do you want to go with me? To prom, I mean?” (Duh, Pippa, like you’d be talking about something else.)

Jaime clearly responded positively to Pippa’s giggle - he was smiling and, maybe, even looked a tiny bit proud of himself for the flush in her cheeks. It was nice to see a favorable reaction. Even with this, he wasn’t expecting an invite from the sophomore - he was surprised enough that, immediately following her words, he was just silent and blinking at the girl. Had she just asked him to prom?

It definitely took him a moment, but upon realizing what Pippa had said Jaime perked up a bit more (if that’s even possible). “Pippa, are you asking me to prom??” His tone was entirely positive. “Because I would definitely go with you, if that’s what you’re asking.” Though a small part of him was resistant to the fact that he was being asked and not the other way around….there was no way he was going to say no to Pippa. She’s adorable.

Pippa’s cheeks went from pink to red after her big question, and Jaime’s momentary silence only made it worse. Oh no, was he going to turn her down? She’d never be able to show her face in Azurcrest again! She knew she should have played it cool and --

Wait. Wait. Did he just... accept?

“Yes,” she squeaked. Clearing her throat, Pippa tried again: “Yes, I’m asking you to prom, Jaime.” She gave him a grin that was equal parts relief and amazement at her success. “It should be fun, yeah?” (This was a massive understatement of her feelings, but she thought it was probably best to wait until she was alone with Essie before squealing and jumping up and down.)

Jaime couldn’t help but let out a laugh, though there was nothing mocking or judgemental in the sound - just pleasant amusement. It must have been hard for the younger girl to ask him, and she clearly hadn’t been betting on him saying yes. He definitely admired her bravery, and the icing on the cake was now he didn’t even have to spare a thought for who he was going to ask. He’d get to roll up to prom with a sweet, cute girl without having had to lift a finger - it sounded like a pretty good deal to him!

“It will be lots of fun,” he agreed, beaming and still feeling quite proud of himself even though he’d done very little. There must be something about him that had a girl coming to ask him to prom! Jaime goes to take Pippa’s hand so he can give her a quick kiss on the back of it, the gesture entirely playful (if she’ll allow it). “I will be a very gentlemanly date,” he reassures her.

Pippa let Jaime take her hand -- she was hardly going to snatch it away -- but didn’t realise what he was planning on doing until his lips brushed her skin. Oh my. (Be cool, Pippa. Be cool.) She giggled, breathless and giddy, because she wasn’t sure what the correct response to having her hand kissed (!!!) was. “That -- that was very gentlemanly,” she agreed. “Top marks. I can tell you’ve been reading the handbook.”

And then, because if she stayed much longer she was going to keep on babbling and embarrass herself, Pippa reluctantly got to her feet. “I should -- you know, Transfiguration homework -- Essie will be wondering where I am. But I’ll see you around!” There was, of course, no Transfiguration homework -- but Pippa had to tell her best friend about this before she exploded. It took every ounce of her self-control to walk away normally from Jaime when she felt like skipping.