Last Memories: Alfea

[Bloom]

She’d had that dream again. The dream about Sparx and about her birth parents. They were coming more frequently now, but never any clearer. Slowly opening her eyes, she watched the images fade from her mind before quietly getting out of bed. She was up a little early, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep now. Careful not to wake Flora, she got her things together and made her way to the shower.

Bloom had never been a morning person before, and she remembered when her mom used to have to practically shake her awake some mornings just to get her to move. Apparently past dreams made for good alarm clocks.

After her shower, clothing, hair and make-up done, she made here way down to the large dining hall which was already beginning to fill up with students. Settling into her usual seat, she covered a yawn with her hand before resting her chin on it, her eyes drifting slowly closed as she waited for her friends to arrive.

((Tag: whoever. See “Plotting the Past” on the General board for details))

[Demeter]

Flora silently made her way over to Bloom's table, a large mug of hot tea in hand. Her eyes stared blearily at Bloom and gave a small yawn in greeting. "Do you think Professor Palladium would be upset if I simply fall asleep in his class today?" she asked, sleepily. "I don't think I can stay," she yawned, "awake. I had a rough night last night. Some of those spells we had to study are just going over my," she yawned again, "head."

[Bloom]

Bloom’s chin was just slipping off her hand when Flora’s voice startled her awake. Her head snapping up, she blinked her eyes rapidly before greeting her friend with a lazy smile.

“I don’t know, but I think he might if both of us do,” she said, looking at the glass of orange juice in front of her with obvious disinterest. “If I hadn’t already showered, I would suggest that you could use my forehead as a cheat sheet if we get a pop quiz. I fell asleep trying to read some of that last night and I’m sure some of the ink came off on me.”

[Demeter]

"I swear, this year is going to kill us. Between Wizgiz and Avalon and Palladium, I barely have time to breathe, let alone sleep," Flora said. "Do you understand any of what we're covering?"

[Bloom]

Seeing that Flora really seemed worried about their courses, Bloom smiled at her reassuringly.

“I think I’m getting the hang of some of it, but I haven’t really tested out many of the spells yet. The reading is really heavy, though,” she said, brushing her bangs back. “Maybe we should get a study group together?”

[Demeter]

"Good idea," Flora said. "We definitely need to study together. Hm, maybe we should have a study party. We study and eat pizza," she said with a sleepy laugh. "Of course, knowing how much Stella could eat, we'd have to get a ton of pizza if we want to be able to eat any."

[Bloom]

Laughing at the comment about Stella’s eating habits, Bloom nodded emphatically.

“Yeah, totally!” she giggled, starting to perk up already. “Although, of course you know the ‘study and eat pizza’ party would soon turn into the ‘eat pizza and gossip of boys and everything else’ party.”

[Demeter]

"This is true," Flora said with a light laugh. "Of course, the gossiping about boys could get interesting."

[Bloom]

“Doesn’t it always?” Bloom queried, a playful expression on her face. She was glad that Flora was relaxing. Sure, they had a lot of work ahead of them, but worrying themselves sick about it would do more harm than good.

“Not a productive pastime, but a very entertaining one.”

[Demeter]

Flora nodded. "So, the only question is - which boys are we going to be gossiping about?" she asked, with an impish twinkle in her eye.

[Bloom]

Her cheeks tinting pink and a hint of a goofy smile on her lips, Bloom turned her head away and shrugged.

“Oh, I don’t know...” she replied coyly. Like there was any question at all. Some days she felt like her heart would just burst with happiness just thinking about him. “Red Fountain is like a hottie goldmine! Don’t tell me you don’t have your eye on someone, Flora, because I know you do.”

Turning her eyes back to Flora, Bloom searched her face for confirmation. But above that... ‘hottie goldmine’? Lame-o.

[Demeter]

"Maybe, although, Alfea's no slouch either. Have you seen some of our professors?" she asked, sighing dramatically. "I still can't believe how handsome Professor Palladium's become," she said, her cheks tinting a rich crimson.

[Bloom]

That was not the answer Bloom was expecting. Her eyes widening, her mouth made a perfect “O” shape of surprise.

“Professor Palladiaum!” she blurted out, much more loudly than intended. Immediately fixed with many odd looks from her fellow students, she slouched down in her chair, attempting to shrink. Unfortunately she didn’t know a spell for that yet. “Oh man, are you serious? But he’s so old! I mean, he’s not really all that old, but he’s a teacher which just makes him seem so much older!”

[Demeter]

"I can't help it if I think he's cute," Flora said, immediately wishing she never brought this up. Why did the others think she was crazy?

[Bloom]

Pursing her lips, Bloom looked over to the far side of the room where Palladium sat with the other faculty. Okay, so he wasn’t bad; definitely much better than last year, that much she had to admit, but what good was a pretty package if the gift inside was so terribly boring?

“Alright, so a summer on planet Buff You Up or whatever it was called did help his appearance, but when was the last time you actually stayed awake through an entire one of his lectures?” she asked, conceding partway at least.