[Lake] Take Control

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

A gentle breeze stirred the air rippling the waters of the lake, the raven haired boy by the lake frowned in thought. How does one kick their own father out of the house? Ash smiled as he thought of something. Reaching into his bag he pulled out parchment, a quill, and inkwell, and a book to place on his lap, basically everything he needed for writing. Placing the book on his lap, and the parchment on the book, he tapped his quill against his lip as he thought of the best way to begin. Well, first he needed to figure out exactly why he was kicking Daniel out. They didn't fight anymore, but still, it was because of the man he was forced to call 'father' that he had pushed his friends away.

He had lost so many he loved. Maxi, Fay, Bray, and now Vera and Laney. He feared he was losing Cris as well. And that was something he couldn't, no, wouldn't let happen. Dipping the quill into the inkwell he started writing, oddly comforted by the sound of the quill scratching against parchment


Daniel,

I'm writing to tell you that I've made up my mind. I want you out of my house. Yes, that's right, my house. You know as well as I do that only a person of Laurent blood can claim ownership of the ancestral Laurent home, and since I am the only one of true Laurent blood, I am the rightful owner. It was only in your name because I was too afraid to stand up for myself. Not anymore.

I refuse to be your puppet, you can't control me. Not this time. Who knows, maybe we could have patched things up. But now we'll never know, because I want you out of my house, and out of my life.

I will be back from school in June and if you are not out by July, I can assure you, you will not like the consequences. Everything I am, everything I've done was because of you. You made me weak, scared, unable to stand up for myself. Well I'm done with that.

I'm turning over a new leaf. From now I will no longer be they shaking, crying little boy you were so fond of tormenting. I will be strong, and I will take control of my own life. Also, if you ever try to come back, you can be assured that the consequences will be severe. I am through with being a wimp. I lost Maxi, the boy I once loved, Fay and Bray, my best friends in the world, and now I am losing Vera, the mother I always wanted, and Laney, my little sister, my rock, and I fear I may be losing Cris as well, the boy I love. I will not let that happen. I won’t let you scare me anymore.

For so long I’ve wanted to be myself, but I was too afraid, all because of you. That ends now. I will give you enough money to buy yourself an apartment, but I do not want you in my life anymore. It’s my life and it’s time I started taking control of it. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Ashton


Just as Ash signed the letter and was about to seal it, he heard footsteps behind him. He sighed, "Whoever you are, if you've come to yell at me, save your breath. I already feel bad enough." He knew he was being harsh, but it was true. How could he have been so stupid? It wasn't that his friends had abandoned him, he had pushed them away! And now, he would do anything, anything to have them back. He would do anything to get back Laney's trust, anything to have Fay and Bray talk to him again, anything to get back Maxi's friendship. But most of all, he would do anything to keep Cris by his side. No, he wouldn't force him, but he would to whatever it took to prove to Cris that he did love him.

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie walked down the path to the lake, her shoulder bag on, well, her shoulder. It was a fairly cool day, although her gray sweater was enough to get her through the day. Her blue jeans were a little damp from sitting beneath Fay's favorite tree, writing a paper for Professor O'Donnell. It was very nice of her to let Ellie write about blast-ended skrewts rather than actually have to handle one. Ellie had finished with no problem. Let's face it, there isn't much you can write on blast-ended skrewts, however, with Ravenclaw influence from Bray, she figured it was a decent paper.

Ellie just wasn't in the mood to go back inside. The castle was getting noisier and the fifth years were getting restless with the OWLs exams coming up sooner than expected. Ellie knew she was prepared, but by the looks of the worn out faces and over tired eyes of the fifth years in the Great Hall, not every was so chill about it as Ellie.

The Hufflepuff planned to do a lap aroundthe lake, wandering aimlessly, before heading into the castle and up to the common room for a nap. As she walked she spied a figure sitting by the water's edge. She smiled and headed down, up for some chit-chat before she moved on to her walk. She got closer and realized it was Ashton. Ellie and Ashton had never struck up a friendship. She hadn't really ever talked to him, it seemed that he and Bray or Fay were always fighting, and ellie had just learned, for her friends sake, not to bring him up. They always got so sad when she did, like her had died of something.

Ellie could see that the black haired boy was perfectly solid, not transparent at all, so he was definitely alive. Ellie was about to turned and continue on her walk, when he spoke. Ellie shifted her foot in the sand, her hand grasping her bag strap. "Uhh. No. I'm not going to yell at you." She said softly, yet gently, and then walked over to him. There was no escape now that he knew she was here.

She noticed her looked sad. Ellie couldn't remember a time when she saw Ash and he looked happy. It was rather depressing. "Hi." She said, when she saw Ash's face, she tried a half smile. Perhaps it would suffice as a little white flag. "Look," she said, gently still, "I don't know whats up, but I want to help." She said. Ellie was always the martyr when she didn't mean to be. But just a look in his eye made her want to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be ok, and she had no idea what that everything was.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash jumped and turned when he recognized Ellie's voice. Guilt flooded him, "Oh! I- I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was you." he said sheepishly, face burning with embarassment and shame, he imagined it was quite pink by now. He smiled softly, "There's alot of things wrong." he said quietly looking up at the sky.

He looked back at Ellie and smiled, "I'm not exactly sure how you can help, but I defintely do appreciate you offering." He sighed, "I guess the best thing to do, would be tell you what the problem is. But...how do I begin?"

At the begininning fool True. But which begininng? There were so many. His dad? Him and Maxi? Him and Fay and Bray? Him and Cris? Him and Laney? Where?

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie sighed, hearing the remorse in the Ravenclaw's voice. Again, she attempted a half smile. She didn't know what had happened between, what seemed like, Ash and everyone he ever knew. Ellie had just started talking to Bray when Ash and Maxi called it quits and before she knew it, Ash had a sister, and now, Ellie wasn't really sure what happened with that. All she knew was that one minute Laney was going out with this kid, and the next, Ash was. It was very strange. Ellie had witnessed all this from the sidelines, which was the closest she ever dared to go. Fay and Bray had once been close with Ash, and now, nothing? It was very confusing to the Hufflepuff. She didn't understand how things could get so bad that everyone seemed to hate you. Ellie didn't even begin to think about what problem Ash had at home.

"No, its ok. I guess, you have a right to be mad at the world." Ellie said, shooting the dark. It was a guess. Ellie smiled at Ash's blushed face. "Hey, now you look like me." She said, smiling broadly, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess, just talking might help." Ellie said. "I don't mean to go all Dr. Phil on you or anything." She said with a smile, hoping he knew who Dr. Phil was. "But, I'm a good listener, and I try and give good advice, even if I make it up off the top of my head." She said with a smirk.

"At the beginning?" Ellie suggested. She smiled. It was always the best place to start. Ellie couldn't even suggest a place for him to begin. The last thing she thought she would be doing on her walk around the lake was having a heart to heart conversation with Ashton Laurent.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash listened as she spoke. He was beginning to like this girl. He had to admit, he'd been a little prejudiced and had automatically labeled her as someone he didn't like simply because she was dating Bray, and that wasn't fair to her. He smiled at her suggestion, of the beginning. "I guess that does make the most sense!" he said with a laugh.

He turned away slightly and bit his lip, a habit he had when he was thinking. He sighed and turned back to her, an apologetic smile on his face. "Before I do that though...I think I need to apologize to you. I know I've never talked to you, but...it wasn't because I didn't have time. It was because I prejudged you, I automatically made the assumption that because you were dating Bray, that I didn't like you. And so, I was using my anger at Bray as an excuse to ignore you, and that's not fair to you, and I'm sorry."

He frowned slightly, "As for where to begin though...it's really hard to say...." He sighed, "I guess I'll start with my dad... see, up until I was five, my dad was great. He took me places, read me bedtime stories, and carried me around on his shoulders. Everything a little boy could want, he gave me." He gave a sad smile at the bittersweet memories. His eyes clouded over, "But...after I turned five, that all changed. He yelled a lot more, he got mad for no apparent reason, he told me it was my fault that my mother died, she died soon after I was born, and that I never should've been born."

Ash stood and walked over to the edge of the lake, the water lapping gently at the shore, he looked up into the calm, clear sky, wondering why his life couldn't be like that. Peaceful, calm, without a care. "Shortly after, he started drinking and he would beat me. Just because he was frustrated with his life, he took it out on me. He kept doing this until I came here from Beauxbatons in my fifth year. After that, he stopped. I don't know why, and I don't really care why, I'm just glad he did."

Ash took a breath and continued, "Also during my fifth year, I met Maxi. I knew I was gay, but... I didn't know I could feel so strongly for anyone as I did for him. I guess you could say I was head over heels in love," he flashed a quirky smile, "sappy as that may sound." he joked.

He grew silent, thoughtful, "But then, something happened. Sixth year came, and...he seemed to change, he had become a Prefect and it seemed he was putting that over his friends, over me. We broke up, and needless to say, I was pretty upset about it. We talked later on, and decided to be friends, but...seventh year came, and it all went downhill again. My sister had come and she had started dating Cristian Martinez and things were going great with them until a few weeks later, when Laney started acting really weird."

He took a breath and continued, "Well, one night, Cris saw her from the Astronomy tower; she was running towards the forest. Cris was worried and ran after her, he found her...kissing Maxi. Well, obviously the poor boy was crushed, they ended it right there."

Ash paused for a moment, thinking about that night. "He came back to the common room and told me. I was upset too, because at that point I was still in love with Maxi. We talked, cried, somehow ended up kissing, and next day we ran into each other in Hogsmeade, and decided to start dating. At dinner that night, Fay stormed up and started screaming at me about how I didn't appreciate her, and I was just using her, and I didn't understand why she was saying that, and I told her, and I guess it just made her even madder, because she stormed off and Bray went with her."

He turned back to face Ellia and smiled slightly, “A few months later, Cris asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes.” He smiled even more as he looked down at his ring, “I was pretty much on cloud nine for the next few weeks. Stares? Didn’t notice ‘em. Whispers? Didn’t hear ‘em.”

He looked out towards the lake once more, "Everything seemed to be going well, except for the fact that in addition to Fay and Bray no longer talking to me, Laney and Maxi, who also had started dating, were no longer talking to me. At first I thought they were just jealous, and I kept telling myself they’d get over it, but they never did.”

He sighed, “It was only until a few days ago that I finally realized, they’re not abandoning me, I’m pushing them away. Just like I pushed Fay and Bray away. Vera, my step-mom is divorcing my dad, so now, legally, Laney isn’t my sister anymore, but to me, she’ll always be my sister.” He smiled, “It seemed the best part of all this was Cris, I don’t think I’ve ever felt for anyone, not even Maxi, what I feel for Cris.”

His eyes grew sad again, “But now, it feels like I’m losing touch with him as well, and that’s something that I can’t let happen. I love him so much I don't know what I'd do without him, I can’t lose him.” He sighed and looked over at Ellie again, “And I just don’t know what to do. I’d do anything.”

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie smiled at the older Ravenclaw. "Apology accepted." She sat down next to him. "I guess its the same reason I never tried to talk to you before. Bray and Fay seemed to be mad at you, and I wasn't going to complicate things." She sighed. "I guess we were just both being silly."

Ellie listened as Ashton went on a rather long rant about his life. Ellie was over come by everything that had happened to the boy. She didn't really know what to say in the midst of it all, so she opted not to say anything until he was done.

"Bet that felt good." Ellie said with a smirk. Ashton had taken more than five tons of his chest in one long monologue. Ellie took a deep breath and looked over the water. It was very calming, the breeze over the water. Ellie loved it out here, she bet that was the reason Ash had come out here in the first place. It was relaxing.

"You're really getting married?" She asked Ash, a confused look on her face. It was the one thing that had caught her off guard. Ellie had been ready for all most everything else, but she hadn't expected matrimony to be in the story. She couldn't imagine getting married to someone she knew for only a few months, not even a year. Let alone the fact that they were still in school. It sounded as though they were growing part too. Not a good sign.

"It sounds as though you would do anything to get your life back." Ellie said with a sigh. "Whats the deal with your dad now?" Ellie said, back tracking, her mind was sort of flowing with what Ash had told her, she wasn't getting it all at once.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash laughed, blushing slightly as he realised he'd just gone on a huge rant about his life to this girl he barely knew. "Yeah, it did." he admitted. Walking back over, he sat down beside Ellie. He sat quietly for a minute when she asked if he was really getting married. "Well, yeah...I mean...I think we are." he said, with worry and uncertainty.

He sighed, "See, I know Cris has been busy you know, with Finals and not to mention our NEWTS coming up, so we haven't had a chance to see eachother, but...even when we do...he's different. More quiet. I don't know if he's just tired or what, but it's worrying me. And I don't know what to say to him, I mean how do you tell the guy you love, 'Hey, you're worrying me, what's up?' ?" He nodded at her next question. "Yes, I would. I'd do anything. But they don't believe me."

He smiled when she asked about his dad, "Let's just say I'm finally taking some control over my life." He replied, tapping the letter with his finger. This had to be the scariest, yet also, best thing he'd ever done.

[christianmartinez]

It had seemed like months since Cristian had time to do anything other than study. Finals were finally becoming a pain in the butt, and just once he wished he could have a bit of time to himself. It had been well over a month since he had even set foot off the castle grounds and gone to Hogsmeade. Buried in homework, assignments and parchment, Cristian threw his quill down, finally quitting on the pile of papers set out infront of him. It seemed the pile was neverending, and as soon as he got rid of one paper, two more took it's place. He was barely keeping up, but any more potions or runes and he'd go mad.

He hadn't been with Ash for a while either, and he was probably feeling abandoned. Ash hadn't been seen in the common room much, or the library, and Cristian was in either one of those two rooms. He hadn't even socialised at the dinner table in the great hall, he had to grab a few things and rush back upstairs to finish assignments off. All work and no play was making Cris a dull boy.

Knowing full well Ash was more than likely at the lake, he wandered down to there, to see him sat with who Cristian knew to be Ellie Rook, Bray's girlfriend. Neither Cristian or Ash were the most popular kids in the school due to all the drama that had been caused, but Cris couldn't recall ever speaking to the girl.

Walking up to them, he heard his name and gave them a smile while sitting down. Pulling at a blade of grass, he looked back up to the pair.
"I'm sick of seeing assignments"

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash's face lit up as he heard Cris' voice and he turned with a smile. "Hey!" he said, reaching over to give the other boy a hug. He laughed when Cris complained about assignments, "They're probably sick of seeing you!" he teased moving closer to Cris, as he wrapped an arm around the other boy's waist.

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie understood what Ash meant that he and Cris never saw each other. It had been a struggle lately just to see Bray. Granted they were together in class all the time, but it was still annoying to have to schedule a time to see each other. Ellie wasn't one for schedules and honestly, without Fay helping her get everything together, she would be lost.

Ellie smiled friendly at Ash. "Ugh, I'm not even done with OWLs, I can't imagine NEWTs." She said, trying to lighten the mood, but not exactly change the subject. "I guess you can't blame him, if hes over worked, hes over worked." Ellie looked out across the lake again. She sighed. "But I understand why you're so frustrated."

Ellie noticed the letter in Ash's hand for the first time since she sat down. She was about to ask him what he meant, but she heard a voice behind her. It was Cris. Ellie had never actually talked to the Claw, or seen him up close for that matter. She smiled as he sat down. Ash welcomed him warmly. It made her smile to see him smile. It was the same kind of smile that Ellie got when she saw Bray.

"Hi." Ellie said, laughing at Ash's really horrible joke. "You probably already know who I am, but I'm Ellie." She said with a smile. "Professor's are working you hard, so I hear." She said, glancing at Ash.