But when will that courage arrive? For once, Verona wishes she knew the answer to that.
Ever so often, the girl drifts out of the various conversations going on around her - all of them suddenly become nothing more than blurred noise in the background. Verona rests her head in her hands as she glances around, noticing everyone looking more happy than she truly feels. Verona feels one emotion entirely more than false happiness - it's a burning envy that oftentimes swallows her whole. The girl feels as green as the flags hanging above the Slytherin table which is ironically where her gaze falls down upon next.
She quickly scans the long table before her search is over abruptly. There seated at the table is Tom Riddle himself, surrounded by a group of boys all around his age. He's talking avidly about something (Verona can't figure out what, she unfortunately can't read lips or minds very well) and although she doesn't know about what, his words seem powerful enough to have them all hooked and hanging on his very word. Verona herself finds her entranced with the Slytherin head boy once more, now studying him as he continues to talk.
Her gaze trails up his chin, lips, nose... before taking a moment longer to analyze his eyes. They're alight with an almost devious fire that Verona's never seen before. The look is paired with an equally cunning smirk that compliments his features well. Verona has yet to realize that she's slouched down and staring at him until he finally acknowledges her presence. Instantly, the blonde sits up straighter as he smirks over at her. She quickly looks down at the bowl of soup in front of her, finding it now ten times more interesting.
"Are you alright, Vee?" Juniper asks, noticing the blonde now as red as a tomato, "Is something wrong? You've been quiet all this time."
Glad you finally noticed. She wants to say it but she bites her tongue for the millionth time. "I'm fine, just a little tired," is all she says instead. She's lost track over how many times she's said those two words. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm -. Verona figured that if she said it so many times, it'd finally sink in. That's yet to happen though. Every time she says it, she just feels worse.
"Sorry to hear that. You know... if you're not gonna finish off that bread, I'd be happy to help," Susan replies and with a nod, Verona hands her over the remains of her food. The girl's not nearly that hungry anyways.
This time, the girl feels someone looking over at her and she glances up to see that it's Tom.
"What are you looking at?" Juniper inquired curiously, following Verona's gaze. She then grins once she realizes what (or who) the girl's looking at before focusing her attention back on Verona. "I see. You have a crush on Riddle, huh?"
"What?" Verona chokes out, "That's absolutely preposterous."
"Mm-hmm. It's perfectly fine to fancy him. He's cute and all with cheekbones to die for. It's just too bad that he has the personality of a brick. No one should ever be that serious all the time," Juniper shrugs.
"You two have the worst taste in guys," Susan remarked, mouth full of bread, as she shook her head.
"You're just saying that because you like girls," Juniper teases, although her tone's quiet enough for only the trio to hear.
Susan's not bothered by it - mostly because Juniper's words are true. Unfortunately, not everyone is nearly as accepting to the idea of a girl kissing another girl as they were. You'd think with all of the bigger problems going on in the world, people wouldn't care so much. "That doesn't make what I said any less true."
"I don't fancy Riddle and I never will," Verona argues, eager on shutting them both down and moving on.
Juniper's not eager to just yet. "Well, you've got to fancy someone sometime. You're a pretty girl, Vee. Pretty enough for some guy to notice you one of these days. What are you gonna do when a guy asks you out - cower away and hide in the library?"
