Beth wasn’t nervous at all, she was confident…confident and hungry – and well frankly the manchild in front of her was taking quite a long time ordering their food. The rather tall blond was about to reach her hand up and tap their shoulder and offer a suggestion when he turned around.

“oh…holy cheese” she squeaked out her grey eyes widening in somewhat shock as she put the voice to the face. ”Salty…how’re you doing?” she asked as well frankly, she didn’t remember his name other than the fact she had called him Salty…there was something though.

Something about his name.

”CHASE! That was it…I was thinking of getting…um…salt uh” she paused for a second and possibly a second too long ”and vinegar chips…and a sandwich I wasn’t calling you salty…that’s not your name” merlin this was cringy. Still she turned to the trolly witch and smiled, before ordering what likely most the sandwich, chips, and a little box of chocolate treats to share with Q.

GUMBALL GIRL? Beth simply shook her head in mock annoyance – and real annoyance at the nickname. It was far FAR worse than being called salty.

What? Was she some statue on display at the museum?...”why so disappointed?” she asked tipping her head at him even smiling at him because really, clearly, he wasn’t upset at seeing her. She had MADE his day that one day – she was fun. ”wait…what’s with that smirk? You look like the cat that ate the canary?” she asked her jaw dropping a little because she had never seen him smirk before it was a nice smirk, needed a bit of work but definitely had potential. Quinn could probably give him pointers she was the ranking expert in the art of the smirk.

”GG?...huh, abbreviating the nickname? Should I call you SP then?” she asked raising her eyebrow at him before calmly adding, ”nice smirk by the way…could use some work but it’s a good start” what was with that gulp? It was a suspicious gulp.

Beth didn’t exactly trust that head-shake, but she wasn’t going to say anything about that right now. She just quietly side-stepped Chase ordered her food and paid for it and continued to give him a look. A head-tilted curious look, like a confused puppy but she wasn’t really confused not truly. ”suuuuuure, you probably thought I’d magically appear at Hogwarts and not run into you on a tiny train” she laughed and shook her head.

A tracking spell? Huh, that wasn’t a bad idea. ”No, no tracking spells on you…I’m bound to put one on my books and even bits of my uniform but not you…” she paused and looked at him before matter-of-factly saying ”you don’t compel me enough to make me want to track you…really, I may make a business though and sell tracking charms to students for their pets and that’d be all thanks to you” she smiled and gave a shoulder pat as if saying good job pal.

”…Cap’n Salty Pants? Why not Admiral Salty Pants of the Royal Navy…make it sound more regal Chase, make’um think you’re bound to be a sir” she winked for fun and then paused. ”why? Why’d ya think I’d put a tracking spell on you…that’s like next-level stalker stuff”

Chuckling that was a good sound, she liked that sound. It was like trickling rain and…and merlin knows what else, but it did things. It made her want to evoke more laughter real laughter true can’t control yourself get a stitch in your sides laughter – but she would wait for that. For real laughter she needed to know her audience and to have everything worked out and right now, now she didn’t.

”…yeah much like they weren’t in the favor of most of panem – that was what you were going for right?” she asked tipping her head at him ”a casual nod to the hunger games…that what Hogwarts is like? I always thought it would be more like Narnia meets the death-cure – danger, destruction and oh look a unicorn” she shrugged her shoulder not sure really whether she’d just pulled an obscure muggle reference out of her repertoire of obscure muggle books and failed at it…maybe it was just a figure of speech?

Still Chase’s seeming interest in the business idea made her grin. ”aw I’m glad you’re interested…for a second I would have thought you were disappointed but then again I have a tendency to disappoint people…its in my nature” she added a playful just-for-fun extra dramatic wink that turned into a frenzy of eyelash fluttering.

Typical.

The moment she tried to wink her contact had fallen out. ”I can’t see” she flailed for a moment before simply squinting at him for a moment longer and plucking the other contact out and placing her glasses on. ”those things are devils, I hate them…they’re always spinning never settling and they burn its like….like someone decided to put pepper juice in your eye because it made you see better except it doesn’t cause you’re always blinking and crying and losing the dang things” she huffed again before putting the contact in the case she pulled from her bag. Right…right, good side.

”Am I? or am I just trying to give you a better variation of the salty nickname…Sir Saltypants of the…put some place here saltypants could work” she shrugged not really caring as much a s she felt – again, like she had made a fool of herself. ”and you’ll know when I’m trying to get on your good side Chase,” she informed with a smirkish grin.

Oh…did she make him feel awkward – the way he glanced for the exit made her curious. ”don’t tell me…you thought I was madly in love with you – like some princess in a fairytale…? Don’t forget man…I’m still very like Katherine from taming of the shrew except…I’m not going to let anyone try and train me into being servient at all” she took a moment and then glanced up at him ”…I mean, c’mon that wouldn’t work at all…I’d have their heads”

Pop culture was Beth’s think – the more obscure the better. It was to the point that she had watched zillions of muggle and magical movies that year while she struggled her way through Dragon Pox. ”its nothing – they just said may the odds be in your favor in the hunger games…I read it year before last when I had dragon pox…or I read most of it it kind of caught fire on me” she admitted with a sigh. ”…I mean, I’m not as harmful as the characters in those books, I’m not trying to kill off people or anything” even after saying that the blonde fought off the biting urge to add a quick or so you know.

Maybe she was mad? Still, that was something they’d find out later after more time together in a tiny school. ”I also mean…I know Hogwarts is dangerous, and deadly – my mum was a Professor and it ate the old caretaker…well, the school didn’t but some portal beast thing did” it was rather deadly.

A tendency to disappoint people was an understatement – Beth was a little fiery ball of destruction most of the time. ”mmm…its okay, it was only my rather uptight Gran…my dad’s mum she was upset that I didn’t want to take her up on the offer of being raised by her in France” she shrugged, ”she’s crochety…and smells like mothballs, I didn’t want to smell like mothballs” she admitted as really, that was only part of the truth.

It wasn’t sad, not really it was a selfish moment that had brought on that comment. I hope you know where your hands have been that comment got a little bit of a chuckle.

”yeah, I mean…they’re my hands they don’t get to walk off and do their own thing…They’re not Thing y’know the walking hand from the Addams family?” she offered with a tilt to her head. ”if you haven’t seen that you should, its grand.” Beth looked up at him and gave him a kind smile because he seemed like a generally cared. Even if it was just because of germs and infections, ”don’t worry, I didn’t do any gardening this morning” she joked and grinned at him before taking her eyedrops out, ”besides, if I need to I have these…and I wash my hands” despite that incident this summer.

Oh. He did? Her glasses that was…that was nice, Beth grinned up at him – almost beamed really. ”thanks Chase – I can tell you where I got them maybe…y’know if you want fun glasses?” she offered with a smile. It was nice to hear that her glasses suited her, that was always good.

Friendly or lazy? Couldn’t she be both? ”oh come on can’t I be both? Friendly and lazy…with a mix of cunning…or witty can’t decide which yet?” she asked with a shrug of her shoulder. ”could even give it a word like Frazy…? Eh? Make a thing of it?” Chase was fun, that was really all that Beth knew of that moment. How would he know – tough TOUGH question. ”well, honestly…if I play my cards right you’ll never see it coming – I’m [i]that[/b] good”[/b] she nodded to him in her extra-confident way even though deep down her little heart was shining at the fact he had called her by her name and not gumball girl. It was only truly because she loved her name.

Wait – what? What had he just said…did her ears fool her or had he just said he thought she had a crush on him…oh. Looking down at the floor for a moment Beth willed it to swallow him up…and then reversed that will and willed it once more to swallow her up. Something, something had to happen. It felt like she was a mouse in a pressure trap. Any slight move was going to break the tension and cause an avalanche of awkward – more awkward so she stood there.

Stalk still.

Taking a steadying breath Beth just looked up at him again. Straight in the eyes, her hand on her hip and the other just hoping her still-wrapped food. ”buddy, I think you put too much thought into this.” She offered with a slight apologetic smile and then with a tilt to her head she added ”maybe its you that has a crush on me? Stranger things could happen…they have, a portal monster ate the old caretaker at the school we’re going to and yet its still open” she shrugged her shoulder.

When his unthinkable thought proccess hit her she just laughed, ”you’ve really thought this through…Chase, man. You’re a superstitious little bugger” she grinned, ”don’t worry you’re secrets safe with me – and you’re suspicion I won’t tell anyone you thought a first year had a crush on you…besides, I give everyone nicknames – I gave this kid Reese the nickname Little red and I just met him today” she added the final part almost as an afterthought before opening her crisp packet and biting into a chip.