it could be a cause of celebration [open]

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

Ever since Rome had opened up to Mr. Conner she’s been a bit nicer. Only a bit, depending on whom she’s around and what’s going on during that moment. Thought seeing as how today is her seventeenth birthday, being that it is the fourth of November, she is going to celebrate it; even if she is alone in the task. Being alone actually never affected the girl, sometimes she even preferred to be alone.

Even if it is her birthday, she’d want to be alone.

Of course, on this particular day, Rome was quite happy. Being seventeen was a big deal. She had one more year until graduation, one more year until she was the legal age to move out of the house; it was quite the big deal for her. Even if she wasn’t eighteen yet, seventeen was only that much closer.

On this particular day Rome had woken up early, earlier than even her father, and she had made breakfast, cleaned the house, gone to the store and come back home so her father wouldn’t complain, and then she read to her brother and got him pre-occupied for the time when she left the house to walk to school. On the way she had found a stray dog and took him to the local pound to see if they could find the owner – honestly, she was hoping they wouldn’t so she could go back in a week and get the stray dog and keep her. Andromeda had always wanted to have a pet but her father complained about it all the time – she was younger then, and all the dogs she wanted were bigger. The stray she had found was small and it clung to her, it was the most adorable little thing ever, and Rome wanted to keep it as hers. But she had a feeling it was lost and it was someone’s and they would be looking for their dog.

Aside from that she had actually made it to school and her classes on time. The days seemed to fly by, at least it did to her. When lunch started she went to town and bought herself some cupcakes, and now she was sitting in the cafeteria, at a table all to herself, debating which cupcake to eat first. She actually had a smile on her face, but inside she felt really alone. She was sitting at a table in the corner, by herself, on her birthday, thinking about eating birthday cupcakes. How pathetic was that?

“I’m a fucking loser,” she muttered to the cupcake she was unwrapping from the paper before she took a lick of the icing.

443 // open to anyone // anyone who dares to mess with her on her birthday is free to join. btw, i'm saying it's november fourth in this post and it's her seventeenth birthday, i'm going by the forum time.

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

Although it was a couple months into the school year, Anthea did not really have a select group of people she usually ate lunch with. It tended to vary from day to day, but sometimes she plucked up the courage to sit with people she didn't talk to much.

The blond took her tray and glanced around at the available tables. Then her eye fell on Rome in a corner by herself.

The sight of it made her raise her eyebrows. Rome...in a corner by herself? Sure Rome was rough around the edges, but she highly doubted the auburn-haired girl sat alone due to lack of friends. Maybe she wanted to be left alone.

Well, I'll say hi anyway, she thought as she walked straight to her classmate's table.

As Anthea walked closer, she noticed a smile on the other girl's face.

“Hi, Rome,” she greeted cheerfully. “Whatcha up to?”

She looked down and noticed the cupcakes. “Ooh, pretty. Is it a special day?”

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

Rome had made due with the cupcake she had in her hands, it was almost clear of all icing, and once she had taken the last lick of icing off the time she bit into the chocolate cake part of the cupcake itself. She moaned in her content happiness as she bit into the cupcake some more. As she ate the cupcake she hummed to the tune of the birthday song, she slowly moved from side-to-side happily, almost giddy, as she sat there still working on the one – of six – cupcakes. The smile was still present on her face.

The girl wasn’t actually paying attention to anyone else in the dining hall, it actually felt like she was in there alone, and it gave her a much deeper feeling of pathetic loneliness. But, Rome, for the time being, was content in her loneliness with the cupcakes she had in front of her. When she finished the one cupcake she had been working on, she fooled the paper cup and placed in in the spot the cupcake had once occupied. When she looked up and around the dining hall she recognized the girl walking toward her.

The problem with Rome was that she couldn’t remember the girls name as well as the girl remembered hers. It had been three months, they did have a class together; in fact they had creative writing together; Rome could recall as much. Rome also remembered when they did that silly introduction thing in Mr. Connor’s class that she had actually like the simplicity of the girl before her; she seemed nice and genuinely excited about most things in life.

Rome smiled at her, happy in her loneliness, though pathetic. “Hey,” she didn’t want the girl to know that she had forgotten her name, but she felt horrible for not knowing. “I’m sorry, but I forgot your name.” Rome had an apologetic look on her face, but the girl then mentioned her cupcakes and the soft smile came back to Rome’s face.

“Actually, today is my seventeenth birthday,” she smiled. “Would you like to join me?” Rome’s eyes were wide with anticipation, she didn’t want to be alone, and this girl seemed really nice, and since Rome was in a pretty good mood she knew that it wouldn’t be too easy to spoil it. Might as well spend lunch with someone she wasn’t too annoyed with. She then moved the cupcakes centered the table, offering some to the girl.

413 // anthea/open // wow she's being nice

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

“Actually, today is my seventeenth birthday,” Rome told her. “Would you like to join me?”

“Wow, happy birthday!” she cheered, quickly giving the sitting girl a big hug. “And sure,” Anthea said as she sat down at Rome's table.

The blond was happy to see the other girl being in such a good mood. When she'd seen her on the first day of class, she had not been sure what to think of her. Or how the other girl would respond to her. Still, so far things were good and that made her feel more at ease.

She noticed that Rome had offered her some of her cupcakes. “Oh, thank you.” She took one and gingerly started to remove the top part of the wrapping. “My name's Anthea.”

She licked the edges of it for a minute before she asked, “How has your birthday been so far?"

She hoped she was not being too nosy.

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

Rome smiled gently when the girl hugged her and then took a set. It was kind of nice not getting all angry and over-heated and discombobulated over something small and unworthy; she felt good that she was in a happy mood and not wanting to bite the head off the girl that was now sitting next to her. She admired the girl’s enthusiasm when it came to certain things, and she had always seemed nice and genuine to pretty much everyone. The girl never seemed to care who she was with as long as they were kind to her as well; of course, that was just what Rome was picking up. Rome could be completely wrong about the girl, but she hoped she wasn’t. Honestly, Rome could use a friend, and this girl was probably the first person she’d be willing to at least try to have some sort of friendship.

Of course, it did feel kind of weird; almost as if she had let her guard down. Which was odd, her guard was still up, just clouded by the sugar of the cupcakes and the joy of it being a pretty decent birthday so far.

“Oh Anthea!” She instantly remembered as the girl began to introduce herself. “That’s right! I apologize for forgetting it so easily. I’m horrible with names.” And Rome wasn’t lying. She had always been horrible with names, with faces, with objects, with anything really. If you didn’t know how old she was you’d swear just by her memory that she was in her early nineties. “I swear I’m working on that,” she laughed.

Rome smiled, “It’s actually been pretty good. I woke up and did some chores and errands before my father woke up, and then I walked to school as usual – though I’m not normally awake before my father... On my way to school I found a stray dog and had enough time to go into town and drop it off at a pet store in hopes the owner finds her… I’m kind of hoping she’s a legit stray because I’d love to make her my pet.” Rome shied away for a moment because she hadn’t talked like that in so long about anything. It actually felt good, for a change.

377 // anthea/open // rome likes her

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

She was not surprised or put out that Rome didn't remember her name. It wasn't commonly used enough to be ordinary, but it wasn't odd enough to blatantly stand out for being an odd name either.

“No need to apologize,” she said. “You're giving me sweets and nice, so you're my friend now. Whether you like it or not,” she finished playfully.

There was not really much people had to do for Anthea to consider them friends. As long there was a kind few words exchanged, she tended to feel comfortable around others. The blond just needed someone who was nice to talk with and willing to spend some time with her.

“What kind of dog is it? Is it a just plain adorable one or one that could just use a bath and a little love with big, soulful puppy eyes?” she asked while imagining puppies running around and playing with each other.

Anthea loved animals. She wished she could buy all of the lonely animals that looked at her imploringly with those eyes, but she knew her mother wouldn't have it. There was also the possibility her pets might not like new arrivals.

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

Honestly, at the present moment all Rome could do was smile at the girl sitting with her. This would be the first time in a long while, that someone nice like Anthea actually came close enough to Rome to even sit beside her. Of course, Anthea had caught Rome during one of her good moments in the day, or rather, just a good day in general. It was kind of nice though, talking to someone out of her realm of the people she normally would talk to – which tended to be the people that scared other people. This girl seemed sweet and innocent compared to the people she normally hung with; and it was probably ironic that one of the bitchiest people in school, in her opinion, was sitting with probably one of the sweetest people in school… or more so for their grade level, rather.

“…so you’re my friend now. Whether you like it or not.”

Rome smiled at the girl, a soft laugh coming from her lips. “I’d actually like that, I could use more friends. Better friends.” She smiled at Anthea as the girl sat there. It was actually kind of nice, the positive energy and genuinely happy demeanor. As the girl and Rome sat there, Rome stole another cupcake from its packaging and started on the same voyage as her last one. Licking the icing off, and then removing the paper wrapping and eating the cake.

The girl began to ask questions about the puppy she had found earlier that day, and another smile formed on her lips. Rome was beginning to seriously really like this girl; and she must really like animals simply by the description she gave as she asked what kind of puppy it was. Rome thought about it for a moment as she finished her cupcake. “You know I think she was more adorable with big, soulful eyes. She was a golden retriever, and she was very friendly and loving toward me. But I think there was something wrong with her because she was skittish around the man I had to give her to this morning,” Rome talked softly about the puppy. “Oh I do hope she’s okay…”

Rome smiled as she ate what remained of the cupcake in her hand. “I gave him my cell phone number so he could call me and tell me if the puppy found her home, because if she doesn’t in the next few days or so I get to keep her because I was the one that found her and did the right thing by taking her there first.” Rome was hopeful, it would be nice to have a little puppy, and her brother would love to have a friend to play with while she wasn’t home. He had to be bored being at home trying not to bother their father, being all alone.

“My brother would like to have a little puppy too,” she smiled, “He’d love to have any kind of pet really, being alone all day.”

504 // anthea/open // they are so adorable hanging together.

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

So far, Anthea was having a fairly good day. Classes had not been too difficult or difficult to focus on and now she had made a friend. A friend who was willing to share and liked animals. The blond was glad to know there was a nice person behind the tough exterior she had seen on occasion. She beamed a little when Rome had said she'd like to be her friend. Yes, today was nice right now.

“I hope you get to keep her. She sounds sweet. Will she be your first pet? No one in your family's allergic are they?” the blond asked quickly, trying to get out all her questions before they slipped her mind. “What's your brother like? How old is he?”

Anthea held back the questions she had about Rome's father. She just had a feeling that maybe she shouldn't ask. She, personally, did not like to wake up and find that her mother had already left. However, it sounded like Rome preferred not to have to see her father in the morning. Perhaps, they'd just had a fight.

Rome's mother...Should she ask? It wouldn't hurt too much, would it?

“What about your mother...?” she asked hesitantly.

As soon as the question left her mouth, she felt a little fearful though. Anthea knew she inadvertently had a knack for sometimes asking exactly the wrong questions. Maybe it would be best to back track.

“I was just wondering! You don't have to answer,” she explained quickly and looked down in embarrassment.

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

A smile fell on her lips; she was actually quite happy to have company; even if she was talking to someone as much as she talked with one of her teacher; who she was only comfortable with because she had let things slip and felt less threatened by him than she had anyone else for a long while. But this girl, Anthea, was so easy to talk to. Like Mr. Connor had been all those times.

“Me too,” she sighed. “I may have to convince my father a bit, but otherwise I think it’ll be okay.” As long as she said, ‘Oh wait, I already have her so yea…’ He tended to keep things if he was attached so maybe it’ll be okay for them to have a puppy so long as she’s responsible for it herself… Like she is about everything.

“I don’t think any of us are allergic, we’ve been around dogs before and nothing happened,” she smiled, thinking upon the stray they had that died of Parvo Virus. It had been a sad day in their house.

Rome looked at the girl, if it had been anyone else she probably would have gone into an uproar, but she stayed calm and had a flat expression. “My mother left us, a long time ago.” She didn’t say anymore, and she hoped the girl wouldn’t pry much more into that either. Rome smiled at the girl as she had told her she didn’t need to respond, but the girl was nice and thought she was being polite so Rome decided to answer her question. She didn’t mind curiosity, so long as the girl didn’t pry.

276 // anthea/open // i like them together

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

“My mother left us, a long time ago.”

Rome's expression looked calm, but Anthea knew she'd made a mistake. She had ended that series of questions on a less than happy note. She'd asked a question she shouldn't have. She considered herself lucky that the other girl did not appear too upset with her.

“Oh...Well...At least no one's allergic. It seems like a good fit. I hope everything all works out. If you need any dog toys, I have a few that haven't been played with. My baby girl is a 'one toy forever or until it's destroyed' kind of dog. It's nice that your brother likes animals. Then she can get twice as much love,” she finished in a chipper tone.

The blond was down to the last bit of her cupcake. “Any ideas on names?”

She finished the last particle of the sweet and folded the paper wrapper into smaller and smaller shapes before she got bored with it.

“Besides the puppy, is there anything else you want for your birthday?”

Rome had shared her birthday treat, in the blond's mind, the least she could do was return the favor. Speaking of cupcakes...

Anthea looked down at another cupcake and looked back at Rome shyly. She loved sweets, but she didn't want to take advantage.

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

Rome could tell the girl seemed a little nervous having asked the question of her mother, and Rome felt kind of bad putting the girl in an awkward spot. "Don't worry about asking about my mother," she wanted the girl to know she didn't mind, the girl was just asking a simple question, “Its fine, not a lot of people know she left, I never knew my mother because of it... But I heard from my father, when I was younger, that she was beautiful... And talented."

She had hoped that she made the girl feel less horrible for asking a question that was a bit difficult for Rome to answer. She hadn't seen or heard from her mother in a long time, and she honestly didn't know her mother much more than what her father had told her when she was a toddler.

"Oh that would be great actually,” Rome smiled. "I honestly am not too prepared to have an animal though. Our house is kind of small and my family lives kind of tightly when it comes to money so I'm hoping I'd be able to save up enough to pay off school if I need to and to pay for a dog." Rome laughed it off, she was simply talking. She hoped the girl wouldn't think she was asking for or begging for money because it was far from that. Rome was working to keep up her share and to keep her family in the house, and so far she was doing a pretty damn good job. She simply tried to change the subject, "Oh, what kind of dog do you have?"

Rome thought about the girls question on names... Honestly Rome hadn't thought much about naming her yet, but she had always loved the name Sephira for a name for an animal... It was actually the name of the first stuffed animal that she ever had, which was also a dog, but she had lost it in their move to Cinders. "I'm thinking of Sephira..." She said blissfully, deep in thought... "What did you name your dog?"

Having only caught the tail end of the girls other questions she looked away... Her eyes far away... What she really wanted for her birthday was for her father to stop drinking and for her to stop being so angry at people.... But that was a far stretch. "Honestly I cannot think of anything else, aside from the puppy." The puppy, and this girl, kind of satisfied her other wish; to have friends... Outside of her brother. Rome and her brother shared a different kind of friendship, a different kind of bond, that didn't fit into her wish because it was already something she had.

Smiling, Rome nodded at the girl who silently, and shyly, asked if it was fine for her to have another cupcake. Rome didn't mind sharing at all, so she pushed the plastic container closer to the girl.

493 || Anthea/Open || So cute!

[ANTHEA CHRISTINA DE LUCA]

Anthea was immensely relieved that Rome was not upset with her for asking about her mother. She'd hate to think that she'd burned a bridge with someone before it had even been properly built.

The other girl was receptive of her idea of taking the dog toys if need be. She'd like to think she could contribute something.

Anthea was not too surprised about the other girl's situation. She'd gotten the feeling that despite her devil-may-care attitude, Rome was someone who was more grown up than most. Probably already had the work ethic of a sensible adult. Maybe she could help, but then again she'd hate for her to think she was pitying her. Oh well, if need be, she was sure she could find some way to be of assistance without being condescending...

“My dog? She's a blue merle Australian shepherd. Absolute sweetie. She's got one blue eye and one brown eye. It makes me almost jealous that my eyes don't look as cool as hers,” she pouted briefly. “But then again, I'd have the hardest time deciding on the right on of makeup or whatever to wear...So, it all works for the best,” she finished brightly.

Anthea did not much care for makeup. She liked to use it creatively which she knew her mother was not overly happy with. She knew her mother was happy that she was able to easily find creative outlets. Still, it was obvious to her that her mother would prefer her to wear her makeup to attract attention to her good features and look like a normal, or at the very least, more image-conscious girl.

She smiled at Rome's idea for a dog name. “Sephira sounds like a pretty name. I might have to steal that one from you. I chose Chloe for my dog. I'd spent ages trying to come up with dog names before we even went to look and had narrowed it down to three. But then, I looked at her and I chose Chloe immediately. It just seemed to fit. And her middle name is Cuteness. I don't think she knows, but that's what it is.”

She couldn't help but be curious what the girl would want for a present. Hopefully that hadn't been too personal a question. She doubted it had been, she would have no problem answering that question. But then again, she wasn't Rome.

“Honestly I cannot think of anything else, aside from the puppy.”

The blond didn't believe her and figured that it was perhaps something that she couldn't buy. Still, she wanted to do something. Not just because the auburn-haired girl had let her have another cupcake. Although to say that it wasn't a contributing factor would be a lie.

Anthea licked some of the icing off before she continued their conversation.

“I don't think I can do that. We've had a good chat and now that I know it's your birthday I feel like I should get you something...Maybe a cd or a book? Something for inspiration for Creative Writing or just to enjoy.”

[ANDROMEDA MARIE WYNTER]

"I love blue merles," Rome said excitedly. She smiled as the girl went on about talking of makeup and using the right kind to suit them, and then talking about her eyes. Rome always went with a more subtle gold or browns on occasion she would use other colors too, but it depended on how she felt. Otherwise she'd dust on a gold color and go on her way; or simply not put make up on at all. Of course, on that particular day Rome had gone with a gold dusted color, with some black liner, and some glitter and blush on her cheeks. "I tend to stick with gold and brown." Rome smiled at the girl, her own blue eyes looking at the girl. It felt good for Rome to have someone she could talk to, and this girl was extremely nice and she really liked her.

A smile came to her face as the girl complemented the name and even thought of stealing it. Rome's shoulders shook with gentle laughter and she looked at the girl. "Yes, sometimes you just know when you look at them what their names are going to be. Chloe is a good name for a blue merle though." Rome laughed, "Chloe Cuteness. I really like that." She was being honest as she tilted her head to the side slightly and smiled.

Rome couldn't remember the last time she had talked this much to one person without them breaking off into an argument and starting to hate one another. She felt good that she was around this girl, she was so nice and funny and she seemed really into the conversation. The only people in Rome's life that actually showed they cared were her brother and Mr. Connor. Now Rome had Anthea... Finally, Rome has someone decent in her life that was actually a girl. She didn't even feel the least bit threatened like she normally did when it came to the female figure, but it could be because this girl was closer to this age and actually seemingly interested.

It felt good to have someone other than her teacher and her brother to talk to. She had some acquaintances, but it was nice to actually have someone to call a friend.

Rome smiled when the girl said she couldn't not get the girl something since it was her birthday and the girl knew. It was flattering to think that even though this girl didn't know her all that well, and up until now Rome had mostly ignore her -- along with everyone else -- that she was still willing to buy her something. It was a nice little sentiment, and it said a lot about the girl. "You know, I have been thinking of reading more," Rome honestly hated to think of people spending their money on her, especially since she wasn't always the nicest person in the world. "I've been wanting to read this book called Shiver. It's about these Werewolves. I think the series is called The Werewolves of Mercy Falls or something like that..." Rome actually wasn't sure, she had seen the cover of the book on the internet and read about it, and then a few weeks back she heard some girls talking about it and swooning over one of the characters. "It's by Maggie Stiefvater or something like that," Rome laughed.

It seemed interesting enough to catch her attention and make her curious. At least for that moment in time it was, and Rome had been thinking on it since.

592 || Anthea/Open || I love Anthea.