"Eloise! Wake up! Come on, you told me to wake you up when I got back, and I'm back!" Marietta shook Eloise awake. Eloise groaned and rolled over
"You're back already? I thought you would be back much later than this. What time is it, anyway?" Eloise rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Marietta glanced briefly at the clock. "About two o'clock."
Eloise was instantly wide awake. "Two o'clock? TWO O'CLOCK?! I advise that you be joking..."
Marietta grimaced slightly. "Unfortunately not. What's the big deal? You stay up this late for homework at least once every two weeks," Marietta pointed out.
Eloise rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you see, there's a difference between staying up and waking up. A very big difference." She took a deep breath and said, "It is A.M., Marietta. VERY A.M."
"I know. I can explain," Marietta said, looking slightly downcast.
Eloise sensed the tone of her friend's voice and glanced up, concerned. "What's wrong, Marietta? Patrick didn't break up with you, did he?" Eloise frowned. "If he did, and if you would like, I could-"
Marietta cut her off. "No, we didn't break up. Although come to think of it, I think it was probably on his mind.” She stared into space morosely.
“Why? What happened?”
“Well, at first I got up there and everything was fine; everything was usual. Then we stared at the stars for a bit, not saying anything, and all of a sudden Patrick starts talking,” Marietta explained. “It sort of went downhill from there.”
Eloise tried not to grin. “Why, does Patrick have a bad voice?”
Marietta glared at her friend. “No, of course not. It was what he was saying.”
“Which was?” Eloise prompted.
“Well, first he started talking about how I was such a great girl and he cared about me and didn’t want to hurt me, how he was lucky to be my boyfriend, blah, blah, blah...” Eloise normally would have said something to the effect of, “Well, what’s the problem?” However, she knew this was not the time and listened intently, waiting for Marietta to continue.
Finally, Marietta drew a deep breath and continued. “Then he said that even though he was absolutely sure I had never done anything even slightly suspicious, he thought there must be a reason the rumor started.”
At this, Eloise was completely bewildered. “Well, of course there’s a reason. What’s he talking about?”
“That’s what I thought, until he explained what he meant. Apparently, he thought that I had a ‘suspicious reputation’ and that’s why the rumors started. He told me he thought that kind of reputation was completely un-called for in my case, but he still thought that there must be something he didn’t know about me, and he wanted to know what it was. Pretty much he completely contradicted himself with every other word that came out of his mouth.” Marietta drew her knees close to her chest and closed her eyes.
Eloise looked disgusted. “Honestly, he is so backwards. One minute he’s saying he would never break up with you or hurt you and then he turns around, practically says he doesn’t trust you, and yet he doesn’t expect you to be hurt? I don’t get that.” She sighed and lay down on her back, staring at the ceiling. The girls thought in silence for a minute until Marietta burst out.
“I cannot believe him! One minute yes, one minute no. If he can’t make up his mind about whether he can trust me or not, I’m not sure I want him for a boyfriend! Who could possibly want a boyfriend that’s hovering over you every minute asking if you cheat, yet saying he doesn’t think you cheated? What kind of guy is that?” Marietta said, frustrated. “When he asked if there was something he needed to know, I said he needed to know that I would never cheat on any guy, especially one I like as much as him! He needed to know that I wasn’t the kind of girl who didn’t care if her boyfriend trusted her or not.” Marietta stood up and began pacing furiously. “I explained he needed to, possibly, someday figure out that not all rumors have a basis on truth, even remotely! He needed to know that when girls got mad or jealous, they spread rumors and that those rumors are rarely meant anything close to even being based on the truth. And last, he needed to know that if he couldn’t trust me then I didn’t want to go out with him.” She sat down on a heap in the floor.
“Wow,” Eloise said. “That was impressive. You really said all that?” Marietta nodded. “Well, what did he say?”
Marietta sighed. “He muttered that of course he trusted me and then he left. I’m not sure if he wanted to break up with me or not at that point. If he wanted to, I don’t see why he wouldn’t. It’s like he thinks I’m too fragile to handle it.” She pursed her lips briefly. “Another thing he needs to know is that it’s much more painful to have a boyfriend that doesn’t trust you than to not have a boyfriend at all. Oh well, I suppose I’ll see him again tomorrow.”
“You did the right thing, Marietta. Don’t worry about it. If you break up, it’s his loss, not yours. And besides, when you want a boyfriend again, you’ll have one.” Eloise said confidently.
“You say that like we’ve already broken up.” Marietta said dully.
“Well, no offense, but on your end, you sort of have.”
“True. Well, I’m going to bed. I need to sleep.” Marietta walked to her bed and crawled in, not bothering to change out of her robes.
Eloise yawned. “Sounds like a wonderful idea.” She, too, went to bed, and soon both girls were asleep.
Eloise was running through a dark forest so thick with trees that she couldn't see the sky. She glanced back frantically every few seconds as if she was running from something, but if she was, she didn’t know what. As she ran she could hear voices- the voices of her parents, Marietta, James, Patrick, and other nameless students calling her back, saying things like, “Eloise, come back! You’re not safe where you are! Come back to us!” She heard Marietta and James’s voices the loudest, calling, “Eloise! Come back!” over, and over, and over, and...
Eloise woke up, breathing hard. She sat bolt upright in her bed and listened to the sound of Marietta snoring softly. She laid back down, went back to sleep, and in the morning she didn’t remember the dream at all.
Eloise Midgen and the Acute Acne by eowyngirl
Chapter Notes: A/N: Yay, the seventh chapter! Please leave a review!
Disclaimer: I'm not Jo. The Potterverse does not belong to me. Come on, people, you should know this by now.