Dinner (Yumyum!)

Amanda was sitting at the Raven Claw table, looking absolutely worn out from all the classwork. Her messenger bag with was propped up on the bench legs under her was stuffed with scribbled notes, books that felt like a ton, and quills. Lots of quills. She was currently devouring a flakey, buttered roll to go with her grilled chicken.

Lena was, once again, sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. She glared at the more obnoxious members of Gryffindor house, wondering for the thousandth time why she was put into Gryffindor. She was not brave, she was not chivalrous, she was not any of those things that the Sorting Hat said Gryffindors were. Sighing, she served herself a small amount of food.

Serenity had long since said her goodbyes to Suzie and came down to eat. She had just grabbed herself a dish of chicken pot pie when she saw an angry girl at Gryffindor table. So, she skipped over (with her chicken pot pie, of course) to talk to her. "Hi!"

At this particular meal, Mélenie was paying a visit to one of those less vocal members of Gryffindor house, her other older brother Elroy. She was going on and on about something unimportant to this story. Elroy, like his fellow embryo, had learned to block her ramblings from entering his consciousness. He was enjoying a simple grilled cheese. Mél's lecture cut off with: "Don't you think the Defense teacher looks like an older Lance Bass?"

Serenity, slightly distracted by Elroy and Melenie down the table, tried to concentrate on the angered girl.

Upon receiving a callous shrug from her brother, Mél turned around to that girl at the Ravenclaw table who she earnestly believed she had forged a friendship with and cried, "Hey! Amanda!"

Lena looked up only to find that she had received what she least wanted - attention. "Hello," she replied to the girl who had noticed her.

Amanda grinned, a friendly face was a nice thing to see after harsh teachers, and waved her over to the table to sit by Amanda.

"It isn't that! I just need an answer! Doesn't Professor Quirrell look like an older Lance Bass?"

Amanda tilted her head to the side, obviously imagining the two if they were together, then nodded back, "Sort of!"

"Hi there! I'm Serenity Rosensteel. You look angry!"

"I'm not angry," Lena sighed. "I am just... misplaced," she said, realizing that it probably sounded like she regularly described herself as an object, opposed to a person. "I'm sorry," she apologized for her social awkwardness. "My name is Lena Anthes. It's nice to meet you," she added, desperately trying to recall what it was that normal people did when they met someone.

"Cool. What exactly are you eating there? Looks kind of disgusting. Holy cow! They have Green Bean Casserole over here!" Serenity exclaimed, putting several spoonfuls of the stuff on her plate.

She swiveled back to face Elroy. "I told you." Unfortunately, Elroy was now halfway toward the door.

"Yup." Lena nodded, feeling very uncomfortable in the presence of Serenity and her enthusiasm for casserole. "I'm eating roast beef. And, yeah, I guess it does look kind of disgusting." Lena hadn't really thought about it, but now that Serenity had brought it up, she found herself no longer hungry, and abandoned the beef for dessert.

Mél, disheartened, then turned to Serenity and whoever this other girl was. "Do you think he looks like Lance Bass?" She assumed they had heard her previous exclamations.

Hadley, who had been rushing by to meet with her friends at the other end of the Gryffindor table, stopped for a second. "Lance Bass? Oh my gosh, I LOVE NSYNC. What were you just saying about Lance?" she gushed, ignoring the bewildered expression on the Greek girl's face.

"I thought he looks like a younger version of Professor Quirrell!" Mél cheered.

"Ha!" Hadley exclaimed, along with a snort. "No way. Do you see Lance Bass going around with a turban on his head and singing with a stutter? No offense to people with turbans or stutters. But I just don't see it," she explained, with "Bye Bye Bye" echoing in her head.

"He easily could," she replied, bringing her hands up in front of her and shaping a square with her thumbs and forefingers. "In a few years! I bet he could work purple pretty well!"

"Lance Bass is out. It's all about Justin Timberlake. He's the hottest!" Serenity put in, adamant to let everyone know about her opinion. "I will bet you money that Bass is gay. I read it in a tabloid that they saw him with Justin Timberlake, like, on a date!"

"Um, Lance Bass is gay. He announced it, like, a decade ago," Hadley gabbed. "I'm Hadley, by the way. What are your names?"

Lena sat, wide-eyed, wondering what and who they were talking about. Who was in sync? Why would they be out of sync in the first place? And who were Lance Timberlake and Justin Bass????? If those were their names anyway. She suddenly found herself feeling very inferior to all these people, people who could clearly speak their mind and not shy away from everything and everyone they are presented with.

"He is not!" Serenity shouted. "Well, probably, but he never announced it."


[Cara, this is in 1991 or so..]

Hadley sighed. "You're right, I was just hoping you wouldn't suspect that he hadn't announced it." She blushed for a second before the reddish tint to her tan cheeks disappeared. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you all. I gotta go. Bye!" She waved enthusiastically and power-walked out of the Great Hall.

[Sorry, I forgot :/]