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“Obviously! I had no clue! Ryan you have to stop me if I start doing anything stupid,” she told him, obviously overreacting. “Oh my god, you did this on purpose!” she pointed at him. “Two! Ryan I’ve never even had a sip before, besides church! You’re telling me to have two more drinks? My head is already buzzing!”

“Only the best kinds are! I dont care what anyone says about fruity drinks, they mask the alcohol quite nicely.” Ryan grinned. He loved when people who didn’t drink drank. It  was amusing to the local disney alcoholic. “Relax! A drink or two more wont hurt.” He winked before sliding his own glass of water towards here. “Here. Water for the lady.”

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“That’s what I thought!” Etta agreed. “I really hope someone’s playing a prank on us right now.”

“Wait– alcoholic?” He sputtered, trying to spit the drink back into the glass, “It tastes like lemonade?.”

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“I don’t know, it was fruity! Are drinks fruity? You’re talking to a girl who’s only seen a PBR before,” Etta explained quickly. She hadn’t had enough to be more than just a little bit tipsy. “Oh my god my brother will kill me. Water. I need water.”

“I thought you knew! We can pretend it’s non-alcoholic but what did you expect from me?”

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“Wait, this is alcoholic? Why didn’t you warn me a whole glass ago?! Oh, oh no. I’ve never done this before.”

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Etta beamed at the thought of a little friendly competition. “You better be ready to lose your lunch, Mister Aiden,” she said, nudging his side as she took a seat. “I don’t go down easily. Ooh, do you listen to country music?” she asked, pulling out her old iPod. “I know some people are finnicky about the music they listen to, so it’s alright if you don’t. I just brought music for the ride, and the whole iPod is chalk full of Thomas Rhett and the Zac Brown Band,” she explained. 

Aiden raised an eyebrow as he followed her onto the bus. “Is that a challenge? Cause it sounds like a challenge to me. Should we make it a bet? We ride that one over and over and the first one calling it quits buys the other one dinner?” He paid the driver and followed her through the bus to find a seat.

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Etta managed to make her way to the bus as quickly as her legs would carry her. She looked back as she stepped up onto the stairs. “Naw, they’ll take cash. I’m sure of it,” she told him. “Oh, you mean the Rockit? I dunno if you could take it,” she teased before she turned back and boarded the bus.

Aiden chuckled and jogged after her, easily keeping pace with his long legs. “I hope they don’t require a bus pass,” he said as they neared the bus. “This is gonna be fun. I hope you’re ready ride the tallest coaster over and over,” he said with a wink.

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“Well, my hometown near Chicago is Cresco, Iowa, but I study at the University of Tampa. Iowa isn’t necessarily well known for it’s abundant marine life,” Etta laughed. “If you go to Northwestern you must be really smart. What do you study there?” Her curiosity had been piqued. While Tampa was probably among the best schools for Marine Biology, Northwestern was widely known as one of the most prestigious schools. “That’s true. I do need an official nerd friend, and the position is currently available,” she teased. “Yeah, I suppose we really are the best, Etta agreed with a giddy smile. 

“Really? That’s awesome! I go to Northwestern. Where do you go to school?” Xavier sighed. He missed home and Chicago. He wasn’t directly in the city, but Evanston was close enough where he could go anytime he really wanted to. He grinned at her smile and was glad that she was starting to get happier. That’s all he wanted for people- for people to be happy. “Of course not! We’re all gigantic nerds secretly or we wouldn’t be here, duh! I’ll be a giant nerd with you!” He cheered as she highfived him back. He was glad it was a strong high five. He always appreciated those high fives. “True, but Hufflepuffs are still the best. McGonagall may be awesome, but she ain’t as loyal and true as a badger!”

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“Really?” Etta laughed, somewhat amused yet also concerned. “And who might that be?” She lined him up in front of the punching bag and tilted her head towards it expectantly. The smile remained on her face throughout the whole ordeal. “No worries, I wasn’t expecting it,” she chuckled at his joke. She watched his form intently as he forced his fist forward into the bag. It didn’t look like the most comfortable punch ever, but it wasn’t hopeless either. “Good, good!” she told him, eyes lighting up. “Next time make sure your thumb joint is protected and your wrist is straight, then it should feel a lot easier,” Etta advised harmlessly.

“Well I can think of one person who probably would have made sure he wouldn’t be able to have children. But then that might be going too far because I’d be hurting with him–” Seeing her smile, Moonjae let out a breath of relief but it was short lived as she pushed him toward the punching bag. “Alright, but I can’t promise I’ll be anything like the karate kid even though I’m Asian.” It’s just one punch, I can do this. He mentally told himself as he positioned himself in front of the bag before pulling his arm back to hit it just enough to feel the shock vibrate up his arm. Ow–

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“Yeah, but that’s still less time spent at the park. This is Universal we’re talking about. Second to Disney and Disney only. If I’m going there I want to take my sweet time to check out everything the parks have to offer,” she explained as she continued to scuttle down the walkways. “There!” she grinned and pointed at a bus with a sign that said Universal Studios. She broke out into a run with excitement.

Aiden chuckled. “If we did miss it, I’m sure there’s another one shortly. Tourists have to get around somehow, right?” He followed after her, though his pace didn’t have to be nearly as fast to be going at the same speed as her.

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Etta was happy to have had her friend approach. For someone as extroverted as she was, going alone anywhere could be draining. She lit up the moment she saw Sirena. “No, not at all! You have no idea how relieved I am that you’re here, actually.” Etta explained as she pulled back her hair into a ponytail. “Now that I’ve been a lifeguard for a little while I can’t help but look out for everyone’s safety on the beach or at a pool. Hopefully I’ll relax a little now that you’re here to distract me,” she smiled sweetly. 

Sirena had found herself on the beach; glad that it was much chillier than usual. She didn’t know why she headed off alone or if it was even a good idea - but, of course, she did it. Walking along, she soon spotted a familiar face and was almost hesitant to approach; not wishing to intrude on the other. However, she couldn’t help but feel like the fellow brunette looked like she wanted some company. So, she approached her. “Afternoon,” She smiled somewhat sheepishly - if not awkwardly, glancing down at the sand. If only she brought a towel. “Mind if I join you?”

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Miss? I like that! My name’s Etta though, in case you ever want to use that instead. I’m from Iowa, but I go to school here in Florida.

Originally posted by omituinen

Sweet! I’m from Virginia, more so on the boarder of West Virginia and Virginia, though. What you you? Where are you from, miss?

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“Oh my gosh, where do you go?” Etta asked. “I’m around 6 hours from Chicago, so my family spends quite a bit of time there. It’s one of my favorite places.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him her usual gigantic, genuine smile. Any sadness that she’d had earlier had been wiped out by his cheery personality. And, of course, Universal Studios. “Yes! I’m not the only gigantic nerd here!” she giggled.  She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a high-five, probably with too much enthusiasm and force put into it. “Literally Hufflepuffs are the best and so underrated. I would say that even if I wasn’t one. What’s better than someone who’s hardworking and loyal? Nothing. That’s what. Okay, maybe McGonagall. Maybe.”

“Maybe it is. Though I go to school in Illinois, so you think I should know,” He pondered aloud with a gentle smile on his face. “Oh goodness, that is quite a compliment then to be compared to your hero. I bow down then to you and I hope I will gladly live up to that title!” He smiled even wider when she agreed to go to Universal Studios with him. He hadn’t been here since he got here, and that was probably because of his busy work schedule, but now that he had a day off in a couple weeks hopefully she did too and they both could go in their Harry Potter gear. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be wearing my Hogwarts t-shirt and bringing my wand.” He held up his hand for a highfive. “Hufflepuffs for the win though!”

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Etta had decided to take to the beach on her day off. Unfortunately, it was chillier than expected and she’d spent most of the day wrapped up in her towel whilst sitting on the sand. It was still nice, but she found herself wishing she had some company. Soon enough, her wishes were granted. “Afternoon,” she greeted sweetly as she squinted into the sun to see who had approached.

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“Easily? Gosh, no. I’ve never hit anyone like that before. I felt I was harsh on him,” she chuckled to herself. At his pause her eyebrows tilted upwards as if questioning what he was going to say if he didn’t have a filter. She quickly returned to her normal smile as he went on. “That’s because I only stopped five minutes ago!” she protested with a laugh. She walked around Moonjae and grabbed his shoulders from behind before pushing him towards the punching bag. “Come on, just one punch, I believe in you!” 

Originally posted by karaofel

“Sounds like he got of easily, but I think you made it extremely clear that you and your non–” He paused, trying to figure out how to word his sentence carefully. ”.. Well life had nothing to do with him.” Moonjae laughed, rolling his eyes playfully at her words, “Not good at all she says, but she hasn’t noticed that no one has approached the punching bag after showcasing her killer technique.”

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Etta nodded ferociously at his words. “Thank God,” she grinned. “If I had motion sickness, I could never ride the Harry Potter or Spiderman rides. My life would be over.” When he encouraged her to get going, her short legs moved quickly in the direction of the buses. “I hope we didn’t miss it!”

Aiden smiled and laughed a bit. “Of course I’m a thrill ride person. People who don’t like thrill rides aren’t truly living. Or have motion sickness. But that’s besides the point.” He shook his head at his own rambling. “Let’s go!”

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“We use it all the time back home. Maybe it’s a midwestern thing,” she shrugged. “Yes, I compared you to Cedric, my hero, the king of Hogwarts, and the best Hufflepuff to ever exist. You’re welcome.” She said with a snort at how excited he was. Her eyes widened at the prospect of visiting Universal Studios again. She was sure the cute boy who worked in Honeydukes would recognize her by now and she didn’t know if she was more proud or disappointed in herself for that. “Well, I’m not going to pass up that opportunity! Beware, I’ll be dressed in my ‘puff quidditch tee.”

Originally posted by pretty-lonely-girl

“That’s an interesting analogy. A rose-tinted glass. I like it,” Xavier said with a wide smile. “Wow, compared to Cedric Diggory? That means everything to me!” He couldn’t help but smile at her other words. “I want to so bad! Why don’t you come with me? We’ll have a blast!”

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I’m always up for making new friends! Where are you from, Alfie?

hey I’m Alfie. we should be friends.