Sugar Rush

Lucy sighed, picking out another large sized chocolate bar, trying to tell herself she deserved it. Though, she probably needed it more than she deserved it.

Actually, she needed something fat. Fat, greasy, cheesy and hot food, to get rid of her awful hangover. She groaned, turning away from the shelf and tearing her eyes from the chocolate, but as soon as she had turned around and took a step forward she walked into someone.

"Ah-Sorry," she took a step back, looking at the person she'd walked into and recognizing her at once: Laura McKinnon, her year, Pyxis, twin to one William McKinnon. "Oh, hey." though, she wasn't sure if she'd ever spoken a word to the girl, she was known for being a bit... special.

Lollipops. Lollipops everywhere. Did Laura die and go to heaven?

The brunette looked upon the many shelves stocked with her favorite sweet with something akin to awe. Merlin, was she happy this place opened up!

What to buy...what to buy... Laura thought, a small grin gracing her lips as she thought of how much she could buy. Will didn't know it, but this little trip to the newest sweets shop was thanks to him. Or, well, his wallet which she had "borrowed" from his room and was now tucked in her jeans pocket.

After a few minutes of deliberating, Laura decided to buy two of her top ten favorite flavors (there wasn't any need to bankrupt her brother by buying two of everything; after all, there were at least fifty types of lollipops on the shelves).

Satisfied with her selected purchases, the Pyxis was heading for checkout. "Was" was the keyword.

The brunette ended up bumping into someone, nearly dropping her precious cargo.

"It's no problem!" Laura quickly said, trying move a strand of hair out of her face without using her hands. "Er, hi! You look familiar--have we met before? I'm Laura."

The girl in front of her looked to be her age and was really pretty. The lolli-loving teen nearly said that too, but, at the last minute, she remembered that most people didn't like being complimented by strangers.

Lucy found herself staring at the girl for she was moving her head weirdly, like she had something attached to her face or something, but Lucy realized after few moments of staring that it was hair that the girl was removing from her face and the head-moving wasn't some weird greeting. Merlin Luce, stop being so judge mental, who cares if all you've heard is that this girl is a whacko? Give her a chance. She can't be more unbearable than her brother.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm Lucy Odair... I'm-" she was just about to say 'friends with your brother' when she realized on second thought that, that was not really true. "I know your brother, William." she corrected herself, finding it slightly weird to call him 'William' when it wasn't just the two of them - though, even when it was just the two of them she sometimes still just called him 'McKinnon'. "You are Laura right?"

A large, 100-watt smile quickly lit up Laura's face as the girl, Lucy, said that she knew her brother.

"Really? You know Billy?" she asked excitedly, happy to have something in common with this stranger. Now that she thought about it, the name Odair did sound extremely familiar.

"You're in Lacerta like Will is, right?" Laura asked, trying to remember why she knew that name so well. Normally, her memory was impeccable, but she had a small tendency to zone out when her brother (or anybody, really) was talking to her. "Our year?"

The brunette didn't specify who the "our" was, thinking it obvious that she was talking about herself and her twin.

"Yes, I'm Laura. I just told you that," the Pyxis said, giggling at how silly Lucy was.

Billy? Lucy's mind repeated. That's a new nickname, never actually heard Will be called 'Billy' before. She made a mental note to ask him about it later - or somehow slip it into a conversation that had him in, seeing as they didn't often randomly talk together.

"Yeah, I know Will..." a lot better than you'd think. She bit her lip. "I am a Lacerta, and you're a Pyxis? I don't think we've really met before." I've seen your house though, but you're probably glad you never ran into me - or walked in on me and your brother, who I hate, but like to shag, complicated stuff really. "So, shopping are we?"

The girl - Laura, she really had to stop calling her 'the girl' - didn't seem that weird, maybe Amber and Tiffany had been exaggerating a little, that wouldn't be the first time, when they called her a lunatic. She was slightly insane and talkative but Lucy preferred that over silent as a stone, any day.

"Yup. I'm one of the two McKinnons who got sorted into Pyxis," Laura beamed.

The brunette had nearly forgotten that she was out shopping (as was usual when her mind was on other things), and glanced down at the lollipops in sudden realization.

"Oh, yeah. Heh heh," Laura said, laughing awkwardly as she felt somewhat sheepish. "I, uhm, like lollipops."

She didn't know what else to say, a first for her, so she decided to go with her default choice of actions when faced with an uncomfortable reaction: randomocity.

"Ya know, you're really pretty," Laura said, grinning.

In her mind, she didn't think of Lucy as a stranger anymore, and, thus, assumed that she wasn't a stranger to Lucy either. The fact that most people didn't think like her seemed to have slipped the brunette's mind. That, or it was pointedly ignored.

Right, maybe she is a bit weird.

Lucy took a moment to find a reply when the girl had called her 'pretty', for she was completely caught off guard. "Uh, thank you? You too..." she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Getting a compliment from a McKinnon? That's a new one." the words slipped out before she could and she bit her lip, to hide her grin.

"So, you really like lollipops?" she laughed, waving her over sized chocolate bar in the air. "I'm a chocolate-y person, and I really need this." her headache was really doing her head in and being around strange people probably wouldn't do it good, but leaving would be really rude, wouldn't it? Beside, Lucy couldn't help but finding it interesting to talk to William's twin.

"You and McKi-William, really aren't alike." she announced. "Personality wise at least."

Laura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?" What did Lucy mean by that? She's never been complimented by a McKinnon. She's obviously never met Oddie before, she thought, a small smile tugging at her lips as she thought of her sweet, adorable little sister.

"Lollipops are epic," Laura said, her expression brightening as she thought of her favorite 'food'. "I can't decided whether I like butterbeer or lollipops more, though..."

And, thus, a dilemma began.

The brunette was snapped out of her internal conflict by Lucy's comment. It caught her off guard (which wasn't that surprising with how distracted Laura always got), and it took her a second to think up a response.

"Well, I would hope we were different," Laura said carefully, trying to piece her jumbled thoughts together. "I mean, if we were the same, then life would be boring, ya know? Life in the McKinnon house is never boring since we're all different."

She smiled again, content with what she had said. Then, feeling stupid for having not asked earlier, Laura remembered something Lucy had said earlier. "Why do you need the chocolate?"

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, I've heard Home at the McKinnon's is a bit crazy." when she thought about it she didn't know much about William's family, just what she had heard and seen of them. "But that must be fun yeah?"

She grimaced, looking at her chocolate. "Technically I need food." she replied. "Or maybe a shot of vodka." she grimaced again. "I'm a tad hungover, though I'm glad you haven't really picked up on it - unless you have? - and I don't look horrible."

Lucy pushed a strand of thick black hair from her face. "Maybe we should pay?" she was looking forward to eating her chocolate that was for sure, while at the same time she couldn't stop herself from wanting to learn more about the girl. "Then we can sit down or something? I'm really not in the mood for standing, sitting does good things for my headache, not sure why though."

Laura giggled quietly, having not realized that Lucy was hungover until she mentioned it. Will was hungover a lot. So was Mel. And Liz too. Now that she thought about it, has Mattie ever been hungover? How about Olli? Was she the only older person that didn't get drunk?

She had gotten lost in thought again, and was, again, snapped out of it by Lucy. "Yeah, paying sound good. I really wanna try this muggle lollipop. Did you know that muggle lollipops don't do anything? They just taste good," Laura said, grinning as she examined one of the candies in her arms. '100% Muggle' was printed across its wrapper.

Laura walked towards the checkout, and, once she dumped everything on the counter, pulled out the wallet from her back pocket. She turned to Lucy, a mischievous grin gracing her lips.

"I'll pay for your chocolate," she said. "With Will's money, of course."

"I did know." Lucy said, rolling her eyes at the girl's interest of it. "My mum's a muggle so I've had my fair share of muggle candy, kind of dull isn't it?"

When the girl offered to pay - with William's money, Lucy's eyebrows rose. "Wow, William paying for something for me? There's a first for everything, even though he isn't technically doing it." she grinned. She probably shouldn't be making all of these comments about Laura's brother when she had no intention of explaining them.

"So, do you wanna sit down somewhere? How is it... living with so many people?" the question slipped out before she could stop herself, but she just couldn't stop herself from being so curious about this family, it was a sickness really.

"Your mum's a muggle?" Laura asked, perking up. "That's so cool! Have you ever had Red Vines? Aren't they weird? I mean, they taste amazing, but they don't do anything. Just...flop. But I still like them. Not as much as I like lollipops and butterbeer, but I still like them. They taste amazing!"

She was left confused once again by Lucy, but didn't say anything. Will didn't buy her anything? Well, Laura supposed that he wouldn't buy everybody things, but the way she talked about him made her think they were more than acquaintances. Unfortunately, her mind was taken off the matter rather quickly.

"Yeah, we should sit..." Laura looked for a place to sit in the semi-crowded store. "Uh, there!"

She pointed to a small, wooden bench thing near the display window with her everpresent grin plastered on her face.

"Living with so many people is...normal, I guess. I've never lived with less people, so I can't really compare it to anything," Laura shrugged, her mood dampening slightly. "We kinda just do our own thing and live our lives, ya know? It's really easy to forget about each other when we're locked in our rooms or off partying all night."

She shrugged again, unwrapping her muggle lollipop as she sat on the bench. The moment the sweet touched her tongue, she was back to her usual happy self. "Mmm, watermelon."

"I've never actually had Red Vines." Lucy confessed, following Laura to the bench. "But I've heard it's good, but like I said I'm more chocolate-y than for the whole sweet thing, I'm not very sweet."

She unwrapped her chocolate, taking a bite from it before groaning happily. "Merlin, this is totally worth the money - well, your money, seeing as I had no trouble accepting that." she bit her lip. "Thanks for it, I should've said that earlier." Merlin, you're so rude Luce.

"I only have one sibling, a younger brother, he's cute but kind of a bother, I try not to spend too much time at home, I like it better around my friends, you know?" even if that means I have to hang around your brother, who I hate by the way. Merlin Luce, stop thinking about McKinnon, it's creepy. "I've never really seen you around, Laura, that's a bit weird isn't it? Why don't you make McKinnon - William, drag you with him to parties sometime?"

"It's no problem, really," Laura laughed. "Billy doesn't even know I took his money."

"I guess I get it," she said. "I prefer being around my family, to be honest. Most people don't really...get me. They just think I'm some idiot and treat me like...I don't know, a weirdo, I guess." Laura shrugged again, turning her attention to eating her lollipop.

The brunette didn't find the fact that Lucy rarely saw her around weird at all. "I don't really like parties. I prefer staying in my room and drawing on my walls. I have an entire wall devoted to a half finished mural of my family," she said, giggling to herself. "I don't think I'll ever finish it. Guess I should paint over it soon."

Lucy laughed. "Makes sense, I was having trouble trying to see William as the person that would give away money easily."

She took another large bite from her chocolate, enjoying the feeling of it melting on her tongue. "I'd like to see your room." she said, laughing. "It sounds interesting, my room is very dull, so are most rooms I've been in." she shrugged.

"It isn't every day you find someone artistic now of days, people are all about being 'cool', aren't they? And then they judge the people that dare to be special." she grimaced, wondering where this was all coming from, she sounded like one of those hippy-people her mum hung around. "You're quite brave you know." she grimaced again at her own words. "Daring to be different."

Laura beamed. "Thanks!" she said, trying to keep the pride out of her voice. Her room was her sanctuary; knowing someone wanted to see it was a huge thing for her.

The brunette shrugged again, something that she seemed to be fond of recently, smiling sweetly at Lucy. "Bravery's just another name for attention seeking," Laura said, giggling slightly. "And being different's another way of saying being weird. So I'm basically an attention seeking weirdo. Lovely."

She said it all in good humor, finding the whole thing amusing. While it did hurt her a bit to know how people perceived her, Laura reasoned that it didn't really matter. Sure, she didn't have many friends (close to none, actually), but did it really matter? She liked who she was because of how people reacted to her antics. It was always amusing, and always varied.

It was never boring.

"Ya know, Lucy, I think I'm gonna add you to my mural. Don't know how, but I'm gonna do it," Laura said pensively. "It'll be amazing."

Lucy took another bite from her chocolate, listening as the girl talked. She cringed slightly. "Yeah, I don't mean it badly when I say it, but you're really weird. But that's part of your charm, really."

She wondered to herself what the hell was her charm? Being a bitch? She did that a lot. Make fun of everything? She did that a lot, too.

The dark haired girl groaned again. "Eh... You'll make me look pretty on it, right?" she crossed her legs. "Though, wouldn't it be weird having me on your wall, around your family members? Even if I'm your most amazing neighbour." she was quite surprised they hadn't discussed the fact that they were neighbours yet, maybe because they really rarely saw each other, even if they lived next to each other. Lucy didn't like being at home, anyway.

"I have a charm?" Laura asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Well, that's...new. When the hell did I get me one of those?"

The brunette looked at Lucy for a moment. She was her...neighbor? "When the hell did that happen?"

Whoops. She didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Er, I mean, I never really noticed. Ya know? When the hell do I ever pay attention?"

It seemed to Laura that 'when the hell' statements were becoming her catch phrase. Lovely.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're so weird, Laura." she commented, but she grinned. This conversation was going quite well, even if it was with a McKinnon, and a crazy one. But hey, at least Laura wasn't adopted.

"I've been your neighbour for years? Merlin, you haven't even noticed me!" Lucy laughed. "But that's okay, I haven't really been hanging around." I've been in your house a lot though, shagging your brother, but that's not a nice topic, is it? "I don't hang around home often, I crash at my friend's place a lot." Or you know, your place when I'm shagging your brother, and then I leave before you guys notice me. It's epic.

Stop talking to yourself, Lucy. God her weirdness is rubbing off on me, isn't it?