i've never written a cliché before, closed.

[magnolia elliot]

LILY LOCKHART

Magnolia always found the weekends at school inexplicably boring. There simply wasn't enough to do to keep her entertained. She was certain that were she at home she would be either at a meeting for one of the many clubs she had been in, be hanging out with her friends, or over at her sister Aspen's house, playing with her nephew. Mickaël was quite possibly the most adorable two year old she had ever laid eyes upon. But she wasn't at home, she was, regretfully, at Beauxbatons. A place where she couldn't do what she normally did while bored. Sighing, Magnolia figured there would be no use letting the day go to waste and stood from her laying position on her bed. She just had to think of something to do. What did Rowan normally do with her free time? Hide from people, probably. Take pictures, definitely. Neither of those activities had any appeal to her. What did the other students of Beauxbatons do?

Then the idea hit her. During her herbology class, she'd overheard two girls talking about a bridge that was on campus. Moonbeam Bridge? Something along those lines, for sure. Well, she had nothing better to do and figured that she might as well go looking for it. Magnolia certainly had enough of an adventurous spirit and free time to do it. She pulled on her hiking boots and clunked her way out of the castle in them. They were noisy in the halls of the castle, drawing looks from other students. The ones she recognized already, she smiled and nodded at but just kept on going as the shoes were comfortable and would be perfect because she wasn't certain how long she'd be walking around in them. Finally, she left the castle and walked with determination towards the forest, attempting to plan the location of the bridge in her mind. Magnolia had never set foot inside the forest before but she figured that there would be a logical place for it to be. Maybe she could find a river and follow it to the bridge?

Stalking up and down the edge of the forest, she did just that. She smiled, pleased with her problem-solving skills, when she found a river and began to follow along its edge. Surely, this would lead her right to the bridge. As she walked in silence, stepping over tree roots and ducking under low-hanging branches, she hummed to herself. While she wasn't so fantastic at spending time alone, Magnolia was certain she would fix her lack-of-friends situation soon and was just biding her time. She lost track of how long she was walking but figured she must soon be coming upon the bridge when suddenly the trees started becoming more sparse and her eyebrows pulled down in confusion. What was this? She glanced over her shoulder as she walked in to a clearing that over-looked a body of water, as if it was possible that she'd passed the bridge. This meadow clearly wasn't the destination she had in mind.