Time Warp: Let's Have A Party! (Sophie)

[Nicholas Ward]

2005, Or, Nick and Sophie's Senior Year

Nick didn't know how he'd been roped into this.

Actually, he did.  He just didn't want to think about it.  Taylor was off being important and doing volunteer hours at a clinic, and Trev... his boyfriend was off with the basketball team.  At least, he was pretty sure that's where he was. 

So when Sophie had asked made him go to the library with her to look at college brochures... he hadn't been able to come up with a good reason why he couldn't.  Being boring didn't count, apparently.

At least he liked Sophie well enough.  She was fun, and easy to spend time with.  But even that had a bit of a limit when it came to... this.

He didn't even know if he wanted to go to college.  He didn't really know what he wanted to do.  Taylor was lucky.  He'd always known he wanted to be a vet, like their father.  But Nick was lost.  Maybe he wanted to do something with building.  Or demolition!  Yeah, that could be fun.

Thinking about swinging a giant wrecking ball into a building was so much more fun than looking at brochures.  They'd been at it for hours.  (Actually, it was closer to 45 minutes, but who was counting?)

The blond senior had slipped off to the computer banks for a bit under the ruse of looking at more detailed information on one school in particular.  In reality, he was looking up something much, much more important.  

Senior.  Pranks.

There were some good ones, too.  After a few minutes, he had several ideas written down and terribly sketched out, complete with stick figures.  Grinning to himself, he scribbled numbers onto the backs of the drawings and scampered back to his and Sophie's table.  Fanning out the papers with the numbers facing her, he adopted the most innocent expression he was capable of.

"Help me pick a school and a course, Sophs."  He wiggled the cards in her direction.  "Pleeeeease?"

Or, you know.  Help your idiot friend plan a senior prank.  That was fun too.

[Sophie Tillman]

A lot of students, Sophie found, didn't seem to see the value of getting a head start in the college search. You had to apply months before graduation, and there were scholarships to think about, and FAFSA was a whole mess on its own... No, the whole process was a lot more complicated than just picking a school.

Wading through this process was already occupying a lot of senior year so far, but the hard part was dragging Nick through it with her. Left to his own devices, Sophie thought he might get as far as walking the stage in his cap and gown before touching an application. As a result, Sophie had taken to force bring him along to the library, which is where she now sat while he scampered away to the computers.

Sophie lifted her head from the brochure for a school in Tampa to find a fistful of papers fanned out in her face.

"You can't pick schools at random, Nick," she told him with exasperation. "Well, you can, but you shouldn't, it's too important." If anybody were really to decide where to go to college based on picking a card, it would be Nick Ward. "I'll pick one if you'll just look at it."

Sophie reached out and grabbed the slip just slightly off-center. "There, is it a good one?"

[Nicholas Ward]

Being that Nick wasn't smart like Taylor, he really didn't know what he wanted to do after school. His parents had been lightly encouraging some sort of trade with him, but as much fun as building would be, he didn't know how to pick one. Maybe he'd just mess around in construction until he found something he liked.

Or, like Taylor kept telling him he'd do if he didn't start getting serious, he could always panhandle on the street corner.

No, that wasn't really an option.

Neither was being serious at the moment, as proven by his ruse. Rustling the papers at Sophie, he just grinned. "I totally can. What if I like so many I can't pick on my own?" Which was the biggest lie ever, but hey, whatever he could do to get Sophie to pick one.

Once she drew one, he set down the rest picture-side down and looked it over. "It's a great one!" Now he just had to figure out the logistics.

... And money.

"How much d' you think a petting zoo rents for?" Already he was sketching down ideas in the back of his binder, away from any sensible work he'd accomplished during the semester.

[Sophie Tillman]

"What are you talkin' about?" Sophie's eyebrows furrowed. Petting zoo? What did that have to do with anything? She reached out for the sheet of paper she'd chosen and flipped it over. Instead of the name of a school, there was a scratchy stick figure diagram of ...well, she wasn't sure what it was, but apparently it was supposed to be a petting zoo. She reached for another sheet; these stick figures appeared to be throwing something, although whether it was toilet paper or party streamers or magic spells was anyone's guess. Another one: three blobs with legs, numbered 1, 2, and 4.

As understanding dawned, Sophie's eyes grew wide, brows arching high before furrowing even harder.

"Good grief," she muttered. Sophie leaned closer, eyes darting around to the students they shared the library with. With her luck, one of them would have super hearing or something. "A petting zoo? Here?" 

[Nicholas Ward]

Nick was too busy grinning in a mischievous way to answer Sophie right away. Already he was scribbling down ideas on how to make this prank work. If he couldn't figure it out, he'd just prey on Trevor or Taylor to pick one instead. But he liked this one. Having a petting zoo on the training field and throwing a party for the seniors? How much fun would that be?

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sophie looking through the other options, and he could only imagine the look of disapproval he was getting. Sophie could be like a mother hen sometimes, and he suspected that this would be one of those times.

Not really caring if anyone overheard, he grinned and tipped his chin back up so he could look at Sophie again. "Yeah! Why not? Or one of the others would be cool too, but seriously Sophs, we need to do something! It's our senior year!" He tilted his head curiously, looking at his terrible handiwork on the page. "I wonder if my parents would advance me a year's worth of allowance..." Probably not, but he had to figure out how to finance a petting zoo somehow.

[Sophie Tillman]

"Exactly, we're seniors!" she hissed. Even if Nick didn't mind being overheard, Sophie wanted to keep her voice down. "We're so close to graduating. What if we get in so much trouble that - that - " Even as she stammered, Sophie knew that realistically, what he was proposing wouldn't be enough to delay their graduation. But that didn't mean there weren't consequences! " - that we lose letters of recommendation or something? We're supposed to be applying for schools, I don't want to get rejected over a prank!" 

Nor did Sophie particularly want all the attention that large pranks tended to draw to their conspirators. The only way to avoid it was to not get caught, a possibility she thought was absurd to consider while there was a telepath on the school's administration. 

"Who would even rent their petting zoo to us anyway?" Sophie continued. "What if it's like renting a car and you have to be twenty-five or something?"

[Nicholas Ward]

What was Sophie's problem? Senior pranks were a rite of passage! Why didn't she get that? Okay, she wasn't as prone to mischief as he was, but still! This was important! Maybe even more so than college.

Well, according to him, anyway.

"What letters of recommendation?" The blond blinked at her. "... Your teachers'll actually give you one of those? Jesus you're smart, Sophs." He'd be lucky if he even got a passing grade in some of his classes, let alone a letter of recommendation.

"Come on Sophs. I promise you don't even have to do anything. You won't get in trouble! Just help me figure out how to do it. Pleeeeaaaaasssse?" He pressed his hands together in a pathetic attempt to persuade her.

"I dunno. I didn't look that far. Just at ideas. You're the smart one!" Well, the smart one that would be willing to help him. He strongly suspected that Taylor would want nothing to do with a prank.

[Sophie Tillman]

Sophie's back straightened a little at the word "smart." Flattery was not gonna rope her into this, it was not... She knew perfectly well that whether or not Nick told her she'd have to do any legwork, she would anyway. If Nick wanted any hope of pulling off a stunt without tumbling off the top step of a ladder or something, he would need backup. Which perhaps he knew, Sophie thought when she heard "smart" again.

"Well, that's just the problem, ain't it," she replied with barely concealed relish, "you pull this off an' everyone'll say, 'no way that Nick could've done this on his own,' an' who do you think they'll look at first? If you get caught, I get caught."

Propped up on her elbows, Sophie leaned forward, pulling her shoulders in and glancing around one more time.

"Which means, she went on, "you can't go braggin' about this to anybody."

[Nicholas Ward]

Nick was quick to flatter, because he'd learned long, long ago that it helped him get his way. He used it a lot with Sophie, but the chances of it actually working was usually about fifty-fifty. Sometimes lower, depending on what he wanted and her current mood. He was holding out that it would work to his favor today.

"Heeeeeeeey. You don't think I'm smart enough to pull this off by myself?" She was... probably right, yes. But that was beside the point! "Maybe they'll think TayTay was involved. He's around me more than you are. Or maybe Trevs!" Not that he really wanted to spread the blame around, but maybe if he gave Sophie more options for possible accomplices, maybe she'd be more inclined to help.

Not that he really thought that his brother would help him out with this.

"I won't brag!" Much. At all. Ever. "I'll be all 'oh wow who did this it's awesome and smart and whoever did it is a genius!'" Because that was convincing.

[Sophie Tillman]

Sophie's only response to his first question was a tight, humorless smile. Could Nick set up an unauthorized petting zoo on Hammel grounds? Probably. The boy had nerve in spades. What he lacked was sense, and that's what he would need to fly under the staff's radar. Before and after the deed was done.

"Are you gonna tell Trevor about this?" Sophie asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. If Nick really had his heart set on a petting zoo, at some point in the planning process he might decide that this wasn't a two-person job. And while Sophie liked Trevor - he had some of that sense that Nick was sorely lacking - the fewer people were involved, the less chance they had of getting busted.

[Nicholas Ward]

Nick was oblivious to Sophie's doubt, content to keep sketching in his binder to hopefully come up with a way to actually pull this off. Maybe some of his classmates knew people with animals they could lend? But that meant telling more people, which was the opposite of what he wanted to do. He wanted to surprise everyone.

"'Course I'm gonna tell Trevy! Why wouldn't I?" His boyfriend was going to be so impressed with him. It was the best idea ever in the history of schools everywhere. All the seniors were going to love it, and he supposed he'd have to let the others see it too. It wasn't like he could slap a SENIORS ONLY sign on it. ... Well he could, but that wasn't inclusive and sharing and all that stuff his mother had tried to teach him as a kid. "So. ... Who do we know with a spare llama?" Because llamas were essential to the petting zoo experience. Clearly.

[Sophie Tillman]

Of course he would tell Trevor. Of course, he said. Sophie slumped forward, face in her hands, propped up against the able by her elbows. It was supposed to be a secret, and already he was planning to tell someone.... At least it was Trev of all people. Odds were good he'd side with Sophie on this one.

"Okay, well." She rubbed her eyes with the butt of her hands one last time, then let them fall back to the table. "The only llamas that would be runnin' around here are shifters, last I heard Vermont isn't big on keepin' 'em as livestock."

[Nicholas Ward]

Of course he would, because Trevor was his boyfriend. And he was going to be so impressed. He'd have him on board for sure, and the prank was going to be so epic. Sophie would see. Everyone was going to love it.

"What?! No llamas?!" Well that sucked. Pouting, Nick swiped his drawing back and drew an x through a long-necked, stick legged thing that was apparently, obviously a llama. "Okay, so no llama. What about sheep? What else is in a petting zoo? Chickens? I bet we could find some chickens. If we can't rent a zoo, we'll make one!"

And of course he wasn't being quiet, either.

[Sophie Tillman]

"Well, okay, let's start with the chickens." Maybe if Sophie could wet-blanket the whole mess Nick would give it up. Holding up one hand, she began counting off her fingers. "We can't steal 'em, of course. If we buy 'em we gotta figure out what to do with 'em afterwards."

Actually, was that even true? Maybe the school would confiscate the animals - certainly they broke the rules about what could be kept in the dorms as pets. What did the grownups do with contraband pets when they found them? But Sophie neglected to mention this possibility, hoping Nick would take it at face value.

"Shelters wouldn't have 'em, and we're too young to adopt even if they did. So I think that leaves..." Sophie sighed. "Hiring an actual petting zoo."

So they were back to square one. What would Nick have to say about that?

[Nicholas Ward]

"Sweet!" At least someone had an idea of how to start. "What if we buy chicks from somewhere? We could raise 'em to be big fluffy chickens!" Just what they'd do with them afterwards, he had no idea. "Chickens would be awesome pets!" Okay, maybe not really in line with the dorm pet policy, but c'mon! Chickens!

But Sophie was also right. Maybe it wasn't all that responsible to get their own chickens. Which meant...

"Ha! You think it's an awesome idea too." He was practically bouncing in his seat. "C'mon!" He held out his hand to her. "Let's go look them up!"

She had to admit, this was way more fun than looking at colleges.