Valentine's Day Dance Entrance

[Emiko Nakajima]

**outfit

She wasn’t forgetting anything, was she?

Yes. She was forgetting something.

...No. No, she wasn’t.

...Yes, she was.

Emiko had sent chocolate to her mother and siblings already, and all her friends in Japan- in return, she was plagued with boxes upon boxes of the things from them. She would put boxes in her co-worker’s mailboxes on Monday, mostly just giri-choko. She hadn’t felt a strong connection with many of her co-workers, except maybe Mr. Morrison in a friendly sense and Mr. Bond in a way she hadn’t quite put her finger on yet. She wouldn’t admit anything, of course, but perhaps Mr. Bond would receive more than just obligatory chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

Of course, that would mean that her co-workers would not recognize White Day and they would not be giving her any white chocolate in return on March 14th. This made her sad, considering it was her favorite kind of candy. Ah, the customs of Japan were so confusing to those in the US- much like the customs here were confusing to her. She did not like the hard candies or cards she had seen in the stores. They seemed like a cheap, inexpensive way of getting out of spending too much money on people you only wanted to sleep with later. Valentine’s Day held so much more meaning in Japan. Oh, the irony was not lost on her.

Emiko was sitting in her house on her futon holding a cup of coffee when she finally remembered what she had forgotten. She yelled and stood, almost spilling coffee down her front in a moment of confusion and surprise. She scurried around her house, cursing as she dug out a dress and a necklace and some sensible heels. She was supposed to be chaperoning the dance in half an hour! She couldn’t get ready in half an hour! She didn’t even bother to do her hair; that in itself would take a good hour and a half if she wanted to actually DO something with it. She simply let it down, brushed it, and sprayed it a little so it would stay in place. She went with minimal make up and pulled on the first dress she could find. She was out the door in ten minutes flat.

The Japanese woman did stop by the security office on the way to the auditorium to drop off her purse and to collect her wits. The best thing about student events was that, one, they were dry events, and two, she didn’t have to deal with too much awkwardness because none of the staff wanted to cause a scene in front of the teens that they had to put up with for four years. She could deal with pulling couples apart and watching the punch bowl. (That was the reason why she was going. Damn students threatening to spike the punch.) She walked to the auditorium in time to take her place in her corner, watching from a shadow (how cliché) as the students milled about. She stood there and watched their actions, completely set on getting through the night so she could go home, curl up on the futon, eat ice cream, and watch Kurosawa. Seven Samurai was waiting for her.

Emiko sighed and looked up to the ceiling in a silent prayer. Please, let her get through the night without having to use her powers. Please.

[Darryl Bond]

He didn't want to face the world.

No, like you have no idea of how much he wanted to board up his windows and doors and not leave his house....for at least eight months. Well, OK it wasn't...so bad. But it wasn't what he asked for!

He went to the salon to get his routine trim and style (and his roots were showing and he needed a bit of a touch up so he'd look good for the dance he was supposed to chaperon). He went in, as per usual. The nice lady that was in charge of him he usually saw wasn't there, as it seemed her parents forced her out on a dinner thing or something. He was sad, but he agreed to let the other lady near his perfect hair. She colored it and washed it with no problem. Their conversation was light and vaguely flirty (though Darryl has seriously turned down his game since...). He was enjoying himself. He was seated in the nice chair with that torture device around his neck, facing the mirror (appreciating how even he trimmed his beard earlier in the day), when the woman...attacked his poor hair. She cut a huge lock out before asking him again what he wanted. He gasped in shock, nay, disbelief.

But it had really happened.

That cow ruined his hair!

He was furious. The other lady in the salon, having saw what had occurred (and knew Darryl quite well at this point) hip-checked the foul mistress out of the way and offered a bazillion different apologizes, but no words could fix that his entire hair style was completely ruined. He might actually cry over this. He loved his hair! It was perfect! And now it was completely ruined!!

He watched painfully as she cut the rest of his hair to match the patch the idiot cut and walked home with his coat tightened around his ears. Today just couldn't get any worse.

Oh yeah. He had to chaperon tonight. Fuck.

He spent a good hour staring at himself in the mirror and flinching. It was gone. All of it. Gone.

At one point it did occur to him that it would indeed grow back. But then again, it was winter and now his ears were all exposed and would freeze off and then he'd be deaf.

He sucked it up (finally if you ask me) and started to get dressed. He was about to leave the house, wrapped up like an Eskimo, when he dashed back inside and grabbed some shades to complete his outfit. Though he had first thought of them to hide. So maybe no one would notice him.

The walk to the campus was on in shame, and once inside he immediately went to hide, his used his eyes and observation skills to actually keep people away from him. So he wasn't doing much watching. However, he spotted Emiko and a small smile formed on his face. He rubbed the back of his head and a frown passed across his face when he felt the lack of hair, but he heaved a sigh and walked over to her. "I didn't know they'd manage to rope you in on this," he said as he came up beside her, a happy smile on his face. He took his glasses off slowly and folded them into his pocket. "You look gorgeous."

[Zachary LaRousse]

“Hey, nothing like that,” mumbled Zac when L.C. said something about Ann being on meth. While he knew L.C. was just trying to cheer him up (first ‘presenting’ herself as his date to get back at Ann, now she’s trying to cheer him up; is the L.C. he’s with still the same L.C. who threatened to rip him to shreds just a few weeks ago?), he’d have none of those Ann insults. He was bitter, yes, but he’d rather not see her in a bad light that much. It’s been quite the challenge telling himself that he did feel something for her; he’d rather not let go of that so easily. And besides, she wasn’t the problem – the McKenzie kid was. “But yes, it’s a shame he’s shorter. Hopefully Snow White would realize that she’s currently with the Dwarf and not Prince Charming before it’s too late.”

He chuckled slightly when L.C. protested that she can’t dance. Who was she kidding? He hasn’t really seen her dance but there’s a small voice at the back of his head that’s telling him that she’s lying. With legs like that, how can she not know how to do a decent spin here and there? “Then that would be quite the disappointment to the hungry eyes that would want a taste from you in a bit,” he said, nudging her slightly, pointing to the said eyes with his own. Funny how a little cleaning up can do to a girl really. “And don’t be silly, we won’t be dancing. At least not this early. I’m just planning to announce our presence to the lovebirds. And maybe trip Dopey ‘accidentally’.” Petty? Yes. Unnecessary? Extremely. Then again, this is Zac we’re talking about.

They were halfway through the dance floor when a familiar girl waved at Zac. “Glowworm? Hi!” said Zac as he returned the gesture with a rather enthusiastic wave, “Who’re you wi–Shit.” He was just about to ask the girl who asked her out when it hit him – he’d jokingly asked her a few months ago. He wasn’t that serious back then, but then again, he wasn’t joking entirely either. Oh joy. It seems this dance just brings him blunder after blunder. He briefly uncoiled himself from L.C. and ushered Stella towards them. “L.C., meet Glowworm, I mean Stella. Stella, L.C. She’s my other date.” He gave L.C. a weak smile, a smile that says something between ’Please don’t kill me’ and ’I’ll explain everything’. “Want to grab something to munch on first?”

Seems Alex and Ann would have some time alone then, at least for the mean time.

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann felt like every bit of her skin was alive with independent actions, she felt tugs from every direction from all the emotions flying around the room, but also from the strong ones she was feeling herself. When Alex saw her and lit up in a grin, she felt...confident, pretty even. She couldn't really put her thumb on why, but she knew she liked it. She fidgeted with the top of one of her gloves when he pulled out a corsage. It was very cute and she hadn't expected him to get one, she smiled again when he held it out for her, though she dropped her hand when Mia came stumbling in from the side. Ann actually didn't know who she was, at all, but had seen her around (or at least she thought so but the dress she was wearing was really distracting).

Ann watched as she walked away and then looked around their surroundings, as she realized more people were arriving they might be in the way where they were (of course she was wrong, but she was paranoid of another pursing falling in on them). Her wandering eyes caught Zac and his date, a girl she vaguely recognized as being in a class of hers. She felt a little bit bad about what had happened when Zac had asked her to go to the dance with him, but Alex had asked her first....and she would much rather go with Alex than Zac. She attempted a small smile in his direction, but he hadn't been looking at her. She turned back to Alex then.

"I love it. Thanks." She meant the corsage, she smiled slightly. "SO...do you want to go get a table, or something?" She didn't know how a couple went about during a dance. Sure she supposed they might take up the dance floor....eventually, but Ann didn't feel comfortable hanging next to the wall like they had been.

[Emiko Nakajima]

Emiko had been observing the snack bar with particular vigilance. Her entire purpose of her appearance was so she could guard the contents. That meant regularly getting drinks from it so she could taste and ensure there was in fact no alcohol inside of it. If it had been her decision, she would have just called off the dance altogether and allow the student’s classmates rip the troublemakers apart; it saved everyone a lot of trouble in any case. But no, the staff chalked it all up to kids being kids. Emiko rolled her eyes at the thought. No, it was more like hellions being hellions. No one joked about spiking punch when she was school. Kids these days...

Oh kami. Did she really just think that? She couldn’t think things like that! She was not old! She was only thirty-three! …Okay, only thirty-three is a bit of a longshot. But it’s better than forty-four. Right? It wasn’t like she had any need to feel old- she still fit into her jeans from high school, she didn’t have gray hair, she didn’t have kids... If anything, she was behind her game. Wasn’t she supposed to be married by now? Her mother wouldn’t stop hounding her about it- which reminded her, she was going to miss her Mother’s call tonight. There was another thing she had forgotten. She’d have to call her back and tell her she was working- and then she would get a lecture about throwing herself into her work too much, which would lead in a full circle about her not being married or having kids because of her always being at work. Then her mother would complain about grandchildren and family legacies and point out how her sister was doing so well with one child and another on the way- she would never hear the end of it all. The thought of that particular tirade made her flinch.

It was during that moment of internal flinching that she heard someone coming up to her, and the Japanese female turned to see who. She smiled at the sight of Mr. Bond and bowed slightly as he came up to her. She noticed that his hair was not as long as it had been at their last meeting, but she didn’t mind- she rather liked it. His compliment caught her off guard and she felt her face grow hot- was she blushing? She was blushing! She never blushed. “Thank you.” That was all she could manage to say for a moment, but she regained her composure as the color in her face went back to normal levels. “You look quite handsome yourself. The haircut is quite a pleasant change, from what little of it I can see.” She glanced to the fedora on his head, than back to his eyes. Oh. He had nice eyes.

He had said something else, before the compliment. She could work off that to ease the awkward silence settling over them. She found herself staring at the cup in her hands she had forgotten about in the past minute or so. “As for why I’m here, well, Mr. Harris asked me to attend to, ah, watch over the punch bowl.” She raised her paper cup and shrugged. “Apparently they take threats directed toward their cheap, store bought tropical punch very seriously.” Yes, that was joke; a bit of a poor one, in her opinion. But maybe she was being too hard on herself. She never understood American humor. They seemed to laugh at everything.

[Ginny Campbell]

Ginny had turned on the charm in order to convince her mother she simply had to have the cute geek magnet dress she'd shown Mia over IM. Fortunately her mother had agreed that the dress was darling (there were definitely some high points to having geeks for parents) and even more fortunately she'd not heard that the dance was supposed to be formal and thus didn't object to her daughter not adhering to the dress code.

The dress was in the same style as Mia's -- unsurprising, as they'd both purchased them from The Vintage Doctor -- though hers was made with Batman fabric instead of Pacman; she'd convinced the other girl that she wouldn't look like a porn star even with her rather generous bosom. Her friend had given her an adorable headband in return for help with hair and make up.

She and Jonah hadn't left for the dance when Mia and Reeve for because Ginny had noticed right before leaving that her sparkly blue nail polish was beginning to chip, and she'd made her date wait while she applied a new coat and waited for it to dry. She didn't mind if the other couple arrived earlier, but she didn't want to go by herself. What if that awful Zac guy noticed and accosted her again? EW.

She stood upon the threshold of the auditorium, holding the door open as she gazed out at all the students. She recognized a few of them, but the majority of them she didn't know even after years of visiting the school.

After a moment she decided it was time to go in and she reached out a hand to tug her date into the room before remembering that he couldn't touch people and tugging at the hem of her dress instead.

Do you see the others? She signed, peering about the auditorium for any sign of the petite hacker. Ah, there was Reeve, looking thoroughly out of place. He nodded and she smiled in return, watching in fascination as he went from one wall to the other as if he wasn't sure which location would be most out of everyone else's way. If she hadn't been in on the plan she wouldn't have known he'd done anything!

She turned back to Jonah, lifting her hands to begin signing before she realized that, as much as she had practiced with Annie, she still wasn't entirely sure how to sign the comments she wanted; it was a good thing the telepath could read lips. "There's one of them. Have you seen Mia?" She shouldn't have been difficult to spot; her colorful dress and outlandish platform boots ought to see to that.

If her date hadn't been deaf she would have suggested pestering the DJ, but it probably didn't much matter to the telepath what music was playing, unless he was like Annie and liked a particular artist because of the vibrations; if he wasn't attuned to that then dancing was going to be difficult, as she knew what the beat was and wouldn't be able to pretend otherwise. That would be disappointing; she did enjoy dancing.

"After we find Mia do you wanna dance?"

[Mia Keystone]

As Reeve paused and looked at her with uncertainty, Mia had another one of those moments where she thought that her fellow technopath was... not quite right. Her own smirk dropped slightly and she chewed on her lip rings as she waited for his comment. How seriously was he taking this, for gods sake? Then he finally spoke and her eyebrows hit her hairline.

”Ok...” she said slowly, frowning a little. Not exactly a standard response... but then she grinned and shrugged, because it was true. Her shoes were pretty darn amazing. ”No wonder you’re a lady killer, you lay on the compliments don't you?” she smirked, then saw a glimpse of a ridicules hat over her ‘date’s shoulder. The smirk dropped, and Mia’s famous ‘game’ face was on.

The game face was legendary... to Mia’s nearest and dearest at least. Jonah had seen it when Mia had stopped to see the boy in a headlock, clearly in some sort of agony, Ginny had seen it when she’d mentioned her dad might be a beaten wife, and Jordan would have seen it when he was getting punched, had he not been so wrapped up in getting punched. And whenever Zac showed his face around Mia, everyone saw the game face.

”Reeve,” Mia said slowly, ”I need you to follow my lead. This is important.” She smiled, and it was not a pleasant smile. ”When he’s looking at me, you mic him.” She waited a moment to let him think it over, then grabbed his hand, the tiny girl (now boosted a nice five inches) dragged the confused boy over to the wall where the lucky Mr LaRousse was standing with not one, but two ladies. Sneaking up wasn’t going to work with her shoes, which despite being cool, were not quiet. So instead, Mia went for the extreme shock approach.

With a whoop, the small girl leaped into Zac’s personal space and smacked Zac hard on the ass. Mia’s distractions were never half hearted. ”There’s the billion dollar boy,” she crowed, then tipped his hat down over his face. ”Nice outfit. You look like a gay gangster. Who’s on a date with...” the girl eyed the albino and the iron maiden with a raised eyebrow. ”With a six year old,” a nod to Stella, ”And a peacock on steroids. Zac, I’m impressed.”

Reeve had to have planted it by now, and Mia had no intention of hanging around to have L.C. start spiking things in the least fun way so she stepped back and tugged Reeve back to her side. ”You know Reeve, right Zac?” Mia asked slyly, smiling crookedly as she put her arm around Zac’s hired anti hacker’s waist, stepping lightly on Reeve's foot as she did so in a this is your cue to hug me gesture.

This was way too much fun... And she wasn’t even sharing it. Her other hand tapped the phone in her hip holster to sent Jonah and Ginny a text.

Wtf are you? Missing the fun

And was that the Japanese security guard standing with Mr Bond? Nice one.... that was the chick who had talked about punch duty. That would be the suckiest job in the world.

[L.C. Milliner]

L.C. couldn’t help it, she snorted at Zac’s analogy and elbowed him in the side. “So, what, I can’t make fun of the girl, but her date’s free game? That’s sexist.” She picked a fuzzy piece of something off his arm and flicked it away, knowing that ‘The Mammal King’ (so many nicknames, so little opportunity to use them) would hate it if his outfit was any less than impeccable. “Oh, so you’re prince charming? What am I, then- the dragon that guards the castle?”

[/color] It was a bit ironic that she actually liked the sound of that, it was supposed to be a snarky comment.

Zac’s comment made L.C. get a little paranoid as her eyes darted around for anyone who was staring at her. “Where? Show me. No one’s staring at me.”[/color] She mumbled, praying to god she was right. She’s was not pretty. She was a force to be reckoned with, not someone to stare at and ogle. If she had a choice, she would’ve bolted then. She should be home right now, enjoying a nice nap in her bed. She’d let Dr. Neville go to the dance for the both of them. He trusted her home alone; at least she hoped so. She hadn’t broken anything yet. She zoned back into the dance and unconsciously tightened her grip around Zac’s arm, using him as an anchor to keep her from running away. There were very few times when her fight or flight response took up the latter option, but this was one of those times. She was scared shitless. There, she said it. Happy?

It wasn’t too much of a shock when another girl came up and introduced herself, and L.C. smiled as nicely as she could. (Give her a hand for trying, people, this is L.C. Milliner we’re talking about.) She noticed the girl was standing a respectable distance away, and L.C. realized this was due to her being around. She felt her self-confidence boost a little bit- if she was still scary while in a dress, she felt accomplished. She looked to Zac as he spoke, and back to the girl, nodding as she was introduced… And there was an awkward moment when L.C. realized Zac already had a date but had forgotten all about her. She wasn’t sure whether she should smack him or not. The look he was giving her saved him for now, but she wasn’t done with him yet. She turned to Stella and outstretched a hand to shake. "Hi..."[/color] She would need a cheat sheet in order to sketch out Zac’s relationships at this point. As for now, she was in a state of shock. For one, Stella looked so pretty, she almost wanted to just shove her on Zac’s arm and take off. She had a very nice dress- a bit childish, but it made her look like a china doll- the very breakable kind. It made L.C. feel bad, the girl had dressed up so nicely only to be stood up and now she was all awkward. God, this couldn’t get any worse.

Oh wait. Yes it could.

The whoop did not scare her. She had lived in a carnival, after all- sudden loud noises were not that bad. She turned to note a very short girl slapping Zac’s ass. That was strike one. Then came the insult to Zac, that was strike two. Strike three was the insult to Stella. L.C. could live with insults- she could laugh them off and be done with it. In fact, she gave the girl credit for it- she did look like an overdressed peacock. But the insult toward Stella made L.C. frown. She was dressed nicely, and she didn’t need to be treated like that. There was a moment where L.C.’s demeanor changed- one moment she was looking distasteful, and the next she was smirking, crossing her arms and leaning on one hip.

“Uh huh, very cute, little one. Now go waka-waka your ass somewhere else. The snack table has cherries for you.”[/color] She looked down to the girl’s feet, then back to her face. Her grin was still plastered on- it was lying somewhere between Cheshire cat-like and psychotic. She felt prickles on her shoulders, but didn’t check to see if the gleaming of metal spikes was visible. It probably was. “Oh, and the ‘80’s called. They want their boots back.” She looked to Zac with an attempt at a bored expression, but it was hard to accomplish when she was glaring daggers at him. She wanted to get the hell out of there- even if it meant dragging him away. She certainly didn’t want anything to eat- her stomach was turning in ways that would make a contortionist feel ill. “You wanted to dance, right?” She pulled on his arm in a way that meant that, whether he wanted to or not, they were going to- you couldn’t congregate in a big group on the dance floor. It was just two people.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[Avery Sainsbury]

Finally Avery was almost ready. She hated to be late. Then again she hated not to look her best either. Avery couldn't wait to open up her present from her uncle. Later that week Avery went shopping with her uncle and couldn't find anything to wear to the dance. Three days ago he showed up and handed her a box and told her not to open it until the dance so it would be a surprise. Finally she was opening the box. The suspense was killing her. She liked surprises but she wanted to know what he had picked out for her. Opening the box slowly she took out the dress. Along with it came accessories and shoes. She smiled as she got dressed.

Avery decided to wear the head band that her uncle had put in the box too. Only she curled the ends of her hair and then put the headband in. Avery took extra care on putting her make up on. Using colors that matched her dress for her eye shadow and her favorite color, pink, for lip stick. The adding sparkles. Looking at her face she smiled "I look pretty good today." Avery finished putting her outfit together then did a quick check in the mirror before leaving.

High heels weren't really anything new to Avery. She walked with ease in them. She loved the way her new pumps went with her outfit. Avery walked with a faster pace so she could get to the auditorium faster. She had no clue weather her date would be there or not. Natural she just assumed that they would meet at the dance. Finally arriving she smiled. Opening the door she shook her head. It was to crowded. Avery just decided to wait out front of the entrance for him. She was very excited to meet the guy she was paired with.

[Reeve Rzeznik]

Reeve blinked a few times as Mia's reaction to his less-than-stellar compliment became readily apparent. Even if she seemed to take it in stride not long after, that first moment of doubt, of pure wtfery that crossed her eyes stung Reeve slightly. For a second, he considered walking out of the dance entirely. He would have given anything to not have to worry about it, after all. Had it been anyone else, he would have just put on his own personal game-face, and pretending to be that kinda-funny-but-mostly-quiet boy that didn't exactly fit in. That particular Reeve didn't have too much trouble making friends, or at least acquaintances that wanted to talk to him on occasion.

It was this Reeve, the Reeve he was by design and not by choice, that really need personal connections. And it was this Reeve that seemed less and less capable of making them every day.

"Well, it's either that or the bodies in my closet," he muttered darkly. He figured Mia would appreciate humor like that, and he wasn't in the mood for anything more light-hearted. He punctuated the joke with a matching smirk, one that didn't hold a whole lot of humour between its lips.

Thankfully, there wasn't much time to dwell on the sudden-onset awkwardness, because Mia spotted a new target, and with a new set of orders, they were on to a new target: Zachary LaRousse.

Mia came stomping onto the scene, and Reeve followed fairly close behind. He looked on rather awkwardly, as could be expected, giving a slight nod of greeting to everyone, which didn't, of course, appear very graceful as Mia came on and insulted everyone. Quickly realizing his error, Reeve looked down.

As he did, though, he did his best to go into spy-mode. Zac was wearing a jacket and a hat, both were easily buggable, but both also had the problem of being removable articles. The next-most obvious place, then, would be the pants.

The biggest issue there was the fact that Reeve would, then, have to touch Zac's pants.

While he was thinking, Mia slid an arm around his waist, and for added effect, stepped on his foot, simultaneously snapping Reeve back to the present as well as giving him an idea. No stranger to the world of acting, after all, Reeve quickly smiled his best quiet-kid smile and crept his arm up onto Mia's shoulder, bumping his hip up against hers. Upon point of impact, he used their proximity to send a message to her phone, one which he was sure she could read without actually bothering to take it out:

"When I make a joke, shove me."

"Yeah, we know each other. He's the only girl here currently beating you out in the running for dorkiest outfit at the dance, you know."

Reeve chuckled and tried to give Zac his best stage-grin and slid his hand into his pocket. Hopefully Mia picked up the text in time to know what to do, and hopefully Reeve could pull off this little stage-fall to perfection.

[Jonah King]

For some reason – nobody could work out why – Jonah actually looked pretty good in a suit. It had come as a surprise to everyone who knew him (Jonah’s idea of formal was a button-down shirt with some jeans, so the idea of wearing a suit was always strange and startling to him). It was only over the last couple of years that he had grown into the tall, broad, lean young man he currently was – and so up until now, suits had been something that the gangly teenager had avoided with a passion. But six months ago a family wedding had caused him to purchase a suit, and so he had.

His sister Rachel had, from duty rather than from affection, taken him shopping. She had selected for him a charcoal-grey suit, with white shirt and black tie…and her face when he had stepped awkwardly out of the changing room had been something to behold. There was something about a well-fitting suit which made Jonah look – well – different. In jeans and a t-shirt he was comfortable, but clumsy. In a suit, he suddenly looked somehow more mature, more ‘together’. He looked graceful, in a strange way.

The suit he had bought that day was the same one he was wearing now, and Jonah was a little nervous about wearing it – nobody at Hammel had ever seen him in one, after all. On telling him that he was attending the dance, Mia had presented him with a blue tie which perfectly matched Ginny’s dress. He was wearing it, though his right hand was absent-mindedly pulling at his collar every now and again, unused to the tight feeling. Jonah may have looked good in a suit and tie, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy wearing one.

This whole thing was Mia’s fault. He hadn’t planned on going at all, but she had informed him that he was going to, and that he would be taking her friend Ginny – a girl he hadn’t even met before tonight. (She seemed to know a fair amount about him, though, and Jonah wondered exactly what Mia had told her in their conversations) So far she seemed very nice – they were, to his surprise, getting along very well. And not just because she could sign – Jonah was enjoying her company. It was also a relief to talk to someone who knew to let you know when they were about to say anything. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as he had thought.

Dancing? Jonah froze for a moment after he had seen Ginny’s question, torn between horror and terror. Mia had never told him there would be actual dancing involved. He was here to help in her latest scheme, nothing else. Sure, he could feel the music – he enjoyed it – but dancing was something he had never done if he could possibly help it. He was far too self-consciously nervous for that.

He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything a small figure in a bright dress jumped into his frame of vision. After that, all he and Ginny could do was stand and watch as Mia proceeded to piss off someone who Jonah had always considered to be the scariest girl in the school.

‘Should we…do something?’ Jonah asked Ginny, watching warily as L.C squared up to Mia. He turned to look at his date, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. ‘Find a huge magnet, maybe?’

[Stella Pinyin]

Stella’s eyes were not coping well with the low level lights, not to mention the red shade over everything. Still, she could see that L.C was holding something out and she tried to reach for it, bumping the other girl’s fingers. ”Ah, sorry, I’m Stella,” she mumbled, glancing in the direction of her voice. L.C might think that it was a score for her that she could be frightening in a dress, but Stella was not the hardest person to scare.

The whoop made her start, and she looked around wildly, unable to focus. There was a small, bright blur darting around Zac like a dragon fly, and Stella could hear a girl with a Boston accent calling out something about gangsters... then the blur was in front of her and Stella looked down (which was unusual for her) at someone who was pointing out she looked like a 6 year old...

Stella shrank in on herself, not hearing the peacock comment as she hugged her arms to her chest and bit her pale lip. ”Ah, I’m not,” she started, but gave up. ”I’m going to go... get drink, or ah, some food,” she added a little listlessly, and melted away. Zac with another date too, she could now handle. L.C had even been alright... but not that plus some dynamo girl throwing barbs. Not when she could hardly see, let alone figure out what to do.

It had been an interesting social experiment but Stella had had enough. Like a firefly she darted between people with whispered ‘excuse me’s and ‘beg pardon’s, who while she could not see, could make out the human glow stick well enough to know to step out of the way.

[Midori Hawkins]

Oh, Mii wasn’t stupid either.

Particularly after Vincent had had a hand in spreading that awful rumor. The thing was, at this point, she really didn’t care. As long as the goth boy kept his distance. The last thing she wanted tonight was to explain, yet again, why he couldn’t have her son, and why Eli wasn’t his father. Nor was he interested in sleeping with Vincent. It was one of those ridiculous arguments that went around in pointless circles.

She glanced up at Eli and smiled. She was past the point of blushing when he said things like that, simply because she knew them to be true. It wasn’t surprising. Gently, she slipped her hand up to hold on to his arm. “I like your suit, and not just because I helped you pick it. You look good.” Considering his usual attire could still be considered “lazy college student”, this was a nice change.

His question made her laugh. “I guess so. Once he sees you, we’re doomed.” If Vincent wasn’t trying to convince Eli to dance/sleep with him, he’d probably be harassing her for the baby again. “Please tell me you have an escape plan.”

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had no idea what it would feel like to be an empath. He could imagine that, while high school in general was probably bad enough, something like a dance would be ten times worse. It was all he could do to keep himself calm. He wasn’t sure how the rest of the student body was doing. He almost wished he knew if his force fields would keep Ann from feeling... well... everything. Now definitely wasn’t the time to experiment. Instead, he just focused on her, and hoped that if he could make her feel good, then she could attempt to shut out everyone else.

People watching was easy to do from where they were standing. He caught Zac’s eye (he knew him, but not well) and frowned slightly when he got a glare in return. What was his problem? At least Ann was happy to see him. “You’re welcome,” he said softly. “May I?” He waited for permission before attaching the little bundle to Ann’s wrist. As for what to do... he smiled and shrugged before offering his arm to her. “We could get something to eat, and find a table for now. And if you’re comfortable... I’d like to dance, later.” That was what dances were for, after all.

He still had no idea what Mia had been up to, and looking back now, she’d found her friends. ... And Zac. Alex just shook his head slightly. Whatever issues Zac had with him, he just hoped that he could behave for the rest of the night. “Shall we?”

[Zachary LaRousse]

“No L.C., you’re my Fairy Godmother. And a tough, scary yet gorgeous one at that. We’re in a twisted retelling of the fairytale, remember?” laughed Zac, though he can’t help but think that, in an odd way, L.C. really is his ‘Fairy Godmother’. For this dance, at least. Cinderella wouldn’t have been in the Prince’s ball if it wasn’t for the fat old lady suddenly poofing out of nowhere and ‘bippity-boppity-bop-ing’ the stuff on the poor girl’s feet; in the same way, had it not been for L.C., Zac wouldn’t be in the Valentine’s dance tonight. Sure the clothes and means of transportation had been his (no, a pumpkin just wouldn’t work), but the motivation had come from the girl. He won’t deny it if he’s feeling some sort of affinity to the girl already; they might’ve met in not so easy terms, but she’s continually showing herself to be more than just a monster with iron spikes.

Well, at least L.C. didn’t lash at him for forgetting the whole thing about Stella, right? “I am so sorry about that, I should’ve known better,” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as he led the two girls to the table. Boy was he glad his outfit came with a hat; at least the rest of the world didn’t have to see his embarrassment.

He was just about to do something about the apparent unease between the two girls (apparently Stella’s timidity doesn’t sit well with L.C.’s intimidating presence) when he felt something, a small yet noticeable and rather familiar something, slap his butt. “Oh fuck!” he shouted in surprise, dropping the food he has on his small plate in the process. He hasn’t had the chance to see who his assailant was, as his hat was rudely tipped over and all that, but he didn’t need a face when he could readily recognize the voice. Mia.

“Now that you’ve gotten a hold of my firm ass imp, don’t you have somewhere else to go?” He and the midget have never been on good terms as far as he knew, and with Reeve on his side now, he isn’t planning to. But wait, is that Reeve on her side? Shit. This night couldn’t get any worse, could it?

Frankly, Zac just wanted everything to stop right now. From Ann and Alex to L.C. and Stella, he figures he’s got enough in his hands already. Mia poking her rather big and obnoxious head in isn’t really helpful. He’s just about to launch another barrage of insults towards the snoop (which, considering he has the naïve and easily scared Stella beside him, is something he would rather wish not do) when the ever-so-friendly L.C. stepped in and barked at her. Barked, snapped and ripped her to pieces. He wasn’t really fond of letting girls battle for her, but hey, who was he to complain? In fact, could Zac ask for a better date than her?

He didn’t even protest when L.C. dragged him to the dance floor. He just gave Stella a sorry wave, noting to look for her when Mia and the traitor Reeve is out of his sight. “You know L.C., if you don’t threaten to cut my balls off if I make so much as a friendly hug with you every now and then, I would’ve kissed you right now,” he chuckled as they started gliding across the dance floor, “If you can’t be my girlfriend (not that I’m planning to anyway) can I hire you to be my private bodyguard then?” Zac made sure that his tone was as joking as his could possibly get, but as they say, most jokes, if not all, are usually half meant.


ooc:
I'm not particularly fond of this post of mine. Forgive me. D;.
- Jam