A Party? Smashing! (Open to Party Crashers)

[Michelle Baker]

“All right, have fun at the party. I love you.”

“Thank you, Mum. I love you too.”

The green-haired young woman looked slightly forlorn as she pressed the ‘end’ button on her cell phone. She had barely been on the island a few weeks and she was already homesick as hell. She wanted to just be back at home with a cup of tea and her cat curled up under her feet. She would rather be talking to her mother and father about how school had gone and what she had learned. She was rather sad about being in a big, empty dorm room by herself; she had hoped to be placed with at least one other person so that she could have someone to talk to. Even though she had grown up an only child, she had always felt the need to be around other people. A noisy room full of people was one of her favorite places to be. When she had heard the prefects were throwing a party to ring in the new year, she had been ecstatic. As a matter of fact, she still was! She shrugged off her homesickness and jumped up from her bed, straightening her uniform as she looked in the mirror. She put a little bit of makeup on so that she looked presentable and darted out the door.

It took her a little time, but thankfully, the young woman was able to find the student lounge and, inside, the prefect lounge. She stumbled through the door, huffing a little as a young man pushed by her. She mumbled something about people being rude before fully entering the room. A wide smile crossed her face at the amount of students present. She knew there were not that many prefects, but it was nice to finally be part of group again. In all honesty, she had not had many friends back at her old school and she was glad that she could start over somewhere else. In fact, that was the reason she had dyed her blonde hair green. It gave her a chance to start over; to be someone different, someone better, even. She started to introduce herself to a young woman standing nearby, but the glare she was given in response to her greeting was something akin to a death stare, which made her uncomfortable. She sighed a little, looking around at everyone from under her green bangs. Everyone seemed to be in one of two situations: talking with others or clearly being avoidant. She wandered around the room idly for some time, bouncing lightly on her toes as she walked.

Michelle had never been described as a calm young lady, that was for sure. She always seemed to be bubbly and excited, even when no one else was. She was almost sure it was the reason people found her presence grating, but she did not seem to care in the slightest. She refused to change who she was for anyone else, even if it meant only having a small handful of people who tolerated her. She meandered around until she walked into the punch table, nearly causing a young man to spill punch on a young lady. She let out a surprised ‘oof’, but turned around and walked away, oblivious to the young couple’s irritation. She saw a small group of unfamiliar-looking people standing off to the side. She tilted her head and bounced over to them, looking at them with wide, blue-green eyes. A bright smile crossed her face and she extended her hand enthusiastically, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet as she spoke.

“Hi! I’ve never seen you around before. My name’s Michelle!”

[Lucas Moore]

        "Today's actually been rather boring... I wonder if something is happening around the school?"

        Lucas idly spoke these words out loud as he made his way out of his dorm room. The youth had only just recently come to Ashford and settled in to his new dorm room, and already, he was irritated by the place. It wasn't the first time he had stayed at a boarding school, but this place offer far less to do, and that's considering the very concept of this place: A place for gifted children and teens can learn to control their powers for the better of the world. To him, though, he already knew the farce that description entails. He's already had to deal with governmental blackmail, so the fact that they kept up the ruse here was sickening. Why hide the truth of things when it's so blatantly obvious to everyone here? He knew, however, that as long as they allowed practically free reign of the school, they were messing up already. Sure, it would take time, but at least he could work to end his predicament at his own pace, assuming the Prefects here didn't get in the way.

        Oddly enough, just as he thought that, he overheard nearby the Prefects were having a small New Years party, Lucas had the most mischievous of ideas. Maybe the party could use a bit of crashing? Obviously, not something that would be easy to do, but the group was planning to do that anyways, so he quietly followed them along. He was glad he had brought a pack of Mentos with him, as he believed the mints might come in handy real soon. As they made their way to the lounge, Lucas had casually drifted to the vending machines to get a bottle of soda and, while no one was paying attention, wedged a Mento under the cap and closed the bottle, then took his time relaxing. It didn't take long for the students to try and break in, but before they could get far, Lucas shook the bottle and rolled it over, with the bottle exploding all over them and alerting a couple of the Prefects inside. Of course, the students ran and the distraction from the chase let Lucas slip in somewhat quietly, not particularly noticed by many there. Wasn't he lucky today?

        He figured it would be best to not attract too much attention at this moment, so he quietly made his way around when something caught his eye. There was a small group to themselves not too far off, that would seem hardly noteworthy, except for the fact Lucas had already met one or two of them before on his first trip to the West Tower, one that made him the Battlefront member he is today, so he quietly slipped around to the group, all of whom had the same overall idea to slip in quietly to crash the party later. The thought that Lucas had some comrades with similar ideas as his meant all the more fun when the fireworks do start. All they had to do is not attract too much attention, yet it seemed like that's what was happening, as someone very intently made their way towards them. He had made it this far, and he figured the others could use more time alone, so Lucas decided to take the brunt of any questions. Who knows? Maybe this person was just here to talk. Whatever the case, Lucas wanted in on whatever was happening.

        The girl was definitely rather... bubbly, in a single word. She definitely had a cheery expression and there was a slight pep to her steps. Actually, there was so much pep that as she stood offering her hand, she still kept bouncing lightly on her toes. Lucas had to admit, she was quite cute altogether. Thinking that she might actually be worth talking to, he calmly and gracefully reached to her hand, giving a couple small shakes as he bowed his head, his crisp voice flowing out smoothly as he raised his head back up.

        "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, dear Michelle. My name is Lucas. How are you doing this fine evening?

[Michelle Baker]

The green-haired young woman had concluded that the prefects that had attended the party were officially no fun. There was no music, just idle chatter, which she did not mind much. Well, except for the fact that she could not insert herself into a conversation to save her life. It was quite clear that everyone had their established friends, and despite her efforts, no one was willing to let her be part of their conversation. She wondered if all new prefects were given the cold shoulder for the first few weeks of their experience. Of course, she could not discount the fact that people thought of her as nosy, even though that was not the case. After trying to fit in with the group for some time, she decided to wander over to the other side of the room, where she saw someone fetching a soda from the machine outside. She was about to go over and talk to him before he started to walk away, which made her shrug. She idly wondered what he had been doing in the student lounge, knowing there was a party going on. It was after that moment that she decided to drift over to the table to take a look at the snacks, which were mediocre at best. Of course, nothing would be like the food her mother used to make.

She did not notice the commotion at the door, mainly because she was distracted by the variety of hair colors around. Even more fascinating than the hair colors were the eye colors, which ranged from regular colors (blue, brown, and green) to odd ones, like purple and red. It made her wonder if there was as much cultural diversity as there was color diversity in the school. As she stood in the middle of the room, pondering about these questions, someone brushed past her, muttering something about ‘troublemakers’ and she was shaken from her reverie. She looked around with a confused look on her face; she had not seen anyone throwing things or getting into fist fights. She did not understand why action needed to be taken on a room full of people talking. It was at that particular moment she noticed the group of people standing off to the side. Any other prefect probably would have regarded them with suspicion, but Michelle was not as interested in their appearance as she was their presence. She was was excited that she found some people to talk to, finally! She hummed a little as she bounded over to the group, paying no real attention to the fact that they seemed to be huddled against a wall and almost trying to hide.

The rest of the group that Michelle approached seemed to regard her for a moment before dismissing her presence. There was one particular young man, though, who seemed slightly curious about her, or, at least, that was what she thought, since he looked at her with a certain expression. She was slightly surprised that he shook her hand, but the contact made her giggle and smile a little. Of course, she was used to people shaking her hand to be polite, but they often did it with a grimace on their face, especially when she seemed so hyper. That young man seemed to welcome her cheery attitude, which was a relief, since most people would have been drive away by said attitude. She smiled a little at him, tilting her head as he spoke. Lucas. I have to remember that later, she thought to herself, listening to him speak before letting her teal eyes glance around the room to the other groups. Her night had been particularly boring, she had to admit, but she did not exactly want to cause any trouble. Maybe she could just make something up?

“Mm, well, it’s been okay. Everyone here seems to have a solid group of chaps. I feel like an outsider, honestly, but I don’t mind. I rather like being around people. I prefer talking to them, but watching them have fun makes me a little happy, too. How are you, this fine evening?”

[Lucas Moore]

        Lucas wasn't quite sure what to expect of a Prefect New Years party, but it turned out rather boring, even by their standards. This wasn't a party, this was a bunch of small public speeches by uptight students. Hell, half of them didn't even look like they wanted to be here. It was horrid to imagine this as a party. Crashing this wouldn't be a sting to them. It would be a blessing in disguise. Already, Lucas was thinking of a variety of different things to mess with just to liven the place up when it occurred to him: Why did he care about how their party went? None of them cared about the rest of the students. Hell, if they actually cared, they would have made the party open to the public.

        Huh. Now there was a thought. If him and the others could sabotage the doorway into the place and announced to the school to come join the party through the speaker system, that'd be a hell of a win for their efforts. Of course, one Prefect spotted their group and was gonna throw a wrench into things. Now, all he needed was the help to get things moving. Moseying about, he could tell at a glance not many Battlefront managed to get in here. Almost every person in the room kept eyes or ears peeled to the entrance of the place. He couldn't imagine why they would keep such a dull, unamusing gathering like this to themselves. Perhaps the Prefects were all naturally glum, depressed, and melancholic. Lucas actually did feel a bit of pity on them. Hell, most of them were probably snagged to this place in much the same way as he was. That settled it: this party busting was going to happen, Whether or not they wanted it.

        Naturally, when he finally found some of his companions, he immediately brought up the plan. Granted, a couple members were skeptical at first, but with bit of persuasion, the group decided on putting their plan into action. As luck would have it, though, the Prefect girl came bounding up to them. This would surely have thrown a wrench in the plans, but as a diversion, Lucas set forth on talking to the girl and keeping her occupied. He wasn't that bad at talking to people and distracting them, so he went to work. She really wasn't all that bad, for a Prefect. Still, he'd rather be cautious and keep her distracted from the others while they worked their magic. He nodded lightly with her statement. That was rich to hear, a Prefect being ostracized by their own. That one let a small smile to creep out, though he held it back long enough for her question to come through, to which he responded as calmly as ever, giving a slightly cheery expression to her.

        "I see. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the evening, at least partially. I, myself, am doing rather splendidly. I am a bit dismayed at the lack of excitement in everyone, but at least the evening is calm. Can't ask for much more, can we?"