HALLOWEEN DANCE

[finchmods]

HALLOWEEN DANCE

Students start to file into the gym as a siren plays over the loudspeaker. [Student Council Member A]'s voice gives a monotone command on repeat, asking everyone to stay calm and file into the gymnasium in an orderly fashion. Red lights flash on and off as everyone gets settled in front of the stage that's been erected on the south end. Venus Rosales gets in front of the crowd, with a banner hanging behind her that says "CONGRATULATIONS 2018 SURVIVORS!" She gives a speech to the students, playing the part of a government official. She welcomes the attendees to this new safe house. Good job surviving the zombie apocalypse!

As soon as the dance starts, [Character B] is startled when a freshman in a hockey mask wielding a chainsaw rushes them! It's quite a scene as they're chased across the dance floor. The music starts up (provided by student-band The Dolly Llamas for the first forty-five minutes and by a Student Council-approved playlist after that), the fog machines get to work, and it's time to party! Happy Halloween!

Besides dancing, the main attraction is a zombie and mutant filled haunted house! Its walls are made of plywood and prayers, so... don't bump into anything please. Freshmen haunt its corners, ready to jump out and scare you. A sign on the entrance reminds students to not touch (or punch) the actors, thanks! Student Council managed to get a fake chainsaw, which is probably the scariest thing in there. Sullivan Sinclair and Russell Reeve didn't enter the maze together, but ended up stuck in the same corner. With one another's help, they make it out alive!

The freshmen are really enjoying their roles as monsters, and they will not share the fake chainsaw. [Character E] tries and fails to steal it, but Slade Winchester actually gets along with the freshmen. This allows them to access the fake chainsaw. Time to terrorize some upperclassmen!

Near the end of the night, Selby Denman is scared so badly in the maze that they trip and crash into one of the delicate walls. The whole thing goes down like a bunch of dominos! Luckily, no one was hurt and the dance is almost over anyway.

HOW THIS WORKS

• The dance begins at 6pm and ends at 11pm, at which time all students must return to their dorms. Student Council arrives early and stays late to do set up and clean up.


• The gym in the athletics building is hosting the dance. It's been decorated to look like a post-apocalyptic safe house, with the refreshments labelled as rations, and fake emergency alarms on the walls. Signs around the gym display maps of where the zombie outbreak has spread, diagrams tracing the decline of humanity, and helpful survival tips!


• The windows have been covered with sheets depicting a city on fire, and the doors have been decorated with planks of wood to give the impression of being boarded shut. Unused doors are barricaded with spare chairs and tables.


• Fog machines have given the dance floor a moody, misty atmosphere.


• EMERGENCY FOOD RATIONS: There are vegan treats available alongside the regular candy and cupcakes (... and a somewhat neglected veggie tray). There's also sherbet punch, which is labelled "ZOMBIE VIRUS CURE". Dry ice leaves wisps of mist among the snacks.


• Some teachers are attending as chaperones, and they've even got costumes on! Ms. Voss and Ms. Hayward are dressed up as Velma and Daphne, respectively, from Scooby Doo, with Dakota in tow wearing a Scooby collar. Mr. Bhattacharya's got a large white beard and a hat, and is dressed as Walt Whitman (not just an old man, kids!!). Mr. Moreno has come dressed as Severus Snape. Maybe he's an even bigger dork than they realized... hopefully he won't take anything out on Liam Mr. Potter.


• COSTUME CONTEST:
  • A freshman with a Polaroid camera is running around the dance, snapping photos of anyone in a costume. Those photos end up on a board with a voting box below. Whose costume was the best?!
  
  
  • At the end of the night, the votes are tallied up, and the top three are...
  
  
  • Click to see the winners!

    3rd place: Hadlee Loxton & Selby Denman
    ($25 gift card to the ice cream parlor)
    
    2nd place: Zinnia Howe & Ulrich Roth
    ($50 gift card to the arcade)
    
    1st place: Pearl Kline
    ($100 gift card to a clothing boutique)

» Before the dance: Set up the dance floor and/or get your costumes ready! It's time for the first dance of the school year.

» The Dance Floor: A moody, knee-high cloud of mist flows across the dance floor, mostly hiding the basketball court below.

» Refreshments: A table covered in camo webbing is labelled EMERGENCY FOOD RATIONS, and offers a selection of candy, cupcakes and punch. Notable items are pre-wrapped Twinkies (because they last forever), and cookies that look like roaches (pretzel sticks for legs).

» The Maze: Student Council and Shop have been working hard to transform one of the adjoining training rooms into a maze full of mutants, zombies, and maniacs with chainsaws! There's nothing scarier than freshmen.

» Costume Contest: Congratulations to the winners! Hopefully you'll enjoy your gift cards.

» After the dance: After a long night of dancing and running from fake chainsaws, it's time to call it a night. Students are send back to their dorms to wash up and go to sleep... hopefully.

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

BEFORE THE DANCE

[finchmods]

Dallas & Open

[dallaslevy]

Dallas isn't nervous about performing with the band tonight. Not exactly. But there's a certain awareness of his own inexperience compared to the others and with the situation in general that's making him feel a bit...less collected than usual. He drops to half-sit on one of the speakers now that the stage is set up and looks around the room at the other early-arrivers still flitting about and preparing. Maybe he should offer to help. Maybe he should just sit here. He considers, fiddling idly with his button glasses.

Moon Kids Decorate

[unironickylorenfan]

Leaning his hip against the wall, Liam pauses to prop one leg up and balance a large box of Halloween costume accessories on his knee. He shoves his hand in and pulls out a spooky rubber mask, which he stares at for a moment before handing off to a giddily bouncing freshman. "Here," he says as he gives her the mask, looking a little baffled. "Have fun?"

As the freshman runs off, Liam looks to Nora, a few paces off. "Is it safe to give freshmen the gift of anonymity?"

Pearl & Lucy

[opalescents]

Pearl's excited for tonight. Many, many of her friends have dates whose results she wants to see, but her mind isn't there yet. She doesn't have a date. She has a duet partner, though. Pearl wondered, at the beginning of the year, if it was wise for herself and Lucy to ever share a stage again, and if she should back off. From a musical standpoint, though, it would be a waste to not sing with Lucy. They sound so good together. It's walking straight into a nostalgia minefield, and Pearl had never been good about avoiding bombs.

So as soon as she sees Lucy, Pearl slips towards her,not exactly subtle. A giant burning earth costume doesn't really allow for that. Still, she looks shy, almost, when she smiles. The expression hardly works on her normally exuberant face. "How do your vocal cords feel??" She leans in, conspiratorial, like she's speaking in code.

Selby & Hadlee & Venus

[knockyouout]

Venus might be really good at makeup, but for all she can do a killer cat's eye eyeliner look, she's not actually that good at costume makeup. She's... fine at it. But she'd rather die than ask Zinnia for any kind of help. If she asked her she'd probably end up as like, zombie Robin Hood anyway.

Luckily she does remember that Hadlee is dressing up as a skunk (and a Disney skunk, at that), so after she's otherwise ready to go she pokes her head around the Coins dormitory until she locates her and Selby.

"Hey," she says, barging into the room without being invited. "Can you put a fox nose on me? And, like, whiskers? Do foxes have whiskers?"

Noah & Eli

[strikings]

Noah did his hair and makeup before Eli showed up, and his costume hangs from his bed. Victorian Gothic by way of overblown Halloween sensibilities, with a red velvet coat, black brocade vest, and black high-necked blouse. Now he's in his pants, shoes and undershirt as he forces Eli to sit very still in a chair while he finishes painting fake blood on the Derma Wax bite wounds on Eli's neck.

Eli's costume was obviously arranged for contrast: a loose white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, so flimsy it's nearly transparent; with fitted white pants and white boots. Eli had let Noah dust powder on his face and muss product through his hair, just to give him that extra sexy "barely awake half-drained victim" look. It suits him. If Noah hadn't worked so hard to make them look good, he might have asked Eli if he wouldn't rather be late.

"Okay, just sit still for a moment and let it dry," Noah says, as he sets down his brush and the bottle of fake blood. It's not Zinnia-quality, but he thinks he did well for his first try. Noah grins at Eli, showing off the vampire fang caps he'd already put on earlier. "You look rather delicious."

THE DANCE FLOOR

[finchmods]

Russ & Open++

[dogspotting]

After his band finishes their set, Russ is drawn to the dance floor and this is where he remains for most of the night when he's not sneaking off for smoke breaks. He'll dance with anyone and everyone and playfully coax shyer students into joining him.

Hadlee & Open to Multiple

[trailerparkprincess]

Despite some not fun aspects of the dance that are thoroughly annoying to Hadlee (Noah is with Eli and Atticus had asked Sully), she's not going to let anything spoil her fun! Maaaaybe she'll shoot a few glares here and there, but who wouldn't be doing that, right? When she's not harassing the friends that she's not giving the cold shoulder, she's hanging out by the dance floor, looking for victims. Come on guys, she's good at dancing, super cute, and is a voter-approved stink cat - what more could you possibly want?

Kodi & Suzy & Their Opinions

[upperhandsen]

Slow dances are good for lots of things, like taking a breather (✔️), and getting to cozy up a little to your date (✔️~), and speaking in hushed tones about other people (✔️ ✔️ ✔️). Being only two for three, Kodi leans in a little closer to Suzy—for purely functional purposes, of course—and asks in a hushed, conspiratorial sort of whisper, "Honest answers only: would you've had a clue who Bhattacharya is if he didn't spill?"

A Wallflower (Open++)

[expansivemind]

Meredith has never slow danced with a boy or anyone, because her usual tactic at school dances since grade six has been to sullenly sit in a corner and project the vibe that she wants to be asked to dance really hard. This has never worked, because it really just makes her look like she wants to be left alone, but that doesn't stop her from trying it again now.

Burn, Pearl (Open +!+!)

[opalescents]

The giant award winning yoga ball of a costume is somewhere deserted by the drinks table, and Pearl is left in orange and red streamers and a black leotard, her hair billowing around her shoulders. Her costume now is incomprehensible, but she's calling it the Pearl on Fire, which is actually where she should've started with this, but THEN she might've not WON.

She's a dervish at social events, predictably, never sitting and dragging everyone to the floor. She hardly looks at who she's grabbing before she does it. "Dance with me!" It's a command that does not allow for ignoring or refusal. Sorry.

Neal & Atticus

[heliocentrist]

Neal's been watching Atticus on and off throughout the dance. A hour or so has ticked by, and Neal has to admit, it looks like he's having fun. Sully says something charming, Atticus smiles, they mingle, etc. Meanwhile, Neal and Kyra sometimes cross paths. He thinks he'll try to high five her next time. It'd be funny.

It's good that Atticus is enjoying himself. Neal had been pushing for it all along, offering to find him dates, but Atticus has declined. It's probably not personal that he went and found something without Neal's input. Who wants their ex giving them dating advice? Anyway, it all worked out in the end. This is good. Maybe Atticus and Sully will really hit it off, or if not, it could give Atticus more confidence. Neal's happy for him. He really is. Really.

He waits for Sully to wander off before he slides up next to Atticus. "Has anyone tried to steal a dance yet?"

Flint & Scout

[star_boy]

Scout's never been one for dances, but he would have felt bad not coming since he's on Student Council. That, and he has a feeling Francesca and Adam would have been pretty disappointed if he'd stayed back in his dorm room - just like they had clearly been disappointed when he didn't have a costume. So, for them, and for Student Council, he's here, dressed up as Indiana Jones with his shirt a little more unbuttoned than he would consider sensible or appropriate. But, he's having fun, even if at the moment he's just drinking some punch somewhere between the dance floor and the refreshments table as he takes in the general drama of the decorations.

LUCY AND DUSTIN

[lucillefer]

To set the scene: it's not the end of the night, but close. And it's not exactly the dance floor, but just off to the side, near the stage.

Lucy the replicant is carefully packing up her bass guitar and other various implements as music pounds around her head, mist swirling around her combat boots. She's being thorough but quick as possible, trying not to catch the attention of dance floor ghouls or costume contest winners or squad members, but that stupid weed gummy has finally fully rolled in from the horizon like a delicious storm. She felt kinda good before, with increasing certainty, but now everything's shimmery and sweet. It suddenly occurs to her that she's been looping and re-looping the same cord around her knuckles three times in a row without realizing.

"Curse you," she hisses, stuffing it messily into the gig bag. Then she zips the whole thing up, lifts, and attempts to shimmy under the strap so the bass can rest on her back. This thing is so goddamn unwieldy sometimes all the time. "Fuck."

Quincey & Liam

[unironickylorenfan]

Maybe this wasn't the best laid plan, Liam thinks as he fusses with the edge of one of his gloves. It's funny, because it hadn't been a plan at all. An impulse. He's never going to stop feeling like a weird asshole if he doesn't stop doing weird asshole things.

Okay, step one to not doing that, be a good date friend. He turns his attention to Quincey and notices a dozen little things about him - the way the spooky lighting in the gym lights his features, the fact that he's, Lord, like a full head at least shorter, the details of his costume. And then Liam catches himself chewing thoughtfully on his lower lip. "Still up for that dance?"

REFRESHMENTS

[finchmods]

Marina vs Post-Apocalyptic Cuisine (Open++)

[sarno]

It's not that Marina inherently dislikes Halloween, but the whole 'dress up ostentatiously and/or sexily' mood that comes along with it leaves her feeling exposed in more ways than one. She'd managed to come up with a costume that skirted past both of those imaginary requirements in a way that (hopefully) didn't seem like she was recycling items out of her closet out of necessity rather than an aesthetic choice. After all, Marina Sarno was richer than all of you and if she had wanted to, she absolutely could have tossed away hundreds of dollars on an outfit for one evening.

Costume obstacle overcome, the dance itself.. isn't so bad. Venus is always cute and fun to be around, and Marina enjoys basking in her attention. She'd put Venus's birthday gift to use for the dance and done up her makeup more dramatically than usual. The note has suggested it was for when she felt like getting into trouble, and that was certainly true tonight.

But like a cat, Marina still enjoys her solitude, spent watching, judging, everyone on the dance floor, so it's no surprise that she makes a frequent statuesque appearance by the refreshments table throughout the evening. While she slowly picks her way around a small plate, the pre-wrapped twinkie keeps getting pushed around with an occasional disdainful look cast at it, as if she's never seen such an abomination before.

Twinkie Eating Contest

[mudskipper]

Oh, Twinkies are gnarly. Good choice, Student Council. After shoving a couple in his mouth, Richie turns to the nearest classmate and says around a mouthful of yellow sponge, "Bet I can eat more than you." It's not Shadow food, but it's close.

Sully Harasses a Sarno

[youredoinggreatsweetie]

Sully is two fisting vegan cookies when, like a hungry shark smelling blood on the water, he senses a certain sophomore (precocious freshman? Still uncertain.) nearby. He takes an oversized bite of one cookie as he approaches Marzio.

After a quick appraisal of his costume, Sully grins broadly at him, "Shiloh, sup? Have you seen Marzio?"

Dr. Starling & Lt. Hansen

[upperhandsen]

It was inevitable.

After giving her fake husband plenty of grief for not dressing up, and then not getting into the spirit of the arbitrary consumerist holiday, Kodi squealed audibly when she saw Atticus's ostensibly half-assed costume. 'Proud' didn't even begin to cover it. Evidence: the way Kodi slides up beside Atticus at the """rations""" and bumps his hip with her own, grinning widely.

THE MAZE

[finchmods]

Slade & a CHAINSAW & Open++

[vanghost]

Slade's a certain kind of nice. He knows what to say and who to talk to in order to get what he wants, a lot of the time. Today, he heard the story of the chainsaw in the maze exactly once before deciding that he wanted to have control of it, for at least a little while. So he's here on the promise that he'll terrorize a senior or two, especially one of the kissing ones. The only problem is, he's not blessed with the freshmen's masks or anonymity.

That's all right. He still has the corner of a room, and revs the chainsaw once at the first footfalls he hears around it, sticking it out with one arm, to impale his poor victim. All they hear is barely contained laughter.

COSTUME CONTEST

[finchmods]

A Sore Loser

[sarno]

Marina huffily walks off when the contest winners are announced. It's not like she needed the money!!! She's just upset that this school has no taste!!! Really!!!

AFTER THE DANCE

[finchmods]

Zinnia & Open

[deathpositive]

Everyone's filing back to their rooms, but one girl is sitting on the grass just outside the gym. Zinnia delicately removes silicone and grease paint, removing what were once agonizing gashes and stitches, leaving her skin pink and unmarred. Her makeup is smudged from dancing, laughing, eating and talking, but she doesn't mind. She won, didn't she? And she went to the dance with one of the hottest boys in school.

Rather than fight for a sink immediately, she starts undoing her look here, in the cool grass on a pile of dead leaves. Bit by bit, she heals herself until she looks like a mostly normal girl with ruined eyeliner and way too much blush.

OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[finchmods]

A huge thank you to Meggie who put together almost all of this! ♥

Have fun, kids!

Re: OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

[unironickylorenfan]

This is so cool!!!!!! Could I get character C for Sully? I'll brb with write ups for what my kids are up to.