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

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

Merry jumps when Dallas approaches her, because her focus had been turned elsewhere. But she recoups quickly.

"Hey Dallas..." she says, tugging at one of the elf-ears Zinnia had given her earlier today. They're getting itchy. "I guess so," she adds, unable to muster a more enthusiastic response when she's still watching Flint and Scout.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

While Dallas doesn't know Merry that well, he's not so oblivious that he doesn't notice her reluctance to pull her eyes from the dance floor and he tries to look where she's looking instead. He doesn't see anything particularly interesting, though. The Dread Pirate and Indiana Jones sharing a dance doesn't mean anything to him.

"Yeah," he returns wryly, "Seems like it." He pauses, silently trying to remember if she'd come alone or with someone, but he definitely can't. "You, uh...lose your dance partner or something?"

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

"No," Merry says, finally turning her attention to Dallas. She has a pang of suspicion that he might be making fun of her, but dismisses it quickly. This isn't her old school, and people aren't as mean here. She has to start giving them the benefit of the doubt. "I never had one."

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

Dallas gives a small nod at this, returning his attention to Merry and leaning back into the wall. He still doesn't know what had been holding her attention out there but it's probably none of his business anyway. "...Yeah. Me neither. But it's cool. Just means more options, right?"

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

"I guess," Merry says, resting her arms on her knees. She very briefly considers asking someone to dance with her, but it's a short-lived impulse. She'd probably die of embarrassment if they said no.

"Who have you danced with?" she asks.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

"I don't know. A few people," Dallas responds with a shrug, "Hadlee, Venus, Neal. Some of the girls from Dance. I'd watch out for Zinnia, though. She'll stomp your feet on purpose if you let her. Or maybe that's just me?" He smiles a bit at this and turns his cap idly over in his hands. The way he's talking about his dance card makes it clear that it's all casual to him. No big deal. He's not afraid of being told 'no' when he asks because it's more about the experience than the partner. There is one girl he's been too nervous to ask...but there's no point in bringing that up.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

"Oh," Merry says. "That's a lot of people." Venus and Neal intimidate her a little, so she's impressed Dallas danced with both of them, but she doesn't say so. And as for Zinnia, it wouldn't surprise Merry if she'd stepped on a boy's toys on purpose. Dallas isn't even weird or uncute or anything. Zinnia is just mean to all boys.

"Maybe I should ask somebody," she suggests out loud, just to see what kind of reaction it'll get.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

While Dallas seems unconcerned and unimpressed with his list, he smiles at Merry's suggestion and gives a nod. "Yeah. I mean. If you want to dance with someone, you should." He almost glances toward the dance floor again, then decides against it. It still isn't any of his business, really. "What's the worst that can happen?"

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

"I mean... they could say no," Merry says, like this should be a super obvious downside to asking someone to dance.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

"Yeah. They say 'no' and it's their loss and you ask someone else?" Dallas points out, seeming to find this super obvious downside more of a mild inconvenience. He leans to give her shoulder a light push with the rim of his cap. "Not the end of the world."

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

Merry gives him a melodramatic pout in response, because what she really wants to do is ask one specific person, and she has intuited that he is probably not interested in her, but she'd really like to continue living in her world of plausible doubt for a little while longer.

"Maybe I'll ask someone..." she cuts herself off before she says else, but it's clearly an incomplete thought.

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

Drawing back his cap, Dallas drops it onto his head again and looks at Merry with a hint of uncertainty showing through. He'd heard the way she'd cut herself off and the list of reasons to do that seems fairly short. He thinks about Pearl who, like him, has been dancing with people all night and how he still hasn't worked up the nerve to ask her. It's stupid. But...

After a moment, he says, "Hey. You...wanna dance with me? Maybe it'll be easier to work up the nerve to ask someone else once you're out there. Got some momentum going or something."

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[expansivemind]

Merry perks up instantly at this suggestion. Even though she's been talking to Dallas about it now for a few minutes, the idea of asking him hadn't really occurred to her. But it's still really nice of him to offer, and it's the first time a boy has asked her to dance, so she can't turn him down.

"Okay," she says, standing up. She's in dance club, so she's danced before, and even danced with Dallas before, but this seems like it's probably different. "I've never really done this before," she discloses. But also? How hard can it be?

A Wallflower & A Stray Cat

[dallaslevy]

When Merry stands, Dallas stands too and his answer unknowingly echoes the reassurances in her mind as he says, "Don't worry; you'll pick it up. It's not hard. You've done way more complicated stuff in Club." He offers her his hand, ready to lead her onto the dance floor.