gooseberryhigh | BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

Upon stepping into the Grotto, the first thing you might notice is that the once-crumbling building's been repaired. The roof has been remade with branches, and that one collapsed wall has been rebuilt with rough stones. The next thing you might notice is the heavy fog spreading over the grass, which can be traced back to two black cauldrons, one on either side of the stairs up to the stone house, which keep magically generating fog. Crimson red streamers have been strung through the still-green tree branches, and something about the way they've been charmed to shine in the fading light reminds you of dripping blood. After the sun's fully set, small matching lights appear in the trees: luminous blinking eyes, in red and purple and yellow and blue, that seem to watch you from above.

When the party's well underway, [Character A] sees a tall dark figure standing just beyond the treeline. When Victoria Powers goes to investigate, they realize it's just a hooded and black-robed dummy hanging from a tree branch. Goddammit, Micah.

By the bonfire, you'll find drinks: the ice chests have been Transfigured to resemble small black coffins, and are filled with smoking dry ice. Alcohol is widely available to anyone who wants it, and some thoughtful students also made sure there was plenty of water and soda. Nearby is a table covered with a blue silk tablecloth, behind which Micah St. Clair will periodically offer a game to any passersby: Mystery Shots, in which you shake a magic 8-ball and you'll get a different drink depending on your answer. (The shot can be very tasty, or very bad.) At 7:30 PM, a movie screening of The Blair Witch Project starts, projected onto a white sheet hanging from the trees.

RULES

If this is your first time at a Grotto party, welcome! Although the Grotto is forbidden in the school rules, you can assume your characters a) have heard about the party and b) make it past any adults who are walking the trails. Just be casual!

There are two routes to the Grotto: in the woods near Bear Trail, and in the woods near Ribbonfin campsite.

The party starts at 6:30 PM, and runs until 10 PM. The prefects are strictly enforcing curfew, and will start breaking things up at 9:30 PM.

If you signed your character up for either Spin The Bottle or Seven Minutes In Heaven, find their partners below:

Corrigan Bailey STB #1: Jeffy STB #2: Nisha 7MiH: Ariadne	Phineas Bones STB #1: Susana STB #2: Ennis 7MiH: Lachlan	Cameron Carney STB #1: Heathcliff STB #2: Charlotte 7MiH: Hazel	Jaime Castillo STB #1: Calvin STB #2: Todd 7MiH: Sofia
Avery Davenport STB #1: Yancey STB #2: Heathcliff 7MiH: Spencer	Sofia Delgado STB #1: Riley STB #2: Jade 7MiH: Jaime	Dinah Dixon STB #1: Quentin STB #2: Paris	Calvin Evercreech STB #1: Jaime STB #2: Lachlan 7MiH: Micah
Ariadne Flint STB #1: Webster STB #2: Jefferson 7MiH: Corrigan	Carolina Foster-Hayes STB #1: Concordia STB #2: Violet	Adeline Foster-Hayes STB #1: Heathcliff STB #2: Yancey 7MiH: Iliya	Lachlan Galbraith STB #1: Casey STB #2: Calvin 7MiH: Phineas
Ennis Harper STB #1: Hazel STB #2: Phineas 7MiH: Casey	London Holloway STB #1: Nisha STB #2: Micah	Paris Holloway STB #1: Cole STB #2: Dinah 7MiH: Concordia	Hazel Keating STB #1: Ennis STB #2: Spencer 7MiH: Cameron
Jefferson Key STB #1: Corrigan STB #2: Ariadne 7MiH: Essie	Concordia Knight STB #1: Carolina STB #2: Natalie 7MiH: Paris	Webster Knox STB #1: Ariadne STB #2: Susana 7MiH: Isabelle	Iliya Krum STB #1: Antonia STB #2: Spencer 7MiH: Addy
Heathcliff Lacey STB #1: Cameron STB #2: Addy STB #3: Avery 7MiH: Fern	Nisha Lewis STB #1: London STB #2: Corrigan 7MiH: Todd	Violet McGonagall STB #1: Tuesday STB #2: Carolina 7MiH: Quentin	Charlotte Meer STB #1: Isabelle STB #2: Cameron 7MiH: Antonia
Yancey Montgomery STB #1: Avery STB #2: Addy	Estella Morales-Tran 7MiH: Jeffy	Cole Moss STB #1: Paris STB #2: Paige 7MiH: Natalie	Fern Mufferaw STB #1: Paige STB #2: Casey 7MiH: Heathcliff
Tuesday North STB #1: Violet STB #2: Marie	Jade Otterwell STB #1: Victoria STB #2: Sofia 7MiH: Riley	Antonia Papadakis STB #1: Iliya STB #2: Riley 7MiH: Charlotte	Marie Patterson STB #1: Todd STB #2: Tuesday
Casey Patterson STB #1: Lachlan STB #2: Fern 7MiH: Ennis	Victoria Powers STB #1: Jade STB #2: Micah	Natalie Prince STB #1: Spencer STB #2: Concordia 7MiH: Cole	Paige Ripley STB #1: Fern STB #2: Cole
Isabelle Sargent STB #1: Charlotte STB #2: Quentin 7MiH: Webster	Todd Skynner STB #1: Marie STB #2: Jaime 7MiH #1: Nisha 7MiH #2: Susana	Micah St. Clair STB #1: London STB #2: Victoria 7MiH: Calvin	Riley Stamper STB #1: Sofia STB #2: Antonia 7MiH: Jade
Spencer Sweet STB #1: Natalie STB #2: Iliya STB #2: Hazel 7MiH: Avery	Susana Velasquez STB #1: Phineas STB #2: Webster 7MiH: Todd	Quentin Youngblood STB #1: Dinah STB #2: Isabelle 7MiH: Violet

RULES

Teen peer pressure (and player sadism) aside, no one is obligated to do anything they don't want to. Characters doing Seven Minutes In Heaven can spend the time just talking or staring awkwardly at each other, and characters playing Spin The Bottle can opt out of a kiss (although people will probably boo).

If characters get up to anything more racy than PG-13, please fade to black on that! This includes sexually explicit conversations. Many people track IC/OOC posts, so please have consideration for your fellow players. Talking about sex is fine (and part of the flavour of a teen game), but there's no need to get into detailed descriptions of anatomy or sex acts.

If you'd like to say two characters were partners in STB or 7MIH in addition to what's been rolled, go ahead! Obviously, get the permission of all involved characters first.

» Before the Party: It's the first party after a long summer, so throw on your best clothes, prep your hair and makeup, and get ready to sneak out of your cabins. Be careful not to get caught by any teachers or MACUSA agents! Going into the forest isn't against the rules, but the Grotto is still a forbidden area.

» Around the Fire: The large bonfire is warm and romantic. Pull up a log and grab a blanket, make some s'mores, or dance to the party music. There's beer and soda in the coffin-shaped ice chests, along with bins for empty bottles and cans. Don't litter. This isn't your home. (One of the chests is filled with ICEE slush pouches in either blue or red. First dibs go to juniors, sorry!)

» Movie Screening: Not too far from the fire, a white sheet has been hung up between the trees, and blankets and pillows have strewn around the grass. Starting at 7:30 PM, there will be a screening of The Blair Witch Project. Bags of popcorn are also served.

» Truth or Shot: Around the bonfire, there's a circle of students serving up shots and asking personal questions. The rules are simple: tell the truth, or take a shot. Post your characters to this comment with their name in the header, and other characters will ask you uncomfortable questions.

» Mystery Shots: Micah's got a table set up with a short black curtain he can hide behind and mix drinks. His proposed game: ask a question, shake the Magic 8-Ball on the table and see what says. Depending on your result, he's got a different horror-themed shot for you to down!

» Inside the Building: This may be where the kissing games are taking place, but there's still some room to just snuggle and chat. It's warmer than outside, at least!

» Kissing Games:

Spin The Bottle: Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns spinning the bottle to find their partner. Anyone who squeezes in (or happens to be accidentally standing behind a gap in the circle) gets a shot at a kiss. People can leave and enter the game at any time. Participants will be encouraged by their drunken classmates to kiss on the mouth.

Seven Minutes in Heaven: "Heaven" is a narrow, closet-sized room adjacent to the main party, and is dark except for some cracks of light from the doorway. There's now a proper wooden door on the closet, and people will magically lock it behind you for 7 minutes. You can use your wand to get more light, but really, you two should be making out.

» By The Woods: The prefects won't be letting anyone wander in, but why would you want to anyway? Still, the treeline is a good place to go if you want a quiet moment away from the party.

» After the Party: Between 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM, prefects will be clearing the party and guiding everyone home.

» OOC - Questions, comments & concerns!

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Sam, though promising to do better and be better this year, does drink a little more at the party than she should. A bit later in the evening comes bad decision number two - staring out into the woods, standing closer to them than is really comfortable for anyone. She can feel her heart pound in her chest, she wants to run away but can't make herself move. She's just staring, looking an odd mix of angry, frightened, and sad.

Drink in hand, Sam's squeezed the red solo cup too much and it's bent in around her thumb.

Bash hasn't had anything to drink. (Well, like, a water bottle? Because hydration is important. But, y'know, Red Dye 40 and hyperactivity and so maybe no to slushies when he's nominally in charge of human beings other than himself. Which is a travesty, but whatever.) This is because he's a prefect and because he's on medication. And also because, despite being both sixteen-years-old and a fairly rational person, there is still a small part of him that believes his mother is a psychic who will just see right through him like mosquito netting. But, y'know, mostly the first two.

"He-ey there -" he starts, coming to a stop next to Sam and blinking out into the dark. "What we lookin' for?"

Samantha was so lost in her own head she jumped, letting out a small squeak when Bash showed up next to her. "O- oh. Hi. Um." She turned back to the forest, staring out at it for a minute before returning her attention to Bash. "Nothing. Just... I needed to get some air and I got lost in thought I guess." She forced a smile onto her face, pushing her hair behind her ears, eyes dropping to the ground.

"How are ya, Bash? Having fun? Excited that the first week of school is over?" She took a sip of her drink, probably a little long for trying to 'take it slow' and all. "Thanks for helping me study by the way, again. It was actually helpful, even if you think it wasn't."

His shoulders twitch, all up around his ears, when Sam jumps and he squints an eye shut in guilty apology. Maybe could've eased into that one a bit better. Stomped a bit more, rustled some foliage on the approach. "It's really pretty," Bash allows, tipping his head in a foresty direction. "For a bug-infested, potential hellhole."

Then he wrinkles his nose up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Kinda still adjusting to being back at school?" he admits. "Was getting into the whole summer thing. Big fan, personally."

It was hard to see the forest as pretty after everything they had been through. She grimaced - forests, orchards, trees in general were something Sam used to consider very beautiful. She didn't feel that way anymore, not really. "I guess so." She replied, shrugging.

"It is weird." Taking a sip of her drink, Sam turned away from the forest finally, ready to look at anything but it. "Solo and I had an amazing summer. I wish we were still there, too. It felt so..." Safe. She was going to say safe, but fell quiet instead. "You know. It was nice."

Terrifying things can be beautiful. (Like, the ocean: lots of sharks, unfathomably deep. Or space: potentially full of black holes, distressingly not full of oxygen.) But they didn't have to be. No real hard and fast rules on that. "You don't have to guess so, y'know," Bash shrugs, the tick of one shoulder a bit higher than the other. "You could tell me to shut my face."

He listens quietly as she talks about her summer, lips pulling up at the corners and rocking back on his heels. "Yeah? What you guys get up to?"

"Nah, I'm not gonna tell you to shut your face. I like when you babble on." She teased, nudging him lightly. Lifting the cup to her lips, she hesitates. Really, she shouldn't be drinking. She knows that. But...

She takes a sip, sighing.

"We went to Honduras, and then we went back to New York. We visited museums and laid in bed and talk about, like, everything. You know Solo, half of it was weird philosophical debates and everything was real honest and it was just kind of amazing. He's... really amazing." Biting her lip she blushed, turning away.

"What did you do?"

Ree, stone-cold sober and not really loving it but making the sacrifice for her babies, is keeping an especial eye out for her girls. Because they're hers, and if anything happens to one of them it's literally 100% on her.

So when she spots Sam just sort of peering out into the forest like she's keeping watch for something horrible, she makes a beeline for the other girl and hooks an arm around her waist. "Hey, you."

Sam startled again, but easily relaxed. Placing her head on Ree's shoulder, she sighed. "Hey Ree. Enjoying the party?" She was now aware of the whole no drinking for Prefects thing - which didn't seem like a big sacrifice for some of them, but may have been more annoying for others.

Ree was always responsible, though.

"Trying to," Ree said wryly. "It's kinda weird, first party of the year, trying to figure out how Prefect-y to be. You know?"

She shrugged a little, careful not to dislodge Sam's head from her shoulder. "How about you? Are you okay?"

"All these Prefects are coming off real harsh. Be relaxed but you know. Don't shove all this shit down everyone's throats until they actually do something wrong." Sam wrapped her arm around Ree's waist.

Sam took a long, long time to respond. "Fine, yeah. Everything's good."

"That's the plan," Ree agrees. She's not a.stickler for rules, just for no one getting lost in the woods and eaten by moose ghosts.

"That's not very convincing," she replies after Sam's pause. "Try again, babe."

"It's a very good plan." She replies, nodding her head. Solid, really. Not everyone was planning on being that way, though. Not like Vee was.

Vee also wasn't buying any of her lies and Sam looked up at her, frowning. "I'm just scared. I'm sure everyone is. It's not a big deal."

Ree nodded, silent for a minute as she thought. "Merrill seemed to think it's a lot safer now," she says, because honesty? Still the best, not to mention her favorite, policy. "But I'm not going to say I'm not a little freaked even with that. I mean. Nobody thought it was dangerous last year, and then we all got sucked into a dream world and assaulted by ghosts. I'd like to think that now the teachers know that those things are other there, they know how much danger we're in, and if it was still a Thing this crazy school wouldn't be open, but...yeah, no, I get it. It's sort of a big deal. But you came back to school and you came to the party, and I don't think you did that because you wanted to stare into the woods all night. Am I right?"

Okay, so, the go go go go go plan worked pretty well for a while. For most of the night it was great, to be honest. But the second he slows down, regret hits him like a brick wall. If he and Micah had any chance of giving it another shot, throwing himself at six or so upperclassmen probably wasn't a good call. Spencer slides down a tree until he's sitting cross-legged in the dirt.

For the next twenty minutes he indulges in his favorite bad habit: replaying scenes from the last two months like a clipshow for a bad movie. He stares blankly out into the forest as he does so. No leaves or twigs within his reach are safe, as he keeps fidgeting with them until they fall apart.

Edited 2017-09-10 01:26 (UTC)

Despite his marked dislike of Micah that started sometime in the back half of last year and his general mishandling of the situation before Spencer and Micah broke up, Todd wasn't like, actively rooting for it to happen or anything. Spencer's a good guy, and they've grown to be pretty close friends in the time they've spent living together. Todd doesn't take that for granted, because he knows that bad roommates could seriously make his life a living hell. He's lucky to get along with his so well.

But still. Micah's... Micah, and Todd has thought this was kind of inevitably since he heard the two of them were dating.

He notices when Spencer disappears from the party, and for about ten minutes thinks it might be because he headed back to the cabin early. Spotting him sitting by a tree. He shuffles over to the treeline, only slightly creeped out by the looming darkness.

"You look like you're sulking," he informs Spencer, although not unkindly. It's equal parts offer to commiserate and gentle reminder that people can, like, see him. Todd's pretty sure that this isn't the breakup vibe Spencer wanted to give off.

Edited 2017-09-10 01:37 (UTC)

"I'm totally sulking." Spencer sounds defeated by the admission, but he doesn't fight it, largely because it's Todd. A lot of other people would have had him scrambling to get himself up and moving again. I'm totally cool! Just drank too much! Where the hell did my tolerance go? He doesn't want to complain about Micah, he doesn't want to be told he's a catch.

Instead he flicks a twig out into the darkness and starts to talk. "I don't know if I did the right thing. Being stood up is like... whatever. I've got a bad temper. He's spacey. It's... ugh." Spencer throws his head back against the tree. He'd joked with Todd about not wanting to stay in and talk feelings. Instead they went out and now he wants to talk feelings. "Sorry."

Edited (please never apologize i love todd and i love when todd talks to spencer) 2017-09-10 01:52 (UTC)

Todd makes a hmphing noise in the back of his throat, nodding as Spencer admits he's sulking. He sits down gingerly next to him (he's wearing his nice pants, alright?) and crosses his arms over his knees to rest his chin on as he listens to him.

"It's whatever," Todd says as Spencer apologizes. He doesn't really have anything to apologize for, but Todd's not the kind of person who trips over himself to reassure other people. He spends enough of his emotional bandwidth stopping himself from having breakdowns 24/7. "Micah's just... like that. You know." He glances up at the tree branches above them and then looks back down immediately for fear of seeing something creepy. "I know you like him a lot but he's just never going to be a perfect boyfriend. For anyone." Or, that's mean, Todd supposes. There's probably someone out there that wouldn't mind all of Micah's personality quirks. But Todd's pretty sure he doesn't know that person.

"Yeah, I know." Spencer stares up at the stars, barely visible through the trees, and just lets himself feel drunk for a second. Micah was never going to be the perfect boyfriend. Sure. Neither was Spencer.

"It's like... I was pissed at him all the time. Or anticipating I was gonna be pissed at him any second. I didn't trust him, thought he was always more into someone else than me." Spencer exhales and unfolds his legs, stretching them out in front of him. "So he never wanted to be around me. I was always on his case. Felt like I was just his nagging boyfriend. So... that's why..."

"Sounds exhausting," Todd says. But he's maybe one to talk. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't ever stopped to think about what a relationship with, like, Charlie would look like. And she exhausts him enough just as a classmate and sometimes friend. So... he kind of gets it.

"You know I'm not good at advice stuff though," he says. Kind of a lame response, he knows. But he's not sure what else to say. Like, good for you? Doesn't seem quite right, especially since Spencer's clearly down in the dumps. "I thought 'let's party and forget about it' was good advice."

On Thursday, Mr. Elmasry had told Addy that when he was younger, the forest had been his best friend. Even before she was drunk, it had been weighing heavy on the back of Addy's mind. The story seemed right. Natural. Fitting, because of the pictures of Mr. Elmasry she'd found in the woods last year, and her exchanges with the Anonymous writer. All the forest had wanted was a friend, she could see that. The being in the woods had been asking for friends all year, had asked her to be friends, just like Mr. Elmasry had been. And in the end, when they couldn't be friends forever, the forest had taken them all.

Back here, in the home it wasn't anymore, it's still really all Addy can think about.

She checked on Carolina once before breaking away from the party. She isn't one to make trouble and doesn't go beyond the border of the grotto into the trees themselves. She does stare into the woods and address them softly, one eye out for anyone who could possibly see this strange, one-sided exchange.

"I know you must miss him." She says, more quiet than she's maybe been, ever. "I know all you want is a friend. I'm not mad. But next time, you have to ask." She nods, just drunk enough that all of this seems like a normal thing to do. "Ask, okay? Okay. That's all I wanted to say."

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BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY

BY THE WOODS

Samantha + Open to Multiple

Samantha + Bash

Samantha + Bash

Samantha + Bash

Samantha + Bash

Samantha + Bash

Samantha + Bash

Re: Samantha + Open to Multiple

Sam + Ree

Re: Sam + Ree

Sam + Ree

Re: Sam + Ree

Re: Sam + Ree

Sam + Ree

Spencer & Open

Spencer & Todd

Spencer & Todd

Spencer & Todd

Spencer & Todd

Spencer & Todd

Addy & A Tree (AND OPEN IF YOU REALLY WANTED)