gooseberryhigh | FEBRUARY GROTTO PARTY

FEBRUARY GROTTO PARTY

The attitude towards the Grotto and the deep woods beyond has changed. Still, it's the only place that's out of view of teachers, and slowly, students trickle in. There might be fewer tonight than there were in months past, but that's no reason not to have a good time. The bonfire burns bright, there's plenty of alcohol and music, and everyone's ready to forget for a while.

The Grotto is always warmer than you expect it to be, although the snow on the ground encourages everyone to cuddle close to their friends and dates. The bonfire in the center is large and ambitious, making for a warm and seasonal party. Alcohol is widely available to anyone who wants it, and some thoughtful students also made sure there was plenty of water and soda. By the fire is a table hosting Quidpong.

Inside the stone building, things get downright cozy. Many students sit down on blankets and pillows to keep themselves off the cold dirt floor. A circle gathers around a single glass bottle, and kissing games take place on and off throughout the night.

A series of “borrowed” tents sits just beyond the bonfire. They’re full of blankets and pillows, and have generous warming charms cast inside them. Technically they’re meant for hanging out with a handful of friends (about 4 people can sit in them comfortably)... but if you claim one and zip up the flaps, most people will get the message: Do Not Disturb. (Remember to keep things PG-13, and fade to black if necessary!)

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

Cameron Carney STB #1: Ivy STB #2: Susana 7MIH: Etta	Jaime Castillo STB #1: Teo STB #2: Casey	Avery Davenport STB #1: Ennis STB #2: Laurel	Matteo Diaz STB #1: Jaime STB #2: Calvin 7MIH: Essie
Calvin Evercreech STB #1: Cole STB #2: Teo	Marilyn Fairchild STB #1: Isabelle STB #2: Essie 7MIH: Casey	Ariadne Flint STB #1: Milo STB #2: Micah 7MIH: Reid	Gabriela Flores STB #1: Casey STB #2: Jeffy 7MIH: Milo
Henrietta Gray STB #1: Olivia STB #2: Ursula 7MIH: Cameron	Milo Greer STB #1: Ari STB #2: Isabelle 7MIH: Gabi	Ennis Harper STB #1: Avery STB #2: Olivia 7MIH: Ree	Regan Hobbs STB #1: Hazel STB #2: Cole 7MIH: Ennis
Katerina Ivanova STB #1: Diego STB #2: Ivy	Hazel Keating STB #1: Ree STB #2: Riley 7MIH: Micah	Jefferson Key STB #1: Susana STB #2: Gabi	Xavier Lewis STB #1: Laurel STB #2: Diego
Ursula de Luca STB #1: Ulysses STB #2: Etta 7MIH: Riley	Diego Morales STB #1: Katya STB #2: Xavier 7MIH: Laurel	Estella Morales-Tran STB #1: Micah STB #2: Marilyn 7MIH: Matteo	Cole Moss STB #1: Calvin STB #2: Ree
Casey Patterson STB #1: Gabi STB #2: Jaime 7MIH: Marilyn	Ulysses Quayle STB #1: Ursula STB #2: Wilde 7MIH: Ivy	Olivia Sanchez STB #1: Etta STB #2: Ennis 7MIH: Penny	Isabelle Sargent STB #1: Marilyn STB #2: Milo
Micah St. Clair STB #1: Essie STB #2: Ari 7MIH: Hazel	Riley Stamper STB #1: Wilde STB #2: Hazel 7MIH: Ursula	Ivy Templeton STB #1: Cameron STB #2: Katya 7MIH: Ulysses	Laurel Templeton STB #1: Xavier STB #2: Avery 7MIH: Diego
Penelope Vargas 7MIH: Olivia	Susana Velasquez STB #1: Jeffy STB #2: Cameron 7MIH: Wilde	Jonathan Wilde STB #1: Riley STB #2: Ulysses 7MIH: Susana

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: During class, the teachers are even stricter than usual, and not a few students receive warnings to not leave the trails. Are you going to listen? Whatever. The party starts at 7 PM, so you've got a couple of hours for primping and pre-gaming. Don't get caught, and don't go alone.

» 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 a karaoke setup for anyone who feels bold enough to sing along. If you don't care for music, there's beer and soda in the ice chests, along with bins for empty bottles and cans. Don't litter. This isn't your home.

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

» Kissing Games: This is where to post your character's reaction to their Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven Assignments!

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 door. (The "door" being a heavy wooden board that's propped against the doorway and magically "locked" for seven minutes.) You can use your wand to get more light, but really, you two should be making out.

» Quidditch Beer Pong: Not far from the bonfire, Sy Stoker has set up a table with Quidpong. Nearby is a supply of red ping pong balls, Solo cups, and a waterproof signup sheet. Post your character/team under this heading to call for a challenger! Ask a friend to post results for you, or use the honour system. :)

» Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans: Someone got their hands on a family-sized bag of these imported sweets. At first, it's just taken to be candy, but as the truth about these jelly beans is fully understood, it becomes a spectacle.

There's a group of students sitting in a circle, passing the bag around. The idea is that you take one, and then everyone waits in anticipation for your reaction. (Let's be real, they're all hoping you get earwax or cigarette ash.) You must then guess what it is before passing the bag to the left.
In game terms, this means reply to the root comment, and we will use RNG to pick out a flavor for you. You can then write your character's reaction and attempt to identify what they just put in their mouth.

» The Tents: Cozy up in one of these tents with a few friends… or just one friend in particular.

» The Woods: Tonight, the chaperoning prefects are adamant that no one should wander into the surrounding forest. The air grows colder the further away you wander from the heart of the Grotto, and the trees cast long shadows.

» After the Party: At midnight, prefects will be clearing the party and guiding everyone home. Don't walk back alone! Anyone left at 12:30 AM when the second wave of prefects hits the Grotto will be written up for punishment.

» OOC: QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah," Ivy agrees emphatically. "It's been like, two minutes already at least." (It's been 30 seconds.)

Another minute (five seconds) elapses in silence.

"Do you wanna... like..."

"Uh huh," Ulysses nods vigorously to everything, not that she can see him. It has been two minutes and yeah, he wants to, like. Actually, he kind of just wants to fall asleep but whatever, he's cool, he's game. He reaches out a hand for hers.

Ivy laughs as Ulysses takes her hand, but it's deeply uncomfortable sound. She's clearly anxious and not actually excited.

Oh god, he can't do this. Everything's spinning and time is dilating precariously, familiarly, and nothing on this earth has ever been less sexy. "... you okay?" He asks, somewhat tentatively.

There's another long pause, then, softer. Embarrassed. "Sorry if I got you in trouble." It's clearly been on his mind all night.

The breath immediately goes out of her, because shit, this actually somehow less awkward than what was about to happen. She shifts away from him uncomfortably, not even answering his first question.

"No, no," she says when he apologizes. Everyone had been so frantic looking for him that her own discretions had barely registered on the radar. She hadn't even lost any house points for her ill-advised Grotto excursions. But even though she didn't get in trouble, she still feels... extremely guilty about the whole thing. It was stupid to come here in the first place. It was doubly stupid to come here again...

And now they're here a third time, barely days after Ulysses had disappeared, and they're doing what? Failing to grope each other in the thing's house, basically? Ivy is the stupidest person alive. The stupidest person ever in the history of the world, maybe. As this realization hits her, she promptly bursts into tears.

"I—" No, no, no, no, no. Oh, Merlin. Oh, holy shit. He's such a moron. Ivy is crying. He's trapped in a closet with a nice senior girl and he's so drunk and she's crying and also, he's pretty sure her dress has tiny dinosaurs and it's all just too much. This has crossed the line into surreal. He feels a flutter in his stomach, the same transient ripple of fear he's gotten all night, every time he realises things are a little different than he expected them to be. A little different than they should be.

"S-sorry," he stutters, and he flushes hot at the realisation that tears are silently streaming down his cheeks now too.

"Oh, geez," she manages to get out through her sniffles and tears. "I... I'm just..." It seems like she's maybe almost getting herself under control, wiping her cheeks down with the sleeves of her cardigan. She takes a few deep, shaky breaths as she tries to steady herself.

"I just feel really bad about... everything... and... and... I don't know what we're doing here," she admits with a shaky (but hey, genuine) laugh. She sniffles again and glances over at him.

Oh. He's crying too, she thinks, and starts sobbing again.

Ulysses' back is against the wall, and he slides down until he's sitting knees-to-chest. Presses his face against the denim, as if that will hide what's happening here. Or just hide him. His shoulders shake. It's been a really tough week.

It's steadier down here, though, it really is. His hand creeps back up to Ivy's and, in a genuine gesture, he pulls her down to the floor too.

They cry together for a little over five and a half minutes.

Crying is actually super cathartic for Ivy, because she basically never does it. She just bottles that shit right up and tries to keep a cool composure. So now that the floodgates have opened up, she's just gonna let it all out. She actually only realizes how long she's been sitting on the floor crying for when the stupid sticking charm wears off the door with a soft pop.

"Shit," she says, mostly to herself. She figures they have like, a minute, tops, before someone else comes sticking their nose in here for their turn. And as deeply ridiculous as this situation is, she momentarily worries it might somehow be misconstrued by a third party. She stands up and dusts her skirt off before fishing around blindly in her purse for a packet of tissues.

Once she's wiped her own face down, she turns to Ulysses, who is now also standing. Before he can move to exit the room, she grabs his arm and wipes his face off too, mom-style. "Sorry," she mutters as she does it. But, like, they've been to rock bottom. This interaction could not possibly be worse than it already was. Once she's done, she also straightens his collar.

"Ready?" she asks, nodding towards the door.

Ulysses has a deep well of self-consciousness to draw from, but even that is tapped dry after tonight. What a whirlwind. He can't remember the last time he cried — definitely not since transferring to Gooseberry. He sniffles, then lets out a wet, trembling laugh as Ivy cleans him up. "Yeah," he affirms, letting her pull him out of the room.

The light outside is a little too bright after all that time in the shadows. He stops and blinks though it. "Wait," he says, pulling her back towards him. Leaning forward, he presses an extremely chaste kiss against her lips. Laughs again, this time with real, albeit remarkably discomfited, humour. "Nailed it. Seven minutes."

Before they part ways, Ivy puts both her hands on his face. "Thank you," she says, sounding more or less like she really means that. And then adds, very seriously: "If you pretend not to remember this tomorrow, I will too."

FEBRUARY GROTTO PARTY

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIH Ivy & Ulysses

7MIHell Ivy & Ulysses

7MIHELL IS REAL FOR Ivy & Ulysses

Ivy & Ulysses, out of the closet

ty 4 honoring my godmodding, my b

it was perfect the whole goal was to end up at a SMOOCH 2 taunt jesse

the goal was to make ulysses cry and everyone knows it cameron

ok fine *the secondary (2°) goal was to be a shithead

IT'S FINE i love embarrassing my awful kids