Dance Dance Resolution
The Ero-Sennin
Shitposter no more
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52 days since the last activity. Been through a whole lot. Had to write and rewrite a whole scene, struggle with the execution of a scene and the end of a chapter. Alas, friends. We've got everything under control and finished. Volume 6 of Legends is done, and the next three updates in the coming week and a half will wrap that up.
Starting with this one.
Please, please forgive the machine-translated German.
The shores of Lake Tahoe at the end of the warm season are a quiet, distant cry from the height of the summer. The shorter days and longer nights take their toll quickly, but before the last warmth leaves the dark and winter sets in, there's still activity to be found at the resorts along the deep, clear lake.
On the southern shore, standing ankle deep in waters so still that the only ripples across its surface were from her steps into it, Heather stared up at the moon hanging above the Sierra Nevada. Despite of being in such an exciting locale, with loud music, laughter, and shouts happening in the large party gathered around several fires and long tables… her expression was one of emptiness as she chewed on the meat pulled from a barbecued rib she held in her right hand.
Lake Tahoe is supposed to be fun, but all she could think about was the dance and the friends she was missing.
She hoped they were having fun.
She hoped Drew was having fun.
"I hoped someone asked him out," she murmured to herself. Hopefully it was Janna–she was dark in a cool way, and a little weird, but she couldn't remember anyone just popping up out of the blue to give him or anyone a gift as nice as that phone–and asking for nothing in return.
A small smile spread across her lips, as she imagined what it must be like at the dance. Sure, it was a Brittney Wong party, but with the likes of Mabel, Star, and Roland it was probably a wild and out of control bash where everyone was having fun. Hopefully one day she'd get to attend a real party with all of them and spend time with the people she liked to be with, instead of those she had to be with.
As if on that note, the shouting and laughter at the barbecue grew, pulling her from her daydreams of places she'd rather be. Her smile faded as she stared at the fire, before she turned away and faced the lake.
Looking at the rib in her hand, she sighed, brought it to her lips and tore off a strip of meat with her teeth, smearing her lips in red.
Like everything Brittney's hands had touched over the last week, Echo Creek Academy's Gymnasium was completely transformed to a lavish degree. The drab, gray walls of the arch-shaped gym were draped with flowing blue, purple, and pink curtains that also covered up the wooden bleachers that had been fully folded to provide more floor space. The flowing curtains and the shimmering lights provided by the disco ball and both laser light and hologram projectors created dreamy, ethereal atmosphere of a garden shrouded in magic and mystery.
The refreshment tables with bowls of punch, hors d'oeuvres, and various desserts were decorated with extravagant floral arrangements in Brittney's colors. Hologram projections of butterflies and hummingbirds flitted around the flowers, and among the students, while the dancefloor reacted with their movements, sending beautifully rendered ripples and even upward rising splashes with their steps.
Beside one of the refreshment tables, Drew and Roland stood together as their dates headed off to the restroom. The night had gone well; they had danced to a few songs and the mood was light… but there was no escaping the tension in the air, or how the eyes of other attending students fell onto Roland as they passed on and off the dance floor.
"Everyone's waiting for it," Drew said as he took note of one of the Swim Team and his date glancing in Roland's direction.
Roland nodded. "Mmhm."
He didn't mind the gawkers in the slightest; he was more focused on the one hawk who did not stop watching him all night. Brittney, none too interested in dancing with anyone, alternated between standing over by the DJ and his equipment, casually pacing the perimeter of the dance floor, or standing by the refreshments in the service of keeping tabs on him. She was on stage, grooving to the music while letting her gaze happen to wander over towards the two friends.
"So," Roland asked as he pretended to not notice Brittney's gaze, "What's the deal with Sabrina?"
Drew turned his head to his friend. "She asked me to accompany her to the dance after I got treated. I don't think there's much more to it than that."
Roland tilted his drink towards him. "Well, don't sleep on the opportunity, my guy. Is she having a good time?"
"I guess so. We've danced to a few songs, and it hasn't felt awkward," Drew replied. "I'm just not used to all this attention I've been getting…"
"Oh?" Roland had a pretty good idea of where he was going.
"Sabrina asking me out, Brittney suddenly concerned about my well-being, Heather taking me to lunch in her car, and then there's… everything with Janna. I'm… not sure what's going on, but it feels like suddenly there have been more girls aware of my general existence in the last week and some change than there has been since I've first been interested in girls."
Roland mused on that. "I mean… bro, it hasn't been long since all this mess started, but you're already taking charge of shit, working to better yourself, and you even clapped back at Trip and Van the second they started with you."
As opposed to raising his defenses and allowing Jo or Roland to back him up went unsaid.
"People notice that, and you already ain't a bad looking dude," Roland finished.
He leaned his weight on his cane as he gestured to his current appearance. "I mean damn, son, there probably ain't a girl here who hasn't been eyeing you up."
Drew looked down at himself. "Am I gonna start having to do makeup and stuff? Because all this took like an hour."
Roland laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Could always ask Mabel how to stay fresh."
Both looked out onto the dance floor, where Mabel and Misao were dancing with Janna and several other students from Mabel and Roland's homeroom.
Drew shrugged his shoulders. "You know what? I've felt as great as I looked since I got here, I'll ask her for tips."
Still smirking, Roland gave him a teasing look. "Yeah, wait until Heather sees the new you. On that note…" Setting his drink down, he pulled out his phone and took a picture of Drew. "Because she's missing out."
Drew flushed. "Damn it, Roland…"
Roland moved close to Drew and held up his phone for the selfie. Despite himself, Drew smiled for the picture with his best friend as he took it. As Roland pulled back and began typing out a text, he asked, "Oh yeah, how'd lunch go with her?"
"Until Janna popped up to give me my phone and the Magnavores interrupted us, it was nice. We talked about… stuff… read some comics, it wasn't a big deal," he said as casually as he could. In the back of his mind, however, he realized that he'd said a few things to Heather that he wasn't even cool telling his best friend for years about.
"They also fogged up her windows pretty good," Janna said from over his shoulder without warning.
Drew yelped as she seemed to materialize into his peripheral vision from his left side, wearing the smile of a cat living its best life in an aviary. The sophisticated lighting danced wildly off the yellow, gold, and silver glitter in her hair and dress, dazzling Drew as he denied such a thing.
Roland leaned back, smirking. "Oh ho?"
"What? No!" Drew sputtered.
"Yeah, right in front of everyone waiting in line at Britta's Tacos," Janna continued.
"We were just talking!" Drew yelped. "It was hot out! Heather had her AC on!"
As Janna savored his panic, he quickly countered. "You were the one trying to peep in on us like something was going on, anyway!"
Without an ounce of shame, Janna waggled her eyebrows at him. "To reiterate, in front of God and Britta's. You know what I'm all about, why would I not look?"
Roland barked out a laugh, as Drew tried to counterattack "Yeah, why would you not? Jealous maybe?"
Janna rested a hand on her cheek as she responded in a lower tone. "I don't get jealous. There was nothing I did not like to see in that car."
Now Roland's right eyebrow shot up, while Drew's expression betrayed his puzzling over what Janna even meant by that.
She savored the moment.
"Hey y'all," Megan said as she and Sabrina returned from the powder room, "We're back."
Seeing Janna, Sabrina marveled at how the normally dark and morbid girl literally lit up the room before sheepishly joining Drew's side. "H-hi Janna."
Megan joined Roland's side. "Can we get on the floor? The slow songs are about to start soon!"
And now Drew had a new concern. "S-slow songs?"
"You know, the slow jams," Janna said before her eyes lit at the opportunity to do some more prodding. "Where you gotta bring it in nice and close?"
"I know what you're talking about," Drew snapped back as Sabrina's face colored as she began to fidget while stealing quick looks at him. "I didn't know those were allowed…"
Megan spoke up. "Brittney wasn't about to have a dance without slow songs."
Drew looked at Sabrina, whose face was now nearly as pink as her dress, and he flushed as well.
Janna then leaned close to him and all but whispered. "Just remember to keep those hands at waist level until after the dance."
Megan joined Drew and Sabrina in blushing, the red visible on her dark skin. "Girl, stop!" She shouted with a laugh.
Roland laughed into the back of his free hand.
"She is incorrigible…" Drew muttered while he shook his head. When Janna batted her eyelashes at him, he said aloud. "You are!"
Sabrina, still fidgeting, giggled with nervous energy and Drew let out a small laugh himself. For all of Janna's teasing and mixed signals, it was nice that she didn't have a malicious bone in her body towards him or anyone.
Almost anyone, as Janna's smile cooled when Brittney finished her tour of the dance floor and approached the group. With the mood getting ready to change, the hostess of the evening came down from her exclusive perch and deigned to stand among the mortals.
Drew and Roland nodded to Brittney as she reached them. With a self-assured huff, she spoke. "Enjoying the dance so far?"
Not wanting to be rude, Drew put forth his best foot. "It's been fun." He looked at Sabrina. "Sabrina, you're a really good dancer."
"Th-thank you," Sabrina squeaked back.
Roland nodded in concession. "This is quite the party you've thrown. The classiest one this school's ever seen."
Megan hugged his arm. "And it's not even over yet, huh?"
"Mm…" Roland leaned on his cane as Megan leaned into him in turn. "No, it is not."
Both young men knew what Janna was going to say. The moment Brittney approached them, her eyes lit with a malevolence that had been lurking every time her gaze fell on the socialite.
"It really is a great party," she admitted to Brittney, "In fact the only thing that sucks about it is not everyone gets to enjoy it."
Brittney's lips thinned as her typical scowl tightened into an outright glare at Janna, whose sloe-eyed stare met it with all the indifference to the cheerleader's feelings she could muster.
"That's saying a whole lot for someone who went through the trouble to show up," Brittney retorted.
Janna shrugged her shoulders. "I'm here because I'm not wanted, not because I thought this party of yours would be fun or interesting."
Brittney let out a sharp "hmph", before she spoke with disdainful venom. "Spite, that's it? How petty."
"Now who's saying a whole lot?" Janna fired right back. "I'll be up front though: I am being just a tad bit spiteful." She brought her hand to her heart and spoke with a melodramatic tone. "But I learned it from watching you."
Megan, letting go of Roland's arm, quickly stepped up. "Okay, can we chill?"
Janna gave Megan a sidelong look. "I'm just saying."
Brittney was bristling. "You've gotten your kicks, you're free to leave anytime."
Like she was offering Brittney a free swing, Janna shrugged her shoulders and raised her hands, palms upturned. "I'm not going anywhere until the end of the night. If you want me to go now, I'll go–you just need to throw me out."
"I can make that happen," Brittney snarled, "So fast, weirdo."
Sabrina grew anxious, but not in the fun way she'd been enjoying all night at Drew's side. "B-Brittney…"
Drew looked ready to step in, when Roland gave him a hard look and shook his head. Reluctantly he nodded, and both watched as Brittney's fury bubbled like foaming sea to crash against the unbothered face of Janna's iceberg-like cool.
It was then that Misao and Mabel emerged from the dance floor and immediately made their way over to the confrontation. The jovial face Mabel wore as she had stepped towards the refreshments was replaced with more mild concern while Misao was glowering the second Brittney entered her line of sight.
"Hey~!" Mabel greeted, and Brittney decided to use her as a point of reference to avoid having to look at Janna. "I hope everyone's having fun~!"
"Oh, I'm having the time of my life," Janna replied.
Misao flashed Janna a mischievous smirk. "It looks like it!"
And Megan quickly rushed to nip the side-talk in the bud. "Time out. Y'all need to back off, right now; we're not supposed to be about all that tonight!"
Mabel agreed. "Yeah, can we pull it back just a little…?"
Their valiant efforts were in vain, Brittney could not resist the bait. "No, it's gonna be like that."
She turned her full wrath to Misao and Janna. "If you want to talk crap about me and my dance, go ahead. But that doesn't change the fact that you're here, despite whatever you may want to feel about it!"
She gestured out at the party. "You're having your fun, they're having their fun, and no one's running around screaming and on fire because a hyperactive magical girl with no impulse control isn't here to summon dragons or roided out unicorns or whatever crap she's on this week!"
Pointing her fan at Misao, then Janna, she continued. "But no, fuck me for having standards, right?"
"Ja, fuck you," Misao snapped right back at her. "Do you hear yourself talk? Do you even care?! Es ist zum Kotzen, wie selbstgefällig du bist!"
Brittney saw red. "The fuck did you say to me?!"
"HOLD IT!" Mabel finally yelled, and everything stopped. The trading of barbs, the dancing, and even the music.
Everyone was staring at her, surprised at how quickly she'd gone from gamely trying to defuse the situation to taking every spotlight in the house with two words.
Mabel looked around; she was a little bit surprised at all the attention. "Heh, I still got it," she muttered to herself with a small smirk before exaggeratedly clearing her throat. "Everybody needs to hold their horses and get 'em back in the barn before they stampede. There are too many bad vibes right now, so if we're going to talk it out, let's talk it out without resorting to name calling, yelling, or angry German."
Misao looked away, pouting. "Ich weigere mich, mich zu entschuldigen."
Mabel looked at her. "Du kannst besser sein als das."
Misao turned up her nose with a huff.
"Janna, Misao…" Mabel sighed. "Brittney isn't a bad person. She's definitely not the Vanderhoffs, or any of the rich snobs or deranged celebrities I've met. And oh-hohohoh have I met some really awful people."
She walked over behind Sabrina, and placed her hands on her shoulders, making her squeak. "I mean, could Brittney really be a bad person deep down if she's friends with this cinnamon roll?"
Mabel looked down at Sabrina then back to her friends. "Look at her, she's like a tiny deer. She needs to be protected."
"Um… th-thanks?" Sabrina asked.
Mabel then stepped over to Drew, placing her hands on his shoulders next. "And look at Drew, here. He was not looking this great the last time we saw–" She stopped and looked down at him. "Hey, is this okay, I'm not hurting you, am I?"
Drew shook his head. "No, I'm fine… I was able to go to the doctor because of Brittney, and get patched up."
Surprised murmurs spread among the audience at the revelation. Brittney, annoyed that he'd said it aloud, folded her arms and sighed.
"Yeah, I fixed him up," she admitted, "He was still going to the dance, but he was in bad shape… so I took him to Hyuuga Medical Works and got him fully healed, then I got all the other work on him done."
Misao's eyes widened more. "Hyuuga Medical…! That must've cost you over a quarter of a million euro to do all that work in one day!"
"The suit wasn't cheap either," Brittney added, "Neither was the tailor, nor the Taylors."
Mabel looked over Drew's shoulder at his shoes. "Oh wow, those are Chucks?" She looked at his face. "You rock 'em well."
"Ah, thanks," Drew said with slight embarrassment.
And now Misao was just another person confused by Brittney Wong's inconsistency. "… Ah… was?"
Mabel turned to Brittney; her head tilted to one side. "I'm super confused myself; I figured Drew was in because Roland was… but all this? What's the dealio?"
Brittney rolled her eyes to look aside at Drew before turning back to Mabel. "You want to know why I spent over a quarter million euros on Roland's pal?"
Both Mabel and Misao nodded.
"Yeah, I'm pretty curious," Roland spoke up.
"Because despite the state he was in, he stood up to those jackasses Trip and Van. He didn't even flinch when Van squared up to him, when he used to hide from them in the hallway if he wasn't with Roland or his sister."
"That's… it?" Misao asked.
Brittney nodded. "That's it. When I saw that he was still basically the walking dead, today? I took him to get cleaned up, he earned it, because I respect that."
She looked out over the dance at everyone staring back at her. "I'm not like those two idiots; I don't go around judging people because I've got more money than them."
"Doubt," Misao blurted out.
Brittney glared at her. "I don't like people who don't give a shit about themselves."
Mabel opened her mouth to question that but stopped to let her finish.
"I don't expect you to get it, but even with everything I have, I can't hold everyone's hands and pull them along through life while they drag their feet."
Mabel hummed, letting that sink in, before she answered. "That's true; you don't need to take it upon yourself to help everyone."
Brittney nodded, enjoying Mabel being on her side while Janna and Misao were left sorely understanding her. "Exactly."
"But… no one asked you to pick and choose who needs help–and no one definitely asked you to treat people the way you do," Mabel firmly continued.
And just like that the wind drained out of Brittney's sails. "Huh?"
Mabel's tone changed, growing heavier as she walked up to her. "I saw how you were deciding who 'give a shit about themselves', the kid who gets picked on because of his weight with an insulting nickname, or the timid girl with cheap glasses because oh wow–we're living in LA. Both worked up the nerve to walk up to you and ask for a chance to dance… and you dumped all over them both in front of, like, half the school."
Janna shook her head with casual disgust. "Wow, that's totally not like the Vanderhoffs at all."
"You're right!" Misao exclaimed.
Brittney looked like she'd been kicked in the stomach as she looked up at the taller girl much in the same way she did Dipper when he chewed her out that same day. There wasn't fury in Mabel's expression or voice… but a faint sorrow and pity as she shook her head. "You're not wrong for banning Star. I believe you have every right to ban her from the dance, she believes that you have every right to ban her. What she did to hurt you was way over the line. Your generosity to Drew can't be overstated, either."
Mabel looked back at Roland, the entire dance, and everyone watching, before back to Brittney. "But for everything else I've seen you do–and I don't say this lightly–you've been a fucking bitch."
One could hear a pin drop from the ceiling all the way to the floor in the gymnasium, as Brittney gawked in silent shock at Mabel. Slowly, murmurs of agreement brought life back to the dance, as the subject on everyone's minds became what Brittney was going to do in the face of these revelations.
Before she could respond, however, Roland took a deep breath and stepped forward to join Mabel's side. "That's why I'm not pranking your dance."
Brittney drew back from Roland, her face paling and her eyes growing wide. "Wh-what?"
Misao huffed. "Ich hatte recht damit!"
Janna was impressed. "Of course."
A wave of gasps radiated out, as Roland explained himself. "High school is short, it's only four years and only so many dances, parties, and memories we can make before it's over," he said. "Look at everyone here, now think for a second the people who were rejected. Or who didn't want to go because of how you rejected people. What are they doing right now? How are they feeling?"
Brittney's gaze lowered.
"Is that how you want to remember tonight?" He asked. "Because that's all this will ever be to them… the night they stayed at home and did nothing because you decided they weren't good enough to be part of their school."
Roland glanced at Megan. Though surprised at first, she looked at Brittney before she nodded. "Yeah, they're right."
Chantal, who was even relieved that the courage to speak freely was cool, jumped in. "Yeah, B, we almost had this party blown out by a bunch of cool kids just straight up refusing to show. I mean, shoot, Jackie's not here, Peter isn't here… everyone who showed up was basically here for the prank…"
Sabrina took Drew's hand for support, surprising him, as she let her feelings be known. "I… I agree. You went way too far making sure this dance was perfect, Brittney. We upset so many people by just banning them like we did; if… if you could give me a chance, why not any of them?"
Brittney didn't answer them. She was looking at her feet, the weight of everyone's words upon her shoulders like the world with none of her riches and privilege to lighten the load. Her fan dropped from her hand with a clatter as it sank in.
Mabel gave the crowd a quick scan, before she placed a consoling hand on Brittney's shoulder. "You really need to think about how your words and actions hurt people. I was once thoughtless, inconsiderate, and even cruel–and that hurt the people that meant the most to me even when I was selfishly convinced that I knew what was best for everyone."
She gave Brittney a small, but hopeful smile when she peeked up at her; the rich girl's permanent scowl had lost all its potency and now looked more like a sober pout. "But… it was thanks to those same people that I was able to be better. I'm still working on it, and I think enough people believe in you that you can be better."
Looking at Drew, Sabrina squeezed his hand tighter as she smiled.
Roland was impressed. "It's really amazing how much you've grown, Mabel," he said.
Mabel looked back at him. "That really means a lot to hear from you."
Brittney sighed, shaking her head. "What am I going to do?"
Mabel turned back to Brittney. "Hm?"
"You're right," she said with self-recriminating bitterness. "This was supposed to be perfect, this had to be perfect… but it went out of control. I let all the power go to my head and ruined my entire dance."
She paused before she corrected herself. "… I ruined their dance."
Mabel pulled out an imaginary cap and put it on her head. "Well, it's time to put on my thinking cap!" Bringing her hand to her chin, she hummed. "And I think there's still a way to save this dance!"
Misao tilted her head to one side. "Throw Brittney out?"
Janna chimed in. "Turn the gymnasium into a bonfire?"
"Inspired ideas, chums!" Mabel said.
Chantal let out a laugh. "I'm down for the second one."
Janna gave her a very interested side-long look. "I like you; I'm walking you home, tonight."
"But!" Mabel said. "The solution to everyone's problems lies with our dear friend Star Butterfly!"
Brittney, staring at Mabel in confusion for only a moment, grew wide-eyed with realization. "Ah… I think I know where you're going with this…"
Not too far from the school was the Stop & Slurp, a one-story convenience store near the heart of Echo Creek and a popular spot for most of the town's youth. Tonight, it was even more of a hot spot, with loud rock music playing as the students dismissed from the dance by Brittney's decree or in protest of it gathered. Though the bitterness towards the night's events laid beneath, the ad hoc party and the near total lack of adult supervision on the long narrow roof fed a mood of excitement and cheer beneath the waxing moonlight.
Peter, the blonde and bespectacled young man who attended Karate class with Marco, sat on the edge of the store's AC unit with Ashlyn–the bespectacled girl who'd been denied by Brittney the dance for having frizzy hair and unfashionable glasses. On his other side was the young man nicknamed Moobs, who was trying not to be a sputtering mess because a cute girl with reddish brown hair was using his lap as a pillow.
"I'm so glad I didn't go to the dance," the girl with her head on Moobs' lap, Hope Hadley, said with her eyes closed. "This party is way cooler."
Moobs tugged at his collar, not used to living the anime dream. "Uh… y-yeah, getting banned has been pretty great…"
"Your lap is so comfy," Hope said.
Ashlyn looked at Hope, genuinely worried. "Um, Hope? Make sure you drink a lot of water, okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry!" Hope cheered back.
Peter, a sensible young man, handed Moobs a large metal water bottle and nodded to him. He then asked Hope. "Hey, do you know what happened with Jackie?"
Hope giggled. "Oh yeah, um… she said she was going to hang out with Marco~."
A chorus of "Oooohs!" went up among the other attendees of the rooftop party who heard her, while Peter was surprised and pleased.
"No way, really?" He asked.
"Mmhm! She was like 'I'd so be there, Hope, but Marco invited me out and I couldn't say no!'"
Peter pumped both his fists and called to the sky. "MY MAN!"
Another boy hanging out by a drum with a fire burning in it called out. "Bullshit! I totally saw Starco sucking face on the bus! You can ask Alfonzo and Ferguson, they were there! Star was going in on him, too!"
Ashlyn was shocked. "S-Starco is canon?"
Another girl at the party chimed in. "So early? Well, I guess they do live together."
One of the football team, who was trying to avoid eye contact with their quarterback, protested. "Nah, man, Jarco for life. They've been legit connecting. Did you see how Jackie was sitting next to him at lunch?"
"Yeah," one of his teammates said, "But she was squeezed up between him AND the new guy."
The same girl who was befuddled by the suddenness of Star and Marco getting together spoke up. "Dipper? Oh no, what do you even call that ship?"
Peter pondered a particular problem. "So… Marco's making out with Star, but also going out with Jackie? Hmm… I don't think I can abide by that."
Hope let out a sharp "Psha!" and laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that; it's perfectly fine if Marco's going out with Jackie and Star."
And now the other students were curious.
"Why?" Ashlyn asked… before a flash of light preceded the opening of a portal at the center of the roof.
The music was turned off and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the portal. Thanks to Star and her magic shenanigans, the portal wasn't strange in the slightest–in fact a few people were excited at the prospect of Star emerging and making this a real shindig… until the fantastically dressed Mabel stepped out of the portal holding onto Star's scissors. She was followed by Roland, and right behind him stepped a vibe killer–Brittney Wong emerging from the portal and keeping her gaze aimed at the roof.
Peter's eyes narrowed at the sight of Brittney, but Mabel and Roland were there, so he kept an open mind. "Hey Mabel, hey Roland… what's up?"
Roland looked around. "Sorry if we interrupted the fiesta, my guy. But uh…"
He gestured to Mabel, who took the floor. "I've come to make an announcement!"
She beamed. "Echo Creek Academy's much hyped and highly controversial Homecoming Dance… SUCKS!"
Mabel's declaration brought a wave of cheers from the party attendees, with Hope nearly socking Moobs in the jaw as she shot up her hands. "WOO! EAT IT, BRITTNEY!"
As the cheers and laughter at Brittney's expense died down, Mabel continued. "It's awful. There's awesome music, great food, no teachers acting as chaperones, slow songs, and there's even going to be an exclusive single drop at the end of the night."
The cheering turned into confused murmurs as Mabel detailed what the dance's awful accommodations.
"But worst of all…" Mabel shook her head. "… The worst part about this dance? Is that none of you are there."
Folding her arms, she nodded resolutely before she smiled big. "And I refuse to stay a minute longer at a lame school dance without the only reason I'd ever want to go!"
Peter's lips curled into a small smile, as he looked at Ashlyn, Moobs, and Hope. Ashlyn and Moobs were both looking just as surprised and hopeful as a good number of the students… but also extremely flattered, if not touched by Mabel's kind words.
"Mabel's the best, she's so nice and tall," Hope purred–unwilling to move her head from Moobs' lap.
Mabel, seeing that she had the crowd, turned to Brittney. "You're up, Princess."
Brittney stepped up to where Mabel stood and took her place as the taller girl stepped away. She looked around at her classmates, seeing mixtures of contempt, curiosity, and hope in the crowd. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and bowed deeply, with her hands clasped together.
"I'm sorry," she said, "For taking over the school, making Spirit Week all about me, treating you all like garbage, treating Star like garbage, and being a giant full of myself bitch. I had no right to behave like I did, and I want to make it right. Spirit Week by Wong is over and dead… this is your dance now, and you're all welcome to attend it while the night's still young."
Brittney did not bring her head up, instead keeping it down as she heard the murmurs of suspicion and debate ripple around her. Finally, it was Hope Hadley who removed herself from Moobs lap and called out.
"Let's go to our freaking dance!"
Immediately all the partiers present on the roof broke into cheers and headed towards the portal–Roland stepping aside and gesturing to the entrance like a doorman to direct the cheering, whooping, and hollering mob where to go. As everyone on the roof of the store stampeded through the portal and into the gymnasium, Mabel walked over to Brittney, and rested a hand on her shoulder.
Leaning close, she whispered. "That took a lot."
"You have no idea," Brittney whispered back.
"Trust me, I do," she promised.
Brittney stood upright as the last students began to file in–Peter, Ashlyn, Moobs, and the already dancing Hope bringing up the rear.
"Hey, are you gonna tell Jackie and Star that they can come to the dance, now?" Hope asked.
Brittney visibly flinched at the thought of Star showing up but quashed her feelings towards the Princess. This wasn't about her anymore. "Of course; it's their dance, too."
Mabel smiled. "Leave that to me, I'll go round everyone up."
Peter nodded to Roland. "Don't know what went down, but good job, man. The party up here was good, but Convenience Store food for a party's kinda lame, you know?"
Roland agreed as he and Peter shared a fist-bump. "Well, there's more than plenty to go around. Head on in and enjoy yourselves."
Peter smiled back and led Ashlyn through the portal with his hand on the small of her back. The frizzy-haired girl smiled to Roland and Mabel. "Thank you so much!"
"Y-yeah," Moobs said as he came up next, Hope now hugging his arm as she heard the music coming through the other side. "Tonight's already been going really good, you know?"
"Come on~!" Hope whined as she turned and pulled Moobs into the portal. "They're playing my song~!"
Turning to Mabel, Roland grinned. "Damn, how do you do it? I was pretty sure they were going to tell her to swan dive off the roof."
Brittney nodded. "Me too."
Mabel hooked a thumb to herself. "It's all in the charisma, guys! You gotta just grab the crowd and squeeze until they can't breathe!"
They entered through the portal, letting it close behind them. The now much more crowded Gym Floor was livelier than ever, as students both impeccably dressed and showing up in their street clothes partied as one big happy school. Drew and Sabrina were back in the crowd, dancing together, and Janna and Chantal were even closer to one another as they bounced to the energetic beats blasted from the DJ's table.
Misao and Megan were waiting beside the portal as it closed, Megan all but tackling Roland the moment he stepped into view. "Now this is a dance!"
Roland managed to catch himself with his cane and put and arm around her. "It ain't a school dance if the school ain't here."
"Let's go!" Megan said as she ushered him to the dance floor. "It's about to be wylin' out there!"
Misao smiled at Brittney, and over the music called. "Du hast das Richtige getan! I no longer hate you!"
To seal that declaration, she hugged Brittney, who jolted in surprise. After a moment, she sighed and returned the hug, unused to such physical affection.
"I'm not done yet," Brittney said before she looked to Mabel. "I've still got to bring her in."
Mabel pulled out her phone. "I can call her."
Brittney shook her head, and after pulling away from Misao, she turned for the door. "No, I want to do this personally, too."
As Mabel and Misao began to follow her, the former was keen to notice muffled beats that were definitely out of synch with the music–and coming from outside.
"If I know her, then she's right outside, waiting for anything to happen. I can't imagine a girl like her sitting still for five seconds, let alone almost an hour…" Brittney said as she went towards the Gym's front doors, just before she was approached by one of her security detail. "What is it?"
"Miss Wong," the svelte-suited security cyborg said, "We have an ongoing situation."
It feels SO GOOD to get this bad boy done. Next up, the Hammer Kong to fall.
Starting with this one.
Please, please forgive the machine-translated German.
= - = 6-7 = -=
|Dance Dance Resolution|
|Dance Dance Resolution|
The shores of Lake Tahoe at the end of the warm season are a quiet, distant cry from the height of the summer. The shorter days and longer nights take their toll quickly, but before the last warmth leaves the dark and winter sets in, there's still activity to be found at the resorts along the deep, clear lake.
On the southern shore, standing ankle deep in waters so still that the only ripples across its surface were from her steps into it, Heather stared up at the moon hanging above the Sierra Nevada. Despite of being in such an exciting locale, with loud music, laughter, and shouts happening in the large party gathered around several fires and long tables… her expression was one of emptiness as she chewed on the meat pulled from a barbecued rib she held in her right hand.
Lake Tahoe is supposed to be fun, but all she could think about was the dance and the friends she was missing.
She hoped they were having fun.
She hoped Drew was having fun.
"I hoped someone asked him out," she murmured to herself. Hopefully it was Janna–she was dark in a cool way, and a little weird, but she couldn't remember anyone just popping up out of the blue to give him or anyone a gift as nice as that phone–and asking for nothing in return.
A small smile spread across her lips, as she imagined what it must be like at the dance. Sure, it was a Brittney Wong party, but with the likes of Mabel, Star, and Roland it was probably a wild and out of control bash where everyone was having fun. Hopefully one day she'd get to attend a real party with all of them and spend time with the people she liked to be with, instead of those she had to be with.
As if on that note, the shouting and laughter at the barbecue grew, pulling her from her daydreams of places she'd rather be. Her smile faded as she stared at the fire, before she turned away and faced the lake.
Looking at the rib in her hand, she sighed, brought it to her lips and tore off a strip of meat with her teeth, smearing her lips in red.
@@@@@
Like everything Brittney's hands had touched over the last week, Echo Creek Academy's Gymnasium was completely transformed to a lavish degree. The drab, gray walls of the arch-shaped gym were draped with flowing blue, purple, and pink curtains that also covered up the wooden bleachers that had been fully folded to provide more floor space. The flowing curtains and the shimmering lights provided by the disco ball and both laser light and hologram projectors created dreamy, ethereal atmosphere of a garden shrouded in magic and mystery.
The refreshment tables with bowls of punch, hors d'oeuvres, and various desserts were decorated with extravagant floral arrangements in Brittney's colors. Hologram projections of butterflies and hummingbirds flitted around the flowers, and among the students, while the dancefloor reacted with their movements, sending beautifully rendered ripples and even upward rising splashes with their steps.
Beside one of the refreshment tables, Drew and Roland stood together as their dates headed off to the restroom. The night had gone well; they had danced to a few songs and the mood was light… but there was no escaping the tension in the air, or how the eyes of other attending students fell onto Roland as they passed on and off the dance floor.
"Everyone's waiting for it," Drew said as he took note of one of the Swim Team and his date glancing in Roland's direction.
Roland nodded. "Mmhm."
He didn't mind the gawkers in the slightest; he was more focused on the one hawk who did not stop watching him all night. Brittney, none too interested in dancing with anyone, alternated between standing over by the DJ and his equipment, casually pacing the perimeter of the dance floor, or standing by the refreshments in the service of keeping tabs on him. She was on stage, grooving to the music while letting her gaze happen to wander over towards the two friends.
"So," Roland asked as he pretended to not notice Brittney's gaze, "What's the deal with Sabrina?"
Drew turned his head to his friend. "She asked me to accompany her to the dance after I got treated. I don't think there's much more to it than that."
Roland tilted his drink towards him. "Well, don't sleep on the opportunity, my guy. Is she having a good time?"
"I guess so. We've danced to a few songs, and it hasn't felt awkward," Drew replied. "I'm just not used to all this attention I've been getting…"
"Oh?" Roland had a pretty good idea of where he was going.
"Sabrina asking me out, Brittney suddenly concerned about my well-being, Heather taking me to lunch in her car, and then there's… everything with Janna. I'm… not sure what's going on, but it feels like suddenly there have been more girls aware of my general existence in the last week and some change than there has been since I've first been interested in girls."
Roland mused on that. "I mean… bro, it hasn't been long since all this mess started, but you're already taking charge of shit, working to better yourself, and you even clapped back at Trip and Van the second they started with you."
As opposed to raising his defenses and allowing Jo or Roland to back him up went unsaid.
"People notice that, and you already ain't a bad looking dude," Roland finished.
He leaned his weight on his cane as he gestured to his current appearance. "I mean damn, son, there probably ain't a girl here who hasn't been eyeing you up."
Drew looked down at himself. "Am I gonna start having to do makeup and stuff? Because all this took like an hour."
Roland laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Could always ask Mabel how to stay fresh."
Both looked out onto the dance floor, where Mabel and Misao were dancing with Janna and several other students from Mabel and Roland's homeroom.
Drew shrugged his shoulders. "You know what? I've felt as great as I looked since I got here, I'll ask her for tips."
Still smirking, Roland gave him a teasing look. "Yeah, wait until Heather sees the new you. On that note…" Setting his drink down, he pulled out his phone and took a picture of Drew. "Because she's missing out."
Drew flushed. "Damn it, Roland…"
Roland moved close to Drew and held up his phone for the selfie. Despite himself, Drew smiled for the picture with his best friend as he took it. As Roland pulled back and began typing out a text, he asked, "Oh yeah, how'd lunch go with her?"
"Until Janna popped up to give me my phone and the Magnavores interrupted us, it was nice. We talked about… stuff… read some comics, it wasn't a big deal," he said as casually as he could. In the back of his mind, however, he realized that he'd said a few things to Heather that he wasn't even cool telling his best friend for years about.
"They also fogged up her windows pretty good," Janna said from over his shoulder without warning.
Drew yelped as she seemed to materialize into his peripheral vision from his left side, wearing the smile of a cat living its best life in an aviary. The sophisticated lighting danced wildly off the yellow, gold, and silver glitter in her hair and dress, dazzling Drew as he denied such a thing.
Roland leaned back, smirking. "Oh ho?"
"What? No!" Drew sputtered.
"Yeah, right in front of everyone waiting in line at Britta's Tacos," Janna continued.
"We were just talking!" Drew yelped. "It was hot out! Heather had her AC on!"
As Janna savored his panic, he quickly countered. "You were the one trying to peep in on us like something was going on, anyway!"
Without an ounce of shame, Janna waggled her eyebrows at him. "To reiterate, in front of God and Britta's. You know what I'm all about, why would I not look?"
Roland barked out a laugh, as Drew tried to counterattack "Yeah, why would you not? Jealous maybe?"
Janna rested a hand on her cheek as she responded in a lower tone. "I don't get jealous. There was nothing I did not like to see in that car."
Now Roland's right eyebrow shot up, while Drew's expression betrayed his puzzling over what Janna even meant by that.
She savored the moment.
"Hey y'all," Megan said as she and Sabrina returned from the powder room, "We're back."
Seeing Janna, Sabrina marveled at how the normally dark and morbid girl literally lit up the room before sheepishly joining Drew's side. "H-hi Janna."
Megan joined Roland's side. "Can we get on the floor? The slow songs are about to start soon!"
And now Drew had a new concern. "S-slow songs?"
"You know, the slow jams," Janna said before her eyes lit at the opportunity to do some more prodding. "Where you gotta bring it in nice and close?"
"I know what you're talking about," Drew snapped back as Sabrina's face colored as she began to fidget while stealing quick looks at him. "I didn't know those were allowed…"
Megan spoke up. "Brittney wasn't about to have a dance without slow songs."
Drew looked at Sabrina, whose face was now nearly as pink as her dress, and he flushed as well.
Janna then leaned close to him and all but whispered. "Just remember to keep those hands at waist level until after the dance."
Megan joined Drew and Sabrina in blushing, the red visible on her dark skin. "Girl, stop!" She shouted with a laugh.
Roland laughed into the back of his free hand.
"She is incorrigible…" Drew muttered while he shook his head. When Janna batted her eyelashes at him, he said aloud. "You are!"
Sabrina, still fidgeting, giggled with nervous energy and Drew let out a small laugh himself. For all of Janna's teasing and mixed signals, it was nice that she didn't have a malicious bone in her body towards him or anyone.
Almost anyone, as Janna's smile cooled when Brittney finished her tour of the dance floor and approached the group. With the mood getting ready to change, the hostess of the evening came down from her exclusive perch and deigned to stand among the mortals.
Drew and Roland nodded to Brittney as she reached them. With a self-assured huff, she spoke. "Enjoying the dance so far?"
Not wanting to be rude, Drew put forth his best foot. "It's been fun." He looked at Sabrina. "Sabrina, you're a really good dancer."
"Th-thank you," Sabrina squeaked back.
Roland nodded in concession. "This is quite the party you've thrown. The classiest one this school's ever seen."
Megan hugged his arm. "And it's not even over yet, huh?"
"Mm…" Roland leaned on his cane as Megan leaned into him in turn. "No, it is not."
Both young men knew what Janna was going to say. The moment Brittney approached them, her eyes lit with a malevolence that had been lurking every time her gaze fell on the socialite.
"It really is a great party," she admitted to Brittney, "In fact the only thing that sucks about it is not everyone gets to enjoy it."
Brittney's lips thinned as her typical scowl tightened into an outright glare at Janna, whose sloe-eyed stare met it with all the indifference to the cheerleader's feelings she could muster.
"That's saying a whole lot for someone who went through the trouble to show up," Brittney retorted.
Janna shrugged her shoulders. "I'm here because I'm not wanted, not because I thought this party of yours would be fun or interesting."
Brittney let out a sharp "hmph", before she spoke with disdainful venom. "Spite, that's it? How petty."
"Now who's saying a whole lot?" Janna fired right back. "I'll be up front though: I am being just a tad bit spiteful." She brought her hand to her heart and spoke with a melodramatic tone. "But I learned it from watching you."
Megan, letting go of Roland's arm, quickly stepped up. "Okay, can we chill?"
Janna gave Megan a sidelong look. "I'm just saying."
Brittney was bristling. "You've gotten your kicks, you're free to leave anytime."
Like she was offering Brittney a free swing, Janna shrugged her shoulders and raised her hands, palms upturned. "I'm not going anywhere until the end of the night. If you want me to go now, I'll go–you just need to throw me out."
"I can make that happen," Brittney snarled, "So fast, weirdo."
Sabrina grew anxious, but not in the fun way she'd been enjoying all night at Drew's side. "B-Brittney…"
Drew looked ready to step in, when Roland gave him a hard look and shook his head. Reluctantly he nodded, and both watched as Brittney's fury bubbled like foaming sea to crash against the unbothered face of Janna's iceberg-like cool.
It was then that Misao and Mabel emerged from the dance floor and immediately made their way over to the confrontation. The jovial face Mabel wore as she had stepped towards the refreshments was replaced with more mild concern while Misao was glowering the second Brittney entered her line of sight.
"Hey~!" Mabel greeted, and Brittney decided to use her as a point of reference to avoid having to look at Janna. "I hope everyone's having fun~!"
"Oh, I'm having the time of my life," Janna replied.
Misao flashed Janna a mischievous smirk. "It looks like it!"
And Megan quickly rushed to nip the side-talk in the bud. "Time out. Y'all need to back off, right now; we're not supposed to be about all that tonight!"
Mabel agreed. "Yeah, can we pull it back just a little…?"
Their valiant efforts were in vain, Brittney could not resist the bait. "No, it's gonna be like that."
She turned her full wrath to Misao and Janna. "If you want to talk crap about me and my dance, go ahead. But that doesn't change the fact that you're here, despite whatever you may want to feel about it!"
She gestured out at the party. "You're having your fun, they're having their fun, and no one's running around screaming and on fire because a hyperactive magical girl with no impulse control isn't here to summon dragons or roided out unicorns or whatever crap she's on this week!"
Pointing her fan at Misao, then Janna, she continued. "But no, fuck me for having standards, right?"
"Ja, fuck you," Misao snapped right back at her. "Do you hear yourself talk? Do you even care?! Es ist zum Kotzen, wie selbstgefällig du bist!"
Brittney saw red. "The fuck did you say to me?!"
"HOLD IT!" Mabel finally yelled, and everything stopped. The trading of barbs, the dancing, and even the music.
Everyone was staring at her, surprised at how quickly she'd gone from gamely trying to defuse the situation to taking every spotlight in the house with two words.
Mabel looked around; she was a little bit surprised at all the attention. "Heh, I still got it," she muttered to herself with a small smirk before exaggeratedly clearing her throat. "Everybody needs to hold their horses and get 'em back in the barn before they stampede. There are too many bad vibes right now, so if we're going to talk it out, let's talk it out without resorting to name calling, yelling, or angry German."
Misao looked away, pouting. "Ich weigere mich, mich zu entschuldigen."
Mabel looked at her. "Du kannst besser sein als das."
Misao turned up her nose with a huff.
"Janna, Misao…" Mabel sighed. "Brittney isn't a bad person. She's definitely not the Vanderhoffs, or any of the rich snobs or deranged celebrities I've met. And oh-hohohoh have I met some really awful people."
She walked over behind Sabrina, and placed her hands on her shoulders, making her squeak. "I mean, could Brittney really be a bad person deep down if she's friends with this cinnamon roll?"
Mabel looked down at Sabrina then back to her friends. "Look at her, she's like a tiny deer. She needs to be protected."
"Um… th-thanks?" Sabrina asked.
Mabel then stepped over to Drew, placing her hands on his shoulders next. "And look at Drew, here. He was not looking this great the last time we saw–" She stopped and looked down at him. "Hey, is this okay, I'm not hurting you, am I?"
Drew shook his head. "No, I'm fine… I was able to go to the doctor because of Brittney, and get patched up."
Surprised murmurs spread among the audience at the revelation. Brittney, annoyed that he'd said it aloud, folded her arms and sighed.
"Yeah, I fixed him up," she admitted, "He was still going to the dance, but he was in bad shape… so I took him to Hyuuga Medical Works and got him fully healed, then I got all the other work on him done."
Misao's eyes widened more. "Hyuuga Medical…! That must've cost you over a quarter of a million euro to do all that work in one day!"
"The suit wasn't cheap either," Brittney added, "Neither was the tailor, nor the Taylors."
Mabel looked over Drew's shoulder at his shoes. "Oh wow, those are Chucks?" She looked at his face. "You rock 'em well."
"Ah, thanks," Drew said with slight embarrassment.
And now Misao was just another person confused by Brittney Wong's inconsistency. "… Ah… was?"
Mabel turned to Brittney; her head tilted to one side. "I'm super confused myself; I figured Drew was in because Roland was… but all this? What's the dealio?"
Brittney rolled her eyes to look aside at Drew before turning back to Mabel. "You want to know why I spent over a quarter million euros on Roland's pal?"
Both Mabel and Misao nodded.
"Yeah, I'm pretty curious," Roland spoke up.
"Because despite the state he was in, he stood up to those jackasses Trip and Van. He didn't even flinch when Van squared up to him, when he used to hide from them in the hallway if he wasn't with Roland or his sister."
"That's… it?" Misao asked.
Brittney nodded. "That's it. When I saw that he was still basically the walking dead, today? I took him to get cleaned up, he earned it, because I respect that."
She looked out over the dance at everyone staring back at her. "I'm not like those two idiots; I don't go around judging people because I've got more money than them."
"Doubt," Misao blurted out.
Brittney glared at her. "I don't like people who don't give a shit about themselves."
Mabel opened her mouth to question that but stopped to let her finish.
"I don't expect you to get it, but even with everything I have, I can't hold everyone's hands and pull them along through life while they drag their feet."
Mabel hummed, letting that sink in, before she answered. "That's true; you don't need to take it upon yourself to help everyone."
Brittney nodded, enjoying Mabel being on her side while Janna and Misao were left sorely understanding her. "Exactly."
"But… no one asked you to pick and choose who needs help–and no one definitely asked you to treat people the way you do," Mabel firmly continued.
And just like that the wind drained out of Brittney's sails. "Huh?"
Mabel's tone changed, growing heavier as she walked up to her. "I saw how you were deciding who 'give a shit about themselves', the kid who gets picked on because of his weight with an insulting nickname, or the timid girl with cheap glasses because oh wow–we're living in LA. Both worked up the nerve to walk up to you and ask for a chance to dance… and you dumped all over them both in front of, like, half the school."
Janna shook her head with casual disgust. "Wow, that's totally not like the Vanderhoffs at all."
"You're right!" Misao exclaimed.
Brittney looked like she'd been kicked in the stomach as she looked up at the taller girl much in the same way she did Dipper when he chewed her out that same day. There wasn't fury in Mabel's expression or voice… but a faint sorrow and pity as she shook her head. "You're not wrong for banning Star. I believe you have every right to ban her from the dance, she believes that you have every right to ban her. What she did to hurt you was way over the line. Your generosity to Drew can't be overstated, either."
Mabel looked back at Roland, the entire dance, and everyone watching, before back to Brittney. "But for everything else I've seen you do–and I don't say this lightly–you've been a fucking bitch."
One could hear a pin drop from the ceiling all the way to the floor in the gymnasium, as Brittney gawked in silent shock at Mabel. Slowly, murmurs of agreement brought life back to the dance, as the subject on everyone's minds became what Brittney was going to do in the face of these revelations.
Before she could respond, however, Roland took a deep breath and stepped forward to join Mabel's side. "That's why I'm not pranking your dance."
Brittney drew back from Roland, her face paling and her eyes growing wide. "Wh-what?"
Misao huffed. "Ich hatte recht damit!"
Janna was impressed. "Of course."
A wave of gasps radiated out, as Roland explained himself. "High school is short, it's only four years and only so many dances, parties, and memories we can make before it's over," he said. "Look at everyone here, now think for a second the people who were rejected. Or who didn't want to go because of how you rejected people. What are they doing right now? How are they feeling?"
Brittney's gaze lowered.
"Is that how you want to remember tonight?" He asked. "Because that's all this will ever be to them… the night they stayed at home and did nothing because you decided they weren't good enough to be part of their school."
Roland glanced at Megan. Though surprised at first, she looked at Brittney before she nodded. "Yeah, they're right."
Chantal, who was even relieved that the courage to speak freely was cool, jumped in. "Yeah, B, we almost had this party blown out by a bunch of cool kids just straight up refusing to show. I mean, shoot, Jackie's not here, Peter isn't here… everyone who showed up was basically here for the prank…"
Sabrina took Drew's hand for support, surprising him, as she let her feelings be known. "I… I agree. You went way too far making sure this dance was perfect, Brittney. We upset so many people by just banning them like we did; if… if you could give me a chance, why not any of them?"
Brittney didn't answer them. She was looking at her feet, the weight of everyone's words upon her shoulders like the world with none of her riches and privilege to lighten the load. Her fan dropped from her hand with a clatter as it sank in.
Mabel gave the crowd a quick scan, before she placed a consoling hand on Brittney's shoulder. "You really need to think about how your words and actions hurt people. I was once thoughtless, inconsiderate, and even cruel–and that hurt the people that meant the most to me even when I was selfishly convinced that I knew what was best for everyone."
She gave Brittney a small, but hopeful smile when she peeked up at her; the rich girl's permanent scowl had lost all its potency and now looked more like a sober pout. "But… it was thanks to those same people that I was able to be better. I'm still working on it, and I think enough people believe in you that you can be better."
Looking at Drew, Sabrina squeezed his hand tighter as she smiled.
Roland was impressed. "It's really amazing how much you've grown, Mabel," he said.
Mabel looked back at him. "That really means a lot to hear from you."
Brittney sighed, shaking her head. "What am I going to do?"
Mabel turned back to Brittney. "Hm?"
"You're right," she said with self-recriminating bitterness. "This was supposed to be perfect, this had to be perfect… but it went out of control. I let all the power go to my head and ruined my entire dance."
She paused before she corrected herself. "… I ruined their dance."
Mabel pulled out an imaginary cap and put it on her head. "Well, it's time to put on my thinking cap!" Bringing her hand to her chin, she hummed. "And I think there's still a way to save this dance!"
Misao tilted her head to one side. "Throw Brittney out?"
Janna chimed in. "Turn the gymnasium into a bonfire?"
"Inspired ideas, chums!" Mabel said.
Chantal let out a laugh. "I'm down for the second one."
Janna gave her a very interested side-long look. "I like you; I'm walking you home, tonight."
"But!" Mabel said. "The solution to everyone's problems lies with our dear friend Star Butterfly!"
Brittney, staring at Mabel in confusion for only a moment, grew wide-eyed with realization. "Ah… I think I know where you're going with this…"
@@@@@
Not too far from the school was the Stop & Slurp, a one-story convenience store near the heart of Echo Creek and a popular spot for most of the town's youth. Tonight, it was even more of a hot spot, with loud rock music playing as the students dismissed from the dance by Brittney's decree or in protest of it gathered. Though the bitterness towards the night's events laid beneath, the ad hoc party and the near total lack of adult supervision on the long narrow roof fed a mood of excitement and cheer beneath the waxing moonlight.
Peter, the blonde and bespectacled young man who attended Karate class with Marco, sat on the edge of the store's AC unit with Ashlyn–the bespectacled girl who'd been denied by Brittney the dance for having frizzy hair and unfashionable glasses. On his other side was the young man nicknamed Moobs, who was trying not to be a sputtering mess because a cute girl with reddish brown hair was using his lap as a pillow.
"I'm so glad I didn't go to the dance," the girl with her head on Moobs' lap, Hope Hadley, said with her eyes closed. "This party is way cooler."
Moobs tugged at his collar, not used to living the anime dream. "Uh… y-yeah, getting banned has been pretty great…"
"Your lap is so comfy," Hope said.
Ashlyn looked at Hope, genuinely worried. "Um, Hope? Make sure you drink a lot of water, okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry!" Hope cheered back.
Peter, a sensible young man, handed Moobs a large metal water bottle and nodded to him. He then asked Hope. "Hey, do you know what happened with Jackie?"
Hope giggled. "Oh yeah, um… she said she was going to hang out with Marco~."
A chorus of "Oooohs!" went up among the other attendees of the rooftop party who heard her, while Peter was surprised and pleased.
"No way, really?" He asked.
"Mmhm! She was like 'I'd so be there, Hope, but Marco invited me out and I couldn't say no!'"
Peter pumped both his fists and called to the sky. "MY MAN!"
Another boy hanging out by a drum with a fire burning in it called out. "Bullshit! I totally saw Starco sucking face on the bus! You can ask Alfonzo and Ferguson, they were there! Star was going in on him, too!"
Ashlyn was shocked. "S-Starco is canon?"
Another girl at the party chimed in. "So early? Well, I guess they do live together."
One of the football team, who was trying to avoid eye contact with their quarterback, protested. "Nah, man, Jarco for life. They've been legit connecting. Did you see how Jackie was sitting next to him at lunch?"
"Yeah," one of his teammates said, "But she was squeezed up between him AND the new guy."
The same girl who was befuddled by the suddenness of Star and Marco getting together spoke up. "Dipper? Oh no, what do you even call that ship?"
Peter pondered a particular problem. "So… Marco's making out with Star, but also going out with Jackie? Hmm… I don't think I can abide by that."
Hope let out a sharp "Psha!" and laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that; it's perfectly fine if Marco's going out with Jackie and Star."
And now the other students were curious.
"Why?" Ashlyn asked… before a flash of light preceded the opening of a portal at the center of the roof.
The music was turned off and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the portal. Thanks to Star and her magic shenanigans, the portal wasn't strange in the slightest–in fact a few people were excited at the prospect of Star emerging and making this a real shindig… until the fantastically dressed Mabel stepped out of the portal holding onto Star's scissors. She was followed by Roland, and right behind him stepped a vibe killer–Brittney Wong emerging from the portal and keeping her gaze aimed at the roof.
Peter's eyes narrowed at the sight of Brittney, but Mabel and Roland were there, so he kept an open mind. "Hey Mabel, hey Roland… what's up?"
Roland looked around. "Sorry if we interrupted the fiesta, my guy. But uh…"
He gestured to Mabel, who took the floor. "I've come to make an announcement!"
She beamed. "Echo Creek Academy's much hyped and highly controversial Homecoming Dance… SUCKS!"
Mabel's declaration brought a wave of cheers from the party attendees, with Hope nearly socking Moobs in the jaw as she shot up her hands. "WOO! EAT IT, BRITTNEY!"
As the cheers and laughter at Brittney's expense died down, Mabel continued. "It's awful. There's awesome music, great food, no teachers acting as chaperones, slow songs, and there's even going to be an exclusive single drop at the end of the night."
The cheering turned into confused murmurs as Mabel detailed what the dance's awful accommodations.
"But worst of all…" Mabel shook her head. "… The worst part about this dance? Is that none of you are there."
Folding her arms, she nodded resolutely before she smiled big. "And I refuse to stay a minute longer at a lame school dance without the only reason I'd ever want to go!"
Peter's lips curled into a small smile, as he looked at Ashlyn, Moobs, and Hope. Ashlyn and Moobs were both looking just as surprised and hopeful as a good number of the students… but also extremely flattered, if not touched by Mabel's kind words.
"Mabel's the best, she's so nice and tall," Hope purred–unwilling to move her head from Moobs' lap.
Mabel, seeing that she had the crowd, turned to Brittney. "You're up, Princess."
Brittney stepped up to where Mabel stood and took her place as the taller girl stepped away. She looked around at her classmates, seeing mixtures of contempt, curiosity, and hope in the crowd. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and bowed deeply, with her hands clasped together.
"I'm sorry," she said, "For taking over the school, making Spirit Week all about me, treating you all like garbage, treating Star like garbage, and being a giant full of myself bitch. I had no right to behave like I did, and I want to make it right. Spirit Week by Wong is over and dead… this is your dance now, and you're all welcome to attend it while the night's still young."
Brittney did not bring her head up, instead keeping it down as she heard the murmurs of suspicion and debate ripple around her. Finally, it was Hope Hadley who removed herself from Moobs lap and called out.
"Let's go to our freaking dance!"
Immediately all the partiers present on the roof broke into cheers and headed towards the portal–Roland stepping aside and gesturing to the entrance like a doorman to direct the cheering, whooping, and hollering mob where to go. As everyone on the roof of the store stampeded through the portal and into the gymnasium, Mabel walked over to Brittney, and rested a hand on her shoulder.
Leaning close, she whispered. "That took a lot."
"You have no idea," Brittney whispered back.
"Trust me, I do," she promised.
Brittney stood upright as the last students began to file in–Peter, Ashlyn, Moobs, and the already dancing Hope bringing up the rear.
"Hey, are you gonna tell Jackie and Star that they can come to the dance, now?" Hope asked.
Brittney visibly flinched at the thought of Star showing up but quashed her feelings towards the Princess. This wasn't about her anymore. "Of course; it's their dance, too."
Mabel smiled. "Leave that to me, I'll go round everyone up."
Peter nodded to Roland. "Don't know what went down, but good job, man. The party up here was good, but Convenience Store food for a party's kinda lame, you know?"
Roland agreed as he and Peter shared a fist-bump. "Well, there's more than plenty to go around. Head on in and enjoy yourselves."
Peter smiled back and led Ashlyn through the portal with his hand on the small of her back. The frizzy-haired girl smiled to Roland and Mabel. "Thank you so much!"
"Y-yeah," Moobs said as he came up next, Hope now hugging his arm as she heard the music coming through the other side. "Tonight's already been going really good, you know?"
"Come on~!" Hope whined as she turned and pulled Moobs into the portal. "They're playing my song~!"
Turning to Mabel, Roland grinned. "Damn, how do you do it? I was pretty sure they were going to tell her to swan dive off the roof."
Brittney nodded. "Me too."
Mabel hooked a thumb to herself. "It's all in the charisma, guys! You gotta just grab the crowd and squeeze until they can't breathe!"
They entered through the portal, letting it close behind them. The now much more crowded Gym Floor was livelier than ever, as students both impeccably dressed and showing up in their street clothes partied as one big happy school. Drew and Sabrina were back in the crowd, dancing together, and Janna and Chantal were even closer to one another as they bounced to the energetic beats blasted from the DJ's table.
Misao and Megan were waiting beside the portal as it closed, Megan all but tackling Roland the moment he stepped into view. "Now this is a dance!"
Roland managed to catch himself with his cane and put and arm around her. "It ain't a school dance if the school ain't here."
"Let's go!" Megan said as she ushered him to the dance floor. "It's about to be wylin' out there!"
Misao smiled at Brittney, and over the music called. "Du hast das Richtige getan! I no longer hate you!"
To seal that declaration, she hugged Brittney, who jolted in surprise. After a moment, she sighed and returned the hug, unused to such physical affection.
"I'm not done yet," Brittney said before she looked to Mabel. "I've still got to bring her in."
Mabel pulled out her phone. "I can call her."
Brittney shook her head, and after pulling away from Misao, she turned for the door. "No, I want to do this personally, too."
As Mabel and Misao began to follow her, the former was keen to notice muffled beats that were definitely out of synch with the music–and coming from outside.
"If I know her, then she's right outside, waiting for anything to happen. I can't imagine a girl like her sitting still for five seconds, let alone almost an hour…" Brittney said as she went towards the Gym's front doors, just before she was approached by one of her security detail. "What is it?"
"Miss Wong," the svelte-suited security cyborg said, "We have an ongoing situation."
= - = 6-7 = -=
It feels SO GOOD to get this bad boy done. Next up, the Hammer Kong to fall.
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