Working Hard, Partying Harder

Let's paint the town
We'll shut it down
Let's burn the roof
and then we'll do it again.

-

"Shannon-" Vivica hissed, slipping down the back of study hall to crouch by the side of her friend's desk, well out of view of where Mrs. Hawking supervised.

"Viv, this is not the time, but I'll humour you. Did you ask Chris out yet?"

"What? Oh, yeah. The other day. But Shan..."

"Good, because I need some sort of male presence around me, and soon. The sooner you two are together and he looks intimidating to other guys, the better. Just don't be too gushy around me, they can't know it's you he's with-,"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Vivica replied quickly.

Shannon looked down at her for a long moment, a little taken aback by her friend's tetchy tone. "What do you need, anyway?"

"Huh?"

"Viv, you just tore in here like a bat out of hell. So what-,"

"Oh! SHIT! Oh, Shannon, shit shit shit."

"MISS Sundstrom, if you wouldn't mind escorting yourself from this hall. And do watch your mouth. How very unlike you."

Vivica's eyes were as wild now as they had been before Shannon had distracted her. "Er- yeah, sorry, ma'am." And then she streaked out of the room, dragging a protesting Shannon behind her.

"Vivica, if you don't explain yoursel... Oh, God." Shannon trailed off, her eyes wide with horror.

"Look."

On the wall outside one of the main administration buildings, a large amount of graffiti had been scrawled in unusual colors, still wet. Plenty of purple, lots of blue and yellow. And written in broad, garish pink letters, encircled by spray-painted flowers were the words:

SHANNON RUTHERFORD WAS HERE.

"No. No no no." She had began to shake her head in disbelief.

And then, from nearby came a voice that carried a smirk.

"They're looking for you now... I guess a culprit always comes back the the scene of the crime, yeah? I heard they've got a month's worth of detentions in line... starting tonight. See you there, Rutherford."

And Shawn Robinson gave an all-out grin in satisfaction, turning on his heel as he flipped a can of spray-paint into a nearby trash can.

-

Lita leaned over the cafeteria table, dark hair falling forward. "So, 'beloved of Hermia'. Looking forward to prancing around the stage in your tights?"

Leo quirked an eyebrow as Antonio and Sawyer high-fived his sister. "Proud that you didn't get in at all, Li?"

"Ooooh!" Lita faked a scandalized look and pressed a hand to her chest.

Dominic gave a weary sigh, looking unusually unenthusiastic. "Great. Now, on top of trying to string Darren and Littleton together, I get to ferry messages all rehearsal long between you and Ac-" He broke off, giving a little 'oof'. Leo smiled tightly, having given him a hefty kick underneath the table.

Lita, however, looked up. "You and Acacia, Leo? Acacia LeMothe?"

Her brother responded by shrugging without comment.

"It's just interesting, is all."

"How's that?" Lillian queried.

"You know, my dashing brother here. He could have any girl in this dump in a heartbeat. 'Cept the one he seems to take an interest in doesn't seem to know he exists, and probably wouldn't speak to him even if she did."

"Shut it, you," he snapped playfully, reaching out to muss his twin's hair.

Dominic rolled his eyes, catching Darren's gaze from beside him. "These are supposed to be the days of our lives?"

Darren took a long slug of soda, before replying "I sure as hell hope not."

-

Siavash, Brittany and Jesssica surveyed the casting list together, huddled around the piece of paper in the hallway.

Jessica gave a little sigh. "Thank goodness."

"You're glad?"

"Honestly, yes. I get stage fright something awful."

"Says the girl who I've walked in on more than once singing into the back of a hairbrush when she thinks she's alone." Siavash smiled, nudging Jessica.

She blushed, laughing once. "And when I'm sure there's no mirror's around to shatter."

"It should be very interesting, at the very least," he continued.

Brittany nodded cheerily. "I haven't got the foggiest what my character is meant for, but I'll just go with the flow." Her expression darkened a tad. "Shame Ben didn't make the cut, though. He seemed to think my audition was so bloody funny, I'd love to see how the bugger would deal under the spotlight."

"Considerably normally, in relation to others." Ben replied with a small smile, having soundlessly appeared behind them.

"I never said a thing about being normal!" she shot back.

"That I can vouch for," Jessica and Siavash replied in unison, before looking at each other in surprise and chuckling.

-

"Helena." Harmony squeaked, as her internet search results came up on her character. "One of the play's most passionate, albeit desperate, and interesting female characters." She lapsed into silence as she read more.

"And," Sofiija added. "I have a role with plenty of dancing- in the air, Harmony! On harnesses!- and not so many lines. Perfect. And Natalie, aren't you pleased with yourself?"

The girl grinned, propping herself up on her elbows. "Head of audio and lighting on set. How could I not be?"

Sofija tapped on her keyboard, wrapping up her chatroom conversation with her fellow fairies, Maeve, Claire and Erica.

DancingThroughLife: Look, guys, I've got to go and get ready for later.

It'sPeanutButterJellyTime: Kay! I'll see you later. Xxx

WiccanChicken123: Yeah, I should probably ditch too. McFayden out.

BububuBuller: Later, gators.

You have signed out.

-

"How d'you like that one, pretty boy?" Jasper asked, wiggling a slip of paper in front of Enrique's face. He snatched it from his hand and read for a moment.

"My name is Bottom?"

"It gets better... read on."

"Donkey head." Enrique ground his teeth, gazing ahead sullenly. "Oh joy."

-

That night, music pounded the walls of the Hanso block. Drinks flowed freely, lights flashed. It seemed as though the whole school was present. Towards the back, Ian sipped from his cup and snorted quietly with laughter as Claire stood on her tiptoes, glancing around nervously.

"What's the problem, Moth?" he asked, smiling as he used her character's name.

"Well, Egeus," she answered. "I was told by Demetrius to find him when the hour doth strike ten, and that he hath much to announce."

"Methinks he doth promise more than the Fates freely allow." Ian replied, and she turned her head up to inquire further before Blaire Stinson bounced out of the throbbing crowd, grabbing her hand. "Claire, come dance!"

And so she went, and Ian breathed an inward sigh of relief that she was out of sight of the people who seemed so intent on taking his friend away.

"You know what I think?" Lolita was at his side, empty cup in hand. She reached across the table, lifting another to her mouth immediately.

"I think you're pretty damn drunk, Lita."

"Not the point, Hunt," she said, shouting over the music. "I think you need to loosen up a little. There's plenty of pretty girls in here." She waggled her eyebrows. "I can set you up; take your pick."

"Not interested, really." He said honestly.

"Well, that 'really' always leaves things open. But suit yourself!" And Lita loped off towards the dance floor, slinging an arm around Dominic's neck and taking him with her.

-

Harmony dithered. "I might head back to the dorm, okay Steph?"

Stephanie leaned against the railing of the balcony outside the dorm, looking at her friend for a moment before nodding. "Sure. I might stay on a while longer."

She smiled, and her words were strangely blase as she questioned "Are you still hoping he'll show up? ...Daniel?"

"Sort of," Stephanie admitted. "I... I really, really like him Harmony. I've never met a guy like him."

"I... know the feeling."

And with that, they exchanged a brief hug and Harmony left the Hanso block, while Stephanie headed back inside to Trista, Sofija, Lillian, Claire, and Blaire.

-

Chris stood awkwardly near a doorway in the block, doing his best to work out who to speak to next. He was trying hard to alternate between cliques and groups, and in general it seemed to be working. Just as he moved towards Jasper, Maeve and a few more kids with black hair and lots of chains, he felt a hand on his elbow.

"Hi, Chris."

He turned sharply, and sure enough it was her, looking gorgeous and happily buzzed from the alcohol, thought not at all drunk.

"Vivica, hey." There was a little pause. "Where's Shannon? You're usually nowhere without her." It took another pause for him to realize how awful an ice-breaker it was.

"Little incident. She's spending some time getting to know Shawn."

"Shawn?"

"Shawn."

The tempo of the music changed, and a few couples began to move on the dance floor. Sun and Jin whirled by, speaking quietly in Korean.

Christopher took in Vivica's open smile, her blue eyes. "You want to dance?"

She considered that, then shook her head. "Not really." So she leaned in and kissed him, there in the arch of the door, bathed in shadow.

-

Harmony hurried along the little path back to her dorm, her heart rattling annoyingly against her ribcage. She hated feeling like this. Hated herself for it.

She passed two people on her way.

One was Shannon, storming in the direction of the party, her hair messy and snarling various obscenities underneath her breath.

The second was Miles, seeming oddly spaced out. They didn't stop to chat.

Closer now, she encountered a third, and she started when she realised his identity, and shivered, most certainly not from the chilly evening.

"Dan." She said his name before she could stop herself.

"Hey... hey, Harmony."

"You heading down the party?"

"I was going to, yes. Rodney was a little reluctant, though... and... and I keep telling him, they're never going to accept you, let alone like you unless you try to get involved, you know?" He said all this very fast.

"People like you guys, Daniel." She grinned slightly.

"Not really," he half-laughed.

"Well, I do. Steph too." He was looking at her oddly, jittery, nervous. "I do," she repeated, a little lost.

"We like you too, Harmony." She had a distinct feeling 'we' didn't mean he and Rodney, no more than she wasn't speaking for herself.

And though what happened next made Harmony Felix want to burst with joy, her brain tutted away at how horrible a friend was turning out to be. She wasn't sure who kissed who. It was like one swift movement orchestrated by one living thing. Their lips met.

-

Dominic shoved Darren through the crowd on the floor towards Claire. He resisted lightly, uncharacteristically nervous. Dom pushed harder in exasperation. "C'mon, man."

"Maybe, uh... maybe I don't need to do this toni-," He broke off as Dom slammed his head into the small of his back, jolting him forward. He twisted around.

"Did you just headbutt me?"

"Maybe."

"How drunk are you, Dom?"

"Drunk enough to have tried my luck with Shannon and Kate Austin in the one night. Yee-hah." And then he weaved back into the throng, out of sight.

So Darren swalled hard and turned around, reaching over to tap on Claire's shoulder, bobbing as she danced.

There was a strange popping sound as the music cut out. Several lights switched on, and the dorm suddenly rung with the voices of disgruntled complaining. However, they were drowned out by Leo's shout.

"Move it! OUT of here, now- Jacobs and Stanhope coming!"

And then all hell broke loose.

-

A/N: Well, how's about that. I decided to treat you all, seeing as I've been in a writing mood. ;) Will our kids be in trouble? So, there was a decent amount of romance in this chapter, as well as a good few friendship scenes, which are cute to write. Yay! Review, share your thoughts, ideas, etc! =D You are lovely, beautiful people!

Not sure when the next update will be; school and all that jazz. However, I will update when I can, even if it is a short and relatively unsatisfying chapter. Haha. xD