Fate Bash

[Frozen Smoke]

He winced at that. That was a little cruel, but most of all because it was feasible. He knew the kid a lot better than he let on, but through chatrooms and IM more than school. He was just as petty as the cliquey bitches he hated, though through necessity over a desire to feel superior to people.

Or so he told himself.

Zak reentered the conversation by reassuring his sister that he wouldn't be coming. That was good. Lying around a crowd was hard. He could, and had done it, but he felt... Icky afterwards. He didn't like lying to people, so avoided doing it whenever he could, though he ended up doing it a fair amount.

He looked down at his half finished can. He really should try mixing in some rum, just a little bit. He got up and poured what looked like a mouthfull of the amber fluid into a cup, then upturned his coke can.

*drip*

Goddamn it. He had grossly overestimated how much coke was left. He now had a quarter of a glass full of straight rum. Shiiiiiiit. He'd poured it, so he'd have to drink it. He took the glass and sat down, staring at it as if wishing it to turn to water.

It stayed as rum.

He steadied himself and knocked it back, the fluid burning the back of his throat as it passed his gullet. He grimaced, but held it down.

"Soooo, who'd you invite?" he asked

[Acidic*]

She looked at the facebook event page yesterday, but could only remember a few names.

"Umm. I think Bob Lazenby." She rolled her eyes. She know the only reason he would come was to show how superior his taste in everything was. That seemed to be the only reason he talked to people. She started listing other kids she knew, and Zak went for another pop during this, when she finally said,

"Oh, and Mae St. Clair." She smiled. Noticing the conversation had gon full circle.

Zak sat back down when she said the last name. He knew of Mae, and he knew that Zach helped Mae study awhile back (his sister told him). Zak, not realizing that Madelyn asked Zach when he arrived, turned to his friend and inquired,

"I heard you helped her study trig. How did that go?"

It took everything in Madelyn to not burst out laughing.

[Frozen Smoke]

Peter? That philosophical kid? He'd just sit at the back and pretend to be superior. Gave him some company during the inevitable dancing. Which he was not going to be joining in with, come hell or high water.

Mae was coming? Mae was coming! Oh, god Mae was coming.

He was filled with mixed emotions, happiness and anxiety and pretty much every concievable thing between. He wondered if she would feel more comfortable with him when she was drunk. No, he didn't want to have sex with her whilst she was drunk, that'd be like rape. And he wanted his first time to be romantic. And he wanted her to remember it as fondly as he would.

Then he realised what Madelyn had done.

That sly bitch.

He knew that hed gotten her to drop it too easily. Nothing except the threat of a slow, lingering death could stand between Mad and her juicy gossip fix. He snapped his head towards her with lightning speed.

"I don't know what you're insinuating, but the Study Date was completely innocent!" he blurted out, as if trying to reassure himself. He'd just hugged her, and that was just friendliness, not intimacy. Right?

He turned to Zak, responding to his question in a calmer tone of voice. "It was great thanks"

[Acidic*]

Zach's reply naturally made the Conners suspicious. Zak raised an eyebrow, he couldn't think of a time Zach got so defensive about something. Sure he'd tried to downplay his love of SotF-TV to other people and the occasional asshole would accuse Zach of being gay, but this was different.

He then made sure he nodded when Zach answered him to show he'd been heard. Also smiling at the good news.

Zak figured he should try and change the subject for Zach's sake,

"So are we ordering pizzas later?" Zak asked Madelyn.

"Maybe," Madelyn had already considered the possibility of pizza at the party,

"If people are willing to put their money together we could order one. Otherwise I've got a few frozen ones in the fridge." Madelyn shrugged. She was indifferent.

She sat for some time trying to figure out how to change the subject. Considering Zach reaction she went to far with the friendly teasing.

Then she realized that a change in subject was right in front of her.

"So, what do we have to look forward to," She was going to say the season's number, but she had no idea how long SotF-TV was on. She recovered with,

"during the next season of SotF-TV?"

[peregrineink*]

Mae had always felt so strange when she wore her hair up in any situation where she wasn't dancing, but Frank had complimented her sloppy pony tail the night he asked her attend the party with him. now that her study "date" with Zach had swept the school, she had to keep this one, for as long as she could.

She awkwardly sat in his car, pulling down the hem of her peony flowered dress so that it reached her knees better. It was always hard to find dresses that covered enough flesh without looking like a kindergarten teacher. Frank watched this spectacle appreciatively before reaching over to gently touch the back of her neck. Sparks shot through Mae's body, but not the good kind, the jagged nervous kind. She felt stuffed with ill-fitting shards of glass. Frank misread her goosebumps as a good sign and drew her close. She allowed one kiss before hastily pushing him away.

"We're right outside the house," she said quietly, nervously glancing around. What if Zach came? What if he saw? She felt guilty about it for some reason, which was ridiculous. She was dating Frank Whitaker, popular senior boy, he had chosen her and that rose her in worth in the eyes of everyone.

"Come'on, no one will care."

He was right, no one would care if they saw Mae St.Clair kissing some guy. Right? it just showed everyone that she was someone worth kissing is all....

So she let him, closing her eyes and thinking of someone else. It wasn't as though Frank wasn't attractive, he just wasn't for her. Or maybe he was? How could she know?

"I think we should go in," she said, her voice barely betraying her nervousness. Frank gave an easy smile.

"Fine, till later." He winked at her saucily, got out of the car, and walked over to open her door. It was a nice gesture she supposed. Mae maintained a careful distance away from him as they walked, for fear that he would touch her in some way on the way up to the door. Frank was blessedly a gentleman, and gently, Mae rapped on the door.

Hopefully Zach hadn't arrived yet...

[Frozen Smoke]

Pizza? Awesome. Pizza had to be his favourite food. Well, either that or sushi. But you could never really get full on sushi. So Pizza it was.

He licked his lips. he was thirsty again. That alcohol hadn't really been that bad. He could stomach a bit more. He was sure of it. He got up and poured himself a shot of Vodka. Up to the "one unit" line. Whatever the hell that meant.

"You want some Mad'" he asked, turning round, bottle in hand.

She asked him about the new season of SOTF that was coming out in 2-3 months. He didn't know much about it, as they were playing it secretive this time around. Which sucked.

"Violence, Sex and "Bridging the-"" he was cut of by a knock at the door which he swore made him jump six thousand feet into the air. Miraculously no drinks were spilt and he didn't fall over. He turned to Madelyn, silently asking her if he should get the door.

[Acidic*]

"Just grab me another coke." Madelyn didn't want to get hammered before the party. She listened as he began answering, and than a knock at the door caused Zach to jump. She laughed kindly at the reaction as she got up to get the door,

"I got it. Its my party, so I should be the one to welcome them." she said as she walked up the stairs. She heard Zak ask for one of his lemon lime sodas. She stretched before opening the door finding Mae St. Clare with, who Madelyn assumed, was a date.

Please be a gay friend. Regardless she smiled.

"Welcome Mae and friend. I don't believe we've met." She motioned to the stairs going down.

"Please, come on down!"

[peregrineink*]

"Hello!" Mae tried to seem cheerful but just ended up coming off as oddly stilted. "This is Frank, he's my..."

"Boyfriend," Frank put a possessive arm around Mae's shoulders, pressing her to his side. She managed a tight lipped smile. Boyfriend? They had really just started going out, and frankly she wasn't feeling it.

"Thanks for having this party, Madelyn, I'm really looking forward to the show," Mae said as she and Frank began to walk down the stairs. Frankly, Mae found the entire thing scary. There were so many beautiful things in the world, and Mae just couldn't understand how the pinnacle of the human experience could be summed up by a reality television show that depicts a bunch of kids killing each other.

At the bottom of the stairs, she looked around. Half of her wanted Zach to be there, the other half? Well, she sort of hoped that it would end up being a big thing...so she could get lost in the crowd as soon as possible.

[Frozen Smoke]

Mae was here! Yay...

He downed the Vodski.

Ow. Owww. Gah.

Okay, vodka stung. But he felt a little tingly as he looked up at Mae.

The room seemed to light up as she walked in. Her presence making the world seem brighter.

Actually, that could have been the alcohol.

Yeah, probably the alcohol.

Then his eyes drifted to the figure with His bulky arm around her delicate waist. Lucky bastard. Oh, yeah, boyfriend-date partner thing.

He needed to stop fantasising about her falling for him. Not only was it unrealistic, but he nearly asked what he was doing with his girlfriend. Which was stupid. They were just friends. Study buddies to use the childish moniker.

He traced the muscular, gorrila like arm to it's source.

Frank was here. Frank was dating Mae. A flash of emotion. She knew this was turning the knife didn't she. She was just doing this to get to him. Set him up like some giant practical joke. That's all he was to anyone, a joke. A sad little reminder of what'd happen if you didn't get everything juuuuuuust right.

Shit. That was probably right. He avoided eye contact with the pair. He just knew he would look at Mae the wrong way with the state of mind he was in. He knew Exactly how that'd go:

"Hey. You lookin' at mah gurl?!"

"Wuh, no, I wa-"

"Fuck you!"

*punch*

"Ow"


And then he'd wake up in hospital. Or on a sofa. Or on the side of the street.

He poured out another shot.

It'd be rude not to acknowledge their presence.

He casually saluted, pretending he was concentrating on the booze.

"You want some?" he asked without thinking

[Acidic*]

Zak watched his friend drink as Madelyn went up the stairs.

Did he always drink this much, or is he doing it because he thinks its what kids do at partys? Zak had also done things he thought were required of him. Zak let a friend in middle school talk him into smoking because all the anti-smoking propaganda always showed kids smoking together. So Zak thought it was what kids did, and Zak wanted to do as kids did. He still smokes, but he would never let Madelyn find out.

Than he saw Mae St. Clair (which he thought was a lovely name) and Frank (the guy she brought) come downstairs. Frank holding onto her waist caused Zak to raise an eyebrow as he never expected to see a guy cling to a women like that in real life. From the exchange upstairs Zak figured they had dating for awhile. Thinking that long term couples finished each other's sentences all the time. Zak gave them a friendly smile and said hey.

Madelyn followed the couple down.

I haven't heard of Mae dating anyone recently, so this couldn't have been going on for long. She thought Zack seemed fine even if he was avoiding eye contact. She knew that people with autism (even high functioning) had trouble with eye contact.

"You want some?"

Madelyn went to the table, grabbed her coke, and took her seat in the chair. She wondered briefly if Zach was drinking too much, but pushed the thought away as she turned to Mae and Frank and asked,

"So, how are you guys tonight?"

[peregrineink*]

Frank seemed to size Zach up for a moment as though wondering if the freak could have possibly had an opportunity to poison his drink. Thinking that he most likely wouldn't, he detached himself from Mae and made his way over to the couch. Yeah...this party was on.

"Come'ere babe."

Mae ignored him in favor of Madelyn, who was making conversation and that was just not polite to ignore her. "Oh, we're fine. I've been really looking forward to this!" She watched warily as Frank knocked a shot back with Zach. She hated this, really really hated this. Usually Mae was not a fan of drinking, she had maybe had one drink on occasion, but the taste was always weird.

Watching Frank drink with that stupid smile on his face made her want to drink the entire bottle herself.

"I'm ready to have some fun!" She said, a devilish look coming to her eye.

[Frozen Smoke]

Zack watched as Frank came towards him. He tried to shrink back, but there was no shadowy corner to hide in, no crowd to get lost in. The hulk of redneck muscle looked him up and down, as if gauging whether he was worth the fight. He tried to make himself seem more diminuitive. He really didnt want tobe beaten up or harassed.

Note to self; Dont even look at Mae today. It will end badly.

Thankfully he seemed to lose interest as he poured a shot and meekly offered it to him, though he inspected it like he had done something to it.

Or perhaps he didnt understand what a glass was.

Probably that.

A slightly superior smirk crossed his face as he drank another shot. It didn't burn anymore. He was getting used to it, so that was good.

Why didn't he feel any happier? Drunk people were always happy in the adverts. Well, happy or dead. Perhaps he wasnt doing it right? No, you cant get wasted in the wrong way, he was sure of it.

Frank seemed to be happy, his face bearing an almost ear to ear grin. Doubly lucky him. He wanted to kill him and take his place. He was leading the good life. He was above him, above everyone. He had the girl of his dreams and he hadn't had to work for it one mote.

People were always telling him that he was "Gifted" and that "You'll go far in life". It was a big fucking lie.

He could do Quadratic equations in his head and what did it get him? Social exclusion and beatings. It was times like this he wished he could have been normal. Just sit here and enjoy things like he should be able to. But Noooooo, your going to be miserable and depressed, because a hunk of muscle took your girlfriend, you have the social graces of a housefly, and the looks of-

Well, comparing himself to anything would be an insult to that thing.

"I'm ready to have some fun!" Mae said, her voice having a micheveous tingle to it, that he'd never heard. He liked that, it gave him shivers. Good shivers.

He chanced a look at Mae, the look on her face made him almost come on the spot. She looked so sensual compared to how she normally did. Her skirt was so short he was sure he could catch a glimpse of panties if he looked long enough. Her ponytail let him look at her unobscured face. God she was pretty. Her top emphasised her already substansial bust.

He tore his eyes away from her, choosing to stare deeply into the empty shot glass infront of him rather than risk getting beaten for looking at her in the wrong way. But he really wanted to look at her. To cradle her, touch her, excite her.

Goddammit Zach, you came here to prove that you can talk to people you don't know, not fantasise about something beyond you.

He poured another round of shots and nudged one towards Mae, his face sullen as he didnt look up at her. He wouldnt be able to get himself to look away.

[Acidic*]

Madelyn smiled to Mae's response,

"Good!" She saw Zach pour a round of shots, and took the opportunity. She got to the table with Zak who followed when she motioned. She picked up a glass holding it in front of her above eye level. Zak held his in front of him waiting for his sister to speak.

"A toast," She thought awhile, and the door bell rang.

"To early arrivals!" She drank her shot, and went to go answer the door. When she opened it was a small group of students from her school. She let them downstairs, and followed them.

((Note: The extra students are like Frank, you guys are allowed to do with them as you please. If anyone wants their character to jump in as one of the students you're more then welcome to.))

[OverlordMikey*]

A party? In these situations people generally gravitate to the wall or to their friends. So why would one attend a party for a subject they aren’t all that interested in that would probably be full of people one barely knows.

Michael wasn’t a party goer really. He wasn’t even a fan of SoTF, but he was all alone in a cold school dorm; although he liked the cold and it wasn‘t really all that cold. He actually hated humidity, but ; not to be off topic, he felt the room was more room temperature. Made sense seeing as it was a room and all.

He had chose to dress in a grey button up dress shirt and grey dress pants. Sure grey didn’t stand out or anything, but that was the point. He could stand in the corner and let his mind wander, because he wasn’t really the party type as mentioned.

In fact Michael had considered forgoing the party idea. Madelyn was his friend, but he didn’t care for blood shed or large crowds in tight spaces; mostly because he tended to run into people and hell is other people. He didn’t like strangers, he’d always put on a fake smile and be nice in hopes that they’d go away quickly before they did something stupid like try to pry into his thoughts, decide they didn‘t like him, and then try to change him. Also in the last two days he’d gotten a total of four hours of sleep. His eyes where surprisingly clear and he didn’t feel tired so maybe he was fine or he‘d finally lost his mind.

So now he was standing outside thinking about whether it was worth knocking; at least that was what he had been thinking about, now he was thinking that this would make an interesting murder mystery. A hard boiled detective shows up at a fancy get together. He’d helped the lady of the house out before. She was a pretty women, tall, strong, knew how to get under his skin, but a friend.
He himself was a tall man with a strong build - and five o’ clock shadow. He’d be gruff, but not mean - no he’d have a heart of gold under that and love kids of course, and not in the creepy way. A real respectable father figure. Always try to be home on time because he knows how much that means to his husband - in his stories same-sex marriage was always legal.
Of course then the aliens attack and the party is ruined. Still it turns out to all be a misunderstanding - then everyone enjoys some tasty cake, but he hadn’t really decided what to do about the subplot with the witch and the ending obviously needed work.

Wait, what? Damn I crossed my story ideas again. Then again maybe I can make them all work. Did I knock yet?
“Get it together Mitch!” He yelled out loudly. Although his name was Michael, due to an error Mitchell was what his name had originally been entered as in the school data base. He wasn’t sure they fixed it, but he liked to joke about it.

Although he still wasn’t sure he knocked on the door by the time he was aware others had arrived and he just sort of sauntered in.

He noticed Zack; a friend of sorts, he was dating that Mae St Clair girl right. He’d heard that in school from a girl who he was doubled up with often on the Tennis Team when they practiced. (Who incidentally was at the party, but Michael didn’t notice her) Apparently they had a date. He hadn’t asked him about it, but he was happy for him. She must be his date here too seeing as she was there although he didn‘t know why they weren’t being friendlier with each other.
Also he appeared to be talking to a handsome senior. Frank Whitaker right? They must be friends… who would have guessed. Zack never seemed all that popular and yet here he is with a popular guy and a cute girlfriend!
He had no idea how badly he had misread the situation, but he blissfully stood in the corner. He wasn’t one for starting conversations so he just stood back and observed cheerfully.

[peregrineink*]

Mae picked up the shot of vodka and lifted it to her eye, peering through it. It was sort of like looking through a tiny window in a submarine, all watery and distorted. Through the glass she could see Zach's face, what was that expression? She wasn't sure.

She had never had vodka before, how bad could it possibly be? It was clear, maybe it was just like water...of course that was impossible, she knew what alcohol tasted like. She knew it probably wasn't going to be pleasant. She looked at Frank, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Here goes nothing!" She knocked it back, taking the entire shot in one gulp.

Oh God. It burned. It burned horribly like lava ripping through her, and yet it still managed to be cold. She tried valiantly not to cough, but one seemed to rip out of her anyway, as though her esophagus were trying to reject the alcohol. Tears came to her eyes at the force of the couch, and she slammed the shot glass on the table.

"Can I have another, Zach?"