2020-10-09 - Teenaged Wasteland III: Prom

Tori (Vic as an adult) Grey, the bad girl senior-year transfer from Portland is actually attending prom, despite spending half the school year skipping classes to drink and smoke pot and make out with boys. Her attendance of the dance may be surprising, but her date might be more surprising. Javier de la Vega. Well look, the bad girl brought the bad boy junior with her. She's in a shimmery, black dress that is cut low in front, with a halter back, belted at the waist and floor length. Her clutch purse is also loaded with little perfume bottles (full of booze), and there may be some joints tucked strategically into places the faculty will not look. Her hair has been blown out smooth and straight, falling to her mid back. She looks glamorous, and a little dangerous, and maybe a bit mysterious, all by careful design. She probably spent a month preparing for the perfect prom look, but she won't ever admit it to anyone. She also has no idea this is a Dream and she's not 18 years old.

She has her arm linked with Javier's as they come in a little late. They smell like Febreeze, so they were likely smoking in the car before they came in. And they came in with a plan to spike all the punch with those little perfume bottles of booze, you can count on it. Where they are supposed to pose for their photo together, they get into the traditional date pose but, at the last instant, pull goofy faces. Vic sticks out her tongue, crosses her eyes, and tilts her head. They likely get yelled at about it by the photographer and laugh hysterically at how edgy they are. Kids these days.

Alexander Clayton has a reputation. One which means that him showing up at the prom - or in fact any social event with his fellow students, ever - is something of a surprise. He's a lanky kid, not super tall, with bangs that are too long, hanging over dark eyes that stare at things with too much intensity to ever be called friendly or cheerful. He has also come to the prom looking like his momma dressed him.

Spoiler: She did. Which probably explains the powder blue tux jacket and trousers, polished leather shoes, snowy white, ruffled shirt, and god help us all, a pink carnation which definitely did not come from a teenaged girl. It's like the world has designed him to be the most punchable kid, ever. Except, of course, most everyone remembers that time in elementary school where Crazy Clayton tried to tear a parent's throat out. With his teeth. Doesn't stop him from being bullied, of course, but it usually takes a group to hold him down for it.

He has no date, which isn't gonna surprise any of the rumormongers. Instead, he slinks along the edges of the crowd, slouching and staring at things - and people - with all the charm and charisma that has made him so popular. What he doesn't have is a touch aversion, which is good, as it's a bit of a crush. Spotting the drinks table, he jostles and elbows his way through the mass of students so that he can score a plastic cup of lukewarm punch. Ahhh, the joys of high school.

Cecil's date is way out of his league. She's a looker with long, straight blonde hair and blue eyes, with her makeup on point and her dress flattering her thin frame. It's a strapless sapphire blue gown, and he's gotten her a white corsage to match his boutenniere. She's an inch or so taller than he is. Way out of his league.

He's in a black tux, and with enough product, even his hair can be tamed. Still wearing those coke-bottle glasses, though, and he still looks on the shy end of thirteen instead of a senior in high school. He stand awkwardly by the punch bowl, getting a cup of punch for the girl who has no business being with him.

She didn't even want to go to prom. After all, the person she thought she would go with ended up in jail so she no longer had a date. And, she was poor as hell, so like, who could buy a prom dress? But, the other cheerleaders talked her into it. Reluctantly, Nicole agreed. The dress situation was solved with a visit to Good Will, where she purchased a white slip dress of silk-like material that was embellished as if it had been worn by a bride. She purchased a bright green party dress as well, then made a quick stop at the store for some dye and other necessary items. She wasn't sure how she would put it all together, but, she got to work.

Her sewing skills were nothing more than a hobby, but she was creative enough to make something that looked, well, mostly good. She ended up dying the bottom of the dress in a green ombre that faded up into white. It almost perfectly matched the green dress that she turned into a halter style bodice and sash. On her feet are some borrowed white satin heels. She may be sporting the low-income home-made look, but her hair, all done up in rhinestone butterfly clips, and makeup are SPOT ON. If only Geoff could see her now. Alas. Jail. Poor Geoff. He may never realize what he missed out on.

What started as a four alarm argument out in the parking lot between Cynthia Forrester and Javier de la Vega, ended with the Mexican kid arriving at prom with Tori Grey on his arm, and his now ex-girlfriend storming home after three teachers pried them apart. It's not the first vociferous fight they've had, but it'll probably be the last. He's got a florid cut blooming across his cheek, and the most slapdash outfit in the history of prom, that he's somehow managed to pull off; a white button-down shirt left untucked over black jeans, with a sapphire blue waistcoat fastened snugly over top, and an expensive looking tweed sport jacket. The sleeves of both sport jacket and shirt have been turned up to his elbows, and he's procured himself some polished black boots with a pointed toe that don't quite put him on par with Tori, height wise, but certainly help him clear a swath through the crowd when he moves.

And just like they'd planned it, he slings an arm around the blonde, makes a pair of rabbit ears behind her head, and makes the weirdest face he can manage when the shutter goes off, complete with gagging sound. The photographer's back gets slapped for playing along as he hauls his date away, and leans in to murmur something to her.

Itzhak didn't go to no prom in his actual life. In fact he'd dropped out of high school by then, already well along the path that would land him in prison. Chopping cars, working as muscle, breaking and entering--all the endeavors an up-and-coming young thug needs on his CV. It hadn't mattered. He didn't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend anyway, and nobody was going to take the weird angry kid obsessed with violins and snakes to prom. At least, that's what he tells himself.

So he's a little confused when he shows up at prom, but not for long. Confusion fades when he realizes what he's wearing. It's a dress, for one thing. Floor length, black sequins starting at the top and changing to an ombre of gold and magenta at the hem. A slit on one side runs all the way to his upper thigh. He's wearing it with his engineer boots, and he's got someone (maybe Nicole!) to have done his makeup: striking glitter eyeliner and eyeshadow, streaked back towards his temples in a David Bowie-style glam look. His nail polish is glittery magenta, to match the dress.

"Oh fuck yeah," he says, happily, looking down at himself. Curvy, he ain't, but it doesn't matter; he wears this dress like it's armor and he's looking for someone to say a single word to him about it. "I look FANTASTIC!" ...probably not for long.

The Student Council Treasurer and nominee is none other than, of course, Hyacinth Addington. Hard to not be the IT Girl when your name is on the building. Still she works damn hard to make. everything. perfect. including the senior class. With eyebrows on fleek jet hair swept up the 17 year old busy body is crushing that style in white and cranberry with fabricated leg bedazzled with rhinestones and a ribbon laced through to match show, sash shoulder to hip, with be best arm candy highbrow taste has to offer i the 12th grade; Vyv Vydal. Hey, he's imported, it totes counts!

Lilith isn't really supposed to be at prom, she told herself she didn't want to go (but she did). In fact, she doesn't decide to go until two nights before when she runs into a guy from the next town over at the pizza place and decides he's good looking enough to bring as an accessory so she doesn't look like a lone loser. She also doesn't want to see Byron with a date without a date of her own, and... maybe they could dance, it's prom, right?

So she's here with some Keanu-looking guy with a smug grin and an open collar on his suit, and she definitely hasn't dressed to theme. She's in a black strapless affair that hits mid-thigh and is fairly form fitted. While it's a far cry from the way she usually dresses down and therefore quite head turning to see her figure so dressily displayed, it's still black and she's still heavy on the eyeliner. Her hair looks nice, though. She's taken some edgy vintage wave and curl swept style from a magazine. Her date is also armsy and handsy as hell and she's rolled her eyes about three times in the past fifteen minutes since arrival. Good times.

Mostly, though, she's drinking a drink and ignoring him while looking through the crowd to see who a certain someone has brought and how happy they seem about it.

One of the satyrs serving at the snacks table (carmelized onion cream cheese pastries, yum!) looks really confused. He's a tall, bearded man, with thick, black hair, big, bushy, black eyebrows, and a trim black beard. His big dark eyes are wide, and he's beginning to look panicked. "Wait. Wh--where am I. I was--what's--oh my God. Is this prom?" He gazes around himself in horror, glares up at the ceiling. "You evil fuckers!" He yanks off his satyr crown of gold twigs and throws it on the floor. "I'm not saving a bunch of kids from prom! I'm not!"

The chaperone next to him--Mrs. Livingston as a nymph, who teaches English--blinks at the outburst. "Mr. Bauer, are you alright?"

Bauer rounds on her. "No! No, I'm not. This is all bullshit. It's lies. This isn't real."

"Did you bring a flask, Mr. Bauer?" Secretary James asks, hands on his hips. "You know that's not allowed."

"Sounds more like he dropped some acid," one of the kids in line murmurs. Bauer glares at the kid, who clams up and looks away.

Another teacher frowns, leans over to sniff the punch. Hm, no alcohol yet.

The crownless satyr is about to launch into a real tirade, but gets hold of himself when he sees the kids beginning to notice. "I didn't bring a flask," he growls, "but I sure wish I had one." He scans the milling students. Which ones are real? Which ones aren't? Most importantly, who's got some whiskey on them?

He hates literally everything right now.

Annnnd, that is Tori's opening. Once they sniff the punch and move on to deal with Dash, she begins spiking the punch with vodka from the bottles. Lovely colorless, odorless vodka. She hauls Javier to stand in front of her and shield her from view. "Nothing like a little sugar added to a really fucking boring dessert," she mutters to Javier, sliding him a bottle for himself as well from her clutch purse. Sorry Dash, that was her only whiskey. You can wrestle de la Vega for it.

High school was always an awkward time and for many, the prom just amplified how awkward it could be. Byron was supposed to have asked Isabella Reede to the prom this year, but her twin brother, Sid, vanished without a trace, or something, so that squashed that idea. Of course, he was there for Bella and the Reede family. The prom, however, was the last thing on Isabella's mind.

Then recently, Byron was reacquainted with someone who their peers might say was his childhood sweetheart, Lilith Winslow. Sure, they had a few of the same classes together, but for whatever reason, she'd been ignoring him ever since they started attending high school. Maybe even a little before then. Mister A. defied the Principal (and VP). Too bad for the pair of them, they already had dates to the Prom. Or Byron happened to find one after the Bella thing fell through. He could've, no... should've dumped Sasha Henderson, but teenage stupidity prevented him from doing so.

Thus, here he is latched onto by a bubbly young blonde cheerleader sort, dressed in a rented tux, that he saved a month's worth of paychecks for (for the two part-time jobs he has). Despite being here with his second, no third choice, he's still all smiles as he greets his many, many friends from various circles to end up at the refreshment table where he awkwardly has to greet Lilith and her date and anyone else in the vicinity. Good times.

Alexander stares at Cecil standing by the punch bowl. His eyes flick to the bombshell date, then back to Cecil. "How?" he mutters, to himself. "Just fucking how?" He reaches around the younger kid, planning to get himself some of that punch. And in the doing, catches Vic adding a little something extra to the bowl. "Hey!" His is not an indoor voice. "You can't spike the punch!" ...yay, he's a teacher's pet creepy asshole. "Mr. Bauer, did you see what she did? She put something in the bowl!" He points, dramatically, like cops are going to materialize and haul the delinquent away!

Does Itzhak know this is a Dream? No. It seems he doesn't. He swans right in, to laughter and cheers from some of the other kids ("Rosencrantz you crazy fuck!"), and sardonic wolf-whistles from the other tough guys in his shop class. High-fives are swapped. How does he get away with this kind of thing? That's just how he rolls, baby. But in the midst of being celebrated for his glittery daring, he's looking around for someone. Who he spots covering for Vic Gray at the punch bowl. Next to some poor schmoe in a powder-blue tux.

One does not risk overshadowing one's date. On the other hand, one can't let her look like she chooses her accessories poorly, either, and Vyv's frankly less worried about the former than the latter in any case. Hyacinth likely wouldn't consider there to be anything to worry about to start with. He's in a tuxedo, a proper one, good quality and not rented, from the looks of the fit. Does he have other things to wear black tie to, or was it just for this? Either way it's fitting in, dare one say, nigh perfectly with Hya's attempts to make everything else perfect, from the slight shine of the lapels to the onyx shirt studs and cufflinks to the perfectly shined shoes. The simply folded white pocket square is just as traditional as the rest; the one departure into a distinctly personal touch is the boutonniere, a white orchid with cranberry touches.

He strolls in with Hyacinth on his arm, of course, and surveys the assembled as though assessing their subjects, as well as the decor. "Lovely job with the place," he remarks to her, before adding more sotto voce, "...unlike Gretchen on that dress. Do you think Dolly Parton was having a yard sale?" Itzhak catches his eye, and gets tracked, one brow raised but no immediate comment made even to Hya, yet.

Joe is just as infuriating in his teen self as he is as an adult. Oh, he hasn't filled out yet, but there's no acne or awkwardness. And rather than an awful rented tux, he's found something vintage, with sleek lines like something out of the thirties. He looks about as good as a teenager can, in that situation....and he's heading for Itzhak, grinning to himself like he thinks that dress is just grand.

Cecil shrugs and offers Alexander a sheepish smile. "She's from France," he tells him, "fellow foreign exchange student, the agency introduced us, and she's really nice." He gets his punch just in time to avoid the spiking, though he does give the spiker a look and he offers punch to his date, who takes the cup and smiles at him.

Javier doesn't much care for being hauled into place to provide cover for Tori while she spikes the punch. He wrestles his arm away from her, and in doing so, spies Alexander trying to be a hero. And bodies in close to the other kid, and hisses low to him, "Anyone ever tell you snitches wind up in fucking ditches, Clayton?" He shoves at Alexander's shoulder. "Shut the fuck up."

If looks could kill, the one Tori shoots Alexander the snitch would have made his head explode. "Really, Clayton? Have you ever had a single fun day in your whole life?" she growls at him. Then her great punch caper of...what the hell year is it?... is undone, carted away, and the terrifying Vice Principal is looming. "Damn Mister Jones, creepy much?" she asks the man with a scowl, then puts on her most innocent expression. "Of course we didn't. Why would anyone do something like that?" She slides a glance to Alexander, making a throat cutting motion to warn him from selling her out.

Nicole wanders over to the refreshments table and is about to snag herself a cup of the punch... but then Mrs. Livingston has to spoil all the fun. "But, Mrs. L... I am dying of thirst." She puts her hands to her neck and makes weak sounding fake coughs to emphasize just how much she needed something to drink. She is probably just told to wait for a new bowl, and so sighs, then stands around, looking a bit awkward all alone.

Until VP Jones is there. Nicole goes wide-eyed, her dark browns looking, well, like a doe as she tries to nonchalantly remove herself from the vicinity. Time to go be a wallflower.

"She's probably a Reptiloid," Alexander informs Cecil, so solemnly that he might actually believe this. "They take over people who go where no one really knows them, because then no one can challenge them on their stolen identity. They're just trying to find out out secrets for the invas--" and then Ruiz is sliding up to him and he's cringing away. Head ducking, shoulders drooping. Right until the other kid pushes at his shoulder. And then he's snarling back, "FUCK OFF, DE LA VEGA!" and returning the shove with both hands. Right in front of the Vice Principal.

Oops.

Itzhak's date is here! "Ey!" he greets Joe with a big grin, sashaying his way to link arms with him and be his utterly outrageous self in sequins. Then Clayton's yelling and getting pushed around and oooops narcced the fuck out. Itzhak snickers. Looks like a fight's brewing! He looks very interested in seeing de la Vega fight the weird kid--except then Veep Jones is on the scene, and Itzhak suddenly wishes he wasn't quite so visible for a moment.

Lily is annoyed with her Keanu-ish date arm around her while she's trying to drink punch and stand pretty for Byron's approach on the sly. Rolling her arm and shoulder to somewhat dislodge him before the other dark haired teen male gets to her, the brunette girl gets the arm sloppily draped around her shoulder instead while she speaks up in a rare first-greeting to the Thorne guy, "Hi Byron. You look very nice." She doesn't say shit to his date or introduce her own because there's limits to how socially polite she is, damnit. Also, her eyes are kind of only for him there a few beats before she clears her throat a little and looks toward the punch bowl directly.

Then she does a bit of a double take when seeing what's going on, murmuring under her breath, "... sheeeeeeit." As much as Lilith might want to see a fight any other day, she doesn't want to see what happens when authority is standing right there at all. After looking at the dance floor like it's an escape, she looks at Byron and shifts a little awkwardly on her feet.

Cecil eyes Alexander. "So you're telling me the only way I could have a pretty date is if she were a lizard-being who planned to devour me later?" He pauses, then admits, "Fair enough." But then that Mexican bully is threatening Alexander, and Alexander yells, and the Vice Principal is right there and Cecil quickly sidles over to his date and says, "Let's go, Anne-Laure, it's getting a little crowded over here."

She tilts her head and says to him, "Quelle?" She smiles though and lets him lead her away from the punch table.

Joe's grinning at Itz, as he links arms. "You look like a million dollars," he tells him, cheerfully. Only for the smile to be banished instantly by the altercation by the punch bowl....and the look he gives that affair is very much something out of the adulthood to come. Set and intent and fierce, in a restrained way. Maybe he's determined to give the finger to authority yet again, after that disastrous morning class.

Hyacinth boggles to Vyv. There is the curiosity at his statement. She looks to Gretchen and blinks again, "What like the tequila?" Sure, she knows Patron, but not Dolly Patron. Her head tilts and says "Lovey, we do not elevate by destroying...certain things do that all on their own. We enhance and improve. " She warms a smile and pauses adding that in total truthiness, "I heard that in this book I'm reading. It's super faboo. I've been practicing in case I marry a Senator or something some day." And then there's the VP and the punch bowl. Her hand waves, and her expression lights up, "Ooooh Nicole, love the dress. Sorry to hear about You-know-who and that," her pointy manicure swirls, "whole to-do...what... is that girl up to?"

Sasha Henderson is rambling on about what she did that day, including how much she didn't eat, but wasn't famished. And that she looked hot. And could he get her a drink. Byron is a patient kid. Or he does a good job pretending that he is. "Now I feel bad about eating a whole hot dog just before I picked you up." He would comply with her wishes if there wasn't some altercation going on at the refreshment table. There's snitching a foot, it seems. Watching the arguments and bullying happening before his eyes, he distractedly fills up a couple of cups with whatever is available punch-wise. Slowly handing one of those cups to his date, he takes a sip from his own cup before his attention is pulled away at the sound of Lilith's voice.

Hi Byron.

"Hey!" He says turning to Lilith with a smile, the altercation nearly forgotten. Unlike Lilith, however, though eyes sizes the Keanu-guy up, he gives the other kid a chin lift 'hello'. Back to Lilith, "You look great, yourself." This is when Sasha Henderson's grip on his arm tightens and she moves in closer against him to try and get into Lilith's line of sight. "Hiiiiiiiiiii!"

While the Winslow girl might be a distraction, there was shit going on here. He's almost about to step in, but it looks like it's being handled by the adults. "This is gonna be a blast. I can tell already."

The punk Mexican kid in the buzzcut and the slapdash prom outfit clearly wasn't expecting to have his violence returned. Alexander's shove catches him totally and completely out of the blue, and sends him reeling into the table, and knocking over plastic cups, and nearly capsizing the punch bowl itself. "Tu pequeño pedazo de mierda, quién te crees que eres?" snarls de la Vega, regaining his wherewithal within moments, and surging back in with a vicious fist aimed at Alexander's face. Adult Javier might think twice before escalating this to violence. Might. 17 year old Javier? Not a fucking chance.

As everyone surely knew, Atli had broken up with her year long high school boyfriend and football player Lucas Lake. She was taking a feminist stance of focusing on her extracurricular's including student council with her cousin Hyacinth, cheer-leading, philanthropy, and of course prom queen hopeful. Atli had spent a few OCD moments in the bathroom to check her makeup. She is glam in her cap sleeve blush pink and floor length dress. In theme flowers and petal adorn it, embroidered. A crown of roses in pinks and reds with accent leaves sits atop pinned curls. She does not have a date due to the recent breakup, but her college admission essays were better for it.

She enters in gracefully and begins to mentally judge the quality of decorations. Atli found the theme quite charming.

Nicole sees Hyacinth and Vyv walking nearby. I mean, have you seen the impeccable duo? How could she NOT, and of course, Hya is an Addington. Nicole smiles a little awkwardly and lifts her hand in a little wave. She tries to shrug it all off, literally, her left shoulder lifts and falls with the movement. "Yeah well... thanks." Her lips press together and she nods a few times. What do you even say about all... that. Thankfully their attention is grabbed by someone else, and the topic shifts. Turning, Nicole watches the whole scene between Alexander and Javier (and everyone else over there) unfold. She blank faces at the spanish spoken, not understanding a single word of it. "What did he say?"

Oh. Are things kicking off over there? That looks interesting. "Parton, not Patron. She's a singer. Very fond of sequins," he explains to Hyacinth with a touch of a sigh. "And I'm not destroying anything, it's just the truth." A small pause, eyeing the group near the snacks. "That book sounds awful, and this is going to be far less fun if you're going to go all, I don't know, Stepford Pollyanna on me. Look, I think the entertainment's starting over there."

Still, Nicole gets a faint smile when Hya addresses her, and he looks the homemade dress over with some interest. "Your hair looks amazing," he informs her, which is as true as the unfortunateness of Gretchen's sequin addiction. He narrows his eyes at the combatants, head tilting slightly. "I think I caught something about 'little' and 'shit' in there." Look, he takes French. Call him when Anne-Laure kicks things off.

That announcement is a suitable distraction, however. "Ah. Your cue, I think," he notes to his date.

Ah shit, there goes her date. But the surge de la Vega makes towards Alexander just makes Tori's eyes glint with excitement. She seems to love the idea of bloodshed at this stupid, longstanding, overrated, and dullsville rite of passage that does little more than celebrate the haves and torture the have nots. And throw in something about the patriarchy too, which Itzhak Rosencrantz is clearly giving the middle finger to. She gives him a thumbs up on his gown. Such a rebel, this one. Perhaps instigator is a better term. Face it, at least half the students and most of the faculty need spiked punch to get through this bullshit.

The hilarity is that Vic Grey, in high school, had excellent grades an attendance in an effort to get into a Criminal Justice program and enter the Police Academy. She was even Prom Court. Clearly this version of herself is more the current woman's outlook on life, in a teenage form.

When the fight is broken up, she sighs. Well that was almost a thing. She moves beside Javier to give him her unspoken support. "You'd have flattened him," she murmurs to her date.

"Soy Alexander Clayton! ¡Estúpido!" Alexander shouts back. Smart, he might be. Clever or witty? Not so much, especially when he's angry. He looks absolutely ready to rumble - but when the VP reaches out for him, he eels to one side, sort of shrinking in on himself. "I don't play sports," he mutters rebelliously back at Jones, with the kind of resigned contempt that only a kid who grows up with a coach for a father can develop. Still, the Vice Principle scares the fuck out of him, so he adds a, "Sir," under his breath, then glares daggers at Ruiz as he lunges forward...and is dragged back. When Jones turns away, he flashes his middle finger at Ruiz before starting to slink away from the punch bowl.

Cecil smiles and waves a little at Vyv, the other Brit in Gray Harbor. Anne smiles that way as well, and then she leans in close to talk to Cecil quietly. He responds, gesturing to a few people here and there, so assumedly he's giving her a run down of who's who. It takes him awhile to explain who Ruiz is, and he mimics kicking a desk. Totally tattling on him. She gives Cecil a sympathetic look and pats his cheek, which makes him smile stupidly.

Itzhak beams at Joe, and leans in to smooch his cheek, imitating the Addington way in a really obvious fashion. Kiss kiss, dahlink! "You look amazing, but don't think this means I'm gonna go easy on you in the tournament."

The stultifying presence of Veep Jones doesn't stop Itzhak from pulling Joe closer to the action, where shit is going down. "God damn," he mutters, torn between wanting to jump in himself and a healthy fear of the Veep. He eyes Alexander slinking off. "Hey Clayton! Didn't know you had it in ya!" ...Ruiz, presumably, he already knew had it in him.

Lilith just kind of stares at Byron's date smashing in to stake claim all over him and bubble hello for attention. Her date just kind of casually upnods the other teen guy and mostly looks at the commotion, his hand starting to drop lower and lower on her back. With the Thorne teen a little too distracted to take her silent hint, the girl looks away from the bubbly blonde pretty pointedly and at the resolution over by the punch bowl. After a sighing puff of air, she reaches back to nab Dudebro's hand shy of hitting her ass and starts to drag him toward the dance floor, figuring there's no real way to unlatch Byron's date anyway.

"C'mon asshole, let's dance."

She's a real charmer, that Lilith. Or maybe she just really doesn't like her date. But he doesn't seem to mind, he just gets more moving body and hands on with a dance and tries to high five Byron on the way off.

There seemed to be a hullabaloo near the punch of which Atli was attempting to steer clear. Some people planned for months, Atli had planned for over a year. Now the time for that which had been planted to see fruition. The only thing that mattered in life was that she was prom queen. If she didn't win she might actually die. That title and tiara meant that you were worthy and that what you did mattered. It was a validation of four years of straight A's and no visible breakdowns in front of other people. It was...Victory. She clasps her hands politely before her, holding her breath and watching a stage not even entirely ready to receive her. Her own flower crown had been measured to sit directly underneath that of Prom Queen, extending outwardly by exactly a quarter inch.

A courteous nod is given in Hyacinth's direction, but she dare not speak. Breathing was difficult, she attempts to keep count with 3/4 time inhalations. If you thought Atli was high strung as an adult, you obviously didn't know her in high school.

The kiss just makes Joe chortle, softly. "'course not," he agrees, turning pink. But he's still focussed on what's being defused around the punchbowl. By his expression, he agrees with that comment, re: Alexander. He does, however, snag glasses of punch, one of which he hands off to Itzhak.

"Yep. Everything is under control." Byron murmurs to the other teens closest to him as he takes a sip of his punch. When he turns to look back at Lilith and Keanu, the blue-eyed brunette is already dragging her date off to the dance floor. Just in time to give Keanu that passing high-five... Slowly, he turns, allowing his gaze to trail behind him. He knows that kid well enough. Knows where he lives too.

Feeling a tug at his arm, Sasha Henderson is excited to hear who will crowned Prom King and Queen, assuming that she, herself, was in the running. Giving Lil and the other guy one last look, he lets himself be drawn away to join the others gathered to hear the announcement.

Hyacinth squints all glitter mascara and the unspoken accusation of Don't screw up our special night you creepy twit though who the disapproval is for could be one or many. The announcement has her attention perk up.Her hand fishes for Atli's and squeezes it. "This is it!" Reality would say most of these people never went to school together, but that's the way dreams go isn't it? Everyone accepts these things to just be true because that's their job.

Flashing a winning smile at the estranged cheerleader, "It's okay, Being stranded by scandal can definitely work for some. It goes great for trying to get into college. We'll talk your resume later." Yes, everything is marketable, especially their peers. Her arm gives Vyv's a snug. Eyeing Itzhak she says "Really glad I didn't go with that dress now." Because being samsies is social death unless you are a twin.

Tori barks out a laugh at the announcements. "Well for once, the rich and famous don't win Prom King and Queen. GO ROSENCRANTZ!" she hollers in support of the dude in a dress. She even sticks two fingers in her trailer trash mouth to whistle loudly. She grins at Ruiz. "Maybe this dance crap isn't so bad afterall. Go up there and get your princely crown or whatever, de la Vega."

"Fuck you and your sarcasm, Rosencrantz," Alexander snaps back at Itzhak, his hands clenching and unclenching as if he'd like go for the New Yorker and his sparkles next. He gives Jones a skittering look, though, proving that he's not ENTIRELY feral even at this age. He doesn't move up close in the crowd to hear the announcement; obviously he isn't in the running. But he does haunt the edges of the heavy traffic, like a half-starved coyote looking for stray pets. Even so, the announcement of Lilith takes him by surprise. "The Goth chick?" he mutters, sounding skeptical. "Fuck's that about?" he mutters to Cecil, who he's (accidentally?) fetched up beside. Weirdly, Itzhak's win doesn't seem to surprise him as much; he just frowns at the kid, thoughtfully.

Itzhak's in the middle of swigging punch, and sure as hell does not expect his name to come outta Jesse Franklin's face! He swallows too fast, eyes wide--and blushes brilliant vermilion. "Did he say me?" he asks Joe, although come on, how many other Itzhak Rosencrantzes are in this room. "Holy shit!" Then he turns an accusing glare on his shop class pals, who all hoot and holler at him among protestations of innocence.

Well, what, is he gonna say no? So he ditches the cup and strides up there like he is in fact king of the world, in a glittery dress, grinning lopsided in the way he does. On the way he asides to Clayton, "Sarcasm? Please!" Now see, that was sarcasm.

By the way he's smirking, Joe might have had something to do with it. Or he's just amused. "Yeah, he sure did," he says, before nudging Itz to go claim his crown.

Fuck this shit. And fuck Alexander Clayton. And especially fuck prom and prom kings and queens and all this hullaballoo about who came out dressed the best, when he doesn't even own anything resembling a goddamned suit. At least Rosencrantz is in some eye candy, even if it's confusing eye candy that simultaneously makes Javier want to stare, and look anywhere but. He winds up sliding an arm around Tori, and going for a cup of punch while Itzhak and Hyacinth make their victory walk, with half an eye on the guy who stopped his punch cold.

Then someone's saying his name, something about a Prince? What? "I'm not a fucking Prince," he protests, eyeing the stage. He is not going up there.

Between all the posturing amongst some of the boys present, and the announcement that soon the Prom King and Queen would be named has Nicole a bit distracted as she says to Hyacinth, "Oh yeah... sure. That'd be great. Thanks." She doesn't sound all that enthused about resumes or the idea of college, but she tries to sort of sound interested. Hya is giving her attention, most in the school would love an Addington to be friendly towards them. To Vyv, she says, "hey, thanks.. about the hair." She offers a smile to him then says, "you both look great!"

Shortly after the announcements are made. Nicole did not at all look hopeful it would be her, but she does look a bit shocked when Lilith is called. She doesn't quite understand the goth girl all that much, but she also is kind of intrigued by her... however, that she is Prom Queen? Surprising, to say the least. However, Itzhak's crowning gets a huge smile from her and even a little 'woop!' of congratulations. "A dazzling dress will do it every time."

Just as Lily gets out onto the floor with her handsome but generally worthless and handsy date, the announcements are starting, so she doesn't have to dance with him and goes to listen toward the back center of the gathering. Meanwhile, the guy is leaning to whisper in her ear, trying to convince her to blow this joint already, he has his daddy's fast car and blahblahblah. After a tiny shake of her head, the brunette teen puts her hand on the guy's chest and shoves him to stiff arm, advising irritably, "Just stand there and look pretty, kay? Jesus. We'll go when we go."

She's not even really paying that much attention to the stage, she's looking through the crowd mostly to see where Byron ended up in it while listening, maybe he'll be King? She knows who's going to be Queen, more or less, and it really doesn't matter to her so much anyway, she just wants the music to come on again. Then suddenly her name is said and she thinks she mis-hears until everyone starts to gasp and turn to stare back at where she is. It takes sheer will not to turn and hit the doors hard and fast, but with everyone STARING and making a big DEAL out of what is obviously a mistake or... prank or...

She can't do that. Dazed, she walks through the people to the stage with her date proudly releasing her hand to clap, he had no clue he was scoring with a prom queen tonight, this is amazing! For Lily Winslow, not so much, but she doesn't know what else to do, so she just... walks and ends up on stage next to... Itzhak dressed like...

Immediately, she gets suspicious and starts to look out at the crowd and the rest of the stage, mic picking up her sudden paranoid bluster of temper, "... I swear, if someone drops pig blood on me, I'm burning it all down. Like... all of it. Everything, everyone, like..." Eventually, she sputters out to look at Itzhak like he SURELY knows what she means, is this right?

Atli squeezes Hyacinth's hand back, neither of them stabbing the other because their nails are obviously perfect. She gives a gracious nod as the funding by the Addington's is mentioned. She had in fact also arranged a charity car was to raise money for additional prom decorations with Hyacinth herself, everyone always does car washes of course. When Winslow's name is called, it takes everything in her power not to set the entire place ablaze. Of all the people she could lose to she would have accepted Hyacinth, but WINSLOW!??!. Beyond that Hyacinth wasn't even on the court!?!? Well, at the very least Atli was a princess. The flower crown base measurements would be entirely off now, but hopefully no one would notice. That would be disastrous.

Then she hears the negativity towards her family...Are you people serious!?! Half the reason you have a prom is because of them. She takes a few breaths and whispers in Hya's ear "Obviously someone did something to the ballots luv, she could never beat you. Then she glides on stage to be burdened with her slightly too small crown. Her smile gleams as though she has just won the lottery.

Sasha Henderson wasn't even the captain of the cheerleading squad, but she was BFFs with the captain. Dragging Byron along towards the stage where Prom Court is about to be announced, the perky blonde is chattering away, "I think I have a really good chance for the crown this year. Did you see allllllllllllllllllll the volunteer work I did off and on campus? And nevermind that I had my mom lease this dress from some fancy boutique in Seattle and.. SHHHHHHHHHHHHH." She shushes him, though Byron did not say a damned word this whole time, "They are about to make the annoucement!

Expecting to hear an Addington named again and whatever wealthy dude from a wealthy family resides in Gray Harbor, when the Prom Court is announced, Thorne looks very surprised. He starts off with some slow claps that thunder in applause along with some of the others in the room who aren't pissed off that they didn't win. "Woooo! Lilith Winslow for Prom Queen!" When he turns back to Sasha, she's glaring up at him, her hold on his arm tightening. "What? I knew her since were kids."

The Henderson girl can't help but roll her eyes. "Trailer Trash won?" Sasha might not be Addington rich, but her family lives in a decent little house on Bayside, almost near where Tobin lives.

Itzhak was a kinda new kid, but Byron kinda-sorta knew him enough. He knew most of the kids in school, so he'll clap for that guy too. "Don't call her that." He says almost sternly to the mention of trailer trash, though he doesn't turn to regard Sarah at all now.

Itzhak slings his arm around Lilith and squeezes her companionably. "Baby, we'll make pig's blood look great." He whoops when Ruiz is announced as Prince, beaming at him in a ridiculous amount of supportive glee, and beckons him up, c'mon c'mon c'mon!

Cecil just nods and smiles and claps. He's not grown close ot anyone in his year abroad. At least de la Ruiz isn't harassing him. His date claps as well, even more blankly. She hasn't even met any of these people.

Vyv catches the little movement of Cecil's fingers and gives him a tiny smile back, and an equivalently small wave. Brit solidarity! Nicole gets a quiet thank you for her compliment as well, but then: the announcements. It's hard to be sure whether he had much expectation or hope of being voted King, but certainly he didn't expect it to be Itzhak. It gets a blink, and then a small, one-sided smile. All right. That will do, then.

The announcement of the queen, though? That one narrows his eyes, and he looks over toward Lilith, then at Hyacinth. "No. That's not right," he says flatly, looking toward the stage, and specifically at that Very Innocent look Carly's putting on. "There ought to be a recount. There's simply no way that's accurate." Atli's declared princess, to which he murmurs, "That is," and then-- he's a prince? That gets another blink, and a pleased little smile, though it goes more skeptical when his co-winner is announced. Mn. Still. He reaches over to squeeze Hyacinth's hand. "It's supposed to be you," he murmurs, before heading up to take his place.

Hyacinth is standing next to her cousin looking as regal and confused as one can. Atli is one thing, sd she knows how to be proud of all that because she has also dedicated herself to the esprit d'corps, but...Charity vote for Elm St. much? That smile is gracious and pulled tight with what. the. fuck!?? Blinking she whispers to the cluster, "This can't be real. Senior year is not happening this way." Her green eyes widen a bit watching this. Her eyes move from her to the VP back to Lilith. Eeeeh maybe...? Maybe she should say something, but she is number two and then there's the whole blah blah blah you only one because your classmate was eaten yadda yadda yadda. She looks to Vyv for reference. There is a sigh and she murmurs to herself, "Hya are you a snacc or you junkfood?" Begrudgingly she looks to Lilith and says "I wouldn't go up there if I were you."

It would really help if Hya didn't have resting ever-vigilant bitch face some days. Like a shark laying in wait. "No, Vyvvy, it's not." Looking to Itzhak in sequins she can't explain that either. She wouldn't have chosen black for him.

If nothing else, Alexander does enjoy the disconcerted chaos that is the reaction to the King and Queen Usurpation of...whatever year this is. Doesn't matter. He snickers under his breath at the arguments breaking out, and while he's watching it go down, something else catches his eyes, and he stares fixedly at a place in the concealing fog from the smoke machine. There's another wary look up at the stage, and Vice Principal Jones. Something about that guy just makes Alexander's skin crawl. Correction: everything about that guy makes his skin crawl. But right now, he's distracted by...what is that? He starts to stalk the half-seen shape, not caring that he bangs right into other promgoers as he tries to reach it and aim a kick at it. It's probably some jerk planning on playing a prank on the trailer park and out of town kid. And if so, they're getting a boot...er, polished leather shoe...to the head.

Tori watches people head up onto the stage. "You sure?" she asks Ruiz, when he says he isn't going. Rosencrantz really seems to want him up there. Her nose wrinkles a little at the extra smoke machine smoke. "They're really overdoing it, aren't they?" she mumbles.

The announcement of the recount has Joe frankly scowling. But he doesn't object to it, not aloud. Doesn't join in the various shouted comments. If anything, he's observing just as intently as before.

There's a bellow from the vicinity of the punch table, in a voice that sounds suspiciously like de la Vega's, "The smoke machine's fucking rigged! I fucking swear, they're drugging us or something, what the fuck? What the fuck are you doing, huh?" And then a cup full of punch comes hurtling toward Jones's head. And then another. And another. "Yeah, I'm fucking sure," he snarls at Tori, gesturing to himself. "Do I look like anyone's idea of a prom anything, to you?" No. No, he does not. He looks like a punk ass Mexican from the barrio who's probably hiding a few grand worth of blow in his pockets.

The silver branches and acorns-crown and glitter falling turn Itzhak into, well, into some figure from a story. A fairy king--or prince, according to the recount!--a fairy prince in a garment that transcends gender. He stands up on stage looking amused and only a little overwhelmed. There's a lot of stimulation he didn't budget for!

Sasha Henderson either didn't hear Byron's warning to her about what not to call Lilith or she is claiming ignorance that she had not heard, because once Carly Johansson shows up, she's in complete and utter gossip mode. "Tell me about it! Look at her dress too, it's probably homemade out of her drunk for a father's worn and smelly hand-me-downs." She then looks over at Dash Bauer and points to the stage, "Can it realllly be rigged, Mr. Bauer?" She ignores him saying that he doesn't say that as well! "Recount! Recount! Recount!" She begins to chant.

Byron, however, shoots Carly Johansson a quietly murderous glare, "Hey, Carly. Glad to see you shaved your mustache off for the Prom. Good on you." Shaking Sasha off of his arm, he moves forward trying to make his way towards Lilith to offer up his congratulations even with talks of a voter fraud being tossed around. "Lil! Don't listen to this bullshit! If anything went wrong in the count, that has nothing to do with you." As he passes by a few folks, like Ruiz, he hears mumbling about drugs. I mean, wasn't the Mexican kid and that other chick (Vic) spiking the drinks anyway? Oh look, the underclassmen just threw a cup at Jones. "Jesus... Uh... I'd make yourself scarce if I were you."

It's a mistake. They'll figure it out. Someone's just being a dick, surely. But with Itzhak throwing the arm around her and encouraging some, it helps a few degrees. At least she's not in this shitshow alone or with some rich jock ready to feel her up for the King and Queen dance, ugh. Lilith plays the part a little bit with something like an awkward smile at the crowd when she's crowned and stops dropping warning threats and blustering with temper over the very idea of someone tampering to make her walk up there. It is a pretty crown and she is a girl that once had little princess dreams too... but not like this.

Her cheeks and the edges of her ears are red and she looks about ready to leap off the stage all the same, but she doesn't wither under Hyacinth's gaze, it's not like SHE rigged this show. Also, it gets too pretty and distracting and she's still overwhelmed. Gradually, she puts a hand out into the glitter that's suddenly everywhere with the smoke and looks at the floor, afraid to feel too pretty or relish in any second of the moment, she's too upset and paranoid about all of it. After a moment, she looks toward the sound of Byron's voice and the chanting and pulls in a breath to start walking, then pushing through the crowd to try and find the doors.

Just because the VP is right doesn't mean Vyv feels entirely sanguine about agreeing with him. That guy is creepy. Still, though. He allows himself to be crowned and takes his proper place by Atli, brow furrowing a little as the smoke gets so thick, and ugh, glitter is getting everywhere. Craft herpes! Someone's going to spend ages getting it out of this tuxedo. ...is it coming upward?

Speaking of budgets, Atli was fairly certain a smoke machine was A) Not very magical forest of them and B) Not in the budget. If people were messing with the budget, surely there was something wrong with the votes. Probably the same person too, there was always a bad egg which is why Addington's tended to do things themselves. The weirdest thing about this entire experience was the Winslow thing. She is honestly glad De La Vega is not getting onstage, he seemed like he would frown in every picture. Honestly the choice of King was very progressive, she claps politely as the crown is placed. Maybe she would do some interviewing on progressive gender-less fashion were it on trend.

Vyv however does come to the stage, for which she is glad. It went against her whole 'strong woman taking on life's challenges' thing for it to look like a date. Which it obviously wasn't because, Hyacinth. He did look princely enough though.

Nicole isn't even a factor in the current chaos, but she is feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all nonetheless. With Hya and Vyv's attention on the King and Queen stuff, and well, everyone's, really, she just kind of watches and tries to make sense of it all in her head. Somewhere about the time the smoke starts, she gets an odd sensation, you know, the kind where it feels someone is watching you but you can't see who or where they are? Shivers run up her spine, like spiders ticking the skin and crawling up to her neck. It gives her the heebie-jeebies and she shudders, wrapping her arms around herself as if cold. "What's going on?"

When Ruiz says the smoke is drugged, Cecil says, "Here it comes." After home room and the basketball game, he's become a bit of a fatalist. He puts an arm around Anne-Laure's shoulders and says, "Let's go get some fresh air, hmm?" Nice and calmly, he begins to guide her through the array of students toward the doors. Unfortunately, they're nowhere close to him and his date.

Alexander pauses as a shiver runs down his spine and the calls for a recount grow louder. "Shut up," he mutters, unheard. So he says it louder, "Shut the fuck up, something's wrong!" And then Jones casts that look in his direction, and he cringes in place, hunkering down as if to ward off a blow, his hands opening and closing like he'd love to have a weapon in his hands. But he doesn't, and now everything is getting very bad. Alexander has absolutely no chill. He screams as the trees start to come to life, rage and fear all bundled up into a solid shriek of sound. He brings his hands up, and blue-white lightning arcs from one hand to the next, then lashes out at the tree that's attacking him, as the smell of ozone tints the smoke.

But he has NO CHILL, so lesser arcs of lightning spider out from his hands, giving a half-dozen kids standing to close a short, sharp shock, as well. He doesn't even seem to notice, as he's trying to set the tree on fire like it was Kelly's Gym.

Tori's expression goes to being hurt for a moment. If Ruiz thinks that little of himself, what does that say about what he thinks of her, asking him to this stupid dance? "Right, Javier. What would I know? I'm just trailer trash who spends most of her time in her dad's bar."

And then all hell breaks loose. Vic's head whips around and lands on Nicole, one of those girls she doesn't hate. She reaches out with that strange shine inside of her to grab up a nearby electrical cable with her mind and try to pry a branch of a shadow tree away from the girl. Try being the operative word, but Nicole might be able to reach the cable at least.

Okay, number one, it's completely crap that the recount has taken Itz's crown from him....especially considering all the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing Joe had to do for that to even be a thing. But worse yet, some of the crappy scenery decides to steal the glittery fairy king....and Joe's not having any of it.

He yells at the tree that's snatched Rosencrantz, and then he's hurling lightning into it. The tree in question doesn't even seem to flinch, however - the bolt just fizzles. This doesn't keep Joe from running after it, however. If Glimmer won't serve, god only knows what he intends to do - beat it to death with his fists? Surely he didn't come armed.

Hyacinth looks back to the VP and actually looks... concerned. Looking back to Lilith she comes clean"Lilith, something's not okay, wait down here." She sighs and actually looks... concerned. Likely because someone's who is not Lilith is going to ruin Operation: Perfect Evening(tm). oh it's ON! And now? Now she's looking and scanning for who. To Vyv, and Atli on stage trying to look chill, murmurs, "Something 's not write about the Vice Principle. I... I think they might be in danger and I actually like Lilith's dress so if we can like not get blood on it or goo or...punch? That'd be great." Oh god Glitter. She squints. "When did we sign off on non-large flake glitter, Atli?!"

Wait people are getting attacked...but that is her tiara. Ooooh trees trying to eat the Court is hella tacky! eyes narrow and she looks around and pauses on de la Vega. Hrmmm Looking to the VP she steps forward and opts to... litigate this? "Sir, I will sayto you, the committee and the student body, I am deeply honoured. I'd like to address, as Queen the issue of natural conservation. Namly, the trees are trying to attack our friends and classmates and that needs to stop. Bullying needs to end now." And apparently hypocrisy does not, but that can be addressed later. She might argue sometimes one needs a Mean Girl(tm) to get a job done.

Ugh, when Byron turns to find Lilith, she is already on her way off the stage, trying to make a quick escape. He wasn't going to worry about the Mexican kid. Ruiz can get himself as much trouble as he likes. Pushing past several of the others who stand in his way from reaching Lilith, there's this... something that he senses that makes him stop dead in his tracks. Turning to look over at the Vice Principal, he can feel himself being picked out out of the crowd when lies are mentioned. Lately, he's been getting into a lot of trouble with the higher ups in school. What breaks him from this shock is the sound of panic coming from all around him and then the sight of Lilith whose crown is swiped from off her pretty head and who looks like she's about to be tree food!

"Lilith!" He calls out, fighting to break out of VP Jones' accusing stare. He knows he won't be able to reach her in time. The air around them grows heavy and his arms light up in electricity. "Lilith, look out!" Byron shouts out a warning as he arcs his own stream of lightning to the tree that's attacking Winslow. He can only hope that she gets out of the way in time before... His arc goes wild, taking out one of the chaperones on the sidelines.

Vyv doesn't look particularly pleased with the first part of the recount, but the second? That at least is the world behaving more properly... for a moment. Just a moment, before the props start coming-- alive? Animate, at least, and attacking. The closest to him is the one taking Itzhak, and losing the crown may be one thing, but that's quite another. He takes a couple not-quite-intentional steps back, and lifts a hand, sending a bolt of lightning toward the thing trying to steal the erstwhile king. It hits, and bits of it sizzle, though it's not enough to convince it of the error of its ways.

When VP Jones calls her name along with the others, Nicole goes all doe-eyed again. What? What lie? She simply nods. "Never lie..."

What. The. Fuuuuuuck?

There is a tree suddenly in front of her, wanting to bite her with some weird... mouthy thing. A wave of panic-induced nausea rushes through her and she nearly loses the mac and cheese she had for lunch, but manages, somehow, to not. She has had just about ENOUGH of this senior year. For fuck sake! her boyfriend turns out to be a dipshit who gets sent to jail, she had a ceiling fall on her and gash her forehead. She can barely even remember what happened at the basketball game... and now this motherfucking plant tree thing thinks it is going to bite HER? Hell to the nuh-uh!

"Fuck you, tree thing. Twisted Wizard of Oz bullshit! FUCK OFF!" She is so angry right now, her cheeks are red from the blood rushing through her veins at top speed. She screams at the tree and unwraps her arms from herself, thrusting her hands forward as if to push the tree away from herself. If it had balls, she'd have kicked them, probably. However, whatever anger she felt, the push, something made the trees mouth-thing clasp shut and slide away from her a good few feet. At the same time, perhaps by coincedence, but really, it was the Same Exact Time, Jordan Pantelides' pants... fall to his ankles. Something.... pantsed Pantelides.

Lilith almost starts crying when the crown is quick-snatched from her head to be given to the rightful queen. She knows what the hell she is and what her life is and she should have never walked up there, she KNEW better. Things don't HAPPEN like a fairytale turnaround for girls like her, it was just life pissing on her like it always does. The brunette teen stubborns up after a sniffle lost in the noise, glitter, smoke and commotion, features screwed up in desperate upset during her frantic search and effort to get to doors before she combusts into a destructive little monster. (It happens now and again.)

Her chest is tight and she's not sure she's going to make it to the doors once off the stage despite Hyacinth's warning. She's only dimly aware that Byron might well be following her while in such a state, but suddenly his panicked call of her name breaks through the very second before she walks straight into a warped tree's gaping mouth. As the lightning arcs from him, she dodges and punches up to try and grab a branch to break off and defend herself with, but it... doesn't work, it feels funny, her hand snaps back in a hurry to stumble back as the arc of lightning comes to strike.

Looking around to see what the hell the others are doing about this, Lilith happens a glance at Nicole, then finds Byron with her eyes before getting pushed with a surge of the room seeking chaotic escape.

Things begin to play out in a seesaw fashion. First, the votes are recounted accurately this time and of course Hyacinth is crowned. There is the smoke, TOO MUCH smoke and excessive glitter. Glitter was always a material best used as an accent to things, dusted on the edges to accentuate a flower's petals. "I have no idea Hyacinth, this doesn't even look like the biodegradable kind!" Atli calls out, barely able to see through the rain of glitter. Then the Winslow queen impostor is attacked, karma if you asked Atli. Ultimately though Hyacinth is correct, the animated nightmare trees that were most certainly not in the budget The stylish Rozencrantz is...She closes her eyes and feels about for him. "Itzhak is still here!" She calls out.

Cecil frowns as the brambles rise up before him. He tries to circle around them, and more brambles grow to block him. He tries it one more time to confirm his theory and, indeed, they grow up before him again. He backs off, and he leads Anne-Laure by the hand to one of the tables. "Hide under here," he tells her. He smiles encouragingly. Anne-Laure, who is wide-eyed and terrified, nods mutely and does as he suggests. She hides. Once he's sure she's about as safe as one can be here, Cecil turns around and takes in the scene unfolding before him. "Well. This is... horrible."

Javier might have a response to that, at any other time. He opens his mouth, starts to say something to Tori.. then simply snaps it shut again. Nope. Not while they're about to be eaten by evil shadow-trees. He attempts to shove a jolt of electricity into the one that's got a stranglehold on Itzhak, but it's less than effective, and shorts out with a crackle and a bang.

Tori grits her teeth as things are totally even worse than a Prom should be. She grabs one of the perfume bottles of booze from her clutch, rips a strip off the tablecloth where the punch is, and stuffs it in the neck. Mini molotov? She lights it with a zippo and tosses it at the Vice Principal with an arm that should have put her on the softball team for sure. "INCOMING!" she shouts to the students.

Alexander has a wild, fierce grin on his face as the tree retreats. "Fuck off, Bombadil!" He shouts it with all the fervor of a child whose only foray into fantasy crashed hard against a reality where everything magical likes to watch you suffer. If there was a lion around, there might be some serious tantruming. But for now, he turns to the Vice Principal as he twists into that magnificent and terrifying centaur thing, and shouts at him, "You're bad! You're very bad!" A wild-eyed look at the other kids. "We have to get out of here!"

Which doesn't stop him from trying to zap Jones, mind you. But he can do that from OVER HERE, and that suits him fine.

When Jones turns into an evil centaur, Cecil says, "Right, then." To Alexander, he says, "We can't. The bramble won't let us." Then he too turns his lightning on the Vice Principal. He tries to look cool doing it, just in case Anne-Laure is peeking out from under the table.

Lilith did say she'd burn everything down, but now that she has a single target to take her rage out on, she capitalizes on all the hurt and fury of the night. She should have stayed at home, proms aren't for girls like her. Her dumb date is nowhere to be found to help her, Byron is behind her probably body shielding his date like a prince-knight (she has no clue he threw lightning given her tussle) and the walls and doors are blocked by... goddamnit, goddamnit, goddamnit.

The brunette doesn't even register the VP just yet, she just feels more and more panic, chaos and rage and suddenly screams fury at the tree once she's flail lashed at the branches hitting and scraping her to try and get hold. It's a total Dark Phoenix moment, when she does it, the tree construct doesn't lose branches or crack or shudder, it breaks and explodes into splinters with her intense unleash of destruction. Unfortunately, some of that splintered debris flies at Hyacinth. Oops. First the crown debacle, now collateral damage.

The Vice Principal just turned into a monster centaur thing. Vyv knew that guy was creepy! There is not nearly enough satisfaction in this to keep him from taking another good several steps away from him, and from the various big tree-things and is that Tori girl setting things on fire?

He looks around for the exits, and narrows his eyes at the brambles in front of them. Reaching forward, he makes a gesture like grabbing doorhandles, and yanking hard. Doors come off their hinges and thump hard into the brambles, though not enough to get through and clear them. Another couple tries, perhaps? Beyond them, the parking lot looks safe enough...

Hyacinth watches the chaos unfold not...calm? Assessing. This is their last big event together. It shouldn't be their last big event period It shoul- okay it's got some appeal but, seriously! She tries to keep eyes on Atli, Vyv, oth- wow did Vyv jsut seriously zap someone? Mental note: check to make sure the stage is properly grounded.

"VIce Principle, I strenuously urge to to assist us with ... this. It would look sterling for your example you set for us all and I applaud you for the inspiration you give us." Pausing her nose wrinkles and says of Alexander, "He's a little... different. I hear on teh East Coast that's how you show support. It was on The Real World Season 2." Please don't kill teh weird kid Stepping forward she tries not to make grabby fingers for the crown. THey shouldn't mess up her hair, right? It was done this way in case!.

Also the VP is a monster but that's not an excuse for rudeness and if she can trap him in red tape so be it!

Atli had spent a large portion of her life trying very hard not to break anything or set anything on fire. It especially did not seem very fitting in the circumstances for a princess. Her fellow royals and subjects, however, were in danger. Having sensed King Itzhak, she shoots a withering gaze quite literally towards where the unholy tree had taken him.

Someone who did not seem to have problems setting things on fire, is Winslow. She seems bent on the emotional and physical destruction of the Addingtons. "Hyacinth!" Atli warns, as a sparked piece of tainted wood comes flying in their direction. Oh and now a demonic forest creature is trying to be the one to crown her cousin and then Thorne. "Sir! That is harassment! I'm going to need you to back off."

Even as the tree burns up some due to the lightning strike, Byron pushes forward once he realizes that the ugly plant wasn't going to drop. "Move it!" He shouts as he pushes his way towards the stage steps where he finally catches up with Lilith. It's at that point, even with the tree looming around that he's stopped by Vice Principal Jones, for some reason, who is offering him this crown. His dark eyes looking over the thing, Byron had a mind to try for Prom King, though it was nothing that he was ever serious about. Glancing off towards the distance, he notices that the tree was still lumbering (Haha) after Lilith and Jones was just distracting him from it all.

No, Byron Thorne did not want that crown. He doesn't even need Dash Bauer to remind him of this. In fact, rather annoyed that he was being kept here while Lilith was was fighting for her life against an angry tree, he turns a sharp eye towards Jones, sending forth an intense sensation of fear (one of his specialties really when it comes to punishing his ene-- ahem). Pulling away quickly, he comes to realize that Lilith doesn't need his help at all, when she roasts that tree, making it shatter violently. He lifts a hand in defense to not get caught in the shrapnel, before making his move to try and grab at Lilith's wrist, "Lil, let's get out of here!"

Whatever was going on, several of the teenagers (those around the VP) start to scream and flee in a crazed panic, almost as if they were experiencing their worst nightmares for reasons.

"I gotta get out of here. Fuck this place!" Nicole wants to escape, in so many ways. She turns towards where she knows the exits were and tries to rush towards them. There is a wall of brambles in her way. Sure, she wants everyone else to be safe too, but her focus is on making an exit. After all, the more people that can get out, the better, right? She thrusts her anger, frustration, and fear at the wall, willing it to part like the red sea for her and her classmates... and maybe Dash. If she can.

Tori's head snaps to watch Vyv's stunt to try and clear the brambles. That looks like a better idea at the moment, especially since she barely tickled Jones with her molotov. She reaches out to grab for one of the tables with the punch bowls, and starts trying to batter the brambles away from the exit to the parking lot, turning that table into a plow for all intents and purposes. The way clears for escape!

Cecil cringes as his lightning arcs wide and hits Bauer. As the man lies twitching on the floor, Cecil says, "Sssorry." He looks around. Did anyone see that? Oh god, he's so uncool. And at prom! When he spies Vic making a table-plow, he hurries over to Anne-Laure and tells her, "Come on, let's go!" He then goes to help Vic push the brambles away. At least this way, he (probably) won't injure any innocent bystanders.

"Then deal with the fucking brambles, Cecil," Alexander says with a scowl. He flaps his hands over towards where Vyv and Nicole are doing quite well on that. His eyes go back to Jones, and the lightning around his hands dies. He takes a deep breath. "It sounds like you feel really bad about that, sir," he says, oh so quietly. And a wave of grief seeps out of him like cold ooze, worming its way through the air to touch whatever passes for Jones' heart, and that of the trees dragging kids off into the shadows. A couple of other prom goers suddenly burst into tears, and fall to their knees, then curl up into little balls, sobbing their hearts out in the fog. When the hole opens up, he starts to retreat, but he keeps an eye (and the force of his mind) on Jones.

There's a lot of people starting to clear the brambles and Lily has just unleashed a lot of power and rage all at once, her head feels sharp pain and there's a trickle of blood under her nose. Her hair is a snagged mess and there's a few cuts and forming bruises and scrapes from her tussle with a giant pissed off tree trying to eat her... and she's still salty about being pulled on stage just to be pissed on, there's simmering hurt and fury now that she's exploded with the excess. It takes her a moment, then she widens her eyes at the VP and his current state and words, a little frozen.

Byron's hand curling on her wrist scares her at first, then she realizes after a sudden tug of defense away that it's him and lets his yank pull her body straight into him with countermotion once she stops the initial resist. When they hit together, it's the weirdest time, but she's seeing things very clearly when she sees his face and eyes and she lifts on toes to mash her lips with his in the collision. It's quick adrenaline and impulse that might be a bit stunning, considering, but she's quickly turning to rush with him to where the hole has been made a mere two seconds after.

Hyacinth is taking her crown like a goddamn lady and ...weeps for failed assessment later. AnNd then there's splinters everywhere. And she stops and looks at the disaster of...everything. Maybe it's Alexander's wave of grief or that she really does care about the school and worked ehr ass off with Atli and the others to make everything perfect. Her mascara, though waterproof (we're testing this) smudges a bit as she yanks a splinter out of her hair and tries to help some kid up.

She looks to Alexander and Vyv and says, wounded (pride, emotion, these shoes), "Why does everything always end up on fire?" Her cheeks grow damp and she turns to teh tree reaching this was and with a shuffle of feel on the carpet chides the thing, "Hey! He mowed a lot of lawns to pay for that suit you respect it!" Maybe Clayton's right. Zap. Mourn later. Get kids out now.

Vyv gives the doors another yank, and between them and the table-plow, an egress appears! Already the brambles are trying to grow back, though. Vyv starts that way immediately, calling over to his date, "Hya!" and then taking a breath to project as well as he can, "Everybody out!" Apparently he can raise his voice when necessary. And shoo people, but that somehow seems less unusual. Most of them get urged, and that's it; if necessary, though, he'll actually grab hold of Hyacinth and try to pull her along.

As he goes, the fabric of that beautiful tuxedo jacket starts to unravel at the cuffs and hem, like a sweater being knitted in reverse. It takes a moment to notice, but then, "What? No!" He grabs at the edges, looking stricken, but it's really only more reason to get out of here, frankly.

This was terrible! Atli's senior prom was ruined! Tiffany from yearbook was abducted by a tree and now Atli was going to have to do the entire sports section alone. Thanks for nothing Tiffany! Crystal eyes glare at the brambles in the way ahead, which seem not able to recede from her fast enough. There was suddenly lightening absolutely everywhere. Gently she touches Hyacinth's elbow. "I think it's best we leave, I'm sure the after breakfast we arranged will be much better!" Vyv's suit starts to come undone, unraveling like the rest of the special night.

She hurries towards the slowly repairing brier patch after helping the King to his feet, one hand on her princess crown to hold it to her head. Perhaps there would be time to fix Vyv's suit. It was a fine suit indeed.

Nicole tries to keep the brambles at bay, yelling out to her classmates, "come on! Let's go! Get out!" She at times struggles as the brambles try to grow back, to cover the hole she and Vyv had created. "Hurry!" As she struggles, she flails slightly. There may have been repercussions. She will not know her responsibility in them.

Byron has no idea where Sarah...er Sasha Henderson was. Maybe she was already eaten by one of those trees, but for now Byron doesn't seem overly concerned. What he is concerned about is Lilith. And well, himself, of course. He also has no idea if he's had any effect on VP Jones, but hearing the angry lamenting from the Vice Principal, he calls out, "First of all, you offer us nothing. No explanation on this power that your promise. You're lousy salesmen, you know that, VP Jones!" And this is coming from a kid who's done his share of wheeling and dealing at a young age.

Whisking Lilith away, the pair of them head towards one of those portals that several of the other teens are stampeding towards. His goal is to get them safely outside. Lilith seems to have other ideas. Feeling the tension is her arm when she stops, which in turn, makes him take pause. He's about to yell at her to "HURRY UP!" But she muffles his panicked annoyance with her kiss. Yes, this takes the teenage Thorne by surprise. Lilith has been a bitch to him for years now. He stands there stunned and breathless, but it's Lilith's urging (the tug at his own wrist) that has him following suit. Looks like the way is clear, so there's no stopping then now.

Cecil takes Anne-Laure's hand and books it the hell out of this place with her in tow. He may not be the coolest date, but damn it, he won't get ya killed, that's his guarantee!

No kid left behind. Joe's carefully altered tux is a sacrifice to his manic efforts to get Ruiz out of the brambles; it's rags in moments, the white shirt spotted with blood, his hands raked as if he'd been sorting bags of cats. Javier can punch him for it, later, if he feels the need. But once Vic's helping, he's heading for the stage to snag Itzhak. There's no winning this fight, only escape...and he's determined to make sure the boy in the glittery gown doesn't stay behind as sacrifice.

Vic moves to help Joe with Ruiz. She may be mad at her date for his earlier words, but she still likes him well enough as a fellow outcast and troublemaker. "Let's go, before those holes close up again!" she shouts to the boys, slinging Javier's other arm over her shoulders. Fortunately she's tall and athletic, and between her and Joe they can move the Mexican.

Alexander gives Hyacinth a blank look. An Addington is talking...sort of...to him? It's startling enough that his answer is a simple, "Because high school fucking sucks." And then he books it with the rest.

OH there are clumpies in that mascara. Whoever called this shit waterproof drastically overcharged. Looking to Vyv and that jacked being shredded. Yet still he grabs her and she Atli with as they are shuttled out, Because High School fucking sucks. She sniffs, "Well it's not supposed to!" Draged but running she calls out, "We did our best! This wasn't in the party plan!"

As the Addington's exit, Atli kisses Hyacinth's cheek sweetly. "'The best laid plans...'"