The answer, my friend... on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Powell

December 26, 2010 11:56 PM

Midsummer Variety Concert by Headmistress Powell

The performers had been working hard, the voting forms were ready for the audience, and Sonora had a special guest in attendance. After almost a full school year of exploiting all her educational contacts, Headmistress Powell had finally found someone to succeed her for the new term. His name was David Regal, and had been able to come to Sonora especially to see the Midsummer Concert and see more of the school and students that would be in his care at the end of the summer. Sadi had met him many years ago at a conference on Ancient Runes in Nevada, and had only kept very vaguely in touch, mostly through hearing about him in educational papers than communicating directly. It was very odd putting someone in charge of the school who hadn’t ever taught there before. However none of the teaching staff desired the administrative role over their teaching roles, which Sadi could completely understand; she had missed being in the classroom herself. Nevertheless, David would undoubtedly fit in just fine with time, and be a real asset to the school. He was currently occupying the seat next to hers at the back of Cascade, which had been rearranged and charmed to provide a large stage area where the staff table usually stood, and rows of seats steadily inclined with the highest seats towards the back of the room, looking down on the stage. There were no curtains or lighting, because the performance would only last the afternoon, and the extra accessories had seemed unnecessary; this concert was about showcasing students’ efforts and abilities, not the faculty’s capacity to transfigure the school.

David Regal had to admit that he had been surprised when Sadi had approached him to fill in the position of Headmaster at Sonora. It had been a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. After thinking it through and discussing it with his wife, he had accepted the job. After so many years of teaching in a private magical school, it would surely be a change to take charge of such a prestigious and large school. It excited and frightened him at the same time, it was a really big change, and it would take some time to get used to it. Quite honestly, he had never thought about being part of a school’s administration, he loved teaching too much. So, when he had been invited to watch the Midsummer Concert, he couldn’t decline, it was the perfect opportunity to get to know his staff and alumnus. He sat besides Sadi, and his brown eyes scanned the Cascade Hall, it was the first time he set foot on the school’s grounds, he had to admit that what he had heard about it had not done it justice. Sonora was impressive, and he was certain, the concert would be too. He smiled at Sadi, and sat quietly waiting for it to start.

After lunch, which had been organised slightly earlier than usual, students had been asked to gather (or remain) in the Hall. The performers had the privilege of the first row of seats, and could watch the other performers when not onstage themselves. When their turn came, each performer could make his or her way to the stage via a set of steps at each side. There was a small backstage area that could hold six or so students, just in case it would be needed for the group act that was a play. The acts would be introduced not by a staff member as during the last concert (Simon Tellerman had since progressed to his own Vegas act), but by the current Head Boy and Girl. Jera had volunteered to announce the individual acts, and assigned the group acts to Thomas. Therefore, according to the order of acts that had been randomly selected, Jera would be introducing the first performance. When the students had gathered and largely filled the seating area, the Head Girl made her way to the stage. Public speaking was not one of her favourite activities, but her confidence had developed sufficiently over her seven years of magical schooling that she could at least talk to the student body without feeling the need to hurl.

“Welcome everyone to Sonora’s Midsummer concert,” she began, her voice signalling that anyone who hadn’t yet found a seat should do so quickly. “There are eight student acts to be performed, and then everyone will be able to vote. The categories are Best Group performance and Best Individual performance. There will also be an overall House winner, decided by the staff,” she reminded them of the competition. “I’ll be introducing the individual acts, and Thomas will be introducing the group acts,” she gestured towards the Head Boy. “While the votes are counted, you’ll be free to purchase cakes, from, um, either of the bake sales,” – The DISCUSS table run by Coach Pierce and Professor McKindy had been strategically placed at the other side of the room from the table run by a group of seventh year girls composed of the Smythe sisters and Chelsea Brockert, whose goods were being used to raise awareness of WAIL - “and before the winners are announced, the Headmistress will announce next year’s Head Boy and Head Girl.” Many of those whose names had been on the voting ballot were actually performing, so they might have a particularly memorable concert. “First, to start us off, I’d like to welcome to the stage the first group performance, which will be a choir, comprised of Dana Smythe, Alison Sinclair, Edmond Carey, Jane Carey, Samantha Hamilton and Kirstenna Melcher.” Jera led the applause and quickly made her way off the stage so the group could make their way onto it.

After the choir, the next performance was a balance act by Jose, then the first musical solo by Demelza. Then there would be a group dance act, followed by Jessica and her ukulele. The group play was up next, then it would be Holly singing, and Juri’s act would be the last.

Subthreads:

Starting off the choir by Dana Smythe with Kirstenna Melcher, Samantha Hamilton, Jane and Edmond Carey, Alison Sinclair

A Balance Act by Jose Hernandez, Pecari

Please sit, relax, and enjoy the show by Adelita Garcia with Charlotte Abbott

Saving You by Juri Dahlgren

Colors of the Wind by Holly Greer

The answer, my friend... by Demelza Eagle

'No Rest For The Wicked' Part One by The Group Play with

VOTING BALLOTS by Headmistress Powell with

0 Headmistress Powell Midsummer Variety Concert 0 Headmistress Powell 1 5

Dana Smythe

January 02, 2011 4:33 PM

Starting off the choir by Dana Smythe

Sitting in the front rows near the stage was a fair compensation for those who had elected to perform and so couldn't vote, Dana thought. Unfortunately the choir had been selected as the first performance, which meant they were literally opening the oncert and setting the mood. If they were awful people would remember it, but if they were good the following acts might push this out of mind for those sitting watching. On the positive side, at least Dana didn't have to sit very long worrying about how their act would go, and she would be free to simply enjoy the rest of the concert as a spectator. Going first was probably better than going last.

Once the Head Girl had introduced them, Dana led the rest of the choir (as small as it was) onto the stage. She was glad she had taken charge by creating the choir herself, because it meant she got final say in all the decisions, and hence she was as comfrotable as she could be with the final result. She had decided, for example, that the singers all dress in school unifrom robes. Not only did this make them sort of smart, and resemble a proper group, but also the range and contrast of personal clothing chosen by the members of the group would simply have looked ridiculous on stage.

Dana had also chosen the song (but had heard no argument) and although the original sheet music had two parts, Dana had allowed the group to deviate from these parts for the occasional note. It helped to add more depth to the song, not to mention made singers more comfortable. For example, Edmond's voice was considerably lower, and Samantha's considerably higher, than Dana's own singing range. Essentially they had gone with what worked best, and with practise had come together as a group to create a great performace. Now all they had to do was show the rest of the school what they had accomplished.

Once on stage, the singers took their positions. As there were six of them, they stood in a small semi-circle, arranged by voice with Edmond on one end and Samantha on the other. Before they began, Dana would introduce the song. Stepping forward from the others a little, the fifth year took a deep breath. "Hello, everyone. We're going to sing a song most of you will recognize. It's called 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' and we hope you enjoy our rendition." After much deliberation, she had decided to run with a wizarding children's song that she hoped most people would already know. She had found a version in the music section of the library that had two parts written in, which she thought would sound nice and offer more variety than everyoine just singing the same tune. It had been modified just a little to account for the variety of voices. They were only a small group and didn't have much time to practise so she hadn't wanted to do anything too fancy, but this seemed sufficient for a good show. They had practised well, and Dana was pleased with their progress.

To keep the singers in tune, Dana's wand provided the ticking of a metronome. The wands of the other singers provided their first note to cue the singers in. They had no accompaniment other than this because Dana didn't want the complication, and she thought their voices sounded nice enough without the distraction of instrumentals. She hoped she'd made the right choice.

Returning to stand with the rest fo the group, Dana took out her wand and made sure the others did the same. "Remember to breathe, smile, project, and have fun," she said quietly. "Starting notes, everyone." This was the cue for the other singers to produce their first note. Following this, Dana muttered the spell that started her metronome, and after four beats they began to sing.

0 Dana Smythe Starting off the choir 142 Dana Smythe 0 5

Jose Hernandez, Pecari

January 03, 2011 10:37 AM

A Balance Act by Jose Hernandez, Pecari

The owl carrying the package containing his tightrope for the concert act had arrived in time for Jose to have about two months to create a routine and practice it. This was about three months short of what he'd need to actually make a good act, but time enough to throw together something that was at least passable and completely different from what people expected from a talent show.

The fact that he only had to be out on stage for five to ten minutes helped, too. If he'd had to fill a full half hour slot, he'd have to start getting repetitive. But for the six minutes and fourteen seconds that made up his routine, he could do everything he knew how to do on stilts and a tightrope and not do anything twice.

He started, once his name was announced, by walking out on the stilts while juggling. This was way harder than it looked, but looked way more impressive than just walking out on stilts. Since he couldn't use his hands anyway, he was going with the kind that strapped to his feet, like super tall clowns wore.

He was dressed in a fairly form fitting outfit that normally he would not be caught dead wearing at Sonora, but this was on stage so different rules applied. Tightrope and his unicycle required clothes that were not likely to get in the way, so they were about what one could expect from a male gymnast or trapeze artist. Only with a brightly colored green and yellow vest to draw the eye, because on-stage or not, Jose was not wearing a straight up black leotard in front of all his classmates.

He made it out to the center of the stage (next to where the prairie elves had put up his tightrope during his introduction) before dropping one of his juggling balls, so he caught the other two and bowed as though he'd done that on purpose. To further prove it was intentional, he tossed the other two balls down onto the stage below next to the first one, as he smiled out over the audience. "Hello, Sonora!" he called out, because it wouldn't feel right if he didn't try to interact with the audience at least a little. That was how stage acts worked in his world.

"Because I grew about eight feet since this morning and I can't reach the ground anymore, and because my costume's only pocket is so small it can only hold my wand, I will be using some transfiguration in this act. So, Professor Crosby, get your grading book ready as I stand on one foot and turn my left stilt into a unicycle."

Obviously, his number of stilt tricks was numbered at one, but standing on one foot on one stilt was no easy feat either, especially while casting a spell, but mostly this segment was just a transition between stilts and tightrope. But it was taking up about thirty seconds of his act's time, so he made sure he ended it with a dramatic pose and a broad smile once the unicycle was fully formed and he hadn't crashed to the ground.

So far, he was doing better than about forty percent of his practice runs.

He was standing right next to the tightrope while he'd done his transfiguration - close enough that he could have easily rested his unstilted foot on it if his balance had started to go during the transfiguration - so he placed the unicycle on it now. The cycle's wheel had been intentionally transfigured to be indented along the outer edge so it could hold the rope better, because he just wasn't good enough to use a regular rubber wheeled one yet, but he'd like to see anybody else in this school manage even on his trick one.

"Stay," he commanded the unicycle for a moment, and spelled it with a levitation charm to keep it from falling over while he untied his foot from his other stilt. This was the hardest part of the whole act. During practice, this was the point where he fell eighty percent of the time.

Today, he wobbled as the laces came undone. When he tried to correct the imbalance, he made it worse, and the stilt started to slide out from under him. Since this was what happened more often than a clean step over onto the tightrope, he just reached over with his hands, let gravity take the stilt, and did a gymnast's circle around the rope, only at the apex, he turned his body to end up sitting on the tightrope instead of flying around it for another circle to build up speed for the next trick.

There was a reason Jose was not doing a gymnastics act.

With the rope swinging under his weight, the levitated unicycle, now hanging in the air about four inches over the rope, was the most stable element of his immediate environment, so he held onto that as he brought himself up onto his feet and got the tightrope to steady as much as it could.

He took a moment to smile out at the audience again. "As I'm sure you're all aware, that was entirely intentional," he joked, not even trying to make it believable. Sometimes the most graceful way to handle a mistake was to let everyone laugh over it.

It also took away the pressure on him to get through the act without an obvious mistake, so the simple walk across the rope while carrying the cycle was executed flawlessly, the ride on the cycle back the other way went almost as easily - small wobble there, too, but this time he did correct himself successfully. Then he walked backwards to the center of the rope and transfigured the unicycle again, this time into a chair with rope notches.

That, he set down onto the rope, and sat down on it. Then he stood on its seat. Then he stood on the top rung of its back (which, also, had a few wobbles getting there, but nothing disastrous). If he'd had a better success rate than fifteen percent of the time, he would have tried going into a handstand from there, but he fell far more often than he succeeded, so he didn't. Instead, he jumped, kicking the chair over backwards and toward the ground. As was prearranged, an elf caught it to keep it from crashing loudly onto the stage, but he hoped most people were watching him land on the tight rope on one foot.

He fought to hold it and had to windmill his arms a few times, but he grinned brightly out at the audience when he felt himself stabilize.

And that took approximately six minutes and fourteen seconds, so from there, he brought his other foot in, bowed deeply, and performed a double flip dismount. The same elf that had caught the chair also brought out a mat for him to land on, and he did. He didn't quite stick the landing, but he never did, so he wasn't going to be upset about it. He'd just jumped down eight feet from a rope and did two full rotations in the air. He would allow himself to stagger a couple steps and be grateful he wasn't flat on his back.

Then he bowed again, and said, "Thank you, I am Jose Hernandez. Enjoy the rest of your visit to the Sonora Midsummer Variety Concert!" Then he picked up his juggling balls again, and juggled his way back off stage.

0 Jose Hernandez, Pecari A Balance Act 0 Jose Hernandez, Pecari 0 5

Adelita Garcia

January 03, 2011 7:18 PM

Please sit, relax, and enjoy the show by Adelita Garcia

Adelita had never really thought that she would perform any sort of dancing in front of the entire school. She had performed plenty of times in front of a theater full of parents, families, and community members for her dance school, but it was different than dancing in front of her peers. She wasn’t so nervous at the fact that she would be performing in front of them. That was second nature to her, but more so on the fact that she would be judged by them. The only time she had ever been put in front of someone to be judged was when she auditioned for solos or the partner dancing. But those judges had been her mentors. They understood the skills it took to do what dancers did. Most especially those who were in the strictest form of dance, such as Ballet.

She didn’t think her classmates really understood the complexity of Ballet nor the beauty of it. The fact that she was placed in a dorm room with another ballet dancer had been a miracle, if not fate. Adelita and Charlie were very different when it came to a lot of things in their lives. Different families. Different opinions on boys. Different opinions on love. Etc. But they had remained the best of friends through it all. No matter how strained it may have seen with the lack of time together. Somehow, they always came out giggling like little school girls with large secrets (even when they didn’t have any secrets). It only made this moment for Adelita all the more worth it because she was able to share it with her best friend.

Adelita watched the first group performance, listening politely, but her mind was on the dance steps. Halfway through their show, Adelita moved off to the back of the stage and began to warm up. She was already warmed up but she was nervous and it was a habit of hers to keep her mind busy by keeping her body loose through exercises. Mind over matter, or whatever that phrase was. Still, returning to her own moment in her own head, she let her body move as it naturally did, the music playing within her head.

The dance that Charlie agreed to do with her was one that was probably the most famous of all that they could have chosen from. Maybe the dance itself wasn’t as famous, but the Ballet that it was taken from is incredibly famous. Both in the magical world as well as in the muggle. The ballet is performed every Christmas all over the world and there were thousands of adaptations of the ballet. And it was both Lita’s and Charlie’s favorite Ballet. They had gone together this past Christmas with Lita’s family and it had probably been her most favorite experience. It was one thing to go with her family who, although supported her to their fullest, couldn’t quite appreciate the wonders of the ballet the way that Charlie could with her.

The Nutcracker

What could honestly be said about this play? Adelita had always wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy. Of course, she would be more than willing to dance as Clara, but the Sugar Plum Fairy was just… beautiful. Lita looked at her with envy. She moved without flaw. Her lines were amazing, never-ending. Obviously, the dancer was hardly ever the same each year, but Lita would ignore this fact and just watched every moment she provided to them. She was Lita’s ultimate goal. To become the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker Ballet. Would she become this? Who knew? But she would stop at nothing to get it.

For now, though, she would not be the Sugar Plum Fairy. No, today she and Charlie would be doing the Dance of the Mirlitons. The dance was usually performed with a male partner, but there had been so many adaptations involving mainly larger groups of girls, Adelita didn’t feel completely out in left field by choosing this dance. The dancing technique was easy enough for the two of them to be able to perform without any issues. Lita was a little nervous about pointe and Charlie, but only because Charlie had only been doing it for a couple of years and she wasn’t sure if Charlie actually still danced when they weren’t in school. Adelita had learned pointe when she was ten and did it continuously throughout the school year as well as during her vacations. Of course, their rehearsals had gone smoothly so she really shouldn’t worry about it at all. They were both talented. They could do this.

It was their turn to take the stage. Taking her spot on the left side of the stage, Adelita struck her first pose, waiting for the music to begin. Although she would have preferred to wear a genuine outfit (tutu and all) that was more acceptable for this performance, Charlie didn’t want to. So, instead, she was wearing a pink netted skirt that fell to her mid thigh and a white sequined top. Charlie’s outfit was exactly the same only her colors were reversed. This was probably the most skin Lita had ever shown in school, but the most clothing she might have worn while dancing. Still, it was a pretty normal dancing outfit and had the glamour that Charlie wanted.

The familiar music began and so did Adelita. Her small legs elongated in front of her taking long steps with an allegro sort of fashion. She was aiming towards the center of the stage where she would meet up with Charlie. Every step they took, every twirl, leap, stretch, split, were done in sync with one another and en pointe. The dance was fun and full of life and was meant to show off their gracefulness and talents. She only hoped that’s what the audience was able to perceive with their movements.

The final stance that would end their dance was the Attitude. She positioned on one leg with the other lifted towards her back in graceful arc, her knee bent at an angle. Her supporting foot was in pointe. She had one arm raise at her side and her other arm (same side as her raised leg) was held over her head. It was a graceful pose and they only had to hold it for a couple of notes before finally taking their bow and exiting the stage.

Now it was up to their peers to decide if they were good enough to be voted for.

OOC: For those who do not know the dance, here is a link to a performance Dance of the Mirlitons. Also, for those who do not know what en pointe is, it is dancing on the tips of their toes.

6 Adelita Garcia Please sit, relax, and enjoy the show 136 Adelita Garcia 0 5

Juri Dahlgren

January 03, 2011 9:57 PM

Saving You by Juri Dahlgren

Going last had its advantages and disadvantages. An advantage would be that his act would be fresh in the minds of the voters. Of course, this wasn’t all that important to Juri since he didn’t care if he won or not. He was only interested in the actual performance. He wanted to know if he really had what it took to get up on stage and perform. His hopes and dreams were in music; something that his father always claimed was a waste of time, a foolish childhood dream. Maybe today would be the day that the Judge would be proven right. Perhaps, he needed to grow up and be more like those that would end up in nine to five jobs. Merlin, he hoped not. He took a breath to calm himself down and adjusted his wrist cuff nervously.

It wasn’t the only reason he was nervous either. That was one of the major disadvantages. Lita would be hearing what he would be singing and he wasn’t sure that he was ready for that. The song was about her. He looked in a mirror. The blonde brushed his hair back out of his eyes and then pulled it down again. There were circles under his eyes. All he had thought about for the last few days was about her. Would she realize the song had anything to do with her? Would she realize that he loved her and nothing good would ever come from it? Maybe he was being silly, but he felt like he needed to express that they should stay away from each other. Sure, she probably had absolutely zero feelings for him, yet being friends seemed to only drive him further in love with her. It was absolutely terrible and this was his best outlet for it, his only outlet.

There was his cue. The Aladren wiped his mouth. This was it. There was no going back. The entire school was about to see what he was capable of and maybe that was absolutely nothing. Lita was about to hear him sing. His hand automatically began tapping against his leg. He had never done that before. Even if it turned out his song wasn’t horrible and no one ran from his voice, the number of things that could go wrong was immeasurable. That was the price one dealt with instead of having actual people playing instruments rather than mechanics. Though, the same could probably be said of people. At least, machines didn’t have a choice about whether or not they performed. No temper tantrums or lies or fights or anything else. It was simple. One of the reasons he liked the mechanical.

One final breathe out, as he stood in the center of the stage. “This is my song and it’s called Saving You.” He pulled the guitar that had been resting against his side by a strap forward. Lightly, his fingers pulled the strings. Sliding back, he released the shelf that was holding a set of basketballs, which began a steady beat on the drums. They were magically charmed to keep a steady rate. Back to the guitar and to where it mattered most right now. Vocals. The first part wasn’t fully done in singing, but was singing done to the point of nearly talking.

It’s always the same old story,
Boy meets girl,
Girl doesn’t notice boy,
Boy tries to impress girl,
Girl becomes friends with boy,
Boys falls in love with girl,
Girl shows interest in boy,
Boy runs away to save girl

The next part was a bit more complicated and required a good spin to reach the spot where Juri had piano. Thankfully, without the school uniform on, this was a bit easier. The loose jeans and graphic shirt allowed for ease of movement. As soon as his fingers hit the keys, the next part was the chorus. His voice was deeper since he was actually singing. His voice resonated in a slower vibration.

Why must I be this way?
Show me the burning light,
A flame I cannot touch,
It burns within my heart,
Loving you is killing me,
My soul cannot be saved,
Please do not try,
I cannot save you

A bit of water and marbles provided the next bit, as he turned back to a similar way of the first section and the guitar once more. An electric probably would have been better in some ways, but he actually liked the more raw sound of the one he was using.

So here the story twists,
Boy stops running away from girl,
Girl falls in love with boy,

More marbles were at this part, almost like wedding bells. All done very precisely so as to hit the edge rather than dropping into the water.

Boy hurts the girl,
Girl continues to stay with boy,
Boy fears destruction of girl,
Girl feels withdrawal of boy,
Boy runs away to save girl

Back and forth he went on every appropriate part.

Why must I be this way?
Show me the burning light,
A flame I cannot touch,
It burns within my heart,
Loving you is killing me,
My soul cannot be saved,
Please do not try,
I cannot save you

The guitar stopped, leaving the heavier beat of the basketballs. Slower talking he went with this particular part.

Here the story reaches its conclusion,
Boy cannot save the girl,
Girl failed to save the boy,
Boy beings to fall from girl,
Girl is confused by boy,
Boy hurts girl,
Girl is destroyed by boy,
Boy cannot run away from girl

Juri picked it up again for the chorus.

Show me the burning light,
A flame I cannot touch,
It burns within my heart,
Loving you is killing me,
My soul cannot be saved,
Please do not try,
I cannot save you

Everything stopped now. His guitar was back to his waist for the moment. He was nearly talking.

Has the lesson of the story been learned yet?
Boy should have left alone the girl,
Girl lies crying because of boy,
Boy still loves girl,
Girl hates boy,
Boy hates himself more than girl,
Girl is destroyed because of boy,
Boy runs away from girl

The last part was softer now, sadder in a way. Softer chords were heard from his guitar, simpler than the beginning.

Why must I be this way?
Destroying everything I care about,
My soul cannot be saved,
I cannot love you,
I will not love you,
Please don’t ask me to,
Saving you is the only thing I have

Why must I be this way?
Why must I be this way?
Why must I love you this way?

Juri’s voice faded out at the end. He was nearly panting from all the effort required in the performance, but it went unnoticed, as the adrenaline from having performed pumped through him. “Thank you!” He took a quick bow before exiting the stage.

0 Juri Dahlgren Saving You 127 Juri Dahlgren 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

January 04, 2011 7:23 AM

And respect my sore feet by Charlotte Abbott

Charlie slid her foot into her pointe shoe. She took it out again, readjusted the silk seam around her toes, and put her foot back in. She wriggled her toes, put her foot flat on the floor, then pushed on her ball to demi pointe. Satisfied, she tied the pink ribbon round her ankle, and repeated the toe movements. It was too tight; she undid and retied it. After a good few minutes of putting on her shoes (and taking them off again to insert a slip of lambswool that apparently felt necessary today), the fifth year joined her roommate in warming up. Lunch was a complete failure because she couldn’t dance on a full stomach, so she took some vegetable pastries up to her room for later and settled with some cold water for now. The walk to the concert dirtied up her shoes, so she employed a simple cleaning charm that wouldn’t ruin the satin. Not that her shoes were in spectacular condition anyway, but they were her least worn pair from the three she’d purchased while staying with Lita over midterm. Her friend knew the best places to shop, and the shoes had been slightly cheaper than the pairs Charlie’d bought in Chicago. The girls both got through several pairs of shoes in a year with all their practising – they’d danced practically every day since about third year, which served to keep their feet strong enough for pointe and to ensure the roommates managed to see each other in their very busy schedules. Despite this, the extra work they’d put in for the concert had taken its toll on Charlie’s feet. She took exceptionally good care of them, trimming her nails daily and bathing them in Epsom salts to reduce bruising, but she just wasn’t used to dancing en pointe for long periods of time and she was feeling the strain. The dance she and Lita had eventually decided on was about three minutes long, and almost entirely en pointe.

The dance they were performing was traditionally danced by students, and so was an adequate level for Charlie. Lita could probably do something a little more complicated, but with the two of them together there wasn’t a great scope of existing classical dances, and neither of them had much experience in choreography. Besides, as they both loved the Nutcracker and had seen it together a few months ago it seemed appropriate they select one of the dances from that ballet. Plus the music was pretty and particularly well-known. The decision about what to wear had actually taken a little longer, because Charlotte felt uncomfortable wearing a tutu in front of the whole school. She was aware she’d started to get a reputation of sorts, and traditional ballet costumes left very little to the imagination. She just wasn’t comfortable with it. Eventually they had compromised on a soft netted skirt that came about mid-thigh length; Lita’s was pink and Charlie’s was white. The top was sequined, and added the glitz and sparkle that Charlotte had been keen to include – she was still a proper girl at heart. When ready the two girls definitely looked the part, and with their dark hair up and stage make-up on, Charlie thought they could easily pass for identical twins – she was about an inch and a half taller than Adelita but from a distance you’d never be able to tell.

Watching the acts that came before them was fun. Being sort of in the middle of the show was fine for Charlotte. There were no other dancers, so she and Lita would stand out just because of that, but also because they had put in years of work to get this good, and they were really good at what they did. Plus they sparkled. So being in the middle of the show was a good spot for them to show off their talent, which was kind of what this variety concert was all about. It was also good that the acts got to watch the other performers, because Charlie would have hated to miss Daniel’s play or Juri’s song. She did miss part of Demelza’s song though, because she and Lita needed to have a final stretch before they danced. Charlie’d also placed a box of rosin behind the performance area, which she dipped her feet in to make sure she didn’t slip on stage.
Soon enough, Demelza had finished, Jera introduced the dance act, and then she and Lita were on stage and ready to perform, as they had been planning since the last Midsummer concert, in their first year. Charlie wasn’t nervous because she’d performed in front of audiences ever since she could remember. Plus she played Quidditch in front of this exact group of people on a regular basis. With no Bludgers to avoid and the pressure of winning greatly reduced because the rest of her House wouldn’t lynch her if she and Lita weren’t voted in, she could be quite calm. Actually, Charlie wasn’t at all fussed about who would win the competition, because she was in it for the performance. She was far more interested in the announcement that would be made first, of who would be Head Girl next year. She and Lita had both been on the ballot, along with Pippa and Alison. The two Crotalus girls weren’t really in competition with each other over it, and Charlotte had voted for Lita anyway. She thought her roommate would make a much better Head Girl, and Charlie was already so busy with being prefect and dancing and Quidditch and... well, other interests. She had her fingers crossed for her best friend.

But now, it was time to dance. The music started and Charlotte stretched out from her toes to her fingertips, holding every inch of her body in tight precision. The easiest part of the dance was first, springing lightly across the stage to meet Lita in the middle. Mostly they danced together, though they danced a little apart, and at one point Charlie held an arabesque at the back of the stage while Lita danced at the front. They had both seen the dance enough times, in many variations, that they had pulled together all the best bits and left out the worst from each show they’d seen. For example, Charlie had vito’d the traditional hopping towards the audience, and they’d decided not to include props of actual mirlitons - or reed flutes - sometimes held by the dancers. The hardest part for her was definitely having to jump while en pointe. Ouch, that hurt. Still, she didn’t have to do it for very long, and she’d insisted they added plenty of pirouettes into their routine because she loved to spin. In fact she just loved to dance, and as she continued her performance with Lita, Charlie enjoyed every second. She reached the final pose - an arabesque extended to Attitude, with the leg bent upwards and her arms in fourth - and held it just long enough to signal the end of the dance (as if the music ending hadn’t already done that). Then she and Lita took their bows and curtseys, and excited the stage, laughing in exhileration.

0 Charlotte Abbott And respect my sore feet 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Holly Greer

January 04, 2011 10:16 AM

Colors of the Wind by Holly Greer

It had been difficult, getting the music off her CD and onto something that could be played in Sonora's Cascade Hall, but she managed it with the help of her genius brother and Professor McKindy who was both the school's resident charms expert and her own Head of House and therefore required to help her. The only thing that had been harder than that, though, was deciding which song on her plethora of Disney CDs to use. Oh, and explaining, in writing, where her father could find said CD and make sure he sent her the right one.

Eventually, though, she'd managed to get the right CD in her hands, the music off the CD and onto a charmed playback thing (there was a technical magical term for it, but she'd forgotten what it was), and now, here she was. Standing on stage in front of Sonora for the last time, with the opening chords of Pocahontas's Colors of the Wind filling the room.

She had originally planned to do Part of Your World, from the Little Mermaid, but she'd done that for her audition for the first concert and decided she should try something else. Then she thought she'd do Aladdin's A Whole New World, which would be appropriate for a graduating seventh year about to get married (even if Raoul hadn't technically proposed yet), but that was really more of a duet song than a solo.

Pocahontas had two possible songs that would work for solos, and she could have worked with either. Just Around The Riverbend seemed more appropriate for her last appearance at Sonora, but she didn't really identify with it at all. She knew what was around her river bend and had no interest in running after an unknown when she had nearly everything she wanted already. Her dreams did not extend out of sight.

Color of the Wind was hardly a replica of her world view either, but she could at least identify with the idea that everyone seemed to think she was simple-minded, and her own opinion that even if they were right, it didn't mean she was wrong about her outlook on life.

So she stepped up to the center of the stage, and sang in a voice that she thought was far better than it actually was, "You think I'm an ignorant savage. And you've been so many places, I guess it must be so. But still I cannot see, if the savage one is me, how can there be so much that you don't know? You don't know..."

1 Holly Greer Colors of the Wind 123 Holly Greer 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher

January 05, 2011 2:02 PM

Joining in by Kirstenna Melcher

Kirstenna was super excited for the Midsummer Variety Show,despite it not taking place in the middle of summer. She had decided to take part in the choir that Dana Smythe, a girl in Quentin's year, had put together and had enjoyed everything about since. She wasn't the least bit nervous, Kirstenna didn't care about winning. She was just glad to get to sing, even if it was with other people.

Actually, singing with other people was better. That was more like on Glee. Kirstenna wanted to have the fun and closeness that the Glee club members had on the show. It would be really neat if the choir could be a permanent thing. Of course, Kirstenna lacked the organizational skills to get one going. She wasn't very grounded in practical matters.

The one thing that she was kind of disappointed about though was that they were wearing their school robes instead of costumes. Kirstenna definitely they should all wear the same thing-after all, on Glee, the members of New Directions all wore the same things for their performances-but school robes weren't particularly interesting. That was what they wore everyday. She could have gotten them costumes, if they'd asked for her. Granted, they would have been from the circus, but still.

Kirstenna didn't mind that much though. After all, that was pretty much the only thing they all had that was the same so it kind of made sense to wear them. Besides, what did she care if she got to sing? The Teppenpaw adored singing, it was her true passion in life and she'd been told she had a really good voice.

The second year followed the others onto the stage, after Jera Valson introduced them. Kirstenna smiled brightly as she took her place in the semi-circle. She waited for Dana to introduce the song, then took out her wand to cue her first note. She began to sing with the others.

11 Kirstenna Melcher Joining in 161 Kirstenna Melcher 0 5

Demelza Eagle

January 05, 2011 9:42 PM

The answer, my friend... by Demelza Eagle

Demelza had been working very hard on her act for the upcoming talent show. It was a lot more fun to focus on than end-of-the-year exams, not to mention that she had to learn the chords to the song she planned to perform, Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan. It was a classic, but she couldn't just pop the CD into a CD player here and listen to it, because electronics didn't work. Instead, she had to write to her mom to find and send her the sheet music. Since she wasn't exactly sure of the tune and melody of the song, she sort of made her own up, making up parts that sounded nice when she forgot what the actually melody was. If Sonora had a piano somewhere she could have figured it out, but sadly it didn't. Still, she liked the cover version she made it; it sounded more her style than the original.

Mel arrived far earlier than she had to to make sure her guitar was in tune and warm up her alto voice. Thanks to her voice being naturally low, she didn't have to change the key the song was originally sung in, which made matching it with the guitar easier. Since lunch was happening, the Pecari took the chance to practice her performance one last time. She knew it was bad luck, but she felt that it had to be done. So, taking her guitar out of it's flimsy material case, she held on to the neck with her right hand, the body resting on her thigh and her left arm dangling over the body. Since she was left-handed, her guitar had to be re-strung, although she didn't remember ever doing that. She figured it must have been something done before her accident. The fourteen-year-old was starting to wish that she wasn't an amnesiac. Sure, she couldn't remember bad memories, but she didn't remember the good ones either. Oh well. At least she had mad plenty of new, awesome memories.

Her left thumb resting on the lowest E string, she placed her right fingers in the formation of the G chord, index finger in the second fret, A string, middle finger on the third fret, low E string, and ring finger also in the third fret, high E string. First plucking the top string, she then strummed the rest of the strings in a two-beat-per-measure strumming style. She closed her green eyes and let the music take her away. After a few further measures, she opened her mouth to sing, but then more students began filling in the seats around her, so she stuffed her guitar in her case, closed it, and took a seat in the front row (alright, exclusive rights as a performer!) The bake sales on either side of the hall were so tempting, but she knew that if she went up to get a brownie or cookie that it would clog her throat, causing her clear, beautiful voice to no longer be so. Deciding to focus on her freshly painted sea blue finger nails (she didn't know why she painted them, it would only chip away whens her fingers made contact with the metal strings on her guitar), she waited for the show to begin. She decided that she wanted to make herself look nice for the event, so she wore a small amount of blue eye shadow on her eyes, as well applied a small amount of mascara. Her sea blue dress, one that touched just above her knees with spaghetti straps holding it up, was also something not often seen on the rather tom-boyish fourteen year old. Her long, thin, layered, and chocolate brown hair was straightened magically. Overall, Mel thought that she actually looked pretty. And she kinda liked it. Her body, thin but muscular, never satisfied her, especially since she was rather flat-chested. She was also taller than most girls at 5'8", but today she felt very pretty.

Demelza really liked listening to the choir; their voices blended together nicely, she thought, and made a pleasant sound to listen to. When her friend/teammate/captain Jose went up to perform, she couldn't help but grin. His showcase was different than what she expected, which was pretty groovy. She clapped loudly for him, thinking that he was obviously the best choice for the win. Like, that was so out there! Not to mention that he actually was pretty talented. Then, a small amount of nerves shooting through her (Demelze didn't usually get nerves, plus she wasn't aiming to win, so they weren't that bad), Demelza got up, walked on the stage, pulled up a chair from the back of the stage she had requested to be there, and sat down. With her guitar in hand and harmonica, which she pulled from her guitar case, connected to her neck with a coolio strap, she placed the yellow strap from her acoustic guitar around her neck and shoulders, and then rather abruptly, without further introductions, began to play. Just like she practiced, she started from the G to the C to the D, her mouth playing the harmonica parts over it and then back to the G, and then she began singing.

"How many roads must a man walk down before they can call him," crescendo time, "a maaaannnn." Her voice sounded smooth, as if on silk, and easily reached all the low notes in the song. She continued further into the verse, adding bits of dynamics here and there to make it more interesting. Then, when she reached the chorus, she sang louder and sped up the tempo, now strumming at four beats per measure. It was all planned carefully, and everything was going just right. Even the harmonica solo went perfect! By the time she reached the end of the song, she was so happy that she started stung the last note rapidly, laughing slightly. She then took a bow and ran off the stage. She felt that she did an awesome. She grinned broadly for the rest of the show, and then--FINALLY--the judges permitted everyone to get cookies. She immediately approached the table where her favorite professor, Professor McKindy, was and requested to buy a brownie. Digging her teeth into its yummy goodness, she couldn't help but continue to smile. Much happier than before the show, she turned to the person next to her and said, "I thought every act was great! How about you?" By this point she was bouncing on her feet, ready to hear who the winner was. Today was a great day!

0 Demelza Eagle The answer, my friend... 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

The Group Play

January 07, 2011 9:37 AM

'No Rest For The Wicked' Part One by The Group Play

(OOC: co-written by the authors of all the characters mentioned)

Play practices had been difficult, since they had to work around both the Aladren and Crotalus Quidditch team practices (not to mention the final match that pitted the two leads against each other – but that might have just helped with some of the irritation that was supposed to exist between them) and CATS and RATS preparations and regular schoolwork and everything else going on, but Daniel felt they'd done a good job and it had pulled together pretty well given the time constraints.

Once Gray had finished writing the script, he and Jera had taken the lead over Nic and Neal on the stage hand crew, while Daniel and Jose had directed the actors' line readings and practice. Over the last week, they'd run through full dress rehearsals with sets, props, and everything until their play was as good as it was going to get. All that remained was showing that to the rest of the school.

There were times when Gray thought an insufficient amount of thought went into some things around Sonora, and hearing the schedule for the Concert caused him to experience one of those times. He had, in accordance with the spirit of the event and the votes to be taken after it, gone as over the top with both the complexity and the special effects as he’d thought Daniel would allow and he and Jera could really manage, and that meant that not only did he want license to blow parts of the stage up, but he needed time to set up even the more mundane parts. Between two other acts, with two to follow, was not really a good time to blow things up or take that time. Especially when the stage itself wasn’t remotely set up to accommodate him.

Things didn’t go quite the way he’d wanted them to, but within a reasonably short time after Jessica Zeworth stepped down, the stage featured a large cauldron, a long but surprisingly light table, and a similar throne. On the throne, behind a few lines of light Gray hoped looked vaguely menacing, with orders to look supremely bored, was a white-haired Charlotte Abbott (who was pleased to be sitting down because her quick costume change hadn’t given her feet time to recover from her dance). By the cauldron, which was bubbling ominously and producing large quantities of pink and green smoke, was an equally fake-aged-up Daniel, stirring and adding in what appeared to be a large rock.

The potion turned black, and fire appeared to rise out of the cauldron.

Daniel jumped back from the flames throwing one arm up protectively between himself and the special effects, as if the rock's addition had caused a reaction he had not expected instead of the result that had been supposed to come of it. “Curses!” he cursed, then lowered his lowered his arm and grated out, “Foiled again! I’ll never succeed!” The only reason he had allowed that line to stay in the script was because of the conversation that followed it.

“That’s what I’ve been telling you for the past hundred years,” Charlotte offered the reply that she thought spoke volumes about this couple’s relationship. She managed to succeed at sounding suitable unimpressed for her first line, then after a pause, added, “Did you actually just say that?”

Daniel smirked and admitted, “On some level, I always wanted to say that.” In all truth, it was a sentiment that Daniel could identify with. Not that he ever wanted an opportunity to say 'foiled again' because that would mean he'd been foiled not once but at least twice, but there were some really awesome lines from various plays or shows that just didn't come up in normal ordinary conversation. “It seemed like an opportune moment. But no matter.”

Now that he'd gotten the stereotypical villainous expression of defeat out of the way, he drew his wand and waved it at the cauldron, returning it to its previous non-flaming state. It was one of the few wand effects in the play that he performed himself. He tucked his ten inches of wood back into his robes and added philosophically, “Minor setbacks are to be expected. I see what went wrong there. Soon, my love,” which was an endearment he would have rather used on someone he hadn't once dated, but the other female options were all significantly younger than him and would have been even weirder to address so, “we will be eternally young, the perfect complement to our established immortality.”

“I’m still betting on turning into a grasshopper first,” Charlie countered, maintaining an air of disinterested doubt. She liked the sarcastic nature of her role, but it wasn’t something she herself could easily identify with. She could, however, imagine her parents’ continued exasperation with their children, and somehow the relentlessly unimpressed attitude practically formed itself.

Daniel disregarded this slight to his ability to create eternal youth. He imagined it was something his character had a lot of practice with. “Well, you also bet on your brother and your ex teaming up to slay my dragon and rescue you, and you see who won those fifty galleons,” he remarked dryly, which triggered the next flashback scene.

A curtain, the enchantments making it look like a portrait of a castle almost better than Gray had expected, swung out from the side, hiding the original scene while Gray prayed he and Jera would be able to hold it up with their wands without too much wobbling for the duration of the scene (Jera wasn’t so worried, simply because she didn’t worry as much as Grayson; nobody did). Two large, charred things – originally pillows, enlarged by magic and stuck into armor transfigured from one of Gray’s book boxes – were levitated in from the same side by Neal and Nic (the two younger stage hands had been practicing) and dropped the 'dead bodies' in front of the castle curtain. Kate Bauer walked out in a dragon costume from the right as Jose and Eliza walked around the curtain from the backstage area to the left.

Jose held out a hand toward Eliza and smirked in the smug satisfaction of a bet well won. “Pay up.” He wiggled his fingered in classic arrogant impatience. It wasn't anything he'd do in real life, but that had no meaning once he was in a role. And this guy was clearly an insensitive clod.

Eliza scowled, secretly, even after all this time, wondering what kind of mind the playwright had. If her kidnapper’s pet dragon toasted her little brother and her long-suffering fiancé, she thought her reaction would be much different from her character’s. “Oh, all right,” she said, then handed over a little money bag. A few pieces of gold glinted at the top, strategically positioned over the old scarf she’d contributed to props to fill it up. “Going to count that?”

Jose shook his head, secure in his victory and the knowledge that his character had his own dragon, and said, “I trust you just enough to wait until you’re not around.” He hoped he had a good enough control on his tone to imply, And if you short-changed me, I can just kidnap you again, but he wasn't sure how well that carried through to the audience. Playing a bad guy was kind of fun, though.

Eliza rolled her eyes. That wasn’t a very ladylike thing to do, but she had been informed that this was comedic in nature and that the normal rules didn’t really apply. Besides, that wasn’t nearly as bad as being more upset about fifty galleons than she was about her brother. “You’re so sweet,” she said.

The three younger kids left from the same sides they’d entered, and Gray summoned his part of the props back while Jera did hers, giving Daniel and Charlotte the stage once more. Gray wanted to listen to his dialogue and see how it was playing out, but was too busy getting the backdrop reversed, moved through backstage so it could enter from the other side next time, and making sure those decorative enchantments were also holding. And really hoping that the unfamiliar dude with the headmistress wasn’t in with a publishing company, considering that the images had been pretty much taken from one of his books and he had no idea how legal that was.

“Even becoming an evil overlord didn’t give you better taste,” Charlotte said, not having moved from her seat, apparently bound by the lighting effects around her. “And you wonder why you had to kidnap me to get me to take an interest.”

It was fairly obvious that his character had a somewhat warped view on reality, but Daniel had lived with Holly Greer as a sister for his whole life. It was not difficult to replicate an assurance that his view on the world was the only one that could exist. “Oh, you were just playing hard to get,” he corrected absently while fiddling with the cauldron.

“No,” Charlie corrected in a tone of mild frustration – but only mild because her character had apparently given up on trying to make her crazy co-character see sense, “I just thought you were a loser.”

Originally, the script had given Daniel another line here that went maniacally, 'I am not a loser! I’m a winner! I always win! Always win, always win, always win! I win, I win, I win!' but Daniel had thrown down an executive veto on it. Instead, he just gave Charlie a glare and said calmly, “I always win in the end.” He felt that expressed the same delusional inability to admit failure while not sounding like a two-year-old having a tantrum. Plus, it sounded way more evil. Especially when he allowed himself a small smile as the scene changed.

0 The Group Play 'No Rest For The Wicked' Part One 0 The Group Play 0 5

The Group Play

January 07, 2011 9:40 AM

'No Rest For The Wicked' Part Two by The Group Play

(OOC: co-written by the authors of all characters mentioned)

The second backdrop cut in, this time showing a village, the kind where the houses were topped with straw. Eliza entered from the left, humming and swinging a basket full of dried flowers.

Jose came in from the right, making a beeline for her. “Hello!” he greeted, getting in her way, and tried on an awkward yet hopeful smile. The Jose/Daniel character at this point was early enough in his life that he clearly had no social skills around girls.

Eliza looked up. The chronology of this play was almost as confusing as the psychology of the people in it, but at least her character was kind of normal at this point. “Good day,” she said with a slight smile, then started trying to go around him.

“I like you,” Jose said, awkward and blunt and moving to block her escape again.

Eliza stopped, and for one moment, wasn’t sure of her line. This was her longest portion of dialogue in the entire play, and while most of it was pretty intuitive once she’d worked out the story, enough to ad lib a little if she really had to… “I like you, too,” she said. “So much. You’re so wonderful, and so intelligent, and so devilishly handsome – “she gushed, only to be interrupted by a shriek from behind the backdrop.

“That’s not what happened!” Charlotte exclaimed, trying not to laugh, as she had done on more than one occasion in rehearsals. No matter how you looked at it, shrieking from behind a backdrop as your past-play-self gets manipulated was just plain funny.

Eliza took a step back, then shook her head in confusion before resuming the scene on its ‘original’ lines. “I’m glad,” she said instead, politely distant. That wasn’t an attitude that she found it very hard to act. “I need to go now –"

Jose stepped into her path a third time, and blurted out every young teenage male's most terrifying question without any kind of finesse. “Will you go to the dance with me?”

Eliza bit her lip, looking sorry and a little put out. “I already told Perrin I’d go with him,” she said. “And, um, I can’t say I really like you that way – I’m sorry, goodbye – “And, despite that scene having always felt unfinished to her, she hurried offstage.

Jose let her go, scowling at her back. “No – no – this cannot be!” He paused for a beat, then frowned deeper and said, “I never really wanted to say that. Which is why I will never say it again!” Daniel had almost made him take those lines out, but, unlike their shared character's opinion, Jose had always wanted to exclaim 'no this cannot be!' and was eventually allowed to keep his opportunity to do so. Daniel justified it by explaining that this was 'young and stupid them' and an important moment in their character development toward never saying such moronic things out loud. The play's first line was clearly a backslide moment of weakness.

Above Jose's head, dark clouds began to form. Of every piece of magic they’d arranged for this, this was the one Gray had been most sure would not work. They weren’t as huge and dark as he would have liked, and he was still concerned about the good the effect would be now that he definitely wasn’t allowed to have lighting hit the stage, and with keeping enough light on Jose anyway, but it seemed to be working.

“No, sir!” Jose continued his soliloquy, “From today, it’s all winning, all the time! I’ll do whatever I have to, work all the days of my life, and I will rule the world! There’s no way she can turn me down then!”

Kate entered, and the clouds began to dispel. “I was just wondering,” she said, trying very hard to blush and being pretty sure that she wasn’t pulling it off, because the terror of coming onto the stage had worn off after her stint as the dragon, “if you’d come with me to the dance, if she’s not interested?”

Jose frowned at this new girl who was not Young Charlotte/Eliza and therefore not part of his obsession. “No,” he stated, even more bluntly than anything else he'd said. This character was not one to sugar coat things.

Kate stomped her foot. “Fine, then!”

The backdrop began to move away, cuing the actors to exit again, revealing Charlotte and Daniel once more.

“And then she became the first witch to ever try for Dark Lord status,” Charlie mused aloud, letting the audience know what happened next. “It makes me glad that I just argue like part of an old married couple instead of being in one.” If she hadn’t known any better, Charlotte might have interpreted this as a stab at her own, real life personality. In actuality, she wasn’t paranoid enough to think that Grayson Wright cared about or even noticed her social activities. “Another contribution to the romantic maze would have been the end of the world.”

“No,” Daniel agreed absently, having clearly only been paying partial attention to what Charlie had said. “We don’t need another end of the world. I’m still cleaning up paradoxes from the last one, after she decided to kidnap my past self when my less-far-into-the-past self was already established.” It had taken a few reading for that to make sense to him, but he couldn't think of a better way to phrase it either, so he'd left it as it was and hoped hearing it spoken aloud by someone who understood the chronology would help the audience follow the twisted timeline. Stealing a glance out into the audience, he couldn't tell if it worked. It was dark and the stage lights Neal was in charge of working were blinding him a little.

“I have to give her points for determination,” Charlie spoke her line a touch too late, having been distracted by the less-far-into-the-past-self line. Luckily she thought she probably wasn’t the only one who’d struggled to make coherent sense of that concept, and the audience might have needed the extra time to decipher the meaning. “And at least she had style,” the second part of the retort was delivered with more vehemence than usual to make up for its delay. “You just pointed a wand at me and informed me I’d been kidnapped.”

At her words, Daniel's attention returned fully to the scene in progress and gave out his next line at his cue promptly and arrogantly. “It got the job done, didn’t it?”

Eliza entered, wearing a long blonde wig, very high heels hidden by her too-long robes, and big sunglasses in an attempt to make it less obvious that she was the same person who’d spent most of the play as Young Charlotte. “Your ex-girlfriend is attacking the castle again, My Lord,” she told Daniel, sounding bored.

Daniel sighed heavily, like this was something that happened regularly. “Which timeline is she from this time?” he asked in the tone of voice of someone who was annoyed by having to deal with something trivial.

Eliza shrugged. “How should I know? She was wearing a helmet and riding a dragon at the head of an army. I didn’t really stop to ask questions.”

Daniel's eyebrow rose, as if involuntarily impressed. To make up for it, he just remarked, “As long as she doesn’t have my past self with her. The one thing I’ve never done is seen my past self die. I’d rather not find out what happens if it does.”

“What, evil overlord’s not interested in gaining all human knowledge?” Charlotte scoffed. She wasn’t sure if that had been the line exactly, but it was close enough.

Daniel gestured irritably. “Yes, but not enough to clean up more paradoxes. Or find out what happens when someone who’s technically immortal dies before becoming technically immortal while his technically immortal future self is on the scene.” He stepped away from the cauldron he'd been hovering over for all of his scenes, and Vanished it with another wave of his wand. At the same time, Gray and Jera stopped sustaining the menacing light lines around Charlotte, 'freeing' her from whatever imprisonment they had represented. “Well, back to the tallest tower with you. Or perhaps the dungeons might be safer, until we deal with this dragon.”

Finally standing in a genuinely stiff way, because she hadn’t had time to do her cooling down stretches after the ballet, Charlie stood slowly from her seat. “Make someone change the featherbeds first,” she ordered. “I haven’t been down there since the last time I set off one of the anti-escape spells you put on my tower.”

Daniel chuckled with the memory. “That was what I’d call an explosion. But yes. Minion,” he pointed at Eliza, to distinguish the minion being addressed from the dozens that must surely be waiting just off stage, “do that. Keep her with you.”

Following his commands, Eliza and Charlotte exited the stage. Daniel sighed heavily again. “No rest for the wicked. It’s hard, being an evil overlord!” He pushed back his sleeves, held his wand at the ready and advanced off-stage, ready to take on the dragon and the army.

0 The Group Play 'No Rest For The Wicked' Part Two 0 The Group Play 0 5

Samantha Hamilton

January 07, 2011 1:51 PM

That's what I do best by Samantha Hamilton

As the concert came closer, Samantha was glad she'd decided to join in. She'd gotten to know Jane and Kirstenna bteer, and discovered she liked both of them. neither were the sort of person she would usually make friends with, but she'd discovered her life at Sonora was quite a lot different from her life outside it. For one thing, there was magic. For another, only six people in total wanted to be in the choir. She knew Sonora was a small school, but in her other three schools the choirs had been very popular, particularly with the girls. Samantha guessed Sonora was just a different world and she was still getting used to it.

On the day of the concert she was ready. She wasn't nervous to sing because she thought they all sounded pretty good in their last few rehearsals. For her part, she wasn't great at the low notes, but she found the high notes easy, and everyone else helped her to keep in tune. She'd also learned a new spell to get her wand to make the sound of specific notes that helped cue them in.

Once she'd cast that spell on stage, and Dana cast the one that kept them in tune, Samantha started to sing. She liked the song - it wasn't one she'd ever heard before, but then her parents were Muggles, so she'd never had occasion to hear it before. It had been easy for her to learn, and she liked the words - Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog - whoever thought of putting those things into a song had been a genius. The chorus was fun, too, and singing it in their two parts somehow made the choir sound bigger than the six people it really was.

She sang smiling, enjoying the final product of all their rehearsing. All too soon they came to the end of the song. Samantha sang good and high, the notes ringing out in her voice that was by no means spectacular, but it was pleasant enough - and she hit the right notes, which was the most important thing. She finished the final line, 'Something Wicked This Way Comes,' almost with regret, because hse'd had so much fun. Luckily there was still the rest of the acts to go, and watching them would keep her entertained.

0 Samantha Hamilton That's what I do best 159 Samantha Hamilton 0 5

Jane and Edmond Carey

January 07, 2011 8:03 PM

We're not bad at it. by Jane and Edmond Carey

“It really doesn’t bother you,” Jane had asked Edmond just before the Concert, “that the rest of us are all girls?”

Edmond had looked genuinely confused by her question. “Why would it?” he’d asked. “I doubt it’s much of a secret at this point that I belong to the school of thought promoting women’s intellectual equality to men.”

Jane had been wondering if her brother was either a completely hopeless case when it came to interacting with or relating to the rest of his species or secretly an evil genius controlling them all from behind a front of complete hopelessness when it came to interacting with or relating to the rest of his species ever since. In either case, she thought portions of her family were officially doomed. There was no other possible outcome when he had been here four years to her two and she was still the one who’d become better socialized.

The one thing they agreed on was that it didn’t bother them that their act was going first. Either things would go well or they wouldn’t; it made no difference if they went first or last or anywhere in the middle. So, other than Jane having to step on Edmond’s foot to shut him up when he began muttering in confusion about why Jera Valson introduced them when they were a group act and she’d just said that Thomas Fitzgerald was introducing the group acts, they were able to find their places on the stage without difficulty or incident.

She’d decided, ultimately, to go toward the higher part, but not to strain her throat trying to hit the highest notes. Though the presentation wasn’t long enough for fainting to actually be an issue, she noticed that she and Edmond had both assumed the stance their old music teacher, Master Compton, had screamed into their heads: standing up straight, arms flat at their sides, but knees very definitely not locked. As for remembering the song, that was easy; it was short, in English, and not overly complex. A far cry from Master Compton. Jane was able to sing it without having to try to remember the words.

The hardest thing for her – and, she imagined, for Edmond – was to follow Dana’s advice about smiling. Their first music teacher, Miss Catherine, had always said they should smile while they sang, but Master Compton had nearly gone into a fit when he heard about that. He said it distorted the sound and was utterly unprofessional, a word Jane would forever associate with violence because of the way he’d slammed his pointer into the lectern so hard that the pointer broke when he said it. She still couldn’t believe that her parents hadn’t fired him after that incident, but he’d gone on, in the course of two years, to damage a piano and several chairs before leaving completely of his own free will to fulfill his lifelong dream of conducting a professional chorus. That was what a genius could get away with, and why Jane very much regretted that she wasn’t one.

Nor was she ever going to be a professional singer, even if she somehow got disowned and had to support herself, but she felt she did not only the best job she could do, but an objectively good one as well. When they were done, she was smiling without having to remind herself and took her robes in her hands to curtsy, as she’d been taught to after performances, before reminding herself not to do that. She thought they had gotten the Concert off to a very nice start.

0 Jane and Edmond Carey We're not bad at it. 0 Jane and Edmond Carey 0 5

Headmistress Powell

January 07, 2011 8:10 PM

VOTING BALLOTS by Headmistress Powell

The performances had been amazing, all the students had done their best to entertain the student body and the staff, and they had certainly done so. Now it was time for the voting to begin, while everyone enjoyed the bake sale sponsored by DISCUSS and WAIL, which was designed to create awareness to both organizations. The bake sale tables had been placed in different sides of the room. The DISCUSS table was run by Coach Pierce and Professor McKindy, while the WAIL table by the Smythe sisters and Chelsea Brockert. It was better that way in order to prevent any kind of problems.

Once the last performance was over, the voting ballots magically appeared in every occupied seat. The forms were charmed to prevent any kind of cheating, and if one happened to be standing they just had to go back to their seat to have the ballot. Once the students voted, they had to put the form in a box in front of the stage. Like the ballots, the box was charmed to prevent any kind of cheating; one never knew what the students were capable off to see their favorites win. It was a precaution to prevent any future problems with the performers and the student body.

0 Headmistress Powell VOTING BALLOTS 0 Headmistress Powell 0 5

Alison Sinclair

January 07, 2011 9:28 PM

I'm doing okay for now. by Alison Sinclair

It was illogical to be nervous about performing in front of the school.

Alison knew that. She might have normally worried about being mocked for working with second years, but since her roommate was directing, she thought the brunt of funny looks would go to Edmond Carey, who probably wouldn’t notice. She might have also worried about her singing not being up to par, but that was the great thing about being in a choir. Her voice would not really stand out enough for people to make comments about it. She might even have worried about looking stupid, but they were in their school robes, so they looked no worse than they did every day in that regard. And there were no real consequences to doing badly, so that took care of it being like the last time she’d felt really nervous, which had been the first time she ever cast a spell. So she had no good reason to be nervous.

Since she wasn’t anywhere near the Aladren ideal, though, she didn’t find that her awareness of those points did much to make the being nervous go away.

She’d become a prefect at the beginning of the year, and didn’t go out of her way to keep a low profile, but she’d still felt like she did a reasonably good job of just blending in here at Sonora. That was never a position she had imagined she’d feel comfortable in, but since she’d come in late to the game, with everyone else already knowing each other, she had come to the conclusion that it was one of the better outcomes she could have hoped for. Going on stage, though, was going to make her stand out, since the vast majority of the school’s population had opted to participate in the Concert by voting instead of by performing, and to make it worse, the Head Girl election results were going to be announced. There was no way she’d won – she had voted for herself, but that was as much because she thought it would be utterly pathetic to get no votes as it was because she actually thought she would do well in the post – but she wanted to get the confirmation over with sooner rather than later, and the Headmistress wasn’t playing along.

At least the choir got to go first. If they’d gone last, and she’d had to wait for two things and then have them happen back to back, she thought her unexpected concern about what her classmates really thought of her would have driven her nuts, and this school already had more than its required number of people who met or nearly met that description.

She’d opted to take the lower part, both because that was the one she was used to singing on those occasions when she was in Philly and her mother insisted she accompany the family to church and because it was more comfortable through most of the song.

She’d had issues with giggling a few times through early rehearsals, but when she was able to get through “Double, double, toil and trouble” all right and launch into the long list of ingredients for the hypothetical potion without it recurring at the worst possible time, under the pressures of the stage, she decided she had officially gotten that problem under control. Never her curiosity about how something from a Muggle play ended up as a wizard’s children’s song, but that was because she found it amusing enough to think about but not worth the trouble of doing the research for.

She noticed that the other members of the choir were looking pleased with themselves at the end before she noticed that she was, too. Something about completing something public without anything horrible or embarrassing happening, especially without reality-warping spells or potions in effect as far as she knew, was extremely elating.

16 Alison Sinclair I'm doing okay for now. 140 Alison Sinclair 0 5

Headmistress Powell

January 14, 2011 2:11 PM

And the Results! by Headmistress Powell

Once the final performance had finished, there was a break, during which votes were cast, collected and counted, various baked goods were sold to raise funds and awareness for various causes, and there was a great deal of chatter amongst the students. After a few calls for any outstanding votes, the Headmistress, aided by other members of the faculty not already engaged in bake sales, counted them to determine who the students had elected as the best performers during the afternoon. After half an hour the students were beginning to get restless, and so Sadi verified the final numbers, checked them twice, and made her way to the stage. The students seemed to settle themselves without her help, so Sadi simply waited for the room to be silent before she began what would be her last school address.

“I hope you have all enjoyed the performances this afternoon. In fact, I’m sure you’ll all join me in giving our performers, and their behind the scenes workers, another round of applause.” Once the clapping and cheering had died down, Sadi continued. “Unfortunately I have a few small announcements to make so you can’t leave your seats just yet, but I promise to go as quickly as I can. Firstly, for those of you who might not be aware, this is my last term as Headmistress at Sonora Academy. I have enjoyed the past nine years teaching and looking after you all, but now I’m going to go back to research and publications.” At the tender age of sixty, Sadi felt too young to retire altogether, but her current state of health simply did not correspond with her Headship position. “Look out for my next volume,” she half-joked; the research she published wasn’t likely to be anything these students would want to read. “So thank you all for a wonderful few years, and I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming your future Headmaster, David Regal.” Having gestured towards David and located him at the back of the Hall, Sadi again led the school in a round of applause. She had a feeling there would be a lot more noise to come with the remaining announcements she had to make.

“Next I would like to announce the Head Boy and Head Girl for next year. It was an unusual year because the students in question would be going into their sixth year, not seventh, as was tradition for this appointment. However with no returning seventh year the school had made some temporary adjustments. It was still undecided whether the two elected for this year would remain head Students for the full two remaining years, or whether another vote would be held next year, potentially allowing another two students in the same year group the opportunity. Whether or not they retained their positions at the end of next term, the two students in question had been nominated by the staff and voted for by their peers. Sadi ought not to keep them in suspense any longer. “Congratulations to Daniel Nash of Aladren, and Charlotte Abbott of Crotalus.” Since both were still in costume from their earlier performance, they were not required to make their way onto the stage, but would be presented with their badges at the beginning of next term, along with the prefects (who would be announced at the Opening Feast).“I’m also going to announce the winner of the House Cup.” They actually still had three days left of term, but classes had finished and the chance of anyone gaining or losing sufficient points to make a different to the final running order was slim. “In fourth place, with 99 points, is Teppenpaw. In second place, with 192 points is Aladren.” Not a great finish for the stereotypical smart House, but they had won the Quidditch championships, which probably compensated for their third place in the House championships. “In second place, with 224 points is Pecari, which means with 275 points, Crotalus are this year’s House Cup winners.”

“Now then, onto the results of the concert. Even though all Houses have contributed to our delight and entertainment this afternoon, the staff has decided that the award for Best House goes to Pecari.” Once the cheers had again subsided, Sadi ploughed on, starting to feel dizzy from standing and talking for this long duration, and she knew the students seated in front of her were as eager for her to announce the results of the student vote as she was to sit down with a cup of peppermint tea. “As for the group performances, all the acts were phenomenal, but the one that gained the most student votes for creativity, originality and talent, was the group play, ‘No Rest For the Wicked.’ So congratulations to Daniel Nash, Grayson Wright, Jera Valson, Jose Hernandez, Eliza Bennett, Caitlin Bauer, Charlotte Abbott, Neal Padrig and Nicodemus Sawyer.” Typically it would be the one that took the longest to say. It had also involved the most students, including some who had not appeared on stage (including her own daughter but as she’d had no part in the voting Sadi could rest assured that nobody on this occasion could accuse her of favoritism).

Finally she had come to the last announcement: the best individual performer, as voted for by the student audience. There had been such a variety of music and talent that Sadi had enjoyed watching the shows immensely. Voting had been close for a while, but one performer had eventually pulled into the lead with a majority vote. “The best individual performer,” the Headmistress announced, “as voted for by the student audience, is Juri Dahlgren.” Waiting for the applause to settle for the final time, Sadi concluded her final address. “Congratulations to all our performers, and everyone else who has been involved to make this event so memorable. You now have a couple of hour’s free time and a celebratory buffet will be arranged here for your enjoyment this evening.”

0 Headmistress Powell And the Results! 0 Headmistress Powell 0 5

Daniel Nash II

January 14, 2011 11:10 PM

Yes!! by Daniel Nash II

While Daniel was anxious to know if his play won the group act category, honestly, it was the other voting results - the ones that the Staff must have been sitting on for weeks since the fourth and fifth years were pulled aside one morning - that made him utterly unable to participate in any conversation more complicated than responding "Thanks," to anyone who complimented the play's performance. He was fairly sure he'd responded "Thanks," to at least one teacher asking whether or not the person sitting behind him had turned in their ballot yet, and he might have said it to another student who asked if he had a quill.

His eyes did not stray from the Headmistress for more than a few seconds at a time, and when they did they sought James Anthony, to see if he was as nervous as Daniel was.

All things considered, he felt fairly confident he had the Head Boyship in the bag, but he'd felt the same way about the Prefecture, and the whole school knew how that turned out. Of course, this was far more of popularity contest than the other was, but being popular wasn't enough - Saul Pierce had proven that quite conclusively.

So it could still be anybody's game. Even though he was both reasonably popular (moreso than James, anyway, he was fairly sure) and an Aladren, there was still a chance he wouldn't get it. If he was prone to biting nails or chugging anxiety potions, he'd be doing that now. Instead, he said, "Thanks," to nobody at all because that's all his brain could handle just now.

Then Headmistress Powell called for everyone's attention - or maybe she just stood up; Daniel was missing important details that he hoped his brain was logging and would tell him about later. Mostly, all he could hear was the blood rushing through his own ears.

He had never felt this nervous about anything before. Never. If this was what Holly felt all the time, it was no wonder she abused potions.

While everyone else clapped for the performances, Daniel was stuck on his pre-recorded message and said, "Thanks," again. He did manage to get his palms to press together percussively once before the applause died down. He even managed to do so repeatedly for David Regal, but mostly his mind was on repeat, *Come on, come on, say who got Head Boy.*

And then she was saying it. And - "YES!" Daniel exclaimed, and he heard it far too loudly for it to have been in his head. His fist was also pumped halfway into the air, and he wasn't quite standing, but he was perched on the very edge of his chair. He flushed a little, a genuine blush, and gave an embarrassed smile to the people seated nearest to him. "Sorry," he whispered, much quieter than his first reaction, and ducked his head, apologizing as much to the Headmistress as to his neighbors.

She went on with her speech, but the fact that Aladren only came in third in the House Cup competition barely registered. That Pecari pulled the House win at the concert bounced past his awareness without so much as a twinge of resentment.

His play winning the group act division made him let out another "Whoo!" but other people were cheering, too, so that was an acceptable reaction this time. Of course, at that point, he could hardly float any higher, but it still felt good. He held out a hand to high-five whichever other play participants were near enough to do so with before the Headmistress announced the individual winner. Whoever that was. Daniel didn't hear it.

Then the concert and the speeches were over and he turned to the person next to him and said in a completely undignified way, "I'm Head Boy! The play won! I'm Head Boy! Eee!" The last was, of course, a manly exclamation of joy, not a high-pitched squeal better suited to something Holly would make when Raoul finally asked her to marry him. But if it did sound a little bit like that it was clearly his mother's genes' fault and there was nothing Daniel could have done about such a hereditary aberration.

1 Daniel Nash II Yes!! 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce)

January 15, 2011 4:25 PM

At least I now only have to worry about RATS. by Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce)

Lita had been really impressed by all of the acts. Their school seemed to have quite the talent. If she didn’t know any better, this wasn’t a school for magic, but a performing arts school. At least, every so often she caught glimpses of people in their moments. Doing whatever it was that they loved to do. They were rare and usually hidden, but if one wandered down an empty corridor, there was no telling what they would find.

The group play had been very entertaining and the younger years who performed solos were actually rather good. She didn’t know any of them, but they were nice to watch. Of course, the last performer was the one she really wanted to see. She knew Juri loved music, he had told her a couple of terms ago, but she had never seen him perform. She danced all the time with Charlie and knew what talent Daniel had, but Juri’s was still a mystery to her.

She had found her sister in the audience after changing from her dance costume and sat to watch the performances. When Juri came on stage, Lita sat up a bit straighter. And then he started to sing…

His performance was amazing, but Lita couldn’t get passed the words he sang. From the lyrics, it seemed as though Juri had been in a serious relationship with a girl that didn’t work out because he felt himself as this destructive being and their relationship ended poorly but he still loved her. Why hadn’t Lita heard about Juri dating someone? She thought they were actually really good friends, was she wrong? Did Juri have a difference of opinion on where they stood in their friendship?

Dulce poked her, stirring Lita away from her thoughts. “Relax, Del, it’s just a song.” Lita must have been making a face for Dulce to say anything. She was right. Juri could have simply just wrote the song without any sort of actual experience in what he was singing. Besides, even if they were good friends, Juri was in his right to not tell her anything. She never told him or even Charlie about what happened with Carlos or about her crush on Jared. Still, she couldn’t deny the bit of hurt and even some jealousy at the idea that Juri loved someone.

After the short break once Juri finished, it was time for the results for both the Head Boy/Head Girl ballot and the talent competition. Before that moment though, the Headmistress announced her departure of the school and the introduction to their new Headmaster. Surprise registered on Lita’s face and she glanced over at her sister who merely shrugged. There was no secret that the Headmistress hadn’t been her usual active self, so her leaving was probably going to happen sooner or later. No, Adelita was more surprised over the fact that the new Headmaster would be someone from outside the school. The last time someone came in to take over a position, had been sent there by the school boards. Lita wondered if this was an extension of that.

And then came the announcement that Adelita had been anticipating and dreading at the same time. The Head Boy and Girl voting results. The winners did not astonish her in any way. She knew from years of listening to this very same thing that the votes were all for popularity. She wasn’t sure what information was provided regarding the students to have certain Prefects elected because that was all on the staff, but Head Boy and Girl was popularity and Daniel and Charlie were, to Lita, the most popular pair in their class. Adelita wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t disappointed. She was. But she wasn’t angry by any means. Adelita had voted for Charlie because she deserved it. She was Quidditch Captain and Prefect, it was only logical that she obtain the Head Girl title as well. She was happy that Daniel received the vote (although she hadn’t actually voted for him), but she did not agree with his smug reaction to it. Yelling out like that was just rude. “Ah well, maybe you’ll win it, Dully.” Lita mused, looking at her sister.

“Doubt it.” Dulce commented, snorting in amusement. The girls clapped along with everyone else when the house points were listed (Lita cheering when her house was named the winner) and then settled down again when the announcements for the concert winners came. Lita didn’t know how a house was picked as a winner, but she clapped politely along with the rest of the student body. The group act when to the play. It figured. Lita knew that ballet just wasn’t something that the rest of her peers could really understand or appreciate. Maybe if they had done contemporary or even something fun like broadway, their peers could appreciate it, but not ballet. Lita went in to this talent concert fully aware that she would not win. But her friends won for the play, so she was excited for them for that.

It was the individual act that had her clapping enthusiastically. Despite her uncertainty regarding the lyrics and Juri’s love life, she really was happy that he won that category. He had been amazing with all the various instruments and the performance of the song itself. He deserved the recognition for it.

“You know what would really make his night?” Dulce asked, leaning in close to Lita, “If you gave him a big congratulatory kiss.”

“Dulce! Shut up!” Lita hissed, shoving her sister slightly. The blush on her cheeks might have made someone think she was embarrassed by the comment, but the truth was that she felt as though she had been caught thinking that very thought.

0 Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce) At least I now only have to worry about RATS. 0 Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce) 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

January 16, 2011 5:14 AM

You seem excited. by Charlotte Abbott

After the play, Charlotte had looked briefly to sit back next to Lita in the audience, but her friend seemed to have moved, so Charlie sat with her play companions to watch the rest of the show. By the end of it she had to agree that pretty much everyone had been brilliant, and watching Juri had been really fun - her year mate was not exactly known for his openness (not like Charlie and Daniel who were expressive almost to the point of arrogance on occasion), so seeing him be open for once was refreshing. She still thought that out of all the acts, her dance with Lita had demonstrated the most refined talent, but then that wasn't necessarily what the concert was about. She'd thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon, and that was before the results of various votes had been announced.

When Headmistress Powell made her way to the stage, Charlotte settled back into her seat, next to Daniel, who seemed to be in his own little world. She had another glance behind her for Lita, but she was unlikely to spot her friend amongst every other student. Finally she settled and turned her attention only to the Headmistress, eager to hear every announcement she had to make.

Charlotte eagerly applauded all the performers once more, and was sad to hear the news that Professor Powell would be leaving Sonora, but she doubted it would make any real difference to her personally, because the only interaction she'd ever had with the head of the school was listening to speeches on occasions such as this. She thought David Regal couldn't be wildly different in this respect, so she clapped politely for him along with the rest of the school.

the next announcement was for Head Boy and Girl, and as her name had been on the ballot she automatically paid rapt attention to the Headmistress. She was distracted when Daniel celebrated his own name being called somewhat less than subtly, so much so that she very nearly missed her own name being said. He whispered an apology, which made her laugh. Her suprise at being named Head Girl was about equal to her surprise at Daniel's reaction. She was however pleased that she'd have a friend in her duties, and the short time before the Headmistress progressed was sufficient to allow only a small amount of consideration for Lita, who probably deserved the title more than Charlie did.

By this stage charlie's head was already mildly buzzing, but with each for announcement her excitement increased. She cheered with her Housemates when Crotalus won the Cup - it just about made up for them not winning the Quidditch championship, and made Pecari's triumph at the concert completely irrelevant. As for the group performance winner, Charlie had been in two out of the three acts, so there was a fair chance of one of them winning. As it happened, it was the group play that won, and Charlie joined those she was seated with in cheering this decision. She also cheered for Juri, for having the guts to be open up on stage, and because they'd been getting to know each other a little better this year, for Lita's sake.

No sooner had she finished applauding Juri, her head now buzzing phenomenally with excitement and a victory-induced euphoria, that Daniel turned and demonstrated similar - and possibly greater - levels of excitement. "I'm Head Boy! The play won! I'm Head Boy! Eee!"

He looked ecstatic, and Charlotte could identify. "Yeah you are," she laughed back at him, and leaned in to give him a spontaneous, congratulatory hug. She really wanted to kiss him - the general euphoria of them both had brought to the surface Charlie's ever-present attraction to him that mostly she tried to keep dormant - but if he was still trying to figure out stuff about himself then what sort of friend would that make her? It took every amount of restraint she had not to just go ahead and kiss him anyway.

0 Charlotte Abbott You seem excited. 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Daniel Nash II

January 16, 2011 1:57 PM

It's your imagination by Daniel Nash II

Charlie laughed and Daniel grinned back at her, actually noticing who he was talking to for the first time. He returned her hug with an unselfconscious abandon born of excited joy. "And you're Head Girl!" he added, because, somehow, he had managed to catch that even through his haze. "We won the play and we're Head Boy and Girl," he repeated again, a little more calmly and coherently, but no less happy. He was still smiling widely enough to hurt and his eyes felt bright even to him.

He felt an excess of energy as his previous nervousness dissolved and left him feeling kind of like he'd just eaten twenty pixie sticks all at once. So he grabbed Charlie and twirled her around a couple of times. It wasn't anything close to proper dancing, which she would know even better than he did, but it was still fun for a few rotations.

"So," he asked, still grinning a little too widely, as they came to a stop, "You think they're still selling baked goods? I'll buy you one." Because what he needed right now was clearly more sugar, but he wanted to do something in celebration of the moment, and buying a pair of cupcakes seemed to be what was available as an option.

1 Daniel Nash II It's your imagination 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Charlotte

January 17, 2011 5:07 AM

On this occasion I must disagree. by Charlotte

Hey wow, he was right - she was Head Girl. Charlie was sort of surprised he had noticed, as she had barely done so herself. he was also way more excited than she'd ever seen him - even after he'd apparently managed to calm down a notch or two, he span her round a couple of times, quite unexpectedly. Charlotte laughed loudly, only vaguely aware that if anyone happened to be watching they might think them both to be quite mad. She didn't even noticed her feet where hurting as she stopped spinning to find Daniel smiling broadly. He looked even more amazing than usual without his normal composure (Charlie thought she probably looked like an idiot with the amount of smiling she was doing herself, but Daniel had seen her be an idiot before).

She could do it - she could so easily do it right now. She could just lean forward a little, kiss him. It would be nice. She could say it was a congratulatory kiss. Maybe she was caught up in the moment. He'd understand that, wouldn't he? Never mind the fact that she would secretly like to have a great deal more than just one kiss, even though she was supposed to be his friend, and he certainly didn't like her like that anymore, even if he ever had done, and had she ever really been over him anyway? Great Merlin this was difficult.

"You think they're still selling baked goods?" Daniel asked, calling Charlie's brain back to where it should be, i.e. the here and now.

"Sure," she grinned. More sugar was obviously what they both needed. Besides, now the dance was done, Charlie could actually allow herself to eat cake. It would have been horribly rude of her to refuse the gesture, anyhow. "Baked goods would be awesome." She took Daniel's hand and forcibly ignored the tingles this motion sent up her arm and into her stomach. "Let's go see if there are any left." She almost hoped they'd be laced with potion like those stupid cookies in first year, because there was no way her resolve would stand up to that, and she wouldn't be held responsible.

0 Charlotte On this occasion I must disagree. 0 Charlotte 0 5

Headmistress Powell

Midsummer Variety Concert by Headmistress Powell

Dana Smythe

Starting off the choir by Dana Smythe

Jose Hernandez, Pecari

A Balance Act by Jose Hernandez, Pecari

Adelita Garcia

Please sit, relax, and enjoy the show by Adelita Garcia

Juri Dahlgren

<i>Saving You</i> by Juri Dahlgren

Charlotte Abbott

And respect my sore feet by Charlotte Abbott

Holly Greer

Colors of the Wind by Holly Greer

Kirstenna Melcher

Joining in by Kirstenna Melcher

Demelza Eagle

<i>The answer, my friend...</i> by Demelza Eagle

The Group Play

'No Rest For The Wicked' Part One by The Group Play

The Group Play

'No Rest For The Wicked' Part Two by The Group Play

Samantha Hamilton

That's what I do best by Samantha Hamilton

Jane and Edmond Carey

We're not bad at it. by Jane and Edmond Carey

Headmistress Powell

VOTING BALLOTS by Headmistress Powell

Alison Sinclair

I'm doing okay for now. by Alison Sinclair

Headmistress Powell

And the Results! by Headmistress Powell

Daniel Nash II

Yes!! by Daniel Nash II

Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce)

At least I now only have to worry about RATS. by Adelita Garcis (and partially Dulce)

Charlotte Abbott

You seem excited. by Charlotte Abbott

Daniel Nash II

It's your imagination by Daniel Nash II

Charlotte

On this occasion I must disagree. by Charlotte