Council Meeting

[Snick]

Miss Buskirk sat in the library waiting for the council students to arrive. Organizing dances was her favorite thing, next to putting on plays and concerts. The excitement was oozing from every pore, she could hardly stay still. Pages in a binder were flipped through, feet tapped and shifted restlessly against the berber carpet of the library, and the clock was intermittently glanced at. The dance's musical selection of her choosing was already playing through her head, which bobbed minutely to the beat.



Finally, one of the students arrived, a bit early to her delight. "How it go, chall?" she asked cheerily in her Bahamian accent.



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Elizabeta strolled into the library not at all surprised to be the first to arrive. It didn't take her long to spot Miss Buskirk, one of the most ugliest women Elizabeta had ever seen. Not that she would say that to her face, nor even behind her back. She had nothing against the woman, she just found her rather repulsive to look at.



"Hello Miss Buskirk." Elizabeta said politely. "I am doing well, thank you."



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Arwen entered the library for their meeting about the Hello Dance that was held every year to kick off the school year. Each year the dance had a different theme which was decided by a committee. She knew there were lots of ideas they could have done. She knew they would all come up with a great idea for a dance.



She looked around only seeing Miss Buskirk and then Elizabeta. She moved over to one of the chairs. "Hello Miss Buskirk, Elizabeta."



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Esther arrived at the meeting right on time, "Hi everybody!," she said cheerily as she flounced in, taking a seat in the middle, and sitting crosslegged in the chair.



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There was only one reason he attended these meetings. Pratt didn't give a damn about dances or fundraisers or anything of the like. He merely wanted an excuse to be near her. Strolling through the doors of the library, he brushed his hair from his face and took inventory. A pin of absence deflated the balloon of joy in the pit of his stomach, but he didn't let it show.



Joining the others at the tables (a few put end to end to accommodate all of the students), he rocked his chair back on two feet and stared up at the ceiling. A place was left to either side of him, a seat between himself and Esther Black. He knew she admired Esther and thought it increased the chances of her sitting near enough to perchance an accidental foot tap or glance of hands. Not a word was uttered to the others, not even the teacher ("Almost late, bey," she had ribbed him good-naturedly.)



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The dreaded library. It was the quietest place in the entire school, and Zot avoided it like the plague whenever possible. Unfortunately today was not one of those days. Last year he had been elected by the teachers, for whatever awful reason, to the council. His tic picked up frequency as he neared the doors as evidence to the stress his mind was under.



Though true that he had grown used to the odd looks and occasional remark about his condition, Zot still didn't like it when his Tourettes was on full display. In some ways it was embarrassing, especially when people laughed. It didn't help that he couldn't tell if they were laughing at him, or at the colorful words that sometimes flowed out of his mouth.



He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out in a rush. He hoped he could behave himself. Zot walked through the door and twitched his way to a seat. Not wanting to be called out, again, for distancing himself, the seat he chose was between two other students, one of which was balancing on the back legs of his chair. He gave a shy but kind smile to the adviser at the head of the room before looking down at the table top before him.



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Siobhan was a little embarrassed about being late, so she ran into the meeting panting. She quickly gushed out, "Sorry I'm late, hi everyone," before taking the nearest empty seat . . . three seats from Esther, darn it, but . . . Oh, right next to Gilligan. She smiled shyly at Pratt. "Hi," she said very softly.



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While others were rushing, Makepeace wandered in casually, drawing a pocket watch out of his vest pocket to check the time as he went. By his watch, he was still on time. "Good afternoon, everyone." He said with a glance around at those in attendance and a few nods of greeting. He pulled out a chair and rested his leather portfolio against the side of it, then drew out his sketch pad and a few pencils. He assumed they wanted him here for an artistic consult or something. Then he flipped through the drawings in his sketchbook to a blank page, giving the people opposite of him some enticing glances of the candid pictures he drew. At least a few people present at the table were represented in the pages of the sketchbook, caught in everyday moments. Elizabeta with hair mid-flip in the hallways, Siobhan with a pensive look on her face trying to solve some sort of problem while poring through a textbook. Pratt in the cafeteria with a devilish look on his face. Makepeace had filled the pages of dozens of sketchbooks with the people around him, and most would never even know he had been looking.



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"Hey, Zot," Pratt grinned, despite feeling a tiny bit disappointed. At least it was someone he knew a little bit beyond acquaintances. They were in the same grade and, therefore, in the same classes for three years. While he wouldn't call Zot a friend, he wouldn't consider the boy a complete stranger. They weren't interested in the same things, so didn't really do much together outside of class and student government. And, though he was such an easy target, Pratt had never teased him about his Tourette's (Other things, sure, but never his tics and random outbursts). Pratt felt poking fun at people over their disorders and disabilities was shameful and disgusting. There was actually a bit of envy deep, deep down. Imagine, getting away with shouting cuss words in the middle of class or at the dinner table at home!



"Ten points from Gingerpuff, Miss O'Brien," he scrunched up his face and put his nose in the air in an attempt to look more British and stuck-up. Hogwarts was, of course, a big joke to him. Though they knew very little of it, aside from stories that had been passed down through their families and the very, very rare exchange or transfer student from Britain. What he did know is that they had only four Legacies with stupid names like Shrinkydink, Russellcrowe, Goofydoor, and Huffinstuff. They were forced into them, and kept some kind of score for no reason. Plus, they all wore dresses and big, poofy white wigs and had horrible teeth and bad grammar despite having invented the language.



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Elizabeta silently watched the committee members trickle in. Such a mix of personalities. Zot with his ever present twitch and occasional loud and inappropriate words or sounds, Pratt with his bad attempts of humor which just make him seem a total jerk at best. He had such potential in earlier years then suddenly he just became totally useless. She wondered if he fell into drugs over the summer and that is why he acts like a total dick. Either way, she didn't know him well since he was a year or so beneath her.



Siobhan O'Brien, another member of the committee she didn't talk to much but at least she had brains and did make good suggestions in the past. Esher was a bit stuck on the whole Blood Traitor and Proud attitude of BTP. Far as Elizabeta felt, it was rather ridiculous. Not all Pureblood families from Europe were as bad as BTP tended to claim. Her own family didn't feel like they were blood traitors even though her grandparents left Romania due to a disagreement in the choice of marriage partner. She was still very much proud of her heritage. No, harping on the past was the last thing Elizabeta would waste her time on. The mystery of the Skulls and what goes on in the Legacy house was far more beneficial in her book.



Makepeace..was something of an enigma to her which did draw her attention. Now that he was chosen by the Lighthouse and was the more approachable in her book, of the four selected this year, Elizabeta intended to learn what she could about that mysterious building. Scanning the new Keepers, she thought it was an interesting choice altogether. A bad jokester, the calm but sharp tongued when roused, and two girls, one very much a bookworm the other, trying to find her spot in the world as far as Elizabeta could tell. It should be interesting to see what they get up to this year.



Green, the studious one. For a witch who spent so much time in the library, Elizebata had no idea if she truly had any ambitions or just enjoyed reading for the sake of reading. Something to look into, worse comes to worse, she may be useful in finding obscure books in the vast school library. Books Elizabeta didn't necessarily want the librarian to know she was seeking.



Having finished her contemplation of the other committee members who showed up thus far, Elizebeta hoped Miss Buskirk will get the meeting underway. She had a few ideas for this dance this year but didn't want to spend a whole lot of time debating what to settle on. She had better things to do with her time.



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He gave a quick nod to the boy at his left, before looking around the room. He wasn't sure if he cared for Pratt that much to be honest. He was one of the students Zot couldn't tell if he had been making fun of him or just laughing at the results of his curse fests. Either way, he had seen the way he sometimes spoke to others. Maybe there was something wrong with his sense of humor, but he didn't typically find the other boy's jibes very funny. Like the comment he just heard him make to Siobhan, obviously making a dig at her hair. He simply shook his head and sighed, casting his gaze elsewhere.



He saw a couple of the students who were a year ahead of him, Makepeace and Elizabeta. He noticed that the older boy was prepared to sketch, and that made Zot smile a little bit. He enjoyed art as a hobby, but hadn't put much other thought into it other than that. He liked music more, which was probably why he was in the music club which unfortunately also had lazy Pratt in it. The girl was a bit odd as well. Not odd in a bad way mind you, but odd in her determined streak. She was the kind of intense that was intimidating at times.



Siobhan wasn't so bad, Zot supposed. At least she showed up unlike her twin brother. Pratt always seemed to nag her the hardest, but he also blushed more when the girl was around. Maybe there was something to that, and maybe there wasn't. His eyes traveled to his right and he saw Esther Black. He sighed as the girl came off as somewhat of a snob at times with all of that blood traitor talk. Like it was actually a good thing to be a traitor. It made his inner patriot cry to think of it. No, now was not the time to think of that. Legacies really needed to be the furthest thing from Zot's mind at least for now. Once rush week opened up, then he would try again for Hope and Glory.



Lastly he finally noticed quiet Arwen. Someone he couldn't be no more opposite of. Where as he avoided the library with a passion, the older girl seemed to relish in the safety of the books and shelves and what not. A slightly stronger twitch ran through Zot for a moment as he turned his attention up to the adviser, wondering when Miss Buskirk was going to begin the meeting.



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Arwen looked around the room as she set there waiting for Miss Buskrik to talk about different ideas that everyone had for the dance. She knew that she could think of plenty of ideas using story books. Some of Shakespeare’s best works could have easily been picked to become one of the themes of a welcome dance. She had wondered though what all the others in the room might have thought about on the topic of ideas. All Arwen hoped for was the fact it was not some simple theme that was over used by other schools.



She seen the room was starting to gain more students all looking forward to giving their own idea’s. They each were different in personalities so good chance their ideas will reflect this difference of personality. First there was Elizabeta had showed up before her in the room. She could not tell what her thoughts were on things for the simple fact she never really talked to her that often. She knew the girl was also in the year before her so they had not spent any classes really together. So there was no way she would know what type of things she wanted to do.



Then there was Pratt who, if allowed to plan it all on his own would have made a dance full of pranks. He was part of the legacy that was known for all the jokes. She knew he had not seemed happy to have become one of the lighthouse keepers. She figured if given the chance he could do be allowed to work on the entertainment and make it all great. Makepeace then could be used to help with the decorations since it seemed that he liked to draw. She never seen any of the things he did but figure maybe with them being keepers together she would have a chance to get to know him more. He seemed that once you had become friends he open up even more.



The others that were here she had talked to before but not enough to know anything about them. There was Esther as part of the Beta’s. She knew they were also in the same year but never knew that much more though. Then Siohban she figured like tv shows and since they were now roommates they would work on trying to talk even more even about little things. Zot was nice though they never talked often since she lived in this room here and he was not one that would entered the library often.



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"Hi Zot. Are you going to pledge BTP this year? We'd love to have you." Esther whispered to the sweet but twitchy boy who sat next to her, noticing his blue eyes observing each person in the room from his innocent face.



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"Missin' a few, aren' we?" Miss Buskirk wasn't surprised. "Oh, well, no time t'waste. Let's get t'ings started. We need t'emes for de Hello Dance. Somet'in' dat'll draw 'em in like mot's t'flame."



While a couple of these students weren't the cream of the crop, the rest were, especially in creative areas. This wasn't their first rodeo, and most of them knew their role in planning dances. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to spell it out for them. This was their final act, and she wanted them to go out with a bang and give the next wave of student leaders something to strive for. Ideally, Arwen and Esther would plan the theme, Makepeace would bring it to life on paper and design the flyer, Elizabeta would be the setup director (she was good at bossing people around and they listened, usually), Siobhan would select refreshments to fit the theme, Pratt and Zot could handle the musical selection, and they would all work together on setup. Not that they had to do only those things and couldn't assist with the other matters.



"Let's hear what you've got," Misty looked to Esther and Arwen, smiling, though she would welcome ideas from anyone.



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"One idea on a theme I was considering is the Victorian Era. It is quite a classical period all around and I think it would make a dance quite impressive to see. A time when men are gentlemen and treat women of all types as Ladies. Where women can be at their best and enjoy the experience." Elizabeta found the eloquence of the Victorian Age quite fascinating. She doubted any of the boys here would appreciate it but a well dressed man was certainly impressive.

[Snick]

Pratt didn't care what the theme was, as long as they continued to let attendees wear whatever they want. It was unlikely that everyone owned Victorian clothing, anyway. The Victorian Era sounded very boring. And very British. Too bad none of the patriots were here to shoot her idea into the ground. Why not suggest American Victorianism, instead? The music would all be classical. Pratt sighed softly and dropped the front legs of his chair to the floor with an unintentional bang.



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"A costumed theme?" Makepeace asked quietly. "It sounds a little labor-intensive for the students to prepare for. Also, a little pricy for the ones that may have found themselves and their families struggling for school supplies.." He gave Elizabeta an apologetic look as he said this -- It was pragmatic. Makepeace didn't think anyone should be made to feel bad because their families were struggling. "Plus, the Halloween Dance is going to be in two months." Which would probably mean more costumes.



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His eyes widened slightly as Esther asked him if he was going to pledge her Legacy. He blushed slightly and shook his head. "Um, no," he tried to soften his denial with a shy smile. "I am going to try for Hope and Glory again," he explained in a soft whisper. He hadn't wanted to think of the Legacy yet, finding himself a bit unprepared. Before he could say much more, Miss Buskirk began the meeting.



He turned back toward the adviser before listening to what Elizabeta and Makepeace had to say. He had no opinion one way or another about the theme suggested so far. Makepeace had a point that couldn't really be argued. Suddenly a rather loud noise escaped from his mouth, echoing in the room. He clamped a hand over his mouth as his cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red. Dammit, no, not now!



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"Hmm you have a point about some students being unable to afford elaborate costumes. Perhaps it is best to leave costumes for a Halloween Ball. The masquerades we had in past years were always successful." Elizabeta says in reply to Makepeace's comments. She was about to make another suggestion, when Drake let out with one of his loud and unexpected noises. She turned and regarded him a moment. He was an intelligent young man and did contribute good ideas in meetings in the past. A pity he was cursed with a condition which will cause many to think he was nothing but a clown.



"Something simple perhaps...a Muggle theme. Dress in any Muggle clothing, that should be within the means of everybody here." She then turned back to Drake and smiled. "Sound like an idea to you, Zot?"



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Arwen listen to Miss Buskirk as she asked everyone if they had any themes. She saw the teacher had then looked at her and Esther. She really had lots of ideas but she had wanted to see what the others would do. There was a way she could most likely make any book into a theme that they had chosen. She could see where the idea that Elizabeta had come from since it was a really great idea. There were plenty of great ideas. She knew that Makepeace was right also though it would be a better theme for a Halloween Dance for the reasons that he had given. To do that type of theme you really had to dress the part and she did not have anything like that but could get her father to help her.



She turned to Zot when he had made a noise. She could tell that he was embarrassed from the shade his cheeks were. She moved to looked around at the different books in the room knowing that it might be easier if not everyone was looking at him to see what else might happen. Arwen smiled thinking about the books that she had read over the summer.



“Letting them dress in their normal clothes would be for the best. If you would like I have a few different ideas that could let everything dress in their normal clothes. The first is one that more commonly used by other schools even some times over. What if we did a garden theme? We could have a small maze of hedges leading to where the dance is to take place. Then Pratt and some of the others in his legacy or even anyone that wanted to help could work on coming up with innocent jokes on the people that happen to make a wrong turn. Then we could different flowers and plants all over the place with benches to set in. For the dance floor we could make a gazebo with vines wrapped around.” She thought it could be an interesting one. It was the one that was used all of the time by all schools even if not with same details.



“When going to the library though this summer I had picked up a book that could make and interesting theme for a party. How many students you think we have that would love to travel if allowed? We as the council could work on trying to help them out a little bit by instead of them going to the different place we brought the places to them. To decide on the place we could use Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. We could divide the room into different areas. In the book he had went to six different countries United Kingdom, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and then the United states. Instead of doing a huge meal we could do some research on finding out meals from each country making finger foods for everyone to choose from. They could wear muggle clothes and be treated just as if they were tourist.” She knew that one would be the one that took even more work. It was not an idea that had she known had been used before.



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His eyes opened a little wider when Elizabeta addressed him. The way she did it, Zot couldn't tell if she was subtly poking fun or getting back at him for interupting her by putting him on the spot. His tic picked up its pace slightly.



"I uh..." he paused, thinking about the actual proposal. "Well uh, wouldn't that pretty much just turn it into a normal dance then? We are allowed to wear what we want to dances anyway, so uh...slapping the title 'muggle' on it seems like...uh, I don't know...a cop out?"



He shifted nerviously in his chair, further drawing attention to his twitch. "I guess it just...doesn't seem very creative."



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"Not creative at all," Pratt agreed, looking to Elizabeta. "All clothes are mug stuff. And I don't run around without clothes, do you? Besides, a theme isn't really about the clothes, it's about the decorations. These all sound like a lot of work. The thing about around the world sounds awesome, but we don't have that kind of time, I don't think. We should probably do something that can use props and decorations we already have. What kinds of things do we have in the prop department?"



He looked to Esther expectantly.



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"I didn't ask for your opinion Pratt." Elizabeta told him indifferently then turned her attention to Zot who at least was polite about pointing out her second idea was pretty lame. Yet neither boy gave any suggestions themselves, just shot down her own. "Muggle clothing comes in all sorts of styles, so a theme based on a certain style of Muggle clothing certainly won't be the same as others. But clothing aside, themes can be anything."



"An 'Around the World in Eighty Days' theme would be an interesting idea in my book, It would mean a fair bit of set decorations and arrangement with the cafeteria staff to have a good selection of foods from each country. There have been plays and whatnot done in the past which involved sets and other decor which could be used to represent the various countries. With a bit of work I think this theme is feasible." Elizabeta knew it could be simplified, just images and sets representing the countries mentioned in the book, without need of food and whatnot. Students could simply dress in what sort of clothing they wanted, maybe representing their favorite country.



"But if you find thats too complex for you, we can go with a less cultural theme and say go with a color theme. Black and White, say. We can decorate the hall in various patterns of black and white and I am sure most students can manage finding something to wear that is either black or white or some combination of the two. We can use any pair of colors that would make a decent enough theme."



"Either way I am most curious to hear if anybody else save Arwen and myself have ideas. Come on now, show your own creativity since some may feel mine is lacking." It was a challenge, not just to the younger boys but for the rest of the members of the Committee.



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Makepeace chuckled a little. "We could do an old fashioned pajama hop." He said, ducking his head and sketching. "Everyone in pajamas, deck out the auditorium like a bed, pillows to have pillowfights with, stuffed animals, sheets hung from the ceiling with christmas lights behind them so that they light up..." He didn't know how far the idea would go with the administration, though.



"Nothing too far outside the dress code, of course. Nobody comes in trying to reveal Victoria's secrets, nobody tries to walk in saying they sleep in the nude..." His eyes lifted from his sketch pad for a moment, scanning the people around him for a moment before returning to sketching. He was trying not to think about some of the girls wearing pajamas, because, despite pajamas being shapeless and not very revealing, there was something unspeakably sexy about them. On girls, at least.



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Elizabeta glanced over at Makepeace, noticing he was sketching. Which one of them was he sketching now? She wondered but didn't feel a need to ask. As long as he was sketching them with clothing it didn't bother her all that much.



"I have to admit that is a good idea. It certainly would give it a more relaxed and comfortable flavor. Keeping in mind the dress code in regards to modesty, but even gowns can be worn, as long as something proper is worn underneath, such as leggings or shorts. Besides, if its a pajama party theme, that would imply people do wear pajamas. Birthday suits don't fall in that category." She let her eyes look over Makepeace, wondering what he would look like in PJ's. Smirking slightly at her own thoughts she looked over the others. Most of them she wouldn't care to see in pajamas but there was always the possibility she won't show up for the dance anyway. Though she did enjoy dancing it wasn't high on her list of priorities. It was the socializing that truly interested her. There was always the opportunity to strengthen connections with the seniors so they don't forget who she is once she graduated. Future connections always good to foster for a future need.



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Esther was suddenly feeling much nicer towards Pratt than she had the day before. "We have the props from The Wiz last year. Those could be really fun. The Emerald City . . . Or . . . There was South Pacifica few years ago if we want a tropical theme. We have our share of castles and palaces, a spaceship with a star backdrop from that Star Wars parody. We can transfigure stage blocks into other things as we need them. Or the pajamas could be fun too," she added with a nod to Makepeace.

"The point of the Hello dance is to welcome everyone back, make new friends, and help the new students feel part of the school. So we need to plan for some mixers and games too. Silly things. Changing partners when the music stops, dancing with someone who was born in the same month as you, that sort of thing."



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"Of course you didn't ask for it," Pratt said to Elizabeta with a lazy shrug. "This is a discussion and opinions are freely given."



The girl's lame barbs slid right off his back, like water off a beaver. She had said nothing about styles previously. If that's what she meant, that's what she should have said. That was still pretty boring, but not as boring as a simple color theme. Since she couldn't take criticism, Pratt decided he'd just ignore her completely from that point on.



"Pajamas would be alright. Much more practical," Pratt nodded, imagining a few choice girls in thin little gowns giggling and bouncing and hitting each other with pillows, feathers flying everywhere. A subtle heat rose in his cheeks. "Part of the bed could be like.. a bouncy house."



He scooted his chair a bit forward, propping an elbow on the table and chin in his open palm and appeared to be listening intently to Esther. No eye contact was made with her, however, and he couldn't bring himself to look in the opposite direction, at Siobhan - not after thinking of them like that. They weren't as developed in reality as they were in his imagination. At least he didn't think so, judging by their shapes in non-sleepwear.



"The Wiz," he repeated, grinning. "We could turn the tiles of the floor yellow. The music could have songs from the different incarnations of the story mixed up with current stuff. A space theme would be interesting, too. The music could include synthpop and classical remixes. The whole room could be charmed to look like space with stars and planets. I can't really think of any games or anything for those, though. Except maybe pin the wings on the flying monkey for Oz, but that's a child's game."



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Arwen listen to all of them talking about how they had liked her idea but how it would really take more time to get set up. It could be used later for another date and until it was she could work on finding out all the information she needed about those different places. She was thinking about all the other choices that had been given and wondered which one would have worked the best for the group of students they have now.



“Well the Pajama theme might be the best one for a Hello Dance. The others would be great themes to do for it also but what happens if someone really don’t like Star Wars. I personally never talked with anyone that had not liked it but there might be that one students that a first year that does not like it. If that person was to exist do you think they would come to the dance with that happening? What person out there if given chance to be comfortable in their pajamas would not?” She knew that she would enjoy walking around in comfortable clothes. She could see this as basically a giant sleepover that when ready to go to bed instead of sleeping on the floor she could head to her own bed.



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Siobhan thought most of the ideas sounded good. "I think you all have good ideas. If you decide on a theme, I can help with the different games and mingling dances and mixers and help with song selections and things. But if you are going to go with costumes, it has to be easy enough for the first years, who won't have the help of magic. So even something goofy like backwards clothes or inside out . . . or through the looking glass . . . that would do it!" She couldn't help smiling brightly at the sudden idea. "If it was through the looking glass, everything would be reversed, right? Our names, our clothes, all of it. Does that sound fun?" She tried not to sound too excited, just in case everybody else thought the idea was dumb.



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Elizabeta listened as they discussed further the idea of a pajama theme. As much as she enjoyed being in her pj's, she didn't particularly like the idea of parading about the dance hall in her pjs. Then again coming to the Hello Dance wasn't high on her list of priorities. She will help organize it, direct the others to ensure things get done in a timely manner but once the dance is under way, her job was done.



Her eyes flick over to the boys and expected they were all eager to get their jollies watching the jiggling of various female parts within the far looser and revealing nightshirts some girls do enjoy sleeping in. Of course the teachers will insist on some level of modesty but truth be told, Elizabeta was a bit more 'old fashioned' when it came to certain things. Then again, seeing boys wearing PJ's also had its appeal. She was as aware of the male populace at the school as any other witch here. Yet, her eyes tended to look towards older wizards, not younger and every single boy in the Committee was younger than she was. Some of the teachers however, were quite good looking. Not that she would openly flirt with any, that would certainly cross dangerous lines. Using a little flirtation to influence, yes, but to out right seduce, not her style at all.



"So far the Pajama idea seems to be most promising. Are there any other suggestions?" Elizabeta inquired, deciding she might as well take lead for now.

[Snick]

Makepeace couldn't believe it, but he found himself speaking up again. Really, what was going on with him? "Maybe a scavenger hunt for those who aren't going to be inclined to dance?" He asked, thinking of quite a few of the kids stalking around the school with "Woe-is-me, my-life-sucks" attitudes. Life at school was actually pretty awesome, and Makepeace enjoyed it far more than life in the muggle world. "We could hit up the professors and clubs for door prizes. Maybe a cool potion from Glassman, a one-time get-out-of-homework-free card from the Principal, stuff that they would actually want to compete for that wouldn't cost us a lot to get."



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Zot looked over at Siobhan as she made her suggestion. Her ideas were kinda neat he thought. When Elizabeta started speaking again, he turned to look at her and frowned. He found her sudden tone to be discouraging. And the fact that she completely ignored what Siobhan suggested didn't seem very nice either.



Brave little Zot spoke up with a little less hesitation. "Actually I believe there was a few other suggestions that you missed," he motioned toward Siobhan and offered the younger girl a kind smile before turning back to Miss Ego-trip. "Besides Elizabeta, who left you in charge? I thought this was supposed to be a council and not..." he paused, an odd look suddenly coming over his face. He knew that feeling and it was coming on quick. The tips of his ears blushed as a sudden blast of words came out of his mouth. "Shit, ass, tits, whore..."



He clamped a hand over his mouth and stood so quickly that his chair went flying backwards. Words were still streaming out behind his fingers but they were muffled now. He took off running toward the back of the library where he hoped it would subside.



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Esther had been proud when the young man next to her stood up for Siobhan and the others, but now his disorder seemed to have gotten out of control. It was the first time she had seen him take that kind of risk. "Excuse me," she said quietly.



She got up and walked to the back of the library where the young Zot was fighting getting his mouth under control. She went up to him and put her hand on his back, letting her instinct take over. She began rubbing his back while he struggled to calm down. "I'm proud of you," she said softly. "You showed real courage. You're a leader, Zot. I hope you stay on the council even after the Hello Dance. I will still be on it, and I could use your help."



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Elizabeta rolled her eyes. Not at Zot's outburst, she understood what that was all about and didn't take it personally. What she rolled her eyes over was his assumption she had not heard what O'Brien said. She did, but her suggestions weren't a theme, most just extra activities to have instead of just dancing. But this was a dance, not a party. Even Makepeace's suggestion of a scavenger hunt, that was more for a day long event or weekend event than the three or four hours a typical school dance was. But she had felt nitpicking their suggestions to pieces was not conductive of establishing cooperation.



"I was focusing on the overall theme. The Pajama party so far seems to be the most popular. Miss O'Brien's suggestion of inside out or into the looking glass, though easy to accomplish for any student may not have the same appeal as a pajama party style. But not everybody here has yet given suggestions, which was why I was asking for any others. Every suggestion I will write down and we will all decide which one we like the most and if more than one, we will do a final vote." Elizabeta looked over to where Zot and Esher went. "But first, a short break to give our two absent members a chance to return."



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She winced slightly at Zot's outburst. He couldn't help it, she knew, so she didn't reprimand him. Watching him walk off, soon followed by Esther, she sighed softly. He had been doing so well.



Miss Buskirk cleared her throat, looking at Elizabeta. "I'll t'ank ya, chall, for not steppin' on me toes," she eyed the girl, still smiling. "When de time come for you t' take charge, do what ya do. Now's not de time. You should know by now, your responsibility is makin' sure props and decorations and t'ings are placed all nice and pretty and according t' plan. Put de ice sculpture dere, move de streamers up t'ree inches... Dat's what you do. I say what we do in de meeting. No break. Zot wouldn't want us t' stop on his account."



As if he didn't feel bad enough already, she was sure it would only further upset him if his condition brought the meeting to a screeching halt. Every suggestion that had been made was written neatly on her pad of paper, and she looked it over. Misty crossed a few things out that had already been decided against. "Dere be plenty of suggestions. Good ideas," she said, poring over her notes. "Let's work with dese, radder dan get more suggestions. The ones dat seem to be liked and possible are Pajamas, Oz, Space - not necessarily Star Wars, maybe Around de World. I t'ink T'rough de Lookin' Glass would be a fun theme, too, and very easy to turn t'ings backwards. No underwater t'eme suggestions dis year? Dose were always me favorite. I'm addin' it to de list, not any more difficult dan de space t'eme, we got sea props and a set. Out of all of dose, be t'inkin' and discussin' which one de whole school would enjoy most, not what you would enjoy most."



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Elizabeta didn't like being dressed down and gave Miss Buskirk a rather annoyed look. Any idiot can decide where items go and Elizabeta didn't feel her taking a more direct leadership role of the meeting was stepping on Buskirk's toes. Afterall she still would have to authorized the decision. Far as she was concerned, the Teacher was just there to keep order, it wasn't necessary for her to run the entire meeting. But Elizabeta did not feel like locking horns with a staff member this soon in the school year.



"Do not worry, Miss Buskirk I had no intention of taking over the meeting from you, you do such a wonderful job at it." Elizabeta says, her tone making it impossible to tell if she was being honest or sarcastic. "I am also certain we will all be choosing a theme based on how much we think the school as a whole, would consider fun."



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Pratt was barely paying attention, by that point. No one commented, good or bad, about his ideas and he figured if he wasn't going to be heard, there was no point in speaking. Instead, he was scrawling on his own notepad with his mechanical pencil with never-ending lead and eraser. Disgruntled, he'd erase something and write again, slowly. It had to be legible.



Now and then, he'd pause to listen if something caught his interest, then write and erase and write again. He jumped, startled, when Zot spouted curses, and smirked slightly as Miss Buskirk reclaimed the reigns, then right back to pencil on paper. Sighing, he laid his head down with the pad between his face and the table, and his arms crossed on top.



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Arwen knew that Miss Buskirk was right they did not have to just stop just because Zot had left. She would have stood up to try and talk to him but knew that Esther had gone and it would most likely be better that way. She not really talked to him that often so might have only made it worse. She now had to decide on what she would have believed could have been the best theme. She thought the Around the World thing would have been great but they were all right it really needed a little more time to plan. She could also read up on the different cultures so that she could help.



She knew there were pro and con’s about everything that was going on. They all had come up with other ideas that would have been great. She knew that all of the ideas that were given would have been great for a welcome back dance. She was trying to think about the other things that could go along besides just a theme. This dance was to help everyone get out of their normal box. It was a way that allowed you to talk to people that might normally not happen during the rest of year.



She knew that there would have been an easy way to put them all together saying that it was a pajama’s party but have all those others as dream sequences. It could be really confusing though so the best would be if picked on them and do everything we could for it. The best would be which one would allow the most interaction with others. “Well the Oz theme would be the one we could fine the most ways of allowing everyone to talk with each other. We then have the scavenger hunt that Makepeace had suggested also. When think about it the whole story of Oz was based on like a fancy more detailed one. Dorothy and Toto was trying to find their way to Emerald City and head home then along the way the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. We could put out a signup sheet for those that want to do the hunt a few days before. They could randomly be divided into teams so that we would talk to people normally don’t.”



She was trying to think of things they could do with all the others since there was not all that different things that could be done with all the others. She knew they would all be fun if done right but had to think of all students and their thought. The pajamas one was a great issue but there were students at the school that might not have liked the way their body looked if. Those few that did most likely would not come. The Space ones could be fun since they did have all the things for it. They all had merit that made them great choices. “I mean the Through the Looking Glass is a great idea but other then turning everything backwards what could we do with it. Don’t get me wrong I like it just not sure where all it would go.”



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"Well, the primary concern over all of this should be to make the theme fit within the constraints of time and budget -- for all the students, not just the council -- and our ability to pull it off." Makepeace said, wondering if Miss Buskirk's telling-off of Elizabeta couldn't have been handled a little more diplomatically.



"Many of the themes that have been suggested are doable, and could even be a riot depending on how ambitious we want to get. The "Through the Looking Glass" one could incorporate a mirror maze to get to the actual dance, and the mirrors can easily be enchanted to have strange effects that you wouldn't see in a muggle Hall of Mirrors. For the space theme, we could knock together some school brooms and make starships that people can zoom around on, and create some zones in the room with zero gravity. I'll be honest, The Wizard of Oz creeps me out. Seriously. Munchkins, flying monkeys..." He shuddered a little involuntarily. "The only thing that could make it any creepier, for me at least, would be if there was a clown involved. A munchkin clown. That being said, it's easily doable. We have many of the props and set pieces ready-made. Under the Sea's another classic, and we could have schools of fish floating through the air... Around the World... As long as we're not insulting any cultures, it could be fun. Most people in the room probably wouldn't know what "Around the World" means in..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "Street terms." Ah, the joys of being raised group homes.



"How ambitious are we planning on getting with this? Because, we're talking about a group of people spending a significant amount of extracurricular time and effort preparing the decorations for this, and there are other dances practically right around the corner."



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He had found a corner away from anyone in the stacks, somewhere between Mythic Heroes and Natural Wizarding Wonders, where he was crouched down with his eyes closed. He hated it when the cursing started. The twitching he could handle, the loud noises were irritating but doable. The cursing however, that always got him the worst looks and hardest laughs. It had also gotten his ass beaten in the past when people didn't understand.



His hand was still over his mouth, though the string of foul words was diminishing. The feeling of a hand soothingly rubbing his back helped. He looked up at Esther as she spoke that she was proud of him, and it confused him at first. He thought for a moment that she was proud of him for literally cussing at Elizabeta. But it made more sense as she continued.



The words finally stopped and he shakily lowered his hand. "I don't even know why I was chosen in the first place. I don't speak very well as it is and when I get too worked up...well, you saw," he said as he looked down at his sneakers. "Why did you come to check on me?"



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"That is exactly the point, thank you for bringing it up Makepeace." Elizabeta knew she should have voiced that point herself. She was definitely not in her game today. "We have exactly 5 days to plan, prepare and get everything we need to decorate the dance hall in time for Friday's dance. Thus we are limited on how elaborate we can be. Most of the suggestions given are great ideas but many would be better suited to dances we have more than 5 days to organize."



"The pajama party theme would be easy to set up and does make for a more casual environment and it would be quite easy to enchant the roof to have soft puffy clouds and stars and moon showing. As this is a dance, we still have to keep plenty of floor space dedicated for just that. The chairs and tables could be large puffy cushions, it wouldn't be too difficult to transfigure the current furniture we have for dances into appropriate shapes to keep with the theme." Elizabeta stated calmly. Though she felt the pajama party rather immodest simply due to the fact bed wear wasn't meant to be paraded about in and she knew many students won't think to add extra clothing underneath to ensure bouncy parts aren't bouncing about for the boys to ogle.



"The 'Through the Looking Glass' idea is also another one which will be easy to implement and well within the capabilities of even our poorest students. They can simply wear their clothing backwards, underwear ontop of their outer clothing, logos reversed and the like. The hall could be done up much like Makepeace suggested, though instead of maze of enchanted mirrors, we can just have them scattered about the room, along the walls. We don't want students getting stuck in the maze, that and to set one up will take extra planning. I also feel games should be minimal or the sort that involved the entire dance, not just a few individuals who rather play wizard chest or other games, than dance and enjoy music. We can have spot contests, were any dancing in a given spot at a given time in a certain dance, wins a prize. Again, we don't have a huge among of time so we can't plan for too elaborate setup."



"All suggestions made today are good suggestions and I, for one, think they should be brought up for future dances. The 'Around the World' idea would work great for bigger dances, especially honoring those of us who come from different cultures."



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"Are you serious?!" Pratt sat up, grimacing at Elizabeta. "That's exactly what I said before, you stupid c-"



He caught himself before saying something that he, unlike Zot, would get in trouble for. "Now that Makepeace said it, you agree?" He stood, and grabbed his notepad with the smeared words (a few smudges of graphite were on his forehead, but unreadable). "You're such a bitch. If you find you've misplaced your nuts, Makepeace, I'd first check Elizabeta's mouth. I'm outta here. I know, Miss Buskirk, I'll see you in detention."



He gave the frowning teacher a quick glance before tossing his notepad into the trash with a deliberate clatter and strolling out of the door. To have his suggestions completely ignored was one thing. To have someone bitch at him then suddenly flip opinions, just because she obviously wanted on someone's jock, was another.



(exit Pratt)



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Siobahn watched Pratt leave, dismayed. "He did say that five minutes ago." She sighed.



"May I be excused to see what's taking Esther and Zot and to invite them back?" she asked, getting up. At the nod of Miss Buskirk, she headed to the back of the library, snatched Pratt's notebook out of the trash can and put it in her bag.



"Esther, Zot, if you two are feeling better, we really need you in the meeting. Balance of power and all . . ." she added with a timid smile. "Please?"



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Esther had just finished answering Zot..."You're my friend, isn't that obvious?" with a puzzled quirk of her head, when Siobhan showed up. For Zot being only a few months younger than her, there was something very innocent about him.



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He wasn't used to people calling themselves his friend, especially when he wasn't so sure about how he felt about them in return. Maybe Esther wasn't as snobby as her Legacy would suggest after all. He had been about to say something when Siobhan appeared before them.



"I...I," he looked a little scared. He wasn't sure if he should go back to the meeting. If Elizabeta was still up to her antics then he might not be able to stop another attack of his condition. Zot really didn't want to embarrass himself further. He looked between the girls who were looking at him expectantly. With a reluctant sigh he nodded. When two cute girls look at you like that, its kind of hard to refuse them, even if you are dreading the situation in it's entirety.



He pushed himself up, took a couple of deep breaths and straightened his shoulders. He did his best to keep his calm, but his tic picked up it's pace as he began walking back toward the tables. Zot picked up his chair and plopped back down into it, noticing that Pratt was gone. He looked over at Siobhan with scrunched brows, "Where's Pratt? I liked his bouncy house idea."

[Snick]

Elizabeta smirked. "If you were actually paying attention instead of doodling, you would have heard I was summarizing." She pointed out the watched as the burnout had his hissy fit and left. She hoped Pratt will not be appointed onto this year's committee.



When Siobhan ran off to collect the others she glanced over at Miss Buzkirk. So much for keeping the meeting moving smoothly, but in truth, once they decided on a theme, then her real tasks will begin.



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Arwen listen to what Makepeace had said about the concerns with this dance. She knew that she was guilty of not thinking about all of the other when it came to time and budget. It was their job as the council to pick a theme that the whole school would have been able to do. She had shuddered when he had mention clowns since there were only a few things that she did not like in the world. Clowns were on the top of the list. Bunny rabbits were just below them but she was never will that admit it to others.



“Around the World should really be put on the back burner right now. Makepeace is right and we don’t have enough time to make sure everything is done right. Last thing we need is to insult a culture and work on isolating a group of students not meaning to. If this is a theme we really want to do we could set up a committee right now to work on making sure that everything is done right. If that what is wanted to be done I would be willing to join it to make sure that it is completely accurate.” She knew that it would be completely messes up if done right now with only five days.



Arwen frowns when she saw Pratt flipping out because of what all happened. She had known that Pratt did have decent idea since he was the one that came up with the Oz one. She really was starting to hope that they had figured out what the theme was going to be soon before something else happened causing someone to leave. She did not blame him for the yelling then leaving because it would be what she did.



“Miss Buzkirk I believe that we have lowered it down to the Pajama party and then ‘Through the Looking Glass’ for themes. There has been plenty of other great idea that we could use for other dances through the year.” She smiled to Zot when he said he like the bounce house. “We could use the bounce house idea that Pratt gave if did the Pajama party since it would all be about having fun. Who does not like playing with a bounce house?”



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"I propose we put it to a vote." Makepeace said with a shrug. "Secret ballot, everyone gets a vote." He said, flipping the page of his drawing tablet. Whatever he was drawing, it wasn't much past the rough sketch stage, but it looked like two teens dancing, the girl with her head resting against the guy's shoulder, the guy peering down at her. It could well have been any girl and boy at the table. He tore out the next page, a blank page, and began tearing strips out of it to pass around the table.



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"Good idea. I second we vote." Siobhan leaned in to Zot, her voice low and soft. "Pratt left. I'll go find him in a minute." She didn't like Elizabeta acting so bossy. Couldn't she see that Ms Buskirk was in charge?



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"Oh," he whispered back. His blue eyes turned toward Elizabeta and wondered if she was the reason. She was certainly on a roll today if she was. He looked around at all of them for a moment and shook his head.



"I refuse to vote. I don't think it's fair to vote with several people absent, whose voices should count for something," he said with a shaky voice and a few quick tics. "Especially when so many suggestions have been overlooked by certain members of this council." Another loud noise burst forth which made him jump and grimace slightly. "Until we can actually show that we can work together, what's the point of this?"



He began packing up his backpack. Zot felt that too many people got overlooked or dismissed by the older students, mostly by Elizabeta who had some strange superiority complex. He slung his bag over his shoulder and offered a weak smile toward Miss Busskirk. "Sorry for disrupting the meeting Miss Busskirk. If you wish for me to report to detention, I will understand," he said quietly before giving a nod to those assembled and headed for the door.



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Elizabeta waited a few minutes after Makepeace pretty much did what she did earlier, decide it was time to vote. Yet, Miss Buzkirk didn't seem all that quick to chastise him for overstepping his bounds. She gave her a meaningful look before looking at Makepeace again. Before she had a chance to speak, Zot spoke up and pretty much stated his opinion that it wasn't fair to vote when not everybody was present at the meeting, then left himself. Elizabeta resisted rolling her eyes. Children...him and Prat both. Way to immature to be in any sort of committee like this. She couldn't understand why the Lighthouse choose Pratt. Maybe detentions will get these lazy irresponsible children to learn to attend meetings and not take off at the first excuse they can come up with.



"Makepeace, I do believe Miss Buzkirk made it quite clear who is to make decisions about the meeting, which includes when we vote." Elizabeta said in a firm tone but not too overbearing. She then looked over at Miss Buzkirk. "It seems those of us who can sit still long enough to last the meeting, are ready to vote Miss Buzkirk, if you feel its time."



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Makepeace let his head rock backward, his eyes rolling as he did so, giving him an excellent view of the ceiling behind him. "As I count it, only two people are absent, Zot. Pratt and Lorccan O'Brien. If you are protesting their voices going unheard, doing so by being silent is a rather like making a porno to promote abstinence. Kinda defeats its own purpose, since a decision is going to be made with or without you... or them... here."



"And I was proposing a vote, Elizabeta. If the chair wishes to not recognize my motion and open the floor to further discussion... Something something Robert's Rules of Order... Parliamentary procedure." He droned, his voice taking on a flat note because of the angle his head was tilted back, his adam's apple bobbing as he spoke. "I could be spending my sunday breaking in my new set of golf clubs."



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"By all means, Makepeace, go play golf." Elizabeta was getting tired of the immaturity of her fellow Committee members. "Those who choose to leave the meeting early or not show up at all, well, if they are interested in voting then they can arrange to vote in absentee, if we were following Roberts Rules of Order to the letter, but we are not for these Committee meetings so its a rather mote point bringing them up."



"Miss Buzkirk perhaps a vote should be called, otherwise the children will be gone." Elizabeta turned to the older witch. "Wouldn't you agree?"



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"On that note..." Makepeace leaned forward again, raising himself up to look at Elizabeta. "How about I make a motion to have you removed from this council, Elizabeta? Do you think any of the "children" would vote opposed to it? I'm sure Pratt would be in here in a minute to back that. Can I get a second to this motion?"



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"Now that's simply childish." Elizabeta sneered and turned away, completely ignoring Makepeace now.



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Esther didn't know what was wrong with Elizabeta. Maybe it was that time of the month. Maybe she'd mention it to the school nurse later on.



"Since I'm not overly fond of being called a child by one of my classmates, despite the fact that I go out of my way to be nice to people, I second that motion. You aren't trying very hard to get along or work with the group, Elizabeta."



Imagine her and Makepeace being on the same side again after three years . . .



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Arwen set there listening to what was being said by the others. She had been shocked that Elizabeta had said that they were all children. She really did not see anyone that was acting that way. Pratt had been upset that it seems if they were ignoring him. Zot did nothing wrong because when he had interrupted the meeting it was not by something he could have stopped even if wanted to. Plus she really had not thought that the lighthouse would have picked children to take care of it. They needed to have a least some responsibility.



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Elizabata shot a look at Esther. "I was referring to those members of this committee who have tantrums and storm off because things didn't go their way, or just didn't bother showing up. I have no idea why Zot felt a need to leave, its not like we didn't have votes with missing members before. Miss Buzkirk already indicated today, we won't delay the meeting due to missing members. That said, Esther, siding with Makepeace just isn't a bright move on your part. Afterall, committee members are appointed and dismissed by staff, not by member votes."



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"Dat's enough!" Misty stood, slamming her fists on the table dramatically to bring all eyes to her. "Makepeace, Esther, t'morrow, after class detention, prop room - check all de strings of fairy lights. ALL of dem. And if you run out, dere be more props dat need fixin'."



No telling how many strings they had in there. It should keep them busy for a good while. "Elizabeta, come speak wit me privately after classes t'morrow."



As for Lorccan, Pratt, and Zot, she would send their punishments by owl. "Now, I agree, 'tis time t' vote," she nodded. "Please choose pajama party or through the looking glass."