Homecoming
Aug 18, 2019 15:10:11 GMT -6
Post by Snick on Aug 18, 2019 15:10:11 GMT -6
"And now, Salem Institute, here is your 1992/1993 Interscholastic Quadpot Team... Let's hear a big cheer for YOUR fighting Black Cats!"
Eleven riders on brooms came flying out of the locker room in tight formation, heralded by much applause and fanfare as they flew straight at a large paper banner showing a black cartoon cat mauling a golden eagle in anticipation of a heated match against Yabnal Itza's Quadpot team. The banner shredded as they flew through it, and then burst into confetti, scattering across the stands of the field like an early snow. The Salem Quadpot team was strong this year, virtually guaranteed to make it to the semifinals, while the team from Mexico rarely had a good showing in the sort of cold, rainy weather they were guaranteed to face on the Black Cats' home turf.
The crowd was going wild, waving around pennants and roaring out "Black Cats! Black Cats!" while the band played the school's fight song. But then something happened that wasn't in the script for the pep rally. The sound of a Mexican brass band rose in challenge to the fight song, and a solitary figure in a black cat mascot costume rose up from behind the stands on a broom, trailing a huge red, white and green eagle piñata. The crowd went a little nuts as they saw this, and the black cat mascot pantomimed cheekily to the team, egging them on to see what they could do about this challenge.
Nobody seemed to notice what was going on underneath the piñata. A hint spoken in a few curious ears a few days before the pep rally had hinted that there was a whole lot of loot to be had for those who were quick to gather it. Swag from nearly two dozen vendors at the Salem malls. Wands, vouchers for merchandise and all sorts of other goodies. Curiously, only a handful of people seemed to have gotten that message, and had run out onto the field to get into prime position while everyone else seemed preoccupied by the show that was being put on for their benefit.
High up above the field, the challenge issued by the giant piñata was accepted, and eleven brooms formed up into a line, shouting out a challenge and then diving at it at speeds that blistered the air. Brooms collided with glued paper and prevailed, hitting the piñata so hard that it flew apart with all the force and spectacle of a Hollywood marriage going to pieces. As it fell apart, it disgorged its contents down onto the students below.
Like the piñata, the prizes were Mexican in nature. Two dozen BM-80's -- Mexican dungbombs considered almost mythical for how powerful they were, and they didn't disappoint, going off like automatic gunfire in a war zone. In the midst of the explosions, Walt Turner, Steve Davidson and several other Alger Society members found themselves on the receiving end of a rather harsh payback.
At first, the students in the stands were stunned, but then laughter erupted as they saw what had just gone down. The faculty, meanwhile, searched the skies for the mystery mascot, but couldn't find him.
He was in the Visiting team's locker room, shucking off the costume and running over to sweep up a waiting Esther in a very impulsive hug. "We've got to run. Did you get pictures?"
She hugged him tightly, laughing. "I've got them. They'll be all over the Salem Underground. This is perfect. Those fools will stink for days!" She released him and they took off running together, hands held tightly.
They hurried round the back of the crowd, then threaded their way into the mass of confusion and laughter, soon blending in with the rest of the hysterical students laughing at the prank and wondering why they'd done it. "Gotta admire the Mexican team's sense of style!"
Makepeace knew, of course, that the hug and the hand-holding were platonic on Esther's part, but as they ducked into the crowd, he couldn't help but imagine for a few moments that she might be interested in him as something more than just a friend. He considered if he really should pledge BTP to become closer to her, but he got the feeling that that would be somewhat manipulative and low. Esther was a sweet, attractive girl, and the last thing she needed was some asshole playing around with her emotions.
The moment he caught a whiff of the dungbomb stench, he was reminded of the smell of the bathrooms in Lamplighter on wednesday mornings. The morning after Taco Tuesday. It truly was disgusting, and wished he had thought to bring a container of Vicks Vapor Rub or something. "Ugh." Esther's older brother had been the one to suggest dungbombs when Esther and Makepeace had started planning the revenge, and he had been the one to tip off Walt by talking about the pinata to a friend in the restroom.
"I don't think it was actually the Mexicans that did it." Makepeace replied over the roar of the crowd. "I mean, it was our team's mascot flying that broom. Maybe the Stooges did it? Part of a grudge against the Algers or something?" Even though they had nothing to do with it, the Stooges would probably gladly take credit for the prank.
"True, it might have been the Stooges." She looked at him and laughed. "Or maybe Abbott and Costello," she said, thinking of a favorite old movie she had watched with her brothers that she had loved far more than the Stooges, and that had starred only two slapstick comedians, not three. She caught his eye, then brazenly winked at him. Fortunately, in that crowd, no one else saw the wink besides him.
"Well, I don't know who's responsible, but considering the sort of hazing those guys have been doing this year, they really did kinda deserve it." Makepeace hadn't been the only one blackballed, or else he might have let it go, and taken his humiliation like a man. "Please tell me that they're not hazing you at BTP." He added, pitching his voice so that she could hear it, but low enough that others weren't overhearing it. "I mean, last week, the Flag Hags pledges had to stand up and sing the National Anthem any time someone requested it." Not just the National Anthem, though. They were also supposed to sing Stars and Stripes Forever, America the Beautiful, My Country 'Tis Of Thee, Yankee Doodle and the school's fight song if someone told them to.
Meanwhile, at ISA, pledges were required to submit to tests and quizzes of all sorts and at all times of the day or night, and you were required to pass them with a 95% or better grade, which Makepeace had so far succeeded in doing. He didn't really consider it hazing, though, just academic attrition.
"They have not had me do anything too hard. I hope to finish pledging soon. I have had to look up my genealogy, but I have no interest in getting to know any of them other than the ones who left."
Esther smiled knowingly. "I heard that three pledges for a certain house had to have an upside down tricycle race. I wish I could have seen it."
"As long as I don't have to make a giant pinata for your guys' upperclassmen." He said with a chuckle. He wanted to ask her to come to the Homecoming Dance with him, but Esther was popular. He suspected that dozens of guys would ask her, or had even already asked her, and he was definitely an underdog as far as suitors went. He would have to make some sort of grand, romantic gesture. And not here, in the middle of the stands, which seemed to be downwind of the dubgbombs they'd just set off. "Whew... I've had about as much pep as I can handle. Let's get out of here."
Eleven riders on brooms came flying out of the locker room in tight formation, heralded by much applause and fanfare as they flew straight at a large paper banner showing a black cartoon cat mauling a golden eagle in anticipation of a heated match against Yabnal Itza's Quadpot team. The banner shredded as they flew through it, and then burst into confetti, scattering across the stands of the field like an early snow. The Salem Quadpot team was strong this year, virtually guaranteed to make it to the semifinals, while the team from Mexico rarely had a good showing in the sort of cold, rainy weather they were guaranteed to face on the Black Cats' home turf.
The crowd was going wild, waving around pennants and roaring out "Black Cats! Black Cats!" while the band played the school's fight song. But then something happened that wasn't in the script for the pep rally. The sound of a Mexican brass band rose in challenge to the fight song, and a solitary figure in a black cat mascot costume rose up from behind the stands on a broom, trailing a huge red, white and green eagle piñata. The crowd went a little nuts as they saw this, and the black cat mascot pantomimed cheekily to the team, egging them on to see what they could do about this challenge.
Nobody seemed to notice what was going on underneath the piñata. A hint spoken in a few curious ears a few days before the pep rally had hinted that there was a whole lot of loot to be had for those who were quick to gather it. Swag from nearly two dozen vendors at the Salem malls. Wands, vouchers for merchandise and all sorts of other goodies. Curiously, only a handful of people seemed to have gotten that message, and had run out onto the field to get into prime position while everyone else seemed preoccupied by the show that was being put on for their benefit.
High up above the field, the challenge issued by the giant piñata was accepted, and eleven brooms formed up into a line, shouting out a challenge and then diving at it at speeds that blistered the air. Brooms collided with glued paper and prevailed, hitting the piñata so hard that it flew apart with all the force and spectacle of a Hollywood marriage going to pieces. As it fell apart, it disgorged its contents down onto the students below.
Like the piñata, the prizes were Mexican in nature. Two dozen BM-80's -- Mexican dungbombs considered almost mythical for how powerful they were, and they didn't disappoint, going off like automatic gunfire in a war zone. In the midst of the explosions, Walt Turner, Steve Davidson and several other Alger Society members found themselves on the receiving end of a rather harsh payback.
At first, the students in the stands were stunned, but then laughter erupted as they saw what had just gone down. The faculty, meanwhile, searched the skies for the mystery mascot, but couldn't find him.
He was in the Visiting team's locker room, shucking off the costume and running over to sweep up a waiting Esther in a very impulsive hug. "We've got to run. Did you get pictures?"
She hugged him tightly, laughing. "I've got them. They'll be all over the Salem Underground. This is perfect. Those fools will stink for days!" She released him and they took off running together, hands held tightly.
They hurried round the back of the crowd, then threaded their way into the mass of confusion and laughter, soon blending in with the rest of the hysterical students laughing at the prank and wondering why they'd done it. "Gotta admire the Mexican team's sense of style!"
Makepeace knew, of course, that the hug and the hand-holding were platonic on Esther's part, but as they ducked into the crowd, he couldn't help but imagine for a few moments that she might be interested in him as something more than just a friend. He considered if he really should pledge BTP to become closer to her, but he got the feeling that that would be somewhat manipulative and low. Esther was a sweet, attractive girl, and the last thing she needed was some asshole playing around with her emotions.
The moment he caught a whiff of the dungbomb stench, he was reminded of the smell of the bathrooms in Lamplighter on wednesday mornings. The morning after Taco Tuesday. It truly was disgusting, and wished he had thought to bring a container of Vicks Vapor Rub or something. "Ugh." Esther's older brother had been the one to suggest dungbombs when Esther and Makepeace had started planning the revenge, and he had been the one to tip off Walt by talking about the pinata to a friend in the restroom.
"I don't think it was actually the Mexicans that did it." Makepeace replied over the roar of the crowd. "I mean, it was our team's mascot flying that broom. Maybe the Stooges did it? Part of a grudge against the Algers or something?" Even though they had nothing to do with it, the Stooges would probably gladly take credit for the prank.
"True, it might have been the Stooges." She looked at him and laughed. "Or maybe Abbott and Costello," she said, thinking of a favorite old movie she had watched with her brothers that she had loved far more than the Stooges, and that had starred only two slapstick comedians, not three. She caught his eye, then brazenly winked at him. Fortunately, in that crowd, no one else saw the wink besides him.
"Well, I don't know who's responsible, but considering the sort of hazing those guys have been doing this year, they really did kinda deserve it." Makepeace hadn't been the only one blackballed, or else he might have let it go, and taken his humiliation like a man. "Please tell me that they're not hazing you at BTP." He added, pitching his voice so that she could hear it, but low enough that others weren't overhearing it. "I mean, last week, the Flag Hags pledges had to stand up and sing the National Anthem any time someone requested it." Not just the National Anthem, though. They were also supposed to sing Stars and Stripes Forever, America the Beautiful, My Country 'Tis Of Thee, Yankee Doodle and the school's fight song if someone told them to.
Meanwhile, at ISA, pledges were required to submit to tests and quizzes of all sorts and at all times of the day or night, and you were required to pass them with a 95% or better grade, which Makepeace had so far succeeded in doing. He didn't really consider it hazing, though, just academic attrition.
"They have not had me do anything too hard. I hope to finish pledging soon. I have had to look up my genealogy, but I have no interest in getting to know any of them other than the ones who left."
Esther smiled knowingly. "I heard that three pledges for a certain house had to have an upside down tricycle race. I wish I could have seen it."
"As long as I don't have to make a giant pinata for your guys' upperclassmen." He said with a chuckle. He wanted to ask her to come to the Homecoming Dance with him, but Esther was popular. He suspected that dozens of guys would ask her, or had even already asked her, and he was definitely an underdog as far as suitors went. He would have to make some sort of grand, romantic gesture. And not here, in the middle of the stands, which seemed to be downwind of the dubgbombs they'd just set off. "Whew... I've had about as much pep as I can handle. Let's get out of here."
