Brunch Games

[Hannah Bell]

“Hannah Jo, are ya ready?” Hannah's mom had been waiting for much too long. The young girl, who already took a long time to get ready, had been in her room for two hours trying to decide what to wear to Bree Marcus' brunch party.

Hannah peeked out from her bedroom door to respond to her mother. “One second, momma!” she cried with exasperation. Though she would never admit it to her friends, she desperately wanted to be the prettiest girl in the room for once. She might not even mind if yucky Tyler Durnham hit on her, if only because it meant she looked exceptionally well. She smiled to herself as she finished putting on a pair of white strappy sandals and stood up, looking herself over in the mirror.

She had decided on a white strapless party dress with small black and gold spots, tied across the waist with a big gold bow. The skirt poofed out a little, which she always enjoyed, and it showed off just enough of her legs to be sexy without being too risqué. She added a small white cardigan in case it got chilly, but she hoped she didn't have to wear it. Her shoulders were one of her favorite parts of her body. She quickly pulled her short hair back into a mini ponytail and she was ready to go.

The drive to the Four Seasons was short, and Hannah did her best to keep her excitement at a minimum. So far, she had been to a few parties since returning to L.A., and most of them had been quite fun. This was the first formal get together, however, and Hannah hoped to really impress her fellow cheerleaders. She kissed her mom on the cheek as the car rolled to a halt and practically jumped out of the vehicle, walking briskly to the front door.

Inside, Hannah navigated her way to the party room and found that she was early enough to have her choice of seats, yet not so early the place was deserted. Deciding to play a little game with herself, she took a lone seat across from the entrance and waited to see whose attention she might draw. She smiled to herself again for probably the hundredth time that morning, pulled out her cell phone to appear nonchalant, and waited.

[Maysan Paghishetsi]

May hoped that this brunch of Bree's went better than the park outing on Thursday. Dramatic arguments were not only uncouth, but while she hadn't known the people who'd planned the park cleanup, she did know Bree and would have felt devastated for her friend should the same fate befall her brunch. Drama needed to stay far, far away. And it probably would, she reflected, as Bree had been very specific with her invitations. Anyone prone to causing trouble wouldn't be invited.

Her gaze swept across the room, hoping to spy either her friend or Sloane; failing to spot either one of them she made her way to the next best person, fellow cheerleader Hannah Bell. Hannah wasn't the sort of girl May normally hung out with outside of practice, but then May didn't hang out with very many people. In fact, if she had to give a list of people she counted firmly as friends rather than friendly acquaintances her list would have consisted of exactly two people: Bree Marcus and Rosalie Naples. Sloane was in a completely different class, of course.

"Hello, Hannah! You look gorgeous." She complimented the younger girl. "I love your dress." Her own dress was a slinky emerald green number of a very shiny material with a pleated bodice and ruffles at the bottom. Hannah's dress was much cuter and more fun, making May feel that her own outfit was far too subdued. Normally she wouldn't have cared, as subdued was a perfect word to describe her favorite ensembles, but if she was going to impress Sloane then she should probably have tried a little harder. But then, Sloane seemed to like her just fine the way she was, so maybe subdued was fine? Really this whole dating thing was difficult to figure out.

"Have you seen Bree? I wonder if she's made it here yet." She continued, though she figured that her friend was probably busy with hostessing duties. This sort of event had to involve a great deal of work, but Bree always made her duties seem effortless.

[Hannah Bell]

A voice distracted Hannah from her random texting, and she quickly slipped her phone into her purse as she looked up to see gorgeous Maysan Paghishetsi approaching her table. Hannah smiled and stood up, proud that an upperclassman had complimented her. “Hey there May! You look fantastic!” Hannah said as she hugged the other cheerleader. She felt a little underdressed as her little party dress hardly compared to May's classy green number. The younger cheerleader started to feel quite envious of the exotic girl's beauty, and slightly disappointed that her own cuteness would be diminished sitting next to May.

Still Hannah wanted to impress the older girl, and so she was glad of the opportunity to talk with her. “No, I haven't seen her yet. She's probably busy taking care of things...” Hannah trailed off and leaned in closer to May before adding, “or maybe she's with Mew Fischer!” Though it hadn't been very long, the rumors of the pair had been circulating the school already. Of course the Gould cheerleading squad had heard quite a bit, though Hannah hadn't seen Bree and Mew together with her own eyes yet. If Mew showed up, it would definitely confirm everything.

Of course, Hannah had also heard a few rumors about May but they seemed a bit more far fetched. Sure, maybe she was hanging out with Sloane Taylor now, but May had never said anything about liking girls and so Hannah wasn't sure if she believed the few people that were insisting May was less heterosexual than everyone thought. Still, today might offer an opportunity for Hannah to find out what May and Sloane were up to.

[Maysan Paghishetsi]

May had heard the rumors, of course, but although Bree was a friend she'd not yet confirmed whether or not they were true. Bree certainly hadn't mentioned anything to her, but the other cheerleader had been so busy planning for her event today that they hadn't had time to talk since the park. And, to be fair, May had been distracted. She was a little surprised, however, that there were rumors swirling about Bree with one of the school's nerds. She'd understood about the rumors involving Tyler Durnham, because he was frequently seen in her company -- and they'd put on quite the display at her birthday party, a shocker for someone as shy about overtly affectionate physical displays as Bree normally was.

There wasn't any real reason that Bree couldn't go out with Mew, of course, other than he wasn't in their social circle. It wouldn't do good things for Bree's reputation to date him. But then, considering Sloane's reputation (it had to be undeserved, though!) nobody would be particularly impressed with May's choices, either. She wasn't sure if it would be more suicidal to date the socially awkward nerd who couldn't dress himself or the bisexual girl with the reputation as a whore. And was Sloane's reputation more of a killer than her gender? She was fairly certain that it was, because while most people claimed to be accepting of 'alternative lifestyles' it was telling that the people most likely to come out were on the fringes of society, the outcasts or the adherents to varying ridiculous subcultures. The All-Americans, the plastics, the thoroughly normal kids were unequivocally straight, perfect zeros on the Kinsey scale. And if she needed more proof, nobody batted an eyelash at the reputation of Tyler Durnham or Lucas Grant, just accepted that sleeping around was what the popular boys did. But people looked askance at Sloane for supposedly engaging in the same behaviors.

"Hmmm. If that's true I wonder when that happened! I didn't notice them together on Thursday." She pondered. He'd been there, but it was his friend who had helped organize the park event in the first place, so he wouldn't be there just for her. Or maybe he would be. If that was the case, May wondered if he agreed with his friend about homosexuality. And if he did, what did Bree think? She was friends with Sloane, too, and hadn't commented about Sloane being bi, but maybe she really disapproved. Would she still be as friendly if May came out to her?

"I guess we'll have to see," She decided at last before changing the subject to more mundane matters. "Are you ready for the pep rally? I think our routine will really wow everyone, and show that Gould can work together with Silver, rivals or not."

[Hannah Bell]

“Yeah, I couldn't even imagine how they got together,” Hannah gushed. She liked to think of herself as a good person, but sometimes she couldn't help but gossip. It was just too much fun. “If it's true, of course,” she added, though she had already assumed it was. Everyone was saying so. “Maybe her and Tyler's break-up hit her harder than she thought, and she decided to slum it with a nerdy boy.” Even Hannah's likeable southern accent couldn't hide how she looked down on the dorkier kids in the school. “Yeah, I can't wait to see!” she giggled, picturing the elegant Bree on Mew Fischer's arm. It just seemed so... weird.

Hannah was more than welcome to chat about cheerleading, so when May suddenly shifted the conversation Hannah didn't blink an eye. “Oh, I am so ready! I think it's our best cheer yet.” Granted, Hannah had missed the fall and so had not been around for the football games, but she still felt it was a great cheer and the two schools worked pretty well together. “I just hope they don't cut the size of the group now that there are pretty much two squads. I heard they might do that for next year.” Mostly, Hannah was nervous that she would be cut since she had missed so much time, even though next year she'd be an upperclassman.

“I can't wait for all those boys in the school to see it, too. I bet they go wild after they see your lift!” Another reason Hannah was jealous of May was that she was often involved in a lot of the lifts since she was so skinny, but Hannah wouldn't want that to show. Still, it would be so great if she could be the center of attention on the cheer squad for once. “They'll all be after your number soon!” Hannah winked at the other girl in jest. She was teasing a little bit, but May was pretty and having that sort of attention was sure to get her some gentlemen callers.

[Maysan Paghishetsi]

"Oooh, it would be too bad if they cut anyone!" May agreed. She would be a Senior next year, but that didn't mean that her place on the team was guaranteed. "Maybe Silver will be open again in time for the next school year," She suggested, though she wasn't sure how likely that was. The other school had incredibly awful luck, and between slowly worsening financial conditions and parents irate at all the issues plaguing the other school the status of Silver was less than certain. Although there were a few people suggesting that Silver was haunted and had brought it's bad luck over to Gould, which was why the shooting had occurred. May didn't believe in such ridiculous superstitions as hauntings, but she did agree that Silver had more misfortunes than was natural, and apparently misfortune was contagious.

May tried to suppress a shudder at the idea of having to fend off a bunch of unruly boys. "If that happens I'll just lie and give them your number." She teased, "Oh, would that be too mean? Hmm, I'll have to think who I really dislike, then." Though the only people springing to mind were male. "Maybe I'll give them Xavier Goodwin's number. You think he's listed in the directory? I'm afraid to actually ask him, he might get the wrong idea."

[Hannah Bell]

“Well, from what I heard, Silver's closed for good!” Hannah whispered conspiratorially. Part of her hoped it was not true, as Gould was filled to the brim as it was, but another part of her liked having a bunch of new people around. Plus, if things between her and Gage went any further, it would help relieve a good deal of stress over the fact they were from rival schools.

Hannah blushed a little at the thought of a large group of boys out to date her. She was a pretty girl alright, but she was never the prettiest and rarely did she get much attention. Often when she did it was more because her mother was a famous country star. There were even some boys who wanted to try to date her mother! “Ohmygosh, you better not give them my number!” Hannah feigned, playing along with May. She laughed when Xavier's name was mentioned. “Oh, yuck! I can imagine what he might think if you tried to get his number!”Hannah's laughing continued as she talked, almost interrupting her words. “Could y-you... ha... fake a d-date with him j-just... haha... to trick him? I d-don't know if-f I could!” She almost continued, but a snort stopped her cold. Her face went immediately blank, though crimson began to rise in her cheeks. She hated that she occasionally snorted when she laughed, as people almost always made fun of her. She looked up at May. “Sorry,” she said meekly, horrible embarrassment written across her face.

A few chuckles could be heard from some of the people nearby, and tears started to form in the corners of Hannah's eyes. “I, umm, I need to go to the ladies' room.” She stood quickly, her eyes off of May, and walked briskly out of the room, leaving her purse all alone hanging off her chair.