groovygamers.com

Monday sometime after school

Sarah pops into existence down the street from Samantha's house and walks the last bit in the cool weather.  She'd been worrying about the girl since she saw the video and was dying to get over to the house.  She'd considered blowing off classes but decided against it.  She'd been glad to help in the investigation into the AV room.  At least they had the ball rolling. 

*ding dong*

And hey hadn't it been a great distraction from her own thoughts? 

Sarah blew dragon smoke in a vapor cloud upwards in the cold air.

(OOC: Anyone who wants a port over can consider themselves invited for the ride.)

Donnie came over too, intending to report to Sammy what the foursome had seen in the video room.

Sammy's mom answers the door.  "Hi guys.  Sammy's in the family room, go on in."

Sammy is sitting on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, watching television with her dad.  Mr. Jameson sees the others come in, grunts as he brings his La-Z-Boy recliner back to its full upright position and says vaguely "I'll go help Mom" before he disappears down the hall.

"Hey," Sammy says.  "Thanks for coming over."  Godzilla screeches as it wrestles with high tension power lines on the big screen.

Sarah smiles and says, "Had to come over."  She heads over to Sammy and plunks down on the couch.  "How are you doing?"

Sammy peels her eyes off the screen and looks at Sarah. "I don't know.  I'm still figuring things out."

"Hey, cool. Go-Zirra. Which one is this?"

He plunks himself down on the floor in front of the couch, leaning back against it.

"The Ghidrah one," is the answer. 

"Groovy." Donnie lets Sarah take the lead in feeling out how Sammy is and if she wants to talk about the incident.

Sarah nods to Sammy.  "You feel like talking or should we just make popcorn?  If your interested Donnie dug up some info about this afternoons feature presentation."

Sammy looks more alert.  "Really?  Someone stepped out of the shadows long enough to promise me that it was NOT the same group that showed the video of Lisa Janush earlier this year.  Tell me about it."

Donnie, without taking his eyes away from the rubber-suited monster, waggles his fingers in the air, leaving golden sparkles. "Yeah I did some hoodoo and rewound a bit of time at the video editting station in the AV Lab. Torrance the Plastic Cheerleader was the culprit. She wowed some poor sap and 'accidentally' flipped the transmit switch during the Kiss part, then made the AV guy aware of it after the damage had been done."

Sammy swears.  "Elrod told me she tried to hit on him this afternoon.  B!tch!"

She takes a sip from an open can of root beer and continues in a more subdued tone.  "I'm not sure if El and I are still dating.  We're still talking, and he's not unfriendly, but"  she sets the can down.  "Something started to break when I kissed Nick Hurley, and broke even more when El found out about it.  He's known since last Friday night.  Even so, he didn't tell anybody to beat up Nick.  I'm not even sure it was Jeff and Andy's idea.  Its not like them."

Sarah ponders, "Well, if it wasn't like them then maybe they had some help changing their outlook.  Maybe Torrence has a way or maybe she just has access to whoever has been creating the love goo.  Like we saw with the bwitches, love can turn pretty savage."

She looks back at Godzilla and adds, "Or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong direction.  It just seemed neat this way.  We can pin all the blame on Torrence.  I think she stole my cookies at lunch the other day too."  

"Neat is okay by me," Sammy adds.  "I hate her.  I'm not going to need much more of an excuse to send her into orbit."

Donnie clears his throat. "That..wasn't, um Torrance. Just the greedy pig familiar"

Sarah points at Donnie and says, "Ah-Ha!  I knew it.  I should feed that little thief a ten pound sack of mentos and then let him guzzle down a two liter of diet coke.  Then I'll shake him and stick him in your backpack." 
 

Like magic,  Sammy's mother appears a moment later carrying a tray laden down with a variety of homemade Christmas cookies.  "Did Sam tell you there are cold drinks in the basement refrigerator?  Help yourselves!"  She puts the tray down on the coffee table and disappears again.

"She's a baking machine this time of year," Sammy says as she grabs a chocolate chip cookie.

Donnie mock-glowers at Sarah. "I don't intend to let you assplode my dragon. Besides, he eats aluminum cans and guns for cripes sake. Mentos and coke would probably just make huim burp for a while."

He takes a sugar-sprinkles santa. "I think the best way to teach him a lesson is to eat the cookies before I call him. The torture of knowing he missed out on Mrs. Jameson's Christmas cookies ought to be enough cruelty."

crunch-munch-munch

"I wonder who gave him the impression that all her cookies are belong to him in the first place, hmmm?"

Donnie smiles at Sarah.

"He has you there, Sarah.  But don't worry.  My mom has enough cookies in the freezer to last us through June.  If you give a dragon your cookie, he'll probably eat them all, but there are plenty more here to be eaten."

Godzilla screeches again.

"Anybody know if Sylvia has been able to talk to Nick?  I asked her if she'd check some things out for me."

Donnie's brow furrows. "She told me she had some work to do and would call me later. I didn't know she was off investigating people. She's so secretive sometimes."

His retains the scowl as he watches Godzilla slam Ghidrah into a mountainside.

"Please don't get upset with her Donnie," Sammy says in a tired voice.  "I asked her to do me a favor and try to find out who really did send people to beat up Nick.  I also wanted her to speak to Nick directly.  She probably thought it would be more discreet if she went alone."  She sighs.  "I would have gone myself if I wasn't afraid of fueling the fire."

The scowl disappears.

"I'm not. It's just that I wish she would just tell me things instead of worrying about how I'd react to them. That's our one big stumbling block. She tries to hide things from me afraid I might react badly as opposed to being honest with me and letting me accept them. I know I have reacted badly in the past, but I am trying to be better about controlling my emotions. It's harder when i find out she's doing things and avoiding mentioning them to me.

If I were to ask her about her extracurricular activities that don't involve me, I'd ask her about why she went to Logan Darklighter's house after the US meeting the other night."

He eats another cookie.

"Sorry, we are here for you Sammy, not to talk about my issues."

Sarah sticks her tongue out at Donnie but snatches two cookies just the same. 

"Sylvia does have a thing about secrets but then again she has a right to them if she wants.  You're right though Donnie, it would be better to be open with you.  If your relationship is going to sink or swim it should be on the reality of it and not just some feared results.  Now if I can ever follow my own advice I might get somewhere in life."

She jests a bit saying, "Maybe Sylvia just gets that James Bond super secret spy kick from this stuff.  I mean we've all gone on solo missions haven't we?"

She munches thoughtfully on her cookies for a while.  Another flash of the recent news makes her less than hungry and she puts her second cookie on a napkin. 

"Sammy?  How do you feel about the boys?  Do you know what you want?  It's okay.  I never know what I want."

"I like them both," Sammy says, "for different reasons."  She pulls the blanket more tightly around herself.  "But I'm tired of feeling like I'm always saying goodbye to Elrod.  I know that this year is it for us, and its like I keep skipping forward in my head to when he's not going to be around anymore.  I can't just be happy for today, and that's a problem for both of us.  This might sound stupid, but if we break up, I think it'll be easier to be happy with each other for now.  The pressure will be off.  Its not like either of us hates the other, even if I did break his heart a little bit.  That wasn't on purpose.  It just kind of happened.  No, that's not true.  When I think about it, the thing with Nick been building up for weeks now, coming to town on a big old speeding freight train, but I wasn't looking for it so I didn't see it until I got run over.  I don't know how much of that comes from spending huge amounts of time together singing a loaded song though.  It might all go away *poof* after the concert is done and we're not working together so much."  She sighs.  "I think I liked it better when I just had tons of crushes and nobody paid any attention to me.  When my powers woke up, I think something else did too.  Damned pheromones."

Donnie's eyebrows raise. "Are you exuding love-goo, Sammy? That would let us check another mystery off of our list."

Sammy looks at him grumpily.  "I don't know Donnie.  How would I test for that?  Want me to kiss you to see if your heart skips a few beats?  In the name of Science, of course."

Sarah heads out to get a soda but says on the way out of the room, "Hey maybe it's Donnie exuding the love goo.  I mean, I'm always petting his dragon."

Sarah's dragon comment elicits a reluctant smile from Sammy.  "Burn-n-n-n."

Donnie blushes to his ears. "Geez, Sarah. If Sylvia heard you say that, it wouldn't be pretty."

He pauses for a minute. "Then again, a girl fight would be cool to watch. Maybe if you two wear white shirts, in the rain.."

His eyes roll back as if imagining it.

A pillow leaps off the sofa and bwaps Donnie on the side of the head.  Sammy, still wrapped up in her blanket, hasn't moved a muscle.

Donnie tumbles away, feigning injury, but he's laughing. Flat on his back, he says "I fully expected that."

He sits up. "What, Sammy? If you want, I could make it a three-way fight."

He scrambles to get behind a chair.

"Four way.  Why watch when you can be right in the middle of it?"She tosses aside the blanket and advances on his position with another pillow held firmly in her hands.  "What do you think, Sarah?"

Sammy sees one hand reach around from behind and snag a pillow from the chair.

"Careful. All hormonal teenage boys in a one-mile radius might explode at that thought. Especially if you are Love-Goo Girl."  

"That does it!  Now you're just being mean!" Sammy exclaims.  "I think you're afraid!"  Pillow at the ready, she pounces over the chair at Donnie.

Poor unsuspecting Donnie doesn't stand a chance as Sarah appears behind him holding a pillow as Sammy leaps at him from the front.  *KAPOW!!!* 

A furious pillowfight ensues with much giggling and mock-cries of dismay, until finally Donnie gives up.

"I give! I give! Your Pillow-Fu is mightier than mine!"

As breath is regained and more cookies munched, Donnie quietly says "I was double-teamed by two girls in a pillow-fight. This is so going into my blog."

Two unerringly thrown pillows smack into his head.

"Nobody will ever believe it."  Sammy wraps herself back up in the blanket and starts watching the Godzilla movie again.

After a couple of minutes, Sammy excuses herself and goes to the bathroom.  She retrieves her phone, and sends a text message to Nick.

"R U OK? R we good 4 concert?"

U Still OK 4 concert?  I'm good.

Sylvia shows up, looking Batman-grim.  She manages a little smile for Sammy's mother since it never pays to worry the parents, then joins the others.  "Looks like a party," she says, not quite able to shake the gloom off her face.  "Did Colin ditch?"

im ok.  frnds here.

Donnie blows her a kiss with a smile. "Cookie?" He offers the plate of gaily decorated cookies to Sylvia.

He resists asking her sbout her afternoon activities, telling himself she would tell him if necessary. Trust. I must be better about trusting others. I trust SYlvia. She wouldn't hurt me.

Typical boy, his attention is quickly pulled back to the television.

She takes a cookie and manages her own smile.  Her eyes don't quite get there, though.  Since the witches there's been something lurking there, a kind of premature aging of the heart.

"Sammy?" she says, checking to see if the weather girl is still rapt with her text messaging.

Sammy looks up from her phone.  "Hi, Sylvia.  Did you find out anything?"  I'm almost afraid to know.

You mind if I talk about this with Donnie and Sarah here?  I know a little something about who's responsible for Nick's getting beaten up, and it might matter to all of us.

This is the first time Sylvia has been inside of Sammy's head.  Sammy had not expected a reply to her thought.  She startles.

Whoa!  That's what it's like!   Yes, its okay to talk in front of them.  I let them know you were doing some checking for me.  Donnie got jealous because you didn't tell him.  Whoops, I wasn't going to tell you that part I'msorrySylvia.

Sylvia sighs through her nose and glances Donnie's way.  Sometimes I think he'd like it if he could summon me like he summons the dragons.  Control freak! she scolds, but not to Donnie.  She's venting in Sammy's headspace.

It's at that point that Donnie starts guffawing at the destruction rained down on a balsa-wood Tokyo.  Sylvia meets Sammy's eyes and doesn't transmit a thing, telepathically.  She waits until after the big (big, big) fight and says, "A public-service announcement.  One, Elrod had nothing to do with his buddies beating Nick up.  Two, there's someone out there who can make people see and hear things and make them feel cooperative.  Three, it's not me."

Sammy catches the part that was alluded to but not directly stated.  "El had nothing to do with his buddies beating up Nick -- does that mean that they did it?"

Sylvia nods.  "They sure did.  They did it because they swear El told them to do it and because it sounded like a good idea.  It was all in their heads, though.  Someone messed with them."

"But they still did it" Sammy says glumly.  "That's going to complicate things.  Did they seem sorry about it?"

Sylvia makes faces.  Finally she blurts, "El's a cool guy and all, but he's got some crappy friends."

Sammy's eyes narrow.  "For a guy who has everything, he has a lot of crappy in his life.  Did they hurt him in other ways?"

"Hurt Nick?"

"Elrod!" Sammy says impatiently.  "Did Elrod's crappy friends hurt Elrod?"

"No, of course not.  They did what they did on his behalf."

"Then what made you say they were crappy, other than they beat up someone on Nick's behalf?  I never thought they had the energy to do much beyond breathe and play their instruments."

Sylvia just shakes her head, that dark look in her eyes again.  Telepathy is bad for peace of mind.  Some things are better left unknown.

Sense Motive (1d20=14) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1409005) ooc: good enough to notice the 'darkness' in Sylvia's eyes?

Donnie watches Sammy and Sylvia come out of her room and quietly listens to the revelation

"Well, it seems that Elrod's friends are goons but as much victims as Nick, right? Or are we still pissed off at them for actually doing the deed? I might be able to re-create my tracing spell and find out who influenced them. It might be trickier since it might be a super-ability rather than magic."



ooc: Oh and you girls are utter jerks. Except Sarah. She hasn't been a jerk, even in her mind. :P  

"You don't have to be pissed off at them.  Me... I have to quit El's band.  Change of summer plans. That's all.  No biggie." 

[I imagine so.  She's really just not her usual . . . well, okay, sometimes perky self.]


Sylvia nods.  "That's what I'm worried about.  What if it's someone like me?  I'm not ready for a showdown."

Mentally: Sylvie. You look..shadowed. What's wrong?

She's unable to hide her disgust in this intimate dream world.  An overdose of human nature.  That's all.  I had to look pretty deeply into someone's head today.

Sarah finally returns from getting a soda.  "You do know there is a base camp set up in the back of that cooler from an arctic exploration team from the 30's right?"

She had heard the last bit of Sylvia's comment.  "Who are we having a showdown with?  Do we get to thump someone?"

Donnie sniffs. "Girls. Always resorting to violence. It was probably Torrance that convinced them."


And you still wonder why I didn't want you looking into my Dad's head?

"Don't make me come over there and smack you," warns Sarah before winking at Donnie.  But she adds a bit of useful thought, "Anyway, how would Torrance convince them?  Are you suggesting that the prom queen wannabe has mental powers?"

Sammy thinks about her discussion with Logan.  "She has something, mental powers or something else.  She hasn't been at this school all that long, and she's head cheerleader, she's running other things, she's got tons of social power, all over people who have been here a lot longer and probably deserved it more -- she definitely shifted the balance in a big way.  I think that's worth noticing."  She shifts uncomfortably.  "Maybe she did like Rob, and tried to strike a deal with a demon.  Donnie, you should be able to detect that, right?  Or Colin?"  She squirms again. "Is Colin disgusted with me because of what happened with Nick?  Is that why he's not here?"

Sarah rolls her eyes at Sammy, "Do you honestly think that?  Colin really cares about you and even if you managed to do something to totally shock him I don't think he'd ever be disgusted with you.  He's probably caught up in something as usual or maybe just got a flat on that bicycle of his.  What is he going to do around here when winter really kicks in?  The sidewalks are deathtraps half the time and trying to zip along on an inch of rubber... yikes.  I'd feel better if he had a mountain bike or something."

"I didn't realize or pay attention to just how much Torrence was involved with at school.  I mean it's not completely out of the reach of possibility that someone new could walk in and take over a lot of things.  I imagine a certain blond cheerleader is going to shortly be the queen of her new school in England.  Dave will be running whatever college he lands in by his second semester.  But it is worth looking into.  Sylvia?  Maybe you could help us out with a chat with some of the former leaders of clubs or to those that suddenly decided to vote in Torrence.  See if something hinky was going on."

Your dad needs our help, Sylvia says.  He's in trouble, Donnie, and if I'm going to do this at all, it's going to be to help people in trouble.


"Sure," Sylvia says.  "It might even be worthwhile to look directly into her head, but I'm worried.  If she's like me, she might be able to tell that I'm tapping into her, which would spell all kinds of trouble I'd rather avoid.  Maybe with someone distracting her. . . . "

Sammy grimaces.  "Like me getting into a cat fight with her?  But that would give her no end of joy... and I could get expelled."

"Not if it happens off school grounds.  Kids get into fights.  Maybe you might get kicked out of the mall or wherever but if you hurry and finish your holiday shopping first you'll be fine," says Sarah.

"I hate to admit it, but that is actually a pretty good idea. Sammy has every right to punch Torrance, adn it would give Colin and Sylvia the perfect opportunity to get a good look in her head and aura. Especially if Colin was one of the people who pried Sammy off of Torrance. He could easily put a hand on Torrance as we separate them."

You asked Smith to look into it. You don't have to. I can't tell you how to use your powers, but he is my dad, and I feel I have the right to tell you not to look into his head.

"She'll be at dress rehearsal for the concert this week, and at the concert.  I'm pretty sure she was invited to El's party; pretty much everybody was.  Maybe there?  It'd be perfect in a way.  She'd have a large audience, so she'd have to perform for them to get them on her side.  Heck, the way things are going lately, she might even pick a fight with me.  I'd just have to be really careful about not using my powers.  Otherwise I'll be outted for sure."  She looks at the other girls.  "You sistahs got my back?  Who's gonna hold my baby while I kick that beetches assss, eh?"

"Your so cute when you talk street," says Sarah to Sammy.  "Remember to wear big hoop earrings and some easily ripped clothing and for the boys sake try and start the fight near the pool."

Sammy rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically.  "OK, I'll just accuse her of trying to ruin my life, then smack her so hard that she sees stars.  No made up street talk lifted from old movies, no hoops, no rip away clothing, no swimming pool, no kiddie pools filled with red and green jello and whipped cream."

Smith hasn't gotten back to me on that, Sylvia says, worried.  When isn't she worried these days?  I thought it'd be a simple matter for him, thought it wouldn't take more than a minute for him to crack your dad like an egg.  Maybe that's why he wants to talk to me tomorrow.

Donnie affects a moronic look, as if struck dumb. A Homer Simpsonesque 'Aughhhhhhhh' warbles from his throat.


Does he want to see just you, or am I invited too?

Sammy looks at Donnie and suppresses a smile.  "Just as long as I have backup.  I'm going to have to give El a vote too.  I saw him earlier tonight and...  well, I'm not sure how he'll feel about it.  I should warn Nick too -- he's going to be dragged through this whether he wants to be or not.  Sylvia -- did you check on Nick?"

He didn't mention you, so you're right.  Maybe it has nothing to do with that.

Sylvia nods.  "I did.  He's sweet on you, big-time, and I don't think he was lying when he told me what happened between him and Elrod's boys.  By the way, if it comes up, I wasn't the one who told you this.  Quentin did."

Sammy blushes.  "OK."  This just confirms what she is pretty sure she already knew.  Some kisses don't hide anything.

Sammy quietly watches the movie for a while, then says "I just thought of something.  Do you guys want to come along to rehearsal this week and watch just in case Torrance tries to start something with me?  I won't get into a catfight with her on school grounds, but I can keep her trying to start one if that is what she's after.  If she's busy trying to make me miserable, she might be distracted enough for Sylvia to tap her brain without trying too hard."  She looks at Sylvia and tries to think loudly.  Can you hear me??

OOC: Notice (1d20+8=21) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1411944)

Sarah winks at Sammy and says, "I think it's more subtle if you don't cross your eyes when you are trying that.  I'd be happy to tag along to rehearsal.  It's a chance to hear you sing.  We can split up.  Someone to hang near you, another by the AV crew or equipment.  With Sylvia there we've got a silent communication system."  

She blushes a bit and looks at Sylvia.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sound like a walkie-talkie.  I just meant that your abilities really give us a big advantage in case one of us sees something the others don't."

I was trying not to listen.  In Sylvia's dry humor, she sounds a little like Smith.


No, it's a--

"No, it's a good idea.  And I don't mind."

Sammy smiles self consciously.  "Thanks for stopping me before I burst a blood vessel.  And thanks for coming along.  Somebody ought to hang by the dance team.  They miss Megan, and they really don't like Torrance.  Maybe one of them might be useful."




Cool.  This is about Logan Darklighter.  He took a step out of his so called neutrality to help me.  He wanted me, us, to know that the people who broadcast Lisa Janush in the storage closet were not the same people who did this to me.  When I said I thought it might be Torrance, he... I think she worries him.  She's disrupting the balance.  He wants information about her, so I said I'd trade.  You've been talking to him.  Is he going to turn around and feed data to Torrance?  I didn't get that feeling from him, but I was kind of distracted.

Sylvia tries to disappear against the camouflage of the wallpaper.


No.  Logan won't betray us.  Sylvia's utterly convinced of that.  When he talks about neutrality, he's not talking about trying to maintain a balance.  He just doesn't want to get caught up in all this.  He has his sights set on something else, something bigger.

OK.
Sammy does NOT pin Sylvia to the wallpaper with a glance.  She just muses, "Maybe if I do this right, I can get her to pick the fight in front of them, so that they jump in to attack her when they see her going after me.  Then she'll really be distracted!"

Donnie can tell there is unspoken communication going on between the girls, and suddenly feels self conscious.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you girls to think mean things about Torrance. I have some pre-algebra that I have put off too long." He gets up and shrugs on his jacket. He then walks over to Sylvia and chastly kisses her on the cheek.

He shouts "Thanks for the cookies Mrs. Jameson!"

He then takes two and wraps them in a napkin. "I can't help it. He loves cookies and will sulk for days if i don't get him a couple." He smiles and waves, heading out the front. "See ya tomorrow!"

OOC: Are we done here?

OOC: I can be done.