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After the football game, Sammy headed over to Heather's house for stage one of Operation Sexy Costume.  She carried the black cat costume in a duffel bag.  Waving hello to Heather's mom, she darted up the stairs to Heather's room.

"Do you have it?  Show me!  Show me!"  Heather snatched the bag out of Sammy's hands and squealed with delight as she pulled out the costume.  "This is going to be so awesome!  Thank you!"

They braided each other's hair into matching french braids, then each put on their starting costumes; Sammy in the cat suit, Heather in the renaissance gown, and went downstairs to wait for their ride.  Heather's mom frowned slightly at Sammy's costume.  "Dear... does your mother know about... this?" she asked, as she vaguely gestured in the direction of her daughter's friend.

"Yes, ma'am, my parents know."  Sammy reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a pair of her fathers old fishing boots and a big floppy hat salvaged from the back of her mom's closet. "It's hard to walk in these, so I was saving them till I got to the party," she said.  She put on the hat and boots, which immediately transformed the costume from sex kitten to little kid playing dressup.  "I'm Puss in Boots!"

Heather's mom's brow cleared, and she smiled.  "Oh, how clever!"  She turned to Heather.  "Maybe we should think of a literary costume for you next year!  You seem bored with the historical ones.  Something like this is cute."  Heather's jaw dropped.  She was saved by the sound of a car pulling up outside.  "Gotta go!  Bye mom!"


===============


They arrive at the party and mingle with their band friends and a few others for about half an hour, long enough to establish in others minds that Heather is in the gown and Sammy is the Cat.  Then they disappear into a bathroom and do the switch.  The masks go on.  Sammy is transformed into a lady from the Italian renaissance.  The gown is flattering, accentuating her figure and showing off smooth neck and shoulder skin.  Her hair is partially concealed by a snood and a gold colored veil, which she drapes elegantly across the lower half of her face.

"Remember -- try to disguise your voice.  We want this switch to work!  Otherwise, let's have fun!"

Sammy sticks with Heather for a while, just to reinforce the idea of both costumes in people's heads.  Then she splits off and heads for the entryway to get something to eat, knowing that soon after she'll have to get herself into position for the first staged effect.  As she waits in the buffet line, she discovers that the oversized stone on "Lucrezia's Poison Ring" catches the illumination from the christmas lights every time she moves her left hand, and she finds herself temporarily fascinated with the sparkly toy.  Plate full, she moves off to the back of the music hall to listen to the band while she eats.  Liberated by the anonymity of the mask, she smiles at passers-by as if she's got a delicious secret that's hers and hers alone.  Its easy, because she does have secrets, all quite good.

OOC: Need a Bluff check, if you don't have the skill you can make a roll with your Charisma Bonus (if any).  Also need a Fate Roll.

OOC:  Order up!

#1:  no bluff, no charisma bonus, just me... (1d20=20) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=911271)

#2:  'My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.' -- Montaigne (FATE roll) (1d20=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=911273)

Sammy begins to circulate around, taking in the sites of the old house.  Even though it's been abandoned it still seems to be in pretty good shape.  She made some mental notes of things she could do with her powers that would be spooky as she made her way around.

She thought she spotted Elrod once, but when she got closer seh realized it was one of his buddies with a similar hair style.

Heather makes it a point of thanking her everytime they're close enough to talk quietly.  The boy that had asked her to Homecoming had managed to make it to the party.  Jim seemd nice enough, and Heather really seemed to enjoy his company.  His costume this year was a hobo, and he managed to pull it off pretty well since he was still walking with a cane until probably spring.

There are a few occassions when Sammy carries on a conversation with soemone, and as they go they call her by Heather's name.  The plan seems to be going better than expected.

Sammy, happy because she really has been able to do this favor for Heather, decides to have some fun for herself since there is still a while before the next staged event.  It amazes her how easy it is to communicate without really saying all that much.  Starting with some of the nicer band boys (who all believe her to be Heather anyhow), she starts dancing her way through the crowd.

Sammy has no trouble getting partners to dance with her.  As is true of high school boys some dance better than others, but no one manages to step on her toes.  All in all she manages to have a good time dancing through the boys from band.

Sammy dances with the unattached boys from band, and has started on a couple of the nice but under-appreciated drama club boys.  Her sister Stephanie had dated a lot of boys who were wildly popular and totally unreliable, but there were some who were always just kind of there in the background, good for a hug or a smile or to step forward when a heart got broken, and these were the ones who were rewarded with dances from 'Heather' tonight.  She was dancing with one of them, a sweet, funny boy named Scott when she noticed that Sylvia had moved away from the drama crowd and was dancing.  With Donnie.

Sammy stumbled.  Scott caught her and kept her from falling.  "Whoa, I gotcha!... it's Heather, right?  Are you ok, Heather?"

Reflexively, Sammy started to respond "I'm not Hea..." when she remembered herself.  "I'm not Heather tonight.  I'm supposed to be Lucrezia Borgia, but I'm feeling a whole lot more like Cinderella.  I'm not having an easy time with this dress though; the hem is a little long for me, and I keep tripping.  I should have worn higher heels."  If those two get into a fight here I won't be able to protect all of these people from the fallout.  Please please please behave yourselves...

So now one eye was on Heather, just in case, and the other was on the two of them,  and another was keeping a lookout in case she needed to evade Elrod, and another... too much.  "I'm thirsty," she says.  "Want to go get a Coke?"

"Sure."  Scott says, leading her from the dance floor.  They make their way to the food and Scott gets her a drink.  The fall air is chilly but the house is warm from the heaters and the guests.  Sammy notices some of the geekier kids from the Science Club have come as an amino acid chain.  A few of the Chess Club boys came as chess pieces and they even managed to get a girl to dress up as the queen.  Still no sign of Elrod however.

Sammy takes the Coke and drinks it appreciatively.  "Thanks, Scott."  She spends a few more minutes with him, but excuses herself as the next Event is coming up and she doesn't want any witnesses.  Wandering into one of the side rooms, she finds a pile of sheets laying beneath a window.  With very little effort, several 'ghosts' are sent flying around the busier rooms, departing through open windows.

Unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling she got every time she started to imagine dragons crashing through the windows to protect an enraged Donnie from an equally enraged Sylvia, she decided she needed to take a walk.  Heather could take care of herself for a couple of minutes.  She was safe here, in the middle of all these people, right?  Right?  Sammy grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, then picked up a flashlight.  She was going to explore for a little while.  She took stairs to the top floor of the building and started to snoop around.

The first door Sammy came to was closed.  She carefully pushed it open.

{shriek!}"Hey!  Occupado!"

"Oops!  Sorry..."

She went past closed doors after that.

Occasionally she could see large shadows moving around outside.  She peeked through an empty window hole to see what was making them.  Recognizing the dragons Uther and Althea, she called out a quiet hello to them from the windowsill.

The building itself must have been really beautiful in it's day.  Details or stone and woodwork that aren't incorporated into houses anymore.  On the top floor Sammy finds a room that at first seems like it must have been set up by Dave and Greg, then she realizes it wasn't.  There is a birthing table, with sturrips in the middle of the room, and it's not the padded kind that she's seen in magazines.  This one is cold steel with wrist and ankle restraint straps on it.  The room is also cluttered with old wooden wheel chairs and other medical paraphenalia.  The thick layer of dust and cobwebs attest to the lack of use the room has received over the decades.

Sammy shivers slightly at the thought of being restrained on that cold steel table,  pulls the blanket more tightly around her shoulders, and moves out of the room and down the hall some more.  If there's nothing else to be seen, she heads for the stairs.  Its probably time to join up with the others anyhow.

Sammy stops short of the stairs, thinking back on the wheelchairs.

Might as well give them a show.  I'm bored spitless anyhow.  Hide and seek isn't as fun as it used to be.

She gets an old wooden wheelchair and places it at the top of the stairs.  She goes down the stairs to the ground floor. With her powers, she carefully lowers it down the stairwell.  When its down far enough, she lets it drop to the ground.  It seemingly wheels itself around from room to room.

A dark shadow slides by the window, and Sammy sees the glow of sapphire eyes as some great shape wheels by the glass, wings flapping.

There are plenty of screams and fleeing teenagers as the wheel chair moves about on it's own.  It goes into a room, spinning about some, then leaves and moves onto the next room.  After a room or two there is as much laughter as there is startled screams.

Screams, laughter, yeah, yeah, yeah...  yawn.  Sammy spots Lisa Janush being carried around on a litter.  Snerk.  If the boys aren't holding on too tightly, this just might work...  Slowly, the litter goes higher in the air.  At first each boy probably thinks its all of the others lifting it higher.  It is kept level -- no dumping her on the floor, even if the boys startle, jump, or let go.  If its possible, the litter will rotate mid-air 180 degrees, so that if she was facing east before, she'll be facing west now.  Then it will slowly lower down; again, no harm is intended.  If it looks like she's panicking, all of the above will be pre-empted and the litter will be lowered right away.  She won't be allowed to fall.

Lisa's bearers have a little moment of uncertainty, and they tenatively back away, expecting the litter to do something interesting.  It makes it's turn and Lisa has the look of someone who doesn't want to let on that she's not ready for this.  She bears it well  though, but once the liter is safely on the ground she's out of it and on her way to the bathroom to freshen up.

Uh-oh.  Maybe that went a little too far?  Sammy squashes down a twinge of guilt.  Maybe she and Seth can work out some dancing table decorations to entertain the Queen later on.  Well, there's one good side to all of this; if Lisa's upset, Elrod will find out about it very soon.  Sammy finds a stake-out position and waits to see if he comes running to his sister's aid.

Then she hears the announcement.  Dammit!  Well, I messed that up.  Maybe.  Give it a minute...

Elrod walks into the light of a lantern and makes a close pass around the girls, breathing in the scent of their hair.  His hand comes to rest on Sammy's shoulder.  "The one that always smells like the first fe minutes after a spring rain."

"Ooh, you're good," she says, reaching up and removing her mask.  "I guess you found me.  You win."  She turns to Heather and grins.  "Thanks, girlfriend."  Heather grins back and leaves, going back to that boy she likes so much.

She snuggles up close to Elrod, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.  "Thanks for ending the game early.  There must be over a hundred people here, but I was feeling lonely.  Guess I missed you or something."  She kisses him on the cheek and snuggles in again.  "How has your evening been?  Are Dave's special effects matching your expectations?"  In the distance, Uther roars yet again.

"The FX are top notch, but I wasn't having a good time.  Until now."  He hugged Sammy for a long moment.  "Well,now that we're together, maybe the night will be a little better for both of us."

(OOC:  How is Elrod dressed?  Not that she'll think he looks bad in anything.  Just wondering.)

"You look good tonight."

Sammy draws away and pours some Coke into the cup set aside for her.  "This is an interesting building," she comments between sips, "even though it hasn't been kept up.  It has good bones.  How'd you find it?"  She carefully lowers herself down on to a blanket that has conveniently been spread out on the roof, trying not to damage the gown.

OOC: Eldrod is dressed like a gangster type from the 30s with the fedora and pin stripped suit.

"Good bones."  he says smiling, "I like that."  He gets himself some soda and sits next to her.  "Used to come out here on dares when I was little.  Dad bought it back in the nineties and was gonna refurbish it and make it the offical Janush home.  Mom took one look at it and damn near had a heart attack.  Little Lisa didn't like it either.  So, it's just been sitting out here ever since."  He looks around some, then back at Sammy.  "Maybe I'll live here, after I move out of the house.  It's got good bones I'm told."

Sammy laughs quietly at the compliment to her judgement.  "After you finish college, then?  That'll give you at least four, almost five years to fix the place up, or to at least think about how you'd like it to be when you're done.  You'll need a place to think and write; there's a nice big room downstairs that looks out on what looks like it might have used to be a garden; its hard to tell at night, but a garden should go there even if there wasn't one before.  If I'm guessing directions right and that way is east" she points generally east, "it'll get good morning light and filtered afternoon light, so it won't ever be too hot or too cold, especially with the nice high ceilings, and you'll get good breezes from the big windows.  That would be my choice."   

She gestures towards the front of the house.  "Clear out some of the trees out front and along the drive to get more air and light so its not so closed feeling when you drive up to the place, and it'll be real nice.  And this... this used to be a roof terrace, didn't it?  Cool.  Lisa will shit bricks when its all done.  Good for you!" 

She looks around and smiles, pleased with the thing she has imagined.  "I'll have to come visit you sometime and check it out.  Maybe when I'm 20 and it won't matter at all that you're a couple years older than me."

"That sounds nice."  Elrod says, "Maybe I'll write my masterpiece here.  And you'll always be welcome, no matter what we end up as."  He holds up his cup and they toast to it.

Sammy is happy to toast him.  She really does wish him all the best in the world.  She likes him a lot.  If only... never mind.  Time is the only thing that can fix the age problem.

"Only one masterpiece?  Ha!  I'll bet you make more than that.  There's something in the water in this town that makes artists.  You'll be another one of them if you want it bad enough.  You can have almost anything if you're willing to work hard enough for it."

She leans in close against him and listens to the muffled sound of the music below.

After kissing and being kissed quite thoroughly, a slightly rumpled Sammy catches her breath long enough to notice that the music has changed.

"Sounds like another band has started up," she says with a smile. "Want to go downstairs and check them out?  Somebody told me that the guy who hired them has pretty good taste."

Elrod smiles, "Yeah, but the midnight show is gonna be better I hear."  He gets up and helps Sammy up, careful not to do any damage to her dress.  The pair head downstairs and start to mingle and listen to the new band.

When Sammy returns to the main party with Elrod, she's not wearing the mask anymore.  By now it should be starting to sink in on some people that there was a costume switch early in the evening, that it was really Heather doing some things and Sammy doing other things.  The girls who drove with Sammy and Heather to the party act like they really knew the truth the whole time, but it was worth keeping the secret just to see if it would work.

The driver, a girl named Marissa, asks "Hey, Sam, am I still giving you a ride home, or is Elrod doing it?  Your change of clothes is still in my car."

Sammy shrugs and looks at Elrod.  "It's up to him.  I can always get a ride with Dave, too, if you want to leave before I'm ready to go.  I just need to make sure to get this costume back to Heather before she leaves."

Sammy is totally enjoying the band.

John makes his way over to Sammy, leaning in close he whispers in her ear, "Sorry to ruin this, but Donnie said that they're here, main entry way.  The show is about to start."  He leans back and looks at Sammy and Elrod.  "You guys look nice."   he looks at Sammy, "I'm gonna go find Kel and Seth.  See you guys later."   then he moves off into the crowd again.

Elrod watches him go.  "You know, for a jock, he's not a bad guy."

Sammy shrugs. "John?  Yeah, he's all right.  A lot nicer than most of them, that's for sure."

She put her mask back on.  "Can you excuse me for a little while?  I'm sort of due off-stage; I was helping Dave with the FX tonight, and there's another Event coming up.  I'd blow it off now, but sometimes the FX guys get a little carried away with their mad skills, you know?  I'm gonna go make sure they don't demolish your house before you get a chance to live in it.  I've decided I want a birthday party here someday, so I've got a vested interest.  See you in a bit!"  She gives him a swift kiss and moves off towards the entry way.

Elrod gives her a kiss on the cheek.  "I'll be around.  Yoiu have fun."

It's not hard to find Elrod, he's mingling with people, seeing if everyone is having a good time.

Sammy moves up alongside him and wraps one of his arms with her own.  "Hey you, miss me?"

She tags along as he circulates amongst his guests.  Not hearing any fireworks, she feels justified in cutting away from the rest of the group when she did.

"Of course."  he replies.  As they circulate he introduces Sammy to everyone that he knows, making it clear she's his date bu never using the words boyfriend or girlfriend.

After a little while he takes her to get a drink.  "So, everything work out okay?"

She's just as happy not to be introduced as his girlfriend.  They've only been dating for a week, and it would be ridiculous to assume so much this quickly.


She shrugs.  "I guess.  The house is still intact.  That's always a good sign."  She looks around and observes "The party seems to be going very well.  Grats.  I know you put a lot of work into it."

"Eh, I booked some bands.  Cleopatra did the catering calls and worried about minutia."  He waves to someone, "Hey, in case I didn't mention it you look awesome in that dress."

"Thank you."  She makes an awkward curtsey.  "I like your costume too.  It suits you.  You look like a character out of an old movie."

She pauses, then says.  "I wasn't completely truthful when you asked how things went.  Things went okay, but I'm pissed.  The other night, when I took off to find that guy who had just broken up with his girlfriend?  After he spends hours telling me how miserable he is, how bad she treated him, blah blah blah, after days of me being the good guy and following up to check on him and make sure he's okay -- after all that, he's back with her tonight, thinking with his little buddy instead of his brain.  He needed help with something again tonight, and again I got yanked away from you.  Both times it was important, but...  it's just bugging me.  A lot.  And not just because I feel like I wasted a lot of time on him..."

She takes both of his hands in hers.

"I feel like I'm wasting the time I have with you.  I like you, El.  I like you a lot.  If you like me, if you're really interested, don't let me hide anymore behind excuses like you being older, or me telling myself to hold back because, after all, he'll be gone by next summer.  I've been letting those things get in the way of letting myself just enjoy being with you, and letting you really know me.  Can you help me with that?  Because there's a heck of a lot more to you than the fact that you like music and you're a good kisser... and a heck of a lot more to me than I've been letting show."

The expression on her face should let him know that the way he answers will be very important.

"Listen.  Friends are a pain, but we love them anyway.  Guys set themselves up to get hurt because they secretly like the feeling of a stilleto heel in the heart.  And I like being with you.  I'm not thinking about next summer, or even next week.  I'm thinking about right now, you and me here.  No matter what happens, I think we're gonna be friends for a long time to come.  Maybe we'll be more then that, maybe you'll run off with the quarterback your senior year.  That's not for us to worry about, right now is what we need to be thinking about.  Okay?"

"That's good enough.  Just do me a favor and repeat it every once in a while.  I need the anchor to keep from floating away into crazy Sammy world where I worry too much about stuff I can't control.  And me running off with the quarterback?  No way.  He's nice and all, but he's afraid to fly.  It would never work out."  She gives him a tight hug.  "Thanks for lending me your jacket and helmet that one time.  Want to dance?"

After a moment he shrugs, "Sure, anytime."  He takes her to the auditorium and they dance.

They dance some, and have a good time talking to people the rest of the time.  Sammy totally enjoys the midnight show; pure pleasure radiates from her face throughout the performance.

She trades off costumes with Heather as things are winding down for the night.  After that transaction is complete, she finds herself leaning against El's car waiting for him and Breanna and Kel to come out.  She's mentally rearranging the landscape, putting shrubs and flower beds here and removing trees there as rides for others arrive and depart.

After Elrod drops the others off he takes Sammy home.  Because it's so late he walks her to the door.  "Hey, what were you talking about earlier when you thanked me for letting you borrow my helmet and jacket?"

"You really don't know.  I wasn't sure."  She squeezes his hands with hers.  "I'm going to take a leap of faith and trust you.  Don't let me down, okay?  Do you remember the party you had at the beginning of the year, the one where you invited me to play with your group?  Remember it was crashed by a weird snake guy?  Do you remember someone in a helmet and jacket saying something to you, then flying over to go up against the monster so that the rest of the partiers could get away?"  She looks a little unsure of herself, as if she's afraid this will make him suddenly reconsider the price of being her friend.  "That was me, El.  Turns out it was your stuff I borrowed to give me a little protection in case Snakeguy decided to toss me into the next block."  She looks down at the boards of the front porch.  "I was trying to keep it quiet, but it kept getting in the way whenever I hung out with you, and its hard to talk around it all of the time.  I'll understand if this is all too weird...it's weird for me too."

He smiles, "No worries.  I can keep a secret.  And, anytime you need my helmet or jacket, they're yours."  He gives her a kiss on the lips, soft and slow, then heads back to his car.  "See you Monday."

G'nite.  She waves at him from the porch, then lets herself into the house.

That's it?  No questions?  This paranormal abilities business must not be such a big deal.  Nobody seems all that surprised by it when I tell them.  Weird.  Oh well.  The good news is I still have a date for Homecoming.

Sammy stops long enough to turn off the tv and kiss her snoring father on the top of his head before heading up the stairs.