Student Council Meeting

The student council meetings were always quiet and slow paced. They usually consisted of Andy asking numerous questions followed by the answers and suggestions of his peers. It was as if he was in his element, as he seemed to be getting better at getting the attention of others as well as holding their focus. As soon as the topic of the school dance was bought up… Well, let’s just say order took a one way trip out of the Student Council room. A few of the female class representatives were arguing about the theme of the dance. Some were focused on their dream dress, or who would be a suitable date.

Every single girl in the room, aside from Emma, seemed to have a burning desire on voicing some sort of opinion on the dance.

“Oh my gosh, Andy! We should have an underwater themed dance, like the Little Mermaid!” One of the girls cried. If Andy remembered correctly, she was a sophomore representative. Her male counterpart, however, disagreed.

“No, that’s so lame! If anything, Andy, we should do it like a James Bond theme or something. We’d get to carry around fake gadgets and weapons too!”

“There’s nothing fun about that! And besides, school regulations state that weapons, whether real or fake, are not permitted on school campus!”

“Oh! Let’s have the dance on the school roof!” Another girl cried out. “It’ll be so pretty! And we can make it like a dream theme.”

Clearing his throat, Andy tried to regain their focus once again. “Guys, one at a time! And stop yelling over each other, I can’t hear myself think!” The room slowly regained its serenity again, apart from a few murmurs and the shushing of other students. Letting out a small frustrated sigh, Andy continued. “We need to approach this in an orderly fashion, so please, no call outs or anything of the sort. If you have a question, idea, or an objection, please wait until it is your turn.”

After taking a small pause, the blonde looked around to see if he was heard clearly. When he noted that all eyes were on him, and that there was no more talking, he took the initiative to move on. “Before we can get to the… fun stuff, we need to choose a date, time and place for the dance. I’ve spoken to the principal and we’ve already confirmed the date and time.”

“What about a place?” A male representative called out. Andy adjusted his rectangular frames, taking a long breath.

“I was getting to that.” He answered flatly. “Um, as I was saying, the place hasn’t been decided yet and that is because we need to decide together. So, I thought we could start by going around giving ideas and vote on them. We can move counter clockwise, so…” Emma Stills was sitting to his left, actually. Honestly, Andy didn’t think the petite brunette particularly cared for such events but he couldn’t just skip over her. She might’ve surprised him. “Emma, do you uh, have a preference?”

The buzz and noise surrounding the Student Council Room was oddly comforting for the small timid brunette. It had long ago become a familiar environment for the pair of Stills Siblings, Emma having held the role of Female Representative of her respected class since she’d been accepted into Valevay as a tiny skittish Freshman; and the elder of the Stills –her faithful brother Kyren- had been in and out of the this room numerous times to either help his sister with her appointed tasks or simply just to pick her up after each meeting. This year things were a bit different though seeing as Emma’s usual counterpart Andy Pryde would no longer be the Male Representative for the their Senior Class. . . no this year he’d been hand-picked by the principle to lead the student body as the council President. Instead Emma was stuck with a rather obnoxious senior boy who insisted that the dance was a waste of money and that they should just axe the entire event.

Speaking of the dance, upon Andy’s mentioning of the word the entire council became a chaotic uproar of excited planning. Every last one of them was intent on voicing their opinions to their loyal president, determined to be heard over their peers. Though Emma had expected this sort of disorderly response it was still shocking to witness such a display erupting from a once “quiet and slow paced” setting. . . Shifting slightly in her chair Emma silently began jotting down notes as each idea was put on the table, crossing out the ones that were simply out of the question.

“Little Mermaid” yeah, that’s what we want a bunch of young ladies running around in their bejeweled bikini tops baring their midriffs and sending the boy’s hormones into overdrive!

“James Bond” absolutely not…as Andy stated any form of weapon real/fake was strictly against the schools regulations.

“Fairy Tale” The idea had been one of the few concepts pertaining to homecoming that hadn’t been absolutely ridiculous, however it was souly catering to Valevay’s female populations wishes and want, and if they wanted to make this dance a success they’d have to take everyone into consideration. The “Dream Theme” made its way to the paper as well even though Emma didn’t put much thought into how to go about accomplishing such a task, there wasn’t a slim chance that the director would even allow them access to the school roof - nor was it even large enough to accommodate half the student population. Pulling back on the reigns Andy had managed to regain control over the conversation bringing some sort of order back to the meeting. As he explained the process of how they’d be going about the rest of the discussion Emma had been noting the pros and cons beneath each presented theme. Though some were honestly ridiculous she always considered other people’s opinions important and worth the time to deliberate.

Upon hearing her name Emma perked up glancing around the table to find all eyes on her. Now this was a bit embarrassing...she hadn’t been prepared to share an opinion and being the center of attention (for even a moment) had brought a rosy blush to settle on her soft creamy cheeks. “W-well . . . umm the past 3 years the dance has been held in the gymnasium, and well . . . we’ve always run into the same problems.” Taking a deep breath Emma adjusted her round frames collecting herself before continuing, “With the vast amount of students who attend Homecoming, space has always become an issue. Not only is the amount of room inconvenient but the building itself traps in heat making it uncomfortable for students to dance for too long. Taking that into consideration if we were to use an outside location; such as the courtyard, it could solve both problems! And with the proper decorating it’d be absolutely beautiful at night…” Blinking her deep brown eyes Emma glanced up at their president wondering how he’d digest her suggestion.

The courtyard?

It did sound like a reasonable idea. It would be much better than having it in doors. No one really wanted the dance to smell like the aftermath of a gym class this year anyway. Andy found it very hard to come up with any cons about having it in the courtyard. After giving a slight nod to Emma, the president finally spoke. "It sounds like a substantial idea. Are there any more ideas?"

A few more students nominated ideas such as renting a space for the dance or having it indoors as usual. I guess some people don't like change, he thought. When it was finally time to vote, Emma's idea won by a land slide! Not that he expected anything less - it was truly a wonderful idea. "So it's decided," The blonde spoke. "The courtyard it is."

Quite a few of the student council members began to cheer, and for the more reserved ones, a small smile graced their lips. Andy should've known, he was among those reserved students. Others, however, didn't look too pleased but it was impossible to cater to everyone's wishes. After the small celebrations died down, Andy began to question the theme of this year's dance. This time, the ideas were given one by one in an orderly fashion.

"I was thinking that we could make a Si-Fi theme." One of the junior representatives spoke. Andy recalled him as the president of the Si-Fi club and the numerous times he tried to get Andy to join. Of course the blonde had been too busy with senior activities and his studies to be apart of the geeky club - it saddened him a bit.

Not that anyone should know about that.

"It's a possibility," He thought aloud. "Any more?"

The Si-Fi president's female representative spoke up this time. "I thought we should have something more elegant."

"What did you have in mind?" Andy asked, tapping his pen lightly on the table as he waited for the girl to continue. She seemed to be drawing a blank.

"I-I'm not too sure now..."

Suddenly, one of the freshman representatives piped up. "Oh, we can do a party with masks!"

"You mean a Masquerade Ball," Andy corrected. The student nodded in response. Masquerade Balls were very elegant and intriguing. You could dance the night away and have a good time with your enemy, and you wouldn't even know! This would be a surefire way to prevent any potential fights, physical or verbal. After laying out all the possible ideas on the table, it was decided.

The Masquerade Ball would be held in Valevay's beautiful courtyard.

The meeting drag on much longer than expected, then again managing to get 10 or so opinionated high school students to all agree on the same thing was not a an easy task to accomplish, and yet admirably Andy Pryde was able to manage just that! Although at first not everyone was too keen on settling with the outcome, they had soon come around and eventually every last one of them seemed ecstatic and eager to begin with preparations for the Courtyards, Moonlight Masquerade Ball!
 
One by one the representative’s wandered off out into the once deserted hallways enthusiastically chatting up one another on their plans to accomplish each individual task, which they had been assigned to complete within the next couple weeks before the dance. The Freshman’s were always appointed the easiest and least tasking assignment, in this case it was to acquire or create a reasonable number of masks to hand out to those who arrive without one. The Sophomores were in charge of all forms of advertisement; which included announcements over the school PA  as well as creating and posting appropriate flyers around the campus. Music was in the hands of the Junior representatives upon relentlessly pleading to their president for the task. Needless to say after getting a long lecture about suitable genres allowed for the playlist reluctantly Andy had agreed to hand the job over to them . . . surely their enthusiasm had left a lingering feeling of worry in back of their president’s mind as it had Emma. Lastly Emma’s group (consisting of herself, the only boy not eager for this “charade” and Mr. Pryde himself) had been assigned to Setup and Decorations.
 

Soon enough the chatter had faded from the hallways as the last of the council members retreated back to their homes and dorms. Emma, as usual, stayed behind to help collect and file the notes from their meeting as she waited to see if her brother would come or not. Though to two of them hadn’t been seeing eye to eye lately on a certain wild-er subject, Emma didn’t want to leave right away in case he showed up. Plus they were expected to leave the Student Council Room cleaned and straighten upon leaving, and to her it wasn’t right to leave all the work on the shoulder of their president when he already so much on his plate.

After all the commotion in the Student Council room, Andy was rather pleased with the outcome of the dance. The Student Council President was never ecstatic about events such as this, but he felt that this year would be the best dance they'd ever have in history. Maybe he'd have to take Dani up on her offer on dance lessons. After all, he didn't want to make a fool of himself dancing with some mystery girl, and his little sister probably knew her way around the dance floor better than he did!

Rising from his seat, he began to clear a few papers off of the table and noticed Ms. Stills doing the same. He never actually told her, but he was always grateful for her sticking around and helping with the cleaning. Sometimes their peers left the room a downright pigsty. Maybe he should say thank you? Because, you know, that's what any other normal person would do. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came out. Aside from the student council meetings, Andy never really spoke to the petite brunette. Trying one last time, the words "Thank you," finally left his mouth. There was a small, awkward pause before he added hastily,

"I mean, for helping out and everything. You're the only one who ever does, so, um, thanks."

Sifting through the notes she’d collected Emma gathered them into neat pile before setting them on the president’s desk for filing.  She’d been in the process of throwing out some trash that’d been left behind by their untidy peers when Andy muttered a small thank you, clear as day. Honestly it had taken the Senior Representative by surprise. Did he really just speak to her or was she just hearing things? Andy Pryde had never once tried to strike up conversation with anyone outside of the meetings, nor had she ever really spoken to him herself without their being a topic pertaining to council tasks present.  Since Andy hadn’t been clear on what he was “thanking” her for Emma -trash in hand- blinked her big brown doe eyes unsure if she should respond or wait for him to finish, an awkward silence soon followed his words.
                                

The uncomfortable pause between the two seemed to last forever until Andy hastily explained why he’d stated his previous recognition. Before Emma could stop herself she begun giggling, quickly covering her mouth to muffle her amusement. Out of all the years she’d lent a helping hand to the many Council Presidents, whilst waiting on her brother, this had been the first time she’d been acknowledged for it. She hadn’t considered it was worth the recognition seeing as everyone was expected to help out -though they rarely did- so Andy’s suddenly polite verbal gratitude was a bit amusing but none the less appreciated. “I’m sorry.” Emma managed as her soft laughter subsided, “and you’re very welcome! I’m sure you have a lot on your plate in your new position, so I don’t mind helping out seeing as I was waiting on my brother.”

"Oh right, you've got a brother. Hopefully he'll get you soon. I don't really want you to wait here by yourself." Said Andy quietly. He couldn't recall his first name very well, but Mr. Stills did have a very distinct look. He did recall, however, the many times he would pick his sister up from the meetings that were held in this room over the years. He was oh so very vigilant over Emma. Andy wished he could do the same for Dani, but the second he looks away, she and her sidekick are already waist deep in a pool of trouble.

Deciding to switch topics, Andy began talking about the dance. He was less nervous than before - after all, it was just Emma. She was always levelheaded and practical, he'd be fine. "Do you think the dance will end up on good terms? Every year prior it's... well... stunk - literally and metaphorically."

Andy’s worry over his smallest council member waiting alone, though very kind was unnecessary. After all, the younger Stills hadn’t planned on lingering around much longer for her older brother. There could be a million and one reasons as to what had been keeping Kyren from the coming, and though her brother’s company was always appreciated Emma was indeed a “big girl” (though not quite literally) who could walk herself back to the dorms. Deciding to not point out this small detail, Emma merely responded to her president’s comment to their past “ stinky ” homecomings. “This year I think that Valevay’s dance will be amazing! It’s in great hands after all!”  Sad as it was it had been a known fact that most of the previous council members only accept the position to simply have the title on their transcripts. It was an astounding achievement and definitely caught the eye of well proclaimed colleges. Consequently they hadn’t been well prepared for their presidential duties or didn’t quite care to put the appropriate time nor effort into making school events a success.  This year things were looking up! Maybe Andy was just what this school needed . . . .  
 

Deep down Emma was thankful for Mr. Pryde. The idea of being appointed to the position herself was terrifying and she knew she’d never be able to do half as good as he had been doing thus far. Actually even the thought of getting up in front of a huge crowd and speaking made the small brunette sick to her stomach . . . and the whole “Imagine the crowd in their underwear” scenario didn’t help one bit. Something like that would probably cause the poor bookworm to pass out from the mere shock. Though surely a certain boxer cladded Wilder would come to her rescue…. WAIT!? What!?? What was she thinking!?!?!? No! Why had Chuck suddenly invaded her thoughts, and in such a perverted manner? Though a deep blush had surely claimed Emma’s face she quickly forced all thought of Chuck and his under garments as far from her mind as possible.

Kyren's name might have been Gollum for the current situation his brain found itself in. One side, the hopeful one, was willing to accept Emma's attention for as long as she would give it. The other, more spiteful side only wanted to shut out the world, watch out for itself, remain safe. He knew the moments were ticking away as his thoughts circled in a tempestuous way, but he stayed where he was as he rode out the storm. He was being a wimp, and he knew it. This wasn't how he wanted to be perceived by anyone, least of all by himself. Perhaps a compromise was in order. The little hope that was left would get its way because he would show up, the strong older brother he always strove to be, and nothing like the Kyren that threw up over a date; a date that wasn't even his! The side that fights greedily for the precious would get its own wish; Kyren wasn't going to pushed to the sidelines by this Chuck Wilder. 

Before he could drive himself further around the bend, a startling familiar hand came out of nowhere, covering his eyes in a game of guess who. The only other person that dared to do so besides Emma was none other than Lena Nelson. So here was Frodo, complete with curly hair, to handle the situation for him... 

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Kyren reflected on the conversation they just had as he speed-walked down the halls to get to the student council room. He wasn't going to just sit by; doing so would definitely end with his defeat. So he made it to the room and plastered a smile on his face, not entirely true to form, but not entirely forced either. Realizing that Emma was not alone in the room tempered his smile a little. After all, it wasn't an expression he threw around lightly. People would think he had gone soft. A simple quirk of the lips remained as he nodded to the Council President in greeting, before turning back to Emma, "Ready to go, Ems?"

Better late than never, a familiar figured moseyed on in through the opened council room door, a light rare smile gracing its face. Emma perked up at the sight of her brother, his smile hardly able to compete with the one that was now occupying his sweet little sister’s lips. In all honesty she was beginning to worry that he was still pretty upset with her over their current disagreement, but seeing him walk through the door to get her made the small brunette nearly bounce in excitement. All their issues and disagreements aside, Emma loved her brother and nothing in the world would change that! Nodding Emma scooped up her belongings making sure to push in the rest of the chairs as she passed them, lastly adding in a small goodbye to her council president before following Kyren out of the school building.
 

The rays of the sun were warm and inviting though the unexpected wind carried a chill from the ocean throughout the island. Catching the breeze Emma shivered slightly linking her arms with her brother as they headed towards the girl’s dormitories. She’d been animatedly chatting his ear off going over the details surrounding Homecoming, hoping that the theme this year would grab her brother’s interest. A ball full of masked attendees not knowing whom their dance partner is . . . it would perk the curiosity of the biggest homecoming cynic. You could dance the night away with your worst enemy and have the most amazing time never knowing! As they rounded a corner Emma slowed her pace a bit to lengthen her time with Kyren before reaching the dorms. Brushing some loose strands of hair from her sight Emma indulged her curiosity a bit, “So, what held you up earlier?”

These were the moments Kyren lived for; a smiling Emma was a less grumpy Kyren, that he could admit. For all his wishing that a certain mutt didn't have the same ability to establish such happiness, Kyren had to remind himself that, their mother aside, he knew Emma best, and that had to count for something. He could tell that their disagreement had taken a toll on the youngest Stills, and for that he was remorseful. What kind of brother was he if all he could do was agitate a wound that, although it pained him to realize, should never have festered? He was an adult; it was high time to act accordingly. Kyren had something more important to see to, and if the mutt managed to derail him from even that, then Kyren deserved to lose.

The sun was all too happy to emulate the mood that descended upon the Stills siblings, while the wind ruffled their hair and caressed their cheeks, as if in need of attention itself. Kyren listened in amusement as Emma spoke of their latest project, her passion for her work evident in the extra bounce in her step and the smile on her face. "And you'll have me go to this... dance?" He asked, adopting a tone of disdain. The question was more an attempt to joke than a refusal to attend. His sister was working hard on this, and he had to admit that the theme piqued his interest. There would be no reason to fumble for a date, if you were the type that felt the need (of which Kyren certainly was not), and if he played his cards right, he could plan for an evening of, dare he think it, fun.

He did not protest when the pace of their walk turned from purposeful to leisurely. However, he did falter a bit when Emma questioned him about being late. Guilt instantly flared onto his face, but he nudged it down before he could return to that line of thinking. Instead he pulled what he hoped was a smile, and in his best Gollum voice (which was likely terrible, mind you) replied, "Bagginses," before indulging himself in a brief chuckle.

Their leisurely walk had come to a stop as Emma processed her brother's words. Baggins? Her face was twisted in confusion, not knowing whom Kyren was trying (and failing) to mimic. The voice itself would have made her curl over in laughter if she wasn't so curious as to what it actually meant. "I'm not sure I want to know anymore..." She admitted a bit wary, knowing that he was somehow quoting Lord of the Rings. Granted it hadn't made it to the list of her favorite books - seeing as it had been missing a good chunk of romance - she has still sat through all three movies with her brother at the theater. It was definitely interesting and she enjoyed it,  just probably not as much as Kyren had.

Slowly but surely the gears started turning in Ems head as she put all the pieces together. Oh, That must be it! He was mimicking Gollum! Ewww, that small creepy looking creature was nothing like her brother! To the youngest Stills, Kyren was normally so sweet and loving and always rushing off to her rescue. He was her Hero.  Not that wrinkly pitiful creature Smeagol, he was depressing and horrid! Nope! Nothing like Kyren at all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Now onto the Hobbit. The only person that Kyren would consider Baggins was most likely Lena. Always swooping in and taking off with 'his precious'! So that was the reason he'd been so late? The thought ultimately brought a warm smile to Emma's lips making her feel much better. That meant Kyren wasn't still upset with her nor was she making him physically sick anymore. Things were beginning to look up for the siblings.

Clinging to his arm, Emma resumed her stride enjoying the rest of their walk to the ladies dormitories. The conversation had taken a turn from fictional creatures to each other's roommates, not that either correlated with the other. Emma had filled Kyren in on how excited she was over this years particular pairing. They seemed to hit it off instantly. She gushed on happily about how nice Lorilynn had been to her already, and how easy it was to talk with the girl. On the flipside Kyren's timid sister's moral compass would be going haywire until she worked up the courage to apologize to his roommate for not greeting him properly, and instead got a door slammed in his face. Oh how she wished she could erase that night from her memory...

Arriving at the dorms sooner than she'd hoped for, Emma said her goodbyes by wrapping her arms around her brother in a tight hug. "See you tomorrow!" She promised before skipping off into her dorm. It was going to be a long night. Ems had a lot of work to catch up on, and a dance she was eager to begin sorting out details for.