A/N: So... I recently joined tumblr. And this happened. ^_^
I came across a new tumblr account called MonstrousPrompts, which essentially blogs a single line to inspire a story or piece of art. The line for this one was "Trouble breaks out at Don Carlton and Sheri Squibble's wedding". And I probably went a little overboard, but oh well.
So here it is. My version of events at the wedding of the century. Hope you enjoy. :D
"Wow, that looks amazing! Mom's gonna be so happy!"
"Thanks, just putting the finishing touches to it."
Randy smiled warmly at Squishy before he turned back to the task at hand. He carefully iced the outer edges of each tier of the wedding cake, meticulously ensuring that each one was completely symmetrical. In truth he wasn't sure even his baking skills could pull this off, but after some encouraging words from some of the Oozma Kappa and Slugma Slugma Kappa members, and the insistence of Sheri only trusting him and him alone to get the job done, he was determined to do it.
It was funny how he'd ended up in this situation. He was stuck in a sort of limbo in his sophomore year, having been kicked out of Roar Omega Roar and not joining another fraternity since. He'd gotten several offers from OK, but he wasn't sure he wanted to join the fraternity that were once rivals of his own previous fraternity, let alone one that used to have Sullivan as a member. In fact he wasn't sure he wanted to join a fraternity at all. His departure from ROR had left a bitter taste in his mouth for the Greek life and he'd withdrawn into himself a little more since the incident at the Scare Games final.
Still, it was Sheri who had made her impression on him. She had quickly established herself as the 'campus mom', specifically acting as a mother figure to all the monsters on Frat Row when the OKs were finally given a house there. It was still a funny sight to see her fussing over the likes of Johnny or Rosie, but they were too polite to shoo her away. Truth be told, they all enjoyed it anyway. It was like a guilty pleasure, having someone as close to their own mother as possible living not too far away, always giving them the attention they so craved being so far from home.
With Randy not being in a fraternity, he missed out on some of this, but still Sheri had found her way to him. She'd spotted him during Rush Week of his second year and was the first to invite him to join Oozma Kappa. He had politely declined, but she didn't give up. She saw something in him, something that told her he at least needed the support structure of a fraternity, even if not a member. So she made sure he knew he was welcome at the OK house any time he wanted. Despite himself, he did eventually take advantage of the offer, quickly bonding with Sheri over their passion of the culinary arts.
It wasn't until Squishy and Don had both separately invited him to the wedding a few weeks later that he grew closer to the OKs, taking part in a lot of their events and parties and becoming integrated with the campus' fraternities and sororities again. He was happy with how things were now; he had all the fun of feeling like he belonged with a fraternity, with none of the added pressures to perform or live up to an image. Something that was impressed upon him highly when he was a part of the RORs.
"There, finished," Randy said triumphantly as he stepped back to take in the view of his handiwork.
"It's beautiful," Squishy said, a huge grin filling the child-like features on his face.
"I just wish I'd gotten it done sooner. Not many people leave it until the day of the actual wedding," he chuckled.
"What are you talking about? This was your third cake! I still say there was nothing wrong with the other two."
"Well, maybe not wrong, but it wasn't good enough. Not in my opinion anyway."
Squishy just shrugged at this, he knew he couldn't convince the lizard-like monster differently.
"OK, where was the venue again?" Randy asked.
"The auditorium. They decided against the School of Scaring in the end."
"Well, let's get this over there," he said as he heaved the large cake up and onto a trolley that was lent to them by the cafeteria. "We don't want Art getting his grubby hands on this."
Squishy laughed at this, knowing the scene would be all too true. "Let's get going then. I wanna see how the decorations are going," he said excitedly.
"Who was in charge of that again?"
"I think it was the EEKs."
Randy exhaled audibly. "Thank goodness for that. Could you imagine what the place would look like if it were the PNKs decorating?" The reptilian monster shuddered at the thought.
Squishy giggled. "Or what about the HSS girls? Everything would be decorated in black or with chains."
Randy simply smiled as he started carting the cake out of the OK house. He didn't dare voice his opinion that Sheri would probably like that given her taste in music.
"Why are we doing this?" Johnny groaned.
"Because we were asked to," Javier said, becoming irritated with his leader's constant whining. "Every fraternity and sorority on campus was asked to pitch in and it would have been impolite to decline. Besides…" A playful smirk crept onto the bug-like monster's face. "Ms. S seems to have taken a shine to you."
"The woman takes a shine to everyone," he huffed, although it didn't stop a proud smile displaying itself on his lips.
The two monsters were hard at work preparing the food for the wedding, along with some staff Johnny had managed to call in to help. He didn't want to trust any of the other RORs with the food, so they had been delegated to shopping for the food and, currently, the gifts.
Javier expertly diced vegetables while Johnny manoeuvred around the rest of the staff, performing any odd job that was needed. The only food he was particularly good at cooking was chilli, but since that had already been prepared the day before he took it upon himself to do anything he could which didn't require too much skill.
"So, tell me again why we waited until the day of the actual wedding to get this all done?" Johnny asked.
"Almost all of this food needs to be freshly made," Javier replied. "It's just unfortunate there are tens of thousands of monsters to cater for."
"Well, I guess it couldn't be helped that every monster on campus was invited, what with the wedding being held on the grounds."
"Precisely. And it's our job to make sure they're well-fed with the best food." Javier looked over to the ROR president with a cheeky smirk. "It would be unbefitting for the RORs to perform at anything but the top standards."
Johnny snorted. "Oh great, my own policy used against me, just fantastic," he whined. "Why couldn't I have been happy with graduating? Why did I have to stay for the extra courses?"
Javier merely shook his head and chuckled. This was going to be a long day.
"Come on girls, move, move, move!" Carla called out to her sorority sisters. "We've just gotta get the podium all set up and we're finished. But we've only got thirty minutes to do it!"
"But Carla, what about the scoreboard?" Brynn asked, pointing up at the object in question.
"And the monitors," Debbie added.
"Girls, we play over five different sports each, but all have one in common. Don't tell me you can't think of some way of getting up there."
"Oh, I see," Maria said with a growing smirk. "Like in the Avoid the Parent challenge?"
"Exactly!"
"OK, I got this," Violet piped up before suddenly lifting Maria and Brynn high in the air, making the motion seem completely effortless.
"Whoa!" the two monsters cried out in unison as their sense of gravity became temporarily displaced.
"Warn us next time you're gonna do that, will ya?" Maria shot angrily.
"No time, only got thirty minutes," Violet shrugged before turning to their president. "May I?" she asked, holding out a hand.
"You may," Carla giggled as she took Violet's hand, promptly being thrown up in the air to land gracefully atop Maria and Brynn's shoulders.
"Good thing we all do gymnastics," Donna remarked as she approached the larger purple monster, awaiting her turn to be thrown up onto the impromptu monster pyramid.
Violet threw Donna up to land on Carla's shoulders before steadying Maria who was standing on her right shoulder. She turned to Debbie with an apologetic smile. "Sorry girl, pyramid's too tall for me now. You're gonna have to climb."
"No problem," Debbie smiled. "Just as long as someone doesn't drop me again."
"For the last time, it was the librarian's fault!" Donna called down.
The other monsters giggled at the remark as Debbie grabbed a small box of decorations, climbing up the pyramid with ease. She settled herself carefully on Donna's back, and Donna slowly snaked her way up to allow Debbie to reach the scoreboard.
"Say, I wonder how Randy's doing with that cake?" Carla pondered allowed.
"I'm sure he'll do great," Violet said. "The guy's a natural. Kinda makes me envious."
"Oh, stop it ladies, you're gonna make me blush," came a voice from across the field.
All of the EEKs looked over to see Randy and Squishy rolling the cake into place amongst the tables.
"Randy!" they all called in unison, Carla waving enthusiastically.
Unfortunately, the waving caused Donna to lose her balance slightly, toppling the whole pyramid over.
"Not again," Debbie muttered as she fell.
The whole auditorium filled with a crashing sound as the sorority, save for Violet, fell to the podium floor. Randy and Squishy winced as they watched.
"Ooh…" Randy said.
"That's gonna leave a mark," Squishy said.
The two ran over to the EEKs, making sure they were alright. Once they were sure no injuries had occurred, Randy decided to pose them a question.
"What were you all doing up there?"
"We were trying to decorate the scoreboard and monitors," Carla explained.
"That is until someone dropped me," Debbie said, glaring at Donna. "Again!"
Hoping to stop a potential argument, Randy quickly made a suggestion. "How about I take care of those while you decorate the rest of the podium?"
"But… how?" Carla asked, confused.
"Easy," he chuckled.
He picked up the box of decorations in one set of arms, quickly making his way to the wall and using his other set and his legs to swiftly climb the wall, coming level to the scoreboard in mere seconds.
"Like that," he said.
"Huh. Shoulda thought of that ourselves," Violet said, scratching the back of her head.
"Brilliant!" Carla cried out. "We can get this done in no time at all. C'mon girls, we gotta finish up here. No time to waste!"
The girls promptly set about their work while Randy decorated above them.
"Y'know, he's kinda cute," Donna giggled, making sure she was quiet enough for the lizard-like monster to be unable to hear her.
"Donna!" Carla gasped.
"It was kinda hot how he climbed that wall in two seconds flat," Violet added.
"Girls, not here," Carla said sternly. "You can gossip about Randy all you like when we're at the house."
"Oh trust me, we do," Donna said.
Carla rolled her eyes, although couldn't deny they had a point.
Squishy, who the girls seemed to have forgotten about, smiled wide as he overheard, a few mischievous ideas formulating with his reptilian friend in mind.
Nadya, Sonia, Susan, Rhonda and Nancy all sat in the living area of their sorority house, a huge pile of CDs set out in front of them.
"Well, we have Ms. S well covered," Nadya said. "And we can easily find some pop, dance and techno music to cover everyone else. But I don't think we have anything close to what Don wants in music choice."
Rhonda sighed. "Why were we picked for choosing the music? What was Ms. S thinking?"
The sound of someone clearing their throat grabbed the attention of all monsters present, and they all turned around to meet the face of their president.
"I think… this may be why," Rosie said as she held out a small stack of CDs.
The other HSS sisters looked through CDs as they were handed to them, all of them becoming wide-eyed in shock. Rhonda and Susan had to stifle a laugh at a few of them.
"Rosie, what is this?" Nadya said as she held up a couple of CDs to her president's view.
"I do tend to listen to a little bit of country music," she shrugged as though the fact was no big deal. "I listen to all sorts, in fact. When Ms. S found that out, she asked to try and pick a few tunes Don would like too. We all know what she likes, after all. Just so happened I had a few ideas for him too."
"Country… music..?" Susan said slowly as though the concept was alien to her. "Since when did you listen to this?"
"I've always listened to it," she shrugged again.
"Then why did you keep it secret?" Rhonda asked suspiciously.
"I've never kept it secret. None of you ever asked, is all."
Sonia just shrugged and giggled a little. "Oh well, it makes our job easier, right?"
The other members murmured in agreement. They then went about picking out which songs specifically they'd be playing for the reception.
"Looks like we got off light," Nadya spoke up. "Did you see how busy the RORs were? And the EEKs?"
"Oh, and the OKs themselves," Sonia said. "Wonder how they're getting on?"
"No, not those ones!" Mike barked. "Those ones!"
Sulley sighed and put back the box he was currently holding, picking another up from the store shelf. "These ones?"
"Yup, that's it. C'mon Sul, we need to pick up the pace if we're gonna get all of this done before the wedding."
"Yeah, why exactly did we leave it 'til the last minute anyway?"
Mike sighed and placed a hand on what could best be determined as his hip, rolling his eye. "I already told you, there was a last whip-round last night. We got donations from a lot of other monsters who couldn't afford it before. That's why we had to wait until today to do all of this."
"Couldn't we have at least done some of it before?"
Mike opened his mouth to answer before promptly shutting it, realising Sulley had a good point. Sulley simply smirked, happy to have the small victory over his green friend.
"Oh shuddup," Mike finally said, moving along the aisle. "Where's Art and the Terries?"
"Probably on a quest to find the other items on your list you were so adamant about finding. Are you sure this place even sells them?"
"Definitely. I double- and triple-checked yesterday. They were in stock."
"Y'know, they had similar stuff in the last ten stores we visited."
"I don't want similar," Mike snapped. "I want the best. This thing's gonna go off without a hitch, mark my words."
This time Sulley rolled his eyes. He was beginning to grow tired now; the OKs had spent the whole morning shopping for items on a wish list compiled by Sheri and Don, minus any items some of the fraternities and sororities had already planned on buying as gifts, using the money gifted by all the monsters on campus that could afford to. 'And Mike just had to go and add to it,' Sulley thought to himself.
"Hey guys, over here!" came a call from the next aisle over.
Mike and Sulley rushed over to find it was Terri that had called them over.
"What is it?" Mike asked.
"My brother here keeps arguing with me over which plate set it was you wanted to get," Terry muttered. "I keep telling him it was these ones," he said, pointing to one box on the shelf. "But Terri seems to think it was these," he said, pointing to another.
"Actually, Terri's right in this case," Mike chuckled.
"O-Oh," Terry said, becoming unusually sheepish.
"Hah! I told you!" Terri exclaimed victoriously.
"Oh shut up," Terry muttered as he picked up the correct box, although he wore a slight smile.
"Now then, let's find Art," Mike said. "He should hopefully have the last item on our list."
"I wouldn't count on it," Sulley said. "He probably either got lost or got distracted."
"My guess would be the lava lamps," Terry chuckled.
The others laughed; more so now that they were relieved to have almost finally finished their task.
"Right, let's get this thing over with," Sulley said, leading the way to where Art should have picked up the last item.
"Y'know, I don't think I've ever spent so much in one day," Mike said wistfully.
"Too bad none of the stuff's ours," Terri said.
"Well, it kinda is if you think about it," Terry said. "We still practically live in Ms. S's house half the time, so chances are we'll probably be using most of this at least once."
"Very true," Terri nodded.
"Just found Art," Sulley sighed from ahead of them.
The others looked to see Art was standing in the middle of the wrong aisle, staring intently at a group of lava lamps on the shelf.
"Told you," Terry said.
Terri laughed before promptly high-fiving his brother. "Oh man, we are on a roll today."
"Let's just get the ornaments and go," Mike groaned despite the smile he held.
The others chuckled as they followed suit, Sulley dragging Art with them.
"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Art asked.
"Just about everything on the list," Sulley said.
Don was currently preparing for his wedding, making sure he looked as smart as he expected himself to. Nothing was too good for his future wife.
He was joined, bizarrely, by the brothers of Jaws Theta Chi. He'd never pegged them to be the type to actually advise in this sort of thing, but it turned out that Big Red could be one snappy dresser when he wanted to be.
"Now, usually I hate these things," Big Red said as he was affixing a bowtie to Don's collar. "But I gotta say you pull it off really well."
"Well, thank ya very much," Don chuckled. "And thank ya for all the help in picking out this suit. I'll admit, when I first started flickin' through the ol' catalogues, I had no idea what I was looking at."
"Aww, shucks, it's not a problem Don," the large red monster said bashfully. "Just glad we could be of some help. We're pretty much useless at all the other stuff."
"Yeah, it's all kinda… girly if ya ask me," Percy chimed in.
"No-one was asking you," Big Red growled angrily.
"Whoa, easy there fella," Don said before turning to Percy. "Now, I wouldn't go saying any of the other tasks were girly, per se. But I know what you mean. I couldn't wrap my head around any of the other plannin' details to save my life."
"Yeah, I wouldn't either," Big Red admitted. "Doesn't make it girly though," he snapped at Percy.
"Alright, alright, not girly," Percy gave in. "Jeez, I was only saying…"
"So, who's invited?" George asked curiously. "Besides everyone at MU, I mean."
"Well, no-one else, really," Don said.
"You mean, there's no family or friends?" Big Red asked, slightly concerned.
"Well, I didn't really make any friends while I was in the sales business," he admitted. "And as for family… Well, there was only ol' Pa Carlton in my life, but he passed away a fair few years ago."
"Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that," Big Red said, giving Don's shoulder a quick pat.
"Oh, don't go feelin' sorry for me fellas. I got all the family I need here," he said, his enthusiasm perking up immensely. "When I first started at Monsters University, things didn't exactly go as planned. Now mind you, I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't have met four life-long friends, or the woman I was destined to spend the rest of my life with." He paused for a moment, the gravity of his words hitting him as he realised how deeply in love he had fallen. "And then a little later, Mike and James came into our lives. Despite the trouble they caused at the end of last school year, I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. And now look at me!" He gestured to the whole fraternity present. "Six guys I hardly know are right here, helping me prepare for the most important day of my life. How could anyone feel sorry for me? How could I feel sorry for myself? I'm the luckiest fella in the world!"
Despite themselves, the JOX brothers all started tearing up. Big Red in particular began sobbing slightly. "Damn man, that's the sweetest thing I ever heard."
Don chuckled. "Aw, c'mon guys, it's me that's supposed to be doin' the cryin' today, not you."
Big Red immediately perked up, rubbing his eyestalks and straightening his own suit out. "You're right," he said. "We gotta hurry up and get you to the auditorium. Ms. S would kill us if we're late."
"Yeah, c'mon," Baboso said. "We can't keep the future Mrs. C waiting."
The monsters all busily went about making their final preparations before the wedding, making sure they were all dressed to impress. One of the biggest events in MU's history required no less, after all.
Sheri was also getting herself ready for the wedding. The sorority trusted to help her with this was none other than Python Nu Kappa. They were busy fussing over all the preparations, particularly Sheri's make-up.
"Midnight Blue," Naomi said.
"Blue Venom," Crystal countered.
"Midnight Blue."
"Blue Venom."
"Midnight Blue."
"Blue Venom."
"Girls, girls," Carrie cut in. "It's obvious the perfect eye shadow for Ms. S would be Blue Cobalt."
"Oh yeah, like, totally!" the two girls chimed in unison.
Carrie just giggled before tending to Sheri, making sure her lipstick was perfect.
"So is there anyone outside of MU invited to the party?" she asked curiously as she put the finishing touches to the lipstick.
"Oh, no dear, there was no-one else to invite," Sheri said cheerily.
Carrie was taken aback, both by the answer and the tone it was said in. "No-one? No family or friends?"
"Oh no, there's no family besides my little Scott," she replied. "And no friends to speak of."
Carrie was slightly concerned by the cheery tone. She couldn't imagine having no friends, and she certainly couldn't imagine being happy about it. "But, why?" she blurted out before covering her mouth, regretting asking the question.
"Oh, it's fine dear," Sheri reassured her after witnessing Carrie's reaction to her own question. "I don't have friends because I had Scott whilst I was still quite young. Any friends I had before outgrew me. That's all."
"Aren't you upset about that?"
"Not at all," she said just as cheerily. "I've got Scott and all my little Oozmas, as well as a man that means more to me than life itself. And I have everyone here on Frat Row, too. Even if some of you find me rather bothersome sometimes," she giggled.
"Aww, Ms. S, never say you're a bother," Carrie said, giving her a tight hug. "We're all lucky to have you here."
"Thank you dear, that means a lot."
The two monsters broke the hug, and Sheri saw Carrie, as well as the other PNKs, were close to tears.
"Oh no, darlings, don't go crying for me," she said. "Besides, we'll be in here for a couple more hours fixing the make-up if you do."
The other girls giggled at this, perking right back up. "OK Ms. S, just a few more touches and you'll be movie star gorgeous," Heather said, grabbing some more supplies from the dresser. "Not that you aren't already," she added.
"Oh, stop it, you," Sheri said bashfully, giggling again.
They continued making their final preparations, and once they were all ready, they left the PNK sorority house, Carrie and Naomi carrying the train to Sheri's dress.
"Looks like we were last to leave," Sheri stated, seeing the whole of the row seemed abandoned.
"Well, the bride should be fashionably late," Carrie giggled.
"C'mon, let's go!" Naomi said excitedly. "I can't wait to see Mr. Carlton's face!"
"And all the cute guys that'll be checking us out," Heather added.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll all get plenty of attention," Sheri said with a warm smile.
"Don't forget, this is Ms. S's day though," Carrie said sternly. "We can worry about the guys once that ring is on her finger," she giggled, barely able to contain her excitement.
The girls all headed off in the direction of the auditorium, giggling and chatting all the way.
"Oh, I hope my eyeliner doesn't run," Britney said. "I get so emotional at weddings."
"Me too," said all of the other PNK girls in unison, which caused everyone to giggle again.
"I can't believe this is it," Sheri stated. "One of the biggest days of my life! I can't wait."
The girls all uttered an "aww" at this, and looked to the auditorium which was slowly looming into view.
The sight was truly something to behold. The auditorium was filled more than she had ever seen it in her history at the university. Students were crammed in as tightly as possible, in both the seats and sitting along the inner perimeter, and still there were more crowding around the top. The whole of the campus must have turned out for this event and she couldn't be happier.
Not that she would show it. No, she was a monster who very rarely displayed any kind of emotion. Still, she was happy. Happy and proud to see such an event was possible. She knew how small a budget Don and Sheri started with, but she was more than happy to fund as much as she could herself. Such a thing was outside of her capacity as a Dean of MU, of course, but to see what had resulted was every bit worth it.
Dean Abigail Hardscrabble stood upon a podium in the centre of the auditorium as maid of honour, a role she would not have imagined playing in a million years, but was every bit happy to do so. She had organised all of the student body as best she could to truly make this event one to remember. She helped Sheri hand each fraternity and sorority a task they felt would suit them best and was proud to say they had done a fine job doing them.
Tables surrounded them full of gifts and food, the whole auditorium had been decorated elegantly, everything around screamed 'luxury'. It was surprising to think all of this was possible from a group of young adults who were perhaps too young to understand the importance of such a day, and yet… all of this had happened. All of it had come together in such a way that made the Dean proud to call them all her students.
Standing next to her was none other than the bride herself. She had met up with Sheri and the PNKs just before entering the auditorium, leading her up to the monster she would soon have as her husband. Opposite stood the man in question, Don Carlton, whose face betrayed a series of emotions ranging from nervousness to overwhelming joy. And next to him was the bride-to-be's son, Scott "Squishy" Squibbles, who had the pleasure of playing the dual role of best man and the monster to give his mother away. He had played his roles excellently, eliciting many tears as he led his mother the rest of the way up the aisle, a smile filling his features the whole way.
The rest of the podium was taken up by the bridesmaids who consisted of the girls of Python Nu Kappa, Rosie Levin and Carla Delgado, all of whom surrounded Sheri and the Dean herself, as well as the brothers of Jaws Theta Chi and Oozma Kappa, including Mike and Sulley, and Randy Boggs who, in turn, all surrounded Don and Squishy, with the only monster standing in the centre being a priest, who stood in between the soon-to-be bride and groom.
The procession flew by faster than anyone could recall. Both Don and Sheri had personalised vows, both of which caused an entire stadium of monsters to weep. Even the Dean herself had to wipe a tear from her eye. The entire scene was beautiful in every sense; from the decoration to the clothing both bride and groom wore to the words spoken by the couple.
And just like that, it was over. The 'I do's' had been uttered, the rings placed on the bride and groom's fingers, and the whole campus roared with cheers as the couple shared their first kiss as newlyweds.
Everyone on the podium had given their congratulations, some through sobs of joy. The PNK girls could possibly have shed more tears than Sheri herself and, much to the amusement of everyone gathered, Big Red probably had too.
Depending on who you ask, what happened next would either have been incredibly shocking, or completely expected.
"Now let's party!" the new bride shouted out to the crowd.
Everyone in the stadium erupted with noise once again. The sunlight was dwindling somewhat and the white lights illuminating the stadium were soon replaced by strobe lights of all colours, the music picked out by the HSS girls beginning to play. As was customary, Don and Sheri shared their first dance to an upbeat love song, with many students joining in part-way through. After that, the playlist seemed to become quite random and disjointed in a manner befitting a student party, which in essence this was despite also being a party to celebrate a wedding.
Don soon found himself needing to duck out from the dance floor, unable to keep up with some of the faster-paced songs which Sheri seemed to have no trouble with. Instead, he settled on watching the impromptu dance floor, composed of practically the entire grounds within the auditorium, seeing just how many monsters had begun dancing and laughing, even the unlikeliest of suspects with the HSS sisters, the RORs and even Dean Hardscrabble dancing along to the beats.
An hour had passed before the Dean signalled for the music to be turned down, announcing to everyone that the food would be unveiled to all who wanted it just as soon as the cake had been cut and the speeches had been made.
The cake was rolled out by an incredibly proud Randy, who received praise from all who were in earshot, especially from Sheri herself who almost cried at how wonderful it looked. She threatened to smother the life out of the poor reptilian monster with how tightly she hugged him, repeating her thanks over and over again.
Just as Don and Sheri were approaching the cake, Mike called out. "Everyone get your cameras ready!"
A whole slew of monsters got their cameras ready, from the cell phones held by most of the regular students, to the sophisticated cameras set up by some of the students from the School of Liberal Arts & Monstrosities who had been asked to perform as professional photographers. Amidst bright flashes coming from all angles, the first cut into the cake earned yet another roar of applause, Sheri cheekily wiping some icing from the knife to give it a quick taste.
The cake was set on a table in the centre of all the others as the rest of the food was uncovered. Everyone gasped at how good it all looked, and quite how much there was, and everyone congratulated ROR for managing it.
"Oh Johnny dear, I knew you could do it," Sheri cooed amidst much cheek-pinching and hugging. "Thank you so much."
"Y-You're welcome, Mrs. C," Johnny said, his blush almost visible under his fur.
"And thank you dear," she said, turning to Javier to give him the same treatment. "I just knew I chose the right fraternity for the job."
"Th-that's quite alright Mrs. C, it was no trouble at all," he said, not having the luxury of fur to hide his own blush.
"OK, speeches now everyone!" she called out, and everyone's attention turned to a few monsters who had again taken their place on the podium.
Stood there were every member of OK, past and present, as well as the Dean.
Squishy, the Terries and Art gave an impassioned speech together, although Art's part of it seemed a little odd, which was to be expected by anyone who knew him. Mike's and Sulley's were more joke-filled, having everyone laughing at some funny anecdotes of OK's past misadventures. Dean Hardscrabble gave what was perhaps the most impassioned speech of all.
"I have had the pleasure of teaching Mr. Carlton as you all know," she began. "But not many will know that I also once had the pleasure of studying with Mrs. Carlton. Despite never pursuing a career in Scaring, as I did, she still served as an inspiration in many monsters' lives, including my own. I am afraid to say we lost touch after she left Monsters University, but there was one thing she told me that has stuck with me to this very day. 'Never give up'. Cliché? Perhaps. But still, even on my darkest days, I would remember those words, and it would make everything going wrong in my life… easier. You see, the words themselves were not that important, it was rather that someone chose to tell me them at all. Were in not for the kindness and charisma Sheri had, and still does I might add, I would have simply ignored them. But I didn't. And I must say, I may not be where I am today if it were not for her. And so, here I am, on arguably one of the most important days of her life, and I would not want to be anywhere else." She then did something that would rarely be seen by most monsters in attendance. She looked upon Sheri and smiled. It was a warm, loving smile, like a proud sister would give another. She then turned to Don. "I am here, of course, for Mr. Carlton too, who has shown me in such a brief time yet another important lesson; it is never too late to chase your dreams. And he is doing a fine job doing just that. So I should hope both of them serve as an inspiration to all of you as well. So to Mr. and Mrs. Carlton, I propose a toast." She raised the champagne glass she was holding, to which all others holding a glass or cup did too. "To health, fortune, and a long, loving, happy marriage. To Don and Sheri!"
"To Don and Sheri!" everyone called out, the voices echoing across the whole campus.
Once the toast was over, most monsters in attendance had set upon eating and the music began playing in the background for anyone wanting to dance instead. The queue to the food grew slightly troublesome with so many monsters to cater for, but still there were no problems and everyone managed to eat their fill, albeit with a long wait for some.
After a while, most of the monsters had gone back to dancing, while some stood or sat around the perimeter talking amongst themselves. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. But unfortunately, as with most events held at Monsters University, the party was soon to come crashing down.
"The mailroom? They actually did that? What a joke."
Mike bristled at the comment, turning to meet its unsurprising source.
"You got a problem, Worthington?" Mike said, glaring at the horned monster.
"Nope, not a problem at all. By what I heard, it was you and Big Blue that had the problem. Y'know, getting expelled and all."
"Hey, that was uncalled for Johnny," Sulley said, making his way over to the pair.
"What?" he said, playing innocent. "All I was saying was that I found it funny you two actually took a job in the mailroom."
"And what's so funny about it, huh?" Mike questioned angrily.
"Well, let's face it, Big Blue could do a lot better."
"And what about me, huh?"
"What about you?"
"Johnny, just stop," Sulley said sternly.
"No, no, let the guy talk," Mike said.
"I don't have anything else to say," Johnny shrugged. "You're not exactly noteworthy, after all."
"Oh, you're asking for it pal,"
"Asking for what?" he chuckled. "If we were to fight, what could you possibly hope to do to me?" He puffed out his chest and loomed over the green monster to help make his point.
"You talk big."
"That's because I am big," Johnny sneered, moving closer, his face mere inches from Mike's. "Unlike you."
"Just shove off, dog breath," Mike said, pushing Johnny away from him.
Johnny lost his balance slightly, stumbling into someone behind him, earning a shrill scream.
"My bridesmaid dress!" Carrie shrieked, gesturing to her once-white dress that was now dripping and stained with a red liquid. "It's ruined!"
"Now look what you've done," Johnny snarled at Mike.
"What I've done?" Mike said in disbelief. "That was your fault!"
"No, it was yours!"
"No, yours!"
"Ugh, you guys are being such children!" Carrie shouted, shoving Johnny away from her and into Mike.
Mike was sent staggering backwards, knocking into another monster behind him, earning yet another scream.
"Who did this?!" Rosie roared, in a similar state to Carrie. She looked first at Mike and then at Johnny, snarling at the sight of him. "You!"
"M-Me?" Johnny stuttered. "Whoa, whoa, this wasn't my fault. It was his!" he said, pointing at Mike.
"Nice try Worthington," she growled before approaching him.
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me," he said, backing away.
"What's the matter Worthington, scared?" Mike mocked.
"Quiet you, I'll be dealing with you later," Rosie said to Mike.
Mike gulped, backing slowly away as he watched the confrontation. Sulley leaned down to whisper to his friend.
"If I were you, I'd run now."
"Right," Mike said, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
By this time, in backing away Johnny had knocked into three more of the PNKs.
"What are you doing Johnny?!" Heather shrieked at him.
"I'm kinda in the middle of something," he said, gesturing to Rosie who was now picking up her pace.
"Good, I hope she pummels you," Crystal said.
"Really not helping, ladies," he said as he turned around and broke off into a sprint, Rosie charging close behind.
In their chase, both monsters knocked several others over. Some monsters called out to them angrily, while others picked fights amongst themselves, not seeing who had caused their misfortune and jumping to the wrong conclusion.
Soon the whole crowd broke out in chaos. The JOX and the RORs had been amongst the first to start throwing fists. Several others soon joined in. Tables were knocked over as monsters of all sizes were seen practically flying through the air, winged or not, as others tried ducking for cover amongst the seats.
Just as the party was threatened to be marred by serious injury, a voice could be heard cutting through the entire auditorium.
"Enough!"
The music was promptly shut off and every monster turned to the source of the voice, gasping and instantly dropping their fists or, in some cases, other monsters when they saw who it was.
Standing on the podium was none other than Dean Hardscrabble, bullhorn in hand, looking upon the scene before her in utter disgust. But that wasn't what brought on the instant feeling of shame amongst the monsters who had been fighting. What did was the monster standing next to her. Decked in a beautiful white wedding dress, Sheri looked in horror as everything around had been destroyed. On the verge of tears, she gasped sadly. "My… my cake…"
Everyone turned to see that three of the four tiers of the wedding cake now lay on the ground, along with all of the rest of the food that hadn't yet been eaten. Almost all of the tables now laid on their side, some of them even having been broken in half.
Everyone turned back to Sheri, instantly regretting what had happened. They'd ruined her big day, and nothing they could do or say would make it right. But no-one could have predicted her next reaction.
She smiled. And then she giggled. And then she openly laughed. She laughed so hard tears threatened to fall from her eyes and everyone else in attendance either smiled awkwardly or looked puzzled. This certainly wasn't a normal reaction.
"Now this!" Sheri shouted between giggles. "This is a party!"
The Dean looked horrified. "You can't honestly approve of this?" she said to Sheri.
"Oh, come now Abigail, we were young once too. Can you honestly say you were never involved in a scrap at college?"
"Well, I, uh," she stammered, unusually lost for words. "That's beside the point. Look at what they've done. They've ruined your big day!"
"Ruined? What are you talking about? They've made it more authentic!"
"Authentic? What do you mean?"
"Oh Abigail, dear. We held the wedding on college grounds. What did you expect?" she giggled.
"You know, she's right," Don piped up from her other side. "We couldn't expect a party amongst a group of rambunctious young monsters to go without a scrap."
"But, I…" the Dean trailed off, not knowing what to say.
Sheri took the bullhorn and turned back to the rest of the crowd. "Go back to partying everyone! Just try not to wreck anything else!" she called, still giggling.
She motioned for the music to be turned back on, but even when it was, everyone around stood stunned.
"Oh don't look at me like that," she called out. "Go, enjoy yourselves! If you didn't wreck something, I'm sure I would have!"
Everyone around laughed at this, particularly those who knew her, knowing what she said to be the truth as they'd witnessed it themselves. The party continued and everyone began dancing, all anger promptly being forgotten.
"And that's how you take care of that," Sheri said with a smile.
"Yes, well, still I'll be looking to hand out punishments," the Dean said, frowning.
"To who? The whole school?" Sheri giggled. "Abi, let it go dear. It's a party for crying out loud."
The Dean couldn't help but smile at this. "You really are quite remarkable," she said, shaking her head slightly.
"She sure is," Don said, pulling his newlywed wife into a loving embrace.
"Oh, stop it," she said, blushing slightly. "They're just kids. Let them live whilst they can. They won't be young forever." She stepped to the edge of the podium, looking down at the party below with a large smile.
"A lesson you're still fixin' to learn, I'd wager," Don said, stepping up to his wife and grabbing her hand.
"Now Don, dear, I don't think it's a lesson I'll ever learn," she giggled before pulling her husband into a kiss. "So I hope you're ready to keep up."
"I'll certainly be doin' my best," he chuckled. "Otherwise, I'll just be countin' my lucky stars I've found a woman I love that'll have the youth for both of us."
The two shared one last kiss before they looked down at the crowd. They both saw just how lucky they were that so many monsters had gathered just to witness their happiness.