Chapter 25: Enter the Entertainers!

"Anything you can do, I can do better, like washing windows."

"Yeah, right."

"No, seriously. Your catwalk sucks."

"Well, you can't play piano for anything."

"Sometimes, milk shoots out of your nose when you laugh."

"Oh, yeah, well, you wash windows horribly."

"You're the one that got us into this mess."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. You just had to badmouth the teacher."

"That's because she totally ignored my raised hand!"

"But you had no need to call her a bitch."

"That was a slip of the tongue."

"What horrible language."

"Like you don't talk bad."

"Oh, I admit I talk bad, but at least I know when to keep my mouth shut."

"Sometimes you don't, you know. If some hot guy happens to walk by..."

"Oh, shut up!"

"You are the biggest flirt in the history of the world!"

"That's different!"

"No, it's not. You call the random guys names. Shall I continue?"

"Stop it, both of you," growled Sora, leaning against the desk, filing her nails. "You both have no clue when to shut up, so I'm telling you now."

Elaina wiped her brow to glare at Sora. "Are you taking Cera's side?"

"No. Just pointing out the facts."

Cera furiously wiped the last window, hurrying her task of window-washing. "Well, you have the facts wrong, honey. I never get us in trouble."

"Yes, you do," Riiko argued, sitting on top of the counter, playing with the class pet, Sparkles the rabbit. "You are the only one that usually gets us into trouble. At least this time, you and Elaina got caught."

Natalia and Alexia were locked in a Speed match. "Hurry up," complained Natalia, slapping down a 3. "This is the fifth game."

Alexia merely laughed as she placed her entire hand down.

Elaina sneered. "It would go so much faster if you all would help..."

Sora scoffed. "No way. You got yourself in this mess, you can get yourself out."

It was the late afternoon, and school had just let out for the last Thursday. Earlier in 8th period, Signora Manet reprimanded Elaina for letting Sparkles out of her cage, causing the low-tempered twin to retaliate with a number of names. Cera accidently tripped the poor woman on her way to write a referral, so the two of them received detention, and the other girls stayed behind out of loyalty.

"When are the others getting here?" asked a tall, handsome boy in the corner, his blond hair falling over one eye. His name was different. Jasper Cassadine, Sora believed it was.

Cera shrugged, removing the latex gloves forced on her. "Not sure, but they should be arriving soon, no doubt."

Sora smirked. "Well, speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear."

Cera stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Look outside."

A multitude of boys and girls stood outside of the door, chattering. Five other boys waltzed in the room: one red head, two more blonds, and two brunettes. The red head was Cassius Starvos; the blonds were Dimitri Lerma and Stefan Shalashaska, and the brunettes were Nicholas Cassadine and Carlos Olivera. Including Jasper, all the boys were over six feet tall. Nicholas was tallest at 6'7".

Carlos looked Sora over once, his amber eyes shining with admiration. "Nice outfit, bella." He whistled, running his fingers through his slicked-back hair.

Sora pulled on her plaid skirt and white sleeveless shirt, fastening the next two buttons. "Shut it, Carlos. Your slacks and shirt with a black tie? So last week. Besides, this is the uniform, you idiot."

Nicholas snorted, his hazel eyes dancing with laughter, his hair tucked back behind his ears. "Uniform, indeed." His sneer became more pronounced as he looked all of them over. "What on Earth did you do to get D-Hall?"

Cera pouted and flipped her ponytail back onto her shoulders. "None of your concern. Get back to the room, or there will be consequences."

Jasper spoke from the shadows. "Let's go. These girls need a little cleaning to do." His ice blue eyes were filled with amusement. "They're like maids."

Dimitri yawned, stretching his arms. His black eyes were much colder than Stefan's bright gold. "Yeah, let's leave them to their dirty work. I am head, after all." His curly hair made him extremely handsome. "President of the Entertainers!"

Alexia rolled her eyes, pigtails resting behind her ears. "Oh, give it a rest."

Stefan rubbed her shoulders. "Bad day, love?" He smoothed his hair back into place.

She smacked his hands away. "I'm not your girl, Stefan. Hands off."

Natalia stood beside him, anger pulsating from her. She rolled her hair into a bun. "Go away, you guys. Do your jobs."

Carlos slapped her back. "Nice one, pet. You should definitely get an Emmy for that look."

"GO AWAY." Riiko never looked up once, but her voice was dripping with fury. "Get to the room and start entertaining. That's your job, right? Get to it. We'll meet you over there in a while, okay? LEAVE."

Dimitri threw her a look of disdain. "Fine, bella. Have it your way. Arrivederci."

Nicholas ran his hands through Elaina's hair, who shivered. "Bye, luv."

Stefan leaned forward to kiss Natalia's head. "Get over there soon."

Carlos laughed for one instant before leaving.

Cassius remained with Jasper. His eyes were a dark brown, and filled with boredom, his bronze hair in casual disarray. "Carlos, you coming?"

He nodded once. "In a minute. I must discuss something with Sora."

Cassius shrugged. "Whatever." He slouched off after the others.

Jasper turned his gaze on her. Cera shook her head before standing. "Come on, guys. Let's get a drink before we have to start hosting the men." She and Elaina left together, followed by Alexia and Natalia. Riiko sniffed loudly before exiting.

"No, Jasper." Sora had her back turned to him, her hands clenched into fists.

"I haven't even asked you anything." He lolled in a chair, the perfect picture of ease. "But, since you brought it up..."

"I'm already seeing someone. Someone less disgusting."

"Disgusting? Harsh, cara. That hurts."

"NO. No cara, no girlfriend. I have a boyfriend."

"Then where is he?"

She stiffened up. "In Japan."

"You have a boyfriend...and he's not even in the same country? On the same continent? C'est trés rigolo!"

"Shut up. He's so sweet and kind..." She hadn't even uttered his name, and the hole in her chest threatened to rip further. "I love him."

That caught the blond's attention. "You love him? What a ridiculous concept? LOVE!" And he roared with laughter. "Don't women just love to throw that around?!"

Sora wiped away a tear before it gave her away. "Whatever, Jasper. I still won't get with you, so deal, you bastard." Mumbling the last word, she turned and headed to the H building.

Tamaki frantically adjusted the wig as he sat on the couch beside Riiko's, who was chatting with a number of boys. "Eagle Two, do you copy?" he whispered into a hidden microphone.

His new butler, Hakudoshi, replied shortly. "Eagle One, this is Eagle Two. You have to say over, sir, over."

"Sure thing. Over."

"Have you got sight of Carmen Goddess? Over."

"Not yet, but I will. Over." He twitched as a random girl gently touched his shoulder.

"What will I say to young Master Ootori, sir? Over."

"When I see her, I'll tell you. Over."

Riiko passed him a cup of lemonade. "Here, Tama-chan. Have this."

"Why, thank you." He took a sip before spitting it out.

"You make a horrible spy," she giggled. "I won't tell the others."

He noticed the other men had gathered around Alexia and Natalia, who were engaged in their Speed tournament again. "Is it my eyes?"

"They are very bright, Tama-chan. But no. I knew sooner or later, someone will come to spy on us. I just figured it would have been a bit sooner."

"How have things been?"

"Oh, they've been good! Look, about a year ago, we started a club to entertain the bored students who aren't as well off as us, and they have to wait for their parents to pick them up after work."

She gestured to a group of men surrounding Cera, who was absently brushing her hair. "Those guys are the ones easiest to please. So Cera kind of acts like you guys and keeps them occupied with nothing but her looks." She pointed to another couch, where the older twin sat, reading books along with several other students. "Elaina and Natalia simply provide their clientele with books and journals to keep them busy."

She stood and inclined her head. Tamaki rushed to follow her around. "In that area, Alexia usually spends time with her people, talking about personal problems and such. Today, though, she and Natalia have a sort of rivalry going on." Riiko jerked her head to another part of the old auditorium. A group of boys were scattered on several couches, a crowd of girls hovering about them. "They act just like you guys. Each one has a different selling point, and it works to their advantage."

One of the boys, a blond, was softly singing to one of the girls. "Over there is Jasper Cassadine, the Italian equivalent of yourself. He's not the head of the Entertainers, but he's just that princely figure type. In fact, he's the Cassadine heir, only a step below true royalty like Sora." She scowled as she glared across the room to one of the brunettes. "That's Carlos Olivera. He's what we call the Bad Boy stereotype. Huge and bulky, he is one of the rare finds at our school. He gets a lot of requests.

"Over there is Nicholas Cassadine, Jasper's younger brother. He's a little taller than his brother, and uses that to play basketball. He's the Athlete." Several girls squealed as he flexed one of his arms. "The two blonds by the stage are Stefan Shalashaska and Dimitri Lerma. Dimitri is the head of our organization. Stefan's the one with the longer hair. He's the Foreigner and Dimitri is the Bookworm."

She smiled as she gestured to the stage steps, where five girls hovered around another boy. "He's Cassius Starvos, only son of the Italian director. He's very quiet, so we gave him the unusual Punkboy type." She twirled. "And we, Tama-chan, are the Entertainers!"

Tamaki stared in astonishment. "I see. THAT'S SO COOL!!" He picked Riiko up and spun her around. "RIIKO, YOU ARE JUST SO KAWAII!"

"Finally arrived have you, ojisama? Took you long enough." Sora threw her arms around him, throwing the black wig into the air. "Tamaki, I can't believe it! You're here!"

He held her in an exuberant bear-hug. "My sweet niece, it has been far too long!"

Sora let go. "How have you been?" she gasped breathlessly.

"Fine, fine. And you?"

"Mm, I've been better. Listen, the girls and I are going shopping for graduation! Want to join us?"

"OH, MY DARLING NIECE, HOW COULD I REFUSE?!" It seemed Tamaki had forgotten about the mission altogether.