Katy's POV
The Party Committee sat in a circle as Rose led our discussion. "We already know that the Christmas party will have an open mic on the stage, but what else should we have?" A girl from Adventurous, Lucy, raised her hand high in the air. "We definitely need to have tea!" Rose jotted tea down on her notepad. "I like it. What else should we serve?" A bunch of hands went up. I heard a variety of desserts, but not the one I had in mind. Rose wrote down all of the suggestions. "Ok, anything else before we move on from food?" I raised my hand forcefully. Rose nodded. "Uh, I was thinking, may-maybe we could have gummy bears?" I expected humiliation, but instead, everyone smiled. Rose wrote it down. "Excellent choice, thinking outside of the box!" Yes! "Next up, decorations! Who wants to be in charge?" Right when she asked that, a skeletal boy ran in. "Is it too late to sign up?" Rose shook her head. He jumped in the air, filled with excitement. "Great! I have tons of ideas along the lines of decorations! I mean, I've never actually seen Christmas Town, but dad told me all about it! So, I was thinking a huge statue depicting Sandy Claws in all his glory!" We all stared at him in confusion. "You know, the lobster man who brings presents?" Huh? Ok, first dad doesn't tell me he's been experimenting on Riley Anderson's child, and one of his test subjects is my classmate, now a skeleton from Halloween Town who seems to think Santa Claus is some sort of lobster thinks we're the crazy ones? What's next? Rose is a fairy and Amber's hair has a mind of it's own? Can I be excused for the rest of my life? "Ok, maybe things back at home are a little different than they are here! I'm Toby, by the way." Rose nodded. "How about I separate everyone into groups for completing certain jobs? Let's see here, Raven, Jack, Toby, and I will work on decorating. Lucy, Flynn, Izabella, and Amber will work on snacks. Katy, you have the most important job of all. I hear you're pretty good when it comes to tech. I need you to DJ!" Me? I don't know anything about being a DJ! I mean, sure, I know about sound and technology, but getting up in front of everyone is so out of character for me!
I was thinking of a name to go by at the party so I would feel less like my awkward self and more like the cool DJ Rose expected me to be. I considered going by the nickname Fred gave me, Sonic Boom, but that was the alter ego I planned to use when I could convince dad to let me be a superhero. "Let's see, what do celebrities do to alter their names to match their totally fake personalities?" I messed around with my name, Katy Rikona Hamada, and eventually, I came up with the perfect name that made me feel out of my usual self! DJ KT! I was about to tell the others, when the loudspeaker turned on. I hoped Principal Hale wouldn't nag us not to socialize with the "wicked evil Royallys." Instead, it was our school secretary. "Princess Amber and Rose Olsen, please report to the principal's office!" What could those two possibly be in trouble for? Amber was about to wak to the office, but Rose stopped her. "Wait, I have a bad feeling about this. Quick, jump out the window and run like you're being paid for it!" Amber kept going. "Relax, it's not that bad. You get used to punishments after a while. We'll be in and out of there like it's nothing! Besides, I don't even know what we did wrong, so just play stupid if you want it to be less harsh!" Rose had a worried look in her eyes. "No, it's not that I'm afraid of getting in trouble, I sense danger in that room, we shouldn't go." The secretary came on the loudspeaker, sounding louder and angrier this time. The two whispered to each other, then walked to the office together, holding back their fears. About a minute later, the secretary came on again. "Katy Hamada, please report to the principal's office!" Why did they have to drag me into this? I nervously walked to the principal's office. Flynn followed me. "Hold up, you're not going there alone. I got a concerning text from Amber, look." He showed me his phone, and the message read "One Guardian of the Veil down, four more to go." What was she talking about? Flynn put his phone away. "I have no idea what it means, but I think it has to do with you. I don't trust that girl, Rose. So, I'm coming with you." I shook my head. "I appreciate it, really. But this is my battle, and I'm not dragging you into this. Don't worry about me, as soon as I find out what's going on, I'll be right back here." He seemed slightly hurt that I wouldn't let him come. "Hey, you know I won't leave your side until you're satisfied with your care. The few short minutes I'll be away, it'll be like I'm right here." At that moment, I left for Principal Hale's office, hoping that this whole thing was some sort of practical joke.
