The preparations have been finished, and the party is about to begin! And no, there won't be any truth or dare in this chapter. We've got to build up to the fun, we can't just dump it. There's some groundwork that has to be laid, first. So come up with more truths and dares if there's anything you want to see, this should be a rather interesting party, hopefully!

KedharS: Thank you for your suggestions! I don't know how many I'll be able to use, but they're all appreciated!

Rosealine gold: The party should be an enjoyable experience for sure. Any other truths or dares you can think of?

Hellraiserphoenix: Thank you! I'll use as many as I can make work. Any other suggestions?

Thunder Fire: Those seem like some interesting ones, though I'm not sure if I'll use the kisses or have Kitty's crush be outed just yet.

Aquahaze675: Personally I'm not a fan of the game. Don't know about the strip rock-paper-scissors either, just because that may have unintended consequences lol.

JoshGamerV: No, it's going to be in the story proper, because it's significant to the plot.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 473

Cynthia wore a smile that looked like a million bucks as she entered the Yang's Kitchen, the scent of beef cooking on the grill tickling her nostrils and making her stomach rumble and saliva build up in her mouth. Would that she could, she would eat here for every meal, but no, she had to control herself, and only eat here on… special occasions.

Cynthia walked at the center of a group along with Julia, Sango, Blake, and Ayame, a little miffed that she didn't get to cling to Blake's arm as she entered, but she restrained herself. She promised to be a good girl, after all, and good girls don't make moves on boys with girlfriends.

But that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate what he'd done for her. Blake had spent a lot of time on her hair for this evening, styling it so that it was just the perfect mix of bounce and curl to give her a windswept look, exactly to her specifications. A glance in the mirror made her lips tug up, she knew she looked hot.

She took the lead, of course, it was her birthday, after all, and walked to the register at the front, talking to the hostess.

"Fafnir, party for…" Cynthia began counting off on her fingers, not fully knowing the number of people that were at the party.

"Party for 18," Blake filled in for her.

"Yeah, what he said," Cynthia chirped. She put on a bright face when Blake declared that number, but inside she was a little sad that both Alcea and Olivia had declined their invitations, but she still held hope that Caelia would show up, even though the girl had repeatedly expressed her disinterest at the idea of celebrating Cynthia's birthday.

But it was okay to hope for a birthday miracle, right?

"Oh, Miss Fafnir! Yes, we have your reservation all ready to go!" The hostess said, smiling. "We've reserved the largest grill for you, and it seats 20! We're a bit understaffed this time of year, so it may take some time to cook all your dishes, but-"

"No, no, that's totally fine!" Cynthia said, waving her hand back and forth. "That just means we'll get a bunch of different shows, right?"

The hostess smiled and nodded.

"Yes, that's a good way of looking at it! Now then, your chef today will be Carrie, let me show you to your table!"

Cynthia followed eagerly after the woman, with the other four on her heels. They were the first ones to show up, and expected everyone else would be coming by in short order.

"Hello there!" The pink-haired girl standing at the grill greeted the party. "My name is Carrie, I'll be preparing your food today, and-geh."

Carrie baulked as she laid eyes on the group of students, her voice trailing off. The sight of two people in particular causing the customary pre-rehearsed greeting that she was supposed to give to pop out of her mind completely.

"Aaah!" Ayame and Blake gasped, their eyes bulging in shock as they stared at the pink-haired girl, immediately recognizing her from the month before. "You!"

Carrie went pale. They did recognize her. Oh, no! This was just the worst! She'd been fired from her job at the Kalos Court Kitchen her first night there, after losing her patience with her first guest, the world's most annoying couple. They had been constantly harping on each other's decisions on what to eat, and it had developed into an irritating hissy fit that had made her snap. She had called her mom in tears, but to her great fortune, she had managed to find a new job, one where she could put her skills at grill cooking to work, and she was overjoyed to have another chance. And here was her worst dream come to life, seeing the two people who knew her… sordid past, walk right into the restaurant, on her VERY FIRST DAY?

If they said anything, she would be so fired.

"What, you guys know our server?" Cynthia asked, curious. She'd eaten here a lot, and never seen the pink-haired girl before.

"We've, uh, met," Blake said, glancing at the apprehension on Carrie's face, knowing that she was clearly terrified that she would out her secret.

Ayame picked up on it too. While she wasn't as forgiving as Blake, she still didn't want to out the girl, so she turned to Cynthia and explained further, coming up with some piece of fiction.

"Y-yeah, she used to work at some other restaurant here, I think? We go to eat out a lot on our dates, so that's where we know her from." She glanced at Carrie pointedly, trying to tell her with her eyes that she wasn't going to out her. "So that's why we were surprised, you know? Didn't expect to run into her here."

"Yeah, I was working at the Kalos Court Kitchen," Carrie offered. "Then they fired me…" She added under her breath, trying not to seem bitter about the latest in her long string of failed jobs. Her face brightened and she put on a winning smile.

"Anyway! I hear this is a birthday party?"

"Yep!" Cynthia chirped. She skipped over to sit at the seat at the table closest to the large grill. Which, well, was most of them. The table was arranged as a sort of crescent moon shape around a large slab of sizzling metal, set up similar to a stage so that everyone could watch the food being prepared. At Yang's Kitchen, part of the meal was in the performance, seeing the chef make the food with a bit of showmanship. And Cynthia was an eager watcher, sitting right the end so she could watch straight through the screen. Best seat in the house.

"Excellent!" Carrie smiled. "Then I'll be sure to go all-out in my performance!"

This wasn't the first time Carrie had worked at one of these grills, performing for people. She'd worked at a restaurant like this in the past (and gotten fired due to an inadvertent flip launching scalding meat onto her boss) and she wasn't going to make that mistake this time.

"Blake! Sit next to me!" Cynthia said, patting the seat beside her. "I'm the birthday girl, you gotta listen!"

Blake shot her a warning look, they had just talked about this before. But Cynthia wasn't daunted in the slightest, turning to Ayame without missing a beat.

"Ayame, you sit there, too! Okay?"

Blake and Ayame glanced at each other. Ayame didn't seem to mind, she actually sat down first, leaving the spot between the two girls open for Blake. Blake took the seat between the two of them, still feeling a little apprehensive about this whole thing. He glanced at Cynthia, who seemed to have no ulterior motives at all, her smile bright and wide, apparently just enjoying her birthday to the fullest, making googoo eyes more at the grill than at Blake.

Sango sat down on the other side of Ayame, and Silver floated down next to her. She glanced Julia, the only one still standing.

"Table's looking a little lopsided," Julia said. She moved around the table and sat down a few seats away from the other four, just in time for Nick and Callie to show up.

"Happy birthday, Cynthia!" Callie said, holding a wrapped box up and showing it to Cynthia. Nick had left his present back in their room, since they would be returning to Bulbasaur House for the afterparty.

"Oh, thank you, Callie! Glad to see you two!" Cynthia greeted them. "You can just hang onto the presents, we're all going to the afterparty, after all!"

"This is really nostalgic, huh?" Ayame smiled, glancing at Callie and Nick as they sat. Callie sat down a seat away from Julia, the two girls sharing a knowing look. The seat between them would be reserved for a special guest of their own. Nick sat on the other side of her.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Sango asked, curious. Ayame blushed a little and glanced at Blake, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Blake nodded in understanding, and it dawned on Sango what she was talking about.

"Just, well… Yang's Kitchen, it was where you and I first met," Ayame murmured, reaching over and placing her hand over Blake's. "So… it's special."

"You made quite an impact, that's for sure," Blake said. "That skirt of yours-"

"Don't remember that part!" Ayame sputtered, lowering her head and turning a shameful scarlet. Their first meeting had been a little…

Even just thinking about it right now was making her scream out internally.

"What about the part when you called me 'not half-bad looking' can I remember that part?" Blake asked, jostling her shoulder as she cradled her face in her hands. Sango snickered, and her eyes caught the look on Cynthia's face. If the redhead was bothered by the two of them flirting like this, she was doing a remarkable job of hiding it.

No, Cynthia's face was bright, and her smile looked genuine. She seemed to be happy, even though she was seeing the boy she liked ignoring her on her birthday in favor of his girlfriend. Sango wasn't honestly sure if she could have done the same.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone turned to see three more people showing up, Akira, Dakota, and Serefina. Cynthia brightened up even more seeing Serefina, and she sprung out of her seat, skipping over to the three of them.

"Serefina! Hey! I'm glad you came! …And you guys, too, I guess," Cynthia added, glancing at Akira and Dakota. She didn't mind that they were there, of course, she was happy to see them! But Serefina, well…

"Happy birthday," Serefina said, giving Cynthia a smile. She was happy to celebrate Cynthia's birthday, as long as the girl respected her boundaries. She was actually looking Serefina in the eyes this time, which was an improvement over her usual attitude.

"We brought gifts," Akira offered.

"Great!" Cynthia smiled. "Hold onto them for now, you guys are coming to the afterparty, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Dakota said. She placed her arm on Akira's, glancing at him. "Any excuse to actually get this guy to interact with people instead of sitting in his room and being all antisocial. Do you have any idea how boring it is to watch camera feed of Akira just going on his computer all day not doing anything?"

"Wait, what?" Akira glanced at her. Dakota paled a little, averting her eyes.

"N-nothing, don't worry about it," Dakota said, unable to meet his accusatory glare. She looked to Serefina for help, but Serefina wasn't about to let her off the hook for this.

"Where are the cameras?" Akira demanded.

"Wh-what cameras? I don't know about any cameras, I've never seen a camera before in my life, what even is a camera?" Dakota rambled off, Akira crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

"Dakota…"

"Guys, not tonight," Serefina snapped. Not only was she so far past the limits of her patience, she wasn't about to let her friends ruin their underclasswoman's birthday party. "It's Cynthia's birthday party, let's forget about the fighting, okay?"

The perpetually fighting couple nodded their heads in agreement.

"Serefina, sit over here," Cynthia said, guiding Serefina to the seat opposite her own, right at the end of the table, causing the busty girl to raise her eyebrow quizzically.

"Why here?" Serefina asked, Dakota sitting down next to her and Akira sitting on Dakota's other side, right next to Nick.

"…Just, you know," Cynthia said, waving her hand dismissively. She skipped around the table and sat back down in her seat, allowing her the perfect view of Serefina's boobs sticking out of her wool sweater. Serefina rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms in front of her, hiding her chest from Cynthia's scrutinizing gaze. Cynthia frowned.

Carrie, meanwhile, was staring at someone else as the grill began to prep. The birthday girl, Cynthia, and a few others had already placed in their orders and she was preparing, but her attention was occupied with two people who had just walked in. How many coincidences would Carrie have to stomach? Not only did the two from Mt. Silver who had turned her life around been invited to this celebration, but so were that idiot couple who had gotten her fired! Carrie kept her temper in check, putting her professional face on.

She couldn't afford to lose this job, too. And since those two obviously didn't recognize her, she wasn't going to mess up, no, this time she was going to do her best to make sure she didn't get fired from THIS job as well.

There were still a few more people to show up. The next one to step through the door was Maddi, much to Cynthia's glee. She made a point not to rush over to her, though. She wanted to give Maddi as much space as she could.

"Hey," Maddi said, waving slightly to Cynthia. She was a little shy about being around all these people she didn't really know, but she figured it was still just a pretty casual birthday party. She sat down next to Sango, who smiled back at her. She sat down just in time for two more girls to show up. It was a pair that no one there expected to see together.

Kate and Kitty walked up to the table, Kate trying really hard to not wear her usual sour expression, while Kitty was all smiles, of course. Callie and Julia waved her over, Kitty sitting down between them, while Kate awkwardly just sort of stood where she was, a small, thin gift in her hand, not really sure what to do. She wasn't even really sure why she was here, and she wasn't the only one.

"You invited Kate?" Blake asked, surprised. It wasn't like he was upset that she was there, it was just, well… surprising. Kate and Cynthia weren't exactly the best of friends.

"Well, when Alcea turned me down, she actually invited me over," Cynthia said, her face filled with glee. "So I went to the Gardening Clubroom for a tea party, just so she could give me a formal rejection, do you believe that? And Kate was there, and, well… I just kind of ended up asking her, you know? I mean, she's hung around us a few times, so she's kind of a friend."

"Wow, that's really decent of you, Cynthia," Blake said, actually surprised that she would go to the trouble of inviting a girl who she acknowledged was toxic.

"I'm a decent kinda gal," Cynthia smiled. She wiggled her eyebrows. "Except for the times when I can be a little… indecent, of course."

"Very funny," Blake said, rolling his eyes.

"Kate!" Cynthia leaned forward and waved at the brown-haired girl, startling her.

"Y-yeah?" Kate asked.

"You can just sit wherever, you don't need to be all worked up you know?"

"R… right," Kate said, nodding. Julia was the only one there that she knew without any… complicated emotions involved, so she sat down next to her, making herself look small the way she always did in situations she wasn't comfortable with.

Blake glanced at the arc of five open seats.

"So besides Reiner and Nikita, who are we waiting for?" Blake asked. As if on cue, the couple themselves walked up, greeting Cynthia, Nikita sitting down next to Maddi and Reiner sitting right beside her.

"Well, I invited a new friend of mine that I made over winter break, Giselle," Cynthia began. Before she could keep going, Ayame interrupted.

"Giselle's coming? I love her!" Ayame brightened. Blake remembered Giselle, she was the girl who pretty clearly had a crush on Ayame. He frowned a little.

"Yeah, also, Aidan? Aidan Lambert?" She peered around Blake and Ayame to look at Sango. "Sango, you know him, right?"

"Aidan? Yeah!" Sango said, her face brightening. She was surprised that Aidan was invited. "You know him? I didn't know you guys were friends."

"Yeah, we aren't really that close, but…" Cynthia was drooling. That answered Sango's question for her. She rolled her eyes, knowing what Cynthia was picturing, another one of those fangirls obsessing over Aidan's muscular figure.

"And then the last one is Caelia," Cynthia finished, her expression taking on a more solemn tone. "She didn't say she wasn't going to come, but…"

Over the next few minutes, Giselle came in next, waving to Cynthia and walking over to give her a hug, shooting Ayame a furtive look as well, which made Blake feel a little more jealous. Aidan came in soon too, along with his Shinx, Arion. Cynthia glanced at the entrance, hoping that Caelia would be the next one to enter.

But she didn't.

The steaming aroma of food wafted up from the grill as Carrie began to cook, everyone beginning to talk and share stories, point out different things on the menu they wanted to try.

The party was going pretty well, all things considered. Cynthia was having a good time, and so were her other friends, and they were all starting to get hungry as they walked Carrie's excellent display of her culinary skills.

In spite of that, Cynthia couldn't help but check the door every few seconds, hoping to see Caelia show up. But there wasn't really any point. She was beginning to realize the sad truth, that Caelia wasn't going to come and celebrate her birthday.

Cynthia pushed past those sad thoughts and forced a smile onto her face, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere. Caelia would open up in her own time, that was the best that Cynthia could hope for in regards to her.

Just as Cynthia felt that there was no hope, that Caelia wasn't going to show up, and accepted that fact to be true, something caught her attention.

"Well, hello there!"

Everyone turned to see two girls standing a few feet away from the table, one with an empty look on her face and the other wearing a big smirk.

There were a multitude of reactions their presence elicited, ranging from disinterest to outright loathing and disgust.

Sylvia Driscoll was not someone that would ever be referred to as the most popular girl at the dance, that was for sure. And while Caelia didn't have her reputation, the fact that she was standing next to her didn't win her any points, either.

Blake turned to Cynthia, his mouth open wide.

"You invited HER?" He asked.

"No, I didn't," Cynthia said, glancing at Sylvia. She didn't have the sheer loathing towards Sylvia that most of her friends had (it helped that, unlike basically everyone else at the table, Sylvia had saved her from a really bad situation out of the goodness of whatever she had in place of a heart) but that didn't mean Cynthia liked her, or wanted her here.

Cynthia rose from her seat and walked over to Sylvia and Caelia, her attention split between the two. Happy to see Caelia, not happy to see Sylvia.

"This is a private party," Cynthia informed Sylvia. "You can leave now."

She turned to Caelia and gave her a warm smile.

"Caelia, I'm glad you decided to come."

"Sylvia said to," she said.

Cynthia blinked, glancing over to Sylvia.

"…Thanks," she said.

"I'm sure you don't mind if I stay for the party, right?" Sylvia asked, batting her eyelashes. She reached over and placed her hands on Caelia's shoulders. "I brought you a nice little present and everything, she's rather cute, don't you think?"

"Um, that's not…" Cynthia glanced over her shoulder to look at the other guests, who were a little bit put off by Sylvia's presence.

"Well, we can go…" Sylvia let her voice trail off, her blue lensed eyes sparkling as she looked at Cynthia, the implication clear. She and Caelia were a package deal, if Cynthia wanted Caelia here, then she'd have to put up with Cynthia, too.

"…There aren't enough seats," Cynthia said, stepping aside to let Sylvia pass. She cared about Caelia and wanted to try and integrate her into social situations, but she was under pressure as well, not wanting Sylvia there. But she wanted Sylvia there more.

"That won't be a problem," Sylvia purred, stepping past Cynthia and pulling back the empty seat, helping Caelia into the chair. She strolled around the table, running her fingertips along Blake's shoulders, glancing back at Cynthia. "I'll just sit in Blake's lap…"

Blake pulled back, shaking her off, Sylvia skipping back and giggling.

"Th-that's okay," Kitty said. She glanced at Julia. "Julia, c-can I sit on your lap? Then she can have my seat…"

Neither Kitty nor Julia wanted Sylvia anywhere near them. But as long as she was standing over them, this awkward atmosphere would remain, and nobody wanted that. So Julia nodded, scooting her seat back and allowing Kitty to sit on her lap. Sylvia plopped down beside the girls, smiling.

Cynthia hung her head, and returned to her seat. This was looking to be a very… interesting birthday, to say the least.

So, the party has begun! Next, we'll be going to the afterparty, and that means truth or dare! As before, if you have any other thoughts of truths or dares, make sure to suggest them! Same people apply.

Cynthia truths Sango: "What's the name of the person you have a crush on?"

Or

Kitty dares Julia to: "pat Kitty on the head and tell her she's a good girl for five minutes."

So go nuts, this game should be a lot of fun, as fun as you want to make it! Here's the guest list, aka the characters that are temporarily yours to control:

Cynthia

Blake

Sango

Julia

Kitty

Reiner

Nikita

Nick

Callie

Maddi

Ayame

Giselle

Aidan

Serefina

Akira

Dakota

Kate

Caelia

Sylvia