Greg dusted his sleeve off as he opened the door for Abby, who gave a small "Thanks!", in return. Upbeat music played through the speakers as students laughed and danced.
Ty hurried behind Greg as he barely made it in time to push the door open for Naomi, who didn't seem to notice and only held onto her boyfriend. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ty took a moment to look around the gym to see if he noticed anyone, waving when he saw Andy and Jasmine talking by the punch table.
Andy wore a fancy white tuxedo while Jasmine sported a casual frilled top and matching bottoms. The two looked fancy, and Ty bet Andy, (or more specifically, Andy's money) had something to do with it. Putting away his jealously at Andy's snazzy suit, Ty nudged Naomi's shoulder and spoke.
"Do you want to go with me to talk to Andy and Jasmine before we head out to dance?"
"Yeah! I also promised Nicole and Emily I'd meet up with them, so maybe we could just go around and see who's here?" Naomi replied and Ty nodded as they went arm in arm towards Andy and Jasmine.
"Hey guys!" Ty exclaimed and Naomi gave a small wave.
"Hi! You two look great!" Jasmine spoke as she shoved her punch into Andy's hands, startling him as he rushed to grip the drink. Jasmine watched and rubbed the back of her neck as she felt sorry for her date.
"Thanks!" Naomi replied and squeezed Ty's hand, causing a small blush to form on his face as he returned the gesture.
Andy placed Jasmine's punch down as he straightened his bowtie and looked around the room before raising an eyebrow.
"Doesn't it feel like somebody's missing? Most of the school is here, but-"
Just as the words left Andy's mouth, Patricia and Polly walked inside the gym wearing matching pink dresses and held the doors open. A spotlight almost seemed to shine from the sky as Polly flicked off the gym lights, causing confusion among the students. A red carpet rolled out from behind the door as a silver high heel posed on said carpet, before the rest of Paige flounced in and made a perfect pose.
Half the students eyes widened, not at Paige, but at the absolute fire hazard of a dress she wore. It was pale pink in color, drawing down towards her heels and featuring fabric flowers near the bottom. The sleeves wrapped around her shoulders and the bodice was adorned with silver crystals.
To top it all off, Paige's natural curls had been firstly straightened, then RE-CURLED into a beautiful wedding-esque hairstyle, pearls decorating the style. Her make-up wasn't ridicously heavy, but it was clear she was dressed to impress.
Abby scowled at the sight and gripped Greg's arm tighter as he scanned Paige with a look of confusion, calculating the cost of her outfit in his head. Taking note of his behavior, Abby pulled Greg away towards the voting table where Pat stood, fully engrossed in organizing the station and not whatever the other students were up to.
"Come on, let's go vote for Ty and Naomi as the dance's queen and king. They deserve it way more than a certain someone"
"Huh? Ok.." Greg walked after Abby, looking back as students admired Paige's outfit. He could care less about her, but that dress was just one of a kind.
Pat slipped on a pair of gloves as he double-checked that the voting machine was in perfect working order. The gloves clashed with his outfit, a fancy dress shirt with a vest and a pair of brown slacks. He grinned upon seeing Abby and Greg and waved the two over towards his table.
"Welcome, Welcome! To Ringworm High's 35th Annual School Dance's Voting Stand!" Pat presented the stand as he gave a half-bow. Abby couldn't resist a laugh at his display and Greg grinned and crossed his arms. It was almost like Pat was more excited about collecting the votes than presenting the dance's King and Queen.
"All right "King of the voting booth," Abby teased as she leaned over the table, "We need some paper and pens to submit the BEST candidates for the oh-so-esteemed position of dance King and Queen."
"Gladly my esteemed voters!" Pat grandly handed Abby and Greg two slips of paper each and a pen in tow before looking away as the two filled in their answers. Greg took the papers and passed them back to Pat, who closed his eyes and fed them two the machine, which flickered green twice, signaling it received a pair of votes.
"And that's that! Enjoy the dance and tune in at 9 o'clock to see the results!" Pat waved the two off and Abby smiled as she went towards the dance floor
The hallway was silent.
Almost all of the students who had planned to attend the dance had arrived, including the one non-student who lurked in the shadows- waiting for his time to strike. Except one.
Slipping through the doors, the boy stuck close to the walls before stopping in front of Abby and Ty's lockers. There was something off about them, and it wasn't just the awful smell near Abby's.
The kid figured it had to do with the ominous black puddle right in front of the locker. Anyone else would have put the puddle off as a student's old lunch or some spilled paint, but he'd seen a puddle just like this one in the halls of Ringworm the day a 'Mysterious Grossologist' had fought some villain in the school.
It was no coincidence, and the boy grinned before pulling out a camera and snapping a picture of the puddle and moving the camera up to include Abby's locker in a few shots as well.
Speaking of Abby's locker, the door was dented, as if someone had forcibly pried it open. Even stranger, the lock had been destroyed and wires sparked from the device. It was electric, almost as if it wasn't designed to be a lock in the first place.
Reaching for the locker, he was about to open it before the sound of the school's bathroom door scared him out of his skin.
As Greg opened the bathroom door, a figure standing in the school's hallway almost scared him to death. It was clear the fear was two-sided, as the stranger jumped as well before backing away from a locker with a weird puddle in front of it.
"Ah- Hello?" Greg walked towards the stranger and turned on his phone's flashlight. A red-haired boy wearing suspenders hissed before lowering his hands and raising an eyebrow.
Greg knew this kid, practically everyone in school knew this kid. He was that one guy nobody knew the name of so they just stuck a nickname on which arguably fit better than whatever his name actually was. Greg remembered to thank his lucky stars his washed his hands and didn't have the nickname Pink Eye.
"Uh- nevermind, I'll leave you to whatever it was you were doing.." Greg didn't want to get involved with this kid, and to be honest- Pink Eye actually terrified him. He'd seen him lurking around Abby and her brother before, which automatically made him bad news.
Pink Eye froze for a second, as if he was staring right into Greg's soul, causing the latter to turn around and speedwalk before a voice interrupted him.
"Hey- aren't you Abby's date?"
Greg faked a smile and hid the surprise on his face. How did this guy know he had asked out Abby? He didn't tell anyone besides his close friends, and they never made a big deal about the whole thing. Greg also doubted Abby would've spilled the beans, as he regularly saw her engage in fights with this kid.
"Abby...Archer?" Greg put on the dumbest face his possibly could before shrugging his shoulders and slowly inching towards the door.
"Yeah, you're Abby's date to the dance." Pink Eye smirked and spoke again, "I just so happened to overhear her talking all about it.."
"That's great, that's great!" Greg tried to fill the space with a conversation he could end just as quickly as he accidently started. "Listen, I have to get back to Abby sooo...See ya!"
With those words, Greg dashed off into the gym. Roger's smile dropped as soon as the blond left his sight as he squinted before making his way back to Abby's locker.
It was time for some investigating.
The world flew by as Ty and Naomi held hands and spun around the gym floor.
When Ty was finally starting to feel dizzy, he stopped and heard Naomi giggle in response. Falling to the floor, Ty frowned as students around him laughed at his fall. Naomi glared at the crowd and pulled her boyfriend up and into a dance position.
The upbeat song playing in the back transitioned into a slow-dance, and this time, Ty was the one determined to take the lead. Ty had watched dancing videos for the past week to prepare for this, and he wasn't going to mess it up.
Pulling Naomi a bit away from the crowd, Ty kept one hand on her shoulder and placed the other on her waist. Blushing, Naomi mimicked his actions as the two were swept into the music.
There were only a few minutes left until the crowning of the dance's queen and king, and Paige was on-edge at the lack of students voting.
She'd already made her "friends" give up their votes for her, now she just had to connive the other students that she was worthy of her position, and what better way to convince people than steal whoever was receiving attention's spotlight?
Currently, a couple of the students were focused on Ty and Naomi, which made Paige angrier than it should've. In all honesty, she could care less about Ty despite him being Abby's brother, but if Naomi was in the spotlight, she'd be the one receiving a crown and sash. Paige crossed her arms and grinned as she devised a plan to put herself where she belonged.
Sick and tired of Paige, Patricia decided she was done with playing servant and promptly left Paige's side to go and talk with some other students. Polly, who was too nervous to handle Paige on her own, retreated into the girl's bathroom without a single person noticing.
"Ugh just look at them, thinking they're better than ME. Girls, get the red carpet over there and STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT!"
Paige yelled as she raised a finger, only to be met with silence and the presence of her sidekicks gone. Grinding her teeth, Paige yelled and stomped off towards the voting table herself.
The music stopped as the sound of a microphone being tapped snapped the students out of their actions. Abby and Greg turned around from their conversation, Ty and Naomi broke apart from their dance, and Andy and Jasmine got up from their seats.
"Hello fellow students!" Pat's voice echoed through the loudspeaker as he stood up from the voting booth and waved.
"Thank you all for coming to Ringworm High's 35th Annual School Dance! I'm sure everyone here knows what time it is, and everyone here is excited for the results as well for Ringworm High's King and Queen!" Pat continued as students cheered.
"Well, I won't draw this thing on any longer SO, drumroll please?" Pat raised his hands as a couple of band kids drummed on chairs and bleachers.
"The King and Queen of Ringworm for our 35th annual dance is..."
Abby looked determined as Greg was only focused on a hangnail. Ty held Naomi's hand and crossed his fingers for her to win while she did the same for her boyfriend. Andy held onto his punch and Jasmine nodded in excitement right as Roger slipped through the gym's doors and ran to grab a spot on the bleachers, and Paige tapped her foot and gave a warning look to all the other girls in the gym.
"Ty Archer and Naomi Robbins!"
The gym erupted into cheers, successfully drowning out Paige's angry scream. Students clapped all as Ty stood frozen in place and unable to comprehend just what had happened. On the other hand, Naomi screamed and jumped up and down before hugging Ty tightly and running with him up towards the voting table.
Pat gave Ty a fistbump as he only sighed and accepted his rival's friendly gesture before breaking out into a grin as a sash was thrown over his head. Naomi stood perfectly still as she was handed a bouquet of flowers and a stunning crown embedded with jewels. The two turned towards the crowd, which clapped and cheered again for the couple.
Abby blinked a few happy tears back at the sight of her baby brother standing up proud and tall with his girlfriend. It had seemed like yesterday the siblings had rescued the explorers in the cave, and now here they were at a dance having the time of their lives.
Ty held onto Naomi's hand as he pressed a kiss onto her lips, causing the crowd to grow even wilder and Pat ducked under the two to avoid third-wheeling the situation. A bit of music began to play right as the couple left the booth and Abby engulfed Ty into a hug.
"I can't believe you actually won! I'm so proud of you-"
The music stopped with a sudden scratch and students covered their ears before a new voice decided to take the stage
"Oops- I'm so sorry about the interruption, but it seems there's been a mistake!"
Students turned to one another in confusion as a look of fear formed on Abby's face and Ty's grossmeter started buzzing wildly. Ty then gasped as he realized that Lab Rat had been calling him the whole time he was by the voting booth. Both of the Archer's knew who this was, and both of them only had a short time to sneak out of the gym and deal with the problem themselves.
"Ty Archer- what a pathetic excuse for a king! I can't believe out of all the potential students he was the one you choose. No hate to his girlfriend, you could do so much better."
Naomi furrowed and twitched just as Ty and Abby slipped around the group of students and headed towards the door. If Kid Rot was using the intercom, he'd be right at the office and ready to catch. The two just needed to-
"OH, I forgot to mention I'm crashing this dance! Hate to ruin your night, but your local grossologists already ruined mine"
The students looked confused as Abby bit her tongue and Ty covered her mouth in an attempt to stop her from cursing out. Abby pulled him off and hissed.
"So that's what he's up to, spilling the beans on our identities-"
"He didn't say who the grossologists were.." Ty tried to stay hopeful as the duo finally reached the door, only for a bright light to blind their vision.
"Ah! So you were already on your way to stop me, huh? Well I think it's already obvious enough you're the grossologists. It's too bad I broke your lab's entrance, Good luck opening the lockers now!"
Abby growled and stood up, staring right into the speaker as if to stare into Kid's soul. There was no point in hiding it any longer, and she was furious.
"ALRIGHT LA DE DA! Have it your way, we're grossologists! Ya happy?"
A cheer erupted from the bleachers as everyone stared at Roger, who looked like he'd just been given a million dollars. Upon realizing all eyes were on him, he sunk down into the bleachers.
"Uh weirdo.. WHOOPS SAID THAT ALOUD AH HA!" Kid laughed before continuing his grand speech.
"Back to our topic at hand, I'm giving you grossologists thirty minutes to kill me before I rot everyone in this school down to the bone- you included. I'll play fair and stay out of hiding, but I won't hesitate to hurt you if you get too close. Without further ado, are you ready to ROT!?"
The gym doors burst open as Kid's laugh slowly faded away and Abby realized he was already on the move. She was about to head out before Ty grabbed her shoulder and spoke.
"Abby, are you sure we can do this alone?"
A/N: As I said on chapter four, KID ROT IS BACK BABY!
This chapter took me forever to figure out a plan for. At first I was going to have Abby encounter Kid somewhere outside, but I decided it would be easier to get the whole "everyone knows their life is on the line" thing down by having him run his mouth on the loud speaker instead.
The plan was to have Abby and Ty engage in a brief fight with Kid, but I'm moving everything to the next chapter before I go ahead and go on with the fight scenes. A LOT of stuff is gonna go down so be prepared. Also, Nicole and Emily are the names I've given the two girls always seen around Naomi
Three more chapters to go before I finish the book and move onto a second one! Thank you all for reading!
(PS: I actually have a Pinterest board where I have outfit inspiration for the dance, and you can check it out here!: theamazingpinacc/character-boards/dance-outfits/ )