This chapter really has nothing to do with marching, but, as in all stories, you can't beat the subject to death with a stick! I like this chappie a lot because it really tells how a sleep over is with me and my friends... except "Ari" is not such a brat...
Chapter Six: A Pointless Sleepover
"We wish you a-"
Arianna glared at Kasey as she broke out into another Christmas carol.
"Come on, Ari, chill out! We know that you are mad at Marah. Again. But you can at least relax out of school!"
"I just can't concentrate with Kasey singing off tune to Christmas songs when we are hardly past Thanksgiving."
"Sorry, I didn't know you needed to concentrate so hard on tearing paper into little bits and scattering them across my floor," said Elissa, opening another can of soda.
The three friends were at Elissa's house, the usual sleepover spot. All were in pajamas and drinking soda. All except Arianna. While Kasey and Elissa were already on a caffeine high, Arianna had not touched her soda, but was instead wearing jeans and a tee shirt, ripping pieces of paper out of the numerous notebooks that littered Elissa's floor, the shreds falling to the floor from between Arianna's fingers.
"Well, with all the paper looking like snow on the floor, I might have thought that it was Christmas!" Kasey cracked open another soda. "I thought I wouldn't eat for a week after Thanksgiving diner, but here I am!"
"Kasey, it's been more than a week after Thanksgiving."
"That's why I am eating," smirked Kasey, dumping a few crackers into her mouth. Elissa threw a soda at Arianna, who caught it in mid-air and threw it back at Elissa so fast that she didn't realize that the soda she had thrown moments ago was back in her lap.
"That's almost inhuman, Arianna," Kasey said. Only, it had to be interrupted by Elissa, the original sentence being: "Thamp's molmist imuman, Ariama."
"You know what else is inhuman," added Elissa, "Being so pissed off ALL THE TIME!"
The day before Thanksgiving break, Arianna had come to homeroom in tears, Elissa having to escort her to the bathroom to avoid a scene. Arianna had been in the back rooms of the music department for weeks, recording performances for an honor band. She had not looked healthy: too pale, too skinny, cheeks sunk in, mouth swollen from constant work. Not trusting Mr. Marah, Arianna had handled all the paperwork herself: except one sheet. The sheet of director information that a student was not allowed to even look at, according to the rules, much less take care of themselves. There was no legal way she could have taken care of it, and so she had put her trust in Marah that he would take care of that one sheet...
Arianna had been putting together the package to send to the judges and had everything she needed, but that one sheet was not there. Marah had lost the sheet, and the package was supposed to go out that afternoon. A large fight occurred after Arianna was unable to print another copy on any computer she could get her hands on. Marah, a little embarrassed, kept telling Arianna that she had lost it, that she never gave it to him in the first place, but Arianna knew different. Marah had ended up exploding at Arianna and she left him sitting in his office with the package, bursting into tears as soon as she saw Elissa. Arianna had not talked to Marah since break ended and Marah, although he had fixed the problem and found the sheet 'he never had,' was on the point of grabbing Arianna by the shoulders and shaking her.
Elissa passed that point. She jumped off the bed and onto the floor, bits of paper floating into the air, and literally shook Arianna.
"You will get a grip! You will get into your pajamas, you will drink your soda, and you will be obnoxious with us until my mother comes out and yells at us for being loud! Now move!"
Kasey looked at Arianna and Elissa in shock, mouth half full of flavored sugar, wondering with slight fear what Arianna was going to do.
Arianna burst into hysterical laughter, the maniacal laughter growing with every second Kasey and Elissa stared at her. By the time Arianna got a grip, Kasey and Elissa's nerves were on edge.
"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Kasey asked Elissa hesitantly.
Arianna was asleep on the floor many hours later, the paper bits fluttering with her breathing, pajamas covered in the paper. Elissa glanced out of the window.
"Look," she said wearily to Kasey, who was draped over the bed, batting at empty soda cans, "Sunlight!"
"You know, maybe having a sleepover includes sleep. We need to-" Kasey yawned. "We need to-"
"We need to what?" Elissa asked, throwing an empty can at Arianna. It bounced off of her shoulder and she didn't move, but muttered, "Mr. Berringer?"
"NO BAND DIRECTOR DREAMS IN MY ROOM!"
Elissa threw another can at Ari before falling asleep herself.
Yippee! Please tell me what you think! "Review," my plotbunnies cry. Thanks!
