Shannon

Shannon gazed up at the clock from under half-closed eyelids. Just under five hours remained until detention would be over and she could get out of this dump and away from the crazy people. Aviators had returned not long after his argument with the Student Council girl, holding a brown paper bag. Shannon thought she had a pretty good idea of what was in said bag, Aviators- or rather Percy, since that seemed to be his name- had mentioned it earlier, and he seemed crazy or stupid enough to actually go through with it.

Well, probably not stupid, he'd proven that not ten minutes ago. How the hell had he known that Shannon spent most of her lunch breaks in the music room? Shannon didn't exactly try to keep it a secret, but neither did she expect complete strangers to know how she spent her time. And it hadn't been just her; Percy seemed to know things about all of the people in the room that he shouldn't. Despite his comment that anyone could find out that stuff, it just seemed too creepy that he did listen that closely.

Shannon stood up, gripped by a sudden need to move about. Her ass had been stuck to that chair for over four hours, and her legs were starting to fall asleep. She briefly considered heading down to the music room, but ultimately decided that wandering the halls like Percy and being found by Vernon was too much of a risk to take. Not that moving around the inside of the library was any safer, if old Dick made a sudden reappearance and caught her out of her seat.

That didn't seem to concern the others, however. Ben had gotten up and was messing about with the front desk. Preppy was wandering about aimlessly and chatting quietly with Percy. Even the quiet little mouse in the back was out of her seat, though she seemed to be doing so out of a determination to stay awake, since Shannon had seen her nodding off. Only Student Council girl remained stubbornly in her chair, refusing to break any more rules. Shannon decided then that she didn't want to be on the right side of the law if that kind of stick-in-the-mud was gonna keep her company, and headed up to the second floor of the library, where she knew the audio room was.

Though, to call it a room was a bit of a stretch. It was more like a large closet, the walk-in kind you'd probably find in Student Council girl's mansion. Supposedly spacious but crammed with useless junk and old records that no one used because they were of outdated songs and boring speeches or too damaged to work properly. The audio room did however, have an electronic keyboard; not as state-of-the-art as the one in the band room, but workable nonetheless.

Shannon trailed her fingers across the white and black keys as she turned the machine on and played with the settings. Once the keyboard was working to her satisfaction, she unhooked her battered secondhand Walkman from her belt and took out the cassette tape within, before inserting it into the stereo behind her. Shannon cracked her knuckles satisfyingly, and settled her hands on the keyboard. As the music from her tape began playing, her fingers began to move, almost of their own volition, dancing over the keys in familiar rhythm. "We're talking away..."

Lost in her own world, Shannon didn't realize that she had left the door open...

Kenneth

"I don't know what I'm to say I'll say it anyway..."

Kenneth looked around in bewilderment, wondering where the music was coming from. He'd been stretching his legs and making small talk with Percy, who was amusing himself with Kenneth's attempts to guess what was in the brown paper bag he'd brought back, when suddenly a near perfect rendition of "Take on Me" had begun playing out of nowhere. "Do you think Vernon can hear that?" He asked Percy.

The other boy didn't seem as concerned however. A grin spread over Percy's face, and he jumped up from where he'd been sprawled on a desk. "Who cares? We're already in detention. And Vernon's not even in his office; he's probably gone out for a smoke or something."

Kenneth opened his mouth to reply, but Percy didn't give him a chance to speak, as he leapt onto the desk in front of his, startling Janet and scattering the pile of papers with his feet as he began dancing to the music.

"Get off!" Janet demanded, but Percy ignored her, remaining on the tabletop in front of her for a few seconds more before jumping from desk to desk. Kenneth couldn't help but laugh at the other boy's antics; he wasn't a very good dancer, but he was certainly enthusiastic.

"Take on me~ Take on me..."

"Come on!" Percy jumped down from the desk, landing in front of Kenneth. He grabbed Kenneth's hand and twirled him around as though they were ballroom dancing. "Let's dance!" He left as quickly as he had arrived, moving over to where Alice was leaning against the statue that stood in the center of the library, tapping her foot in time to the song. Percy said something to Alice that Kenneth couldn't hear and held out his hand to her, but the girl shook her head. The messy-haired boy would not be deterred however, and he pulled Alice away from the statue. Before long, she had given in, a small smile playing across her face.

Kenneth watched as the two began dancing and wondered at the funny feeling in his stomach. He wasn't quite sure what it was, it was similar to the fluttery butterfly sensation he got right before a tennis match, but it certainly wasn't nervousness.

"You know, if you want something, usually the way to get it is to go out and chase it, instead of waiting for it to come to you."

Kenneth turned to face Janet, who'd come over to stand next to him without him realizing. "What're you talking about?"

Janet rolled her eyes. "Kenneth, anyone with a brain can see that you've got a crush on Alice. I don't know if Percy feels the same way, but if you want Alice to notice you, you have to make her see you first. Just be careful."

"I don't know..." Kenneth hesitated. "What do you mean, be careful?"

"Well I don't judge, but you have to remember, Kenneth." Janet sighed. "Alice isn't one of us. You know what I'm talking about."

He did. Kenneth wasn't as popular as Jasmine or her friends, mostly because he didn't care for people pretending to be his friends just because he was rich, but he was still a member of the ruling elite of Shermer society. And that meant that the company he kept was held to a certain standard, always being scrutinized. And if he stepped out of line, well there wasn't a whole lot the socialites could do to him, but to the less fortunate souls like Alice?

"Better that I stay away then." Kenneth grunted. "It's not worth the trouble."

"I'll be gone~"