Have all of you figured out that I'm a compulsive procrastinator? Good, because this was meant to finished at the beginning of winter break, it is now the last day of winter break. This chapter will also be presented in two parts, as well as something new. I've decided to include several flashbacks in this chapter; it's a new idea, so just bear with me. To make things easy, present is in regular print and flashback is in italics. Does everyone understand? Good, because if you don't, I really don't know what to tell you. Read, review, and enjoy! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999

"I can't believe I screwed up the words to the song tonight," Holden moaned, "It's not like we've been singing them every night for weeks or anything…"

"Trust me, Brian," Jaime shook her head, smiling, "With our track record of mishaps, it's definitely not the worst thing that could have happened."

"Yeah," Jim added, chuckling slightly, "You could have thrown something out into the audience and hit someone in the face, like Jeff during HMB."

"He will never hear the end of that one, will he?" Dylan asked.

"Nope," Meredith grinned, "Definitely not."

"Or your shoe could have flown off," Lauren teased, giving Walker a playful shove.

"Come on, that could have happened to anyone!" Joe protested, shoving her back.

"Yes, but it still happened to you," Rosenthal smirked.

"There is one certain story that I know I'll never forget," Darren said wistfully, "Remember? Joey, you know the one I'm talking about, right?"

"You bet I do," Joey laughed, the memory coming back to him.

"Ooooooohh, can I tell it?" Meredith asked keenly, "I know that I wasn't in the show but I've heard this story so many times, and I was there for more than you think I was…"

"I remember," Julia smiled knowingly, "We hung out and talked that night. Go ahead, enlighten us Mere."

"Well, from what I remember, I came backstage to visit while the show was going on, because I had already come to see it on opening night…"

"Would you be willing to help me out with a little prank?" Meredith asked. Moses gave an evil grin and made a swooping bow, his black cloak swishing behind him.

"But of course..." he replied in his finest Snape voice.

A few minutes later, Meredith was hiding behind a costume rack and pulling on a black cloak over her clothing. She set the helmet- like contraption on her head and adjusted the black cloth so it covered her face.

A few minutes prior, Moses had let Devin in on the plan and asked her to let Meredith borrow her dementor costume. She agreed and managed to make herself scarce while Meredith put on the costume. Passing a mirror, she caught glimpse of her black shape through the sheer fabric. A small, very mischievous smile crept across her lips as she came closer and closer to the stage door. Suddenly, a new set of voices met Meredith's ears as she turned a corner.

"Hey Devin, that you?" Tyler's voice came from underneath a black cloak. The girl froze as her mind went blank, what would Devin say?

"Why, of course it's me," Meredith answered in Devin's sweet, southern twang, her voice shaking ever so slightly, "Who else would it be?" No sooner had the words left her mouth did Meredith curse herself for being so stupid, Devin wasn't actually Southern! She could only hope that her friend was a method actress. Thankfully, no one seemed to be suspicious and went right on talking.

"Tyler, was it left, right, spin, ball change or right, left, spin, ball change?" Arielle's voice asked nervously.

"Wait, I thought it was spin, left, right, ball change," Britney's voice chimed in.

"No, guys, you're thinking of the choreography we had to change two days ago," Tyler replied knowingly, "Remember? We changed it to right, left, ball change, shimmy..."

Meredith said a silent thank you that all Devin had to do in the scene was look creepy and pretend to be sucking out Darren's soul, instead of trying to keep up with Tyler and Britney's dancing. As if she was reading her thoughts, the dark figure next to her put a hand on her shoulder and laughed.

"Good thing you and I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff," Julia's voice commented, "Especially since I'm uncoordinated and a terrible dancer."

"Don't say that, Julia," Meredith shook her head, still speaking in Devin's southern drawl, "You keep up during the group numbers just fine."

"After making Britney go over it ten times," Julia chuckled, "I'll just say that I won't be getting any dance solos anytime soon..."

"Shit, it's almost time to go!" Tyler exclaimed as Dylan shot past them and through the stage door. The lead dancers followed the boy to the stage, sprinting as fast as they could. Only Julia and Meredith remained on stage left, having watched Lily and Corey duck off to stage right. Right before the two made their entrance, Julia gave the girl's hand a quick squeeze.

"Break a leg, Meredith," she whispered.

"How did you-" Meredith started to ask before she was cut off.

"Call it a sixth sense," Julia shrugged, but Meredith could almost see the smirk growing on her face from under the costume.

Before she knew it, she was dragged on to the stage and was looking down at Darren, his glasses askew and his eyes shut tight. She carefully slid in between everyone else, trying to conceal herself as much as possible. Meredith leaned in towards Darren, close enough to hear him breathe. With an evil smirk of her own, she went in for the kill and licked his ear, full on puppy dog style.

The girl saw his face contort in disgust, fighting to hold character, the rest of him itching to jump up and see who it was. However, the boy didn't move and didn't even open his eyes.

"Mission complete," she thought mischievously, slipping back into wings and bolting to Devin's chosen hiding spot, the janitors' supply closet filled with Red Vines.

"Thanks, Devin," Meredith sighed with relief, handing the costume back over to her.

"Pleasure was all mine," she smiled, her eyes glinting keenly, "Only thing I'm sorry I missed was Darren's reaction. Speaking of which, what did you do anyway?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough..." Meredith replied pleasantly, sitting down on the cool floor, "I'm sure of it. Now I suggest you get a move on, people are going to start to wonder where you've disappeared to. But remember, you saw nothing."

Nodding, Devin made a swift exit as Meredith stuck her hand into one of the open boxes and pulled out a fresh package of Red Vines. She waited a few minutes, nibbling on the sugary stick of candy until she felt her phone buzz in her sweatshirt pocket.

"The butterfly is landing on the tulip in t minus 2 min. Repeat; the butterfly is landing on the tulip in t minus 2 min."

"Thx. Oh, and Moses? One more thing..."

"Yeah?"

"We really need to come up with a new code."

"...Fair enough. Oh, here comes DC now, and boy, does he look pissed..."

"On my way." With that, Meredith slipped the phone back into her pocket and leisurely strolled off in the direction of the stage door. As she drew closer, she heard a very familiar voice echoing off the walls.

"Alright, who did it?" Darren's voice asked sharply, "And don't bother trying to look all innocent about it."

"Who did WHAT, Darren?" Joey responded.

"Someone LICKED MY EAR and-" Darren went on to say something else, but he seemed to have lost everyone's attention at 'licked my ear.' The entire group was either sniggering behind their hands or had tried to muffle their giggles in someone else's shoulder. "It's not funny!"

"Maybe it is, just a little bit," Richard grinned teasingly.

"Who are we kidding? It isn't funny," Walker said solemnly before cracking a smile, "It's hysterical."

"Oh yeah?" Darren retorted, "You looked in a mirror recently?"

"Touché," Walker admitted, glancing down at his press-on manicure. Darren turned to the rest of the group, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I know it was one of the dementors," he decided, "And not any of the dancers in Stutter. It was one of the four people with a puppet. Whoever uses one, step forward, now."

"You heard the man!" Dylan ordered, a cheeky grin spreading across his face, "Puppet dementors, front and center!"

There was a short silence, when nobody moved an inch. Meredith dared to poke her head around the corner, having a clear view of Darren's backside and the slightly bemused faces of her friends.

"Fine, I'll play detective with you, Darren," Lily said boldly, breaking the silence and stepping out in front of him, "I've got nothing to hide."

"I didn't even know that happened before you told us," Devin stated truthfully, taking a spot next to Lily.

"Wish that I had thought of it first," Corey sighed, "And I wish I knew who did it so that I could congratulate them on a job well done."

"The same goes for me," Julia added, following everyone else's suit. Darren's eyes flicked down the row, one by one, trying to mask the look of confusion growing on his face.

"Then one of you must be lying..." Darren muttered. He finally made up his mind and stopped in front of Lily. "They say that the liar is always the most willing to talk," he questioned her, "I'm not sure I believe you."

"Well that's your problem then," Lily answered, not even flinching, "Because it wasn't me." Darren gave her one last suspicious look before moving down the line to Devin, who was still giggling at the ridiculousness of the interrogation.

"Ha!" Darren exclaimed, pointing a finger at her, "What's so funny huh? Think you're absolutely hilarious for trying to pull one over on me?"

"No, what's so funny to me is the fact that you're taking this whole joke so seriously," Devin snickered, "But I'm still absolutely hilarious, regardless."

"Corey?" Darren asked suspiciously, "Anything you'd like to add?"

"Yeah," Corey replied, still looking very amused, "Was it like a light little touch or are we talking a full on puppy kiss?"

"More like a Rottweiler," the boy scowled as the room burst into fits of giggles once more.

However, a small smile began to creep up his face as his gaze fell on Julia, who had remained silent. Meredith felt her heart begin to pound faster in her chest; it was common knowledge that Julia almost never lied and as far as everyone knew, was supposedly not very good at it. Walking up to her until the two were toe to toe, Darren looked her straight in the eye.

"Jules?" he said coaxingly, "You would never lie to me, would you? Come on, just go ahead and admit you did it." Meredith held her breath, waiting for her friend to reply.

However, Julia met Darren's gaze straight on and spoke confidently, without a flicker of doubt.

"It wasn't me and I don't know who did it," Julia announced, looking her friend square in the face, "So if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would remove yourself from my personal space." Darren looked shocked and taken aback, as the room echoed with laughter.

"Ouch," Nick Strauss snorted, "You want some ice for that burn?"

"I'd listen to her, Darren," Lauren commented, putting an arm around Julia, "She seems serious..."

"But, but...huh?" Darren stammered, taking a few steps backward. Meredith decided this was a good a time as any to make herself known and strolled out from around the corner.

"Hey everyone, did you guys miss me?" she proclaimed over the incessant chatter.

"Wh-oh, hey Mere!" Darren said happily, realizing who was talking, "Wait, when did you get here?"

"I came for the show and hung around to say hi to everyone," she replied cheerfully, "Great show everybody!"

"Thanks!" the Starkids responded in unison.

"So what's with all the shouting?" she asked casually, "Did Joe's shoe fly off again?"

"No," Darren muttered, "Someone licked my ear during the dementor scene and no one is admitting to it..." Meredith snickered before receiving a sharp look from Darren.

"Sorry," she apologized, "But I'm going to be honest with you Darren. Trying to find a liar in a room full of actors is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You'll probably never find out who did it…"

"That was you?" Darren asked angrily over the outburst of giggles, "And you never told me?" The room went silent, all eyes falling on Meredith, who now looked conflicted between being uncomfortable and being amused.

"Awkward…" Rosenthal murmured, stifling a laugh. Finally Meredith cleared her throat and smiled as innocently as she could.

"I never really intended for you to find out this way, but, yeah," she admitted sheepishly, starting to giggle, "I just can't believe you didn't figure that out, I mean, who else would torment you that way?"

"Why does none of this surprise me?" Darren fumed, still looking very stern.

"Chill out, pretty boy," Dylan laughed, giving him a hard slap on the back, "It's not like she broke your nose or anything…"