April Fool's Day 2016: Part II
It was an understatement to say that when he heard the news about Nick and Jeff, Thad was shocked. For several moments he was frozen, wondering how on earth he was going to go into the other room and break the news to David. As he pondered the best means of doing so, unable to decide between the slow and subtle, or the just drop the bombshell, he received a text message from Skylar. It informed him that Dalton had just become aware of a very disquieting rumour from New York, and confirmation was needed from the Head Warbler as to the veracity of that rumour, or hopefully, a denial of the subject. Thad groaned, wondering how on earth it had managed to spread so far, so quickly. He decided that he had to be completely honest, and was about to break the hearts of those boys at Dalton when he received a second message from the school. This message, from Edward, informed him that one of the boys had successfully managed to convince the school nurse that he had dengue fever, and had been declared the official Prince…
It was that one word that jogged Thad's memory, and made sure that the reality hit him like it had Trent in far away Washington DC. Suddenly he recalled what the date was, and who had been called the unofficial Princes' of Pranks in his time at Dalton. If this was all just a prank, then it was in poor taste, and had escalated out of all proportion and control by the sound of it. With a sigh, he picked up his phone, and replied to Skylar - 'In connection with the rumour; remember the date and who loved a prank. Doubt there is any truth there, but will confirm once I have words with Niff! By the way, who informed you?' That done, he stopped as he began to consider exactly what he was going to say to the two idiots at the heart of all the consternation.
"Morning Thad!" said David as he walked in, all smiles - and then he saw Thad's face. "Ok, what's up? You look deep in thought…" He went to pour himself some juice as he waited for a reply.
"Niff is what is up, Davie. Apparently, the word on the street is that they are getting a divorce.." He paused, as David choked on his orange juice. "..but then I remembered the date, and their reputation, and I am hoping that it is just a prank that has snowballed out of all control."
"It has to be! Nick and Jeff are the happiest, most stable couple that any of us know! Just how out of hand has it got?"
"Dalton is apparently in uproar; I heard the news from Mercedes and Ollie at the same time, so I am guessing it is all over the east coast. Yes, I would assume that thanks to our hyper efficient grapevine, and probably the gossiping of a couple of influential people, everyone that we know will know, and we may be the last two to find out." He paused, to read a response from Skylar. "So, Dalton heard from Dylan, which means that Jeff's family must have been told…."
"And that would indicate that Mike must have told Tina - we all know what she can be like. I'm guessing that Mercedes might have heard from a certain Ms Berry?"
Thad nodded, then sighed. "Right, so I am going to call those two halfwits now; I have a sneaking suspicion that they have no idea how far all of this has spread; it was probably intended as a prank on Mike, but now…"
"Good. Give it to them with both barrels, and you can tell them it comes from me too. I would also suggest that maybe you should send one of our more level headed locals round to deal with them disapprovingly - and it might just be a job for the other two musketeers." Thad nodded, knowing that once he had had a stern word with Niff, then Trent and Sebastian would be his obvious next port of call. Then it was time for some serious damage limitation.
It was just before 10.30am that Nick's phone started to buzz in the Law Library; Jeff's began to do exactly the same as he sat in his little room working on his project, with the nagging feeling he had forgotten something. The message was the same. Thad had not felt able to speak to them without losing it, so he had sent a text - 'Dalton is suicidal! NYC is in uproar! You idiots have gone too far this time! Call it off right now, or Mr Bangy and I are on the next flight - and I will use him on you! Thad.'
As two faces paled slightly, a second text arrived on both their phones. 'Still the Princes' of Pranks! Pretending to be absolutely horrified, but secretly proud that you can cause so much chaos. If you tell Thad I sent this, I will deny it. Good luck! David.' That statement caused both Nick and Jeff to smile momentarily, but then they realised that they had to call a halt. Nick wondered how on earth it had gone so far, when all they had intended to do was prank Mike and Sam - and then he realised what had not happened, just as across the way, Jeff realised what he hadn't done. He hadn't sent the text to Brittany to say it was just a prank. Nick groaned as he realised that the one missing part of the plan had escalated the whole thing from a local to a global crisis… He grabbed his case, now empty of books, and sent a text to Jeff, telling him he didn't blame him, but that they needed to act now - and fast.
Jeff had shed a few tears as he cursed his brain for allowing him to forget that one thing. He was about to send a text to Nick when his phone rang - and he paled even more when he saw the name. He couldn't avoid it though… He answered the call from his mother, but before he could even speak, Elspeth was asking him what one earth Nick had done, and was threatening him with all kinds of punishments. Jeff groaned as he put the trail of information together; of course, Mike would call Tina! How could he and Nick have been so naive? She must have seen Flora, and she had told her mom…and then Dylan had told Dalton. He noticed that there was silence on the other end of the phone, as Elspeth awaited a response. He said all that he could think of, though it was woefully inadequate. "April Fool…?" he muttered. He was then compelled to hold the phone well away from his ear as in Vermont, his mother exploded in rightful anger at all the pain and agony that they had caused…
Meanwhile, Artie's little lunch meeting with Kitty had morphed into a full blown council of war, drawing up a battle plan to restore their Niff to happiness. The two had been joined first by the NYADA contingent, then by Mike and Sam. In the end, they all agreed that they needed to force the two of them to talk whatever it was out in their company. To that end, Brittany was deputised to send a text to Jeff, begging him to meet her for lunch at the diner, so they could talk, as he had to be so sad, as she was. Mike in turn had sent a text to Nick, asking him to come and see him as he had heard everything and knew he would need to talk. Both of them stressed that it would be a one on one meeting. This was a blatant lie, naturally. As well as those that were already gathered in the diner. Seth had been called, and he had promised he would bring Luke and Duncan to the diner, if the former could stop crying his eyes out for long enough. A message had been sent to Sebastian, who was still tied up with Madame Tibideaux by Santana, telling him to get himself to the diner the moment he got the message - and the reason why. Those at the diner could divide themselves up into teams, and beg, cajole or even force the two young men to sort out their differences through a rational, refereed conversation. Flint and Ethan were primed to be available on the phone to add their voices; Beats was now unobtainable though, and no-one could reach Trent or Rory. It didn't matter; Operation Save Our Niff was going to succeed, come hell or high water. There was no way that those two would be allowed to split.
Having made long and profuse apologies to his mother, who, much to Jeff's relief had decided to call him and see what was going on before she informed his mom and dad in Ohio all about their split (well, Jeff hoped that no-one had told them anyway, but the way the grapevine worked, he couldn't be sure), he was finally able to answer the text from Nick that had arrived about halfway through her screaming how stupid he was down the phone. He agreed with his plan of immediately heading to the diner. Both of them had been asked to go there for lunch, to meet up with different people, and both of them immediately knew that there was an intervention being planned. The big plan they guessed was to force the two of them together and make them talk out their differences in a rational way with a group of witnesses. Said group of witnesses would no doubt be every single one of their friends that was able to attend…
They met up outside the subway station near Colombia, and only had to take one quick glance at the other's face to know that they had both arrived at the same conclusion; namely, that they had underestimated how seriously their little prank would be taken, and that they had, in the course of carrying out their plan, badly affected not just the two initial targets, but everyone else around them. "We've screwed up here, big style, Jeffie," said Nick quietly. "If none of them feel able to forgive us for this, then I wouldn't blame them at all. It is going to take us a huge amount of apologising and grovelling to get back in people's good books…"
"I know - Elspeth wants you to call her and apologise, in person, by the end of the day. I have already had my lecture, and my ears still hurt."
"How on earth did she…?"
"That was what I thought initially, but then it suddenly dawned on me who studies at Brown, and it was obvious; a distraught Mike upset and troubled by our apparent break up…"
"Would immediately seek solace and comfort from Tina," said Nick with a groan. "I hope that we haven't completely destroyed our relationship with him in all of this. He is probably our closest friend these days, and if he is unable to accept our apologies…"
"He will, because that is the kind of guy that he is, luckily for you two idiots!" Nick and Jeff paled, and spun round, to see Wes standing there, his arms folded across his chest, and disapproval written large across his face. "Whilst the concept of the prank was good in the main, your planning was off. You failed to take into account what Mike would do in his distress, and thus missed all the implications of what might occur if the whole sorry tale leaked out to a much wider audience. The one saving grace is that it proves one thing; the two of you are very much loved by everyone - or you were, up until today… Right, so, as you guessed, half of the city is waiting for you at the Spotlight. I would suggest that you show nothing but contrition, and keep saying that you are sorry, and that it will never, ever, ever happen again. Concentrate on Mike and Sam, because if they can forgive, the others will follow - probably. I can't make any guarantees. Now, promise me that this sort of idiocy will never happen again…"
"We promise Wes. Sorry…" said both young men in unison, heads bowed.
"Good. As far as I am concerned, that's an end to it. Now, I have to go and pay a visit to a certain Mr Thompson. His text message to you was highly inappropriate, given the circumstances. And all I can add is, good luck…" With those words, Wes vanished to admonish David, and Nick and Jeff headed to catch the train downtown, mentally preparing themselves for the inquisition that no doubt awaited them.
For Sebastian, the morning had been quite stressful. A large percentage of his grades for his second year a NYADA depended on how well he was perceived to have performed that day. To ensure that he was in the right headspace, he had isolated himself from the rest of the world to an extent, leaving home early, and switching off his phone, before he had begun to run through his pieces one final time in an unused practice room. His song choices had been varied, as he knew would be expected, but he had in the main taken the opportunity to perform a number of songs from a show that he had seen several times now, and greatly enjoyed. He wished that it had been brought to Broadway earlier, as it contained a number of pieces that would have been ideal for the Warblers to have performed at competition level. So he had sung I Believe from The Book of Mormon, conscious that for the first time at the school he was not just being watched by Carmen Tibideaux and her panel, but was being filmed too so his performance could be referenced later. He had given it, like all of the other things he had performed, all that he had, and from the looks of approval on their faces when he finished, he was pretty sure that he had done more than enough to get himself a good mark. He had then been allowed to take a seat opposite the panel, and had then proceeded to answer fully all the questions that he was posed, giving not just his best answers, but dividing his attention equally amongst those gathered there.
It was just after 11.15 when he was finally dismissed from the room with a smile from Carmen, and he was finally able to relax and take a much needed breath. He decided to head for a coffee, and as he walked in the direction of NYADA's small café, he switched his phone back on. The moment that he did so it started to buzz in his hand like crazy, and he knew at once that whilst he had been ensconced with the judging panel, something big had gone on. He opened his messages, and began to scan through them, finding that the vast majority of them had come from Santana, each one being a little more threatening than the last. It was what each one of them claimed had happened that gave him the most cause for concern for a moment - but only for the briefest of moments. A memory of jellied coffee and over sprung toasters two years ago filled his head completely. "You idiots! This is going much too far!" he said under his breath, his mind immediately thinking of Niff. "But then again, the rest of you surely know their reputation and not one of you managed to put two and two together and question it!" he exclaimed.
That was when he was relieved to see one voice of sanity amongst all the despair; a message from Trent, telling him to give Nick and Jeff a good slap from him. At least he was aware of the truth, thank God! With a sigh, Sebastian realised that he would have to wait for his coffee, and having checked all the texts, he knew he had to head instead to the Spotlight. Someone had to go there, hopefully arriving before they grilled Nick and Jeff, and set them all straight…
Fortunately he was not too far from the Spotlight, being at NYADA, and so he was able to arrive there long before the two young men who had been the cause of all of that day's drama. He paused outside to take a quick look in the window, and saw that the place was full with mutual friends, all of them huddled together in a group. He saw no anger in any of their faces, just concern and sadness at what they all believed had taken place. Mike in particular looked as if his entire world had come crashing down around his ears; he had obviously been crying for a long time, and that struck a chord in Sebastian's heart. The poor guy had to care more about those two than he ever could have imagined, and what had been intended as a harmless prank had left him shattered in body and soul. Sebastian realised that it was going to be vitally important that Mike, Nick and Jeff had time alone together, without any interruption, in the aftermath of today, so that they could restore their relationship to an even keel. All that though was for later; firstly, he had to go in there and set the record straight.
He strode up to the door and opened it; as no-one noticed him immediately, he walked calmly over to where everyone was sitting, deep in discussion. He stood and listened to them in silence, scoffing at some of the outrageous suggestions of ways to fix them, and waited for someone to notice him. Eventually, he was…
"So the meerkat had finally deigned to make an appearance! We are in the midst of the biggest crisis we have faced in years, in case it slipped your attention, Sebastian! I know that you were occupied elsewhere, but as I can see that you still have all the digits on your hands, what prevented you from responding to my messages the instant that you turned your phone back on?"
"Ah, my dear Satan, I did receive all of your many, many, many messages; as to why I did not drop everything to reply at once, it might well have been because of the thinly veiled threats of actual bodily harm that they contained, or it might have been the fact that contrary to popular opinion, there is no crisis, at least not one that I, Trent or as of two minutes ago, Thad can see…"
There was a stony silence, and from the way that they were all now glowering at him, Sebastian had a very real fear for his own safety at that precise moment. "No crisis! Two of your best friends, your fellow musketeers, are about to split up, but you, the other musketeer and the Head Warbler don't see an issue. Can you not be bothered, is that it? Is that what you are telling us - that you just don't give a hoot!?" exclaimed Kitty, as Santana just shook her head sadly, and Mike looked for all the world as if he was about to burst into tears once more.
"Not at all, my dear Miss Wilde. Trust me when I say that the three of us, and David for that matter, are very bothered by what we have heard. It is just the fact that we all know those two a little better than you; have known them a little bit longer; and have remembered the one key thing in this whole debate - the date…"
"And what the heck does that have to do with anything?" said Mike in exasperation, not able to believe that Sebastian did not seem to give a damn.
He was about to continue when Elliott suddenly let out a groan, shook his head, and spoke. "I get it - but boy, I am not sure that I approve of this one; it seems very, very wrong…"
As the others stared at him, Sebastian knelt down in front of Mike, who was slumped down in a seat, his eyes red raw. He took his hands in his, and spoke right to him. "Mike, when you saw Nick leave with his case, did you perchance check the contents of his wardrobe? Go and see what he had taken?"
Mike shook his head. "No, although it was Sam that saw him leave with the case. I just heard the arguing…"
"Well, I really wish that between the two of you, someone had made a point of checking, because I am pretty sure that if you had, all of this panic could have been avoided. I would put money on every item of Nick's clothing, and all of his other stuff still being back in the loft. You would have realised that he hadn't packed his case at all. Today, after all, as Elliott has realised, is the 1st of April, better known as April Fool's Day. A day for jokes and pranks. Mike, you live with the self proclaimed 'Princes' of Pranks'. At Dalton, they never missed an opportunity to pull of a practical joke, even when they were somewhat cruel. Cruel like the one they played on you and Sam this morning…"
At first there was silence, and then, one by one, it hit them. None of it was real. It had been intended as a joke on Mike and Sam. It had then all spiralled completely out of control.
Sebastian watched as faces which moments before had been sad morphed into expressions of thinly veiled anger. He knew he had to act now, try to calm the crowd before they began to bay for blood. He did not want Nick and Jeff to walk in and find themselves ripped to pieces in seconds. "Now, I know that at this precise moment, the majority of you are feeling anger, and quite rightly, that those two idiots could do something so cruel and nasty to Mike and Sam. I have to admit that I feel the same way, because they are two of the nicest guys I have the pleasure to know. But before you attack them for all of this, ask this one question of yourselves; given that those of you that were here last night saw the two of them acting in their usual, slightly nauseating way; so happy to be here, to be with each other; behaving in their usual loved up way - in other words, as normal, why did you even consider that they would be rushing blindly to the divorce courts this morning? It is so implausible. I mean, if you hate each other with the amount of venom that I believe they expressed, surely there would have been a spate of arguments long before the marriage explodes and they split apart? Now, Mike, as their roommate, you would have been witness to them? Did you hear any?"
"I didn't hear any arguments, no. You're right, of course you are. If they had been fighting, I would have overheard them, no matter how much they tried to keep the noise down. Why didn't I realise that?" Mike said with a groan.
"Ah, but if one of them had been cheating on the other, and that was finally revealed, then a split up would be immediate!" said Artie. At his side, Kitty nodded in agreement.
"Artie," said Sebastian with a sigh. "Nick and Jeff are about as likely to cheat one and other as I am to sleep with a woman. Face it guys, you are clutching at straws, but you know that I am right, and so are Trent and Thad. It was a prank - not a well thought out one, maybe, but nonetheless, that is what it was. It had each and every one of you convinced of the truth though. Writing obituaries for their relationship. So I am begging you not to rip them to shreds the moment that they get here. Let them apologise for the harm they have done, and please don't take the fact that you fell for it hook, line and sinker out on them. Make them grovel, yes, but please don't hold it against them. I have a feeling that they are devastated by how this has escalated. Don't forget why you all came here; because you love those two, and didn't want to see them fall apart. Remember that, before you all act as judge, jury and executioner, because if you don't, then you might do and say things that you will come to regret in the future, just as those two surely regret all of this now."