A Night to Remember. [Open to All]

[Martha Cox]

Martha sighed with contentment as she looked admirably around the gym; its ravishing décor and the lingering prom goers amongst her sight. The décor consisting of lanterns fluorescent across the dance floor, white chairs and its matching tables spread across the edges of the dance area, as well as a tree, decorated with lights, acting as a center piece in which couples would able to dance freely around, adorned the place usually filled with sweaty athletes into something entirely different.

To the right of the gym stationed the photographers, either eagerly awaiting the next couple to photograph, or acknowledging the next in line, where prom goers had been lining up since before the prom even officially started- to get the sweet deals, to the current moment. It was no question that people would continue to be there throughout the night. Directly parallel from the photographic memento, stood the sign-in table filled with arriving students. In a corner parallel to the tables and chairs posed the area where thirsty and hungry individuals could get drinks and food.

She was fortunate enough to be the head of the prom committee, having spent the last couple of months planning for this very special occasion with her fellow committee, and the last few weeks putting up posters and flyers promoting it. Since Martha was in charge, this meant that she had to help decorate a day before and earlier in day prior to going home and getting ready for this, ‘night to remember.’ It really was a night to remember, after all, this was it; her last school dance.

Martha, dressed in her prom attire; gold and maroon dress, with matching gold heels, corsage, and hair accessory, continued to walk around the gym to make sure everything was perfect, or at least near perfect before finding her friends. Glancing towards where the DJ was stationed, she grinned upon seeing Kelsi, most likely making sure everything was in order as she made her way back to where the Wildcat Gang were; her friends and most importantly, her date for the evening; Jason.

However, he wasn't there. Sure, they had come together, obviously, but she had to check up on some things and now he was nowhere to be found. Nevertheless, Martha continued her way to the gang. Once she reached her group or her table rather, she took her place that she once occupied before her prior action, greeting the gang.

[Zeke Baylor]

Zeke didn't want to go to the prom. Correction, he didn't want to go to the prom with Sharpay. Now if you said offered him the chance to go to ANYTHING with Sharpay a couple of months ago he would of jumped on the chance in a heartbeat, only things changed a lot in a few months. He loved a girl named Emma, which things were still in the rocks for them. They were friends again, thankfully but both of them, only both kept it to each other, craved for them to be back together. Both wanted to stumble back into each others arms and never ever let go. Not let a stupid fight break them up, not let a rumor split them. Together no matter what basically.

Zeke sighed as he sat down on a chair watching lights spin around on the dance floor a few couples dancing and twirling. Sharpay had left him earlier to go off with Ryan or something, he wasn't really paying attention. He couldn't get his mind off of Emma. So all he talked about with Sharpay was baking, and he had a sense she didn't really like it. He sighed as he tore off the pink sash around him that Sharpay made him wear. Throwing it on the ground he looked around trying to find someone he knew a friend a pal anything. Mostly Emma though he knew she probably wouldn't come because, well she didn't have a date.

He pictured back the first day they got together. The first few days the couple were united. He thought they would go to prom together. He thought they were going to go far. He bit his lower lip and looked up at the lights trying to get the thoughts away. Though it was impossible. He then thought of just a few days ago where they made up. He made up with Emma though he wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go. If having to he would only do it for a moment before holding her again.

He wanted her. He just had to have her. He had never felt this way before. The only time he wanted to have someone in his heart so badly was... Sharpay. Only that was as if an obsession. A celebrity want. As if a girl wanted Nick Jonas so bad. A teenage girl wanted Zac Efron. A boy wanted Ashley Tisdale. They wanted them but they all knew it would never happen but they never gave up just because they loved them so much. He wanted Emma because he missed her. He truly and completley missed her.

He got up and went over to the punch and poured himself a glass. He took the red punch and gulped it down in a few seconds and soon sighed. He soon noticed everyone was over in the corner talking. He shuffled over to the gang and smiled. "Hey guys what I'd miss?" he then offered the best fake smile he could give and went along with the show.

[Taylor McKessie]

Taylor smiled jovially to herself as she sat quietly on the chair at a corner, observing the people around her brimming with happiness. Occasionally she would tap her fingers on the table to the beats of the music that was blasting through the whole place, but other than that, she was just contented to watch the rest of the students swaying and dancing away. At first, she thought it was rather ridiculous to have a tree right in the middle of the dance floor, however seeing it decorated with lights beautifully tonight, she decided that the idea was not so bad after all.

Shifting her attention to the other side of the gym, Taylor almost laughed out loud to herself as she watched the photographers eagerly snapping away the picture of a comical duo that are posing some stupid faces to the cameras. And thinking of that, it reminded her of his date for the prom - Chad. She wondered where had the airhead gone to, but she decided that she would not have to worry so much since there was a high chance of him roaming about the gym and making a fool out of himself. Though so, she still adores him much, especially since after he managed to ask her out to the prom in front of so many people.

As the music suddenly changed from a fast-paced to a slow waltz, Taylor felt thirsty and stood up, smoothing her white and purple prom dress before heading towards the corner that was decked with plentiful of different drinks and food. Reaching the table, she poured herself some orange juice and sipped it quietly before noticing a familiar figure from the corner of her eyes. Turning her head to the left, she saw Zeke and was about to call out to him when he suddenly sighed and went off.

Taylor raised her eyebrow in puzzlement, wondering what was causing him to be so depressed when everyone's enjoying themselves tonight. Well, almost all that is. Neglecting her half-drank juice, she followed after Zeke and went over to the gang. "How's it going tonight, everyone? Having fun?" Taylor asked, a bright smile lingering on her face as she gave a small friendly nudge to Martha who was the one nearest to her.

[Allison Nicolette Stone]

Allison walked in to the prom in a black halter dress that reached down to the floor and had a diamond of fake diamonds in the center of the bust. She loved to call it her cabaret dress because she thought it looked like something a cabaret singer would wear. She smiled around the gym amazed at the gorgeous streamers and decorations flooding the usually unwelcoming (to her) gym. What had previously wreaked of sweat and other such disgusting odors had been covered over by the scents that now filled the air. Though they would be gone by the end of the night, she loved that they were there for now.

Allison had only one problem with her practically perfect appearance, she had no date. She was going to make a group, but she had started the preparations too late and since it was senior prom, she didn't want to miss it. She had never been a good date anyways. She loved to move from place to place and group to group and her flaky personality made it hard for her to keep her mind on the person who would be forced to follow her around. So there she stood, dateless and alone until a friend showed up to relieve her of her misery.

She did allow herself one small spin before going to a corner to wait. After a while a ton of people had shown up and she had decided to venture on her own to dance. Currently, however, there was a slow song on, and it was incredibly hard to dance alone to a slow song. It was times like these she wished she had someone. She never really cared much until she actually felt alone, and that wasn't often. Only when the poor tomboy was forced to parties with dancing that weren't all theater kids or when she had to go to a romance movie with a friend was she truly alone.

She looked for anyone to occupy her time, but currently no one caught her interest. True to her character however, she could not stay seated long and she was soon up and wondering again looking for someone whom she could steal to talk to. It normally wasn't this hard for her to talk to anyone, but the dress was keeping her back. She just wished her parents had let her wear the suit she'd had picked out. She had had a bight green tie with a blue shirt and black jacket and pants. Unfortunately, like when she tried to cut off all her hair, he mother had forced her into something more girlish like a dress or a perm.

Allison looked across and saw Taylor and Zeke, whom she only knew because Sharpay had been talking about Zeke the whole week during meetings and Taylor from the time Gabriella and Troy had made it into the play. It was awful, but it was also the play she had been too busy with her professional performances to do. She had seen the play though and had sat next to the girl one of the times. Actually she didn’t know if it was her she sat next to she just knew who she was from school. She’d been in classes with the brainiac and lived with that. She walked closer for a moment not really heading for them, just trying to move more.

[Chad Danforth]

Chad was lost. It was true he was actually lost in a small crowd of people. He was looking for Taylor, his date for the prom so he didn't really look like he was alone and he didn't want her to think that he was avoiding her. But how could she think that? Chad thought. After he had praticaly showed himself up in frount of the entire cafatirea. Chad shivered and shook his head. That memory still haunted him.

But it was worth it to have Taylor as a date to the prom. Chad grinned rather stupidly. He thought about all the good times himself and all the Wildcats had together. Wow he was going to miss them. Chad suddenly realised that he had been stairing at the floor for about 3minites. He shook his head again to release himself from the trance he was in.

He had to find Taylor and his friends. He didn't like being alone much. So Chad pushed his way out of the small crowd and looked around. He could see people now! Chad scanned the room for a few seconds before spotting Taylor and Zeke. He grinned and rushed over to them. "Hey Tay,Zeke! So ready for some danceing?" He asked the two. Chad didn't really like danceing but it was prom. He looked nervously at his reflection in a glass nearby. Chad had spent ages in a shop getting measured for a suit. It was a dark gray jacket with dark gray trousers, a white t-shirt and a bow tie that Chad had left opened. He hoped he looked okay because he didn't want to look like an idiot in frount of all his friends.

[Kelsi Nielsen]

Jeeze, some prom. Kelsi fidgeted around shyly, trying to make best of what happened just a few minutes ago. She'd been really looking forward to this day, with Ryan asking her out and so. Kelsi smoothed her golden tafetta dress and tried to think. "What was up with Ryan?" She asked herself, as Kelsi remembered how Ryan acted...how he stared at the window as if he was looking for something, then just excusing himself out.

She looked around, and saw all those people dancing to the beat of the music. They looked.....well, happy to say the least. Kelsi thought that she would have as much fun as the other students were having. And now, she was all alone in the prom, with the music blaring from the speakers making her feel already uncomfortable, and she just wanted to get out of that place and find her date, wherever he'd gone to.

No, maybe it isn't worth looking out for Ryan right now. Kelsi went for plan B, and craned her neck, trying to spot any familiar Wildcat who wasn't going well.....wild on the dancefloor. She smiled, full of relief as she spotted Martha, Taylor, Zeke and now Chad just talking by the corner. Perhaps she could join in the fun too.

"Hey guys, what's up? Why aren't you dancing?" Kelsi asked in her usual small voice.

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe Tenko strode into the prom room and sat down in a chair almost immediately. She really didn't want to be present at the prom, almost as much as she wanted to avoid everyone at East High. It seemed like, over the summer, everything became perfect - she was going out with Chad Danforth for a brief time, everyone seemed to be becoming friends with her...

But then it all stopped at school again. It was mysterious and confusing and Bebe was reminded, once again, that nothing lasts forever. She ran her fingers through her short, pinkish-red hair, sighing, as she was apt to do. Her eyes trailed to her red pumps, which matched the red silk dress she'd bought. Off-the-shoulder. It was supposedly a "beautiful fit", according to the Macy's shop lady. But right now, green-eyed Japanese yakuza girl Bebe felt more like Meg Griffin.

Not that anyone at East High would know about "Family Guy".

Bebe kicked her legs back and forth, watching everyone.

I wish I could fit in.

[Allison Nicolette Stone]

Allison sighed as the group of two or three grew to a rather large group. One or two was ok, and she knew enough about Kelsi form the theater program that she actually carry on an intelligent conversation with her, but with people around and her far too lose tongue she was not likely to have much luck in a group that size. When she was quiet and uncomfortable Alis was actually a very normal person, but if she got to comfortable, who knew what could become of her in a crowd that size. No matter how small it seemed to everyone else. Yes, Fitting in with normal people was defiantly not one of Alis' strong suits.

Allison looked around the gym and sighed. Nothing was all too interesting. "I though prom was supposed to be amazing." she muttered to herself as she desperately scowered for an empty table. All of them were full, all but one. It had only one girl at it. she was in a stunning red dress and the kind of hair that was magically unforgettable. Allison instantly glided over to the mainly vacant table with a warm and kind smile on her face. She desperately hoped that she would not get caught up in some moment and forget her place in the world. She searched for a name but found none, but remembered the hair from somewhere, probably in the halls.

"Hi, is this seat taken?" She asked a little shy but projecting loud enough to be heard over the music that blared out of the speakers. The girl in front of her seemed nice enough and Alis hoped she wouldn't scare her off. She clutched the black halter dress tightly with one hand as the other plaid with the red blood drop necklace that graced her neck with it's matching earrings dangling halfway down her long neck. It was something all too feminine for her usual style, but it would do for this one dance that currently showed little promise.

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe took one look at the lanky, supermodel-y gorgeous girl in front of her. Her first impulse was to blow her off, but that wasn't very gracious, especially since all the other tables were full. Bebe knew how it felt to be left out, which was why she went with option number two.

"Go ahead, if you want to be seen with me," Bebe laughed, her rough voice contrasting with her airy giggles. It was a problem she'd always had - voice like a man, giggles like a Disney princess. Someone had once told her that her laugh was almost as annoying as Gabriella Montez's. Bebe took it in stride - no one laughed more irritatingly than Sharpay Evans, so being neck-and-neck with a sweet, normal math genius was far from undesirable.

Bebe put her clutch down on the table, flashing a smile at the girl. "I'm Berebeth Tenko. Bebe, please, though. Berebeth sounds like something Ashlee Simpson would name her kid. I don't know what my mom was thinking. I believe I've seen you before, but I can't say from where."

Bebe already liked this girl; she was calm, and graceful, and didn't seem to be too enraptured with East High. If there was something Bebe couldn't stand, it was mindless school spirit. One reason she was a bit wary of Ryan Evans.

[Allison Nicolette Stone]

Allison Smiled at the comment of the other girl. "I think being seen with you is the least of my problems. Not half as problematic as homework, trust me." She said trying to joke lightly as she gracefully lowered herself into a seat close to the other girl. If she wasn't going to dance, she wanted to have some nice conversation. She had taken momentary notice that the girl seemed to glance over her slim figure, that was far too slim in her mind but she was a special case. She had a metabolism most girls killed for. Her mother was full green and her father was slightly Asian and slightly Peruvian with a lot of European in him. So her family ate a lot semi-constantly. No matter how much she ate however she somehow never gained any weight. It was nice for her acting career but she hated people thinking she was anorexic because of something she had no control over.

Allison was taken aback for a moment by the deepness of the voice contrasted by the light airy giggle. It made her giggle lightly as well. Of Course she'd seen and heard odder combination, like Max from the L word, her favorite character on her favorite show, but still. It was quite adorable in her mind. Allison listened to the girl as she introduced herself and let out another bell like giggle to match her soprano voice. It was one of the many parts of her she didn't have the ability to control to match her tomboy image. "I'm Allison, nice and normal, and bland. At least Berebeth sounds interesting. Allison Stone, But Alis always works. nice to meet you." she said with a warm smile before referring to the rest of the statement. "I'm in the drama club. I've been a lead in a few shows when Sharpay doesn't steal the roles with Ryan by being a favorite." She said trying not to sound bitter.

She knew that it was not fair to blame Ryan and Sharpay forMs. Darbus playing favorites in the theater program, she just wished she'd gotten bigger roles. She always got leads out in the real world, she was a professional in a lot of community theater productions, but here she couldn't even steal a role from Troy and Gabriella, not that she had had anyone to audition with her, so she took yet another bit solo part. "Do you like any of the shows?" She asked trying to make conversation. She really didn't know what to talk about. Alis loved a lot of topics, but it was hard to get to those topics with most people because her loud personality would always scare them off before she had a chance to talk about anything but theater. Not that many people liked theater too much in the first place, it was a place for the weirdos and if anyone knew her at all they would know just how weird she truly was, and it had nothing to do Whit having a loud personality.

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe smirked. A girl in drama? No wonder she'd seen her before. As set designer, she'd seen a plethora of people running around, in and out of the theater, doing God knows what. Allison must've been in quite a few plays, for Bebe to have recognized her.

"I liked Twinkle Towne. But that was because I didn't have to repaint every set to fit Gabriella's liking every other day," Bebe commented with a smile. "I'm the set designer for Ms. Darbus. Nice to meet a fellow disgruntled Drama drone." The alliteration was too much fun to pass up. Bebe glanced around the room and saw her other favorite disgruntled Drama drone, Kelsi Nielsen, chatting with the East High in-crowd. Bebe shrugged before returning to Allison. "As for actual shows... I love pretty much everything. I wanted to be in the senior musical, but I got made set designer again. So much for that, eh? Are you in Senior Year?"

Bebe had a feeling she was. After all, once Darbus found out you had talent, she bled you dry. Which was why, after four years, Bebe was STILL head techie and set designer, but not the band's bass player, what she really wanted.

"Or are you in the background with irritating basketball boy, good old whats-his-face. Sora or Zara or something..." Bebe trailed off.

[Eric Beauford]

Meanwhile, on the snow-white platform where the band was supposed to be playing, Eric Beauford sat in silent contemplation. Like most of the East High students around him, he was dressed in a tuxedo - black with a blood red dress shirt underneath, and a thin black tie. His banged-up jeans weren't exactly regulation, but it didn't matter. Martha Cox said he could wear just about anything he wanted while performing with his band tonight.

Tonight was huge. He and his band, The Square Deal, had landed the biggest East High gig of the year, right after Senior Year, the big musical. Chances were he wouldn't be invited to play guitar on that occasion. He didn't know Ms. Darbus, but Mattias Rieschterfal, his bassist, did. That was enough to ban all of the members of the Square Deal from the theater department.

Speaking of the devil, Mattias had popped up behind Eric, plugging in his paint-splattered bass. Eric jumped a few feet as the sound of cord connecting to amp reached his ears.

"God, warn me next time you do that!" Eric yelled before looking Mattias over. Mattias' black hair, true to form, was in his face, but he was wearing a tight-fitting powder blue tuxedo with a bow tie. Eric almost puked.

"What... what IS that?" Eric asked.

"Like it?" Mattias spun around. The drummer, Jonathan Winters-Price, set up his high hat, ignoring Mattias completely and smoothing some wrinkles off of his white dress shirt and tan slacks. The other guitarist, Trent Donovan, was ready to go in a t-shirt underneath his dress jacket.

"You look like John Travolta," Trent responded cooly. "Just hurry up and get your bass plugged in."

"What song are we doing first?" Jonathan asked mildly. He was the calmest of the group, probably because he was the only one in college, at U of A. Eric sighed in relief, thankful he didn't have to get involved in Trent and Mattias' spat.

"I was thinking we start with a song that this audience knows well."

The whole band knew which one Eric was talking about.

Eric reached up to the mike and tapped it a few times. Instant feedback. It was working. Good.

"Hey, y'all. We're the Square Deal, and we're your entertainment for the night. Our first album is available through the DIA advisor, Mr. Thomas -"

Eric heard a squeal. Mr. Thomas had a lot of female fans; allegedly Sharpay Evans was one of them. Speaking of her, her blonde head wasn't visible. Interesting.

" - if you like us that much. I'm Eric Beauford, this guy dressed like a Smurf is Mattias Rieschterfal -"

More screams. Mattias was a real ladies' man.

" - the drummer is Jonathan Price-Winters, and our fabulous guitarist is Trent Donovan. We're gonna start off with a reworking of a song most of you guys know..."

And so the band launched into its punk-rock version of "Breaking Free", Kelsi Nielsen's piece de resistance from 'Twinkle Towne'. Incidentally, the same show that The Square Deal decided to sneak into last year.

[Martha Cox]

“Hey girls, how are you all doing this evening?” Martha asked a couple of the girls from the squad while she waited for her date to come back from whatever he was doing. Although, she didn’t have to worry much, as she assumed he was with the guys. At least she hoped he was with them instead of somewhere in the halls- dare she say it- asleep. Even though, he didn’t randomly sleep as much, she couldn’t help but wonder. She looked around the dance floor and anywhere else; she could look for the not so smart athlete, but was not successful. She had told him she would be right back and assumed he wouldn’t trail off.

Returning her gaze back to the huddled group, she gave a small smile as the girls continued to gap about how their night was going. Her previous thoughts later caused her curiousness to increase when Zeke soon joined them. She was about to ask him if he knew the whereabouts of Jason, but when she was about to open her mouth, Taylor appeared. She decided to wait. She had not seen other guys. She mirrored Taylor’s smile and nudged her back. “It’s going great.” She replied still smiling, yet a hint of worry in her expression.

It could be said that she had a small crush on Jason. It was true. Not only had they grown closer over the summer as friends, but also when she joined the cheerleading squad. He had even helped her put up posters for the prom, in which made her blush a few times. Needless to say, she didn’t know what was going on there, but she was happy when he asked her to prom, especially since he used his shirt to do so. Martha had thought it was really clever, coming from him of all people, but then again, it was Jason.

Martha was brought out of her thoughts when Chad and moments later, Kelsi had joined them asking why weren’t they dancing. Why weren’t they dancing? She thought to herself. They just sort of ended up huddled in the corner. “Good question, Kels.” She smiled her a small friend. “This is prom after all; we need to get out there and have some fun instead of standing around.” She grinned. Sure, she still didn’t know where her prom date was, but at least she had her friends with her.

[Emma the Loyal Sharpette]

((Yay! I want to join in on all this fun! ))

Emma sighed loudly as she played around with her corsage on her wrist. She looked the beautiful white rose that her parents gave her for this evening. She shook her head, wishing it had come from her date....if she had one. Emma didn't bother with a date for prom. There was only one person she wanted to go with, and he was already taken.

"Figures." Emma mumbled. Sharpay snagged the man she wanted, right out of her hands. Either that, or Zeke really did like Sharpay more than her. Either way, it hurt Emma to see that Zeke and Sharpay had coordinated their outfits to match. Emma glanced down at her dress. It wasn't anything bright or flashy like Sharpay's beautiful pink dress. It was just a simple maroon dress. Emma smiled as she fingered the silky material. It was still a nice dress, though. She began to walk around, still playing with her corsage. Her black heels clacked with each step she took. She shook her curled blonde hair, to try and keep it away from her perfect make-up.

Emma wandered into the dance area, and spotted a familiar group of people. She also noticed that Zeke was among them, while Sharpay was not. Emma smiled, and approached the group of people. "Hey everybody! You guys all look fantastic!" Emma looked at the the girls' beautiful dresses, and admired them. She finally laid her eyes on Zeke. She couldn't deny that Zeke looked extremely handsome in his suit. It fit him perfectly, and Emma couldn't take her eyes off of him. She hoped that no one else noticed she was staring blatantly at Zeke.

[Shane Luck]

Shane's fingers twirled around the rim of his acidic cup. His shoulders were slouched and his back was to the chair. He was alone, because no one in the right mind wanted to go with him. Still, he wanted to go. He wanted to see the liveliness of the night. Somehow, distant from Shane's mind. He was happy and sad, alone and crowded, confused and awakened by the clearness in front of him.

He was thinking, flashes of a streak of amber and golden crash coursed in his head and all he could do was smile absent-minded, to himself. He wondered if he could smear his red marker onto the beautiful walls and wonder why will happen. He grabbed onto a marker he always had in his pocket - and his eyes were set on the twinkling golden substance and he could see the spark of flaming fire burn inside of his head - amber and golden.

He knew it was wrong. But he just couldn't resist.

He was listening to the music, and he was also listening to his own music. "Here comes the sandman, to take away your fright...here comes the pretty flower, dead and alive at night..." the words suddenly made sense and as he looked down at what he'd done, his eyes widened. They worked so hard and now, he was smearing golden all over the table cloth. His cheeks flushed watermelon and he looked around, hoping no one noticed.

His nervousness subsided and he slumped down the chair, his hands on the marker as he looked at it. Why am I so addicted to you? he asked the marker in his mind, twirling it with his fingers and obsessing over it. He looked at Eric, and then at everyone else in the ground, what was going on? He suddenly didn't know.

And he was considered smart. He looked down at his clothing, a suit, black and pressed. And with a dark blue tie dangling from his neck. He knew that for sure he didn't look any different than the normal days. He suddenly did something that Shane usually didn't do. He stood up, and scraped golden marker on the sleeve of his suit, absent-minded, laughing, his laughter echoed with the music and he was almost too sure that no one could hear him.