JENNI'S NOTE: This is right after the strange hellions flashback comic. I blanked on the title so I jus called it that. I also always thought Paige went better with Angelo than Jono or Tristan, so that's why she's with him here.

AMYTHYST'S NOTE: This fic is a round robin submitted from one of the storyboards. Most of it was written by Jenni and Rikki, but Wired contributed one part (does anyone have Wired's email address?). I left in the comments the authors made to each other as they handed off the story, and they are included throughout the fic in parentheses.

She approaches the winding stairs and pauses. Like Cinderella in glass slippers, she daintily starts to descend the staircase. Everyone stops what they're doing to gaze up at her and her beauty. She closes her eyes and listens to the applause ...

"We'll be late if you don't quit your day dreamin', Country Mouse."

And is brought back to reality.

"I was trying to capture the moment Angelo!"

"You can do that while walkin Chica." He quickly becomes serious and looks at her again. "You look Beautiful Hayseed. Even though M's a brat, gotta give her credit. She's good at findin' the perfect outfit for someone."

"Thanks. You look good too. Like I always said, grey is really your color."

"Sí, sí. Will you grant this Barrio Boy the honor of escorting you to the dance?"

"Of course," Paige says as she loops her arm around Angelo's. Angelo then leads them out of the girls dorm to the Proudstar Building.

(by Jenni)

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the girls dorm ...

"Stupid Everett" mumbled a well-dressed Jubilee. "And stupid Monet, too!" she said, seemingly talking to her stuffed animals. "Why did he ask her?! Why couldn't he have asked me? And for that matter, why did she say yes?!"

The stuffed animals just stared.

"More importantly, why am I talking to my stuffed animals? Hmm ... guess I'll go on down stairs, maybe there's still someone else without a date. Yeah right, in my dreams!" she muttered walking out of her room and toward Proudstar Hall.

(Sorry if it's not good, just in the mood to write. If you want to ignore it - do!)

As Jubilee stomped toward Proudstar Hall, she accidentally rammed into Angelo.

"Whoa, Jubecita, slow down!"

"Are you alright, Lee?" Paige bent over to help her date and her friend up.

"Oh yeah, I'm jus GREAT. My best friend is out with the most awful annoying person I have ever met! PLUS I don't have a date. Me!" Jubilee stood up, ignoring Paige's offer to help her up.

"Why don't you go with Tristan or Jono? Ah'm sure they'd go with you." Paige knew how Jubilee was hoping for Everett to ask her out, and was hoping that Lee would still find a way to enjoy the dance.

"Super Hyper Cali-Girl with the angst-ridden Brit? Madre de Dios, one of them wouldn't make it out alive," Angelo said, trying to keep from laughing. "Or her with a rich blackmailing snob?"

"Hmph, shoulda never expected sympathy from you Angelito." Jubilee stalked off, leaving them behind.

(Actually, I think what you put is really good!)

"Stupid Ange, Stupid Monet, Stupid Ev!" Jubilee muttered all the rest of the way to Proudstar Hall (along with a whole lot of other works that really should not be mentioned here).

She went directly into the building and sat down on an empty bench that was pretty much reserved for "those unfortuate souls who have no lives out side the class room as of yet," noticing that there was almost no one else sitting on the benches. "Stupid people" she muttered, by now very grouchy.

After a little while of watching people come and go she went and got a big bottle of Surge which cheered her up considerably. "Ahh ... thank God for caffeine, my one true friend" she said, frowning as she saw Ev and Monet walking in, talking happily.

After a long period of glaring at everyone who came into her sight and not getting any response (other than every one moving far away from her), she stood up and ...

(OK, I'll let someone else take over from there! Tired, so not too good ... sorry ... Ignore it if you want to! )

... started to walk away when she heard a familiar shuffle and felt a hand on her shoulder.

~Hey gel, what ya doin' 'ere by yerself? Thought you were gettin' 'long with the new kids and you 'ad a date,~ Jono said with his normal plain expression. Even though he had always had to work hard to tolerate her, she still didn't deserve to be alone.

"Stupid Ev and Monet and Paige and Angelo all had dates Sparky," Lee said, slumping back down in her chair and pushing her face into her chin. Actually, she was a little surprised. She didn't think Jono would be coming out of his basement tonight. "So why you here?"

(K, I have no idea how a British accent goes. And Rikki, stop sayin' to ignore stuff, ur really good at writin! )

"Just came to see if Paige actually had a date or if she was just trying to get to me," he said. "Saw her with Ange and was going to leave but I decided you might need some company."

"Oh, thanks I guess" Jubilee said. "Want some Surge? It really does help ..." she asked.

"No thanks, wanna go back to the main building and see if we can find something more interesting to do than watch all these HAPPY people dance ..." he asked.

(OK, I don't know how to do his accent AT ALL! Just like ummm ... pretend or something ... I need caffeine (always helps in writing)!!!!!)

"Yeah, bet I could beat you at MK3 Sparky," said Jubilee. Even though she couldn't focus in schoolwork, she always knew she could beat anyone at video games.

~Never been one t'back way from a challenge gel. An' yer specially gorra get it fer that Sparky remark.~

Fifteen minutes, 3 cans of surge and 10 Mortal Kombat matches later ...

"Shoulda known better than to challenge a former X-man. Y'know back when I was with the X-men I used to beat Bobby and Mc Coy all the time ..."

~No 'ffense Lee, but you know everyone 'ere tunes out anythin you say after the phrase, 'when I was with the X-men.'~ Jono left his controller behind, knowing that he would be crazy to keep trying to beat a hyperactive mall rat who had just had WAY too much caffeine. He turned on the stereo system.

"Don' even think bout puttin on one of your morose radio stations, Starsmore!"

~Relax, I'll jus put on one of the shiny 'appy stations then.~

Jubilee suddenly started to look a little down. "I kinda feel like I got all dressed up for nuthin'. I didn't even dance once. Know what I mean Sparky?"

(K................. next!)

~Yep, I guess so,~ he muttered, almost dreading the question a gentleman really should ask next. Dancing with a hyperactive ex-mall rat just didn't appeal to him at the moment (actually it never did, being as he was always so depressed about anything and everything)

"Oh well, ya win some, ya lose some, huh Jono," she said after a second.

~I guess so,~ he said. ~Uhhh, wanna dance?~ he asked, almost dreading the answer, thinking he would never be able to have fun again (once again, he always thought of that)

Jubilee immediately starting laughing. "Y'know, Jono, I would love to, but you don't exactly sound to happy about dancing with me, but of course I guess you never sound too happy do you? Don't worry though, I don't know how to dance."

~Oh really, then why do you want to dance so bad, I wouldn't mind dancing with you,~ he said, this time trying to sound mildly happy.

"Actually I was hoping someone would teach me," she said.

~Alright, deal, this is your reward for beating me at MK, alright?~ he said. ~But I do get a rematch, again for teaching you how to dance.~

(Your turn! :) )

Jono extended his hand to Jubilee and helped her to her feet. He then walked over to the radio and found a station playin the Fugees song, "Killing Me Softly."

~First give me yer hand and put yer other hand on what would be my shoulder.~ Jono silently became very religious and started prayin that no one would come in and see him with her. ~Now jus follow my lead gel.~

Lee just stared at his hand holdin hers and nodded. She had always thought that Jono was depressed and had known that he had trouble tolerating her. She didn't really know how to act. So she decided that it would probably be best to try and act civil now while he was being this nice.

He led her around the floor until the dance ended.

(K, ur turn again :) )

"Ok, well, thank you for teaching me, Jono," she said sincerely as the dance ended.

~It was nothing~ he said. ~Now, where's my last rematch of MK?~

"Oh don't say it was nothing if it was something ... I know I'm not your favorite girl in the world. Actually I'm probibly closer to your least favorite, but you don't have to lie to protect my feelings. You can't hurt them too easily ..." she said, smiling.

~Aww ... well, I guess it wasn't too horrible. Kind of nice to know someone isn't too scared of me to dance with me ...~ Jono said gloomily.

"Will you please STOP IT!!" Jubilee yelled at him. "My god, you think you are the ugliest man alive just because half of your face is gone! I'm sorry to 'disappoint' you, but some people do look past your outside looks, 'K?

(You're up!)

~I'd 'onestly like to believe that one day luv, but you know 'ow heartless people can be. I notice when the new kids give me glares, even when they think I'm jus an accident victim. 'Magine 'ow they'd act if they knew the real me. Nice t'know that some people can still look me in the face, figuratively speakin.~

"God, you have got to be the most stubborn Brit I have EVER met. Even when I was in the X-men ..."

~Oh God, no gel, 'aven't I suffered enough?~

"Don't interrupt, its not polite ..."

~Never said I was ...~

Jubilee grabbed the nearest couch cushion and set it on a collision course for Jono's head, nailing him right between the eyes. "Hey! What did I just say! Anyway. Back when I was with the X-men even Betsy, we ALL called her Betsy y'kno, knew how to loosen up once in a while. And we all know SHE hasn't had a perfect life either."

~No, she's jus the sister of Captain Britain, from a very rich family, and dating one of the richest men in the U.S. and ...~

Jubilee walked over and smacked him over the head. "You deaf, Sparky? Jus' listen for a second, um, wait, what was the point of my story?" Jono rolled his eyes dramatically and suddenly started wondering if there was a chance of Emplate attacking and saving him. "Well anyway. You shouldn't keep acting so angst-filled. Maybe if you had been a little more open to people liking you for who you are, then Paige wouldn't have gone for Angelito. Capiche?"

(After this is over I'm thinkin of sendin it to one of those archives. This story is actually comin out really good!)

~Nice story, gel, but it's easy fer you to say 'at when you look like you,~ Jono replied.

"Huh? Haven't you heard a word I just said? I'm sayin' that you should try being a little more happy and open and you might find that people really do like you. I mean, look at Ange, he's got gray skin fer heaven's sake, but he doesn't let it bother him. He's open and, though he can be mean (to her), he's really friendly and nice."

~Now yer comparin' me to Ange? Like I keep sayin', gel, he still has a face,~ Jono said back. He knew he was driving her mad but he didn't want to admit that maybe, for the first time in forever, Jubilee might be right.

(by Wired)

"All I'm sayin is that ..."

~No, I know what yer tryin' t'say, gel. Thing is, you an no one else 'ere could possibly ever understand.~

"Could you just STOP pouting and listen ..."

~Listen t'what, gel? You go on tryin' t'say I'm normal?~ He had to keep talking. Keep her off guard. That way what she was saying wouldn't make sense. That way he wouldn't have to consider any of it. Then he wouldn't be able to see that any of it might be true.

"Jono will you just ..."

~Just what? Try to forget what a freak I am! I only 'ave 'alf a bloody face! Kno what? I never shoulda come today. I don't belong up 'ere with all the 'appy normal people.~

"Jono, please, stop ..."

But he walked out and left her there alone. She just looked at the hall he had gone down. "What about our rematch?" she said in a voice so soft that even if he had listened, he never would have heard.

(K, next person finish up. kno what, its amazin how inspired i get when i'm supposed to be doin research for lit and comp :) )

"Stupid Jono," Jubilee muttered to her stuffed animals again. "Won't even listen, he knows I'm right and that's why! And look at me, I'm sitting here talking to stuffed animals again! Guess I really should try bothering him some more, that guy doesn't know how lucky he is ... Look at the Morlocks."

Sighing, she got up, turned of the Playstation (hope I have the right system for MK ...) and went out of her room in the direction Jono went.

After getting to the basement she considered knocking, but that just didn't appeal to her, so she slammed the door open and said, "Alright Jono! You yelled your stupid head off at me, now it's payback time."

The abruptness of her enterance and talking made Jono get a half-annoyed half-scared look that Jubilee found very amusing, but didn't laugh at. ~Oh, God, I should have never gotten her mad, she's going to kill me!~ he said in a very low whisper.

"Alright, you think you are the ugliest man on earth, but look at Ange ..."

~But ...~"

"Shut up! You're not talking, I am. As I was saying, at least you have an excuse, you can say you are a burn victim, what can Angelo say, huh? If that isn't enough, look at Artie and Leech and the Morlocks! They stay hidden because of all the fear of them going around!" Jubilee screamed.

Calming down after a few seconds she said, "alright, you can talk now."

~Uhh ... at least they can use image inducers,~ he said, trying to think of a way to make her wrong, but knowing she was right.

"Sorry pal, that doesn't cut it! You can use one just as easily as everyone else," she said. "Anything else?"

~No, I guess not,~ he responded quietly.

"Good, now what do you want to do? I figure we have three options: one, you can stay here and mope about how you are wrong, and I am right; two, we can go to my room and finish playing MK; or three, we can try to catch the last half of the dance," she said.

(Alright, next!)

Jono looked up at her from where she stood over him. He slowly whispered, ~wotever you say, gel.~ Jono was definitely not used to being intimidated. Especially by 13 year old girls. Right now he figured the best thing he could do was sit down, shut up, and do whatever she said. Angelo had once told him that it was usually safer to let girls have their way when they get this way. He had seen before how brutal she could get around Monet. And he didn't even want to imagine what she would do to him. He got up and stood in front of her, trying to regain a small bit of dignity. ~It don't matter much t'me, you can decide wot we do.~

(sorry so short, long day lol. plus i knida blanked on what they should actually do ^-^ NEway, next person take over. kno what, i like that little smiley face i made. i think i'll make some more. (don't worry, just had way too much Chem and Trig for one day. That stuff can really get 2 u lol) ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ ^-^ )

"No, I'M not deciding, YOU are deciding" she said, glaring at him. She liked it when men feared her -- makes it much easier to get what you want. "Time to start giving you more confedence buddy. We can start that by letting you decide what to do next."

~Uhh ... alright, umm ... I guess we can go to the dance,~ he mumbled. He didn't like this at all, but best give her what he knew she wanted. ~You know, we could make fun of Ev's and Paige's dancing skills,~ he said, brightenning at the thought.

"Now, finally you have a good idea!" she said grabbing his hand and walking toward the door.

(Ugh, not enough caffine yet today! Chem and Trig? YUCK!! I hated those classes. Thank goodness I am in College (part time) now ... I better go get soem caffeine before I go to sleep)

The two walked into the crowded hall. "C'mon, lets find Ev or Paige," Jubilee said, pushin her way through the crowd, dragging Jono behind her.

~Oh, look. There's Rat Boy,~ Jono said, glaring at Tristan. Rat Boy was his latest name for the rich brat.

"Ah ha. Perfect Priss and the Traitor sighted at 3 o'clock."

~Wot?~

"Over there, dork!" Jubilee grabbed Jono's jacket and pointed to Everett and Monet.

~Oh. So wot do you want t'do gel?~

"I have the perfect plan, only thing is, we have to get them in the same area as Paige and Angelo ..."

(yup, alg trig is the worst. one of the crosses u have 2 bear when ur only a junior (sigh). course, one good thing bout it is that whenever i have that 4 homework, i get the strongest urge 2 leave it on the side and write lol.)

"Umm ... ok" Jubilee said thinking a minute before starting again. "AH!! Thought of something really good!" she said.

~Ummm ... do I really want to participate in this?" Jono asked.

"Aww, come on, it'll be fun," she said, walking toward the door. "Follow me, we'll come back here later, 'K?"

~Alright, I'm coming ..." he said, following her back to the dorm area, wondering the entire time what she intended to do.

"OK, you go to Everett's and Angelo's rooms and get all the underwear or boxer shorts of theirs you can possibly find, 'K? I'll go to Paige and Monet's rooms and get all of their panties and bras, then we meet back here in half an hour, OK?

~Umm ... OK, I guess I can do that ..." Jono muttered even more confused than before.

"OK, here's a bag, put them all in it," she said before walking to the girl's dorm.

Half an hour later ...

"OK, got them all?" Jube asked.

~Yep, all in here,~ Jono said, lifting the bag.

"OK, next we put them all in one bag together and fill it with water," she said.

~Uhhh ... Ok, we can do that,~ he said putting all the underwear from his bag to hers. ~What on earth are we doing, gel?~

"OH what! Haven't you figured it out yet?" she asked, handing him the bag and walking toward the hose.

~No, should I have ...~ he said, filling the bag with water.

"Alright, now we put the bag in the freezer. If I am good enough at math, it should completely freeze by the time the dance ends," she said, laughing at the trying-hard-not-to-look-amused-but-I-think-this-is-hilarious look on Jono's face.

Finally he gave in and started laughing. ~Oh, you are evil, Lee.~

"You better believe it, and be warned because next time it might be you," she laughed. "Don't start going soft, we aren't done yet. It's your turn to think of a good prank or something to annoy the traitors with." She said walking back to Proudstar Hall with him following her closely.

(Good enough prank? My sister did that to my uncle once, so that's how I thought of it LOL. LOL! That's how I am too. I SHOULD be reading 50 pages (well, more actually) of my Sociology book, but want to do this instead. Oh well ... My Finches laid eggs, isn't that cool!!! Oh, I gotta go before I babble even more (tired and on lots of caffine, can you tell?) -- Rikki :) )

~Actually gel, I gorra pretty good idea already ...~

"Oooooo, do share," Jubilee said as she place the bag in the freezer.

~Course, this is somethin' t'bother them fer awhile ... you'd 'ave t'keep a straight face when yer round 'em if you 'elped me with this ... I don' know if yer up to it.~

"If you don't tell me your idea you're gonna find your shorts in her too! I'm not a little kid! I'm 13 and a half!"

~Alright, you know 'ow our AOL accounts let us 'ave more than one screen name?~

"Yeah, so?"

~Well, we each start two new ones and start sendin' 'em each *secret admirer* e-mails. You tackle Ev an Angelo, I 'andle M an Paige.~

"Why do you get Paige an M?"

~Cause I'd feel really messed up writin' to a guy, 'K, gel? We freak 'em out a little, then jus' disappear. They never know we do it, an they become paranoid nervous wrecks fer weeks.~

"The gift that keeps on givin'," said Jubilee as she walked over to him. "Didn't know you had it in you, Sparky. So you wanna go back t'the dance now?"

(Wanted 2 add more and accidentally pushed the send buttton.)

~Well, we should probably go back. At least dance the last dance.~ Jono said, walking back to the hall.

"OOOOO, that was a Donna Summer song! I know that one."

Jono got a look of fear in his eyes. (thinking) *Oh God, don't let her sing. It wouldn't be fair. I wouldn't be able t'scream.*

"WELL IT'S MY LAST DANCE, MY LAST CHANCE, FOR ROMANCE, TONIGHT. I NEED YOU BESIDE ME TO HOLD ME, TO GUIDE ME, SO LETS DANCE, THE LAST DANCE, SO LETS DANCE THE LAST DANCE, TONIGHT!!!!!" Jubilee sang at the top of her lungs.

~Lee, I know that sayin' this could put me in grave danger, but singin' ain't yer strong point.~ he said, rolling his eyes.

(K, I accidentally sent the 1st one before adding this on. I have no idea if those are the right words 2 the song, sad 4 sum 1 who's been in choir for 3 yrs ... And I got the aol joke thing from sumthing a friend and i did 2 this guy we kno, cept sumthin went wrong and he found out we did it ... )

"Haha, be nice smart @$$!" she said, smiling, "or I guarantee I will put all your underwear in the freezer with everyone elses."

~Oh, OK, I'm sorry. I'll be nice~ he said, deciding that saying "I'm sorry" is a whole lot easier than thawing out frozen underwear.

"Well, I guess we missed the end. Oh well, it will be TONS more fun to see their reactions to the pranks anyway," Jubilee said, arriving at the door as people filed out.

~I agree, this is going to be great,~ he said, glaring at Paige, Angelo, Everett and Monet as they walked out the door.

"Whatcha glaring at Jono, oh, I see," she said, starting to glare too.

"Hi Guys! Where were you two, we were going to sit and hang out with you two, but we couldn't find you," Paige said cheerfully and only recieving glares in return.

"Umm ... OK umm ... I guess we better leave you alone, huh? Uhh ... you looked kinda uumm ... ticked, hehe," Everett said, also getting glared at.

"Ok, we'll see you later, 'K?" Paige asked, walking away with everyone else following quickly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I think we really got them scared now, Jono!" Jubilee said, laughing after they left.

~Well, before they check their email accounts let's go write those letters," he said, walking back toward the dorm.

(OK, you're turn! That sounds like a fun prank to pull!)

Jubilee sat down at her computer. Jono had walked her back to her room. She logged on and started to write. She looked at the stuffed Pikachu that sat next to the computer and stared at her.

"I think Ev deserves to get a letter first, don't you Pika? Yep." She smiled and started to type.

*Hey Hotstuff,*

Jubilee let out a giggle, she was sooo evil.

*I loved watchin u groove at the dance. I can't believe I haven't seen you since you were in LA. You are definitely very fine. So when are we gonna get it on lover?

Love, Tiffy*

She went into a giggling fit, then made an e-mail similar to that and sent it to Angelo. Except his was from 'Monica'. She smiled in approval at her work. Then sent an e-mail to Jono that had copies of her letters. She then sat back and waited, periodically checking her sent mail to see if her victims had read her messages.

Meanwhile in the guys dorm ...

As Jono walked to his room, he could hear Ev gasping from his, room, and figured that his teammate had gotten his first message. He walked over to his room ...

('K, Monica and Tiffy were my friends and my aliases while we did this joke. And it was funny, cept the guy was on football and I had to spend the rest of my year in choir, the class I had with him, hidin behind a guy in soccer. He 4gave me eventaully, and I did live : ) ur turn.)

Right after he wrote Paige and Monet some letters and before he knocked on Everett's door he thought of something else and ran to Jubilee's room.

"Hey Jono, finish Paige's and Monet's letter's yet?" Jubilee asked, suprised to see him barging in her room so fast.

~Yep, and sent them too, but I just thought of something else to get to them even more, come on!~ he said walking back out of her room toward the garage.

~Umm ... Ok, what is this other thing, Jono?" Jubilee asked as she climbed into the jeep next to him.

~What do you say we leave a box of candy for the girls and a box of cookies at the guy's door with a note attached?~ Jono said. If he had a face he would have been grinning.

"Hey, now that is a GOOD idea!!" she said as they arrived at the store, "but we have to buy a really nice brand of chocolate in a heart box and make the cookies look like they were homemade in also a nice box for them."

~Ok, that's what I was planning on,~ walking to the candy and cookie section of the store. ~Just wanted you here to help me pick it out.~

~Umm ... Ok, no prob," she said, finding two red heart-shaped boxes of candy as Jono grabbed four bags of Hodgston Mill (aren't those the one's that come in packages of 8 that are soo good?) cookies. ~Alright, are we done?~

"Yep, I think so."

Returning to the dorms they went back to Jubilee's room, decorated and wrote notes on the boxes and dropped them in front of the boy's and girl's room's, each time knocking on the door and hiding, so they wouldn't be caught.

(Ok, I really need some more caffeine. Hope it's not too bad.)

"And, Oh My God, you shoulda seen the look on Paige an Monet an Everett an Angelo's faces! I thought that they were either gonna faint or scream!" Jubilee was lecturing to her stuffed animals again. Course, this was probably because they were the only things on campus that wouldn't try to run away while she went on and on and on and on and on ...

"And who woulda thought the Brit had a sense of humor? Man, we are gonna own all of them." Jubilee had started giggling insanely. She then collapsed next to a huse stuffed panda. "Wait a minute, why am I talking to all of you again?" She looked at them all. "It's not like you can even answer.

~'ey, don't put us down Lee, you know we just like listening better.~ said a stuffed cat.

"What the @#%&?!?!?!" said Jubilee as she jumped off them bed and stared open mouthed at the animals in front of her.

~Haha~ Jono laughed as best he could. ~Gotcha gel.~

"That's it Sparky! I hope you like frozen shorts! And I also hope that Paige doesn't HAPPEN to get a letter tellin' how much you want her!" Jubilee ran after Jonothon as he ran down the hall.

~Really Lee, I'm sorry ... OUCH! STOP IT!!!!! QUIT PAFFIN' ME!!!~