Survival Of The Fittest

"Let it GOooo!!"
"Let iiit GOoOOoo!!"
"CaAan't hOold it bAack AanyMOooOOooOore!!"

((Florida Riley continued from Excuse me, may I interest you in...?))

Florida's smile rarely faltered. Not even her friend's abysmal singing could put a dent on it, barely even wincing whenever the audio peaked. Like sure, Stacy was a little off-key, but... Hey, that's just karaoke for ya! 

The fundraiser was well and truly underway, a decently sized crowd having gathered in the softly lit community hall. Mostly girls from relief society and their relatives, but there was the occasional unfamiliar face amidst the crowd. 

No sign of her classmates though... Yet. The night was still young, after all.

The overall vibe was... Well, about what you'd expect really. Lots of smiling faces, a depressingly tame set list and not a drop of alcohol in sight. There were several large punch bowls though, and an assortment of store brand sodas.

Florida herself was mingling close to the entrance, gently sipping from a cup of diet lemonade. There was a table set up with the set list laid out for all to see, along with a donation bucket and a neatly piled stack of pamphlets with info on the local temple - just in case you were curious, you know?

A quiet hum escaped Florida's lips as she stood there, wondering if she'd end up seeing any faces from Red Rock that evening. Whilst she managed to hand out more leaflets than anticipated, she wasn't super convinced that anyone would actually turn up. Odds are most of her classmates were just being polite - which was fine, of course! She could hardly blame folk if they had better things to do with their weekend then turn up to a silly little karaoke night.

Still, you never know...

"LET THE STORM RAGE OOooOOOoOoOOooon!!!"
"Thecoldneverbotheredmeanyway..."

((Sharad Narang pregame starts here))

Walking in from the night outside, a short figure would arrive, smelling vaguely of cigarette smoke, though no cigarette was visible in his hands. One hand was busy cradling a black-and-purple longboard under his arm, while the other was holding a slightly beat up smartphone that his eyes were locked to.

This wasn't Sharad's usual kind of crowd, nor his typical kind of hangout spot. The community center, worn to shit as it was, was still at least a bit respectable, the kind of place Sharad felt unwelcome in even when it was empty, nevermind now when it was kinda-sorta-almost bustling. Walking through the grounds hadn't lessened that impression, and the glimpse he was getting of the night's event only heightened it. The folks here were visibly churchy, and the Mormon flavor of that kind of crap; he'd known that coming in, but he maybe hadn't expected just how plain it would be on arrival. Sharad, grungy little punk that he was, would cut a controversial figure on first sight, and that was before he got a chance to say or do any of the shit he usually got up to that would really piss them off.

Why was he here, then? Part of it was that he'd already passed the center twice today while cruising around the neighborhood, but he'd passed it plenty of times on other days without giving it a second look. Part of it was that he couldn't go home with Robert doing his usual bullshit, but normally he wouldn't head for the church potluck just because his grandpa threw a plate at him. Mostly it was because none of his buddies were available to chill, much less to give him a place to hunker down until the old shithead wore himself out or went back to work. He'd been trying to pass the time just boarding around the neighborhood, but there was only so long he could do that alone, traversing the same streets over and over, before it became dreary and monotonous in its own right. Most spots to chill in downtown Vegas required money, something Sharad didn't have much of, and what was left was mostly abandoned lots or rundown parks that were neither fun nor safe to be in alone. A churchgroup's karaoke night fundraiser sounded lame as fucking hell, sure, but at least it was something different, in a place that was reasonably safe, and wasn't demanding money for the privilege of boring him to death.

And if it got too boring, well, he could at least get a kick out of ticking off some Mormons and spoiling their shitty party or whatever. He probably wouldn't even have to try especially hard.

But for now, he was on his best behavior. He traipsed in through the open door with a casual air like he wasn't the sorest thumb on Earth, only briefly glancing up from his phone in vain hope that someone here would stick out as familiar amidst the crowd of button-up wearing strangers.

"'CAUSE BABY, YOU'RE A FIIIIIIIIIIIIREWAAAARK!"
"COME ON SHOW 'EM WHAAAAAAAAaaaAaAT YOUR WAAARTH!"
"MAKE 'EM GO, AAAah, UUuuah, AaAauh!"
"AS YOU SHOOT ACROSS THE SKAAh, Uuuaah, UuAAaAah!"

Florida hummed along, tapping her foot to the beat as she swayed from side to side.

Good old Sister Mary, always giving it her all! Her aggressive fortissimo was quite the stark contrast to the last person who was up; poor Andrea spent the entire time mumbling incoherently into the microphone before storming off-stage in tears.

It made Florida more than a little nervous about her own turn on the mic. No way could she compete with Sister Mary's enthusiasm, nor did she want to choke up like Andrea. But, she felt reasonably confident! Certainly helped that she managed to convince Sister Vanessa to include a personal request on the set list, just for her...

But, her idle musings were quickly interrupted by the arrival of a new face to the party. And by new face, she meant a familiar face! From her school! HUZZAH!

Although... Had she handed Sharad a leaflet? She honestly couldn't remember, she was pretty sure they hadn't even spoken to each other this year, let alone the past week. Had they EVER spoken to each other? Florida was more of a front-of-the-class kind of girl, whilst Sharad always struck her as a back-of-the-class kinda guy.

Well, didn't matter! He was here now, and she felt it was her civic duty to be as welcoming as possible!

"Hiii Sharad!" she calls out, having to raise her voice as Sister Mary's mic peaked again. "So glad you could join us! Please, make yourself at home!"