A Night to Remember [open to everyone]

Lights, games, rights. Jane twirled around to drink in all the sights and sounds, breathing in the smells of fair food and crisp autumn nights. A laugh bubbled from her lips. So many things to do, so little time, so little money. Oh well. Who worried about that kind of thing anyways? Fall was long, and the night was young! She dug around her pockets as she walked past stall after stall, eyes hungrily moving over all the food, games, and prizes. You never would've expected this sort of thing to crop up in a tiny podunk town like this. The ferris wheel had just rose up from the skyline overnight, and it'd taken all her willpower to wait until now to go. She knew herself too well, and she knew that if she'd gone at the first opportunity, she'd have blown all her money within the first hour and gone home disappointed.

It'd been hard, but it'd be worth it. She was going to make this a night to remember.

Now she just needed somebody to drag along.

"What to do first, what to do first...?" she complained to herself, fiddling with a keychain wrapped around her fingers. A tiny ghost jinged at the end of the ring. There was so much to do that she couldn't decide. Dammit, this was why she needed a date.

Grace sighed quietly, shoving her hands inside of her jacket pockets as if trying to keep the chill working its way around her body from making her body shake. It wasn't working. This was just another one of her failed attempts to try and make friends, because even when she put herself in a situation where she could interact with people, she always chickened out and stay plastered to the back of the room. She doubted anyone even noticed that she had been there, or that she was here now.

At least it was a pretty sight. The weather was nice, and there were a lot of lighted attractions that caught the eye. Maybe she should go on a ride or something, or eat. She didn't really feel very hungry, though. Just slightly annoyed with herself for being unable to be sociable. And cold.

While walking around, she caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. A slight kiss of scarlet grew on her cheeks as she recognize the host of the party she had went to awhile back. Jan, was it? Jane? Something like that. She had been a bit too… out of it, in a way, to remember much. Of course, she was more embarrassed about what she couldn't remember than what she could. That was definitely not a good idea… but it had been the most sociable she had been the entire time she had been here. That was probably not a good sign.

Maisie rubbed her hands together with an agitated huff, her hands numb in the autumn chill. There was food and other useless knickknacks at this stupid festival, but no gloves? Nothing useful? Maisie had not even wanted to go to the festival, but her mother was bothering her incessantly about her injury, an injury that was pretty much healed. She'd still been visiting her daily. Maisie wanted an excuse to be in a place she wasn't. Grumbling to herself, Maisie kept her head down for most of the walk. Something possessed her to look up in a certain instant, however, for a reason she did not know, and she saw Jane approaching her. She was spinning like a child. What was that slut so excited about?

Did their eyes meet? Maisie's initial plans were to keep silent, but it seemed like Jane was looking at her, though she was unsure. The girl kept her eyes up, and against her own will, gave a silent, surprisingly small, "Hi."

What the fuck was she doing? She hadn't talked to Jane in a month, did she even remember her?

Of course she did, she had to. Maisie paid for the slut's party.

Drowning in this sea of people, of course the first familiar face she ran into was her partner-in-crime. Jane had fronted the party, but Maisie had supplied the river of funds, booze, and drugs behind the scenes. With that five hundred dollar debt hanging over her head like a guillotine, she probably should've slipped off, but Jane just smiled when her eyes met Maisie's. "Hey there," she said in response, sliding forward to close the distance between them. Man, man, man, what were the odds? "Long time no see. You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" She gave her a playful wink. Honestly, she wouldn't have been surprised if she was. Miss Misanthrope felt like the kind of person to scowl away in her room all day smoking. "You're just the person I wanted to see, honestly."

Avoiding her? Well, she certainly didn't want to see her, but that would have been a strong word. "No. I was hanging out in the infirmary for a little while," she said lowly, ambiguous purposefully. She didn't want to explain it. It still gave her nightmares, but most of all, it made her angry. Maisie tensed as Jane mentioned her happiness in seeing Maisie. That couldn't be good. The frown on her face grew even more curved, and she exhaled. "Why? I'm not giving you any more money if that's what you want, shit ain't mine." What else could it be? She wasn't a fucking ATM.

Now there was a second person, someone who Grace didn't recognize, but that just made things that much more difficult. This wasn't a good idea, it really wasn't. No one would notice if she just snuck back out, right? She meant to, but an increasingly-loud sound reached her ears. Turning towards the sound, a group of somewhat-supervised children were running into the general area, likely there to visit older siblings or something. The noise surprised her, and she nearly jumped as they ran by. By the way others were turning towards the sounds, it was clear that the commotion was attracting the attention of others as well.

Ah, the infirmary, huh? That was a hell of an excuse. Maisie didn't really strike her as the nursing type. Jane just ignored it, smiling and raising a thin eyebrow at her sudden defensiveness. "Do I really look like a mooch to you? I didn't come here to beg. You're not my bank." Did she hand out five hundred dollar loans a lot? She hadn't even said anything and the girl was stingier than a slumlord. "I meant I wanted to hang out with you, you ditz." Maybe she wasn't familiar with the concept. It wouldn't surprise her. "I'm all by myself at the festival. It's sad. Pitiful, really. Just completely unacceptable."

She turned her head at the sound of a racket, drowning out the droning buzz of the festival for just a moment. It looked like there was a bit of a commotion near the gate, and... Oh, hey.

Jane's hand shot up and she waved at the young girl standing alone amidst the crowd. Now that was another familiar face. She'd crashed on her couch after the, erm... Halloween treat she'd given her. "Grace! Lonely?" she called out.

Of course. Maisie did not buy it, but didn't say anything, giving a look over to the commotion. "Whatever, I've got nothing to do." Jonathan hadn't shown up in a while. He didn't even visit her in the Infirmary. She wondered if he moved back to Australia, or really cared about her. This made her angry, and she could tell if it was at him, or at herself for giving a shit.

Her words caught the wind, and she wasn't sure if Jane even heard them, as the girl began to walk away suddenly, in the direction of some other chick. Who was that? She looked a little pathetic, a little jumpy, the kind of girl that Maisie didn't make friends with. Keeping an open mind, however, like the nice person she was, she walked up, hands in the pockets of her shorts as she said, Who's this?"

Well, people had definitely noticed the commotion, and now, by consequence, they had noticed her. That was one way of getting things done. Grace, however, hadn't prepared herself nearly enough for this turn of events, so she froze as Jane waved at her. It took merely five seconds before her face went red and she responded with a smaller, shyer wave, embarrassed at both her initial inactivity and Jane's 'lonely' comment. Did she really look that way? Yes, more than likely yes.

"A-Ah, I..." Before she could answer, the other girl chimed in, probably to Jane rather than her. She could answer though, right? After all, she knew who her own self was. "I-I'm Grace." It came out just above a murmur as she shoved her hands deeper into her jacket pockets. It felt way too cold. She hoped she wasn't physically shaking. "I just... I just got here." That was just a lame attempt to seem less pathetic, like she hadn't come here alone desperate to actually talk to someone. She had just gotten there though, so that was true. They probably didn't have psychic powers, or at least she figured they probably maybe didn't. Her mind was running away from her.

She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Grace, Maisie. Maisie, Grace." Yeah yeah yeah, yadda yadda yadda, introductions were boring. They had the whole night to get acquainted, even if people like them mixed like water and oil. What's the worst that could happen? It was good to move outside your comfort zone, and Jane wanted company, even if her company didn't exactly act like they wanted her. "Two's a party, three's a crowd, right?" Jane was quick to hook Grace into their little loop. "I was about to drag Maisie onto the drop tower. I hope you don't mind coming with." The way she said it made it sound like it was already decided they were both coming along with her on her whim.

The drop tower.

Behind them, thrusting into the night sky like a spear, was a metal pillar standing hundreds of feet into the air. Right now, you could see a row of seats rise slowly, gradually, deliberately up the column, and when it hit the top... There was a chime like a bell, and the gondola dropped like a weight. You could hear their screams as they rocketed to the earth and then bounced right back up toward the top. Jane turned on her heel, smiling. "Any objections? No?" She didn't actually bother to wait for an answer. "Great. We can't just stand around here all night."

The drop tower? Where the hell did that come from? That could not be good for someone who almost died within the month, because it looked bad for the healthy people on it. Maisie was always the one to smoke behind the roller coaster where she wasn't going to get caught, not go on it, and she gave a shake of the head. "Sorry, Jamie--" or was it Jude? Judith? "--not happening." Besides, there had to be a line the length of the North Dakota border. There was always one of those at those kinds of events.

If her stomach already dropped, did that count as having gone on the ride? For a second, Grace didn't comprehend what Jane was talking about, as her mind was occupied with being embarrassed. That second passed, however, and her eyes caught the tall, scary-looking tower where all the screaming was coming from. Grace paled immediately at the sight, feeling her legs begin to shake. She wasn't scared of heights, but this was a completely different beast. This was more like a ride that you needed many weeks of preparation just to stand in line. "Th-Th-That?" She pointed shakily at the tower, in the hopes that somehow it was not that, but some heretofore unseen ride. That was probably naive thinking.

Yes. That. Their hesitation was just what she expected, but this was already decided. "Jane," she corrected with a small point of her fingers. "Jane Grey. Like the queen." Jamie was a cute pet name, but identity was important. You couldn't muddle those kinds of things. "You can take things easy when you're old. Right now you have to go big. How many chances are you gonna get to go on something like that?" She was a woman of huge appetites. The games and kiddy rides would be open all night, but if they wanted a ride on that, then they'd have to go soon or never. There wasn't time to be a killjoy.

Maisie looked up at it, and sighed. "Your namesake ruled for nine days, Grey." She mumbled this with a half-snicker. It sounded much better to call her by her last name, and she was not about to get friendly with this girl. Boss her around. She wasn't her queen. "And I'm not wasting my time in a line just to go on some ride." She accented this by withdrawing a cigarette from her bag and cupping the end in her hand for a light. She wasn't going anywhere, unless Jane was willing to do something for her.

Well, probably not many chances, considering that the ride looked positively terrifying and she didn't know any time where she would want to get on it. On the other hand, there probably were an equal number of chances to hang out and bond with other people, even if that involved a high probability of death. Maybe it wouldn't be… that bad. "I-I guess w-we could go on… that." Grace gulped as she agreed, wondering how quickly it would be before she regretted it immensely. The other girl - Maisie - didn't seem interested at all, though she was a lot more indifferent to it than herself. She seemed more like the kind of person Jane would hang out with.