Aha, be inconspicuous

Tonight, she had been expecting to be left alone. D'Angelo and Juliette were heading out together after their little extravaganza at the local cafe. Some wannabe show-off had managed to win over Jane and gain her hand as a date; granted, he had been tip-toeing around her for so long that she had to wonder what sort of confidence he had to hold. It was the Formal after all, and they were going to be partying and drinking, having the time of their drunk-filled lives and expecting her to help them. She was supposed to be their little attendant, providing them with meals and aiding them while they were stuck in their bed-ridden hangover. Or at least, that's what she had been assuming. After all, attending some stupid party was the last thing on her mind and when her two senior roommates had come back with the strangest looks on their faces, Tabitha immediately jumped to the conclusion that they were plotting something and it had everything to do with the Formal.

So she locked herself into her room. They couldn't get her if the lock was on the inside. Seemed simple enough.

But it was boring and exhausting. Sitting around and doing absolutely nothing was making her more anxious and restless about whatever silly thing they were coming up with. Splayed on her bed, she hadn't bothered to get off for maybe an hour or two. One hand was tossing a ball against the wall, the loud thump! ringing like a church bell, paying no heed to the others who were in the other compartments of the dormitory. Back and forth, back and forth. There wasn't much point in figuring something else out. Nobody else was going to be around. That was, of course, unless she went to the get-together herself.

The idea of that made her want to choke on her own spit. Yeah, do all of those stupid things high-schoolers are supposed to do. Get drunk, smoke, pretend they were adults, and go around like they were college students. Supposedly have the best times of their lives, some of the greatest memories that they wouldn't forget. That was so stupidly cliche and sounded like a plot for a cheesy romance movie. And the best part about it? She wasn't planning to participate. Call it lazy, but rather, Tabitha preferred to call it "selective participation." Nobody will remember me anyway. Playing a sport was dumb. Her gift wasn't helping when she was constantly changing appearances and everything else. Getting kicked out by her own parents because they thought she was someone else. Getting thrown away by the orphanage that adopted her to try and tame the illusions she put up with.

Without so much as a moment of hesitation, the ball in her hand speared itself against the plasterboard just in time to join in with the door's chorus. Each rap sent waves of irritation through her temples and the person who was disturbing her mundane day was one of the people she didn't want to talk with at the moment. Wasn't Juliette supposed to be at the Formal already? What, did none of them leave yet?

... Did Juliette literally say what she thought she said?

This is a joke. An elaborate scheme. God, she shouldn't have made that one post on Esper so long ago regarding another dumb Autumn soiree. What the hell was with them and parties? Tabitha knew more than anything, this wasn't some trivial 'help me pick a dress' kind of thing. Hell, she wasn't even good at this. Considering the image she'd been giving off, it was almost blatantly obvious that Juliette was ignoring that fact. A low growl rumbled up her throat, her fingers coming up to adjust the bandages still wrapped around them. Hosa nor that blonde kid never did explain to her where the hell those came from.

Sluggishly, she ambled to the door, swinging it open and facing her roommate, glancing upward to meet her in the eyes with a glare that was close to shooting daggers. Juliette would've had D'Angelo teleport into her room and get her out anyway, so might as well confront them before they forcibly drag her out. "Are you kidding me?" If she was asking her of all people to help her with this, Jane must be gone already. Ugh, for once, Tabitha was silently pleading that Jane would come back and bail her out of this mess. But she was stuck with it.

"Why the hell should I help you with this again?" Taking a step back, her arms crossed indignantly across herself, Tabitha had to suppress every urge to say that she wouldn't mind - only because she was oh-so bored of life. "Are you that rich that you can afford more than one stupid dress?"

It was the night of the formal already, and D'angelo had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready for the night. Using a towel to dry himself off and then afterward drying his hair. The Autumn was quite excited for the formal. But he was more eager about The plan Juliette and him had set forth a few days ago. The plan which centered around their not-so-jolly dormmate, Tabitha.

It was a very simple plan. Well, his part of the plan that is. All D'angelo had to do was teleport them near the Great Hall. Juliette had the more stressful part. Which was getting Tabitha into a dress without Seeming to suspicious. It was a risky attempt which could possibly make Tabitha hate them for eternity, but if things worked out right, they might be able to get her to loosen up a bit.

After checking out his recently brushed teeth, D'angelo headed out of the dorm washroom and into the living space area. He noticed Julliette standing in front of Tabitha by her room. It was obvious what she was doing, and by the looks of it, it was just as he had expected.  Only wearing dark gray gym shorts and a towel that he slung over his shoulder, he casually strolled over to one of the couches nearest them. Plopping himself down and throwing his arms over the cushions. "Come on Tabitha, help her out please? The quicker you do, the faster we get to leave you be." He said with a smile on his face. Trying not to look her directly in the eyes.

Another groan left her as D'Angelo wound up leaving his room and dropping into their conversation. Couldn't he have come out after he finished changing into his formal clothes? At least then, she would be able to argue with just Juliette alone, but with the discussion leading to a two to one, there was no way she could refuse. They were forcibly dragging her into this and leaving no opportunities to fight back. Her glare wandered to the older boy who seemed to be keeping a good distance away from her and trying his best to not glance right at her which only confirmed her previous suspicions. This was their little plot to get her to go to the stupid Formal with them. Maybe she was jumping too quickly to conclusions, but it was the only real explanation she could come up with. There was no way they would be this insistent on getting her to put on the damn dress otherwise.

Three entire dresses, huh? Wasn't she wealthy enough to afford those cheap, overpriced garbs of clothes? Tabitha felt a strong desire bubbling in her chest to simply close the door in front of Juliette's face or jump out the window or call Jane to save her from this situation. There was no way she was putting one on. Absolutely no way. If she was shorter, at least they couldn't have come up with this plan, but this was one of the few times she wished she wasn't of average height. Any clothes that her roommate owned would fit her no problem. They hated her glare and under any normal circumstance, she'd tell them to stop staring at her then. Except this wasn't a normal situation.

...

. . .

. . .

A defeated sigh left her and hesitatingly, she gave her answer. "... Fine!" She couldn't even tell them how much she despised looking at them and their overly-earnest happy smiles. They tried too much to include her into their silly antics that she didn't want to participate in and rarely respected her wishes. At this point, it was better to go along with it. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That saying was so stupid and cringeworthy, but it fit her current predicament perfectly. With all of the time and days passing by, not a single person would remember she went to the Formal. Her roommates wouldn't remember either.

This better be a one-time thing.

After a few seconds of waiting for Tabitha to respond (which felt much longer), D'angelo let out a sigh of relief when she had 'agreed' to help Jules. He had began to feel bad for her. Questioning whether he should still go on with the plan. He suppressed those thoughts with the idea that this was the push she needed to open up to them. After all, they would be dormmates for a while so why not try to chip away at her shell. Perhaps then she might not be so distant from them, despite living a few feet from each other... And if things didn't go well tonight, what's the worse that could happen? She might hate them more than how she already does. That wasn't too bad. It was a low risk/High reward situation...or at least that's what he liked to think of it as. Okay... Maybe it was a high risk.

"Welllllll, I should go get ready. Have fun you two!" he said cheerfully. Standing up from the couch and walking toward his room. Lazily waving his hand at them, a small smirk on his face. So far so good. All he had to do was get ready and wait til Tabs was 'ready' to go. Closing the door behind him and looking at the suit before him. Tonight was going to be fun.