Chapter 31- Hootenany

- General POV

The two teens pulled away from each other quickly, faces red and breaths heavy. Both turned to the door which opened to reveal AJ, smiling and happy. "Clem! Look what I found!" He exclaimed, throwing a beach ball at her. She barely caught the ball in time as she stood with it, surprised and trying to cover up the scene. "Wow, where did you find a beach ball?" She asked, looking back at Louis as he stood beside her. "I found it in a garbage can outside. I had to blow it up, and that was pretty gross. But look, it works!" He said excitedly, gesturing for her to throw it back. "I'll go see how they're doing with the party. Catch you later!" Louis walked out of the room, trying to hide his obvious red face from the little boy, who would certainly question it. "Can we keep playing?" AJ asked innocently as the door closed behind him. She nodded, opening her arms for him to throw the ball.

"Okay, we should head down now." Clementine laughed, hitting the ball gently off of AJ's head. "Ok!" He smiled, opening the door as they both walked down to the music room, where the party was being hosted. They talked on the way down the stairs, lighthearted conversation filling the halls as they started to hear shuffling from the other room. The two walked into the music room, where all the other school kids stood, doing their own things to prepare for the party. "Hey guys!" Louis greeted them on their way in. AJ handed his drawing to Ruby, who displayed it proudly for them all to see. Without a word, he made his way happily to his friend, who painted on a large white banner. Clem looked to Louis to see him looking back, giving her instant sparks as she looked away to hide her newly-found embarrassment. "Hey Clem, what colour lighting should we use?" Ruby called to her as she turned and walked over, getting a good look at the selection of 3 tinted jars. "Hmm...maybe red?" She concluded as Ruby set the red jar aside along with some matches.

"Ah yes, the colour of romance..." Louis chimed from the side, winking at Clem who, undoubtedly, became the same shade of red as their new mood lighting. "And the music?" She asked, trying to sidetrack herself as she pointed to the gramophone. "We have a fair selection of tunes to jam out to." He joked as she walked over, skimming through all the records on the small shelf. "Are you guys okay with country?" She asked, earning shrugs and nods. Then there was Ruby, whose face lit up as the record started playing. "Oh, I love country!" She smiled to Clem before walking away cheerfully. "Country songs are always about love. You know what else is about love?" She shot Louis a deadly glare at the comment, only getting more frustrated with his teasing when he laughed in response. "Well, everyone's here now, why don't we start?" Everyone sat in a circle, looking around at the lighting and the banner which read "We're getting them back!" And in smaller writing, "F*ck the raiders".

"Wait, Ruby...what are those?" Louis' face paled as she dug out a few generic files. "Just my secret weapon. An ice breaker, more or less. Why we were sent here." She smiled deviously as she opened a file, skimming over the contents and smacking it shut. "Well...does anyone know why I was sent here?" She laughed. Everyone shook their heads unsurely. "Well. When I got here I was very...violent." She started. "I thought that was Violet's job." Willy commented from the side, earning a few chuckles. "Oh I remember! You chased that cook around the courtyard one time!" Tenn added as everyone looked at her surprised. "Yeah. Needless to say, I've changed. A lot." She laughed. "Well, let's move on, shall we? Who wants to go next?" She looked around. "Oh, you guys want to know why I got sent here?!" Willy leaned in, smiling widely as everyone's expressions changed. "Dude, no." Louis cringed at his next words. "Chronic masturbation." Everyone groaned as Clem looked on in disgust. How old was this kid?! How many years since the apocalypse started?! "What's that?" AJ watched their reaction with confusion, being his innocent self. "Uh-uh! Don't you dare." She pointed a finger around the room, warning the rest off as Tenn leaned over, whispering to AJ. She sighed in disappointment as AJ's face turned to confusion, mixed with curiosity and slight disgust.

"Ok, uhh...anyone else?" Ruby changed the subject quickly. "Ok, well the next file is...Violet's." Her tone dropped slightly as Louis shifted uncomfortably. "Uhh, I can go. I mean, it's...better than telling her story without her being here." He interrupted, catching everyone's attention. Ruby nodded. "Well, it'd be nice to know. But only if you want to..." Clem looked to him as he smiled back nervously. "Well...my parents used to be stupid rich. Basically I got everything I wanted. And I wanted to be a real musician. But when I asked my dad for singing lessons, he said no. I remember him telling me 'you get to be happy or you get to be rich. You don't get to be both.' And obviously being me...I didn't take it lightly. I know he was teaching one of his dad lessons, but...I decided that I was going to teach him. I ended up stealing his credit cards, buying things without him knowing. Made my mom believe that he was cheating on her. I sent her all the receipts for the hotel rooms, lingerie, alcohol, you name it. And all in my dad's name. They had a fight. He denied it, she wouldn't have it, and I played along to make it all feel more real. When the divorce was final, I told them. I told him, 'you get to be happy or you get to be rich. You don't get to be both.' Well needless to say, I ended up here not long after. And my parents would've been happily married if I hadn't been...a vindictive f*ckhead." The atmosphere had changed as everyone sat silently, leaving Clem almost completely speechless. Almost...

Hey again. Welp...I'm trying to keep updating regularly. Sorry if this chapter is kinda crappy, I'm really busy with schoolwork, and I got like, way too stressed this week so it's been difficult to focus on anything, really. This chapter is a bit...inappropriate. I blame Willy. Well I hope y'all enjoyed 😉🙃