Pondovadia: World I Love, Tears I Drop

Chapter Fifteen: All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Go

October 25

12:02 PM

The school cafeteria was bustling with excitement. Some kids were drawing while others were talking about their Halloween plans. Meanwhile, at the aesthetic club table...

"So, what do you think?" Violet asked her friends as she showed them the personalized invitations she designed. They were a bright orange gradient with black spiderwebs in the corners and dripping black text reading "AESTHETIC CLUB'S HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA"

"Ooo!" Sandyna squealed as her eyes lit up. "I think they're super totally adorable! Let's send them out now! I wanna get some candy before the party too! And I will be super damned if I don't get all the peanut butter ones!"

"Hmm...." Tabitha squinted as she read the invitation. She chuckled a little "They're good but I think you should put down where the party is. Also the font's a little too small."

The cat went back to sewing two shiny golden buttons onto a black schoolboy cap. She stuck her tongue out as she focused on getting the right thread through the fabric.

Keira was in the middle of planning a rough draft for her next fanfiction-- a horror based 89 Days AU involving Cthulhu and plenty of tentacle sex. She looked up from her laptop.

"Yeah and try not to send it in the entire group chat, Violet" the rhino rolled her eyes. "Hell forbid Beatrice tries to weasel her way in" she chuckled a little at her unintentional pun.

"Good idea" Leila pointed out. "Anyways, should we announce the party today or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Violet snarked with a cold bitter tone. "Since apparently my invitations aren't good enough"

----

1:15 PM

Violet was in the middle of redesigning her invitations. Study hall didn't give her anything else to do anyways.

"All students report to the auditorium, immediately" the principal's voice boomed on the speakers.

A collective groan echoed through the first and second floors as nearly all the students forced themselves down the hallways. Some animals tried to hide in the bathroom while several bird students flew out the windows. Two gophers dug underground.

"Are assemblies here really that bad?" Jennifer asked as she followed the crowd.

Leila nodded "They're not torture level, Jen, just incredibly boring. Except for the pep rallies, those get pretty fun. Oh, by the way, some kids here get detention on purpose to not go to assemblies"

"Huh, detention you say" the donkey shrugged. "Maybe I should try that next time..."

The brown auditorium filled up quickly as dozens of animal children made their way towards the seating. The seats were made of worn down vinyl leather and several of them had questionable stains on the back. Some animals slumped in defeat while others pulled out their phones anyways.

A tall red cardinal in a blue polo shirt and beige khakis walked towards the stage podium. He cleared his throat and noticed none of the kids were paying attention to him. Fuck.

He whistled loudly into the microphone, causing several animals to yelp.

"That's better," the bird said to himself. "Alright listen up, everyone"

One of the eighth graders threw a paper ball at him. It tumbled to the bottom of the wood podium.

"Alright, whoever threw that, just get your ass to detention right now" the cardinal deadpanned.