Scientific Actress

Slumber Party-A-Rooney

"Being the new kid at any school is hard. The good news about Monahan Academy: we wear uniforms. So, at least I blend in. The bad news? There's always that one girl who singles you out."

"Okay, new girl. Now's your chance to prove you're one of us." Ruby snapped her fingers. A girl placed a box in her hand. "This is a month's worth of toenail clippings."

"Gross." I cringed at the thought.

"Put them in Stephanie's soup," Ruby demanded.

"Why would I do that?" I questioned.

"Two reasons. Every new kid punks the dorm big sis. And the girl who tells you what to do just told you to do it," Ruby explained.

"So... Do I punk Stephanie Einstein, the one person who's been nice to me? Or, do I tell Ruby, head of the Hoover Hall Hooligans, to stick it in her eye?"

"Give me the toenails," I groaned.

I poured the toenails into Stephanie's soup, looking away.

"Come on, people. It's all about survival."

The scene cut, and Liv appeared. She cleared her throat, then took a bite of her soup.

"Whoa! Crunchy croutons today," Liv noticed. Her face changed as she suddenly realized. "Wait a second. These aren't croutons. I've been toe nailed!"

Ruby and I laughed.

"Cut!" Gemma shouted.

"Yay!" Liv cheered. "Great scene, Ruby. And you too, (Y/n). Look at you girls go. A whole new generation of Sing it Louder. So what are you two gonna do between takes, huh? You gonna get into some mischief? You gonna pull some pranks? You two gonna become best friends?"

"Um... I am going to go back to my dressing room and fill out more paperwork so I can go to school here," I admitted. "Again."

"Again?" Ruby questioned.

"Yeah. I lived here for a while. Minor roles for a lot of movies. Went to elementary school here. Now applying for high school... I need everything to be perfect," I explained. I walked away from the cousins.

~~~

I walked down the stairs, skimming over my lines for the last time before we recorded.

"Hey," I said to Ruby.

"Hey," she replied awkwardly.

Liv slammed on the brakes of the golf cart, making it screech. "Hey!"

I grinned at her. Ruby and I got on the cart eagerly. "Who is ready for fun?" Liv questioned.

"Punch it, Liv!" Ruby said.

"Yeah!" The cart went very slow before it died. "So, I may have run the battery down. Just give me a minute to plug this baby in and in six hours, we will be whooping it up!"

"That's okay," I assured her. "I need to finish studying my lines for the next scene, anyway."

"Yeah. I've got a song to learn," Ruby agreed.

"Oh, wait. Okay, hold on. Guys, guys!" Liv stopped us. "If you were at home right now, what would you be doing to have fun?"

"Reading while sitting in my window seat while it's raining," I admitted. "It feels like heaven, trust me."

"Me and my friends would have slumber parties," Ruby explained.

I smiled. "Sounds like a great idea, actually. I miss having sleepovers back in Wisconsin."

"Yeah, you do!" Liv cheered. "What is that? What am I seeing right now? Did you two just become best friends?"

"Pretty sure all that happened was we both agreed we liked slumber parties," Ruby reasoned.

"Well, I mean. Hey. I like slumber parties, too. Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking right now?" Liv questioned.

"Probably not," I blurted.

"Who wants to have a slumber party here on set tonight?" Liv questioned.

"Are you serious?" I smiled.

"Are we gonna dance? Are we gonna do each other's hair? Are we gonna eat waffles?" Ruby questioned. "Somebody tell me what we're gonna do!"

"Okay. First thing we're going to do is calm down," I reasoned in a soothing tone. "And then get excited because we're gonna have a slumber party on the set!"

~~~

"Okay, girls. Time for the first unofficial, unsanctioned, unapproved sleepover on the set of..."

"Sing it Louder," we sang in unison.

We were having so much fun. We had Nerf gun fights, raced in our sleeping bags and danced around like we were in a band. Liv put on some music and layered wigs on top of our heads. We even bowled with a bouncy ball and empty water bottles. Liv hugged both of us, laughing.

Liv ran into the room after a while. "Okay girls—Wow!" She smiled at Ruby and me in frog costumes.

"We're just two frogs, all hopped up on dancing and fun!" Ruby said, wrapping an arm around me.

"We are going to catapult that helmet back onto the suit of armor," I explained.

"Okay, did you two just become best friends?" Liv questioned.

"We're just having fun being dressed up like frogs and launching helmets into the air," I reasoned.

"Why do you gotta make it weird?" Ruby questioned. "One, two, three."

"Ribbit!" we exclaimed, jumping onto the door.

It hit a light instead, making it crash onto the table.

"Go, go, go!"

~~~

"So... A headless knight. Yeah? Was coming at you. And then, somehow, knocked down a massive stage light. Hm? And then shattered an antique table that the crew of Sing it Louder had to fly in from Scotland?" Gemma questioned.

Liv cleared her throat. "Yes. That is exactly what happened. Because that is so believable, right?"

"Oh. Well, I'm not buying it. Someone talk," Gemma demanded.

Liv hummed. "Okay. I'm really sorry, Gemma. This whole thing is my fault."

"My fault," I corrected her. "I begged Liv to have a slumber party on the set."

"No. It was my idea to build a catapult," Ruby corrected me. "This is my fault."

"But it was my idea to launch the helmet," I protested.

"(Y/n), stop. I—I don't want you to get in trouble," Ruby said.

"I don't want you to get in trouble," I replied.

"Aw!" Liv cooed. "You two are taking the blame for each other. You just became best friends!"

"I think we did," I admitted, smiling at Ruby.

"Yeah. We did." Ruby hugged my waist.

"Gemma, look how cute!" Liv exclaimed.

"Aw. Best friends," Gemma said. "I don't care. My table is still broken!" Gemma took a deep breath. "Alright. I will forgive this whole thing under one condition."

"You name it," Liv said.

"You owe me a slumber party!" Gemma exclaimed. "Yeah. That's right. I will see you tomorrow night with sleeping bags in tow. Oh, uh. Fair warning. I scream in my sleep."