How Green Becomes Wood

Xander closed the door carefully and waited to answer until he was in the driver's seat. He reached into the glove box and pulled out a pudding cup and a spoon. "Pudding," he said handing it to her. "I did not lie. I have pudding." He started the car. "And we're heading to a party." He was wearing ton black jeans and a dark red shirt with a decorative line of fake silver staples up one side.

Becky buckled up. "No pudding for me? I'm not looking a gift party in the mouth!"

"I didn't plan for pudding for you because you didn't tell me you liked pudding," Xander told her, pulling away.
 
Sloan took the pudding and then gave him some deserved side-eye, "You do realize you just lured a girl into your van with the promise of sweets and are now taking her to a second location?" Still, she opened up the pudding cup, "You look nice, by the way."
 
"It'd only be creepy if I didn't deliver on the sweets," Xander smirked playfully. "Thank you. Don't worry, it's not far, and you'll know at least two people there. At least. More if the people who said they were going to be there actually show up."

Becky pretended to pout while secretly texting Alec that they were on their way and would be there in ten minutes.
 
"Wow, that is very comforting," Sloan replied, checking her phone even though she knew nobody was expecting her to not be where she said she was, "Who is going to be there? And what did they say to get you to go?"
 
"They told me there would be free food, and I wouldn't be asked to play any music or sing," Xander replied. He refused to answer any further questions as he drove them further into town until he pulled up in front of a tall, rather nice-looking building. A valet hurried up and opened Sloan's door, not looking at all surprised to see a beat-up minivan stopping there. He offered her a hand to help her out and then opened the back door with a little bit of effort so Becky could climb out. Xander met them on the sidewalk and handed the valet the keys.

"Come on, right this way," he said, leading the way to the front doors where an actual doorman held them open.

"Wow, swanky," Becky said, a little surprised.

Inside looked like a small reception area, but the woman behind the desk looked at Xander and gave a quick nod of recognition. "You can go right in. Everyone has already arrived."

Xander nodded in thanks and went to the huge wooden double doors and pulled one open for Becky and Sloan. Inside, the room opened up into a huge space that somehow managed to be dimly lit yet bright enough that there were no true dimly lit corners for people to get caught in or sneak off to. One area had several round tables and chairs, another had two separate tables with two large couches each, there was a large open dance floor, and a massive buffet overflowing with food stood against one wall. At the end of the buffet table, a man stood mixing up drinks like mocktails, and any beverages set out were all sealed. There wasn't an open punch bowl in sight. Silver streamers hung from the ceiling along with a disco ball that wasn't currently on, and all the tablecloths, pillows, and other decorations followed a green and coral color scheme. "I Think You're Great" by Alex the Astronaut played over the speakers, and several teens were already on the floor dancing or hanging out at the couches.

Alec came hurrying over. He wore what looked like a black casual suit at first glance, but as he moved, silver thread glittered and shone throughout the jacket. He grinned at Sloan, looking a little nervous. "Hey! You came!"
 
"Woah..." Sloan murmured as she walked in. The valet getting her door was enough of a shock, but then she was in a literal ballroom, "What the hell is this place?" She asked, looking around at their friends, and then back at Xander, "You dick, you were going to let me come here without any makeup on? In jeans?" Then she looked back at the room, taking in all the details but not yet putting together the purpose of it. She focused on Alec, still with a bewildered look on her face, "I... did. Not sure exactly where I came to, but... I'm here."
 
Xander held up his hands in defense. "Toby's in jeans and a shirt, and so is, uh, that girl who's name I don't remember." He gave up and hoped she'd get distracted soon.

Alec shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled shyly. "It's your party. For you. Well, maybe not for you like a birthday party is for you, but it's for you, but it's for you. To enjoy."

Peter started over, grinning hugely. He was in black pants with a silver shirt, giving disco vibes. "Hey! You made it! I was getting worried."

"It's hard when you don't give a girl enough warning to put on a proper outfit, and it's not like I could suggest she bring something without giving it away, but I managed!" Becky sighed dramatically.
 
"For me?" She asked, looking around at everything again, suddenly becoming actually aware of the colours and the music, "...Why? I don't..." Her eyes widened as the reality sets in, "I don't even understand how. How did you even afford to rent a place like this?"
 
Alec indicated Peter, who took his cue. "I asked my folks if they'd be willing to foot the bill," he said, pointing out where his dad sat at one corner of the room and his mom stood in the opposite corner, effectively giving them a clear view of most of the area. His mother casually drifted to another spot as they talked. "It took a little convincing, but I got them to agree to do this instead of something for my birthday. Plus, I'll be paying for any damages out of my own pocket."

"We couldn't have done it without him," Alec admitted as an Alana Morrison song came on.

Peter grinned. "This is a lot of fun! Just don't break anything, please. I'm saving up to buy a house in one of those fly-in-only communities." He gave SLoan a wink to show he was joking.
 
"You gave up your birthday for me?" Sloan asked, for the first time noticing the adults, "I still don't understand. Why? I..." She swallowed hard, swaying slightly, "Thank you, I mean, this is awesome, but--I don't get it. This is a lot."
 
Alec hesitated uncertainly. Did she not like it? He wasn't sure what to do if she didn't like it.

"I can always have another birthday," Peter said calmly, "but there's only so many teen parties available in one lifetime, you know? So, really, this is for all of us." Someone on the dance floor called for Peter, and he turned away slightly. "Looks like this is my dance!"

Alec reached out cautiously but didn't touch Sloan as Peter hurried away. "This is just for you to enjoy. To have the party you didn't get to have," he said gently. "To dance, to drink, to eat... to just sit on the couch and talk to someone you might not talk to in school. It might not be quite as rebellious, might be a little safer, but I hope that you'll still be able to enjoy it."
 
Sloan continued to stare at him for a few moments and then hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. It took a few minutes for her to say anything, but finally she murmured, "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."
 
She was less certain if she deserved something like this, but she decided not to dwell on it, and instead pulled away when she felt ready, wiped her eyes carefully and then laughed, "You realize you could've told me it was someone else's party so I could've planned my outfit better instead of figuring out something last minute!" She gestured to Xander's fancy outfit, "I'll bet he had more than fifteen minutes to plan what he was going to wear!"
 
"Nah, not really," Xander shrugged.

"What he means is, he had the time, but he didn't use it. I picked out his outfit after telling him he couldn't wear his school clothes," Alec grinned. "Sorry about that, but I thought the spontaneity would make it fun!"

Becky, all but forgotten standing near the door still, gasped when "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon came on. "I love this song! Let's go dance!"
 
"It was stressful," She laughed, playfully nudging Alec, "Imagine if you're in your most laidback outfit and suddenly you're being invited to a party! You're so lucky my hair is good today, I've got curly hair! You cannot understand the dangerous game you walked into!"

Then she went to the dance floor with Becky, dragging Alec along with her.
 
"I promise to warn you next time I plan a party for you," Alec giggled, relieved. He took Becky and Sloan's hands and swung them around in a playful three-way dance.

A few others were on the dance floor already, and they all danced with various degrees of skill, all seeming to be more or less relaxed and enjoying themselves. One kid on the edge of the dance floor was doing a pretty decent Irish step dance along with the music while another just sort of bobbed happily in place. Tom was there, and he gave Sloan a quick salute with a grin before he returned his attention to his current dance partner, a brown-haired girl with rather intense braces. Alec and Xander - with Peter, Tom, and Becky's help - had been very careful in their selection of who to invite. They'd wanted to make it feel like a party, but they'd only wanted "safe" people, meaning most of their time had been devoted to "vetting" people before inviting them. They didn't want anyone who was going to spoil the party, especially for Sloan.

Xander watched them dance for a while before wandering around the edges of the dance floor, idly looking around to see who'd come and making his way toward the mocktail drinks.
 
Now that she understood what was happening and knew it wasn't going to turn into a horrible night, Sloan let herself just dance and have fun with the people who were there. If they put all this work in to make her happy, there wasn't a chance in hell she wasn't going to let herself enjoy all of it.

"I didn't know you knew so many people," Milo murmured, walking up to Xander. He still had his camera, of course, and was dressed a little stiffly, like he couldn't figure out what he was supposed to wear to something like this.
 
"I think Becky invited like half of them," Xander admitted, glancing toward where she danced with Alec, her pigtails bouncing. "And Peter invited most of the others. Alec and I just tried to remember who we haven't seen picking on anyone else or getting into trouble." He nodded toward the camera. "Get any good shots yet?"
 
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