#happiestevent9

new year. new party. new charlotte - well at least a new dress for charlotte. 

standing at the top of one set of grand marble stairs, charlotte watched on at the partygoers dancing and enjoying themselves, the music blaring, drinks flowing, confetti flying, charlotte had singlehandedly brought back the roaring twenties in remarkable fashion. and yet, for the first time in her life, a party was the last place she wanted to be. charlotte took a long swig of her drink, the party was in full swing and she knew all too well that there was no party like a la bouff party and a la bouff party didn’t stop. 

“The, uh... The LaBouffs must probably keep that piano well tuned,” Berlioz commented, as casually as he could. “Right?”

His siblings, social butterflies as they were, had fluttered away from the moment they put a foot in the LaBouff Estate. His mother, bless her heart, had sticked around with him for a little longer, before going off to have her own fun. It was alright. Berlioz didn’t even want his mother babysitting him, so it was good that he was, now, all alone in the crowd, sipping champagne, staring at the gorgeous grand piano at one end of the grand ballroom. Berlioz’s fingers were just itching to give it a go, but he knew it was not the polite thing to do. And besides, if he truly wanted the high of that sweet, sweet validation, it would do him good to wait till the party was almost over to start tickling the keys.

Okay, he had. In fact, an entire pile of party invitations had been dropped off at Fix-It-Felix’s Construction and Repairs Co to be handed out to all employees. But Ralph discovered that Dana (Diana? Deanna? Whatever.) from HR had tried to hide his invitation from him! This wasn’t the first time they’d tried to exclude him from their get-togethers, their little office parties and such. But this was a party for everyone in town! They couldn’t get rid of him that easily!

The theme was black and silver, “Old Hollywood” or something like that. Ralph didn’t own nearly anything that nice and instead showed up in the closest approximation he had: a T-shirt with a tux pattern printed on the front, black pants, and sneakers. That would probably be fine, right? To make up for his fashion faux-pas, he came carrying a large black and white cake in both hands. He’d attempted to decorate it like a clock, counting down to midnight. The resulting look was...much to be desired. But he was sure it was delicious and people were going to love it!

The only problem with entering the party, fashionably late, holding a huge cake, was trying to get around. Maneuvering through a crowd of people, he held the cake over his head, attempting to protect it. “Excuse me-- excuse me!” He had to shout for his voice to be heard over the cacophony of music and conversation. Despite his best efforts, however, it all came tumbling down.

It happened so fast. He had no idea if someone had bumped into him or if he had tripped or what transpired. All he knew is that while he’d managed to catch himself against the wall, the cake had splattered next to him. Right into a painted portrait of a handsome, strapping man and his beautiful daughter.

“Oh no.”

Sabrina absolutely glittered under the lights of the room as they reflected off of her dress and the jewelry she had designed and made herself. Ready to mingle, Sabrina walked through the halls of the bustling rooms. In her rush to get to the party, she had forgotten to ask anyone where she could meet them, or what they’d be wearing. 

Not a problem, Sabrina was a bold soul, and ready to throw herself right into the action. Distracted by everything going on around her, Sabrina walked straight into the person passing by her.

“Oof!” Sabrina exclaimed. She looked over the person before her. “Oh wow, you look SO good tonight.”

A spring hootenanny, a proper Halloween celebration, and now a full-on New Year’s bash... Sally was turning out to be a true party animal! The seamstress chuckled to herself, trying to keep her eyes open big enough to take in the entirety of the LaBouff estate: grand and imposing, decorated to the nines with silver tinsel and glittering lights, it was impressive enough to put even Ella’s home and the town museum to shame. Still, as amazed as she was with her surroundings, what she wanted the most was to find Ollie, or Morgan, or Ella, or perhaps even Jack, if possible; with all her end-of-the-year responsabilities, last-minute gift details, decorating her place for Christmas and managing her job, she barely had any time to arrange a meetup with her friends. At the very last second she had texted them, hoping not to seem too desperate, and asked them if they were going to attend the LaBouff party. No one had replied yet.

Sally dropped her phone back inside her little handbag. It would be safe to say that easily two-thirds of the whole town were there at the Estate. Finding them would be like finding a needle in a haystack... And Sally wasn’t confident in her luck. She fidgeted with her nails, chipping the black-and-silver polish. She didn’t feel like dancing, and without anyone to talk to, the best thing she could do was probably to just wander around, maybe have a drink... But after her experience at the hootenanny, and without even mentioning the recent poisonings, she wasn’t really looking forward to taking a chance.

“It’s a pretty nice party,” she said awkwardly, to the first person that passed right beside her, in a nervous attempt at small talk. “Isn’t it?”

        “ I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK WISHING ON STARS                      WAS JUST FOR BABIES                                         AND CRAZY PEOPLE ”

                          LA BOUFF'S NEW YEAR'S BASH EVENT

Redwood Hollow has never been a stranger to controversy, but this year especially it seems like controversy and Redwood Hollow might actually be an item. Since Halloween, there has been chaos at Town Hall (though the Mayor would like you to believe otherwise). After a public address from the Mayor acknowledging the devastating mass poisoning, and a number of town's folk hospitalized, including the Chief of Police, Woody Pride, and an unfortunate death, there was relative silence from Town Hall for a few weeks. Behind closed doors, there were meetings, and meetings, and more meetings. Councillors, advisors, police staff, and even one Casimir Borovsky have been making frequent visits to town hall, with nary a word relayed to the public about what was really going on.

Finally, on December 1st, Mayor Burton took to the stand again to address the public.

"It is with great sadness, but in the interest of public safety, that we must cancel our annual festivities this year. While we greatly appreciate the work that the community council do in making our little town a festive haven, we now feel that it is no longer safe for our planned timetable of events to take place until there has been a breakthrough in the investigation into the mass poisoning in October, and the series of illnesses over the past year that we now believe are linked. As such, the Christmas and New Year's Parties will not be taking place at Town Hall. The Festive Markets will still take place, but only for non-food and beverage related vendors. I hope you understand, and aren't too saddened by the news. We at Town Hall are taking these investigations seriously and feel cancelling these events is the only option to keep everyone in our small community out of harm's way at this present time. I extend my best wishes for the holidays and into the new year. Thank you."

Unsurprisingly, the moment the news broke, people began taking matters into their own hands. Just because there wasn't going to be a big party at town hall, didn't mean that people couldn't party, right? Work dinner parties were arranged at the office, college dorms had a party in every room, and, of course, the big houses took note too! No parties at town hall, meant it was Lottie La Bouff's time to shine!

The invitations were elaborately designed, the theme was perfected, and the social media posts were planned well in advance of the big announcement. If you were lucky enough, you received a handwritten invitation, giving priority early access. Then, once everyone RSVP'd, invitations went to the masses. And so it was done. Lottie La Bouff was going to host THEE single greatest New Year's Eve party in history. Be there, or, like, be square. Obviously if you wanted to go to Tammy's party a few blocks down the road you, like, totally could, but Lottie La Bouff was going to have an ice sculpture and live entertainment and everything.

The invitation to the masses read as follows:

Miss Lottie La Bouff requests the pleasure of your company to welcome the dawn of 2023 with a bash.

Step into an evening of old Hollywood glamour, fizzy champagne and dazzling fireworks at the La Bouff Estate. Pre-Party invitation holders must arrive by 6pm sharp. All other attendees may arrive from 7pm onward.

Dress Code: A sea of stars. Hollywood Glamour. Black and silver.

                                                ——————

While Arista was happy to be taking a break from being online tonight, and instead having fun amongst her friends and neighbors in person, she was a creature of habit. Arista did not mean to keep staring at her phone, but what were such dazzling outfits and whimsical decor for if not for selfies?

“Hey you!” Arista called out, grinning wide, “Let’s take a selfie!”

@happieststarters​