Day 1: Introductions

Jaden pretended not to hear Antoine's comment about his nickname for Miranda, and walked around the room instead.

"Hey, this boombox is great!" he said, looking down at the box at the side of the room. "Weird though, I had one just like this on set with me. Huh."

Lisa raised a hand in the air.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" she exclaimed as she rolled over to the next door, the one to the study, and tried the doorknob.

"Tsk, tsk..." Dakota could tell the pantry had been searched before her. While some boxes were neat, others were a complete mess.

Absentmindedly she shuffled through the boxes, surprisingly neat for her carelessness. "Boring, boring...boring..." she sorted through string, brushes and a wooden spoon before finally unearthing an old tiny teddy bear. "Just like Scruffy!" she rubbed the fur in her hand affectionately, almost addictively.

She kicked a few of the other boxes before declaring that they were also boring.

Dark made a confused face as he ate his sandwich, but still refused to look up at Aris. "How will you going to race food?" he asked. "Is a metaphor for something?"

"Tawfeek and Taffy. Aw, I like it actually!" Miranda laughed.

"Though I think this room makes me long for something... Maybe I was a dancer? And I had to quit or something?" She sat down next to the boombox, her legs crossed. "Oh! Maybe it was the same model? Whoever put the stuff in these rooms maybe did it for you! That's cool!"

The study is locked.

She looked at Dark with a bit of amusement in her eyes. "Speed-eating is seeing who can eat something the fastest."

Her eyes lit up.

"Hey, if you guys all wanna have a speed eating contest, could I practice my announcing voice? It's a bit of an unorthodox sport, but...it's still worth practicing for!" she said with a bizarre level of urgency.

She took a deep breath. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"

"Everyone gets the same amount of food and they see who eats it first. Basically what Rachel said." Aris explained. "Funny, I thought it was like a worldwide thing."

She shrugged. "So what's in the fridge? Anyone check the cupboards yet?"

She nodded in agreement with Rachel. "Hey, we'd just need a third person, not tryin' to be pushy or anything."

Cobalt raised his hands defensively.

"Even if Aris has experience, it could still be dangerous for others!" It was clear he knew this was a lost battle.

Jordan closed the door behind her, taking slow but long strides to catch up with Claire. "Well, I believe we have plenty time," she glanced briefly at her ID again, sighing, "My memory's fairly...terrible," before taking a left turn.

"Would you look at that, it's right there!"

Jaden shook his head. "Man, that's how it is these days. Kids gotta choose between dance and school. I barely managed to avoid being called a truant while I was filming for Shake It Up!"

He rolled his eyes, seeming to be deep in thought. "People will find any excuse to slander actors and actresses recently. Shit's insane."

Detecting no further resistance from Cobalt, Ruby firmly grasped her sandwich in her hands and looked back at Rachel.

"Da-nuh-nuh, da-nuh-nuh, sports center," she sang rhythmically, hoping Rachel would recognize the familiar flag.

Antoine shrugged. "Isn't a boombox just a boombox? What's the big deal. Though, if some thought was given based on us, that is definitely nice."

He wandered deeper into the room, staring at the mirror.

"This room itself isn't too different from the stages I've performed on. Though, where there I have people giving time from their lives just to see me, here it seems like you just stare at yourselves. Feels kinda lackluster."

He cast a glance at Jaden. "Really? With my job, people were simply more anxious to get to know me. I figured it was the same for all performers."

As Caleb exited the elevator, the first thing he noticed was the odd group of students loitering down the hall. He half-thought of querying about the results of their investigation but ultimately decided against it. Not wanting to be seen, he made a silent dash for the hallway where the dorms were.

He walked forward peering to the left and right, taking note of how the names were arranged. A bell went off in his head and he let out a sigh as he realized the trek he'd have to make to his dorm.

"Bloody hell..." he muttered under his breath.

Lisa's hand fell to her lap and she frowned.

"Well Martin, seems as of now you keep your badges. One left to check, though!"

Miranda looked a bit sad. "Oh, wow that's horrible. You seem really nice! Why would people be so mean just because you stress yourself so much to make things other people like?"

"You... sound like you had that happen to you." She added a little bit more softly. "I'm sure it's all false though!"

She raised her hands, trying to communicate she meant no harm by saying it.

Dark sighed. "I know of it. We called it other thing." He looked to be mulling over his options. "If Rachel insists, I going to participate," he announced, finally looking up.

"What are we be eating? Hoping not vegetables."

Too boring. It was official, and Dakota stalked out of the pantry, back into the hallway. She made a turn for the next stop on her map, the trophy room, before hearing other students.

Dakota gave them a wild look, walking backwards now, back towards the pantry. She flung herself back in, patting herself on the back for successfully dodging them.

She looked at Cobalt. "Don't worry. This is a mansion. Owned by rich people. Meaning that they can take care of us."

She grinned over at Ruby at the sound of the tone. "First, I can respect that. Second, are we doing this?"

"Oh wow, it's... a theater." Obviously the room wasn't what Jason expected.

"Oh well, looks like Caleb would have to settle for cinematography." He chuckled to himself, walking up to the large screen and tapping it lightly.

He sat down in one of the rows and contemplated his next move.

"Called it." Martin groaned, "There's one more room. Any bets?" He laughed slightly "All my badges. That it's locked."

Jaden shook his head. "No, no. Definitely noooo. That is one story for never." He said. His voice was adamant, and he closed his eyes in frustration.

"Uh, anyway, this studio sure is nice. I think I'll be spendin' lots of time here." He gave Miranda another big smile, though it looked slightly overcompensating. "And if you really were a dancer, maybe you'll be hangin' here too!"

Aris's laugh sounded more like a squawk. "I hope not! I'm great at pies and hotdogs and hamburgers. Vegetables? Er... yhea I'm not gonna."

"And I hope we're gonna do this. I'm so pumped you can just see it on me!" Aris probably looked like the least motivated person in the room.

Cobalt nodded slowly in defeat.

"Please at least do not try something like a speed-eating variety of the 'Cinnamon Challenge'! At least pick a relatively safe food," his voice trailed off as he spoke.

Claire jogged the last few steps to the Trophy Room, then tried to open the door. "Huh? Why's it locked?" she thought aloud. "What's the point?"