Switched

Chapter Two: Partaaaay

Isabell, with a balloon in her teeth and blue-tacking streamers to the wall, had a phone jammed between her ear and her shoulder. "You've got to be inconspicuous, remember. If someone recognizes you then you're screwed - other than Lucio, of course."

Tracer, on the other end, squealed. "Don't worry! We'll be just fine. I can't wait! This is the first big party in-- in-- forever!"

"Who's coming?" Isabell asked, teeth gritted as she balanced on the ladder while attaching the final end of the white streamer to the wall. "Bug knows I'm bringing some friends, but she needs to know how many so that she orders enough food."

"Ah-- Let's see," Tracer pondered. "Well there's me, Genji, Jesse... uh, and Mei and Lucio, of course."

Isabell nodded. "He doesn't mind DJing, does he? Bug's head will explode if a celebrity like him turns up and does the music."

"Oh no - he loves it! He's never played in Australia before so he's super excited."

"Anyone else?" Isabell asked, getting down off the ladder and giving the thumbs-up to Toby, one of Bug's brothers, who was setting up the sound system exactly as the diagram Lucio had sent Isabell said to.

"Umm... Just Angela and Reinhardt. That should be it, love. Winston and Torb are on a mission together, so they couldn't come. Awfully sorry."

"Don't worry," Isabell said dismissively, putting away the blue-tack. "I'll come around someday soon and see them. And remember, it's a Halloween party, so come dressed properly!"

"You got it!" Tracer grinned. "See you soon!"

The phone clicked, beeped, and went dark. Isabell turned around and surveyed the massive room before her.

It was the main recreation area - it was mostly a massive empty space. There was a couch with the 70-inch television and three different gaming consoles (all Liam's), the bar which led on to the kitchen (run by Rory), the raised dais upon which Lucio would be blasting out the beats (being set up by Toby), the skirting boards where the ceiling met the walls were coated in streamers (the finishing touches of which were being put up by David), the disco ball being fixed to the ceiling (by Wilbur) and the massive food and drinks table along one wall (being laid out by Jack).

Owning two houses and having six brothers came in handy a lot of the time.

Isabell found Bug sitting in her room on the second floor. She was reading, as per usual - despite her ability to put together a social event, Bug was actually much more on the introvert side of her ambivert personality. Her addiction to words drove Isabell up the wall a lot - she would read and write and blog and type and pay no attention to the world around her unless she absolutely had to, and this Halloween party was mostly so that her brothers would be dead hung-over tomorrow and wouldn't give her a headache while she worked on the last chapter of her novel, which she was trying to get published.

She had bright green-brown eyes speckled like sunflowers, and she was even shorter than Isabell was. Her brown hair was naturally massively thick and refused to stay in any one hairstyle for more than an hour, with great big curls that never quite stuck together. She was thin and spry, but behind her innocent and pretty eyes there was a flicker of something a tad too devious to be called mischief, and a bit too malevolent to be called playful. They flicked to Isabell once she walked in and the whisper of annoyance crossed her face - interrupting her reading was not a task for the faint of heart. But she smiled, happy to see her.

"Hey frijole!"

Isabell grinned. "Hey, Bug. Streamers are finished."

"Cool," Bug nodded, eyes sidling over to her book again. "...Do you need anything?"