A R T H U R

Unlike his expectations, Arthur managed to get to his class in time, and his presentation went pretty well. Now, with that out of his mind, all he could think of was Shawn's offer and his plan for tonight's ceremony.

It was late in the afternoon when the students began to leave their dorms one by one, headed to the ballroom inside the Berrington Hall, where the ceremony was being held. The only two people left in the West Residency Hall were Arthur and Shawn, one dressed in his best suit, the other still in his morning clothes.

"Come on, let's go!" Shawn badgered. "We will be attending our graduation ceremony by the time you're done!"

"Just another minute," Arthur murmured remotely, carefully fixing up his M.D.C machine; the Motion Detector Camera device.

"You said that ten minutes ago!"

Sighing miserably, Shawn stood beside the window inside Arthur's dorm, glancing mournfully down at the courtyard outside, which was situated between the West and East Residency Halls, the latter being the girls' dormitory building.

"All the good-looking ones will be taken if we don't hurry!" Shawn complained for what felt like the hundredth time.

"A promise is a promise, Shawn. You told me that if I agreed to help you with your plan, you would do me a favor in return."

"Yes, I did. But that's just because I thought you wanted me to hook you up with a girl, or something."

"And that would've been easier than helping me with my invention?"

"Less boring, that's for sure," Shawn grumbled, but Arthur didn't seem to have heard it, or perhaps he simply didn't care.

Arthur moved a hand right in front of the machine, and to his delight, the camera shot a picture. He walked slightly further and moved his hand again; the camera shot the second picture. Arthur repeated his actions three more times, each time a little further. His camera had eight shots per roll of film, so he still had three left.

"Okay, now help me move this up to the window — carefully!" Arthur added warningly when Shawn came to grab the machine.

With each other's help, the two boys lifted the heavy machine and carried it toward the window, slowly putting it back on the floor.

"Perfect," Arthur muttered as he observed it, mostly talking to himself. He then gently placed the camera on the windowsill so it faced the courtyard outside, fixing up its wires which were connected to the motion detector machine. "All right... I think it's done. Do you think it will work? I think it's finally going to work. Yes... yes, I definitely think so..."

All Shawn heard was that Arthur's was done. "Good. Let's go."

"Just another min —"

"No. Absolutely not." Shawn grabbed ahold of Arthur's sleeve, dragging him out of the room without giving him a chance to resist.

Once they left through the doors of the dormitory building, Arthur dragged his feet on the ground, trying to stop Shawn. "Let me check if it actually works."

Arthur freed himself from Shawn's grip, taking two steps back so he was standing directly in front of his own dorm's window, right outside the building. He had left the window to his room open with his camera placed on the windowsill.

"Er... what are you doing?" Shawn mused in confusion when he saw Arthur moving his arms in the air hysterically, as if doing some sort of a crazy dance.

"I'm trying to see if my M.D.C works. A normal motion detector can sense movement to a maximum of 100 feet, but if my calculations are correct, I've managed to make it a lot better. This could be a revolution!" Arthur explained, now jumping up and down as he spoke. "If it does work, the machine will detect my motions and the camera will let out a small flash and take my picture. But if it doesn't work..."

Arthur's voice faded away and he sighed when nothing happened, lowering his arms. "I can't believe it didn't work..."

All he had worked for, all those nights he had stayed awake, all the money he had spent, it was all wasted, disappearing into nothingness.

Seeing the look of disappointment on Arthur's face, all the anticipation vanished from Shawn's face. He pursed his lips together, walking toward where Arthur stood, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Hey," Shawn began softly, his voice as sympathetic as he could muster, "what does Niko always tell you? Huh?"

"To never give up," Arthur mumbled gloomily, still not meeting Shawn's eyes.

"Exactly!" Shawn said enthusiastically, clapping a hand behind Arthur's shoulders. "I hate to admit it, but that boy is always right. When he says you can do it if you try more, then you can. End of story."

Arthur's lips finally bore the semblance of a smile. "I suppose."

"That's my boy!" Shawn said ardently, pinching Arthur's freckly cheek.

Arthur tried to push the thought of his failure behind as they walked out of the courtyard, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. He was certain he had done everything in order. He had even bought the best supplies and the newest camera in the market, with the best quality yet. It should've worked.

The sound of music growing louder and louder finally managed to snap Arthur out of his thoughts as they got closer to the ballroom. They entered through the double doors of the enormous room, looking all around them. This hall was also where the university held the graduation ceremonies. But tonight, they had removed the many rows of chairs that were usually there for graduations, and instead, dozens of round tables were set inside the room.

A group of hired musicians sat upon beautiful wooden chairs on the platform, playing violin and cello. Only a few students were up and waltzing to the music, mostly couples who wanted to win the first place for the Scriptores dance competition. There were also a few tables dedicated to the teachers who sat there rather awkwardly, sipping on their champaigns and making small talk. It looked torturous to Arthur. There was nothing he hated more than small talk.

"So when are we going to put your plan to action?" Arthur whispered to Shawn, who was searching for their friends in the crowd.

"In a few minutes. The sun hasn't set yet, and I want it to be dark when we do it," said Shawn, finally spotting Nicholas, Luca, and Isaac, standing in a corner with drinks in their hands. He then gestured at Arthur to follow him toward the rest of the boys.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Nicholas's face brightened once he sighted his two friends.

"What were you kids snickering about?" Shawn asked them, grabbing a glass of champagne on his way.

"Nicholas suggested that we should go see a movie over the weekend," said Isaac keenly. "We were trying to decide between 'Funny Face' and 'the Prince and the Showgirl'."

"Definitely 'The Prince and the Showgirl." Shawn smirked.

"Why? Just because Marilyn Monroe is in it?" Nicholas raised a playful brow at him.

"Of course. Why else?" Shawn shrugged. "I'll choose any movie that Marilyn is in over any other."

"I was actually just telling Isaac and Luca that I prefer Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe. She seems really sweet." said Isaac, taking a light sip from his drink.

"Not to mention beautiful," Nicholas said eagerly.

"I don't know... they're both a bit too goofy for my taste," said Arthur thoughtfully, pushing his glasses up his nose with his index finger. "I guess Grace Kelly seems more sophisticated, doesn't she?"

"It's not about sophistication." Shawn grimaced in disappointment, but his face softened when his eyes caught something in the crowd. "Speaking of pretty women..."

Arthur looked over, seeing that Shawn was grinning at a group of girls in the distance who were shamelessly stealing glances at him.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I'll be back shortly," Shawn spoke in a formal manner, clearing his throat as he fixed his tie, before leaving their side to approach the girls.

"How does he do that?" Isaac muttered, watching Shawn enviously and tracing his every move while he spoke to the girls, as though trying to learn from him. "I could never walk up to a girl like that."

"Then don't worry. Looks like they're the ones who are walking up to us this time," said Nicholas. Isaac went pale the next moment when he realized that Shawn was leading the girls over to where they stood.

"Oh, Lord..." Isaac took in a shaky breath and downed the remaining drink in his hand.

"Gentlemen," Shawn began with a broad grin as soon as he reached his friends with three girls by his side, "say hello to Betty, Patricia, and Mary." The girls greeted them shyly.

"Hello." Nicholas smiled at them politely. Arthur shook their hands in turn, but he didn't care enough to try and memorize their names. Isaac, with all his nervousness, still greeted the girls. Although Luca was suspiciously quiet ever since his spat with Shawn the other night.

"Where is that stupid Wilson, anyway? I don't see him anywhere," said Shawn, looking all around the room to search for him. "I wanted him to burn with jealously when he saw us chatting with the most beautiful girls at the whole party!" Shawn winked at the three girls, making them laugh giddily.

"So, what do you study?" Nicholas asked them, always the first to make conversation and forever keen to get to know people better.

Just as Arthur was about to doze off, he caught Shawn sending him a look. He then lightly gestured his head over the doors. It was time. With that, Arthur and Shawn tried to sneak away quietly. The other boys saw them leave, but it would've been rude of them to interrupt the girls in the middle of the conversation.

It wasn't the fact that Shawn didn't trust the others with his plan. But he knew that if he had told them what he was up to, they all would've wanted to tag along, making it easier for them to get caught.

"Are you ready?" Shawn asked Arthur as they left through the hall's doors, walking underneath the twilight sky.

"Ready as ever," Arthur replied, the excitement filling him up.

"Perfect." Shawn rubbed his hands together, bearing a sly grin. "Let's get this party started."

Little did they know of the disastrous tragedy that was to take place that very same night.