Chapter 1
Mari was stretched out on the couch of the Smosh House, reading one of her favorite beach novels, Summer Rental. She had on her favorite pair of sweatpants, the dark blue ones that were way too long for her dancer's legs, the ones with the hole in the knee. She had her glasses on, as she usually did when she was reading or editing, and she had neglected to put any makeup on this morning. Her long, ebony hair was braided over her shoulder, fastened with a blue elastic band that (unintentionally) matched her pants.
Her best friend, Matt Sohinki, closed the door behind him, dropping his backpack by the front office. He flopped down beside her on the couch and sighed, his short brown hair damp from the rain outside. His clothes, a Tomahawk Chop t-shirt and jeans, were spotted with raindrops.
"Whatcha reading?" he asked Mari, leaning over her shoulder. She grinned and shoved him off.
"Just one of my favorite books," she said vaguely. He wouldn't know who it was by, anyway. He stuck his tongue out at her and she giggled at the sheer immaturity of it all. "Aren't you supposed to be at home, anyway? It's our day off."
"My apartment is just so boring," he sighed overdramatically, making a laugh bubble up out of Mari. He smiled at the sound. "What are you doing here?"
"My upstairs neighbors were being loud, so I couldn't concentrate," she explained, looking down at her pages. They sat that way, in total silence, for quite some time. Mari was completely enveloped in her book, which didn't bother Sohinki in the least. He was happy to sit next to his best friend and listen to the thunder echo across Los Angeles outside.
Not long after, Mari drifted off, curled up against the edge of the couch, her book next to her. Sohinki, drowsy from the weather, began to nod off as well. That is, until Anthony opened the door. Sohinki jumped up and pointed to Mari, trying to get Anthony to stay quiet and let her sleep. Anthony nodded and motioned for Sohinki to follow him.
The two continued into the kitchen, where they were finally able to speak up.
"We're doing part two of the Smosh Summer Games, officially," Anthony grinned, clearly excited.
"Hey, that's great!" Sohinki nodded. "When are we leaving?"
"Actually, we aren't going to the house we had last year," he explained. "We're going a little bit further this time. One of our sponsors is located in North Carolina, and they asked if we'd be willing to travel to the Outer Banks this year, so Ian and I agreed."
"Where's that?" Sohinki asked. "I've never been."
"It's about a 14 hour trip. We fly from LAX to Raleigh, then we take a train to Elizabeth City, and we drive the rest of the way to Nags Head."
Sohinki considered this. It was a longer trip than they were used to making, but he had never been to North Carolina. It sounded like fun.
"I'm in," he grinned. "When are we leaving?"
Anthony bit his lip. "We had to get a last-minute flight, so we're leaving the day after tomorrow. And the flight's real early. We have to be at the airport at 3:15."
"Wow, that's a lot sooner than I thought," Sohinki frowned. "3:15 in the morning?"
"Unfortunately," Anthony shook his head. "That was the only flight I could get us."
"Alright," Sohinki agreed. "I'll be ready. And I'll tell everyone else."
"Lasercorn already knows, he helped us book the tickets last night," Anthony informed him. "And, obviously, Ian's aware. If you could let Joven, Wes, Flitz, and Mari know, that would be great."
Sohinki nodded and left the kitchen. He walked back down the hall to the living room, where Mari was still asleep on the couch. He smiled slightly at this, and sat back down beside her where he had been before.
"Anthony's insane," Mari grumbled over the phone to Sohinki. "How does he expect me to pack in a day and a half?"
"Just throw some stuff in a bag," Sohinki suggested. "I have no idea what I packed, but I'm pretty sure there's a bathing suit in there somewhere."
Mari laughed. "If only I was male."
"Please. Smosh wouldn't be half as much fun if you were male," Sohinki protested, and she laughed again. He loved hearing her laugh.
"Hey, by the way, you know that you're going to have to drive me to the airport, right?" she asked.
Sohinki sighed dramatically. "I figured," he said knowingly. "I'll be by your house at 2:30."
"The fact that any living being has to be awake at 2:30 in the morning is just nuts," she grumped.
"It's either that, or a 40-hour car ride," he pointed out, and she sighed. She hated when he was right.
"Fine. 2:30. I'll be sort of awake and ready," she relented. Sohinki grinned on the other end of the phone.
"I gotta go, Mari. I haven't finished editing for the night," he explained. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Mari agreed and hung up the phone. She sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed.
