Well hi! So I haven't updated Imprisioned By The Shadows, when I said I would, so this a sort of apology. I wasn't going to publish this, but a certain someone told me that I should, so here you go. I hope you like it - reviews? *puppy dog eyes* Please? *offers cookies*
Drifting back to consciousness is a strange feeling, especially when you're not sure where you are or how you got there. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks that stuck out of the golden sands of the beach was one of the things that woke Scott Tracy - that and the irritating green parrot that was perched on a branch above him.
At first he thought that he was still asleep, seeing as everything was upside down but when he moved and discovered he was hanging upside down from a tree, it became obvious that was not the case. Trying to free himself from the branch he was hanging from, he ended up falling and landing in a heap on the sand below, where he came face to face with a lizard.
Geez, he had a headache. What the hell happened last night? And why had he woken to find himself hanging upside down from a tree on the beach? Was he even on Tracy Island? Yes...he recognised the rocks...God...that sounded sad. Recognising rocks...what next?
The lizard flicked out its tongue, seeming to mock him and he glared at it, brushing sand off his arms. The sun was too bright and he ducked back under the tree, relieved to be in the shade once more.
The tide was rising and he let the water wash over his ankles. Well this was...interesting. He couldn't hear anything other than the waves breaking on the shore, so presumably he was the only one awake...or alive. He didn't feel alive, he thought ruefully. He felt more like death warmed up.
"Hello?" Maybe he was the only one on the island. Standing up, he still felt dizzy but that was probably due to the fact that he'd just spent an unknown length of time hanging upside down, which hadn't been fun...
Making his way along the beach, he was walking parallel to a pair of footprints and after a couple of moments, he realised they weren't his own. "No shit Sherlock." He muttered. This was why he hated hangovers - it took forever for things to sink in. A familiar figure laid half collapsed on the beach further up, half in the water, half out, was clearly who had made the tracks and Scott grinned. Great...he could have some fun here.
Cupping his hands with the water, he splashed the figure and was annoyed that it didn't wake him up. "Gordon. Rise and shine." He shook him.
"Go 'way." His younger sibling muttered, burying his head in the sand.
"No. Sorry, but I have to make you get up. You'll be washed out to sea otherwise." Scott was seriously beginning to consider letting that happen.
"I'm tired..."
"I'll sink Thunderbird 4."
"She's a submarine...Wait...what? Ugh - what the hell was that?" Triumphant, Scoot withdrew the soaking leaf from his brother's back and stepped away, grinning as Gordon glared at him, squinting in the sunlight.
"Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Scott Tracy and you are?"
"Shut up. What the hell happened last night? And why am I buried in the sand on the beach?"
"Think yourself lucky. I woke up to find myself hanging upside down from a tree."
Gordon laughed. "Oh I'd have paid good money to see that one." He sat up, drawing a hand through his hair, horrified to find that he was completely covered in sand.
"You know...you could be one of those fish that bury themselves under the sand at the bottom of ocean...um..."
"Weever fish?"
"Yeah."
"Oh thanks. I'm so flattered."
"Suck it up."
"Whatever. And you still haven't answered my question."
"How would I know? My best bet is that we had some sort of party..." They both glanced at the empty bottles nearby.
"Yeah, I would agree with that." Gordon sighed, dangling his legs in the water and watching in delight as the sand washed off. "Ha - see? I'm not a weever fish anymore!"
"No...you're a crab instead." Scott was purposely annoying him and Gordon ignored him, lying back on the sand.
"If we're here...then where are Johnny, Virg and the Sprout?"
"No clue." Scott tried to spot anyone else around the beach but it was deserted apart from the lizard and parrot that had taunted him earlier. The fact that they'd both woken up in 'dangerous' places was making him worried about where his other brothers were.
"Oh come on! We have an awesome party and now we can't even remember it?" Gordon moaned, punching the sand and regretting instantly as his fist hit a stone that had been hidden, just under the surface. Scott smirked.
"You deserved that."
"What?" Gordon stared at him. "I deserve sympathy! I just injured my hand!"
"Why, oh why, didn't I let you get washed out to sea?" Scott sighed, yanking Gordon to his feet. "And anyway – you didn't injure your hand. Come on. Let's check out the damage back at the house. With any luck we'll find the others there as well."
"What if we don't?" Scott raised his eyebrows.
"You'll be the one looking for them."
"I hate you. I really hate you."
"I know Fish. I know."
The path up from the beach to the house was covered with evidence of a party the night before and several multicoloured streamers were littered. Gordon stopped to pick up an empty bottle, resulting in Scott reaching the pool first and immediately coming to a sharp stop.
"Gordon..."
"Huh?" The aquanaut jogged up the path after him and stared at his beloved pool in horror. "Who the hell did that?"
"Us I think..." The pool was completely covered in glitter and if it was different situation then Scott knew he would have laughed, especially at the panicked look on Gordon's face. It wasn't as if the pool couldn't be repaired. It would just need a water change and it was due one within a month anyway.
Gordon crossed over the decking and knelt down, drawing a hand through the waters, withdrawing it to see it was rather sparkly. "Hey Scooter?"
"Yeah?" Scott wasn't paying much attention to him, instead trying to get a twig out of his hair that had been annoying him ever since he'd woken up.
"Isn't that your phone?" Gordon motioned to an iPhone which was on the diving board. That would have been fine apart from the fact it was soaking wet and covered in cake.
"Shit! No!" That was enough for Gordon, who burst out laughing at Scott's outrage.
"Is it badly damaged?"
Scott sat on the end of the diving board, carefully cleaning his phone with a corner of his shirt to uncover a crack. He switched it on relieved to see it was still working. "Jesus...that scared me. It's cracked, but that can be fixed. Considering it's been thrown in cake and covered in water, I really don't think it's faired too badly." He went to stand up and Gordon realising what was going to happen yelled out a warning a second too late. He scrambled backwards as his older brother slid off the wet diving board, landing with a splash in the glittery pool.
"Um...hello?" He called out once it was safe. Scott glared at him as he pulled himself out of the pool.
"If my phone wasn't ruined then, then it sure as hell is now." He frowned, realising he didn't actually have it on him. "Oh for God's sake, now where is it?"
Gordon passed him it from where he'd caught when it had come flying past him when Scott had decided to fly without a parachute from the diving board. "Think about it this way...you are glittery...but orange isn't a bad colour...although yellow is better."
"I prefer blue," Scott muttered in a dangerous tone, relieved that his phone was safe. He stared round at the destruction of the pool area. "I'm terrified to see what indoor's like now."
"Better find out then..." Gordon suggested, taking a few tentative steps towards the sliding doors when a lopsided banner was hanging on by one edge. He tore it down, shoving it on the floor in the corner and pulled back the door for more multicoloured streamers to explode out, raining down on him.
Scott winced, waiting for the furious shout which never came. When the glitter and streamers cleared he caught sight of Gordon just staring at the door in shock. "Okay Gordo?"
"Yes?" It sounded more of a question than an answer and Scott shrugged, moving past him into the house, hoping there weren't going to be any more surprises along the way. The entire floor was covered with feathers and more streamers and empty party poppers along with empty bottles.
"Looks like we had quite a party," Gordon chuckled, lifting up a bottle of champagne.
"Certainly seems like it..." Scott bit back a laugh at a photo of Gordon and Alan that had been clearly taken the night before. Alan looked terrified and Gordon appeared to almost be strangling him, his hair standing on end like he'd had an electric shock. Someone had drawn a moustache on the picture and the way it was perfectly drawn led Scott to believe it had been Virgil.
Footprints of flour leading through the room towards the kitchen made him nervous - there was really hoping that parts of the house had survived the 'party' but it seemed like that he was out of luck. He opened the door and ducked back, but instead there were several bars of chocolate on the floor and flour everywhere along with loud music blasting from speakers in the corner and fairy lights strung up along the cupboards where more flour was along with plastic cups discarded and a long strand of glowing multicoloured streamer.
"I guess we've found Alan," Gordon whispered, appearing at Scott's shoulder like a ghost making him jump. Gordon glanced at him and smirked. "Scared, were you?"
"No!" He crossed over to Alan who was lying fast asleep on the kitchen table, covered in flour making him pale like a vampire. Gordon grinned mischievously and grabbed a cream cake from the side, placing it in his younger brother's hand before taking a feather from the previous room and tickling his nose.
Alan sneezed, bringing his hand up to stop the tickling, instead slamming the cake into his face. "Huh? Zee light's 'oo bright."
"Hey Sprout. Welcome to the land of the living!" Gordon announced rather loudly making Scott wince. The headache was still killing him and he hadn't had the chance to grab a tablet for it yet.
"What? 'Av u got food?" Alan sat up, trying to figure out who they were and promptly fell off the table onto the floor, landing on his face.
"Oops." Gordon frowned at Scott. "Is he okay?"
Scott sighed, leaning down to his younger brother who was deciding to fall asleep on the floor. "Alan. Wake up now. Come on."
"Yeah dude! Think what Tin-Tin would say?" Gordon chimed in and Scott gave up on him, deciding he was a lost cause. It did the trick though as Alan sat up straight.
"Shit! It wasn't a dream! We really did have a house party last night!" He cast a worried gaze on Scott. "And I kissed Tin-Tin!"
"About time!" Gordon muttered.
"Shut up Gords," Scott told him.
"And she kissed me back!"
"He's still drunk," Gordon reported.
"Too loud," Alan moaned. He glanced down at himself. "Whoa...why I am like a vampire?"
"Right...just two more brothers to find." Gordon announced.
"Where did you guys wake up?" Alan asked, trying to claw flour out of his hair.
"Gordon was buried in the sand on the beach and I was hanging upside down from a tree." Scott told him and Alan grinned.
"Funny...I'd have paid good money to see your reaction."
"Dammit, why does everyone keep saying that?" Scott muttered, standing up and opening the curtains, letting light stream into the room, revealing just how messed up the place was.
"This is going to take forever to clear up!" Gordon moaned. Scott nodded, for once agreeing with him.
"I know. I guess we'd better find Johnny and Virg."
"From what I remember...I think Virg fell asleep upstairs. Or he collapsed upstairs. I can't remember which. Gordon and him got hold of a sack of those plastic balls that we had for a ball-pit when I was about five and started hitting each other with them to annoy each other." Alan suggested, trying to remember.
"So can you remember last night?" Scott asked him as they started to head for the room Virgil was supposed to be in.
"Parts of it. Gordon got himself a girlfriend..." Alan started grinning, enjoying having the upper hand for once.
"What?" Gordon looked horrified as he stared at his younger brother. "Please say you're actually joking this time."
"You kissed her Gordon, so I'm surprised you can't remember her."
"What the hell happened last night?" Gordon moaned.
"Seriously, she is pretty though. Not as pretty as the girl who was flirting with me though." Alan teased.
"Stop daydreaming about Tin-Tin Alan!" Scott snapped, as his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, frowning at the contact. "Who the hell is Tony?"
"God knows, he's your contact," Gordon sighed, still wondering about the mysterious girl who he'd kissed the night before.
"Well he says...Oh shit..."
"What's wrong?" Alan grabbed the phone and burst out laughing, passing it to Gordon.
"'Hey Scott, amazing party last night. It was awesome! Have you heard from the woman who you were talking to the entire evening last night? Penny, or Penelope or something. The one you kissed?'" Gordon read out and stared at Scott. "Not the Penelope?"
"I don't know!" Scott yelled and tripped over a plastic red ball that lay on the floor. The entire corridor was splattered with paints and discarded pens.
"Well there's certainly an artist round here somewhere," Gordon remarked, still in shock over the Penelope incident.
Scott was still worrying about who all the random people that he seemed to have acquired as contacts were and opened the door in front of him slowly. The room inside was covered in more paint and hundreds of plastic balls were practically up to the ceiling, spilling out the open door into the hallway, causing Alan to crash into Gordon. In the middle of the room was another iPhone which Scott instantly recognised as Virgil's.
"Where is he?" He wondered aloud.
"Here." Alan replied, staring down to where his older brother was buried. "Geez...he's multicoloured."
"Oh for the love of God Gordon! Stop freaking laughing!" Scott snapped, starting to get annoyed. Gordon shot him an apologetic grin, still smirking and frowned.
"Hey...look...photos!" While Gordon disappeared over to look at the photos, Scott leant down in the balls and shook Virgil, who remained asleep. Trying to not punch something in frustration, he grabbed his brother by the shoulders and dragged him out.
"What the-" Virgil blinked up at him. "Scott? What the hell happened? Why am I covered in paint? Why are you...glittery? And why...okay...I don't want to know that..."
"Alan." Gordon was struggling to control his laughter.
"What?"
"It's pretty obvious Tin-Tin kissed you. She was wearing lipstick I gather..."
"Yes...Oh...Oh!" Alan wiped the lipstick mark off his face, glaring at Gordon who was still laughing.
Virgil raised his eyebrows. "Alan and Tin-Tin. Finally."
"Hey!" Alan sounded hurt as everyone started laughing at him. "At least I didn't kiss Penelope Creighton-Ward."
"Who?" Virgil sat up straight, looking shocked.
"Me," Scott sighed. "But don't say anything...got it?"
"FAB." Virgil announced automatically and then frowned. "Do we have any tablets?"
"Gotta headache?"
"You bet."
"Same." Scott told him. "I haven't had chance to find any yet though, so you'll have to go without for the time being."
"Hey...where's John?" Virgil asked him.
"Good question...where is John?"
The soft sound of a wind chime in the breeze brought John to his senses. He was lying on his back on the lookout point of Tracy Island, tied up in fairy lights and covered in orange glitter.
"Geez...what the hell happened?" He closed his eyes, memories flooding back. He remembered having a few drinks and then jumping in the pool and Virgil throwing glitter in the pool and then chatting to a girl who he'd liked and then the party had spread out and he'd set the music up on the look-out point and a girl had set up the fairy lights and then everything was a blur.
"Well that explains the headache." Scrambling free of his prison that was the lights, he sat up, regretting it instantly as the sunlight was too bright. He tried to brush off some of the glitter to discover it had dried on him giving the appearance of a sparkly goldfish.
It appeared that everyone had gone home. John gathered that the others were at the house. He remembered Scott and Gordon going down to the beach with some of the party and the music had been especially loud coming from there. Alan and Virgil had stayed at the house, carrying on the rest of the party there.
"Oh my god! Penelope was here!" Great...now what must she think of them all...wait...hang on a moment...wasn't Penny dancing with someone last night? Someone very familiar...like...say...his older brother?
"I wonder when Dad's going to get back?" He whispered to himself thoughtfully as he started untangling fairy lights from his feet. His trainers were still soaking from the pool, which was a pain seeing as they'd been new only a week before. God only knew what Jeff was going to say when he got back. He'd gone away for the weekend with Brains, Kyrano and Parker to some sort of event on the Mainland...some sort of thing where they give security tips or something like that...what day was it today?
"Monday. Dammit! He's gonna kill us!" Especially Scott, he thought. He put him in charge and Scott let us have a party...oops.
Standing up, he was relieved when the dizzy feeling didn't return. Heading for the house, he stopped and grabbed the fairy lights, dragging them along behind him in the dust. Knowing his luck, they'd only strange some poor unfortunate creature and then Gordon would kill him. It was always Gordon who monitored the wildlife on Tracy Island for some reason.
The window upstairs was open and John could hear voices coming from it, but what shocked him was the utter devastation. It was as though a tornado had swept through...but with a bit more colour. Gordon was going to kill Virgil when he saw the state of his pool.
He entered the house, sneezing as a cloud of flour rose up around him. Footprints lead upstairs and he followed them. "Hello? Guys? Or are there aliens upstairs?"
There was a pause and a load of shouting from upstairs. John winced, only imagining the argument that was going on up there. "Johnny! You're not dead!" Virgil looked amused as he took the state of his brother.
"Hi Johnny," Scott announced, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Did the evil waters of glitter get you too?"
"Yeah, no thanks to Virgil. Originally, before he poured glitter in the pool, jumping in because of a dare was an amazing plan."
"Huh? I did that?" Virgil looked confused.
"Oh damn...you don't remember anything do you?"
"No. Neither does Scooter and Gords. It's only you and Alan who can remember what the hell was going on last night."
"Yeah, cos we're relatively normal!" Alan teased, sitting down on the stairs.
"What about Dad? It's Monday. He's due back today." Virgil realised.
"And a prize to the artist who mistook himself for the canvas he was meant to be painting," Gordon announced sarcastically.
Scott looked horrified as he sat down next to Alan. "Oh my god! He left me in charge and now look!"
"On the plus side...at least it was an amazing party?" John suggested.
"And you get to go out with Penelope now!" Alan put in, laughing. Scott glared at him before considering that for a moment.
"Actually..."
"Don't even go there!" John warned him. Suddenly, something in his pocket made a noise and he leapt up.
"Oh man! That was priceless! Sorry Scott, but your reaction!"
"I wasn't expecting my phone to go off!" Scott defended himself, glaring at Gordon. "And anyway, who's texting me?"
"Another person who you added as a contact last night but can't remember who they actually are?" Alan asked. "What? You don't know who Tony is." He shrugged as everyone looked at him.
"Who the hell is Tony?" John asked, feeling confused.
"God knows, and he's my contact!" Scott sighed. "Shit! It's Dad!"
"What's it say?" Gordon grabbed the iPhone and read out the message, a look of horror setting on his face. "'Hey boys, coming home today. Back in an hour.'" He stared at them. "We'll never get the house cleaned in that time, not with just the five of us!"
"You think we're cleaning just the house? We're cleaning the entire freaking island!" Virgil yelled at him.
"Calm down the pair of you!" Scott snapped, looking up from his position on the stairs. Retrieving his phone from Gordon, he smiled. "I've got an idea. Everyone, text your contacts, saying epic party last night, but we need help urgently!"
"FAB," Virgil said again. Alan gave him an irritated look.
"Can you stop saying that?"
"Saying what?"
"FAB."
"FAB."
"Damn you. Damn you."
"Are we doing this or not?" Scott asked. "And Alan, get Tin-Tin up. I presume she's in her room?"
"Yeah Alan."
"Shut up Gordon!" They all chorused. Gordon shrugged, still struggling to get the infuriating grains of sand out of his hair. Giving up on it, he collapsed in a chair and whipped out his phone to discover someone had changed his screensaver to a picture from the night before.
"Alan?" He asked cautiously, looking down at the picture of him dancing with someone. "Is that the girl?"
"The one you kissed?"
"Yeah."
"Um...let me see." Alan leaned over his shoulder and snorted. "Yeah. Yeah that's her."
"You could do worse Gords. I mean, she's actually quite pretty," Virgil chimed in, and received twin glares from the Terrible Two. "Whoa, steady. I'm just joking." He held up his hands. "Peace man!"
"Oh god, don't go all hippy on us!" John sighed, casting his eyes skyward. "We had enough of you last night."
"Would someone tell me what I'm supposed to have done?"
"Don't look at me!" Scott exclaimed. "I can't remember anything!"
"Now what?" Alan asked.
"We wait. And hope." John announced grimly, making Gordon start laughing again.
"And we take a shower!" Scott was still not impressed by the state of his hair as he was still finding leaves in it.
"Morning!" A familiar voice called softly from the doorway. "Oh...um...hi...Alan."
"Tin-Tin!" Alan exclaimed before coughing. "I mean...um...Tin-Tin. Hi. Hello. How are you?"
"This is awkward!" Gordon announced in a stage whisper to Virgil who gave him an annoyed look.
"Anyone know where my phone is?" John asked. Scott gave him an apologetic look.
"From the memories that are starting to return, I suspect Gordon put in the blender in an attempt to make apple juice seeing as it's an Apple product." He told John who looked horrified.
"Hey!" Gordon pouted and Virgil shoved him off his chair.
"Get me some water." He ordered.
"Yes sir. No sir. Shall I fetch a bomb for you to sit on, Sir?" Gordon muttered, sitting on the floor, his fingers flying over his phone as he sent out the text.
Alan brushed past Scott to go and fetch his trainers that had been re-discovered by Virgil upstairs, covering his brother in flour.
"Oh for crying out loud Alan! Take a shower!"
The sound of an aeroplane landing made Virgil glance up from where he was attempted to clean paint off his shoes. He had no idea how he'd managed to get himself so completely covered in paint, so much so that he resembled a chameleon, but he was sure that he was not going to actually wash his trainers because of it. Since they'd all had showers, well...all of them apart from Gordon who appeared to like the sand at last, they were just hoping that people were going to turn up and help them and it appeared that their hopes had come true.
"They arrived then?" Virgil jumped at the sound of Scott's voice.
"When did you get there?"
"Literally just this second," Scott laughed. He opened the doors and waved to the large group of people who were gathering by the plane.
"We're all here, and I even managed to persuade Fish here to take a shower!" John announced and drew back as the crowd of people entered, including a familiar figure.
"Penny!" Virgil called, earning himself a glare from Scott. "How are you?"
"I am very well, thank you. It was a great night last night." She turned to Scott. "Did you enjoy it? I did."
"Yeah. Yeah...it was cool. So...basically everyone, we have to clear the island within an hour." He raised his voice so he could be heard, all but blanking Penelope. Virgil and John exchanged looks.
"Idiot!" John whispered across the table to Virgil who nodded. "It's obvious Penny likes him!"
"Well we'll just have to force him to talk to her." Virgil replied in hushed tones. They grinned at each other, glancing between Scott and Penelope.
"We'll split into groups then?" A guy at the front suggested.
"Yeah, that would work. A group's assigned to one area of the island to clean each and we'll meet back here in forty-five minutes?" Scott glanced at John.
"Yep," John agreed. "Let's go!"
Alan held open a bag and the guy who he'd learnt was Tony, who was Scott's mystery contact, swept everything off the table into it. Tin-Tin was cleaning the floor and Alan grabbed a wet cloth and cleaned the flour and streamers off everything else in the kitchen. The streamers were getting in the way and he shoved them in the rubbish sack in annoyance.
"Alan?" Tin-Tin sounded cautious.
"Yes?" He asked her, slightly worried about what she was going to say next.
"You know when you...kissed me last night...you said you loved me." She took a deep breath and then met his gaze. "Did you mean it?"
Alan was silent for a moment. He didn't really understand his feelings for Tin-Tin. She was his best friend and he didn't want to ruin their friendship if she didn't like him back.
"Alan?" Tin-Tin frowned.
"Yes. I meant it." Well there it was. He'd finally told her. He looked at her worriedly as she bent to retrieve a plastic cup from the floor.
"Good." She looked up again, her eyes shining with tears.
"Hey, why are you crying?" He whispered, wrapping an arm round her shoulders. Tin-Tin smiled, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Because I'm happy. Because I love you back, so tough luck Alan Tracy."
He laughed and when she bent up to kiss him it felt just right.
"Hey Gordon!" Gordon glanced to whet Virgil was leaning out of the window where the plastic balls were. "Watch out!"
"What for?" He called back, still collecting buckets full of the glittery water and tossing it to the next person who would give it to the next until it ended up being thrown in the sea.
"For this!" Virgil grinned, and starting tossing the balls out of the window. Gordon glared up at him as he took cover from the things raining down on him.
"I hate you!" He yelled up at his brother who laughed and started throwing more out.
"I know!" Virgil called back down. "Do you have dustbin liners down there? We've run out of rubbish bags!"
"Go get it yourself!"
"No!"
"Stop whining, I thought you were meant to be older than me?"
"You are so...just get lost!" Virgil disappeared and Gordon returned to the water, only aware of eyes on him when he turned around and came face to face with the girl who they belonged to.
"Hello," she began shyly.
Oh no...she was the girl in the picture. And in the dim blurry memories he did have of the night before, he remembered spending a lot of time with her.
"Do you remember me?" She looked anxious. "I'm Amy." Actually...the picture hadn't done her credit. She was beautiful. "Gordon?"
"Yes...I remember you. You like it these." He gave her one on the flowers that was growing in Kyrano's plot and Amy smiled.
"Bingo," she whispered. "Shall we get all this cleared up then?"
"Jinx," he laughed, returning to bailing out the water. Amy picked up everything from the decking and started going down the path. Gordon frowned. "Watch out!" He called after her, watching in concern as she slipped. "Amy!"
He instinctively leapt to his feet, running for the path, catching her just before she slipped off the edge. He sat back, realising a second too late that anyone watching could get the wrong idea as Amy was just lying back in his arms.
"Right...thank you." She said staring at the steep drop she'd been about to fall over and shivered.
"Okay."
"This is awkward!" She laughed, brushing her hair back.
"Yep, I would agree with that," Gordon replied, trying to sit up straight.
"Well...as I said. Thank you." Amy told him and then glanced down, laughing nervously.
"I guess we cleaned up everything we have to. It all looks normal now and clean." He remarked, looking at the decking.
"Yeah. So...I'll be going soon." She kissed him and then walked away, back towards the aeroplane.
"Wait!" He yelled, running after her. "Can I have your number?"
"Can I have yours?" She winked at him.
"Hey you!" Tony yelled after Virgil furiously as Virgil ran down the stairs, running into the kitchen in a desperate attempt to hide after he'd accidentally tripped over, tipping a box of paints over his friend's head. Slipping behind the door, he and Alan stared at Tin-Tin as she started laughing.
"What?" Tin-Tin asked.
Alan tried to struggle free as Virgil grabbed him, intending to use him as a shield as Tony came storming into the kitchen. Tin-Tin glanced up from where she was curled up on a chair by the table. "Whatever's the matter, Tony?" She asked him, although that was obvious by the state of him.
"This is the matter!" He snapped, motioning to his red and green splattered leather jacket. Tin-Tin gasped and Alan took a step away from Virgil.
"Now in my defence, at least green is an awesome colour!" Virgil called put, sticking his head round the door to look at his friend. Tony stared at him.
"Seriously Tracy? I don't give a toss about the colour!"
Alan smirked, stepping over to Tin-Tin. "Good luck bro," he called. Virgil shot him a hurt look before sprinting out of the sliding doors, and across the decking area, not taking any notice of Gordon and Amy who looked up.
"Come back here!" Tony yelled and Alan, who was leant against the doorframe watching the entertainment in amusement, not feeling at all sorry for his brother, started laughing.
"Give yourself up now Virg!" He called out.
"No way in hell!" Virgil yelled back to him over his shoulder, jumping down several steps at a time as he reached the path. The cobblestones were slippery with where the water from the pool had run down them, and it was hard to try and keep his balance. Landing heavily on the beach, he took up running again, only to realise it was harder to run on sand, and that he was slower. A quick glance back revealed that Tony was gaining on him, and he sped up again.
"It was an accident!" Virgil shouted.
"I don't care!"
He dashed towards the crowd that were clearing the beach area, hoping for safety from the annoyed friend that was chasing him. "Stop chasing me!"
"Well if you'd slow down, then I could explain!"
Virgil stopped for a moment, and tried to judge whether it was safe or not. Deciding it was in his best interests to keep running, he carried on, looking back to see Tony stop suddenly, and start to yell out a warning. He skidded to a halt a few seconds too late, crashing into Scott, sending the pair of them collapsing in the sea.
"Oops?" Virgil surfaced again, and hurriedly began backing away, crawling back to dry land on all fours, away from his now annoyed older brother.
"Oh thanks so much Virg. I'd just had a shower." Scott whined. "Why'd you have to get me wet again?"
"I felt like it." Virgil glanced between Tony and Scott, suddenly feeling very much trapped. "Now guys, let me explain..."
"Get him!" Scott and Tony exchanged looks and then took off running after him.
"John! Help me!" Virgil shouted at him and John looked up from untangling lights.
"Sorry Virg, you're on your own with this one! I'm not getting involved!"
"I hate you!" He whined, heading back to the house, where he knew he would be safe in his studio, where he could lock the doors until his friend and brother had calmed down. It was only when he reached the decking that he realised that he had a problem. He was bare-foot and the decking was wet from where Gordon and Amy had washed it down to clean it of any spare glitter and streamers from the night before. He tried to stop, otherwise he would crash into Alan who hadn't noticed him yet (the youngest Tracy was still leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed).
"Alan! Move!" He shouted. Alan jumped, realised what was happening and started laughing before noticing Virgil was heading straight for him. He slipped inside, where Tin-Tin was waiting for him with a smile on her face.
Virgil crashed into the wall and found himself upside down, much like Scott earlier that day. Untangling himself from the dustbin liners, he squinted up at the two figures who had blocked out the sun and gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh...hey Scott, Tony. You all okay?"
"Three." Scott began.
"Two." Tony chimed in.
"One!" They both yelled and Virgil found himself soaking wet as they tipped a bucket of paint and water over his head.
"Hey!" Trying not give the impression of a sulking five year old, he sat up, running a hand through his hair which was drying quickly in the heat of the tropical atmosphere. He knew without looking that he looked ridiculous and he was annoyed about it. Tony laughed and headed off, down to the look-out point to help John.
"Something wrong with your hair Virg?" Scott questioned him.
"You'll pay," he muttered darkly and then grinned. "Watch this." He headed inside to where Alan and Tin-Tin were chatting, side by side. Pouring himself a drink, he watched them in amusement. "Oh for God's sake you two! Pack it in or get a room!"
Alan leapt about a foot into the air, and Tin-Tin gasped, her hand flying to her face to hide the fact she was blushing. "How long have you been there?" Alan demanded. "I thought you were suffering from temporary amnesia since you crashed into the wall?"
"Are you okay?" Tin-Tin asked him in shock.
"Yeah, I'm cool." Virgil stopped talking and watched as Penelope walked through, clearly looking for Scott. She disappeared into the next room along and Alan raised his eyebrows as Virgil's gaze followed her.
"Sorry mate," Alan told him. "You're gonna have no luck there. She's got the hots for our older brother."
"She likes John?" Virgil looked at him in mock shock.
"You know exactly who I mean."
"Correct!" Virgil laughed. "Time for Plan B seeing as Scott has been ignoring her for the entire day so far." Tin-Tin and Alan stared at him. "What's wrong lovebirds? It's John's idea!"
"Just because I have a girl!" Alan muttered.
"It's official now?" Scott questioned, entering the room.
"Alan!" Tin-Tin blushed.
"Scooter, can you get me a dustbin liner from the other room please?" Virgil pointed towards where Penelope had disappeared.
"Why can't you get it yourself?" Scott sighed, heading into the room. "Lazy bones."
Instantly Virgil slammed the door shut behind him and locked it, much to the amusement of his youngest brother.
"Virg? What the hell are you playing at? Oh...sorry...um...yeah. Hi Penelope."
Virgil grinned. "Mission accomplished."
John lay back on the wooden platform of the look-out point and stared up at skies above, closing his eyes. "I think I'll sleep here for a bit," he yawned and a string of fairy lights hit his face and he sat up. "Hey? What was that for?"
The girl with him laughed. He remembered dancing with her the night before and clearly she remembered as well as she'd immediately volunteered to clean up with him. It wasn't awkward either, which was a pleasant surprise as normally when you kiss someone when you're drunk and don't fully realise what you're doing, it can be awkward afterwards. Not that John got drunk that often, but anyway.
"Sorry!" She laughed, retrieving the fairy lights. "But you were going to sleep and leave me all alone!"
"I would still have been here, just not to talk to!" He protested, folding his arms.
Her expression clouded and she looked away for a few seconds before turning back to him. "CanIhaveyournumber?" She asked in a rush.
"Huh?" John frowned. "Sorry?"
"Can I have your number? Because...I really like you..." She repeated and looked down shyly, blushing.
"Ah, now you see I'm glad you brought that up, because I would really like to have your number as well!" He told her.
"John Tracy! Man up and just ask next time instead of waiting for me to ask you!"
"There's a next time already? Wow, this is progressing quickly!" He smirked. She slapped him teasingly.
"Watch it!"
"Okay, okay," he laughed and then kissed her. "You know something?"
"What?" She asked him in a whisper.
"I think I love you."
"Same."
"Everyone's gone. Well, apart from Penelope. She's with Scott up at the look-out point and I didn't want to disturb them," John reported as he sat down in a chair next to Gordon and tried to look over his younger brother's shoulder to see who he was texting. "Who's Amy?"
"His girlfriend!" Virgil announced and started smirking. "She's really pretty, but not as amazing as my girl."
"You've got a girl Virg? The same one who you shared a bottle of champagne with last night, sitting on the diving board together?" Scott asked, entering the room with an arm around Penelope who was smiling.
"So..." Gordon finally looked up from texting Amy. "Are you two an item or what?"
Penelope blushed and Scott glared at the aquanaut who shrugged. "Gordon!" Tin-Tin gasped. "That's private!"
"Well it shouldn't be!" He muttered.
"It's true though," Scott announced and John and Virgil high-fived.
"Oh yeah! Plan B was a success!"
"Plan B?" Penelope looked confused.
"Trust me," Alan told her. "You don't want to know."
"I think I can hear an aeroplane," John announced, listening carefully. Everyone fell silent as the sound of an approaching aircraft grew louder like an object becoming more visible in mist or fog. The small plane came into sight, swooping down low, the wheels touching down and then braking sharply, coming to a stop.
Virgil went to get the door when it opened, revealing Jeff. "Is this a welcoming party?" He laughed. "Bit boring without me huh?" He joked. "Nothing much exciting happened I take it?"
They all exchanged looks. "No..."
Jeff frowned at Scott and Penelope and Alan nudged Scott meaningfully. Scott realised he still had his arm around Penelope and hurriedly stepped away, whilst Penelope stepped away as well, until they were on opposite sides of the room. Jeff still looked confused but shrugged.
"Right!" He announced. "How about a swim?"
As he disappeared, they all let out sighs of relief. "Do you reckon he suspected anything?" Alan asked.
"Nah. We're in the clear." John replied in relief.
"I am very disappointed in you. I leave you alone for the weekend, thinking I could trust you. What would you have done if a rescue call had come in?" Jeff glared at them all as he looked up from his laptop. John looked down at the floor, Alan had his arm around Tin-Tin, Gordon was still texting Amy, Scott just looked embarrassed and Virgil was laughing.
"Virgil Tracy! Stop laughing!" Jeff shouted and Virgil stood up straight, smirking.
"Yes sir!" He snapped, grinning madly still. Jeff narrowed his eyes at him and the smirk left his face as he realised he was actually in trouble.
"We're really sorry Dad..." Scott began and Jeff burst out laughing.
"I was your age once you know, and you don't know about half the parties I used to have! Come on, and personally, I don't blame you. And Scott?"
"Yes?" Scott looked nervous as he stopped trying to sneak out the door un-noticed.
"I'd have been worried if you hadn't had a party."
"Thanks sir." He grinned and they all left the room, leaving the laptop behind, the YouTube video still playing, uploaded by a 'John Tracy' and titled 'Epic Tracy House Party'. Well honestly - what could you expect? They had to have fun sometimes!
Weever Fish - Weevers (or weeverfish) are 9 species of fish of the family Trachinidae. They are long (up to 37 cm), mainly brown in color, and have poisonous spines on their first dorsal fins and gills. During the day, weevers bury themselves in sand, just showing their eyes, and snatch prey as it comes past, which consists of shrimp and small fish.
Ok? Horrible? Hated it? Loved it? Please tell me in a review! :) I'll love you forever if you do! Right, I have to go! My dog, Judy, needs walking, and trust me, trying to type a chapter with an excitable dog playing under your desk is not one of the easiest things in the world, especially when I've discovered a whole load of revision! Oops! :)
Kat x.