Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot's Descent into Foam World
"And that is why you should never, ever, ever leave yourself unprotected when wandering around a dark alley at night," Izzy concluded, looking menacing into her flashlight. The team had been telling ghost stories. Some of them had caused extensive shivers (Noah's); others had flopped severely (Owen's). There was only one teammate who had yet to tell his tale: Alejandro.
"That was a pretty good story, Izzy," he said, guilefully sweet, "But it won't be able to stand up to my story."
"Oh, tell us your epic story, almighty Alejandro!" Noah said with an obvious overtone of sarcasm.
"Yeah, please do!" Owen said, very seriously, and then he began to bounce and grin.
"I don't know if your delicate ears can take it," he responded with faux concern.
"Come on, tell us!" Tyler responded, on the edge of his seat starting to fall over.
"One day, there were five young people who were waiting on a plane. At first they got along swimmingly," he began, "But as soon as the thunder struck, they all turned against each other. The first one to turn against them was the genius, then the crazy one, then the athlete, and finally the cool guy and the fun guy turned against each other."
"That sounds oh, so horrible!" Owen complained, eyes welling up with tears, "What happened next?"
"What happened next, is that each person, one by one, in the order that they turned against the team, mysteriously disappeared. And eventually, they were all trapped in a mysterious garden made of Styrofoam, and although they fruitlessly searched for the cool guy, by the time they found him, he was already dead! And since he was the only one who could make it out of there, they were all trapped there for all eternity," Alejandro concluded.
Izzy's hair stood up. Owen cried. Tyler screamed like a girl. Noah did not react.
"Why, Noah," Alejandro said, "You aren't frightened by my story. Why?"
"Because it's a load of bull, that's why," Noah responded, eyes narrowed.
The thunder crashed outside. Izzy panicked and leaped into Owen's arms. Owen was visibly shaken. Tyler leaped into Alejandro's arms and started sucking his thumb. Noah was still unfazed.
"I can't believe you guys thought that stupid story was prophetic or something; I mean, if it was prophetic, Alejandro would be just as scared as the rest of you, but he's just standing there and smirking!" Noah responded.
"I find it sad that you don't trust me, Noah," Alejandro said, while pouting, his lower lip extending significantly outward. Noah did not trust his guile here either. Noah was about to make a comment, when the lights went out. When they came back on, Noah was missing, and Alejandro had moved about three feet to his left.
"Oh my god!" Owen said, "Noah disappeared! Alejandro's prophecy is coming true!" He started to hyperventilate.
"Uh-oh," Tyler said, leaping into Owen's arms, "That means Izzy is going to turn against us." He looked nervously towards the redhead, who was narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Hmm…" she said, scratching her chin. She studied the location where Alejandro was standing before and after the lights turned off, and could only come to one conclusion. She looked at him and said, "So, you're interested in keeping quiet the one person who suspected you, are you? Well, you know what I think. I think you're a dirty, stinking, rotten, filthy…"
"Izzy, NO!" Owen responded, "You don't want to disappear too!"
"Owen, trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Izzy responded.
"I also find it sad that you don't trust me, Izzy. Noah didn't trust me, but the prophecy came true, and it might happen to you as well," Alejandro said, pretending to be hurt, and pretending to miss Noah.
"You moved," Izzy responded, "You freaking moved!"
"Maybe I just jumped backwards," Alejandro said.
The lights went off again. An animalistic shriek was heard. When the lights came back on, Izzy was missing, and Alejandro had moved about four feet to his right.
"Oh, no, Izzy… Izzy…" Owen cried, "The prophecy is completely coming true! What are we going to do, Ty?" There was no response from Tyler. "Ty? Helloooo?"
"I think…" Tyler said, "I smell a rat."
"What?" Alejandro said, immediately shocked by getting caught, but calmed down.
"This was no prophecy… you planned this! You weren't warning us, you were making it happen. It's just so obvious now. I mean, the order we turned against you? You must have cherry-picked that to make it so… believable!"
"Well, Tyler, as impressed as I am at your sudden insight," Alejandro said, acting as though he was about to concede, and then continued, with a beguiling smile, "I as well find it sad that you don't trust me."
"Well excuse me if I think that's what you said to Noah and Izzy, before you hid them." Tyler responded.
"You know what, Tyler?" Alejandro said, "If your theory is right, and I am hiding your suspicious friends, what makes you think I won't hide you?"
"Nothing," Tyler responded, "I know you will; but when you do, Owen will finally see what a rat you are!"
"I am curious how you came to this conclusion," Alejandro said, hoping to call a bluff on Tyler. Unfortunately for him, the athlete had an explanation planned.
"When Izzy said you moved, I took immediate note of your current location, and then when I looked again, you were closer to where you were the first time, about 1.3 m away from where you were before the lights turned off," Tyler said, "I'm not blind!"
The lights turned off, and the line, "Alejandro is carrying me away!" was heard from Tyler, followed by a slapping sound and "Ow." When the lights came back on, Tyler was missing, and Alejandro was suspiciously brushing off his hands.
Owen looked sadly into Alejandro's eyes. "So, it's true?" Owen asked, "But I… I trusted you, Al!"
"Yes," Alejandro said, happily. "You did trust me. But I see that you don't anymore. That makes me sad, Owen."
"Al, I can't believe you'd betray my trust like that!" Owen said, "I thought we had something special, you and me."
"You know why I did it, Owen?" Alejandro asked, to which Owen responded with a nervous inquiry. "I did it because I could. I wanted to prove how superior I was to the rest of you, by orchestrating this plan."
"But, why… I thought we were friends!" Owen whined.
"We're not," Alejandro responded, and then he dragged Owen by the ear into the cargo bay; the same place that the other teammates were all being held. He then locked it, and left, going back to his seat and falling asleep.
Owen got a little frightened, fearing he was all alone. His teammates all popped out of a packing-peanuts filled box, first Noah, then Izzy, then Tyler.
"I told you!" Noah said, annoyed.
"Well, you know what, now we're trapped in here, so it might be better to save the snark for later!" Tyler shouted, annoyed, banging his head against the wall of the cargo bay.
"Wait…" Izzy said, "What if there was a way to escape?"
"What if, indeed?" Noah asked, visibly smirking.
"Okay, what do we do? What do we do?" Owen asked, still panicking.
"Izzy, do you have any sort of tool that could weaken the hinges on the door?" Noah asked.
"Well, yes, I do," Izzy said, holding up one of her feet, "These babies."
"Tyler, move your center of frustration from your head to your fist, and aim directly at the center of the door," Noah directed. Tyler nodded, and began to punch the door, while Izzy kicked at the hinges. The hinges became loose, and the door moved outward slightly.
"Now, Owen, I need you to go to the other end of the cargo bay, at least 3 m behind where you are right now. Then, with your right shoulder jutting out, ram the door as fast as possible…"
Owen said, "Yes, sir!" and obliged the request. The door fell over, with a loud thud. The people in economy class were woken up, which caused them to argue amongst themselves.
"Now," Noah said, "To get back at Alejandro…"
The four well-meaning members of Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot crept as well as they could—Tyler's shoes made it somewhat difficult due to their squeakiness, and Owen kept trying to talk, which caused Noah, Tyler, and Izzy to hush him—towards Alejandro who was fast asleep. They each grabbed a limb, and carried him into the cargo bay, put him in the same box that he put them in, and left. Well, at least Noah, Owen, and Tyler left. Izzy on the other hand had a more sinister plan. She took out a roll of packaging tape and taped the box shut.
"Izzy, are you insane!" Tyler asked, when he looked back.
"Yes, we've established that already, Tyler," Noah said, "Keep up." He changed his attention to Izzy and told her, "Alejandro's going to suffocate in there, you know."
"Oh, you're right," Izzy said, and then she took out a pair of scissors, and stabbed the box repeatedly.
"They let you carry scissors on a plane?" Tyler asked, confused.
"Well, this is Chris's plane, after all," Owen responded.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Tyler answered.
Satisfied that Alejandro was not going to die, the four of them walked away. Alejandro started to wake up, and noticed the packing peanuts. He tried to push the lid out of the way and escape, only to realize that the box was taped closed.
"Uh, guys?" Alejandro asked, scared, "Guys? Very funny, but… the joke's over… come let me out now. I-Izzy? Owen! Tyler? Noah! ANYONE?"
"Should we get him out of there?" Tyler asked, questioning his muffled receipt of Alejandro's plea.
"Nah," Noah said, "Let's wait until tomorrow. Right now, we need to get some beauty sleep." He then curled up like a cat and started sleeping.
"True that," Izzy said, falling asleep. Owen fell asleep too. Finally, Tyler fell asleep.
"Guys!" Alejandro asked, "Please, come save me, guys?" He crossed his arms, angrily, and said, "This isn't funny."