Disclaimer: Neither JShark nor myself own Total Drama, or anything familiar in the franchise. We also do not own any other familiar real world franchises.
This is a collab between myself and JShark419 that's been in the making for over a year. With how big it was getting, we decided we would split the project into two chapters. Please enjoy.
Party Shenanigans
Grumpily, Junior sat in the back of his father's car with his arms crossed.
"I don't need a babysitter," He told his parents sitting up front, "I'm thirteen. I can take care of myself for a couple hours."
While driving, Dwayne shook his head, giving his son a glance in the rearview mirror. "Not with how far away we'll be, you can't. With how far away we'll be, we won't be able to get home very quickly if something happens."
"Nothing would happen if I stayed home by myself. I know to keep the doors locked, not to open the door for strangers, and to not try cooking anything by myself." Junior recalled. He looked towards his mother in the passenger seat. "Mom, you know how overprotective Dad can be, please help me out here!"
Mrs. Crone sighed. "I'm sorry, Junior, but your father is right. We'll be gone for more than two hours, and we'll be over an hour away. It's too dangerous for you to be home alone at night for that long of time."
"Well, couldn't you guys have at least gotten me a cool babysitter that would've been alright with watching me at our house? I don't want to go to some girl's house. She probably doesn't have anything I'd like there!"
"We weren't looking for a cool babysitter, we were looking for a responsible one, and Kitty was the only one we could get. She said her sister was busy studying, and her parents were both going to be gone tonight, so we offered to drop you off at their house." Mrs. Crone explained.
"And don't complain about them not having anything you'd like," Dwayne added, "you have a backpack full of stuff back there, don't you?"
Junior glanced at his backpack, which he had stocked with his stuff in case the babysitter didn't have anything he'd enjoy. "Yeah, but this is just a precaution. If this babysitter girl doesn't have anything, then I at least came prepared." He then thought of a question, actually two. "So, why are you going to be gone so long, and just how do you know this girl you got?"
Dwayne shrugged. "Eh, it's just some business dinner for the office, and apparently once we've eaten, the boss is going to go through some stuff that's coming up in the future year. You wouldn't understand any of it, you're not old enough."
"And I know Kitty through her mother." Mrs. Crone supplied. "Her mother and I are in the same book club, and she's always talking about how some of the teenage girls in the books we read are like one of her daughters. When I found out that I'd have to go with your father to the dinner, I talked to her about possibly having her daughter babysit you for the night. She passed the message onto Kitty, and Kitty called me to say that she'd love to accept the job."
"And her name is Kitty?" Junior repeated. "What else? She have a stuffed animal collection, and has a sister named Puppy?"
Mrs. Crone laughed at her son's joke. "No, her sister's name is Emma. I don't know about the stuffed animal collection, so you'll have to ask her."
Junior looked away. "Yeah… I'm not doing that. Anything else?"
"Her mother didn't say much else, but that Kitty is really attached to her phone and that her sister Emma is studying law in college."
"So she's a phone person? I guess she won't be that bad then." Junior mused, becoming less against the idea of spending the evening with a babysitter. "I just hope tonight isn't too boring."
"Mills Lane… I think we're here… ahah! There's the house." Dwayne thought out loud as they turned onto a street, and soon into a driveway in front of an average looking house.
Leaving the car running, the Crones got out of the car. Still distracted by his hopes of the night not going too badly, Junior got out of the car, forgetting his backpack on the car floor next to where he was sitting.
The family walked up to the house, and Mrs. Dwayne rang the doorbell.
The Crones waited a few moments before the door opened to reveal one of the sisters standing there.
"Kitty right?" Dwayne asked.
"That's me," Kitty replied, with a greeting smile.
Junior looked up at the girl and for whatever reason, thought she looked like one of those girls on the cover of his dads adult videos. Not that he knew his dad had them, or at the least that his dad knew that he knew.
"Thanks for watching our little Junior so we can go to my meeting," Dwayne said, rubbing his sons head.
Kitty giggled as Junior averted his gaze to the cement landing of the top step. "Dad, don't do that."
"It's no problem," Kitty said, "we'll have a fun."
"See Junior," Dwayne looked at his son, "she said you'll have fun. So now you don't have to worry about being bored."
"Is it them?" Another voice asked from behind Kitty.
Kitty turned to answer as Junior, looked up at his dad, "Please, don't mention that in front of her."
Dwayne looked puzzled, but shook his head, before he could respond to Junior. Another girl arrived at the doorway.
"I'm Emma," she said, "I assume your the parents to drop off your son."
"That we are," Mrs. Crone answered.
Emma nodded, "We'll take good care of him, I can assure of it." She took a side glance at Kitty, who gave her a confused look.
"What?" She asked.
Emma didn't answer her as she turned to greet Junior, "you're in good hands here."
"That's what I wanted to hear," Dwayne said proudly. "I'm glad my wife knows such responsible young ones."
Emma, didn't want to tell the father that only one of them was responsible, but she bit her tongue and said nothing of it. "So, when do you think you'll be back, approximately?"
"About six hours from now," Dwayne answered as he looked at his watch. He gasped, "If we don't leave now, we'll be late. And I really don't want that."
Mrs. Dwayne nodded, "well we'll be off."
"Be good for the girls, Junior," Dwayne ordered. "And make sure you don't try to smooch them."
Junior was left with red cheeks as his father ran to his car and hoped in, and with his wife sped off to where ever they were going.
"Come on tiger," Kitty joked as she led Junior into the house.
Emma didn't show any emotion, but Kitty was full of smirks and giggles at the boys embarrassment.
Junior stood by the door, not knowing what to do. He looked around and found it to be a nice living quarters. But with what his dad said, fresh on his mind, he didn't feel exactly feel like interacting with his babysitters.
The sisters just looked at each other.
"So..." Emma said, "if you need anything or if Kitty becomes to much for you, I'll be upstairs. I have a major exam two days from now I have to study for."
Junior watched as she ascended the stairs.
Kitty watched to, "she can be such a bummer sometimes." She turned back to Junior, "so, what do you like to do for fun?"
"Pretend that my father doesn't embarrass me," Junior sighed. He looked down at the red carpet covering the hardwood floors.
Kitty let a chuckle escape before understanding. "Parents are like that. I remember when my dad was like that."
Junior looked up at her, "your parents embarrass you to?"
"They sure do," Kitty smiled at him. She walked over and slung an arm around his shoulders, and led him into the giant living room. "I remember this one time last year, I got stranded at school with some of my friends and it was raining heavily. So I called my dad to come pick me up."
"That doesn't sound embarrassing," Junior said.
"It is when your dad conveniently forgets to wear pants when he picks you up," Kitty sighed, "He walked into school to get me and half a dozen of my friends saw his boxer briefs."
By now, the two were sitting on the sofa. "Wow, my dad's embarrassing, but not that embarrassing. He'd never forget to wear pants," Junior said.
Kitty nodded, "lucky my friends are true friends, or I'd probably would have had to change schools so I wouldn't die of embarrassment from all the stares I'd received."
It had only been five minutes and he was starting to like it here. This girl really understood him. But then something dawned on him, he forgot his backpack.
Kitty saw his expression change, "something wrong?" she asked.
"I forgot my pack," Junior buried his face into his hands. "I was worried about being bored here and brought it full of my own things."
Not a second later, he realized what he said and quickly looked up at Kitty, hoping she wouldn't take offense to what he said. "Sorry, that just...kind of slipped out."
"No biggie," Kitty giggled, "I'd probably do the same thing if I was going to somewhere I never been. But I'd probably bring a big hand bag instead of a backpack."
Junior chuckled himself, she was a lot cooler than he thought.
"But I can promise," Kitty said standing up, "you wouldn't have needed it anyway." She walked over and turned the television on. "We're going to have loads of fun here."
Junior just realized how awesome and how big the television was. "How big is it?" he asked in amazement.
"Big enough to hopefully satisfy your boredom," Kitty joked. She leaned down and grabbed two items from below the television and then pressed a button.
Junior saw a green circular light pop up from the darkness that was in the stand under the TV.
"Is that what I think it is?" Junior asked.
"A game system?" Kitty asked back, "Probably." She sat down next to him and handed him a controller.
Junior took it and looked up at the television and saw the opening credits of a video game. The title popped up and Junior gasped. "I...I...I don't think my dad would approve of this game."
"Approve of Mega Zombie Death Battle IV?" Kitty asked, "because it's full of violence, language, and blood."
Junior nodded.
"What your dad doesn't know, won't hurt," Kitty promised. The two of them watched as a menu screen popped up. "Pick your character and your weapon and let's kill us some zombies," she shouted with glee.
Junior looked through the weapon choices, a chainsaw was his choice. "Tonight's going to be a lot different that I thought."
Meanwhile, across town the biggest event of the weekend was just getting started up.
At a rather large house, Geoff opened the front door and led his entourage inside.
"Let's get this party started up!" He declared, throwing his backpack off to the side. As his friends filed in, he gave them directions. "Okay, snacks go over there in the kitchen... Beardo, you can set up the DJ equipment over there... Duncan, the video games-"
"I know where the rec room is." Duncan said, cutting off his friend's orders as he carried the Swii V to the designated room.
Brody was the last of the group to enter the house. "Dude," he said to Geoff, "your parents are so awesome for letting us have the party here while they're away on vacation this weekend! If we had it at our place, the landlord dude would be totally ticked off."
"Ain't no place like the 'rents home, Bro!" Geoff whooped. "Come on, let's help the guys set up."
Brody helped Duncan set up the Swii V, and laid out a selection of video games that made great party entertainment. Geoff helped Beardo out by hooking up the soundboard master's equipment, and made sure that the house was tidy to begin with. In the kitchen, DJ set out the plastic cups and plates, the various sodas the party guests would get to choose from, and tore open the first bags of chips; he even brought along some of his special DJ Dip. In half an hour, the place was prepared for a night of entertainment. When they were ready, the boys congregated at the front door.
Geoff pulled out his phone, as did the others. "Okay dudes," he told them, "send the mass text... now!" The five boys simultaneously hit the send button, and invites to Geoff's latest party were sent out to every friend that they knew.
"Go for the dynamite! Go for the dynamite!"
"I am going!"
"Watch out- behind your back!"
"I see it!"
"Do that chainsaw spin!"
"Got him! At least I think it was a him... I'm almost at the dynamite!"
"Okay, throw it over there... now!"
An explosion rang out from the TV, and the words 'LEVEL CLEARED!' appeared on the screen. Kitty and Junior cheered.
"Nice job!" Kitty praised Junior. "I've been stuck on that level forever! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have figured out how to beat it."
Junior bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well, you know, it just sort of clicked when I was in that spot. It wasn't anything genius on my part."
Kitty smirked at her charge. "Well, whether it was genius or not, you helped me out big time. We should celebrate with a selfie." She grabbed her phone off the coffee table, and turned on her phone's camera while throwing her arm around Junior. "Say 'Zombie Death Battle!'"
"Zombie Death Battle!"
The phone clicked, and the photo was taken. Kitty removed her arm from around Junior, and started messing around with her phone. "This is so going on FaceDrama." While she attempted to upload the picture, her phone beeped with a text alert. "Huh? What's this?" She opened up the text, and no sooner than when she finished reading, she let out a squeal and started jumping around.
"What is it?" Junior asked.
"Lindsay just forwarded me a text! Geoff's having a party tonight, and it's just starting now." Kitty answered, clutching her phone to her chest. "It's been forever since he had one."
Junior raised an eyebrow. "What's so special about Geoff's parties?"
Kitty's eyes widened in shock. "What's so special about Geoff's parties?!" She repeated. "Geoff's parties are legendary. His parties are the best ones like every year!" She rapidly typed out a reply to Lindsay, and sent it.
Junior stood up as Kitty walked past him towards the front door. "Where are you going?"
The older girl turned around to face him. "To the party, duh! You can't miss a party like this." She rolled her eyes playfully.
"What about me?" Junior inquired, gesturing to himself.
Kitty smiled at him. "Ooh, that's a really good idea. Why don't you come too?"
The younger boy stared at her in confusion. "You want me to come with you to a high school party?"
"Yeah, come on, it'll be fun!"
"What about my parents?"
"They'll be gone for another five and a half hours. That's plenty of time to go and have some fun, and then get back here. They won't even know that we left the house at all." Kitty reasoned.
Junior shot a look up at the ceiling, and then glanced back at Kitty while pointing at the ceiling. "What about your sister?"
Kitty snorted, waving her hand. "Please, Emma's got that test to study for. If I know her as well as I do, then she'll be too deep into her notes to notice that we left."
"I don't know..." Junior hesitated.
"Come on, it'll be like with Mega Zombie Death Battle. What your parents don't know won't hurt." The babysitter insisted.
Her charge thought her words over, and after what felt like minutes passed, Junior finally came to a decision. "Alright, I guess I'm in." He shrugged in acceptance.
Kitty pumped her fist. "Sweet!" Then she heard a car coming towards her house, and she instantly knew who it was. "It's Lindsay and Tyler, they're our ride to the party. Let's go." She opened the door, and she and her charge crept out into the night.
Up in her room, Emma read through her textbooks and notes, headphones blocking out outside noise.
Kitty fist pumped as she and Junior waited on the curb for their ride to arrive. She turned and faced down the street, she saw a car approaching. "Let's just hope that Tyler's driving, or else," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Why Tyler?" Junior asked Kitty.
Kitty looked at Junior, "Lindsay's not the best when it comes to the lights upstairs," she pointed to the side of her head. "If you get what I mean."
"Sort of," Junior admitted, as he saw the car get closer.
But as it did, the two of them had to dive to the ground and out of the way as the car came barreling toward them. When they lifted their heads from the grass and dirt of the Sisters front yard, they saw the car parked on the curb.
"This is going to be one wicked ride," Kitty hollered in excitement, as she jumped to her feet.
"Um, yeah..." Junior was way less excited as her. "Let's hope we surviiiiiiivvvve." As he said the last word, Kitty hoisted Junior to his own feet with a quick movement.
The window to the passenger door lowered, "hop in and let's get to the coolest party ever!"
"Yeah!" Kitty agreed, "I'm with you Tyler," she said. She ran to the car. "Come on Junior."
"You're bringing a kid?" Tyler asked, "never said nothing about him in your text."
Kitty awkwardly shrugged, "I kind of replied quicker than I could actually think. I forgot I was babysitting, so instead of keeping him here with my sister, I thought, hey. Let the kid live a little, let him experience what no other middle school kid has before."
"Oh," Tyler said, with a blank face. "Works for me, hop in kid."
Junior was a bit skeptical, of this even being a remotely good idea. Thinking about entering this car, let alone the attending the party. "Will there be..." he hesitated to say the word, "alcohol at the party?'
Tyler and Kitty exchange glances, "there shouldn't be," the former answered. "Geoff's a cool dude, but he's not for breaking the law. If anything, you'll pass out from the sugar rush you'll get from all the soda you'll drink."
Junior nodded, "Cool."
Kitty and Junior hopped into the back seat and the car sped off with almost super speed.
"So, it looks like Lindsay got her license," Kitty said amazed.
Junior saw the blonde girl in the drivers seat, he had to admit two things. She was hot, as in like Majorly HOT!. And that she looked like the stereotypical blonde female, hopefully it's hair dye. Just in case, Junior threw his seatbelt on.
"Yeah, I finally got it," Lindsay said, turning in her seat to look in Kitty. Totally ignoring the road. "And it only took me..." she started to count on her fingers.
Junior gulped, and tightened his seatbelt.
Tyler seemed to be used to it, mainly since he kept his hands on the steering wheel so they didn't crash.
"23 times," Lindsay finally remembered, "it took me 23 times to get my license."
23 TIMES! Junior shouted inside his mind. This girl is dangerous, let me out.
Kitty smiled, "That's good. You did better than I thought you'd do."
Lindsay smiled back, as she turned back in her seat and regained control of the steering wheel. She looked up into the rear view mirror, "Oh, he's so cute."
Junior was curious to what she meant, but he got the answer when he saw her eyes on him.
Kitty agreed, as she grabbed Junior in a hug, "Totally agreed. He's cute and super cool." She took her cell out and snapped another selfie with him.
"How long is this ride anyway?" Junior asked, when Kitty let go.
"Should be there soon," Tyler replied, "Geoff doesn't live that far away."
Junior just held onto the seats as Lindsay swerved in and out of lanes, as they headed to the biggest event of right now.
Soon enough, the four arrived at the location. Junior, had his heart racing, as he waited for it to slow down.
"Will Geoff be mad?" Lindsay asked nervously.
"Nah," Tyler shook his head, "dude probably has like ten mailboxes, he didn't need this one."
The two of them got out of the car to inspect the damage.
"Whoa," Kitty shrieked, "that was an amazing ride. Too bad we ran over Geoff's mailbox, but nonetheless, awesome ride." She turned to Junior. "Ready to hang with all these teens?"
Junior shrugged. "Hey, I didn't come all this way for nothing. Since I just survived the craziest car ride of my life, why not?"
Kitty smiled at him. "That's the spirit!"
The quartet approached the front door, and just by standing on the porch, they could hear the festivities going on inside loud and clear. Tyler rang the doorbell, and soon enough, the door was answered.
Geoff threw open the door. "Tyler, Lindsay, Kitty, you dudes made it!" He exclaimed happily, and then his attention was drawn to Junior. "Who's the little dude?"
Kitty placed a hand on Junior's shoulder. "This is Junior, his parents are away at a business dinner and I'm babysitting. I accepted the invite to the party without thinking, so I let him tag along and experience a party that no other middle school student has. That's okay, right?"
"Is that okay?" Geoff repeated. "Of course, it's okay! The more, the merrier, bra!" He chuckled.
Kitty beamed at him. "Sweet!"
Geoff stepped to the side, and let the quartet in. "Okay, if you have a jacket you want to take off, use my closet in my room, I emptied it out for tonight. Snacks and sodas are in the kitchen, video games are in the rec room, and you can hang out in the living room and stuff. If you brought swim trunks or some kind of bathing suit, the pool out back is available, just make sure to dry off before you come back in. Towels are available if you didn't bring one with you. Board games and card games are in the other rec room upstairs, there's two bathrooms so if one is taken, try the other. As for veteran party guests of mine, just remember the three basic rules- dry off before you come inside from the pool, no alcohol or drugs of any sort, and clean up after yourself, that last rule makes after-party clean up go so much faster. Enjoy, dudes!" Geoff strode off to attend to his party host duties while squeezing in as much fun as he could.
"What he just said brings me back to what we were talking about earlier," Junior said, "how does he have crazy parties like this one if there isn't alcohol or drugs involved?"
"That's just one of Geoff's many special talents when it comes to parties. He can make any party fun without that kind of stuff needed." Kitty answered.
At that point, Beth came over. "Lindsay, you're here!"
"Beth!" Lindsay smiled. "So are you! How'd you get here?"
Beth pointed over her shoulder. "Rodney gave me a lift. He got the invite from Beardo while I got the invite from DJ, and we picked up Ezekiel on the way over here since we all live on the farms on the edge of town." She frowned. "Speaking of which, can you and Tyler drive me home when the party's over? Riding with Rodney reminded me why I don't usually ride with him. He talked all weird again, and I had to remind him to keep his eyes on the road."
"Sure, we can make a trip out there." Tyler replied with a warm smile.
"Thanks so much." Beth said gratefully, and took Lindsay and Kitty's hands. "Now, come over here! Bridgette was just telling us girls how her recent surfing competition in Australia went."
"Really? That's so cool!" Kitty gasped in awe, and let Beth lead her and Lindsay away. "See you later, Junior! Try to stay out of trouble!"
"Sure thing!" Junior responded, bidding her farewell with a wave of his hand. He probably wouldn't see her for a couple hours if she was getting dragged away for girl talk.
Tyler glanced down at Junior. "You going to be okay by yourself?"
Junior nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be alright."
"Sweet, then I'm going to head over here. Enjoy your first Geoff party." With his final word said, Tyler walked off into the party.
The thirteen-year-old boy watched the jock fade into the crowd, and stuck his hands into his hoodie pocket. "Okay... what should I do first?"
"Ryan!" An older, female voice caught his attention, and he looked in her direction. Stephanie walked over to a buff guy in a pink shirt. "I found the bedroom. Let's go make out."
"Steph, if you haven't noticed," Ryan replied, tossing a football casually over to Lightning, "I'm playing catch with Lightning."
"It's a party, Ryan. One of Geoff's parties. You'll have all night to throw a ball around. I need some love to get me in the zone for the rest of the night. Let's go!" She spun on her heel, and made her way up the stairs near where Junior was standing.
Ryan sighed. "Yes, Stephanie..." He tossed the football over to Lightning again, and climbed up the stairs.
"Yeesh, they sound like fun." Junior quipped uncomfortably. "Maybe I'll go see what's going on around here and see if I can get an idea of what to do." His mind made up, he ventured into the party.
Up in Geoff's bedroom, Duncan rifled through the jackets people had hung in Geoff's closet. "Come on, there's got to be at least one idiot who left some cash in their pocket." He grumbled to himself, patting down the jackets and dipping his hands into their pockets. Halfway down the line of jackets, he patted at a jacket when he felt a slight bulge. "Aha! There you are." He reached his hand into the jacket's pocket, and pulled out a brown wallet. He opened it up, and grinned when he looked inside. "Nice! Someone must've visited an ATM recently." He closed the wallet, and stuck it in one of his cargo shorts' pockets. He continued with his search, and found two more by the time he had searched all of the jackets. "Huh, must be my lucky night. I rarely ever snag three at a party like this." He mused while checking out the third billfold. Satisfied with his haul, he unceremoniously dropped the wallet into the same pocket that held the other two, and gave the loaded pocket an affectionate pat before closing up the closet. As he glanced around his friend's bedroom, he glanced out the window to the house of Geoff's neighbors. The dark house gave him an idea.
Duncan left the bedroom, and made his way downstairs. He went around looking for Geoff, and found him in the kitchen with Devin and Carrie.
"And then he was like 'Dude, that is so corny.' Bridgette liked it though, and she's kept it ever since. She even wrapped it up in bubble wrap so it wouldn't break when she flew to and from Australia." Geoff explained. He looked up, and noticed Duncan coming over. "Duncan, dude, how's the party?"
"Awesome as always." Duncan replied. "Hey Geoff, random question- are your neighbors in the next house over gone for the night?" He asked, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the indicated house.
Geoff nodded. "Oh yeah, they left for Hawaii early this morning, and won't be back until next week."
"Hawaii, huh? That's cool, and pretty far away too." Duncan commented, trying not to show Geoff his devious smirk.
"Yeah, Hawaii's pretty cool. I still remember when Bridge and I went with my folks near graduation." Geoff said, remembering the trip.
"Nice, anyway I'm going to get back to hanging out. Catch you later, man." Duncan gave him a wave, and walked towards the patio door that led out to the backyard and pool.
"Later!" Geoff turned back to Devin and Carrie. "Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, like I was saying, the gift was corny, but Bridgette loved it anyway..."
Out in the backyard, party guests stood around with snacks and drinks while others were swimming around in their bathing suits in the pool. Most of the girls in the pool swooned at the shirtless Justin, including Katie and Sadie. Staying in the shadows, Duncan snuck over to the edge of the house, and when he was sure no one was looking, he hopped over the fence to the neighbor's house.
Junior was still looking around for something to do, but there were a lot more things here than he thought. As he wandered through the living room and kitchen, he was beginning to really feel why Geoff was so renowned for his parties. Junior had not seen any drugs, nor did he get any whiffs of alcohol. "This party is amazing," he said gazing at everyone.
"What's up, little dude?"
Junior spun around to see Geoff. "Just trying to see what kind of things happen at a party like this," he answered. "With all these options, it's hard to know where to start," Junior looked up at Geoff in wondrous amazement.
Geoff slung an arm around Junior's shoulders and led him into another room, "Little bra, I know someone who'll help with that."
Junior let Geoff lead him, "if they'll help me jump into the fun faster, I'm down."
"That's the spirit," Geoff whooped.
The two of them walked up to Brody. They saw him organizing pillows on a couch. He looked up and saw them approaching, "sup bra?"
"Coming over to see if you could lend a favor," Geoff replied. "What are you up to, dude?"
Brody picked up a camera from a nearby table. "Just setting up for a game a bunch of us will be play later."
"If that's what I think is, I'm so down for a few rounds, after it picks up," Geoff said excitedly.
"Wicked," Brody nodded. The surfer friend looked down, "and who's this little dude?"
"This is Junior," Geoff greeted. "That Kitty chic was babysittin' him. She thought he should be the first middle schooler to experience a Geoff extravaganza."
"Sweet," Brody commented. "This dude, truly knows how to entertain large crowds."
"I see," Junior said, "it looks way better than anything I've seen on television."
"Troo dat," Brody agreed.
"I was wondering if you could show him around, give our future party king a detour?" Geoff asked.
"No need to ask, of course I'll do it," Brody answered.
"Alright!" Geoff gave them a thumbs up. "I'm out, gonna see how the other peeps are doing." He then danced away.
Brody looked down at Junior, "So what do you want to do first?"
Junior shrugged, "it's hard to choose with so many options."
"I have an idea," Brody said, "how bout we visit the kitchen, and get yah a Pepsi."
Elsewhere, there was a disgruntled scientist. Parties weren't Scarlett's thing, she hated them. "I don't even know why I'm here."
"Same here."
Scarlett turned to see geeky looking girls like herself. "I'm guessing you two are like me, wishing to be at the library writing a thesis to why these things are pointless?"
Ellody nodded, "These functions aren't worth my time. I'm only here so Mary has company."
"My exasperating younger sibling insisted I accompany him," Mary sighed. "Or he would tell our parents about an experiment that went wrong."
"Tell me about it," Scarlett said. "I've permanently scarred my brother, mentally by threatening that if he ever annoyed me, he'd end up as the skeleton in the science room at school."
"Interesting," Ellody inquired.
"So, do you two want to..." Scarlett began.
"Ah, my EVIL little minion, I had no thought that you'd be here."
Scarlett scrunched her eyes shut, and curled her hands into fists. "Oh no." She muttered under her breath, and whirled around to face the owner of the voice. "What are you doing here?"
Max huffed with his hands on his hips. "Is that any way to speak to your EVIL master, sidekick?"
"I am not your sidekick." Scarlett retorted exasperatingly. She wasn't sure why she still tried to get that fact through his clearly dense head.
"Anywho," Max began to say, "I am here because I was invited, and by attending a party I was invited to, I can get in the good graces of the other party-goers, and then when I take over the world, I will have all sorts of loyal minions who will follow my every whim! Mwahahaha!" He cackled madly, and then composed himself with a cough into his fist. "Anyway, who are your friends? I don't believe I've met them before." He asked, indicating Mary and Ellody.
Scarlett sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose frustratingly. "That's because I never intended for you to meet." She held an arm out to the two girls. "Max, this is Ellody and Mary. We're members of the Science Club at school. Ellody, Mary, this is Max, some idiot who thinks he's evil and claims that I am his sidekick."
Max bowed slightly to the Geniuses. "A pleasure," he held up a finger to interject, "and just so you know, I am not just some idiot who thinks he's evil. I AM evil, and Scarlett is most assuredly my sidekick." He looked at the girls, and hummed in thought. "You two look a lot like Scarlett here, and Scarlett claims that you are in the Science Club together, so I assume you must be quite the intellectuals are you not?"
"We excel in all our courses." Ellody answered.
"Excellent!" Max smiled. "From this moment onward, you two shall be my newest henchmen!"
Ellody and Mary exchanged an odd look before glancing down at Max again. "Pardon?" Mary spoke up.
"Yes," Max nodded to himself, "you two will make excellent additions to my EVIL organization. You two can work with Scarlett on my evil plans while I oversee them. In fact, the three of you can be your own little group- the Mistresses of Evil!"
Scarlett groaned, and pinched the bridge of her nose again. "You have got to be kidding me."
Max continued to ramble, "As an acronym, that would spell M.E. I can see that on a cape. Yes, that would work magnificently for a sector of my EVIL organization."
Scarlett finally had enough, and said, "You know what, Max? That does sound like a good idea."
"It does?" Ellody questioned.
Ignoring Ellody, Scarlett told Max, "We'll get right on it. Now, why don't you go and mingle so you can get more followers? You'll need your minions when you take over the world."
Max nodded. "Yes, I do need those. Very well, I'll leave you three to take care of your new task. I'll come and see your progress later." He walked away, and began to mingle with the other party guests.
"We're not really making him capes, are we?" Mary inquired to Scarlett.
The redhead genius scoffed. "Of course not. I just said that to get him to go away. Now, if we must stay at this insufferable party, why don't we go find a place where he won't find us?"
Crimson and Ennui stood in a dark corner of the room with Loki in Ennui's shirt collar.
"Why did we come to this party?" Ennui asked his girlfriend. "Everybody is happy and cheerful. It sickens me."
Crimson nodded. "Yes, but some of the darkest corners are found at parties, and the darkest corners are the most fun to brood in."
"True."
Loki chittered in agreement with his owners.
Sammy grunted from her position on all fours, and groaned for the umpteenth time. "Amy, can I please get up now? You're hurting my spine."
Amy scowled at her sister below her. "You can get up when I'm done talking to my friends, which won't be until the party's over so shut up, you're interrupting!"
Anne Maria glanced at Amy weirdly. "Uh, girl, why is she acting like your chair?"
Taylor leaned in curiously. "And more importantly, how can I get my mom to be the chair?"
Amy smirked at Taylor. "Oh, just be born at the same time as her, and then spend all your life proving to her that she's so worthless that the only thing she's good for is being a piece of furniture. Then she'll be the chair."
"That sounds like a lot of work." Taylor complained.
Amy groaned. "You have no idea how much work it is? You have to constantly keep your eye on her like a hawk, and handle your social life when she's doing something boring and not worthwhile. It's like babysitting."
Below Amy, Sammy sighed. "I really hope Jasmine and Shawn come find me soon. The way Amy just pulled me away from them like that, they probably don't even know I'm not with them." She said to herself softly.
Jasmine and Shawn sat on the roof with cups of soda in their hands.
"Pretty nice night out, isn't it?" Jasmine asked before taking a sip from her cup.
Shawn smiled at her. "Yeah, and since we're on the roof, zombies can't get us. I'm pretty sure they couldn't pull off the climbing maneuvers we had to in order to get up here."
The thought of climbing up onto the roof made Jasmine realize something, and she looked at Shawn. "Where's Sammy?"
Shawn's eyes went wide, and he nearly dropped his cup. "Oh man, the zombies could get Sammy!" He got to his feet. "We have to find her!"
Shawn and Jasmine got to their feet and easily scaled down the side of the house. Shawn keeping his eyes on all the party goers as he reached the ground, making sure none of them took him by surprise.
"Do you remember the last place we saw her?" Jasmine asked Shawn.
"I'm not entirely sure," Shawn relayed, "but I think I remember last seeing her near that spray tan girl."
Jasmine nodded and started her way to where she thought her friend was. Shawn followed, every now and then freaking out because someone coughed or made a suspicious noise.
"So, boys what cards do you all have?" Scott smirked, looking down at the cards in his hands.
"Well, we're not really supposed to tell yah!" Trent answered looking down at his own cards. "You're supposed to ask for a specific card from a random person."
Scott rolled his eyes at the musician. "The question was rhetorical question. Yeesh, anyway, you there." He looked at Cody. "Got any 3's."
Cody quickly scanned his cards and shook his head. "Go Fish!"
Scott grabbed a card from the pile, but he lost his grip and dropped the card on the ground. "Whoops! My bad." He reached down under their table and grabbed the card, he stuffed it into his shoe. Before pulling out a different one. He put the card into his hand and looked at the others, "Lookie here boys, I have a pair." He showed them a pair of 3's.
"Dang," Cody said, "that's the fifth pair in a row, "you're lucky dude."
"Lucky, more like gifted," Scott bragged.
Duncan had snuck into the next door neighbors house and smirked as he closed the door behind himself. "Weak lock makes for easy entrance." He found himself in the kitchen, "Let's see what treasures this criminal can find."
He walked over to the fridge and thought maybe he'd help the family get rid of things that may or may not have gone expired. The fridge was well stocked, he grabbed some cheese, "I don't want it to go bad on them," he smirked. He grabbed some mustard and a package of roast beef too.
Brody led Junior to the kitchen where he showed Junior the inside of their fridge. He pointed out over half a dozen types of soda pop. "What kind do yah want, little bra?"
Junior grabbed a can of regular Pepsi, "wow, my parents never let me have sugar drinks this late."
"Well, your parents aren't here are they?" Brody chuckled. He grabbed a soda himself and popped it open. He motioned to the doorway, "let's gather some party peeps for a fun game I have planned."
"What game is that?" Junior asked curiously, after sipping his soda.
Brody turned and smirked, "Truth or Dare!"
"Did somebody say 'Truth or Dare'?!" Izzy exclaimed, popping up behind them and startling them into almost dropping their sodas. "I love that game! The dirty secrets, the gruesome dares; Count me in!"
Brody grinned at her. "Awesome! Hey," he pointed at her, "could you help us gather up some peeps to play?"
Izzy nodded. "Uh huh!" Her eyes widened. "Ooh! I know just the people! Where's the game being played?"
"Living room." Brody pointed in the direction of the indicated room.
"Okie dokie brokie! Meet you in there in five minutes!" Izzy darted off, not allowing either Brody or Junior to get another word in.
Junior watched her go in confusion, and turned to Brody. "Who was that?"
"Only the second most crazy awesome chick in Canada!" Brody guffawed. "That was Izzy. She's completely nuts, little dude, but that's just what makes her so cool! She won't ever be as crazy awesome as my babe MacArthur, though." The surfer dude smiled fondly, and shook his head. "Okay, I'll go this way, and gather up some people," he pointed in one direction before pointing in another, "you go that way, and round up some peeps to play."
"Get some people to play? Me?" Junior asked in shock.
Brody nodded. "Totally! Besides, you were looking for something to start your night off with, right? Truth or Dare is the perfect way to kick it off!"
Junior looked at the drink in his hands uncertainly. "I guess..."
"Perfecto! Good luck!" Brody walked off, leaving Junior alone.
The young teen took a deep breath, and put on a determined face. "Okay, Junior, you've already made it this far. You played a video game your parents wouldn't approve of, you went to a party that they wouldn't approve of you going to, and you're having a sugary drink this late at night. You can round up a few people, and play Truth or Dare. This is nothing. Yeah, I can do this." Confident, he turned around, and took a step forward, colliding with someone in a green shirt. He bounced off right away, and rubbed his head with his free hand. "Sorry, didn't see you... there..." His apology trailed off as he looked up at who he had bumped into.
Junior stared up at the face of Carrie.
"No biggie, I wasn't that careful either." Carrie replied with a smile. She held out her hand. "I'm Carrie."
The young teen stared at her for a few more seconds before shaking his head and snapping back to his senses. He put on a suave smile. "Hi, I'm Dwayne." He held out his hand to her.
Carrie took it, and shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Dwayne."
Junior stared at his hand that Carrie had just shook, and blushed, laughing awkwardly. "Hey, um, Brody told me to go around and get people for Truth or Dare. Would you like to, er, join us?" He asked, hoping he sounded manly.
The blond-haired girl gasped. "Truth or Dare? I love that game! Sure, I'd love to! Let me get Devin; he'll want to play too. Where is it being played?"
"Living room." Junior answered simply, pointing in the same direction Brody had a few minutes prior. "We're playing in five minutes."
"Okay," Carrie nodded, "we'll be there." She turned, and went to go get her friend. Junior watched her go, and once he was sure she was out of hearing range, his eyelids lowered and he let out a long, loving sigh.
"She's awesome." He said to himself.
"Get 'em, Lorenzo!"
"You've got this, Harold!"
"Come on, Sam! Show them that Prince Flower can kick butt!"
Fingers flew as Harold, Sam, Chet, and Lorenzo sat in the rec room, engaged in a highly intense Wham Sis. battle. Behind them, Rock, Spud, Leshawna, and Dakota cheered on their friends.
Spud momentarily stopped cheering for Chet to glance at Rock. "How can Baby Carrier fight with a baby in a backpack on her back?"
"Who cares how she's doing that?" Rock replied with a grin. "Look at Lorenzo shred these guys with Seacupine. Go, Lorenzo, go!"
"Hah! You made a dumb choice, playing as Baby Carrier this round." Lorenzo taunted his stepbrother. "I'm totally going to win this round."
"Nuh uh, I am!" Chet taunted back playfully.
"You both are going down when Harold takes you both down with Burglar." Leshawna interjected with a laugh. "He's been doing it so far."
Harold smirked in his seat in front of her. "I knew using Burglar this round was the right choice."
"Not for long," Sam joined in, "eat watering can, you castle intruder!" He pressed a button on his controller, and his character brought out a watering can, smacking Harold's character upside the head.
"Hey, no fair! I was attacking Seacupine." Harold complained.
The fighters' friends continued to cheer, along with other party-goers who were watching the fight and waiting for their turn.
Rock and Spud chanted for the Stepbrothers to win when two hands grabbed one of their arms. They peered over their shoulder, and saw Izzy with a grin on her face. "Truth or Dare, now!"
Before either boy could get a word in, she tugged them out of the rec room.
"And that is how I was able to contort myself enough to fit into the saddlebag on Trent's motorcycle." Alejandro finished proudly.
Mike and Zoey looked at him in amazement.
"Wow," Mike whistled, "that must've been tough."
Alejandro gave him a smug smile. "Best fifty dollars I ever won in a bet."
Zoey raised an eyebrow. "That is an impressive story, but I still think that saddlebag had to be bigger than they usually are."
Alejandro chuckled, "Oh chica, you'd be surprised."
Zoey opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off by a yelp.
Cameron came running over in a panic. "Hide me! I accidentally intercepted Tyler's football toss to Lightning, and now Lightning's out to pound me!" He looked over his shoulder fearfully, and quickly retreated behind Mike and Zoey's bodies. They shifted position to conceal him behind them.
"Where are you, you little catch stealer!" Lightning ran by, clearly ticked off. Alejandro and the couple watched him with their eyes wide.
Dawn hummed as she ran her fingers over the hand outstretched in front of her. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
"I wouldn't get my hopes up for the grade you wish to receive on your English essay." She said to the teenage girl in front of her. The girl frowned sadly, got to her feet, and walked away. The next person behind the girl took the empty seat in front of Dawn, and held out her hand.
Topher stood at the back of the small line as the person asked Dawn to look into the future for the answer to their question. He stuck his hands in his pockets, and rocked back and forth on his heels idly. Just as he was about to rock forward a fifth time, a hand grabbed his arm. The young man looked over, and saw Izzy smiling at him in a creepy way.
"Truth or Dare's being played! Come on, let's go!" She pulled him away from the line, despite his protests.
Junior had recovered from his lovely encounter with Carrie. He walking by the staircase to the second floor, looking for more people for the game, when a voice caught his attention.
"You there, smallish being."
Junior pointed to himself as Max walked up.
"Yes you," Max said, "how would you like to join me in a wondrous occasion?"
Junior was getting a creepy vibe from this little man, but decided to interact with him anyway. "Depending on what it is."
"How would you like the marvelous opportunity to set yourself up for glory and riches amongst your wildest dreams?" Max smiled wide, eyes staring wide and ferociously.
Junior side stepped away from Max, "Get to your point already."
"I want you assist me in my quest to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" Max manically laughed. He then stopped suddenly, "but I can not do so, without loyal minions and that's where you'll come in."
"Yeah," Junior said looking around for an escape, "thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass."
Max gasped, "You wish to give up the spot to sit by a future world leaders feet. Well then," he scoffed, "I'll let you reconsider the proposal. Just imagine, everyone bowing down to me." He smiled wide again. "And knowing you're one of my henchmen will put fear in all who oppose us."
"Yeah, I don't really... feel like I'd be a good sidekick to... that," Junior started to back away.
"Well suit yourself," Max scoffed walking away. "Don't cry to me when your underlings turn to me when the time of my glory comes." He went off to see if anyone else would be his minion.
Junior just shook his head as Max disappeared into the crowd of people. "Now what was I doing." He thought for a moment to get his memory back to the task at hand, "Oh yeah, finding people for truth or dare."
"Did someone like say Truth or Dare?"
Junior turned to see Geoff walk up. "Yup, Brody and I are looking for people who want to play," Junior answered.
"Sweet, sign me up for a round or two later," Geoff said, winking and making a movement with his hand. "I have to check in with a few more people about things, and I'll be sure to have a round or two."
"That sound sweet," Junior smiled at Geoff. Junior told Geoff where the game would be before Geoff walked off. "Now who to ask next?" He looked around and his eyes fell on a dark haired girl, that being Heather, "Maybe her."
Duncan's stomach was full, and now he was heading into the dark living room to browse, "I wonder if they have a DVD player or a blu-ray disc?"
"Jesus is watching you."
Duncan froze upon hearing the voice. After a moment, he said it was just his mind playing tricks on himself .
"Jesus is watching you, watch out."
"Huh, what?" Duncan spun around, not seeing anyone. "Who there?"
"Jesus is watching you. Be careful."
Duncan demanded to know who that was, but he got the same answer. "Jesus is watching you." The delinquent backed up into something. He spun around to find a sheet covering something. He heard the voice coming from underneath it. "Jesus is watching you. Get out now while you still can."
Duncan tore the sheet off to reveal a bird cage, sitting inside was a parrot. "Was that you?"
"Yup. Names Moses," the parrot answered.
"What kind of family names their parrot Moses?" Duncan questioned.
"The same kind of family that names their Rottweiler Jesus," The parrot answered.
"Hey Crimson," Ennui said.
"Yeah, Ennui?" Crimson asked.
"You perhaps, wanna see what the attic looks like? Maybe pet the bats while we're up there," Ennui said.
"That sounds like a very creepy idea," Crimson answered. "Lets do it."
Before they could move, Izzy bounced her way in front of them. "Hey Frankenstein and Vampire lady, come play Truth or Dare, will yah?" She grabs their hands and drags them in the direction the game was.
"So, Scott, do you have an 2's?" Brick asked Scott.
"Nope," Scott smirked back. He looked down at his hand and saw the two of hearts clear as day in front. "Go fish."
"Dang," Brick sighed, picking a card, "yet again no match." He looked up at the cards next to Scott, "you soldier, are like a master fisher. You must tell us your techniques." Motioning to the numerous pairs Scott had accumulated.
"It's a trademark secret," Scott snickered. He looked at Trent, "So got any 7's?" Trent sighed and handed Scott the 7 of diamonds. "That makes 12 pairs now," Scott chuckled.
"I wonder how he does it?" Brick asked in amazement.
Sammy was feeling the pressure of Amy's weight on her. Amy weight nothing, but after a while, having any kind of human on your back would hurt the spine. That's what Sammy was feeling. She sighed, as she looked at the ground, "I wish Jasmine would have remembered me."
"Shut up, Sparemy," Amy snarled at her. She turned back to Taylor, "Where was I? Oh yeah, when we were born. Me and Mom had to wait like, hours for my sister to be born."
"It was...17 minutes..." Sammy corrected, between gasps.
"Whatever," Amy snarled, "Don't interrupt me, or else I'll shave your head again, when we get home."
"Man, you have to teach me your skills," Taylor said impressed.
"I'll be happy to teach you all youuhooo..." Amy felt herself tumbling to the ground. From the ground, she looked up to see Shawn helping Sammy up as Jasmine glared at her.
"Your sister isn't an armchair, you know," Jasmine said, "if you're not kinder, you won't make it to prom year."
"Your threats don't scare me," Amy said, grabbing Sammy's arm and pulling her back.
Jasmine grabbed Sammy's other arm and pulled her back. "We're going away now." With that, Jasmine led Shawn and Sammy away.
"No fair," Amy yelled, "you can't just take my chair away."
"Sucks to be you," Taylor snorted with a laugh.
Brody looked around the living room.
"Okay, is this everybody?" He asked the gathered players for Truth or Dare.
Along with Brody, Junior, and Izzy, the people playing Truth or Dare included Carrie, Devin, Rock, Spud, Topher, Heather, Crimson, Ennui, Sanders, MacArthur, and Geoff. While the majority were either recruited by Junior or Izzy, Brody had convinced Sanders and MacArthur to play. MacArthur in particular was eager to play the game. Geoff wasn't in the room at the moment, but as Junior had told Brody beforehand, Geoff would drop by to play a round or two in between party hosting duties.
Izzy nodded eagerly. "Uh huh! Now, let's play!"
Brody smiled brightly. "Sweet! Okay, to kick things off," he held up an empty soda bottle, "I'm going to put this in the middle of our circle, and spin it to decide who makes the first move." He placed the bottle on the floor. "Ready? Spin!" He twisted it with a flick of his wrist, and the bottle spun around.
Junior watched in nervous anticipation, dreading that he would be picked to go first. Being the youngest player, and the youngest person at the party, he did not want that kind of attention.
Heather, meanwhile, watched the bottle with scrutiny. She had only agreed to play to make other people look like idiots, and she almost dared the bottle to select her to start the game.
The bottle finally came to a stop, and the bottle's opening pointed at... Topher!
Topher pumped his fist. "Yes! I get first pick!" He glanced at Brody, who was retrieving the bottle. "Brody, Truth or Dare?"
Slightly surprised at being picked so soon, Brody regained his smile, and answered, "Dare, dude."
Topher grinned knowingly. "Then I dare you to go upstairs, and take a picture with your phone of Stephanie and Ryan making out."
"Sure thing, dude." Brody nodded, and got to his feet. "Back in a flash!"
Duncan muttered to himself. "Stupid bird, stupid Internet jokes. To think I almost believed it."
The delinquent's heart had almost begun to race when the bird mentioned the dog, but then he remembered that he had not seen any dog things of any kind in the neighbors' backyard, and did not see a dog bowl or something in the kitchen. He also remembered that he had heard the joke about naming a dog Jesus, and became angry that he had almost believed a bird that only repeated what it heard.
As he went to the living room, he passed by an antique-looking vase, glancing at it curiously.
He entered the living room, and found that not only did the neighbors have a huge flatscreen TV, they also had a blu-ray disc player. Duncan grinned darkly. A devious, criminal plan forming in his mind.
Trent sighed, "And that makes fourteen in a row."
Scott smiled smugly. "Hey, I can't help it if I'm such a natural at this game."
Cody frowned at Scott's tone, and put down his cards. "Okay, I didn't want to say anything because I'm nice like that, but fourteen pairs in a row? He has to be cheating."
Brick raised his brow skeptically. "Come to think of it, it is rather odd that he keeps leaning over to readjust his shoe, or drops one of his cards on the floor."
Trent's eyes widened in realization.
"Wait a minute, his shoe!" Trent exclaimed.
All three boys turned their heads, and glared at Scott. Scott, for his part, put his cards down on the table and crossed his arms.
"You can't prove anything." He sneered.
The three boys continued to glare at him, and slowly rose from their seats. Scott's confident face morphed into one of fear, and he let out an 'eep!'
Brody made his way up to the second floor, and quickly found Stephanie and Ryan in Geoff's parents' bedroom. They laid on the bed, engaging in a heavy make-out session, not noticing anything else at the party going on. Brody ducked around the doorway so they didn't see him, and started to guffaw quietly. Taking out his phone, he peered back around the corner, and held his phone up with the camera function on. He snapped a picture just as the couple took a breath, and began another long series of mini-kisses. They didn't even hear his phone click. The picture taken, Brody scurried away from the bedroom, and back downstairs.
"Got it!" Brody announced as he re-entered the living room, waving his phone for the group to see.
"Let us see! Let us see!" Topher grabbed for the phone, and viewed the picture. Some of the others gathered around, and had a good laugh about the couple's make-out.
Brody pocketed his phone, and turned to Rock. "Rock, truth or dare?"
"Dare, man!" Rock answered.
"I dare you to... drink a mix of all the sodas." Brody dared.
"A soda mix, huh? I can do that. Be back in a sec." Rock got up from his seat, and walked into the kitchen.
Over on the dance floor, Josee and Jacques danced together in perfect synchronization, showing up anyone who dared to set foot on it.
Kitty, having observed the pair dancing a while, rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I hate how swelled their heads are. Just because they're a professional skating team doesn't mean they can rub their skills in our faces."
"We don't really mind it," Kitty looked over to see Mickey, and his brother Jay standing beside her. "We're pretty used to this kind of thing."
"Well, I do mind." Kitty scowled at the Ice Dancers. "Look at them, they think they're so talented, and they're hogging the dance floor all to themselves. That makes this party less fun for a lot of us."
Jay spoke up, "They'll get tired of dancing eventually. They can't keep this up for much longer, can they?"
"I don't know, but I don't plan on finding out. Come on." Kitty grabbed Mickey's hand, to his horror.
He began to stammer, "Wha-what are you doing?"
Kitty smirked at him. "We are going to bring the fun back to the dance floor." She pulled him out onto the dance floor, and began dancing with him. Since Mickey was caught off-guard, she led him through the dance.
Josee and Jacques noticed the pair, and glared at them.
"Hey, get off our dance floor!" Josee snarled.
Kitty cast a glance over her shoulder. "It's not just your dance floor, this dance floor belongs to everyone at the party."
On the sidelines, Beth cheered. "Whoo! You tell them, Kitty!"
Grateful for the support, Kitty looked at the others standing on the outside of the dance floor. "Come on, guys! Josee and Jacques can't kick everybody off of this. Have some fun!"
Lindsay squealed, and grabbed Tyler's arm, taking him by surprise. He had been content standing with her since he and Lightning stopped tossing the football around. "Come on, Tyler! Let's go!" Lindsay tugged Tyler out onto the floor, and Beth followed, flying solo.
Also on the sidelines were Tom and Jen, who shrugged their shoulders, and joined the fun. Ella, Mike, Zoey, and Cameron all went to dance as well. Despite his reluctance, Jay joined in as well to keep an eye on his brother. Up at his DJ system, Beardo smiled, and put on tunes livelier than the previous ones. He had been waiting for more people than just the Ice Dancers to dance.
"Isn't this fun?" Kitty asked Mickey as they danced among the crowd.
"So many people, so many germs I could catch." He whimpered under his breath.
Back up on the roof, Sammy now sat with Jasmine and Shawn. She smiled at both of them, sipping her cup of soda. "Thanks for rescuing me from Amy. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep doing that."
"Sure thing," Shawn nodded, "though, sorry we didn't notice sooner."
"Yeah, that was completely our fault." Jasmine added.
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you found me at all. Being down there was no fun at all compared to sitting up here with you guys." Sammy dismissed the apology.
Down below, Sugar stood in her bikini with Leonard and Tammy in their respective swimwear. They were standing on the edge of a full pool.
"Hey, at least three of you peoples get out! It's our turn to swim!" Sugar protested.
Leonard rested a hand on the pageant queen's shoulder. "Milady, it's fine. We don't need to swim right now."
"But we've been waiting for some space in this thing for like half an hour! I am not enjoying this party without a dip in the fancy pool!" Sugar declared forcefully.
"I could play the Ominous Odor song spell," Tammy offered while holding up her ocarina, "that would make everyone leave the pool."
Sugar swatted at Tammy. "Aw, quit with your stupid nonsense. You're not a wizard like the Wizard." She turned to the pool. "I'll just clear some space for us myself." She walked over to the diving board, and shoved the next person that was going to use it out of the way. "Outta my way, Sugar's got business." She stepped on the diving board, and began to bounce on it. On her final bounce, she finally flew up into the air, and curled into a cannonball. "SUGAR HOLLA!"
Everyone in the pool screamed, and got out before Sugar splashed in. The backsplash spread out a good five feet in all directions, and effectively drenched everyone in the backyard. The people who were in the backyard, but didn't plan on swimming cried out in shock at being splashed. The trio of Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy were safe on the roof. Luckily for them, the backsplash didn't rise high enough to hit them.
"Hot dawg, it worked!" Sugar gleefully exclaimed when she came up for air, and waved at Leonard and Tammy. "Come on in, y'all! The water's great!"
Leonard and Tammy moved to join their friend while the other swimmers stood back, and stared at them.
After a bit, Justin finally suggested to Katie and Sadie, "Maybe we should move this inside."
"Okay!" The wannabe twins agreed, and followed the model indoors.
Up on the roof, the trio laughed at what just occurred.
"Yeah, it's definitely better up here." Sammy giggled, and the laughter died down when Lightning of all people climbed up onto the roof.
"Hey, you guys see a little nerd in a red hoodie? Lightning needs to pound him!" The jock asked. The three shook their heads. "No? Dang. Lightning climbed up here for nothing, then." Grudgingly, he made his descent back down.