Friday, December 19, 2014 - Six Days Until Christmas
...
The good news: School was cut early, so we got on winter break about four hours earlier than expected.
The bad news: School was cut early because there was a gas leak in the gym, meaning that the dance would not take place.
Shannon looked stunned and upset at the news. "Oh, come on... The one thing I was looking forwards to with this school was that dance, and then they cancel it?"
We were sitting in the Hussarya's car, driving home from school. "I'm sorry, Shannon," I apologized, rubbing her back. I had never imagined I would be comforting Shannon Harper over the cancellation of a school dance.
"It's just a bit of gas! Can't they just vacuum the air or something?"
"Erm, I don't think so..."
"Why not? They don't evacuate the school whenever a boy in gym class passes gas!"
"I really don't think it's the same thing. The gas from the leak is probably toxic."
"And the boy's gases aren't?"
"This is the weirdest conversation I have ever heard," Andrea commented, breaking up Shannon's and my little argument.
"What about that one between Sam and your Uncle Bill?" Mrs. Hussarya asked. Andrea nodded her head, snorting.
"Alright, this is the second weirdest conversation I have ever heard."
"What about the - "
"Fine, this is one of the weirdest conversations I have ever heard! Better?"
"Much better."
I smiled at the two Hussarya's conversation, which was one of the weirdest I had ever heard, but Shannon's expression didn't change. I sighed and sank back into the seat, wondering how I could help my friend get her romantic night...
Then I remembered another romantic night.
"Okay, what's going on ?" Sally had asked us, amused, as the residents of Radiator Springs, not including Doc (who wasn't present at all), Red or Lizzie, who were on Lizzie's front porch, all crowded in front of Ramone's. Mater cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the new Lightning McQueen!"
We stepped apart as an engine revved, letting Lightning show off his newly redone car, and himself, too. He was wearing a pair of casual jeans, a sweatshirt from Lizzie's shop with Radiator Springs written on it, but he still had his racing hat on. Sally's hand flew to her mouth as he pulled out of Ramone's parking lot.
"What do you think? Radiator Springs looks pretty good on me," Lightning said as he drive his car around Sally, who was amazed.
"I'll say, Rrr, ka-chow," she laughed. "You're going to fit right in in California. Oh my goodness, it looks like you helped everyone in town."
"Well," Lightning said as he cut the engine and climbed out with more ease than I could have ever pulled off," everyone but one."
Sally's eyes widened as he said in a loud voice," Hey, is it getting dark out?"
"What did he say?" Lizzie asked no one in particular, looking around in confusion. Crazy old lady...
"Let me say that again. Is it getting dark out?" he repeated in a louder voice.
"Now what was I supposed to do after that?" Lizzie murmured, and Red chuckled and turned the radio on.
All around us, the old neon lights flickered on as "Sh-Boom", I think it was called (seriously didn't know why Lightning picked that song - what about some good old Selena Gomez?) played. Sally looked around in complete surprise as the town was transformed. It was like something out of a movie.
Everyone started dancing or just walking down the newly paved road. I nicked a cupcake off of Flo's tray and went to eat it in a doorway as I observed everyone else. I wished that Doc was there. Maybe he and I would do one of those father/daughter dances, but he had been unnaturally bitter ever since Lightning had come to town. I frowned as I remembered finding out about his racing history, wondering why he had never told me, but I shook myself out of those thoughts. Tonight was a night to enjoy.
I looked at Lightning and Sally, who were dancing and laughing under a neon light, and I smiled widely as they leaned in closer. Too bad I didn't have my iPod on me then...
"What are you grinning about?"
I looked at Andrea, forcing the grin from the memory of that one wonderful night to slid off my face. "Nothing," I lied. Maybe I didn't know how to set up a romantic night for Shannon and Hunter, but I knew someone who could.
...
"You want me to help you get Shannon and Hunter on a date?" Lightning asked me, looking up from some racing paperwork he was doing. I nodded.
"Yeah, I figured you know more than me about romance than me. I've only read about it in books," I said, blushing a bit as I let my eyes scan Lightning's office. I was in his new racing stadium, in Lightning's office. It was fairly bare, except for the files drawer by Lightning's desk, the desk itself, and the red walls. The walls had several pictures hanging on them - one of Lightning and Sally sitting in a booth together at Flo's, laughing and talking, oblivious to the camera, one of Lightning, Doc, and me standing by Lightning's car at a race, one of most of the original Radiator Springs residents, and another of Lightning and Sally, this time posing for the camera. I had to admit I was surprised the office wasn't all messed up yet - offices don't seem to be Lightning's thing. I had figured it would have looked like a tornado a blown through it by now, but it looked fairly nice. Sally probably had something to do with that.
"You've never dated before?" Lightning asked, looking surprised. I shook my head and looked back at Lightning. "Wow, I would have thought some guy would have asked you out by now."
"Oh, I've been asked out before, but just not by the right guy," I informed Lightning somewhat defensively, not mentioning that it had only been one guy, Aidan. However, he asked me out about ten times a month, so he had to count for more than one person.
"Okay. Moving on from that, maybe we could get Hunter in Radiator Springs, and have a sort of surprise party for Shannon tonight in the streets, with the neon lights and all," Lightning plotted. I facepalmed.
"How did I not think of that?" I muttered, and Lightning laughed.
"It takes the mind of a genius," he said in a superior tone, tapping the side of his head. I looked around.
"What genius? I don't see a genius."
Lightning snorted. "Very funny, Kelly. Anyway, I hope that helps."
"Yeah, it does. Thank you," I said and strode out of the office. So I just had to organize a party... Great.
...
We already had cookies from Wednesday night, so dessert was taken care of. I asked Flo what party food we could have, and she instantly went into Flo-mode.
"I could make pizza... I'll need yeast, flour, salt, sugar..." Flo walked into her pantry.
"Do you have any chips, too?" I asked.
"Nope, but someone could drive to Walmart and get some." I could tell Flo wasn't too pleased about the idea of people eating something she herself hadn't seen being made, but she had bigger concerns.
"Alright, I'll get someone to do that. Do you need any help with the pizza?"
"I'm alright, honey, you go on and continue making the other preparations," Flo said as she continued to rustle around her pantry.
"Okay, thanks, Flo," I said, and I strode out of the kitchen to my next stop, Ramone's, where I talked to Ramone about decorations. Next, I had to visit DJ, much to my distaste. I didn't think too much of any of the DRH, except for 'Snot Rod'. He seemed pretty okay to me, and I truthfully didn't know why he hung out with the other three DRH. Anyway, I went to DJ's house and asked if he could be in charge of the party's music. He accepted happily, and I moved onto my next visit.
By six o'clock, everything was planned. I had Hunter and the rest of the guests on Main Street, which was beautifully decorated, thanks to Ramone. Tinsel hung across the streets, connected by street lamps, which had multi-colored lights running up and around them. Large paper snowflakes dangled from the tinsel, door canopies, and anything dangling over seven feet. On the sidewalks were tables groaning from the weight of the food on them, courtesy of Flo. There were pizzas of all kinds, chips, cookies, and punch. Also on the sidewalk was small stage with a karaoke machine that I was dying to use, but first, I had to alert Andrea that she could let Shannon come.
I sent my friend a text, which she quickly replied, informing me that they would be right there. A minute later, the two walked down the street. Shannon was staring at the decorations in surprise and confusion. She looked through the happily chatting crowd and our eyes met. Shannon's eyes widened and she weaved through the crowd, which was actually pretty big. I grinned as she pushed her way next to me.
"Oh my gosh, Kelly, did you do this?" she asked me in utter shock. I nodded happily.
"Do you like it? I know it's not the dance, but - " I was interrupted by Shannon wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me.
"It's amazing, thanks so much."
"No problem. Now if you are done thanking me, there's someone who would like to see you," I said as I stepped to the right, allowing Hunter to come into her view. Shannon's mouth fell open.
"Hunter?"
"Hey," he greeted his date happily. He reached into his front jeans pocket and brought out a small pink package. He opened it, presenting Shannon with a pretty lilac corsage. "Your favorite flower is lilac, right?"
Shannon nodded, speechless, as Hunter slipped the corsage on her wrist. "Wanna dance?" he offered.
"Sure," Shannon squeaked out, then clamped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing at the girly reaction. Hunter laughed and led her into the streets to dance. People were crowded into the streets as they jumped and danced around, laughing and talking. My inner dancer wanted to get out there and show people how you really dance, but I refrained, instead going over to Lightning to thank him for helping me set the party up.
"Hey, thanks for the help with this," I said, gesturing to the partying people in the street. Lightning smiled at me as he plucked a cookie off a tray on the table by him.
"It's no problem," he replied, and I hugged him before I walked into the crowd.
"Hello, there."
"Aidan, go AWAY!" I growled loudly as I whipped around only to find myself facing Finn, who looked amused at his trick. "What the - How did - What?"
Finn laughed. "I was informed about your relationship with Mr. Spencer, and decided to us your feelings towards him for some personal amusement."
I facepalmed. The idiot had mimicked Aidan's voice... Normally, I would have found voice manipulation cool, but not this time. "I expected more from you, McMissile."
Finn raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Such as?"
"Not acting like Lightning."
From behind us, Lightning did a spit take on his punch, nearly taking out an unappreciative tourist. "What?"
Finn grinned as he looked at Lightning, who was looking at me incredulously. I smiled innocently at him. "Did I ever mention that you're one of my best friends, Lightning?"
Lightning rolled his eyes. "Did I ever tell you that you are incredibly sassy?" he asked before quickly rushing away into the crowd - a good choice. My mouth popped open in disbelief.
"Oh, no you didn't!" I shrieked, trying to follow him, but being blocked by an older couple who were trying to make it across the street without being flattened by the party-goers. Fuming, I stalked back over to Finn. "I can't believe he sunk that low."
"It wasn't that low."
"Are you on my side or not?"
"I'm on my side."
I rolled my eyes, but I was grinning. "I think I'm going to go get that karaoke started up," I announced, turning away from the secret agent. "See you later."
I strode towards the karaoke machine, which DJ was manning. "Hey, what songs do you have?"
"We have thousands of songs! What's your favorite?" DJ asked, inspecting the karaoke machine lovingly, like he himself had made it.
"Do you have Jingle Bells Rock? By Brian Setzer?" I asked as I hopped onto the stage, smiling. DJ nodded, also grinning.
"Sure do!" He announced as he stopped the song that was playing. "Hey, everyone, who's having fun?"
Everyone cheered and clapped. "I can't hear you!" Naturally, everyone cheered louder. "Still can't hear you!" This cheer sounded as loud as the first to me, but DJ seemed to think it was loud enough. "Great! Glad to hear it! Now please give it up for our first karaoke volunteer, Kelly Hudson!"
Everyone clapped politely as I took the microphone. "Thanks, DJ."
"Any time," he said happily as he started the song. I smiled. Maybe DJ wasn't too bad, after all.
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock, jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring. Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun, now the jingle hop has begun!" I started out a little softly and shyly, but after a few chords, I became more comfortable with my position on the stage and started to really rock out. "What a bright time, it's the right time, to rock the night away! Jingle bell time is a swell time, to go gliding in a one-horse sleigh. Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet, jingle around the clock. Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet. That's the jingle bell, that's the jingle bell, that's the jingle bell rock!"
The crowd cheered for me, clapping, as I, red-faced with excitement, thanked them for listening and handed the microphone back to Dj. "Thanks," I thanked him. He nodded his head at me.
"Any time."
I jumped off the stage and reentered the crowd, but instead of slipping through it unnoticed as I had before, people would congratulate me and clap me on the back. I thanked them, my mouth almost hurting from grinning so much. Suddenly, someone's hand grabbed me from around the waist and my feet went flying in the air.
"Lightning!" I shrieked in glee, my happy mood making everything so much more cheerful and laughable, as my hands flew on top of his, trying to find balance.
Lightning laughed and set me down. "You're getting heavy," he teased, but I knew he didn't mean it. "Great job up there, you did really well."
"Thanks. I had a fun time."
"I bet."
"Is this what it's like being famous?" I asked as another person congratulated me.
"Yeah, pretty much, just more fangirls," Lightning said, making a sour face.
"What's wrong with fangirls?" I asked, confused. I was personally a fangirl of many things - Logan Lerman, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Hunger Games, Logan Lerman, Divergent... Did I mention Logan Lerman? SQUEEEEEE!
"Nothing, until they try to kiss you in front of the paparazzi and your girlfriend," Sally informed me as she emerged from the crowd. "Nice job with that karaoke."
"What? And thanks."
"True story. Not a good one, but true," Sally said, not looking particularly pleased about the memory as she slipped her hand through Lightning's and squeezed it. Lightning kissed her on the forehead and pulled her close, and she smiled at him.
"At least that one didn't try to steal my wallet," he pointed out. My mouth fell open in slightly amused disbelief.
"Who tried to steal your wallet?" Lightning shrugged.
"Random, squealy teenage girl. At least, I think she was going for my wallet... I hope she was going for the wallet."
"Ooookay, that... Is..." I tried to find the right word, biting the inside of my cheek as I mentally dug around for it. "Disturbing." There, found it.
Lightning nodded, then looked at Sally as a slower, romantic Christmas song came on. It was by Bridget Mendler, featuring Shane Harper (no, he's not related to Shannon, sadly), called "My Song For You."
"You want to go dance?" he asked his girlfriend, who smiled happily and accepted. "Okay, then, bye, Kelly."
"Bye," I said as they went to find a spot on the dance floor and started slow-dancing. I smiled at the happy couple as someone grasped my shoulder from behind. I squealed a bit in surprise and turned to see Doc, who withdrew his hand.
"Sorry," he apologized as I calmed down. "Just wanted to say you did great up there."
I smiled at him, almost wincing. Oooh, I wouldn't be able to smile for ages after tonight. My smile muscles were cramping up. "Thanks."
Doc offered his hand for me, and I took it, and we also started dancing. I looked around a bit. Shannon and Hunter were both smiling softly and talking happily with each other, Holley and Mater were sitting in a doorway, leaning on each other and silently but contently watching everyone else dance, Lightning and Sally were lost in there own world, and Finn was trying to get away from some crazy (apparently single) lady that must have gotten into a bunch of eggnog. I looked back up at Doc and smiled at him. He smiled back as the song drew to a close.
"We've got mistletoe (mistletoe) and firelight (firelight), on this cold December night. The snow outside will set the mood as I sing my song (sing my song), sing my song for yoooou."
...
Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter.
I've got some exciting news for my Different fans! I have discovered an app that will let me download Youtube videos to my computer, and I am using some videos to make a (drumroll, please) book trailer for Different! I'm super excited! It won't be entirely accurate, but so far, I have been unsuccessful in finding a movie in which humans and talking cars interact with each other, so I'll just have to make do. I'll work on it over the holidays, and I'll give you my Youtube username when it's done so you can look it up f you want to.
Please review, and thanks for reading!
Kitty
Citations:
Jingle Bell Rock: Setzer, Brian. "Jingle Bell Rock." By Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe. Dig That Crazy Christmas. Surfdog, 2005. Audio CD.
My Song For You: Mendler, Bridget and Harper, Shane. "My Song For You." By Kari Kimmel and Scott Krippayne. Disney Channel Holiday Playlist. Walt Disney Records, 2012. Audio CD.