JoJo raced down the stairs, only to find Zoey standing in the doorway to the kitchen, her mouth agape.
"What?" He asked, smirking as he came up to her side.
She broke into a grin. "It's like a friggin roller-coaster!"
JoJo looked into the kitchen and realized that she was talking about the long, winding table in the center of the room. The chairs had already begun rotating, (so that each child got a chance to tell their mother and father about their day.)
"Where do I sit?" Zoey asked, looking around the kitchen.
"Oh… Oh! I'll get you a chair." JoJo said, rushing out of the room to find an extra seat. He returned five seconds later with a chair exactly the same as all the 99 others. He pushed it around to the near end of the humongous, winding table and placed it beside his seat.
"Okay, now we need to hurry and jump in them before—" JoJo started, just as the chairs rotated in front of them.
"Crap…" He muttered, beginning to walk quickly to catch up with them. Zoey followed him, a small smirk on her face.
They reached their chairs again and quickly jumped into them, just as they began to move again.
"Okay…" Zoey said, looking down at the chair she was sitting in, then back at JoJo. "Now how in the world do we eat?"
--
Dinner passed quickly for the two, and pretty soon Heady—JoJo's youngest sister—was already finished with her turn. Meaning one thing… JoJo was next.
He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed as his chair rolled to a stop in front of his father.
"J-dawg! What's happenin? What's the word? Anything new? Er… Fo sizzle!" He asked, attempting to be 'cool' by holding his fingers in an upside-down peace sign.
JoJo heard Zoey snort into her drink from beside him and sunk down lower in his seat, his cheeks glowing pink through his pale fur.
Zoey attempted to cover up her laugh by fake-coughing, which caught the Mayor's attention. Ned glanced over at her, as if noticing she was there for the first time. He looked from JoJo to Zoey, and then back to JoJo.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh….. So this is the girl you told me about! Um, Zoey, right?"
Zoey nodded, a smirk rising to her lips. Ned leaned over beside JoJo and nudged him in the side. "She's nice, JoJo. Definitely a keeper!" He whispered loudly.
JoJo's eyes grew wide, and he scowled at his father, his cheeks growing redder. "Dad!"
Ned straightened up, adjusting his tie in the process. "Alright JoJo, now I have something serious to say before your time's up."
JoJo, not really listening, watched the timer with anticipation. 7 seconds to go…
"Now, I understand that you like 'inventing' as a hobby, and you're very good at it, but we really need to begin thinking about your future a little more, instead of spending all of your time in the observatory. As you know, to be Mayor you need exceptional grades, and honors in your classes—"
4… JoJo's shoulder's slumped. His father was doing it again…
"—and I think we need to really spend more time together, you know, so you can learn how to handle the ropes better!"
2… JoJo couldn't help but roll his eyes. He focused his attention back on the clock, trying his best to act like he wasn't listening.
"So I think that you need to come to work with me next Saturday, what do you think?"
JoJo looked into his father's beaming face, just as the timer dinged. He leapted out of his chair, signaling for Zoey to follow.
"I think… Time's up." He replied, walking away and not even noticing the hurt look on his father's face.
"O-Oh… Okay." His face suddenly lit up in a huge smile. "Maybe some other day! Peace out homie!"
JoJo slapped his forehead at that last remark, and began stalking up the stairway, Zoey right behind him.
He led Zoey back into his room, slamming the door shut and walking over to his bed, laying down on it with a frustrated sigh and covering his eyes with his hands.
Zoey still stood by the door, a concerned look on her face. "Your dad's… um… really nice, JoJo."
JoJo scoffed, not looking at her. She walked over and sat down beside him. "What's wrong?"
He lowered his hands to his sides and stared up at the ceiling. "…I don't. want. to. be. Mayor."
"Why don't you just tell him that?"
Jojo sighed and sat up, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "Do you know how much that would crush him?! He has his heart set on me following in his footsteps!"
Zoey merely looked at him. "Jojo, your dad loves you. He'll accept whatever you decide to do with your future. Besides, it is your future we're talking about. Not his."
JoJo blinked, his face softening a little. He looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly in his lap. "I just—I just don't want to disappoint him. I spent 4 years not even talking to him because of that."
"JoJo, that's crazy. You need to talk to him." She placed her hand on top of his, making him look up. "He'll understand."
JoJo stared at her, looking into her bright blue eyes. Finally, he nodded slowly, looking back down at his hands.
"So you'll talk to him?"
JoJo sighed. "Yeah… I guess."
They fell silent, Zoey staring all around is room once again, and JoJo merely looking down at the floor.
"Sooo…" Zoey said, finally breaking the silence. "Is this what you do all the time? Just sit up here and mope?" She laughed, showing that she was just kidding.
JoJo looked up, sending her a playful scowl, then he smiled. "No, usually I go up to the old observatory and try to—well, to forget everything."
"The old observatory? You mean… the one with all the cool musical stuff in it that helped save Whoville?"
JoJo nodded. "I made them."
Zoey's chin nearly hit the floor as soon as he got that out of his mouth. "Are you serious? You made that? How?"
He shrugged. "I like to invent things."
"What do you invent?"
JoJo smiled. Nobody usually took this much interest in his hobbies. "Mainly musical instruments. Big musical instruments."
"Can you show me?" Zoey was now jumping up and down like an excited little girl.
JoJo thought for a minute. Nobody had every step foot into his secret sanctuary. Well, except for his dad, and Mya on some occasions.
"Sure, come on."
--
"Are you sure your mom doesn't mind you being late?"
Zoey laughed. "I'm sure, JoJo. I swear, you worry too much."
He shrugged, tossing up the small rock he was holding. "You never know with parents."
They came up to the end of the old worn pathway, which hung precociously over the edge of a cliff. Zoey looked over the edge of the cliff and muttered, "…whoa…"
JoJo smirked, taking her hand and helping her in the bucket. He reached down to retrieve the umbrella, then opened it. The wind caught in the umbrella, sending them forward. As they neared the massive boulder swinging towards them, JoJo tossed the rock onto its surface, sending the bucket barreling upwards.
They leapt out of the bucket and onto a large wooden plank. Zoey looked behind them and noticed a large rubber band.
"Oh, nononononononononono! No way!" She said, looking back at him with wide eyes.
JoJo smirked. "We can't go back now, we're already up here."
Zoey gulped. "O-okay. Well… You go first."
He shook his head and pointed down at the foggy pit below them. "At the same time. Otherwise, you're going to fall down there."
He jumped onto the unicycle before them, pulling Zoey on with him. He heard her whimper slightly as he began pedaling it backwards, resting into the big rubber band.
"Okay, now hold on…" He said softly, resting one hand on the lever beside them, and one around Zoey's waist.
He pulled the lever towards them, sending them downwards and into the rubber band. Zoey let out a loud gasp, wrapping both of her arms around JoJo's waist. Suddenly, they were flung into the air, zooming upwards into the night sky.
Zoey screamed. Loud. She was clinging to JoJo for dear life, her eyes crammed shut. By the time they slowed down slightly and landed safely on the narrow stone steps, she was still screaming.
"Zoey. Zoey! ZOEY!"
Zoey stopped screaming and looked around timidly, taking in slow, calming breaths. "Please, please… promise me you'll build another way to get up here."
JoJo laughed and helped her up the stairs. He led her to the big, red wooden door, and she merely looked puzzled.
"How are we supposed to get in? It's locked."
JoJo shook his head and laughed, reaching over and pushing open the smaller door built within the big door. He allowed her through first, then stepped in after her.
All the lights were dimmed as they stepped in, and all you could see was the moonlight shining against a few metal pieces. JoJo pulled a lever and multiple spotlights shone down from the ceiling, illuminating all the colorful instruments around them.
"Wow…" Zoey said in amazement, looking around at everything.
JoJo smirked. "And you haven't even seen them in action yet." With that he took her by the hand and ran up to something that looked like a huge carousel. He turned it, and mutiple tubes started to blow air into glass bottles, making different sounds. JoJo then flipped a switch and fans turned on, making kites soar above them, and something that looked like a huge violin made out of saws started to play. He grabbed a hold to one of the kites and jumped off the pedestal they were standing on. Zoey tightened her grip on his hand, making him look over at her. She was smiling and laughing at the same time. Just the look on her face made him grin even wider.
They passed by a large container-looking thing and JoJo pulled a lever connected to it, causing it to spill out thousands of marbles. The marbles fell down a winding ladder like thing, and both JoJo and Zoey leapt from the kite and onto the ladder.
"Waaaaahooooo!" Zoey yelled as they began zooming down the spiraling ladder. JoJo laughed and let out a whoop of his own.
They landed on another platform, and JoJo proceeded in pushing two humongous rubber-band balls off the edge of the floor, making them pound against giant trampolines below like drums. They jumped off after them, grabbing ropes and swinging onto two gigantic trampolines below. They landed onto one of the huge trampolines and JoJo pulled Zoey to her feet and began running to get out of the way of the giant rubber-band ball. The ball fell and caused them to soar hugh into the air, both landing in a small bucket. JoJo pulled another lever and they were both sent upwards, at last landing on a small platform above all the inventions.
JoJo gazed around at all his handiwork, a huge smile on his face. His gaze finally rested on Zoey, who looked as equally as happy as he felt.
"So… What do you think?" He asked.
Zoey shook her head slowly, her grin widening. "It's… it's absolutely amazing, JoJo." She replied quietly.
JoJo nodded and looked down shyly before finally looking back at all the inventions around him. They were still playing, all the different sounds meshing together as one. It was really a beautiful sight. He looked back at Zoey and smiled.
But it wasn't the only one.
