Only two more chapters after this one, my dears. Enjoy it while it lasts. I know I am :)
On the way back from Sal's, Team Lyle realized that they'd be a minute or two late. This led Billy to have the bright idea to make the 'best entrance since Braveheart led his fellow countrymen into battle' which led to him asking if Sophia knew that 'one website that allowed you to put pictures of your face on to dancing icons.'
"Ah, yeah. I do. Why?" she asked, wondering what he was trying to get at.
"Why, to make an entrance, of course," said Nick.
Typing in the address, Sophia told the others she'd found it once it was fully loaded. Holding up her phone, Sophia began taking shots of her friends' faces. After taking hers, Sophia got to work. Once finished, Sophia asked, "So what do you want me to do now?"
"This, Miss Sophia, is where Yo-Yo comes in," said Billy.
Sophia gave him a look before handing her phone to Yo-Yo.
"Alright, Yo-Yo, listen up. We're going to have to make an entrance so damn beautiful it'll make even Chetty cry."
"Okay. So what does that have to do with me?" Yo-Yo asked, not sure of what he was suppose to do.
"You, my friend, are going to crash the system so that the video Miss Sophia made appears on the screen," said Billy, clarifying what he wanted.
Yo-Yo didn't hesitate in giving his answer. "You've come to the right guy."
He finished three minutes before they reached Google.
~N~O~O~G~L~E~R~
When Sophia and her team arrived, they could hear Mr. Chetty speaking to the large crowd, ready to announce the winner of the intern program. Billy gave a thumbs up, telling Yo-Yo to hit play. Yo-Yo didn't hesitate to hit the button to activate the dancing video they'd put together.
A moment of confusion passed between the occupants of the room as the giant screen, which displayed a slide show of photos taken throughout the summer, flickered out. In its place was the animated disco dancers Sophia had created, the song What a Feeling blaring out of the room's speakers.
Confusion soon turned into laughter and amusement. When Sophia and her group walked indoors with three boxes of Sal's pizza each, they began to roar with cheers of approval.
As they made their way up the aisle to the front, they passed out the boxes of pizza to each row.
When Sophia gave her boxes away, she did an Oprah ("You get a pizza!" Hand out a box. "You get a pizza!" Hand out another box. "You get a pizza!" Hand out another. "Everybody gets a pizza!" Arms flailing as people cheered). After being freed of the food, Sophia danced the rest of the way up the aisle, hip bumping Neha once she reached the front, dancing in place until the fun was put to an end by Mr. Chetty (shocker, right?).
"That's enough! That's enough!" said Mr. Chetty, hinting that it was time to end it.
Yo-Yo hit the stop button and returned the cell back to its rightful owner. Sophia quietly thanked her friend before putting it into the back pocket of her jeans. The screen immediately changed from disco dancers to a Google background made of colorful blocks.
"That's lovely theatrics, but the jig is up," called Graham from his seat, his face and hair now clean. "It's too late. Rules are rules, right, Chetty?"
"Yes, rules are rules," agreed Mr. Chetty.
Graham gave Sophia and her teammates a smug grin.
"And the rules state that every team has the right until the announcement is made to turn in their sales."
Yes! Sophia sent Graham a wink. Eat that, douchebag.
"So, in spite of your lack in punctuality, which is astounding, I have no choice but to accept this submission and to recalculate," said Mr. Chetty, taking the paperwork that was taped on the pizza box Billy had given him.
Heck yes!
Stuart and Sophia high-fived each other.
"Go ahead. Recalculate. One sale to a small, family owned pizza joint isn't going to make a difference, anyway," said Graham, annoyingly confident that he'd won the prize.
"It does seem that Mr. Hawtrey is correct, once again," said Mr. Chetty, flipping through the sheets Team Lyle had submitted.
"Boom!"
"The sales from one shop for the last challenge are not enough to put you in the lead."
Ah, man. Really?
"But, this is not one shop," said Mr. Chetty, walking off of the stage he was on to stand in front of the late group of interns. "This is a blossoming franchise with endless possibilities, thanks to you. And what you've done as a team is connect to people, and connect those people to information." Mr. Chetty turned to address the crowd. "Which is what we do. And more than that, you have the courage to dream," said Mr Chetty, now looking at the outcasts. "In spite of your obvious and astonishing limitations, you never gave up on that dream. So, ladies and gentlemen-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Graham. Having none of what was about to happen, he got out of his seat and walked on over to the huddled group of people. "Hold on, Chetty. No offense, you're a glorified babysitter."
"Excuse me-"
"Stop it, freak, before you further embarrass yourself."
Sophia kept her mouth shut but gave him an are-you-for-real look. She wasn't the one making a fool of herself. It was Graham who kept digging a deeper hole for himself.
"Let's get somebody up here who actually means something."
"I'm right here!" called a voice from the audience, all eyes now on him.
Graham's face fell once he realized who'd actually spoken. "Terrific," he said, voice heavy with sarcasm as the man who'd spoken got up from his seat and walked to the front of the room until he was standing in front of Graham.
Sophia tilted her head. He looked so familiar. Had she seen him before? And that's when it hit her. It was the man who'd sat at the table with Billy, Nick, and she the day of the bug challenge. It was Headphones.
"Graham. Please meet Mr. Anderson," said Mr. Chetty.
"You know this guy?" asked Billy.
"Actually, I do. Andrew here is the head of Search. A rather important position here at Google."
Having heard these words, Graham's face switched from disgust to deer in headlights. "Sir, it's an honor. An honor," he stuttered out, trying to avoid making eye contact with Mr. Anderson.
"Look at you, Headphones. A little mystery behind the boy," said Billy, amused with how the situation was playing out.
"How. . . how do you know him?" Graham asked Billy as Mr. Anderson and Mr. Chetty fist bumped each other.
"We were encouraged to reach out to experienced Googlers. Pretty simple. Not a big mystery," said Nick.
"To reach out to other Googlers, not just kiss their asses," further explained Mr. Anderson. "You see, these interns are smart, collaborative, pretty, and just weird enough to make them interesting. Also, they came together as a team to do something here. Their Googliness is certainly off the charts."
Sophia draped her arms across Neha and Yo-Yo's shoulders, the head's words making her feel absolutely amazing.
Graham, not impressed, rubbed his hands across his face as he whined, "Oh, my goodness. Stop with the Googliness. What does that even mean?"
Mr. Anderson's simple reply to Graham's question was, "The fact that you don't know what it means is why you will never work here. Also." Mr. Anderson stepped into Graham's personal space. "You just made me use a bunch of words in front of a ton of people. Look at me. You're a real dick for doing that. Look at me again," demanded Mr. Anderson when Graham tried to get away. "And I know your accent's bullcrap. What?!" And with that, Mr. Anderson turned and left.
Mr. Chetty, amused with what had just went down, turned his attention back on Team Lyle. "So," he said, letting them hang for a heartbeat before saying, "Welcome to Google."
The crowd erupted into cheers as the former interns let the news sink in, letting their excitement out in their own ways.
Sophia and Neha squealed and hugged each other tightly, swaying back and forth as they did so. Releasing each other, Sophia wrapped her arms around Nick, him doing the same. When she was done, she turned, sight set on a very excited and energized Stuart. Sophia smiled, arms spread out for a hug. "We did it. We actually-"
Stuart, who was caught up in the moment, bent down placed both of his large hands on either side of her head, and kissed her. His friend, who'd expected a hug, froze, arms still out, eyes wide in shock. Realizing what he'd done, Stuart's eyes shot open as he jolted upright, embarrassed by his impulsive decision. "I, ah, didn't, um. Yeah," he stuttered out, hand rubbing the back of his head, gaze shifting across the floor.
Sophia, after gaining her senses, shook her head, placed a hand under his chin, and positioned his face so he was looking down at her. Before he could say anything else, Sophia connected their lips, breaking apart a second later. Stuart could only stare at Sophia, as she did the same.
Taking this as permission, Stuart brought her body closer to his, placing a hand on the small of her back, the other on the side of her face while Sophia put her arms on top of his shoulders. They then tried kiss number three.
~Edited 07/17/14~
