Chapter 10. High Times

Everyone was down at dinner together, but there was very little conversation. While everyone else seemed to finally be getting along somewhat, the Joes, Joleena, and Sydney barely spoke. The palpable tension between the four of them stifled conversation. Once dinner was finished Fina began to gather the plates and everyone stared at each other.

"So," Other Fred said. "You guys wanna go down to the basement and watch a movie on the flatscreen? San-Li brought all the Jurassic park movies."

"Sounds good to me." Cade shrugged and looked at Alternate Sam.

"They aren't horrible movies." He shrugged. "Could have been more accurate to paleontology though."

"I love those movies. The action is incredible!" Alternate Fred grinned eagerly.

Everyone now felt a lot more excited and headed towards the basement. Fina stopped Sydney, Joleena, and the two Joes before they could get up from the table.

"Actually um," she said, smiling. "I was wondering if you guys would mind stepping into the living room for a second. I think I might have something that will make you guys stop fighting and finally become friends."

"Fina…" Other Joe sighed in exasperation.

"Please?" Fina smiled brightly and batted her eyes. "Pretty, pretty please? I worked really hard and I think you'll like them."

Alternate Joe and Other Joe looked at each other while Joleena and Sydney refused to make eye contact. The guys shrugged and nodded. The girls huffed angrily.

"Great!" Fina grinned. "Go ahead into the living room and I'll bring them right out."

The couples sat silently on the couch and put as much distance between them as possible. Fina came out of the kitchen a few minutes later carrying a plate of brownies. She put them down on the table in front of them and smiled proudly.

"Brownies?" Sydney raised an eyebrow. "You really think brownies are going to make us want to be friends?"

"You'll see." Fina smiled and headed to the basement to join the others. "One hour and you guys will be friends I just know it."

She bounced downstairs leaving the other couples to glare at each other. A few minutes ticked by and their eyes slowly turned to the brownies that actually did look incredible.

"Well," Other Joe said reaching for one. "Fina is an incredible baker."

"Those brownies do looked amazing," Alternate Joe said grabbing one as well. "Come on, Sydney, you know you love chocolate."

"So do you, Joleena." Other Joe smiled. "Come on, have one."

"I hate chocolate."

"So do I."

Both girls glared at each other stubbornly and the guys had to nudge their arms. They sighed theatrically and they each took a brownie.


Fina hummed happily and walked down the basement stairs to join others. Other Fred made a space on the couch and pulled her down next to him.

"You're just in time," he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "They just got finished with all the boring exposition crap."

"Where are Sydney, Joleena, and the Joes?" Kairi whispered to her. "I hope they're not locked in their rooms. They're missing a great movie."

"They're not in their rooms." Fina smiled. "They're in the living room talking things out and becoming friends."

"Are you sure that's a good idea Fina?" Other Sam turned to look at them. "They seemed pretty tense at dinner tonight."

"They'll be fine," Fina said dismissively. "Trust me."

They watched the entire movie and the credits began to roll and there was still no Sydney, Joleena, or even one of the Joes. Everyone looked up and listened but there wasn't a single sound from upstairs. No fighting, no yelling, no crashing furniture. Fina smiled proudly, but everyone else looked worried.

"You don't think they killed each other, do you?" Alternate Fred whispered only half joking.

"Maybe they're finally getting along?" Kairi shrugged.

Other Sam muted the t.v and a they heard muffled laughing. Kairi grinned and turned to Fina.

"That's incredible! What did you do?"

"Oh nothing much." Fina blushed and looked away modestly. "I just gave them some special brownies."

"Special brownies?" Cade looked at her in confusion and turned to Alternate Sam. "Is that an American thing?"

Alternate Sam frowned. "I don't think so…"

"Wait a minute," Other Fred mumbled. "Fina, what kind of special brownies did you give them?"

"I don't know really." Fina pressed her lips together and shrugged. "San-Li told me about some special brownies that can make you feel incredibly happy."

Everyone turned to glare at San-Li who stared at Fina in shock and horror.

"Fina," she said slowly. "Sweetie, you couldn't possibly have made them right? I told you that I don't have the necessary ingredients for those."

"I found some locals who had the special herbs." Fina looked worried and wrung her hands together nervously. "Why? What's wrong? What did I give them?"

San-Li swore and ran up the stairs followed by the others. They rushed into the living room and froze when they saw the half empty plate of brownies and the weirdest things that they had ever seen since reaching the beach house.

"I love your hair. It's so beautiful," Sydney said, sitting close to Joleena and playing with her long brown hair. "I wish mine had as much volume and silkiness as yours."

"And I adore your tattoos and piercings." Joleena giggled. "They make you look so exotic and cool. I could never pull off such an edgy look like you. I feel so boring next to you."

Sydney shook her head and smiled at her. "But you're so gorgeous."

"No, you're the gorgeous one." Joleena smiled back. "You're just a beautiful as moi."

"You're such a snob."

"I know."

They collapsed into a fit of giggles and wrapped their arms around each other in a tight hug. Both Joes were laying on the floor on the other side of the room staring up at the ceiling.

"Time is just so infinite," Alternate Joe mumbled. "How does anyone have any control over it?"

"I know what you mean," Other Joe said breathlessly. "How are we expected to hold and control all of the power and still live our lives?"

"It's almost too much to think about," They said at the same time. "But I don't want to stop thinking about it."

"Oh my gosh!" San-Li's jaw dropped. "Fina gave them hash brownies. They're freakin' stoned."

"Hey, guys." Sydney and Joleena sat up and gave the group lopsided smiles. "Fina made some amazing brownies. You should try one!"

The others could see their dilated pupils and red tinted eyes even from across the room.

"No thanks." San-Li hurriedly went over to them and grabbed the plate of leftover brownies. "I think you've all had enough of these."

"But I'm hungry." Joleena rubbed her stomach and pouted.

"Yeah, do we have any Doritos or Funyuns?" Sydney hungrily licked her lips.

"Doritos?" The Joes looked up. "I could totally go for some Doritos right now. Especially the taco flavored ones."

San-Li sniffed the brownies and cringed. "Jeez Fina, how much did you put in here?"

"Only a few ounces." Fina nervously bit her lip.

"A few ounces?" San-Li almost dropped the plate. "It's a miracle they're not dead!"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know this would happen."

"It'll be okay." Other Fred put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "We just got to sober them up, right?"

San-Li snickered, "After I get a few pictures and a video. There's no way I'm ever letting the French poodle forget about this."

"San-Li," Other Sam crossed his arms and shook his head with a smile, "you know that wouldn't be nice."

"Since when do I care about being nice to Joleena?" San-Li sighed. "Whatever, we'll just have to grab them some food. That'll help sober them up."

"Our kitchen isn't exactly stocked with food that'll cure their munchies." Skyler nervously watched the scene before him. Sydney and Joleena had started another giggle fit and the Joes were casually debating which Doritos flavor was the best.

"Then we'll just have to go out and buy some." The Annas had a mix of emotions on their faces. They were caught between laughing at their brothers and feeling very worried for them.

"We can't all go," Cade said. "We can't just leave them here alone like this."

"I'll stay," Fina spoke up. "It's my fault they're like this anyway."

"I'll stay too." Other Fred smiled at her. "Keep you company while you're on babysitting duty."

"At least they're all getting along." Kairi shrugged.

Skyler scratched the back of his head. "And I haven't seen Syd this relaxed in months. Maybe this isn't that bad."

"Fina, you should bake us stuff more often." Sydney grinned and the Joes and Joleena nodded in agreement. "Everything seems so much more vivid and better now. We should all go do something crazy."

"I think I'll stay behind and keep an eye on her though." Skyler frowned.

"We'll stay too," the Annas said, still nervously watching their brothers.