Chapter 3- Trouble in Paradise
Fudge's POV
Hey, Sammy,
I noticed today is exactly four months since you've been in remission. That's great! How are you feeling?
Have you ever been to the Freewheeler Islands? I'm there now with my family (well, you probably figured that out from the postcard). We've only been here for half a day, but I already think this place is awesome! The resort is amazing. I'll send you photos when I can. I really want to go to the theme parks and for a sail. I also want to go snorkelling and- Uh-oh! I've run out of room. TTYL.
Ciao,
Fudge.
"Oh, no! Don't tell me!" I groaned, digging through my bag.
Papà looked up from his own unpacking. "What is it?"
"I can't find my flip-flops!" I moaned. "I told you I was forgetting something!"
Without a word, Papà reached into his bag and pulled out my flip-flops. That's when I remembered that there hadn't been enough room for everything in my bag, so some of my things went into his bag.
I am a somewhat organised person. I mean, I try to get to places a little bit early (though not too early, in case everyone else knows something I don't) and I like to make sure I have what I need. The thing is, though, with Uncle Sarge around, I don't really feel like I need to be an organised person. He's plenty organised for all of us. I just try to be a little organised because I worry too much. I always have. I don't know if that's because my mother abandoned me, because I picked it up from Papà (he's a big worrier himself, especially about me) or if I'm just like that.
Anyway, I was hoping to have two weeks of not worrying. I was in the Freewheeler Islands and I planned to have some fun.
"Fudgie", Papà sighed, "we just want to get some rest after our long journey."
"I can go out, though, can't I?" I wasn't so sure. Papà hadn't even been convinced that I would be fine sleeping in one of the rooms in our suite by myself while he shared the other room with Babbo. Fortunately, Babbo, while also protective of me, is much calmer than Papà and would often be the voice of reason.
I never thought it would be possible for Papà to be more protective of me, but after the accident, that's exactly what happened. Sometimes, I really appreciate it. I mean, I know his heart's in the right place and after finding out my mom abandoned me, it was nice to know that someone cared. Still, sometimes, it feels like overkill. I know I'm hardly the most responsible, mature fifteen-year-old, but I can head down to a pool by myself. (And hey. Just because Papà's overprotective, don't go thinking he's strict. He's not. Not really. I mean, I don't have to eat any foods I don't like and most of the time, I'm allowed to do anything I want, within reason.)
Anyway, as I expected, Papà frowned. "I would prefer it if you were not alone."
"Maybe someone will come with me. I just want to get some fresh air after breathing in all that recycled air." I could see the pool and the water slides from our room and they looked awesome!
Papà didn't seem too thrilled about it, but reluctantly, after a very long list of Dos and Don'ts ("Do take your phone, so we can call you", "Do remember to use your manners", "Don't move until we have come to find you", "Don't forget your sunscreen."), they let me sit by the pool. Papà also handed over my medication, which he did very reluctantly. He doesn't trust me to be in charge of it. (I get it, but I'm fifteen, for heaven's sake! And I've been on this medication for nearly three years! I know exactly when and how much to take it.) Not surprisingly, he only gave me the exact amount I'd need.
Since I had to stay in the one spot until they found me, I couldn't go in the pool just yet, but I'd take it. I got out of there quickly before Papà could change his mind.
Most of the others were already heading for the elevator. Besides Papà and Babbo, there was only one member of our group missing.
"Where's Mater?" I wanted to know.
Lightning shrugged. "He didn't wanna leave the room. I think something's wrong, but I don't know what."
"Nothing serious, I hope", Aunt Flo commented worriedly.
"Don't think so", Lightning assured her.
"Oh." I was disappointed to hear that; I thought Mater would be the most likely to hang out with me. "So, where's everyone else going?" I asked.
The others all had plans, so not one of them was coming with me. So, it was the first day of vacation and everyone had ditched me already. Perfect!
Lightning and Aunt Sally saw me to the pool.
My eyes swept over the scene in front of me. Clear blue waters, clear blue skies, the sun and tons of people having a blast! I knew that soon, I'd be one of them. There was even a wave pool and a water slide that went across the entire water park. I could not wait to go on that!
"Just like heaven!" I remarked dreamily, eyeing the pool.
Lightning laughed and I felt my cheeks burn (and not because of the sun!). "Sure is, isn't it?"
"Yeah", Aunt Sally agreed.
With the palm trees and the ocean around as well, I felt like I was in a whole other world. This is why I really like to travel. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm bragging, but I have been to more foreign countries than any other fifteen-year-old I know. I'm glad I have; it's so awesome to see different countries and meet all kinds of people from all over the world. I remember when I first visited London. I hadn't been expecting it to be all that different to the States (I kind of figured, They speak the same language. How different can they be?), but England was also like being in another world. A world where people drive on the opposite side of the road; the £ symbol appears before prices and people had such thick accents and used weird words and slang that sometimes, I wasn't entirely sure what they were saying. Plus, I'm big on multiculturalism. You can thank Papà, Babbo and Uncle Ramone for that since they introduced me to Italian and Mexican traditions. Anyway, my point is that I love to travel and being here was extremely cool and exciting!
"Well, let's get you settled, Fudge-O!" Lightning announced.
So, we did. I chose a lounge chair as close to the pool as I could get, which wasn't very close with how crowded the place was. At least I was close enough to the lobby entrance that Papà and Babbo should be able to find me quickly.
"Are you gonna be all right by yourself, Fudge-O?" Lightning questioned. I think he felt sorry for me.
"Yeah, don't worry about it", I told him, even though I was kind of hurt. Of course, I didn't find it unreasonable for a boyfriend to want to spend time alone with his girlfriend, but I guess I kind of felt, as ridiculous as it was, like they didn't even want to be around me. I know that's not true, though; I know Lightning and Aunt Sally care about me a lot. You know what? This is all my mom's fault! If she had never left me, I might not feel like this. Then again, I wouldn't live in Radiator Springs and have this awesome family if she hadn't. Gah! This was confusing!
But I digress. So, Lightning and Aunt Sally left, along with everyone else. Okay. So, this wasn't exactly how I envisioned spending my first day of vacation, but things could be worse. I mean, look where I was! I decided to sit by the pool and forget about my family ditching me.
I looked around me. I could see families having lunch by the pool. Some little kids were crying; that was the one thing that ruined the good vibes, but little kids are always crying. Older people were just sat reading. Several clusters of parents sat around, gossiping, not paying the slightest bit of attention to their kids. A group of human girls my age were lying on towels in bikinis (ew!) and rotating carefully like chickens on a rotisserie, trying to get the perfect tan. Well, I'm from Arizona, so I'm quite tan already (I've become a little more complacent about sun safety than I'd care to admit).
Most of the people I saw were American, which made sense, considering how close we were to the States. Even so, there were plenty of people from other countries as well. I heard English, German, Italian, French, Japanese and Australian accents floating all around me. And all kinds of others I couldn't even identify too. So cool!
I peeled off my glasses, shorts and T-shirt; put on my hat and sunglasses and lathered up with coconut-scented sunscreen. As usual, I put too much on and couldn't rub it in properly. I know I looked like a ghost. Then I lay back and closed my eyes. Oh, yeah! That sunshine felt so good! There was a nice breeze as well. I was glad my family were a bunch of wimps and couldn't take the cold. I'm kidding! Well, about them being wimps. What I mean is I was glad to be there.
"Can I get you anything?"
A deep voice made me jump. I opened my eyes to find a white and purple forklift standing over me with a notepad. And I think that's what he asked me. I didn't understand his accent at first.
"Pardon?"
He repeated his question, pointing to a laminated menu on the chair, I hadn't even noticed it.
After studying the menu, I ordered a burger, some fries and a strawberry milkshake. The forklift jotted it down and left. I felt a little guilty. Papà hadn't said anything either way about ordering food and now that I thought of it, I probably should have asked for his permission. I told you I worry too much. Though, I figured it would be all right since it was lunchtime; I was starving and I needed my medication, which I have to take with food. Besides, I had money from helping out in the stores back home and being Lightning McQueen's crew chief. I could pay Papà back if I had to.
You need to stop worrying! I reminded myself as my lunch arrived. The waiter had even brought me one of those little umbrellas in my milkshake! How bad could this place be? Look where you are! You need to relax! Just close your eyes and think about nothing...
"TripleDent Gum will make you smile!"
No! God, that gum commercial jingle got stuck in your head! Right when you least expect it too!
Eventually, I did manage to relax. My food was fantastic and after I ate it, I must've fallen asleep.
I don't think I was asleep for too long, but when I woke up, I noticed that some girls my age (a sleek black jet; a dark purple Ferrari; a pink Porsche and a blonde human wearing the tiniest bikini you can imagine) were kind of staring at me. I'm not normally so observant, but it was pretty hard to miss it. I figured they must've been trying to figure out how they knew me. I wouldn't exactly say I'm famous, but I am kind of well known. By that, I mean people will stop me on the street, but most of the time, it's just to tell me that I "look familiar." It's very rare that people just know who I am, unless I'm with Lightning McQueen. So, yeah. I figured that was it.
I was proven wrong a few minutes later. I realised that I hadn't written in my journal since we left Radiator Springs and I was bursting with news about the flights and the resort and how I hoped I wouldn't have to spend the entire vacation alone. Sometimes, I feel like I need to write the same way that people need to breathe. Thankfully, my journal was in the backpack I had brought down to the pool with me. So, I hoisted the backpack up onto the chair and pulled it out. Now, I didn't suppose I had a pen that worked in there somewhere, did I?
I spent a few minutes digging through the backpack, waving my hand through the crumbs, candy wrappers and the ancient collection of crumpled, torn, faded receipts at the bottom of the bag. It was while I was doing this that I became aware of a toddler stood behind me, staring. It made me uncomfortable. Why was she staring at me? I doubted that she thought I looked familiar.
I got my answer when I heard the little girl exclaim, "Ew! Look at her back! She's got a really big scratch!"
"Alexandra!" the woman with her, presumably her mother, gasped. She was quick to yank the toddler away, mouthing an apology to me.
Oh. So, that was it. After my horrific racing accident three years earlier and the surgeries that followed it, I was left with quite a few scars. Most of them were on my legs, which were uncovered and a long, large nasty-looking one on my back. My swimsuit showed a bit of my back. Not all of the scar, but enough of it apparently.
That must've been why the teenage girls were staring at me as well. Of course, they didn't have any scars or anything like that (or, if they did, they covered them with makeup). They looked like the type of people who cared only about appearance and would die if they were caught with less than perfect features. Or less than perfect anything.
I'd never really paid much attention to people staring at me before. Papà says sometimes people do, though; I just never notice because I'm not observant. Even if I did notice, I don't think it would bother me too much. I admit, I have stared a little at people who look a little different. If these people were anything like me (they're not like me about most things, but in this sense, they might be), then I know they're not doing it to be mean. Just like that toddler who pointed it out. I knew she wasn't trying to be mean. I was worried about the teenagers, though. Little kids don't know what they're saying; older people do. Besides, I hadn't been bothered by it before because I have never really cared that much about my appearance. Sometimes, people say I need to start caring a little more.
Still, I felt self conscious. Was this the way people always looked at me and I'd just never noticed till now? I had no idea.
Embarrassed, I covered my legs with my towel. Then I lay back, so nobody could see my back scar. Then I tried to ignore the staring and the possible further comments. In order to do that, I opened my journal, put on my headphones and lost myself in my latest entry and the music of the Randy Disher Project. Plus, maybe that'll get that gum jingle out of my head. That seemed like a bonus to me.
"Fudgie?"
"Hi, Papà!" I exclaimed, pausing my music and sliding off my headphones.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine", I replied.
"Are you sure?" he pressed. "You look worried about something."
Papà knows me so well.
"It's nothing." I knew I was going to end up getting into it at some point; I always do with Papà, but I just didn't want to right then.
"Okay. Do you want to go in the pool?" he quizzed me.
"Yeah!"
"Okay, just stay where I can see you."
Well, I guess I wasn't going on the water slide when Papà was around. Maybe if Lightning spent some time with me... Still, I was grateful to be allowed in the water finally! It looked so good! So cool and clean.
Only, I couldn't exactly enjoy it. The path to the pool took me right past those girls and I couldn't ignore the look of pure disgust on their faces as I walked past. It was then that I remembered Zara and Layla, girls I thought were my friends. These girls looked and acted a lot like them: constantly applying makeup, always on their phones, gossiping, using literally figuratively. Zara and Layla thought I was ugly. These girls probably did too.
"Hey!" a voice called out all of a sudden.
I looked and those girls were right behind me.
The human was the one who had spoken.
"Were you, like, in a fire or something?" she asked me. Her voice sounded innocent, but she and the others launched into a fit of giggles.
I decided not to answer, partly because I refused to answer to people like that and partly so I didn't show off my missing teeth. Then they jumped into the pool and forgot all about me.
"Idiots!" I muttered to myself, annoyed.
A yellow Porsche nearby smiled sympathetically. "Never mind them." She had a British accent. "They're nasty to just about everybody."
"You know them then?" I asked.
"We-ell, know of them", the Porsche clarified. "The Staceys." The Ferrari was Stacey B; the plane was Stacey J; the human was Stacey M and the Porsche was Stacey W. "Spoilt little rich girls, all of them. Their daddies are all very successful lawyers in New York City. They think they can use that as an excuse to be nasty to everyone."
I couldn't think of anything to say. I just stared at the Staceys, who were busy watching a guy about our age swim laps of the pool. They sounded like bad news and I hoped I wouldn't run into them again. Luckily for me, five minutes later, I heard Stacey M announce, "I think I'm tan enough for now. Let's go in, so I don't get burned."
"Yeah, it's three o'clock!" Stacey W realised. "Chris, that cute lifeguard just started his shift at the indoor pool!"
They took off in search of Chris the cute lifeguard, though I'm pretty sure they all gave me disgusted looks as they went past.
I didn't see them again for the rest of the day after that, but every time someone looked my way- or I thought someone did- I couldn't help wondering what they thought of me. Did they think I was ugly or disgusting? Did they wonder how I could've possibly gotten those scars? Did they feel sorry for me? I couldn't tell. I've never been good at reading people.
What was happening? I'd never cared about my appearance before, but I was starting to think that maybe I cared much more than I thought I did.
Easter eggs for this chapter:
The gum commercial jingle is from Inside Out. Since TripleDent Gum was a Piston Cup sponsor in Cars 3, I decided to include it here.
Randy Disher Project is a reference to Monk. I just started watching that show this year and I love it! I just had to get in a reference to that! XD
The Staceys are supposed to be modelled after the Ashleys from a TV show I used to watch when I was a kid called Recess.
Anyway, I know those were kind of pointless Easter eggs, but like I said in the prologue, I was doing them more for my own entertainment than yours. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the chapter. Please review.
