In case you didn't notice, there's another new chapter before this one.
Chapter 7- Vacay Vibes
Sally's POV
Dear Mom and Dad,
We're all having a wonderful time in the Freewheeler Islands. I've spent a lot of time on the beach. It's just beautiful here. There are lots of other fun activities here too. I'm still hoping to go snorkeling while we're here.
You guys should really come here some day. You would love it. Hope to see you soon.
Love,
Sally.
On our third day of vacation, I stared at that postcard, which I had just written and couldn't help but wonder exactly how much of it was the truth. I was having a wonderful time; that much was true, but I wasn't sure about anyone else. Whenever Sarge and Fillmore were together, an argument was almost guaranteed to start up. By lunchtime on the second day, Luigi and Ramone weren't speaking to each other. Then there were Mater and Fudge, who each seemed worried about different things. I had no idea what, though.
We decided to spend our third day in the Freewheeler Islands at the beach. It was the first time all ten of us had been together since we arrived, meals notwithstanding. Stickers, Ramone, Guido and Fudge were in the water, shrieking and splashing. Luigi was parked by the water's edge, keeping a very close eye on Fudge and holding her towel (I'd noticed that she kept the towel covering her legs and only let it drop a second before she got in the water). Fillmore was next to Luigi, staring at the crabs that scuttled around in the water. Sarge was further up the beach, taking a stroll. I was just parked there, soaking up the rays and writing that postcard to my parents. Flo was beside me, also soaking up the rays. Mater was nearby, just digging in the sand half-heartedly.
I set the postcard aside, closed my eyes and smiled. The sunshine and the tropical air felt great! I began to daydream, my thoughts going back to the night before...
That morning, Fillmore and I had had a perfectly nice time on the beach. We even ran into the Blumenthal-Dunns, the German-Canadian stepfamily Fillmore had met the day before. We joined them for strolls along the beach, collecting shells and making sandcastles. Not only were the beaches here beautiful, but they were very peaceful, even with lots of people shrieking and laughing. The waters were calm with almost no waves and were so clear, you could see every grain of sand around you. And the Blumenthal-Dunns were very friendly, very interesting people. So, we had a lot of fun.
After lunch with most of our other friends at the café near the dock (which was a little tense because Sarge and Fillmore were fighting and so were Luigi and Ramone), I noticed some familiar faces on the ferry that was just coming back from Sanchez Island.
"Stickers!" I exclaimed, rushing to greet him. "You're back early!"
"Mater wasn't feeling well", he explained. "I guess I'd better take him back to our room. I'm gonna stay with him, to make sure he's okay."
I nodded. I was disappointed, but I understood. Besides, I was sorry that Mater wasn't well. I looked at him. He didn't seem sick. He just had this dazed face, like he was in shock. You'd think he'd been through a war, not spent a day at a theme park.
Luigi didn't seem as disappointed as I was, though. He hugged Fudge so tight she almost choked and smothered her face in kisses. "There you are, angel! I hope you have not been too worried that we lost connection. Ramone threw my phone in the pool."
Ramone shook his hood in disbelief. "Good Ford! You'd think it's been years since he's seen her, not hours!"
"So, what are we gonna do for the rest of the day?" Fudge wanted to know.
"You know, I heard there's a pretty groovy aquarium about a half-hour drive away", Fillmore began. "I kinda wanna check that out."
Fudge and I were the first to okay the idea. Luigi and Guido agreed too, but I think the former just wanted to keep an eye on Fudge. Flo and Ramone passed, wanting to go back to the pool (I think Luigi and Ramone wanted some time apart). Sarge didn't want to come either. He said he had other plans, but he didn't explain what those plans were. I don't think he even knew. He just wanted to get away from Fillmore. So, Fillmore, Fudge, Luigi, Guido and I were the ones who went to the aquarium.
How was the aquarium? It was great! There were plenty of interesting fish to see and all kinds of fascinating facts about them. Plus, Fillmore was satisfied to learn that the aquarium was dedicated to conservation and the admission fee went towards that.
We had a very pleasant, but not overly exciting afternoon. The exciting part came just as we were returning to the resort at about four-thirty. On our way to the elevator inside the resort, we ran into the Blumenthal-Dunns.
"Oh!" Sheila exclaimed when she saw us. "Just the people we were looking for!"
"Hi!" I greeted them cheerily.
"Hey, man!" Fillmore added. "You met Sally this morning. Well, this is Luigi, Guido and Fudge."
Everyone exchanged hellos and then there was the usual confusion over the name Fudge. Then Fillmore asked, "So, why were you looking for us?"
"There's going to be a bonfire on the beach tonight", Karl informed us. "A whole group of people are going. And we were wondering if you and your friends might like to join us. We would love to meet them all."
"That sounds lovely!" I proclaimed. A bonfire on the beach? What a great idea!
Fillmore seemed enthusiastic too. "Sounds groovy, man. I'll see if everyone else wants to come. We'll definitely be there." He was speaking for the five of us.
"Great!" Sheila beamed. "What do you say we meet at six o'clock?"
We agreed and went our separate ways.
"Hey, Stickers!" I called out as I entered our room.
"Hey, Sal!" He sounded genuinely happy to see me, which he always is, but it was still nice.
"How was your afternoon?"
"It was all right. We just hung out, watched a movie."
"Yeah, the movie was dad-gum awesome!" Mater spoke up. He was stuffing his face with a candy bar he got from the fridge in our room. No matter how many times we explain it to him, he always seems to either forget or not understand that the snacks in that fridge are not free. He grinned from mirror to mirror as he described the plot of the movie.
I smiled. "I see he's recovered." I suspected that he wasn't sick. Something was wrong with Mater, but I didn't know what.
"I guess so", Stickers agreed with a laugh and I could tell that he was thinking the same thing.
"Well, listen, that family Fillmore's become friends with? They just invited us to a bonfire on the beach tonight."
"That sounds fun!" Stickers declared.
"Well, we're supposed to meet them at six."
After a quick car wash, I went around to see who else was coming. It turned out everyone except Mater agreed to come. (He didn't really give a reason. He just flat-out refused. Stickers almost didn't come, so he could keep Mater company, but Mater insisted that he went.) Some of my friends were reluctant to come, though. Sarge and Ramone didn't want to go because it meant spending time with Fillmore and Luigi respectively. I think Ramone only came because Flo wanted him to. And Fudge is terrified of fire, so she wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of a bonfire. Her dads begged her to come and promised her that she'd be perfectly safe. Reluctantly, she agreed.
It's a good thing Sarge did agree to join us. Fillmore was not exactly in any hurry to get going, as usual. Sarge was urging him to hurry up like he'd done at the airport and when we were leaving Radiator Springs. (Fillmore hadn't been the only one driving him crazy then. Ramone had been in no rush to wrap up the colourful island-themed paint job he was sporting now.) So, thanks to Sarge's prodding, we weren't too late. We got there at exactly 6:07. I don't think it was good enough for Sarge, but it wasn't the end of the world. I just didn't want to keep the Blumenthal-Dunns waiting.
"Fillmore!" the young girl, Andy, exclaimed, rushing up the sand to greet us. "You made it!"
"Wouldn't have missed it for the world, man."
"You would have, if it weren't for me", Sarge muttered, but everyone ignored him.
Karl and Sheila stood up and came over to us while the twins, Wolfgang and Astrid, just chased each other around, laughing and shouting in German.
"Fillmore! So glad you could join us!" Karl gushed. "So, these are the rest of your friends!"
"Yeah, man." Fillmore introduced them all.
"You never told us you were friends with Lightning McQueen!" Andy cried in amazement, her blue eyes shining.
Fillmore smiled a little sheepishly. "I guess it never really came up."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you all." Sheila beamed. "Now, what do you say we all grab some food?"
That sounded like a good idea, so we followed them over to the bonfire where burgers and hot dogs and potatoes were cooking. (Fudge hung back, away from the fire, so Luigi promised he'd get her some food.) As we loaded up on food, we talked and talked. Karl told us about his life in the circus and all of the places he'd travelled to as part of that. In turn, Lightning told them about his travels and his racing career.
It was all just so nice. The sky was beginning to get dark. The flames and the crackling of the fire provided a good atmosphere. The food was great and the sight and sound of about thirty people gathered around a bonfire, talking and laughing was very relaxing.
For the most part, I had been enjoying our vacation so far. Although, there had been little pinpricks of worry. I was worried about my friends. What with the situations with Sarge and Fillmore, Luigi and Ramone and whatever was bothering Mater and Fudge, I feared that nobody else was having a good time. Now, everyone seemed to have loosened up (even Fudge, once we'd moved away from the fire) and forgotten about their arguments and their problems. I hoped that that would continue for the rest of the vacation and we could all have a wonderful time together.
My hope lasted about five minutes.
Someone had brought a guitar to the bonfire and was strumming out some tunes Then a bunch of other people started singing along. Just about everyone from our group was part of the singers. The only exceptions were the kids, who most likely didn't know any of the songs and Sarge, who just looked at us in disgust.
At the end of a round of "On Top of the World" by The Carpenters, Fudge jumped up and shouted, "This is the part where you run away!" (I think it was a reference to a movie or something.) The only problem is she showered Sarge with sand when she jumped.
"Do you mind, Fudge?" he muttered.
"Sorry!" she apologised.
"It's just sand, Sarge", Fillmore reminded him. "And she's just havin' fun."
"Fun?!" he repeated. "I don't see what's fun about carrying on like a bunch of clowns!"
Fudge looked hurt.
"She is a child!" Luigi pointed out. "You must have been a child once!"
"Fudge is a teenager!" Sarge corrected.
"Hey! What's your problem, man?!" Ramone spoke up. "You seriously need to loosen up, Sergeant Killjoy!"
"If I loosen up, some of you would end up killing yourselves!" Sarge countered.
"Oh! 'Cause we need you to babysit us!" Ramone scoffed. "You know, we are capable of looking after ourselves!" He cast a glare over at Luigi as he said this as well.
"What?" he questioned, thoroughly confused.
"I said we're capable of looking after ourselves!" he repeated. "I think you need to hear that just as much as Sarge does."
"Why?" Luigi wondered.
"'Cause you drove me crazy all morning worrying about Fudge! She's not a baby anymore!"
"Forgive me for caring about my daughter!"
"I'm not blaming you for that, man. I'm just saying there's a difference between caring about her and babying her!"
"Yeah, Action World would've been a lot more fun if you weren't calling every two minutes!" Stickers added.
"I'm sorry!" Fudge cried. "I didn't mean to start anything!" She looked pretty upset, probably blaming herself for this fight.
I felt sorry for her. "It's not your fault, sweetie."
By then, nobody was listening to her or me. Sarge, Fillmore, Stickers, Luigi and Ramone were all busy shouting at each other about who needed to relax and who needed to grow up. Fudge looked scared, hurt and ashamed. Guido and Flo exchanged nervous glances. The Blumenthal-Dunns just looked kind of shocked.
Me? I was livid. I thought we could get together for one nice, relaxing night on the beach, but apparently not. I was relieved when Sarge announced, "I think I'll head back to my room now!" He rolled off.
Ramone waited for about a minute to give Sarge a headstart before declaring, "I think I'll do the same!"
"No, Ramone!" Flo begged. "Stay, honey!"
"No!" he snapped. I don't think he meant to be harsh with her, but he was angry. "I knew it was a bad idea to come with him around!" He glared at Luigi before taking off.
Flo apologised to the rest of us and chased after her husband.
Needless to say, there was a lot of tension for a very long time. Nobody said anything. I couldn't look at anyone and I could just sense that nobody else was looking at anyone else either. I was pretty sure Stickers and Luigi would have left too, if it hadn't been for Fudge, Guido and me.
Fortunately, the twins broke the embarrassed silence by shouting excitedly in German. My grandparents were from Germany, so I knew a little German. They were asking if they could have something, but I wasn't sure what.
Karl replied in German before repeating his answer in English. "That's a good idea. Who wants s'mores?"
Fudge lit up. "Yeah!"
I hadn't had s'mores since I was a kid. I wondered if I'd find them too sweet now, but I didn't care if they were. Anything to recover from the awkwardness.
Only Fillmore and Andy turned down the s'mores. I knew Fillmore would because they're not vegan and Andy informed us that she had just started to try vegetarianism.
"Marshmallows have gelatine in them, you know. That comes from animals."
The s'mores were fantastic, but I couldn't enjoy them. Stickers and Luigi were busy giving each other dirty looks. And I was too busy thinking about my friends' fight. This wasn't at all how I envisioned this vacation going. I thought we'd all be having a good time together, relaxing on the beach and loving the warm sunshine, blue skies and tropical air. Yet, no one seemed to understand the meaning of the word relax.
So, I was feeling pretty miserable and I thought I was going to for the rest of the night, but then something happened to snap me right out of my bad mood.
"Lightning McQueen!" I heard a voice exclaim in an accent I couldn't place right away.
At first, I thought it was an excited fan, but when Stickers looked, he seemed to know the purple Honda and green Suzuki driving towards him. "Hey, guys!"
"You know them?" I whispered.
He nodded. "I met them earlier at Action World. They're Japanese film students and theme park reviewers." Then louder, he added, "Atsushi! Kazuya! Good to see you again. This is my girlfriend, Sally Carrera."
They smiled. "It is very nice to meet you, Sally-san." Then they formally introduced themselves. Atsushi was the Honda and Kazuya was the Suzuki.
"So, what brings you here?" Stickers wanted to know.
"We were just on our way to a party at the other end of the beach", Kazuya explained.
"Would you and your girlfriend like to join us?" Atsushi offered.
Stickers didn't hesitate. "Gosh, that sounds like fun! Of course we'll come." I guess things were just as awkward and unpleasant for him and he was dying to get out of there.
I was too (which was a shame because I'd been really looking forward to this bonfire and it turned out to be a huge disappointment), but I didn't want to just leave Fillmore, Luigi, Guido and Fudge, especially since the latter two had been innocent bystanders in the fight. Besides, I felt guilty about abandoning the Blumenthal-Dunns when they'd invited us. Still, I felt like I ought to go with Stickers.
"You don't mind if I go, do you?" I asked uncertainly.
"Of course not", Luigi replied coldly. "You two go and have fun."
"Fudge? Guido?"
"It's fine", Fudge assured me with a yawn. "I'll probably wanna go back to the room soon anyway."
Guido, who looked kind of tired himself, nodded in agreement.
"Same here", Sheila added and I could tell that Wolfgang and Astrid were half asleep anyway
"Okay", I decided. "Here. Help yourself to my s'mores." I gave them the plate of half-eaten s'mores, knowing full well that Fudge would eat them. She has a sweet tooth and never seems to be full. "I'll try not to be out too late. I guess I'll see you all tomorrow." I followed Stickers, Atsushi and Kazuya while Fillmore told Andy, Wolfgang and Astrid about the Ghostlight.
Atsushi and Kazuya led us to a concrete patio underneath a thatched roof. Several tables had been set up as well as a makeshift dance floor on the concrete. Nearby was a little hut, which served as a bar. Flowers and coloured lights decorated the place and tropical music blasted out of speakers.
"Wow!" Stickers exclaimed. "This looks great!"
"Yeah!" I agreed. Everything looked so fun and relaxed that the fight my friends had was instantly a distant memory.
The four of us approached the table closest to the bar where there were already five people stood around, talking in what sounded like five different accents. There were three women: a gleaming white Suzuki with pink wheels and tyres; cherry blossoms painted on her doors and big brown eyes; a teal Peugeot with pale blue eyes and a short African-American human woman wearing her hair in a bun and a very short bright yellow dress. There were two young men with them too: a tall human man with sandy brown hair and clear blue eyes, wearing jeans, sneakers and a plaid shirt and a gold Citeron with dark brown eyes. All of them looked to be in their early twenties, just like Atsushi and Kazuya. Stickers and I were the oldest ones there.
They didn't seem to care, though. The human woman just exclaimed, "No way! How the hell did you boys find Lightning McQueen?!"
Atsushi smiled sheepishly. "We met him today at Action World. He and his friends saw our cameras and started asking about our work as theme park reviewers."
"And you got them to come to this party?" The Peugeot's eyes widened in amazement. She sounded French.
"It was nothing", Atsushi assured them. "We just asked and he and his girlfriend said yes."
"Atsushi Honda and Kazuya Tanaka, you are my new favourite people!" the human man declared in what sounded like an Australian accent to me. "Apart from Lightning McQueen and his beautiful girlfriend, of course!" he added with a laugh. "I'm buying you all drinks!" He smiled at me. "What's your name, beautiful?"
I smiled too. "Sally. Sally Carrera."
Kazuya introduced the Suzuki as his girlfriend, Sakura. The other four were friends they'd met a few years earlier on a semester abroad in Spain. The Peugeot was Laura from France; the human woman was Heather from Kalamazoo, Michigan; the human man was Hamish and he was actually from New Zealand and the Citeron was Fred from Portugal.
"Now!" Hamish shouted once the introductions were over. "Drinks!"
"Drinks!" everyone else echoed excitedly.
Heather turned to the bartender, a forklift with the same white and purple paint job as all of the other Rearview Mirage employees, inside the hut. "Zithat! Nine glasses of your specialty please!" I'd never been sure until I came to the Freewheeler Islands, but Zithat was pronounced Zee-tat.
The forklift beamed. "You got it!"
Heather turned back to us. "Did you know that Zithat means intelligent in the native language of this island? The name suits her because Zithat is a genius when it comes to drinks! Wait'll you try this!"
In a split second, Zithat was sending a tray with nine pineapples on it our way. The pineapples had been cut open at the top with straws and little umbrellas inside.
"Enjoy, you crazy kids!" Zithat told us with a grin and a wink.
Atsushi raised his pineapple. "To a great night we probably won't remember."
The rest of us laughed and touched our pineapples together.
That was when I took my first sip of Zithat's concoction. I can't describe the taste, but it was amazing. There were lots of tropical flavours in there, most of which I couldn't even identify. I looked over at Stickers and he seemed to be loving it too. He polished off his pineapple in two big gulps and immediately asked for another one.
Over the next round of drinks, we talked about just about everything. I told them about my life in California and how unhappy I was there. Then I told them about the new life I made for myself in Radiator Springs.
"California isn't always as laidback and carefree as you might think!" I laughed.
"That's a shame", Fred commented, shaking his hood sadly. I adored his accent. "I have always wanted to visit California."
"Well, we'll just have to show California a good time, won't we, Freddy?" Hamish laughed.
They asked for Stickers' and my opinion on movies, music, politics and sports. Either they didn't seem to notice that we were a couple of years older than they were or they just didn't care. This was almost exactly how I'd wanted our vacation to go. Everyone loosening up, not thinking about anything except having a good time. The only thing wrong with the picture in front of me was that the people in it weren't who I expected.
But why does that have to be a bad thing? I quizzed myself. They all seem friendly and I would like to spend more time with them. After all, they're not arguing all the time. Besides, my friends in Radiator Springs weren't what I imagined when I envisioned a new life for myself after I left California.
Before I could think about it much longer, Laura took one last swig of her drink and slammed down her pineapple. "Enough talk!" she shouted. "Let's dance!"
I don't remember much of what happened next, but I know it was one of the best nights of my life. I'd only ever partied that hard once and it ended with me getting a pinstripe tattoo.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened this time. I remember laughing a lot. I remember dancing, mostly with Stickers, but when Hamish asked for a dance, I didn't turn him down. I probably had about five more Zithat's Island Specials. I never knew that there was that much wild child in me, but I'm glad I found it. I was even gladder to show Stickers. He's always off at parties with his friends from the racetrack and I'm too busy with my work as a lawyer and running two motels to ever have fun like this. At least now, Stickers could see that I can have fun.
Stickers and I didn't make it back to our room until four in the morning. The party ended at about one-thirty, but we kind of fell asleep for an hour or so. Stickers had had four or five too many Island Specials and I'd overindulged as well, meaning it took far too long to find our way back to our room and even longer to find our room key.
Laughing, we finally found it and stumbled into our room. I was expecting everything to be dark, but instead, a bright light burned my eyes. I cringed.
"Where've y'all been?!" Mater demanded. "I was real worried."
"Sorry, buddy", Stickers apologised, his voice slurred. "We didn't mean to make you worry. Atsushi and Kazuya just invited us to a party, so we went."
"Why didn't you tell me?!" the tow truck protested. "I thought somethin' done happened to y'all! Ya could've called me, ya know! You done left me yer phone, remember?"
"Yes, Mom!" Stickers snapped.
It wasn't like him to talk to Mater like that. I suspected it was a combination of the alcohol and being tired.
"Come on, Stickers!" I grabbed his tyre and led him into our room. "I think it's time we both got some sleep."
Surprisingly, he didn't put up a fight. We were both asleep almost instantly and I know I fell asleep with a smile on my face. I had just made some great new friends and had the best time with them. Already, I couldn't wait to see them again.
I'd like to thank Horse_Forever_2. for suggesting the name Laura and Guest for suggesting Heather. Zithat was a name that came to me in a dream and I decided to make it a native Freewheeler Island name because I thought it sounded kind of exotic.
And does anybody know what movie Fudge was quoting?
Please review. :)
