Yellowstone by Skye Rocket
Disclaimer: Do we have to go over this again?? I own none of the Friends stuff. Don't tell the government.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Day Four *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
I gulped down the toxic vitamin and brushed my hair out of my eyes. Ross was perched on a wooden chair, and Kelsey sat, nibbling on a brownie and making feeble attempts at conversation.
"So, Ross, how are you today?" she asked, attempting to be friendly.
"Pretty good," he muttered. Just then, Monica and Chandler walked into the room.
"I just don't see why we have to-," Monica caught sight of me. "Hi Jennifer," she said.
"Um, it's Jane."
"Well of course it is! Sorry." She turned back to Chandler and hissed something into his ear. He grimaced but nodded.
"So, Jane, you and Kelsey are going with Monica and I to go fishing and...stuff," Chandler said. I gasped.
"What?"
"Yeah. Your mom and dad are taking Allen and Trevor to a snowboarding exhibit." I shrugged.
"Yeah sure." I paused. "Kelsey, can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded. I gave her a meaningful look and we hurried off to the bedroom.
"Snowboarding?" I asked incredulously. "Chandler and Monica? Why us?"
"Oh come on, Jane, it won't be so bad."
"Kelsey, is it just me or do you feel like they hate me?"
"Jane!" Mom yelled before Kelsey could answer. We skittered back out to the kitchen where mom stood in her rattiest pair of jeans and her "Pittsburgh State" gorilla t-shirt.
"Yeah?"
"Do you guys mind going with Chandler and Monica?"
"Nope, not at all," I said quickly.
"Okay. But tomorrow, our whole family is going horseback riding. And after that..."
"Rafting day!" Kelsey shouted.
"So get ready," she said, looking down at my ducky house slippers. I blushed.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"Chandler, did you take a wrong turn?" I asked, trying not to anger him.
"No!" he cried, poking at the map. I sighed and went back to chatting to Kelsey.
"Did you hear what Brian did?"
"No." Kelsey leaned over and whispered in my ear.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"We're here!" Monica said with relief.
"Finally," Kelsey muttered. I lifted my green fishing pole and my tackle box out of the back of the car and followed Chandler down to a little dock.
I kicked my sandals off onto the wooden dock and sat down, opening the Styrofoam can of worms. I used my pocketknife to slice on in half and plunged the hook into it, casting it out into the calm lake.
Kelsey turned her head away from the worm and quickly stabbed it. Monica and Chandler took pictures of flowers and the pine trees near the edge of the lake.
"Oh my gosh!" Kelsey shrieked. "I got one! Heeeeelp!!!" She flailed her arms about. Chandler came running and grabbed Kelsey's pole. He began reeling it in and Monica held the plastic fish blanket out in front of herself.
Just then a slimy fish slapped onto the dock. It was silver and had spines all over it. I stepped down on it gently and pulled out the hook. I carefully picked it up and slopped it into the bucket.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Yes!" I yelled and attempted to reel in the fish. Boy, it was really fighting. "Chandler! Will you help me?" I asked.
"Sure," he said and grabbed the pole. "Wow, this is a strong one!" But just then, the fish had an incredible surge of super-human (or fish) strength. Chandler flew forward, over the edge of the dock and into the water.
Monica's mouth dropped open as the water from the lake sloshed over onto the dock. Chandler re-appeared from under the disrupted surface of the water.
"Oh my god!" he shouted. "Monica, help me!" Monica ran over and grabbed his arm, pulling him up out of the water. He shivered as a light breeze blew in the air.
"I've got some blankets in the car." I took that as a hint and started gathering up my bait and hooks and the poles and walked up the path to the car. Kelsey sighed and flopped onto the seat as Monica wrapped Chandler up in a blue flannel blanket.
Kelsey and I exchanged a sarcastic glance and began gossiping again. I fished out my bag of sour gummi worms and offered one to the scowling Chandler in the front seat. He took it reluctantly as I nibbled on one, talking about 'that girl in homeroom' and her latest exploits.
"So, do you girls have boyfriends?" Chandler asked, not knowing the panic he had caused me.
"Nope!" I blurted.
"Me either," Kelsey agreed. I blushed. We drove through the mountains back to the cabin in stony silence. The quiet was deafening.
"Hey, how about a CD?" I asked.
"Sure," Monica said. I saw Chandler reaching for a CD labeled "Annie." She shook her head and he blushed. I plucked my CD wallet out of my bag and leafed through the plastic the envelopes. Linkin Park was a definite out; I could start singing again and risk more embarrassment.
"Anybody like Gorillaz?" I asked, and Kelsey nodded.
"Who?" Monica asked.
"Trust me, you'll love it!" I replied. "It's kind of like rock music, but not really. They're great." I handed her the CD and she put it into the machine. 'Re-Hash' began blaring from the speakers.
"Oh, this is great," Chandler said uncertainly. I could tell that he was trying to be polite but failed miserably. We sat in silence again as I munched on gummi worms and Kelsey sat, still absorbed in her murder mystery.
I laid my head against the rattling window and tried to look forward to tomorrow and rafting day. Maybe I might actually have a chance to be alone with my mom and dad. But you never know...
******
"That was pretty cool," Allen said.
"They had a video and it showed this guy falling down a mountain!" Trevor added gleefully. I smiled and tousled his hair.
"Ah well. Since mom and dad are going to spend the night in the park's nice hotel, I'm in charge, and so is Kelsey. Mom and Dad will be back tomorrow."
"So?"
"So...so do what we say." Phoebe walked into the room with an old looking guitar case.
"Hey Pheebs, what's up?" Rachel asked from her spot on the couch.
"Not to much," Phoebe replied. I munched on a cinnamon flavored pop tart and swung my legs back and forth, letting my feet bang loudly on the wooden cabinet doors. I picked at my fingernails as not much happened.
"Ummmm," I said dully. Of course, that didn't help. I was shy and quiet and in my circle of friends, I observed the odd things my friends did instead of participating. Now I sat stupidly, staring back at everyone.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Rachel asked out loud.
"I dunno, what do you want to do?" Allen replied boredly.
"Why don't we all just sit in a circle and tell about ourselves?" Monica asked, but the tone in her voice implied that it was a last resort. I shrugged and lumbered over to the couch, Kelsey right behind me. Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe sat in the circle, along with the four of us.
"Fine, I will start," Allen sighed. "I'm eleven years old, and I love computer games and video games. I have a sister, three dogs, two fish, two birds, and one toad. I love Legos, Harry Potter and Army men." I sighed.
"Okay," Monica said. "I'm a chef, I'm organized and tidy, I'm married to the love of my life, Chandler Bing, and my brother is Ross." The love of my life? Sheesh.
"I'm Phoebe Buffay and I'm a masseuse who writes songs in my spare time. I like singing and shopping in antique stores and being with my friends."
"I'm Ross Geller, I like dinosaurs," Ross began. I began choking on my Pop tart, but Kelsey slapped me on the back. No one seemed to notice but Kelsey dissolved into silent giggles. I scowled. "Anyway, I'm a professor and I used to work in a museum."
"And he's been married three times," Rachel muttered. But she moved on. "I'm Rachel Green and I love shopping and fashion and I work at Ralph Lauren."
"Well," Kelsey said quickly. "I'm not that interesting, I like track and basketball, have one sister and I go to school with Jane."
"I'm Jane, duh, and I like my pets, Linkin Park and football. That's all." Well that wasn't so bad, was it?
"And I'm Trevor, I like my cats, video games, my little brother, riding my bike, the Army and skateboarding."
My, my, was that boring or what? I sighed and stood up, picking imaginary lint off of my shirt. I closed the box of pop tarts and put it back in the bag of snacks my parents had brought.
"So," Kelsey said slowly. We all sat, quiet in a vegetable-like state, when all of a sudden, Ross leapt up with an idea on his mind.
"Anybody want to go on a hike in the dark?" he asked excitedly.
"I will," Monica and I yelped at the same time. Kelsey got a hesitant look on her face.
"Come on, Kels, it'll be great!" Allen shouted. She shrugged and nodded.
"Chandler!" Monica said, walking to her room. He came out into the kitchen with a toothbrush jammed in between his jaws.
"What?" he asked, his voice muffled by the piece of plastic protruding from his mouth.
"Do you want to take the kids for a late night hike?" she asked him. He removed the brush from his mouth and shrugged.
"Yeah, sure." He pulled on a jacket. Kelsey and I ran to our room and grabbed our sweatshirts and the backpack. It had a pair of flashlights inside of it. I scrawled a note to our parents (just in case) and stuck it on the fridge, just as Ross began to usher Trevor and Allen out to the car.
About ten minutes later, Ross, Monica, Chandler, and us kids were shoved into the white car that was barreling down the country road to the entrance to the park. Allen and Kelsey were arguing over the topic of aliens, and Trevor and I were playing poker the best we could in the trembling car.
Monica and Ross were arguing about Ross' less-than-satisfactory driving skills. Before we knew it, the bickering had shifted to Ross' numerous (as far as I could tell without asking) divorces and Monica's former weight problems.
As soon as we pulled into the parking lot to see the thermal features, I felt my heart rate speed up. Kelsey and I stepped out onto the cooling asphalt and my feet make a soft plodding noise, and the moon hung overhead, shining a dull yellow color.
I tried to read everyone's expression. I knew I had to be half smirking my crooked smile. Kelsey was nervously smiling. Trevor and Allen were chatting together loudly and cackling like crows.
Chandler's face looked stern, and I prayed that he wasn't mad at us. Ross and Monica still argued and squabbled like little children.
"Well at least I never got drunk in Vegas and married my ex-girlfriend!" Monica hissed. Ouch. It was hard for me to believe that the two of them were brother and sister like me and Allen. But then again, maybe it wasn't that hard to believe.
Soon we had crossed the parking lot and were trudging up a steep hill to a cave looking thing on the side of a hill. Milky gray water was gurgling in it, and steam radiated off of it.
"Hey, that's pretty cool!" I said excitedly.
"Well, Jane, this may have been around even when the dinosaurs were. It was created millions of years ago," Ross said in a matter-of-fact way. My mind shrieked.
"Oh, that's...great, Ross," I said, not knowing what to reply with.
"I rest my case," Monica muttered. I wanted to shout, I absolutely hated talking to new people. First impressions always stay with you for a while...after all, I still didn't think that Monica was very fond of me.
Next we came to Dragon's Mouth Spring. The greenish water swished in and out of a huge cave in the side of the hill. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air. Chandler was glancing through the 50 cent pamphlet he had bought for a machine in the parking lot.
We walked up an even steeper path. I took my hat off and wiped sweat from my forehead, fanning myself with my new wolf hat. Soon the path leveled off and we came to a calm lake.
"Hey, cool," Chandler said, looking up for the piece of paper in his hands. "This is called 'Sour Lake.' It says that the water may look calm, but if you tried to take a swim in it, it would 'burn your skin like battery acid.'"
"Wow, cool!" Trevor exclaimed.
"Greeeeat," Kelsey sighed. "Is there anything you can swim in in this park?"
"I wouldn't count on it," I said. We kept walking and saw a churning lake that bubbled in huge gray waves.
"The gray comes from the rock in it," Chandler read from the booklet.
"Ah-ha, see, there could be lots of fossils around," Ross said excitedly.
"Wow. No kidding," Chandler replied mockingly. Monica laughed. The two of them intertwined their fingers together as we walked on.
Soon we were finished looking and all stampeded back to the car. The ride back was so quiet that I swore I heard a pin drop. My eyelids drooped.
As soon as we got home I managed to drag myself into our room and change, then fell into a deep sleep.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Well? You like it? Leave me a review please-oh-please?!
Disclaimer: Do we have to go over this again?? I own none of the Friends stuff. Don't tell the government.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Day Four *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
I gulped down the toxic vitamin and brushed my hair out of my eyes. Ross was perched on a wooden chair, and Kelsey sat, nibbling on a brownie and making feeble attempts at conversation.
"So, Ross, how are you today?" she asked, attempting to be friendly.
"Pretty good," he muttered. Just then, Monica and Chandler walked into the room.
"I just don't see why we have to-," Monica caught sight of me. "Hi Jennifer," she said.
"Um, it's Jane."
"Well of course it is! Sorry." She turned back to Chandler and hissed something into his ear. He grimaced but nodded.
"So, Jane, you and Kelsey are going with Monica and I to go fishing and...stuff," Chandler said. I gasped.
"What?"
"Yeah. Your mom and dad are taking Allen and Trevor to a snowboarding exhibit." I shrugged.
"Yeah sure." I paused. "Kelsey, can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded. I gave her a meaningful look and we hurried off to the bedroom.
"Snowboarding?" I asked incredulously. "Chandler and Monica? Why us?"
"Oh come on, Jane, it won't be so bad."
"Kelsey, is it just me or do you feel like they hate me?"
"Jane!" Mom yelled before Kelsey could answer. We skittered back out to the kitchen where mom stood in her rattiest pair of jeans and her "Pittsburgh State" gorilla t-shirt.
"Yeah?"
"Do you guys mind going with Chandler and Monica?"
"Nope, not at all," I said quickly.
"Okay. But tomorrow, our whole family is going horseback riding. And after that..."
"Rafting day!" Kelsey shouted.
"So get ready," she said, looking down at my ducky house slippers. I blushed.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"Chandler, did you take a wrong turn?" I asked, trying not to anger him.
"No!" he cried, poking at the map. I sighed and went back to chatting to Kelsey.
"Did you hear what Brian did?"
"No." Kelsey leaned over and whispered in my ear.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"We're here!" Monica said with relief.
"Finally," Kelsey muttered. I lifted my green fishing pole and my tackle box out of the back of the car and followed Chandler down to a little dock.
I kicked my sandals off onto the wooden dock and sat down, opening the Styrofoam can of worms. I used my pocketknife to slice on in half and plunged the hook into it, casting it out into the calm lake.
Kelsey turned her head away from the worm and quickly stabbed it. Monica and Chandler took pictures of flowers and the pine trees near the edge of the lake.
"Oh my gosh!" Kelsey shrieked. "I got one! Heeeeelp!!!" She flailed her arms about. Chandler came running and grabbed Kelsey's pole. He began reeling it in and Monica held the plastic fish blanket out in front of herself.
Just then a slimy fish slapped onto the dock. It was silver and had spines all over it. I stepped down on it gently and pulled out the hook. I carefully picked it up and slopped it into the bucket.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Yes!" I yelled and attempted to reel in the fish. Boy, it was really fighting. "Chandler! Will you help me?" I asked.
"Sure," he said and grabbed the pole. "Wow, this is a strong one!" But just then, the fish had an incredible surge of super-human (or fish) strength. Chandler flew forward, over the edge of the dock and into the water.
Monica's mouth dropped open as the water from the lake sloshed over onto the dock. Chandler re-appeared from under the disrupted surface of the water.
"Oh my god!" he shouted. "Monica, help me!" Monica ran over and grabbed his arm, pulling him up out of the water. He shivered as a light breeze blew in the air.
"I've got some blankets in the car." I took that as a hint and started gathering up my bait and hooks and the poles and walked up the path to the car. Kelsey sighed and flopped onto the seat as Monica wrapped Chandler up in a blue flannel blanket.
Kelsey and I exchanged a sarcastic glance and began gossiping again. I fished out my bag of sour gummi worms and offered one to the scowling Chandler in the front seat. He took it reluctantly as I nibbled on one, talking about 'that girl in homeroom' and her latest exploits.
"So, do you girls have boyfriends?" Chandler asked, not knowing the panic he had caused me.
"Nope!" I blurted.
"Me either," Kelsey agreed. I blushed. We drove through the mountains back to the cabin in stony silence. The quiet was deafening.
"Hey, how about a CD?" I asked.
"Sure," Monica said. I saw Chandler reaching for a CD labeled "Annie." She shook her head and he blushed. I plucked my CD wallet out of my bag and leafed through the plastic the envelopes. Linkin Park was a definite out; I could start singing again and risk more embarrassment.
"Anybody like Gorillaz?" I asked, and Kelsey nodded.
"Who?" Monica asked.
"Trust me, you'll love it!" I replied. "It's kind of like rock music, but not really. They're great." I handed her the CD and she put it into the machine. 'Re-Hash' began blaring from the speakers.
"Oh, this is great," Chandler said uncertainly. I could tell that he was trying to be polite but failed miserably. We sat in silence again as I munched on gummi worms and Kelsey sat, still absorbed in her murder mystery.
I laid my head against the rattling window and tried to look forward to tomorrow and rafting day. Maybe I might actually have a chance to be alone with my mom and dad. But you never know...
******
"That was pretty cool," Allen said.
"They had a video and it showed this guy falling down a mountain!" Trevor added gleefully. I smiled and tousled his hair.
"Ah well. Since mom and dad are going to spend the night in the park's nice hotel, I'm in charge, and so is Kelsey. Mom and Dad will be back tomorrow."
"So?"
"So...so do what we say." Phoebe walked into the room with an old looking guitar case.
"Hey Pheebs, what's up?" Rachel asked from her spot on the couch.
"Not to much," Phoebe replied. I munched on a cinnamon flavored pop tart and swung my legs back and forth, letting my feet bang loudly on the wooden cabinet doors. I picked at my fingernails as not much happened.
"Ummmm," I said dully. Of course, that didn't help. I was shy and quiet and in my circle of friends, I observed the odd things my friends did instead of participating. Now I sat stupidly, staring back at everyone.
"Well, what do you want to do?" Rachel asked out loud.
"I dunno, what do you want to do?" Allen replied boredly.
"Why don't we all just sit in a circle and tell about ourselves?" Monica asked, but the tone in her voice implied that it was a last resort. I shrugged and lumbered over to the couch, Kelsey right behind me. Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe sat in the circle, along with the four of us.
"Fine, I will start," Allen sighed. "I'm eleven years old, and I love computer games and video games. I have a sister, three dogs, two fish, two birds, and one toad. I love Legos, Harry Potter and Army men." I sighed.
"Okay," Monica said. "I'm a chef, I'm organized and tidy, I'm married to the love of my life, Chandler Bing, and my brother is Ross." The love of my life? Sheesh.
"I'm Phoebe Buffay and I'm a masseuse who writes songs in my spare time. I like singing and shopping in antique stores and being with my friends."
"I'm Ross Geller, I like dinosaurs," Ross began. I began choking on my Pop tart, but Kelsey slapped me on the back. No one seemed to notice but Kelsey dissolved into silent giggles. I scowled. "Anyway, I'm a professor and I used to work in a museum."
"And he's been married three times," Rachel muttered. But she moved on. "I'm Rachel Green and I love shopping and fashion and I work at Ralph Lauren."
"Well," Kelsey said quickly. "I'm not that interesting, I like track and basketball, have one sister and I go to school with Jane."
"I'm Jane, duh, and I like my pets, Linkin Park and football. That's all." Well that wasn't so bad, was it?
"And I'm Trevor, I like my cats, video games, my little brother, riding my bike, the Army and skateboarding."
My, my, was that boring or what? I sighed and stood up, picking imaginary lint off of my shirt. I closed the box of pop tarts and put it back in the bag of snacks my parents had brought.
"So," Kelsey said slowly. We all sat, quiet in a vegetable-like state, when all of a sudden, Ross leapt up with an idea on his mind.
"Anybody want to go on a hike in the dark?" he asked excitedly.
"I will," Monica and I yelped at the same time. Kelsey got a hesitant look on her face.
"Come on, Kels, it'll be great!" Allen shouted. She shrugged and nodded.
"Chandler!" Monica said, walking to her room. He came out into the kitchen with a toothbrush jammed in between his jaws.
"What?" he asked, his voice muffled by the piece of plastic protruding from his mouth.
"Do you want to take the kids for a late night hike?" she asked him. He removed the brush from his mouth and shrugged.
"Yeah, sure." He pulled on a jacket. Kelsey and I ran to our room and grabbed our sweatshirts and the backpack. It had a pair of flashlights inside of it. I scrawled a note to our parents (just in case) and stuck it on the fridge, just as Ross began to usher Trevor and Allen out to the car.
About ten minutes later, Ross, Monica, Chandler, and us kids were shoved into the white car that was barreling down the country road to the entrance to the park. Allen and Kelsey were arguing over the topic of aliens, and Trevor and I were playing poker the best we could in the trembling car.
Monica and Ross were arguing about Ross' less-than-satisfactory driving skills. Before we knew it, the bickering had shifted to Ross' numerous (as far as I could tell without asking) divorces and Monica's former weight problems.
As soon as we pulled into the parking lot to see the thermal features, I felt my heart rate speed up. Kelsey and I stepped out onto the cooling asphalt and my feet make a soft plodding noise, and the moon hung overhead, shining a dull yellow color.
I tried to read everyone's expression. I knew I had to be half smirking my crooked smile. Kelsey was nervously smiling. Trevor and Allen were chatting together loudly and cackling like crows.
Chandler's face looked stern, and I prayed that he wasn't mad at us. Ross and Monica still argued and squabbled like little children.
"Well at least I never got drunk in Vegas and married my ex-girlfriend!" Monica hissed. Ouch. It was hard for me to believe that the two of them were brother and sister like me and Allen. But then again, maybe it wasn't that hard to believe.
Soon we had crossed the parking lot and were trudging up a steep hill to a cave looking thing on the side of a hill. Milky gray water was gurgling in it, and steam radiated off of it.
"Hey, that's pretty cool!" I said excitedly.
"Well, Jane, this may have been around even when the dinosaurs were. It was created millions of years ago," Ross said in a matter-of-fact way. My mind shrieked.
"Oh, that's...great, Ross," I said, not knowing what to reply with.
"I rest my case," Monica muttered. I wanted to shout, I absolutely hated talking to new people. First impressions always stay with you for a while...after all, I still didn't think that Monica was very fond of me.
Next we came to Dragon's Mouth Spring. The greenish water swished in and out of a huge cave in the side of the hill. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air. Chandler was glancing through the 50 cent pamphlet he had bought for a machine in the parking lot.
We walked up an even steeper path. I took my hat off and wiped sweat from my forehead, fanning myself with my new wolf hat. Soon the path leveled off and we came to a calm lake.
"Hey, cool," Chandler said, looking up for the piece of paper in his hands. "This is called 'Sour Lake.' It says that the water may look calm, but if you tried to take a swim in it, it would 'burn your skin like battery acid.'"
"Wow, cool!" Trevor exclaimed.
"Greeeeat," Kelsey sighed. "Is there anything you can swim in in this park?"
"I wouldn't count on it," I said. We kept walking and saw a churning lake that bubbled in huge gray waves.
"The gray comes from the rock in it," Chandler read from the booklet.
"Ah-ha, see, there could be lots of fossils around," Ross said excitedly.
"Wow. No kidding," Chandler replied mockingly. Monica laughed. The two of them intertwined their fingers together as we walked on.
Soon we were finished looking and all stampeded back to the car. The ride back was so quiet that I swore I heard a pin drop. My eyelids drooped.
As soon as we got home I managed to drag myself into our room and change, then fell into a deep sleep.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Well? You like it? Leave me a review please-oh-please?!