The Central Perk Diaries

by lonelyteardrops

All the friends eagerly enter "The Central Perk Million-Dollar Sweepstakes." But the requirement of writing a personal diary changes from a mandatory chore to a dire necessity as their lives spiral out of control. Read and review.

Setting: Set five months after the series finale (October). Everything is the same except for the fact that Joey didn't move to L.A. and Monica and Chandler didn't move out of their apartment.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "Friends," nor the trademark of "Friends;" Bright, Kauffman and Crane Productions does.

Chapter 1

The Central Perk Million-Dollar Sweepstakes

Gunther opened the door to the coffeehouse, Central Perk, at 6:00 on Monday morning. He turned on the lights and looked around. The coffeehouse looked so different when there was no one in it.

He went out to the back to get the mail from yesterday that he hadn't checked. He pulled a thick envelope out of the pile. The envelope looked regal and important. Gunther stared at the envelope and then opened it.

A large, glossy advertisement fell out of it. The title screamed, "ENTER THE CENTRAL PERK MILLION-DOLLAR SWEEPSTAKES!"

"What the hell?" Gunther grumbled. Then he got some tape and went outside to put it on the chalkboard....

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Joey, Monica, and Chandler were walking up to the coffeehouse at 9:00 when Joey saw the notice on the chalkboard. "Million-dollar Sweepstakes?" His eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Don't get too excited, Joe," Monica said. "Those things are impossible to win, and there's always some kind of a catch."

"I don't care. I want to enter," Joey said anxiously.

"Do you even know what you have to do?" Monica said doubtfully.

"Let's see…" Joey proceeded to read the fine print on the poster. "…journal…it looks like you have to keep a diary or something."

"That's it?" Chandler exclaimed. "Damn it, I want to enter!"

Monica slapped him on the arm. "OW!" Chandler yelled. "What the hell was that for?"

Monica folded her arms. "You deserved it. You're supposed to support me!"

"I'm sorry, Mon, but it really doesn't look like that much of a hassle," Chandler said defensively. "So what if we enter? And hey," he added, as Monica began to pout, "worst-case scenario: we don't win. Best case: we get a million green ones!"

Monica looked at him dryly. "You do know that nobody calls them 'green ones?'"

Chandler said quickly, "I love you." Monica smiled at him.

Joey looked at them impatiently. "Come on, guys, let's go sign up!"