A/N: Alrighty, the story finally begins. Hopefully it's ok; the second part w/ the moms kinda sucks, but o well. I tried, and there's still the rest of the story to go. QuickEdit better not screw anything up. Man, I hate that thing. Anyways, read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: In this chapter appears the Manifesto. I didn't write it, I take no credit for it, etc.
"The past is never far" –the Goo Goo Dolls
Teena lay sprawled out on her bedroom floor. Rolling her head to the side, she asked the timeless question: "Tory, truth or dare?" Not that she really needed to ask; she already knew the answer.
"Dare," Tory replied without hesitation.
"Ok, do the chicken dance in stilettos."
If there was one thing Tory hated, it was heels of any sort. Besides, as the tallest of her friends she didn't exactly need them. However, Tory was not the type to turn down a perfectly good dare, heels or not. She rose from her seat at the edge of Teena's bed and coolly responded, "No problem."
"Uh, Tee, you don't even have stilettos," Bailey pointed out, bouncing on the mattress.
"I don't, but my mom does," Teena responded with a grin. "Hold on a sec while I get them." She hopped to her feet and walked down the hall to her mother's room.
As far as Teena knew, any shoes that Carmen didn't wear often were kept in a clear bin on a shelf near the top of her closet. Teena reached up and felt around for the bin. But instead of hard plastic, her hand came to rest on something soft and flat. She grabbed whatever it was and brought it down.
In her hands she held a pair of neatly folded blue jeans. They looked pretty ordinary; old, yes, and a little dirty… and covered in writing…
Wait a minute, writing? Teena vaguely recalled something Carmen had once told her. "Hey, aren't these…"
She raced back to her room, nearly colliding with the door frame in the process. Her three friends stared. "Where's the heels?" Eva asked from her seat in Teena's desk chair.
Teena blinked. "Oh, yeah…" She shook her head and waved off the question. "Forget about the dare, this is way better than Tory in stilettos." Bailey saw this statement as reason for much curiosity. Teena never let anyone off so easily in Truth-or-Dare; this had to be something interesting.
After a quick look around the room to make sure she had her friends' attention, Teena unfurled the pants. Silence. She stared at the other girls, who in return stared back. "Well?"
Bailey cocked her head to the side. "I don't get it."
Tory agreed, tying back her radiant blond hair. "Yeah, neither do I. I mean, what are they, magic or something?"
"That's exactly what they are," Teena said defensively. "Don't you ever remember hearing about the Traveling Pants from your mom?"
Tory paused. "Well, yeah… but how do you know that those are the Pants?" she asked skeptically.
"Take a look at this if you want proof." Teena's hand shuffled around in the back pocket until she pulled out a tattered piece of paper, yellow with age. She unfolded the paper, and her three friends gathered round for a closer look.
"We, the Sisterhood, hereby instate the following rules to govern the use of the Traveling Pants:
1.You must never wash the Pants.
2.You must never double-cuff the Pants. It's tacky. There will never be a time when this will not be tacky.
3.You must never say the word "phat" while wearing the Pants. You must also never think "I am fat" while wearing the Pants.
4.You must never let a boy take off the Pants (although you may take them off yourself in his presence).
5.You must not pick your nose while wearing the Pants. You may, however, scratch casually at you nostril while really kind of picking.
6.Upon our reunion, you must follow the proper procedures for documenting your time in the Pants.
7.You must write to your Sisters throughout the summer, no matter how much fun you are having without them.
8.You must pass the Pants along to your Sisters according to the specifications set down by the Sisterhood. Failure to comply will result in a severe spanking upon our reunion.
9.You must not wear the Pants with a tucked-in shirt and belt. See rule #2.
10.Remember: Pants love. Love your pals. Love yourself."
Eva took a step back. "Wow," she said appreciatively. "So those really are the Traveling Pants."
Bailey eyed the Pants thoughtfully. "You know," she considered, "those pants were supposedly magic. We should give them a try and see if the magic's still there after all these years." She turned to Tory. "Try them on."
Tory just shrugged. "Ok, sure." She slipped off her meshy green basketball shorts and caught the Pants as Teena tossed them to her. She pulled them on quickly and took a look at herself in Teena's mirror. "Hey, not bad," she said approvingly. The Pants rested nicely on her hips and seemed to trace every curve of her long, powerful legs. Her friends just stared.
"Wow," was all Eva could say.
Teena nodded slowly. "Very nice," she said.
"Those pants are hot," Bailey declared.
Tory smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. She turned around sharply. "Ok, who's the next victim?"
Bailey leapt up eagerly. "Hand 'em over," she demanded. Her smiley-face boxers fell to the floor, and she kicked them aside as Tory passed on the Pants.
This was where the real test began. Both of Bailey's parents had been scrawny as adolescents (not to say that they hadn't blossomed nicely). Thus, it was inevitable that she, too, had grown to be a scrawny teen. It was highly unlikely that the Pants would do for her what they had done for tall, athletic Tory.
Bailey took a deep breath and turned to face the mirror. She grinned. If this was a test, then she definitely had passed. The Pants seemed to like her narrow hips, on which they rested comfortably. She had breathing room yet wasn't swimming in them. No longer did she appear scrawny; it was as though she had blossomed right then and there.
"I repeat: wow," Eva said, blinking several times.
Teena bounced up and down excitedly. "You look so awesome, Bailey!"
"Seriously; Mom wasn't exaggerating when she said the Pants were magic," Tory added.
Bailey took one last glance at the mirror before sliding off the Pants. She tossed them to Teena. "Since you're so happy over there, you get them next," she said.
"Works for me," Teena responded. As she tore off her drawstring pajama pants, though, she couldn't help but worry that the Pants wouldn't work for her after all. She was slightly shorter than her friends; that's what she got for having three short grandparents. What if the Pants were too long? What if they made her fall flat on her face? Or what if they made her butt look huge? Or what if… Oh, just get on with it already! she screamed at herself mentally.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she pulled up the zipper. So far, so good; they didn't feel terribly long. She opened her eyes and relaxed. The Pants hugged her form in all the right places, bagging slightly at the feet. They were absolutely…
"Perfect," Bailey declared, echoing Teena's thoughts.
Teena was very, very glad that she had stumbled across the Pants.
"Ok, Eva's turn," she announced, handing over the Pants for one final test.
Eva accepted them, tossing aside her lavender warm-ups. She slid on the Pants. Yep, there was no doubt about it—these were the greatest pants ever created. They followed her dancer's body with incredible grace. With the Pants, Eva was radiant.
"Eva, don't ever let anyone tell you that your big sister is the pretty one, because you are absolutely gorgeous," Bailey commented.
"Yeah, I mean, you usually have the whole crazy dancer thing going on, but now it's like that times ten," Tory noted.
Teena plopped down on her bed. "We really did it," she whispered breathlessly. "We found the Pants."
Teena popped her head into the kitchen, where the four mothers sat gathered round the table talking and laughing. "Mom?"
Carmen looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway, the other girls right behind her. "Hey! Been having fun?"
"Yeah," Teena replied, "and, uh, we kinda found something."
"Something meaning…" Carmen raised her eyebrows and waited for elaboration.
Bailey held up the Pants.
A loud crash echoed as Tibby dropped her glass. Bridget squealed like a teenager, and Lena just stared. Carmen's jaw dropped. "Where on earth did you find those?"
"Your closet," Teena responded hesitantly. "You don't mind, do you?" All of the daughters were watching their mothers carefully, curious to see their reactions.
Carmen broke into a massive grin. "Mind? Yeah, right! I just can't believe the Pants have come back out after all these years!" Tibby nodded numbly in agreement, and Lena was still speechless. Bridget looked as though she might burst with excitement.
"So, did you guys try them on?" Bridget asked eagerly. The girls nodded, and Bridget took the Pants from Bailey. "My gosh, these things hold so many memories," she said, hugging the Pants tightly. Suddenly she wrinkled her nose. "Man, they smell! Where the heck have you been keeping them, Carma?"
"Just the back of my closet," Carmen said defensively. She sniffed the Pants for herself. "But I see what you mean. Tee, were you guys planning on using them?"
The daughters looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess so," Teena answered. "Why?"
Carmen looked at Bridget and nodded, and the two of them looked from Tibby and Lena back to the girls. "How about giving us a little time with them first? I think I've got an idea," Carmen said with a smile. "Besides, we've gotta do something about that smell, right?"
A/N: Yay, the story is semi-started! And yes, the mothers are up to something… mwahaha. P