AN: Hey guys! Man, I seriously need to be working on this fic. I think I only have one more chappie already typed out, so I need to start working. Yah, I know I said all this before, but I'm so lazy! It's weird too, because I haven't beaten FFX-2 yet, but 2 or 3 days ago I started playing FFX again. I've played for 11 hours, and now I'm at the Macalania Woods, right before you have to fight that blob thing. Remember that? Eww, I'll have to battle Seymour soon -shudder-. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chappie. It's a bit longer than my other ones too.
Disclaimer: -posts a huge billboard in front of my house that reads 'Holly does not own DDR, so stop asking!' Ugh, this attempt to make an interesting disclaimer was pathetic. Oh, and sorry I make Shawn seem like a pervert stalker but he's not. He just really likes Kaeli, that's all. I drew pictures of my characters! I want you guys to see them. Well, along with my new computer, I got a printer/fax machine/copier/scanner. So, once I learn how, I'll scan the pictures and then you can see them on the internet. Cool, huh?
Chapter Seven: Play Time
"So what do you want to do first?" Shawn asked Kaeli as they got to the shore.
"Hmmm, I want to go play in the water! I love swimming! Helps keep my legs strong for DDR!" Kaeli said.
Yep, the water, my choice exactly, Shawn said to himself as Kaeli revealed her bathing suit. It was a black bikini with a little red heart on the side of the bottom half. Man, I'm really not trying to be perverted, she just looks so darn hot! Shawn had on dark blue swimming trunks. His physique was alright. DDR helped keep him in shape, so he wasn't fat, it's just that he didn't have much muscle.
"You look really pretty, Kaeli." Shawn complimented.
"Oh, thanks." Kaeli looked up and kicked the sand. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"
"You were waiting for me!" Shawn knew that voice all too well.
"Oh, hey Jake. Nice idea you had to have the contest." she joked.
"Yah, sorry 'bout that man." Jake, who was wearing fire-patterned trunks, gave Shawn a slap on the back. Why is he being all buddy-buddy, Shawn thought.
"Mind if I hang with you guys?" Jake asked. Shawn caught him sizing Kaeli up.
"Sure." Shawn heard Kaeli say. She looked at the two guys. "Last one to that white buoy is it!" she yelled, running towards the water.
"This is better than Baywatch!" Jake said as he turned and ran too. Shawn rolled his eyes and followed along. Kaeli was already in the water swimming to the buoy by the time Shawn started running. Kaeli reached the buoy first followed by Jake. They waited there for a while then Shawn finally caught up to them.
"Kind of slow there, eh Shawn?" Jake laughed.
Shawn just rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand being around Jake. He especially couldn't stand Kaeli around Jake.
"I see you rollin' your eyes!" Jake said, still treading water. "Hey, if you're still upset about the sandcastle contest I can make sure that everyone knows it was your idea. Would that make you feel better?" Jake said, almost like he was talking to a little baby.
"Just leave it alone, alright? I don't care about that anymore!" Shawn exclaimed. He tried not to get to mad with Jake. He didn't want Kaeli to see his bad side, because she never did.
"Whoa, sorry! Guess you'll be wanting a hug now, huh?"
Shawn had had enough of Jake's snide remarks (though those of a certain female's are easy to enjoy). "Jake, you're such a jerk!" Shawn turned around and started swimming towards the shore.
Kaeli looked at Jake then started to swim to Shawn. "Shawn! Stop! Wait up!" But Kaeli didn't get far as Jake pulled her back.
"Wait a minute! Don't leave just yet! I thought we were gonna hang out together!" Jake said.
"Yah, me too. That also included Shawn though. He's really upset and your silly little antics made him that way!" Kaeli said, looking away.
"Yeesh...back where I live everyone loves my remarks. They're only jokes, I didn't think he was gonna take it seriously!" Jake still saw Kaeli's care for her friend in her eyes. He sighed. "Listen, I'll try not to be like that around Shawn because now I know he's not into that kind of joking. I just want us to have fun." Kaeli didn't respond. "Are you mad?"
Kaeli slowly looked up again as her eyes met Jake's. "No, I'm not mad. You didn't know that Shawn would take it personally. I see that by joking around you weren't trying to be a bully, you were trying to be a friend. I better explain everything to Shawn before he thinks I've abandoned him as a friend." Kaeli said.
"No wait. I got him angry, so I should go talk to him." Jake said.
"Thanks." Kaeli said. She gave Jake a hug. "Oh, and Jake..." she called out as he started swimming to shore. "You're not a jerk."
Jake smiled to himself as he swam to shore. He started looking around for Shawn, but the beach was crowded with people so he didn't find him right away. Finally he spotted Shawn way out on the farthest dock. "'Sup man, how're you doing?" Jake said, walking coolly up to Shawn, whose back was towards him.
"I think you know how I'm doing!" Shawn snarled out.
"Listen, I talked to your little girlfriend over there. I told her how I was just messin' with you. I didn't know you were gonna take it seriously. So I'm apologizing for what I said." Shawn remained motionless. "So, are we cool?"
"I guess so. But I need to make some corrections to your little "speech". First of all, if you keep on making jokes like that, I'm gonna think you're serious. And second of all, Kaeli isn't my girlfriend." Shawn said, turning to face Jake.
"I see..." Jake trailed off.
"Not yet at least." Shawn quickly added.
"Oh. Really?" Jake asked. The two guys stared at each other. A spark flew into both of their minds at the same time. Jake looked out into the water where Kaeli was swimming around near the buoy. He looked back at Shawn. Shawn looked out to Kaeli, then turned to Jake. Then they both jumped into the water and swam as fast as they could to be the first to reach Kaeli.
Kaeli looked up to see both guys struggling to swim to her. When they reached her (at the same time) she said. "Another race, huh?" Shawn and Jake both quickly looked at each other.
"Sort of." Jake said. "Hey Kae, I was wondering if you'd like to be my partner in the sandcastle contest. It's coming up in a little bit."
"Why don't we all be on the same team?" Kaeli suggested.
"Oh yah, that's what I meant." Jake said. "It'll be fun."
"Leaving your other roommates out, huh?" they turned around to see Rinoa and Vivica swimming towards them. Viv was wearing a pink AF bikini, while Rinoa had on a flowery blue tankini. It's weird, you can always tell someone's personality by their swimsuit.
"You can be on the team too." Kaeli smiled.
"Let's play chicken! I always play it when I go to the beach. I can't break the tradition today!" Rinoa gleamed.
"Sounds cool. We have 20 minutes before the contest starts. We can play for a while, then we can decide on an idea for the contest before we're timed to sculpt it." Vivica explained.
"I'm with Kaeli." Jake called out quickly, picking his partner for chicken. Kaeli jumped on Jake's shoulders. Rinoa wanted to go first, so she hopped onto Shawn's shoulders. He would have rather had Kaeli's sexy body on his. Though Rinoa was thin and pretty, his heart was already set on Kaeli. Viv blew the imaginary whistle and they were off! As Jake and Shawn inched closer to each other, Kaeli and Rinoa both grabbed each other and tried to knock each other off into the water. Rinoa locked Kaeli's arm in hers, and grabbed with her other hand Kaeli's free arm and pulled it back. Kaeli twisted then fell off Jake's shoulders.
"I want a rematch!" Kaeli said, getting back on Jake's shoulders. "How did you do that?"
Rinoa smiled, still on Shawn. "I go to the beach a lot. I've learned a lot of techniques." Another call from Viv to start and the rematch began. Kaeli and Rinoa locked their fingers together and began an all out wobble-fest. In the end, they ended up pulling each other down together. After a few matches interchanging with Viv, the five roommates headed back to shore for the contest. They heard a quick announcement on the intercom for the DDR contestants to come near the lifeguard stand if they wanted to be in the sandcastle contest. It would start in five minutes.
"What are we going to build?" Shawn asked.
"It has to be something creative, that no one else would do." Viv said.
"It has to look complicated but be easy to do." Kaeli added. Everyone thought for a while.
"How about a DDR machine?" Jake suggested. "We could even make the screen have arrows for a song!"
"Great idea, Jay!" Rinoa said.
"No, no, no, no, no! It's Jake, not Jay, Rin. I cannot have a nickname. Only you guys can." Jake said.
"All teams listen up!" Joe Rogin said. You'll have 25 minutes to make your sculpture. It can be made of anything here from the beach-sand, water, seashells, seaweed, and sticks are all acceptable. If you mess up someone else's sand sculpture you are disqualified. You will come up with a team name in a minute. Any questions?"
Someone from another team raised his hand. "Is there a prize?"
"Yes, but you won't know it just yet." Rogin said. He gave everyone some time to come up with a team name. There was the "Soon to be DDR Elite", "The Cruisers", "Charlie's Angels plus one", and Kaeli's team, "The Danimal Fruit Yogurts".
"Awesome name right?" Jake said, the maker of the team name. Shawn shot Jake a "come on!" look. "What? That yogurt is the bomb!"
"Everyone ready? On your mark, get set, go!" People were running everywhere- gathering materials and fetching water. The Danimal Fruit Yogurts decided to make almost everything out of sand. The arrows on the ground would be made out of seaweed, the arrows on the screen out of seashells. The speakers would have sticks coming out of them so it shows that the music is playing loud.
"25 minutes is not long at all! We gotta get a move on!" Viv said as she helped Kaeli build the machine out of sand. Jake and Shawn were getting the water to hold the sand together while Rinoa looked for the other small materials. Soon they had the two pads and part of the screen. That was the hardest part, since it had to be tall and thick.
"Contestants, ten more minutes!" Rogin announced.
"Aw man, we gotta hurry!" Shawn said. Rinoa had gathered all the materials like sticks so she started to help build the screen. Shawn let Jake fetch the water as he also helped the girls. Soon, everything was perfect, the screen was complete, and all the small pieces were on it.
"Time's up!" Rogin said, Immediately everyone stopped. All of the teams had been done a little bit earlier except for "The Cruisers". The teams guarded their sand works from other people or the wind as Rogin walked around and viewed teams' work. "Soon to be DDR Elite" made a sea life scene with a turtle, dolphin, stingray, and real seaweed coming up from the ground. "The Cruisers" created the Statue of Liberty but it wasn't completely done. "Charlie's Angels plus one" sculpted two people, one playing with a real beach ball, the other relaxing on a real towel. After each team explained their piece, Rogin had the results.
"All four teams worked really hard on their sculptures, but only the team in first place will get the prize."
"I really hope we win!" Kaeli said. "We worked so hard!"
"Yah, but so did "Soon to be DDR Elite"!" Shawn cried.
Rogin continued. "In fourth place is..."The Cruisers". Nice job guys, but it should have been finished." The team immediately sat down, looking upset and tired. 'In third place is..."Charlie's Angels plus one"! Great sculptures but too plain."
"See, I told you it was a stupid idea!" yelled one of the team members.
"And finally, in second place is..."Soon to be DDR elite"! Great sculptures, but one team's was creative and obviously hard to make. Let's give a big round of applause for the first place team-"The Danimal Fruit Yogurts"!" Everyone clapped for them. A DDR machine is very one-of-a-kind!
"We won! Alright!" Jake exclaimed.
"And it was your idea too. Nice one, Jake!" Kaeli said, running over to him and hugging him.
"So, what's our prize?" Rin asked, anxious to know.
"Oh right," said Joe Rogin. "It's about tonight at the carnival. You will each get ten extra tickets along with the twenty that you'll already get. That way, you get to play more games and go on more rides."
"Thirty tickets?! That's so cool!" Viv exclaimed.
"Well, it had to be a great prize." Rogin said. He reached for the megaphone next to him. "Attention all DDR contestants, we will be leaving in ten minutes! Time to clean up and head on the bus! We will give a five minute warning before we leave!" People were starting to get out of the water and get the sand off themselves, change, etc.
"Hey, Kaeli, let's be the first ones of the bus so we can get the backseats. They're always the best!" Jake said.
"Okay!" Kaeli smiled. "Lemme just get my stuff from the lockers." Kaeli ran to the lockers and quickly pulled out her bag. She dried herself off, put on some shorts and slipped into some chunky sandals. She didn't bother putting her tank top on and left her damp, stringy hair down. When she got out Jake led her to the bus. Shawn emerged from the guy's locker rooms just to see Jake and Kaeli enter the bus.
"Why didn't she ask me to come with her?" Shawn asked. He quickly followed them as he heard Rogin announce "five minutes left". As he entered the bus, he couldn't see where they were, but he heard laughing coming from the back of the bus. Shawn tried to be quiet as he traveled to the back. "Whatcha doing?!" Shawn said as Jake and Kaeli came into view.
"Just havin' fun!" Jake laughed. "What're you doing?"
"I was just looking for Kaeli. She's my friend too." Shawn said.
"Oh right, I forgot, you two are inseparable." Jake joked. "Lighten up, she can do what she wants."
Kaeli looked kind of confused. "Is there something you wanted, Shawn?"
Shawn looked around, trying to think of something but he couldn't. "Uh, no. I'll just go sit over here." he said, moving near the front. Even though on the ride to the Gilderton he was accompanied by Rinoa and Vivian, he still felt left out. When they got back to the hotel, Rogin explained that they would have two hours to get ready and hang out before they left for the carnival at 4:30.
"Everyone except for the winning team will get twenty tickets for games and rides. Also, each person will get five dollars for dinner and snacks. The bus will be ready at 9:30, which gives you five hours of nonstop fun! And, if you run out of tickets or money, there are still live performances and other activities that you don't need anything for." Rogin explained.
The "Danimal Fruit Yogurts" headed back to their hotel room to get ready. Of course, the girls quickly grabbed the bathrooms.
"Girls, so very typical." Jake said in his room. He threw his wet trunks on the carpet floor and began drying his hair on his pillow.
"Oh yah, they're the typical ones." Shawn responded sarcastically. Shawn changed into jeans, a white polo shirt, and a red hoodie. As he was digging through his luggage bag, he spotted the note. The note, he thought. He had almost forgotten about the poem he wrote to Kaeli. I have to give it to her tonight. It would be the perfect time. Too bad someone else had in mind that tonight was also the perfect time to do something.
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Reviews: (Yes, I'm doing them this time)!
Zanisha: Yah, I know I died, but at least you revived me! Yay! Anyways, you'll just have to wait and see what happens! Will Kaeli choose Shawn? Has she ever had feelings for her best friend? Or will she fall for Jake? What does she see in him if she does? Well, those are some questions that will be answered sometime. May not be soon, but they'll be answered. Muahahaha! I love being the author! -evilness-
Lithe: That is so cool how you say your name 'lee-they'. But I miss Lyphe! I think I already told you that in my review, but whatever. Anyways, glad you like it!
Okay, my sis is on some trip, so that's why she didn't review, but where are all my other peoples? It's interesting that the only people that reviewed the last chappie were my KH friends. Yay, KH for life! (and friends for life!) Well, as long as you two review I'll be happy! :)