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That Endless Summer
Chapter Six: Payback.
"When you make your move, I won't hesitate.
If you take to long, you could be too late.
This time I'm playing to win."
Playing to Win, John Farnham
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After what seemed like hours, we finally pulled up outside a rather quaint looking motel. Ric and Luke were already standing outside the car, and Maddie and I hopped out, observing them with their arms folded across their chest and faces both set in tired and annoyed looks.
Maddie simply smiled as she walked up to Lucas and grabbed her bag from his arms, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before strutting her way towards the entrance. Ric gave me a 'don't even think about playing cute' look as I handed over the keys, and followed Maddie.
Apparently the boys were none too happy with us but that would only make tonight all the more interesting… and challenging… I thought, as I looked up to see Maddie clarifying our reservation. Lord knows that woman loved a challenge.
Smiling wickedly as Ric and Luke walked slowly through the door, she strutted up to Luke, handing him a key. He moved to walk forwards with her, but she firmly placed her right index finger on his chest.
"Nope. Girls night in. Cass and I haven't spent quality time together since…"
"New Year?" Luke added sarcastically.
"In the car?" Ric decided to add his two cents.
In a huff now, I guess Maddie decided they deserved no further explanation. So she simply grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs.
"You're actually serious?" Luke said from the background as we continued to walk away from them.
"As a heart attack. Have fun boys." She said happily.
In the distance came the distraught cry, "But there's only a double bed."
"Phase two complete." Maddie said seriously, before we both burst into laughter. Tonight was going to be fun.
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Ten minutes later, clothing was strewn all over the floor, as Maddie and I compiled the perfect outfit for phase three, which would be crucial in implementing phase four. Satisfied with our choices, we touched up our make-up quickly in the mirror. Knowing the boys as we did, we knew their strengths, and their weaknesses… for girls in short tight skirts and revealing tops.
They were vain, and obviously were not lead by their brains, but uh, other parts of their body. Who would have known that they were typically cliched males?
Smiling at one another, we grabbed the key as we left the room, and walked up to the door next to ours, gently knocking once.
There was a scuffle and a thump, and a few seconds went by before Ric answered the door, rubbing the back of his head.
"Enjoying the perks of a double bed?" I said, raising an eyebrow and looking past Ric to where Luke sat on the floor.
"Something along those lines…" Ric muttered almost incoherently, as Luke came to join him, their eyes quickly doing a once over, before meeting our own once more.
"We're just going out." Maddie stated "And we wanted you to tell the olds when they call."
"Out?" Luke said, rather angrily "Dressed like that? Nope, I forbid it." He said, folding his arms across his chest, a gesture his father would have done in the same situation.
"And why on earth not?" I said, mimicking his stance. Two could play that game.
"Well… I…. Uh…" Luke began unsuccessfully, before Ric came to his aid.
"Because it'll end up like any other time you two have gone out together. A drunken phone call, a late night pickup, and a crappy day for Luke and I who nurse your hangovers. We're having none of that, not until we get to Surfers. Understood?" He said firmly, looking between us as Maddie pouted and I sulked.
"Fine." I said finally, throwing my hands in the air in defeat. "Well, we're ordering in pizza and watching the new Brad Pitt movie then. Or should I say your ordering in pizza. Bring it to us when it comes." I said happily, pulling Maddie back to our room, leaving two very baffled males behind.
Once we were safely back, I turned to Maddie, saying "Phase three a complete success. Initiate phase four."
She giggled before pulling out our final outfit choice. One more phase, and our revenge would be complete. Not to mention their minds well and truly screwed with. Sometimes, drama just needed to be created, I thought, pulling my shirt over my head. This was one of those times.
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"They are up to something." Ric said as he watched the girls skip back to their room next door.
"Obviously." I said, "Did you see what they were wearing?" I finished, pointing out the obvious.
"Think they still hate us for the water?" Ric suggested, as he walked back to the lounge and sat down.
Sitting back against the headboard of the bed, I mulled this over.
"It would explain all their actions so far. The constant messages, the 'girls night in' and the flaunting of their bodies, pretending to go out. They gave in far too easily. Why just agree to have pizza brought to them by us?" I said, rubbing my chin, pondering the question.
I was interrupted by the sound of Ric's phone buzzing. He flipped it open and groaned at the message he was reading.
"Waiting patiently for the pizza. Would like it before we leave tomorrow morning." He read aloud.
"Well, I guess it's pizza for dinner." I sighed, as Ric messaged back and I found the phone book, searching for the nearest pizza provider.
"I told them we've ordered and are going to pick it up now." Ric said, as I finished placing the order.
"Should be ready in twenty minutes. Just enough time for us to find this place." I said, grabbing the car keys, along with the room key, and walking towards the door.
"Sounds like a plan." Ric said, following me.
Looking briefly towards Maddie and Cassie's door, I sighed. "Paybacks a bitch. And I have a feeling they are only getting started." I looked sympathetically towards Ric as we walked down the hallway.
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Turns out, two guys in a car trying to find somewhere they've never been to isn't a good mix. Ten minutes were spent arguing about which one of us would drive. In the end we flipped a coin; and went with the opposite of what happened, that had almost become tradition.
Of course, I won the toss, so he drove. Then, we spent the next twenty minutes getting insanely lost, proving that we actually were crap at directions. Not that we'd ever admit that to Maddie or Cassie.
Finally, as we arrived outside the local Pizza Hut, Ric's phone began buzzing. He flipped it open, before handing it over to me.
We're waiting. The message read.
Patience is a virtue, I wrote back as Ric and I entered the store.
And keeping your ever so slightly annoyed girlfriends waiting is a sin. Came the reply. Laughing, I gave Ric back his phone as he laughed too, before putting it away.
We picked up the pizza's and ten minutes later were walking back into the motel, towards Maddie and Cassie's room.
Stopping a few steps away from the door, I put my hand on Ric's chest to stop him.
"Be aware of their ultimate female powers, my friend. They are wise in the way's of men, and know many secrets to abuse their power." I said, as if I was an ancient teacher speaking to his young pupil.
"Beware the female, they cloud the mind." Ric agreed, before we walked towards the door, knocking once, wondering what sight we would behold once it opened.
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And their jaws dropped.
Phase Four complete.
Cassie and I had packed many different pairs of pajama's for this trip… one for every occasion. And tonight was an occasion that called for the skimpiest set of pajama's one could wear, without feeling like she was in her underwear. Because that kind of sleepwear was for an entirely different situation… where not much sleep would occur.
Cassie and I had chosen our newest pj sets, of which the boys knew nothing about. Consisting of hot pants (that were barely there) and singlet tops that hugged out bodies and fell just above our belly buttons, we believed these to be the right choices.
We were proven rightly so when their jaws dropped, and the drool started hanging out of their mouths.
Cassie and I grinned at one another before looking at the boys questioningly.
"Our pizza?" I asked, as Luke eyed me up and down like I was a piece of candy… eye candy.
Ric was holding two boxes out away from his body, so I assumed these to be ours. Nodding my head towards them, Cassie caught my drift and leant out to retrieve them, giving Ric a lovely view… for a millisecond.
Once more playing the cute card, I leant up to Luke and hugged his body close for a little bit.
"Goodnight baby." I whispered in his ear, noticing out of the corner of my eye Cassie doing something similar with Ric. "Sweet dreams of me." I finished, kissing him gently, but quickly on the mouth, then moving backwards into the room.
Cassie followed a few moments later, and gleefully slammed the door in their faces.
We turned and high-fived one another because of our great success. One more phase. The make-up phase. We'd tortured the boys for too long now… well, maybe a couple of hours longer wouldn't hurt.
"Okay, countdown to phase five commences at," I said, checking my watch "nine seventeen. Phase five commencing at midnight." I finished as she handed me a box of lovely smelling pizza.
"But until that time," Cassie replied "Bring on the Brad Pitt."
"Amen sister." I replied, sitting down on the bed and flipping on the TV.
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Luke and I were still standing outside their room. However we were now looking at the half-hearted paintjob the door had been given.
Turning to him, I pushed him into our room while saying to him "How could we have prepared ourselves for… that!"
Shaking his head, Luke turned to look at me. "No one could prepare themsleves against those women in the room next to us. They be powerful witches." He said, almost mockingly, but his face, still dumbstruck with the fresh memories of them in those… pajama's took the edge off his words.
"I don't think I've ever seen that one before." He said aloud, to no one in particular.
"I know I've never seen that one before." I replied, shoving a box in his face.
"Eat up. They let us go too easily. We'll need our strength for whatever they have coming." I said, with some uncertainty wavering in my voice.
"Who knows?" Luke agreed before biting into his pizza.
Realisation struck his face a moment later as he swallowed his pizza. "The box" he said quietly.
Tucked in one of the bags we'd brought in from the car was the box Jack and Kim had given us. This was the perfect opportunity for Luke and I to explore that little box, and all the secrets it offered us in our manhood.
Laughing aloud, I turned and said to Luke as he began searching for the box "Maybe it's a good thing we made the girls pissed at us. Gives us a chance to do this without looking suspiciously gay."
"Not that they don't think that enough already." Luke said as I continued to laugh. It's true, Luke and I spent an abnormally large time alone together… but what else could we do? Due to our tight-knit group we'd not made that many male friends, and Maddie and Cassie we're always off with one another… what other option did we have?
Luke shouting 'Ah-ha' triumphantly brought me out of my thoughts, as we sat down on the bed together, the box in between us.
"It looks normal enough." I said, as we turned it around in a circle.
Luke let out a short laugh before saying "Don't trust my brother one bit. He and Kim are going to put us through hell with this box. I can tell."
"And how do you know that? Jack and Kim have always been nice to me, not to mention you and Jack are as close as brothers' come. Why would they want to ruin this for us?" I said to him accusingly.
"Because they are older, more experienced males." Luke explained. "They went through hell to get there. Now they are going to make us do the same. I guess it's just a male bonding thing."
"Like we need to bond any more." I laughed suddenly.
"Well, maybe they are going to make us see a light. I don't know. But at this rate, we'll never get to see what's in there." Luke said, pointing at the box.
Exhaling, I slowly lifted the lid as if it were an untouched treasure.
What a waste of a build up, I thought, as I pulled out an old exercise book, an envelope and a DVD…
"William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" Luke read aloud, his voice sounding slightly horrified.
"What a load of shit!" I yelled angrily, throwing my hands in the air in frustration. "There could've at least been a Karma Sutra or something!"
Luke was silent and as I continued ranting, he looked over the envelope and the book thoroughly. Stopping mid rant, I realised he looked as if he knew something I didn't about the surprises in his box.
"Care to share oh wise one?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"You're judging a book by it's cover" he replied before tearing open the envelope and reading quickly over it's contents. He smiled occasionally, and laughed aloud once or twice.
Finally, he decided to share the contents with my impatient self.
"Dear dumb and dumber.
If you thought this was a disappointment, we're severely disappointed in you. Do you honestly think Kim and I would screw you up over something as important as this?"
A wry smile formed on my face as Luke continued to read… they knew us too well.
"Okay, so maybe we would screw you over for a bit, but we're deadly serious in saying the book contained in this box, is the holy bible of women. It is the combined knowledge of the two of us, plus some older, wiser knowledge from other men in your lives.
But there is one thing that you need to remember at all times. The female is always right, even when she is wrong. Every wise man that we spoke to offered this same advice in some way or another."
"Too little, too late." I said aloud, as I thought about the kinda… mistakes that we'd made today with the girls.
Luke shot me a look that said 'They DID tell us' before continuing with the letter.
"This is your birthright as males, to wield this knowledge, and use it for all things good, and for all area's of sucking up as you make many, MANY mistakes during your time with these women. Good Luck Boys. You're going to need it." He finished, throwing the letter down onto the bed.
We looked towards the old exercise book, our so-called 'bible'. Luke slowly opened the front page, then slowly turned page after page, as we witnessed the secrets held in this book. There were lists and quotes and diagrams and songs. Every imaginable piece of information had been covered. Every detail, every suck up tactic, every 'back down from that fight you are going to lose no matter what' answer.
"This" Luke said in awe "Is the most brilliant book in the entire world."
I could only nod numbly at him. It was the Holy Grail of all books.
"We better put this away and get some sleep, otherwise the girls will be calling us Rory and Lorelai for the entire day tomorrow" I said as I looked at my watch, noticing that it was almost midnight already.
"And we couldn't have that, all the Gilmore Girl jokes are for our caffeine addicted girls" Luke remarked as he shut the book and stuffed it at the bottom of his bag, before walking into the bathroom to get changed for bed.
I sighed, wondering how long the girls were going to keep this act up… and whether that book contained any hidden secrets to help us.
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"Time?" I asked Cassie as we touched up our make-up.
"12:35 am. Everything ready?" she asked back.
"Check." I sighed, turning to face her. "I miss Luke." I said honestly.
"I miss Ric." She replied just as honestly, pulling me into a quick hug. "Let's go get our boys back." Cassie said as she pulled away, grabbed the room key and led me quietly out of our room.
We stood giggling at their door, and began knocking quietly. Then, when no one came, we began knocking louder and louder.
Finally, there were several groans, followed by a loud thumping noise and some hushed swearing. This only brought on more giggles for Cassie and I, and as the door opened, we struggled to keep on our innocent faces.
Luke's hair was sticking up all over the place, and his sleepy face showed a mixture of confusion, horror and absolute tiredness. Ric looked much the same and Cassie simply rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand and pulling him back into their room.
Luke was still processing what had happened as I pulled him back into our room and shut the door behind me. Leaning against the door, I waited until he was more aware before kissing him chastely on the lips. It was only a moment before I was pulled into a huge hug. My arms went instinctively around his neck, and I felt my body relax into his, as his strong arms picked me up and carried me towards the bed.
Giggling, we awkwardly fell onto the it before we pulled apart, shifting around so eventually we were lying to face one another. I smiled sleepily up at him as his hand brushed some stray hairs behind my ear, leaving it there, holding the side of my face.
Kissing me gently on the lips, he rubbed my cheek and neck before whispering "You're beautiful" in my ear.
Blushing as he kissed me again, I wondered how, after all this time, Luke could still make me weak at the knees.
"You're a suck up" I whispered back before poking out my tongue at him.
"Whatever gets me back in your good graces" he replied, kissing my neck slowly.
"Mmm… that will work." I replied, enjoying the sensations he was causing."But we'll also get no sleep. And you and Ric can't waste all your Gilmore Girl jokes in one sitting." I said, pulling away from his seductive mouth.
He pouted those adorable lips, and even pulled out the puppy dog eyes. And I almost gave in. But we had two weeks to enjoy nights like this… and more, I thought, before reminding Luke of that.
"You owe me," he said, as I smiled happily before letting his arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. "You owe me two weeks of… everything." he finished, kissing my bare shoulder and I snuggled into him.
"I know," I replied, yawning.
Two weeks, was my final thought.
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AN: Thank you Jade. You totally rock at this.
I thought, in times of need, I can always write a bit of Maddie/Luke love. Indiana and Rhys came out as a couple at the Logies… that calls for celebration too. This was the second half of the last chapter… excessively long for one chapter, and basically fluff. But I hope you enjoyed it all the same.