1A/N: I'd like to thank all of my reviewers. THANK YOU! hands cameragirl, JelloMe, rexmanningdays, To No Absolutes, musicgirl, and Ravie cookies . This chapter is dedicated to RAVIE, who is awesome. Yay Ravie! I don't own RENT. RATE AND REVIEW PLEASE!
Chapter 4: Parties, Hamsters, and Bad Singing- Oh My!
Rhode Island...
"Miranda! What are you doing here! You were supposed to go straight home today, because we have to leave for cousin Mel's birthday party in half an hour! And I, for one, don't want to miss her party. Mel said that she invited a bunch of her guy friends from college..." Lauren, Miranda's older sister, exclaimed.
"Shit! I completely forgot! Look, Lauren, if we're late, you're going to have to forgive me just this once. Something came up," Miranda apologized.
"Well, this better be good. I barely have any time to change, thanks to you!" Lauren shouted.
"Erm...how do I explain this...Christine and Steve...aren't themselves today," Miranda said, hoping that Lauren wouldn't ask anything more. Unfortunately for her, Roger and Mimi decided to pull away from each other at that exact moment, and completely confuse Lauren.
"And who are you? At least you look cooler than them," Mimi remarked. "Seriously, if you're talking about going to a party, you kind of have to invite me. Mimi makes any party better!" Lauren stared, confused.
"Um... I'm Lauren... Christine, are you feeling ok? You never wanted to go to one of Mel's parties before... I seem to remember the last time we invited you, when you said that you'd rather finish your homework. And who's Mimi?" Lauren asked.
Mimi burst out laughing.
"When did I say that? I haven't done homework in-" Miranda elbowed Mimi before she could say anything more.
"Like I said, Christine and Steve are kind of...mixed up right now... and I really don't think they should go to Mel's party, in their state..." Miranda said, hoping that they could change the subject somehow.
"Well, if they want to go to the party, I think they should. We have to leave really soon, though, if we want to get there in time," Lauren said. "Can you guys all meet at our house in half an hour?"
"Sure. Me and Roger...erm, me and Steve will be right over!" Mimi exclaimed.
"You go ahead, Lauren. I need to tell Christine and Steve a couple of things," Miranda said. Lauren ran up the hill to her house. Miranda waited until Lauren was out of earshot to talk to Roger and Mimi.
"Roger, Mimi, listen up. You guys have to try really, really hard not to blow your cover. People will start to suspect things, and then they'll throw all of us in the looney bin. Just...try to act like Christine and Steve would, ok? I know it's hard, but hopefully this will all be over soon. Tara, whichever one of us is left has to tell the newcomer the same thing, ok? I don't know which one of us will switch next, but you guys have got to try and act normal, ok? Shit... when is this going to be over?" Miranda lamented.
"I don't care! I'm going to a party! Suddenly, being twelve isn't so bad!" Mimi exclaimed.
Miranda sighed.
Meanwhile, at the loft...
Steve stared at Maureen, Mark and Christine. He still couldn't believe that the one in the fishnets and stilettos was Christine. But he knew that it had to be. He hoped that he wasn't stuck in Roger's body forever. Suddenly Collins, who had been off doing...Collins stuff... after he had dropped off the TV, entered the loft.
"Hey guys! How's that TV working?" Collins asked, oblivious to the bigger troubles that Mark and Maureen had to deal with.
"Collins... we have a very random, odd thing to explain to you. You see, Roger and Mimi are...how can I put this..."
"In other people's bodies right now!" Maureen said in a very un-subtle way.
"What? What do you mean? That's physically impossible!" Collins said, skeptically.
"I would've said the same thing if it hadn't happened right in front of my own eyes. Collins, Roger and Mimi are now...Steve and Christine, two teenagers from Rhode Island. And I swear, I'm not making this up. Come see for yourself," Mark said as he led Collins to Steve and Christine.
"Hi, I'm Christine, and that's Steve. Do you have any idea what's going on here? We were just walking home from school... and then I passed out, and now I'm here. It was so weird... kind of like the time my hamster, Fluffy, got into the washing machine. We don't know how she got there, but she was cleaner when she came out! Isn't that funny? See, her cage had been left open by accident, and my Mom was doing a load of laundry and obviously didn't see Fluffy jump into the laundry. Fluffy loves the laundry bin, apparently." Christine started to laugh. No one else was laughing.
"And... your hamster has to do with all this how?" Collins asked.
"Um... I don't really know... sorry, I talk too much when I get nervous."
"Ok...well, anyway, how did this all happen? This all seems very odd...People don't randomly start switching bodies with other people," Collins said.
"Of course they don't. Well, we were setting up the new TV that you got us, and then Mimi tripped over the cord. And after that, she passed out. A couple minutes later, Christine woke up in Mimi's body, which really spooked us, and then the same thing happened with Roger and Steve," Mark explained.
"That's...weird...Do you have the TV working? Freaky Friday is supposed to be on today," Collins said, changing the subject.
"That's exactly what this is like! Freaky Friday! Except it's not Friday, and..." Christine said, trailing off.
"Exactly! We were watching it when all of this started to happen... could that have anything to do with it?" Maureen asked.
"Probably not, but it might be something to do with the TV...possibly... Collins, where did you get that thing anyway? It keeps on messing up!" Mark said in frustration.
"It was pretty weird, actually... I go down to that shop sometimes because they sell pretty interesting stuff. I looked in there today, and didn't see anything interesting. I was about to leave, and then, suddenly, there was this unprecedented TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN... did any of you guys notice that?"
"Nope. Who cares about the sun, anyway? Go on," Maureen said.
"So then, after the total eclipse of the sun, this TV was just sitting there, on the shelf. The man in the shop sold it to me like it was no big deal, but I suspected that something fishy was going on. I'm not saying that it's necessarily the TV's fault, I just think that it's a possibility," Collins said. As Mark, Maureen, Christine, and Steve pondered this possibility, the phone rang.
"Speeeeeeeeeeak beep "Hey Roger, it's Dave, from the band. Just reminding you about the practice for our gig on Friday. We're practicing today over at my place, in case you forgot. Hope to see you there! Rock on!"
"Oh God, I forgot. Roger's band has a gig at CBGB's on Friday, and..." Mark began to explain, but he was cut off by Steve.
"Wait, Roger has a band?" Steve said nervously.
"Yeah, the Well Hungarians. He's the lead singer, and they have a gig on Friday," Mark explained.
"This isn't good. I mean, I'm sure it's a great band and everything, but I'm completely tone deaf," Steve admitted.
"You're kidding. Really? Well, Roger was able to sing and play the guitar..." Mark said.
"Yeah. I'm sorry. I can try to sing, if you want me too, though," Steve said, hesitating. "I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIIIIIIIIIIIITE... AND PARTY EVERY DAY!" Steve yelled. Everyone covered their ears. The bathroom mirror broke. Birds flew away. It was not a very pretty sight.
"Steve, don't quit your day job. Hopefully, you'll all be back in your respective bodies by the time Roger's gig comes up. In the mean time...let's try to fix the TV!" Mark said, hoping that his ears would heal soon from Steve's horrible singing.
"What is it with you guys and the TV? That's all you think about, isn't it. Well, I'm going to try and fix it, because that's all you guys are going to talk about until we fix it. Keep in mind, I know nothing about how to fix TVs, so this may take a while," Maureen warned.
"It doesn't matter! The sooner we get to watch Freaky Friday, the better!" Mark exclaimed.
"Why are you guys so obsessed with that movie, anyway?" Maureen asked.
"...You know, I haven't really thought about that. Oh well. Maureen, try to get those wires untangled, ok? Maureen...oh shit," Mark said, as he stared at Maureen, who was lying on the ground, obviously passed out.
"Not you too! Who knows who she'll switch with..." Mark sighed as Maureen's body stirred.
"What... where am I?"