The gang of four and Casey are still sitting at their tables unhappily when a joyful Jerry in a vertical black-and-white striped shirt runs up to them.
"Hey guys, guess who's the new assistant customer coach at the Penalty Box?" He asked ecstatically.
"Congrats. At least one of us is employed." Nick said.
"You mean–none of you got jobs?" Jerry asked.
June lifts her head from the table and said, "That was not what I was expecting." Then lays her head back down.
"How bad could it have been?" Jerry asked. "It was just an interview."
"You know the time Josie pulled up my shirt in front of the football team?" Wendy asked. "This was worse."
"We were applying for part-time jobs! That was like the Danish Inquisition." Josie said.
"I think you mean Spanish Inquisition." Wendy corrected.
"Whatever, girl, it sucked." Josie said.
"What are my worst qualities? Like they'd hire me if I told them!" Nick said.
"I told them mine." June said.
"For real? How many did you give them?" Jerry asked surprisingly.
"Seventeen." June simply said. Then she noticed her friends were staring at her. "Oh man, was I supposed to lie?"
"Guys! The right answer is 'sometimes I work a little too hard'!" Jerry said.
"Thanks. Information that would have been useful about two hours ago!" Wendy said sarcastically.
"Well if you guys have taken this seriously, you all would have known that!" Jerry said in an exasperated tone.
A big burly woman in a security uniform peers around the corner. Then she spots the teenagers, and walked up toward them.
Josie noticed someone was standing behind her, and turned towards the woman in irritation. "What!"
The rent-a-cop merely points to his eyes and then at them, signifying she's watching them, before walking off.
"We're not doing anything wrong!" Josie yelled out, then turned to the rest of the table. "God, that lady creases me."
"Seriously! She's got nothing better to do than be suspicious of everyone under 30." Jerry then called out towards the rent-a-cop. "For your information, we work here too!"
"Technically we don't yet. Remember?" Wendy reminded.
"Shh! She doesn't need to know that." Jerry said in a hushed tone. Then he suddenly panicked. "I can't believe it. I'm gonna be stuck working here alone. Again!"
"Aw man, we had our whole summer planned! Now we'll never be able to see each other!" June said.
"This is unbelievable! Did you see the girl running Stereo Shack? Even she has a job, and she carries a Star Trek communicator to work." Nick said.
"I can always play guitar on the subway for quarters." Wendy said.
A sniffling one table over attracts their attention. Casey is still there, and has started to cry.
"Aww, what's wrong? They didn't have the new jean jacket you wanted?" Nick asked in fake sympathy.
"It just so happens that I'm applying for a job and I didn't get hired at any either." Casey explained.
"Guess all the positions for professional shoppers were filled." Nick joked. Everyone at the table snickers.
"God, you're such an ass." Jerry said to Nick while chuckling.
"I know." Nick said with pride in his voice.
"We better try again, before the only job left is the taco stand." Josie said, as she, Nick, Wendy, and June get ready to leave.
"Now I just have to find some sucker to take my job." Jerry said. Then he just had a thought. "Hey! Any of you guys want it? I'll hire you on the spot!" He tells his friends as they walked away laughing. "No interview!"
"We have some pride." Wendy said as she waves to Jerry.
Jerry then hears Casey sighing loudly.
"So why are you applying for a job anyway?" Jerry asked.
"My dad freaked out when he got his credit card bill and now he's making me get a job." Casey explained his situation. "So I tried like everywhere but no one will take me."
"I'm sure you'll find something." Jerry reassured.
"No you don't understand. It was so humiliating. I can't... even... shop in those stores anymore." Casey said.
"That bad, huh?" Jerry asked.
"Mmm-hmm." Casey nodded. "I was so nervous I even knocked one manager's coffee onto his lap!"
"Ooh." Jerry winced. "Don't worry, man. You'll find a job."
The girls are outside a store that offers kebabs.
"Food on sticks? Girls, I think I've found the place I was born to work at." June said ecstatically, then becomes downhearted. "But what if I choke on this interview too?"
"Girl, stop being such a Debbie and just stick to our strategy. You're selling yourself. Nothing wrong with a little embellishment."
"You mean lying." Wendy asked.
"I mean making yourself sound good. They expect you to. And if you don't, you're just letting yourself down." Josie said.
"Are you sure? Jerry said the way to impress an interviewer is to be honest and polite." Wendy reminded.
"And how's that working for you so far?" Josie asked.
"Right." June said, looking over her resume.
"You're the man." Josie pushed Jude forward. "Be the job, June, be the job." After June goes inside, Josie gives Wendy a hug. "I am so proud of that girl."
Jerry is looking over the resumes of possible applicants for the position at the Big Squeeze. "No..." looked over one of a creepy goth guy, "no..." looked over one of a female smoker, "Ugh! No." looked over one of a scary lady. He then looks over at Casey just in time to see the boy tried to bite on a slice, but a sausage dropped on his favorite shirt. Casey sighs sadly.
"I know I'm gonna regret this..." Jerry muttered to himself, then to Casey. "I could hire you to work at the Big Squeeze."
"No way!" Casey exclaimed. Then he ran up to the stand. "That's so awesome!"
"Here's your uniform." Jerry holds out another lemon hat and apron. "You can change in here."
"Oh, hell no. I'm not wearing that." Casey said.
"If you want to work here you are." Jerry said.
"But I'll look like the biggest loser in the mall!" Casey said, receiving the look from Jerry. "No offense."
Jerry silently offers the lemon hat again. Casey relented and puts it on his head. "Oh man."
"Perfect fit. Now we can start training." Jerry said.
"Oh, can't do it right now, I gonna be busy." Casey explained, as he removes the hat. "I have to meet up with my friend in an hour for massages."
"How are you going to pay for that massage?" Jerry questioned.
"Fine." Casey puts the hat back on. "Where do I start?"
"Let's get a head start on the cleanup so we can leave early." Jerry holds out a mop.
"I thought we made juice here. Can't we like, pay someone to do this?" Casey asked.
Jerry rolls his eyes and sighs.
A few hours later, Jerry is hard at work at the Big Squeeze while Casey is talking on his cell phone with a friend, ignoring the long line of costumers.
"J-just a minute, sir!" Jerry stuttered while opening up the cashier.
"Dude, I know! That's what I said! But she was like, 'We're through! Don't ever call me again.' And I was like, 'If you're gonna be that way, fine.'" Jerry tries to hand Casey a blenderful of lemonade. "No thanks. I'm good." Casey said, then gets back on his phone. "Right! As if. She's not my type anyway."
"Hey!" June greeted Jerry.
"Hey." Wendy said.
"What's up?" Nick said.
"So, how'd it go, guys?" Jerry asked.
"Awesome. The dude made me the manager of Stick It." June said happily.
"Get out! How did you do that?" Jerry asked surprisingly.
"I told him I ran two shops already, and he just gave me the job! Josie's advice totally worked." June said.
"What'd I say? Always trust the Josie-miester." Josie said.
"Dudette!" June said.
"June." Josie said.
"But you've never even worked in a store before!" Nick said with concern. "You're gonna be responsible for all that food, and all those sticks?"
June thought this for a moment. "...whoa. I'm in trouble, bra."
"Uh, that's bro when you're addressing a boy, remember?" Nick said, then turned to Josie. "What about you, Juliet, get a job yet?"
"Yeah. I got a great one at that '50s joint, the Soda Hop?" Josie answered with a sigh.
"So why the long face?" Jerry asked.
"I got fired 10 minutes later." Josie answered.
"Uh! Josie." Nick groaned.
"What? How was I supposed to know the host was the boss' son?" Josie said.
"On the bright side, that's probably some kind of record." Casey said, comforting Josie.
"Hey, yeah! You're right. I like him." Josie said.
"At least you're not in charge of the pop music section at Spin This music." Wendy said contemptibly.
"But you hate pop music, dudette!" June reminded Wendy. "It's like, your mortal enemy!"
"While they always stick the new guy in country, they stick the new girl in pop. Some sort of rite of passage, like hazing fraternity pledges."
"I'm sure it won't be long before something comes up in the normal music section." Nick said, comforting Wendy.
"Thanks. I needed that. Did you get a job?" Wendy asked.
"Yes. I don't want to talk about it." Nick said with a frown.
"Your first job! Aren't you psyched?" Casey asked.
"Oh yeah, I'm bursting with fruit flavor." Nick said sarcastically.
"This is awesome, guys. Now we can all hang out together." Jerry said happily.
Casey spotted Tristan walking by and begins waving at him. "Tristan! Over here! Trist!" Casey called out.
Tristan heard someone calling him and begins scanning the food court, completely ignoring the lemonade stand.
"Hello, it's me, dude!" Casey said.
Tristan's eyes widened as he spots Casey in the giant lemon.
"No. Freakin'. Way." Tristan walks over to the Lemon. "Isn't it a little early for Halloween, man?"
"No, man, I got a job!" Casey said.
"What?! Why?" Tristan asked.
"I maxed out my credit card, and my dad won't give me another and forced me to get a job." Casey explained.
"Man, that sucked. I don't know why you didn't try to talk him out of it. My dad says I don't need a job since he takes care of everything." Tristan said smugly.
"Yeah, well I'm gonna prove to my dad that I can make my own money. Check it out, I already know how to make juice!" Casey said, as he brings up the blender to show him. But he accidentally hits a cup of juice, spilling it all over the crotch of Tristan's pants.
"Dude, these are new jeans!" Tristan yelled.
"Oops. Sorry, dude." Casey apologized. Both he and Casey heard laughter coming from Josie and June.
"It looks like he pee'd his pants." Josie giggled.
"Shut up, bitch!" Tristan snapped.
"Rude!" Josie scoffed.
Tristan then turned back to Casey. "You know what, Case? I don't think we should hang out anymore."
"Wh-what do you mean, dude?" Casey asked confusingly.
"It's nothing personal, it's just that–you're wearing a lemon hat, Case. And...polyester. Sorry." Tristan said with no remorse in his voice, then walks away.
"I don't get it." Casey said unhappily. "We've been best friends for a long time. How could he do that to me?"
"Some friend." Wendy scoffed. "What kind of person judges someone by their clothes anyway?"
Casey sheepishly raises his hand. "Okay, but I never did it to a friend. We had so much in common. Like...shopping, and girls, and...smoothies..."
"There are bigger friends to fry, my friend. Let him go." June said.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up." Casey said.
"I'm starving!" June suddenly shouted. "Anyone want tacos?" She asked the others.
"Yeah, I'm in." Josie said, and the two head off to find some munchies.
A gangly nerdy boy named Jules stands behind the counter of the Wonder Tacos stand. He has green eyes that are behind a big pair of glasses and freckles, and orthodontic braces that made his upper teeth stick out. He's wearing a uniform which includes a stupid-looking taco hat. He sighs depressingly because this was the only job he could get. To his further humiliation, he sees two girls who always tease him walking up to the stand. "Welcome to Wonder Taco, where tacos are your hunger heroes. Can I take your order?" He said in a lisp.
"I have an evil hunger brewing inside." Josie said.
Jude: "Yes. What kind of food could possibly defeat it?"
"A bird?" Josie questioned.
"A plane?" June questioned.
"No, it's–WONDER TACOS!" Both June and Josie hollered in unison with enthusiasm.
Jules sighed and says, "You know, I know you girls all make fun of me 'cause I work here."
"What?" Josie exclaimed. "Oh no no no, we love Wonder Taco!"
"Long live Wonder Taco." June said.
"Two tacos, coming right up." Jules said in disgust.
"In the name of all that is true, hurry, my good sir!" June said, speaking into the microphone.
Jules empties a dustpan on the tacos and spits on them before bringing them to the girls. "There you go, ladies." Jules said, handing them their tacos. "Enjoy." He smiled sinisterly as they leave.
"It would suck to work there, but man, they make a good taco." Josie said between bites. Jules frowned at that remark. "Bitch."
Casey and Jerry are cleaning when Casey's cell phone rings.
"I thought we agreed no more calls." Jerry reminded.
"Fine. I'll tell them to call back." Casey said. He reaches for the phone but accidentally knocks it into the blender. While reaching down, he mistakenly turns on the blender, and the spinning blades quickly destroy his phone. Casey tried to turn off the blender, but it broke and blades are damaged
"That's it!" Jerry yelled, wiping off the juice that got splashed on his face. "I'm so done with you! You have got to be the most irresponsible, clumsy, spoiled snob I've ever met!" Jerry holds up a giant grapefruit in front of Casey. "This grapefruit has more sense of responsibility than you! At least it knows it's supposed to get squished today!" Casey ends up feeling very bad. "I knew I should have hired that goth freak!"
"MASTERSON!"
Jerry looks over to see Coach Halder angrily staring at him.
"Coach? What are you–" Jerry stuttered and gulped, "–doing here?"
"Quiet on the field! I heard your little temper tantrum. Very disappointing. I thought you were Penalty Box material! But maybe I was wrong about you!" Halder scolded.
A silence descends upon the three. Suddenly, Casey speaks up. "No you weren't. Jerry is the most patient guy I have ever known. I've been screwing up royally all day, and he's been nothing but nice to me, even when I spilled grape juice on his shoes. Which were actually really nice. Jerry's right. I am irresponsible, but he's helping me become more like him. You'd be lucky to have him."
"Eh? Alright." Coach Halder then turns to Jerry. "You've got yourself another chance. But you'd better fly straight! Got it?"
"Sir yes sir!" Jerry saluted to Coach Halder. Jerry then turned to Casey as Halder leaves. "Where did that come from?"
"I don't know. I just didn't want you to lose your job over me." Casey explained.
"That was pretty decent of you." Nick said, surprised that someone like Casey would stand up for anyone like that. "Maybe you're not a stuck-up rich boy as I assumed."
"Thanks." Casey said. "I think?"
"You are gonna keep him at the Squeeze, aren't you?" June asked Jerry.
"Duh!" Jerry said.
"You mean you're still giving me the job?!" Casey asked eagerly. "I thought I was fired."
"Yeah, well, I don't think the hat would fit over that goth freak's hair. And, you're not so bad." Jerry said.
"Welcome to the hood." Josie welcomed Casey as she walked up to the stand. "So, what are you up to tonight?" She asked flirtatiously.
"No! Off, Josie. Bad girl." Jerry scolded, flicking his towel on Josie.
"Alright, alright." Josie giggled.
"God, the hat is so bad! At least it'll only be for a while until I pay back my dad." Casey said.
"How much did you blown on his card, exactly?" Jerry asked.
"Um, whatever two Vespas cost. And half of a spring wardrobe. And two pairs of shoes. Oh, and a man-bag." Casey listed.
Nick chuckles. "Get used to the hat, juice boy. You're gonna be here for a long time."
Author's Notes:
In the show, Wyatt hates country music. Here, I changed it to pop music for his female counterpart.
Also in the show, Caitlin said she and Tricia have been best friend for "like, a year". But here, their male counterparts have been friends for a lot longer than that. Making their broken friendship more dramatic and Tristan seem like a real asshole.
