Chapter Five: The Carnival Car
The next car was seemingly simple, consisting of just some grassy hills and a blue sky. The one thing that made the car special was a giant lucky cat with a door at the front.
"Follow me" said the cat.
The gang did what the cat said. When the opened the door, they were greeted by a massive carnival. There were games, vendors, and rides as far as the eye could see. Brooke had never been to a carnival before, so all of this was new to her.
"So, what exactly to we do here?" asked Brooke.
The other cat handed her a wooden ring. "You get to run the ring toss."
"What? I don't even though what a ring toss is!"
"Listen, kitten. Everyone who owes me something is working at this carnival to repay their debts to me. Even the water thing". Sure enough, Randall was working at a water balloon-filling game.
"Fine. But only because I'm somehow feeling nice."
Brooke walked over to the ring toss booth and got to work. The other cat turned to look at Zac and Oliver. "You guys are coming with me" she said.
"You just separated me from one my traveling buddies. Why do you just want us to come with you?" asked Zac.
"You'll see."
The cat lead them into a mysterious tent at the back of the carnival. Inside the tent was a television with a built in tape player.
"What exactly is this for?" questioned Zac.
"This" said the cat. She pulled a tape out of her vest. The tape was labeled "BROOKLYN HAYES".
"What even is that?"
"Just watch."
The cat put the tape in and pressed play. Soon enough, all three of them appeared to be at someone's house.
"Where are we?" asked Zac.
"Like I said, you'll see." said the cat.
Suddenly, a yellow kitten and a chocolate brown dachshund puppy chased each other through the house. The kitten tripped over the dachshund and started to speak.
"You're always so much fun to be around, Savvy!"
"Oh, I can't imagine life without you, Brookie!"
As their conversation continued, Zac quickly realized something. They were somehow inside Brooke's memories. But before Zac could turn his attention back to the conversation, the tape switched to the next memory.
This memory took place right outside Brooke's house. Brooke, now a couple years older, was standing right outside her parents' car, which was packed with personal belongings. Surrounding the car were a bunch of moving vans. Of course, the dachshund was still there.
"I'm going to miss you, Brookie. Promise we'll keep in touch, OK?" said the dachshund.
"I promise" said Brooke.
The two shared a hug in tears before Brooke's mom told her it was time to leave. They both shed tears as Brooke followed her mom into the car.
The next memory showed Brooke being dropped off at a school. Zac quickly noticed that the sign read "ORANGE COUNTY DAY". This was the school that she told him about! Zac, Oliver, and the other cat followed Brooke into the school. There, another student started talking to her.
"Listen, if you want to fit in as this school, you've got to become popular. At this school, being popular means looking good, and only hanging out with the most popular pets. So ignore all the pets you knew from your past life, because they are completely useless around here."
Brooke immediately deleted a contact labeled "Savvy".
The next memory also took place at the school, but several things had changed. Not only had Brooke had now dyed her fur to the blonde that Zac and Oliver were familiar with, but the dachshund was now there as well. To Zac and Oliver's surprise Brooke did not pay attention to the the dachshund at all until it called her name. Instead, she was kissing a collie. As the dachshund started trying to hug her, two blonde dogs started to speak.
"Oh my gosh, Brooklyn, do you, like, know this loser?"
"Her outfit is so totally from Target. Gross!"
"Brooklyn! It's me, Savvy! Don't you remember me? Can you believe it? I moved too!" said the dachshund.
"Have we met?" asked Brooke.
"Oh, very funny Brooklyn. I know."
"Know? That's what I thought. Come on girls."
Brooke and the two blonde dogs left the room. This left Zac with more questions than answers.
"What exactly is going on here? How exactly is this high school drama going to help me or Brooke?" asked Zac.
"Just wait and watch" said the cat from the train.
The tape quickly went to the next memory, which took place in the school's cafeteria.
"Hi!"
"Oh my gosh, Brooke, it's the loser again."
"Huh?"
"Brookie, you totally remember me, right. Also, I totally dated that guy you had a crush on back in eighth grade" said the dachshund.
"Go away! I don't need you back in my life anymore" said Brooke.
"I will never leave your life."
"Then I will ruin your life."
The next memory was another that took place in the hall, but the dachshund was now dyed an orangish brown with white spots, although some of the original color remained in her fur. Everyone in the school was excited to see her except for Brooke.
"What a wannabe! She looks so fake!" yelled Brooke.
The next few memories went by in rapid succession. There was one where Brooke texted to someone "DO SOMETHING, RACHEL! RUIN HER!". The next showed a dog spraying ink from a pen onto the dachshund's fur. The next showed Brooke reading a text which read "OMG brooke! Savannah asked sage to be her partner and he said YES!
The next major memory showed Brooke in a bedroom full of pink items and furniture. There was also a tiny caterpillar standing near her.
She said "I cannot believe this. Not one single person told me I looked pretty today. Not a single person! And you know why? Because they're all too busy fawning over … her."
In his mind Zac was trying to piece all of this together.
"What do they see in her?" said Brooke. "I really don't get it. She showed up wearing some bow that's like twice the size of her head and apparently that's cool? I'll tell you what's cool. The 300 dollar satin pants that I am wearing right now. Not some arts and crafts project she decided to glue to her head. I mean seriously? Oh, oh, and you know what else? People are saying that Savannah is popular. Yeah, yeah, that's right. And not just popular, oh no. People are saying that she is more popular than me. I'm sorry but how is that logical? I have worked my way to the top and I have been here for years now, and suddenly she takes my place in a day? I don't think so? Don't you agree?"
The caterpillar made a sound.
"I know, exactly. At least one thing's going my way. I think I took care of-"
Her phone started to ring.
"UGH! I AM! SO! SICK! OF THAT! PHONE! UGH! It's always ringing off the hook with work calls from my mom, and is she ever here to answer me? NO! SHUT UP!"
The caterpillar started to whine, and came over to Brooke to comfort her.
"Oh Gigi, you're right. All this stress is not good for my beauty. It's going to make my fur duller."
The caterpillar barked.
"Why am I even worrying? I'm always on top. I am the leader, and I'm going to make sure that it stays that way. Why was I feeling sorry for her yesterday? She doesn't deserve it, she doesn't deserve it at all! She thinks she can just roll in here and steal everything from me? First she tried stealing my boyfriend, and now my crown? I don't think so. I am going to show her who's on top. I am going to show them all who rules the school. You wanna know who that is? Mhm, me! Prepare yourself, Gigi. Things are going to get ugly."
The next memory showed Brooke in a dark room, with loud music playing in the background. She was with the two dogs she was always seen with, and she was seen tearing open a curtain, revealing the dachshund and the collie kissing with each other.
"Brookie!" said the dachshund. "How dare you interrupt our kissing session! I stole your boyfriend from you so I could feel pleasure and you couldn't! How dare you!"
"You're right, Savvy" said one of the dogs. "Brooklyn totally doesn't deserve to date any guys!"
"I agree with you, Alicia!" said the other dog. "Plus, Savvy is way cooler than Brooklyn will ever be."
Brooke then started to scream.
The next memory showed the dachshund breaking into Brooke's house to steal the caterpillar.
The memory after that showed the dachshund, in the school halls, biting Brooke. Brooke then grabbed the caterpillar and fainted.
The next memory showed Brooke lying in bed.
"Coast is clear, girls" said Brooke.
The two dogs that were supposedly not her friends anymore came out from behind a wall. Brooke then got out of bed.
"So, are we cool?" Brooke asked one of the dogs.
"We're cool."
The dogs shared a hug with Brooke.
"Nathan was a loser anyways."
"A really bad kisser, too" added Brooke. "I missed you, Rachie!"
"I missed you too, Brookie. Nobody kills my best friend and lives to tell the tale. I was wrong about that little wiener dog."
"I'm glad you think so. Because we are going to end her life."
The next memory showed Brooke saying goodbye to the two dogs right outside the school. However, it was really late at night. Brooke then jumped into her car.
"Let's follow her" said Zac.
He, Oliver, and the cat from the train jumped onto the back of the car so they could follow Brooke through the memory. However, the memory of her driving kept going for around ten more minutes.
Eventually, Zac asked, "Why does Brooke remember this? Nothing eventful happens here! Most of the other memories we saw seemed to tell a story."
"Just wait, young man" said the cat from the train.
Eventually, Brooke saw the train, and so did the viewers of her memories. She parked her car, got out, realized the train was the only place she could go, and boarded it.
Suddenly, Zac, Oliver, and the cat were back in the carnival tent, the same place they were when the cat popped the tape in, and the television showed nothing but static.
Zac was still trying to figure out what he just watched. "Why did you show us that tape? And why would you give our friend Brooke a tape of her own memories? In fact, why is she on the train in the first place? She's just some girl who got beaten up by some other girl who stole her property!"
"Oh, that's not entirely true" said the cat. "You see, a passenger's memories can be altered by the passenger based on how they prefer to see them. You see how her reason for being on the train wasn't clear?"
"Yes?"
"Well, that's because a lot of the memories on this tape are fake."
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's my favorite in the entire fic, and also the longest. It was one of the first things I came up with when I conceived this fic. It was fun coming up with how Brooke would probably remember the events of LPS: Popular, as well as what it was probably like when Brooke and Savvy were friends. Bonus points if you can spot what is accurate to what actually happened in LPS Popular and what memories were fabricated.