"We have an announcement to make," Mal proclaimed, Uma and Evie standing on either side of her with Audrey and Jane along with them.
All of the boys just raised an eyebrow, chuckled, and ultimately didn't take them seriously.
"Okay… Sure. Go for it," Jay cued them, moving his hand in a gesture for them to continue. Mal looked between her two best friends, unimpressed, but nudged Evie to start.
The boys had been relentless in their teasing ever since the five girls had ended up in jail from their first road trip together, and it had only gotten worse since the entire incident at Halloween and when Evie had been accidentally turned into a dog at her own hands. The five girls had taken the harassing for a while, but they were starting to get sick of it, and decided that they were going to take matters into their own hands.
They had texted the boys and insisted that they meet the girls in Ben's office, telling the boys that it was of the utmost importance.
Evie stepped up, her hands folded neatly as she began her piece much too formally and perfectly.
"So, after all of the incessant jeering that we have received as a result of various events in the past-"
"Here, look, I'll translate it for you," Uma interrupted.
"After you heathens done picked on us after we ended up in jail on our big trip and after we five girls started the whole thing about dying on Halloween and after Evie came back from turning into a dog, we've done some thinking and have agreed that we ain't taking your crap anymore about it," Uma proclaimed to Gil, Harry Ben, Jay, and Carlos.
"That was elegant," Evie offhandedly commented, and Uma just grinned at her sarcastically.
"Why, thank you, dearie," Uma replied with a fake curtsy.
The latter four boys all shared a mirthful glance but didn't say anything as they just smirked knowingly. Gil was the only one that wasn't grinning smugly, and they figured that he likely didn't really understand too much of what was going on. He never really kept his mind on current matters. The only reason that he was there was because he had made some comments in his dumb way that had sent the wrong messages to the five girls.
"So, what we're proposing here is a bet. A bet so good that you guys could never deny it in a million years," Mal told the four boys gathered before them, and Ben sobered, trying to look more sophisticated and less mirthful about all of the girls' previous adventures as well as their entire proposition in the first place.
"Go for it," Ben encouraged.
"Yes. We bet that we can last at least three whole days at any place of your choosing, living it rough and nasty without anything bad happening to us or without us wimping out," Audrey declared, and the other four girls nodded in agreeance.
Jay couldn't help but laugh at the group of girls, and the other boys followed along, albeit less enthusiastically than Jay. Of course, Jay was mostly cracking up because those words had come from his very perfectionist, very neat, and very proper girlfriend's mouth.
"Audrey, babe, I love you, and you know I believe in you in everything you do, but are you sure that you really know what you're signing up for?" Jay asked, not condescendingly but rather a little bit concernedly.
"Of course I know. I'm not an idiot, Jay," Audrey proclaimed as she grew more irritated, and Jay held up his hands in a placating gesture.
"Yeah, I'm with Jay on this one. Jane, do you really want to go with them on this? Between Harry, Jay, and Gil with his yes-man business, you guys are kinda biting off more than you can chew," Carlos pointed out, and Jane nodded somewhat indecisively.
"Seriously, though, is nobody bringin' attention to the fact that they said three days?" Harry questioned with a mischievous grin, gesturing at the girls with his hook-covered hand. He looked Uma up and down appreciatively before shrugging as he looked at the other guys.
"I think that's chickenin' out," Harry acknowledged, and Uma shot him a threatening stare. He felt her eyes on him and as soon as he met them, he immediately shrunk beneath her gaze and shut his mouth quickly.
"Well, you just don't know, Harry. I up the stakes. We can last at least four days!" Evie announced haughtily, thinking that she was helping, and Mal elbowed her in an attempt to keep her from going too far. They wanted just enough days to make up for the humiliation they had suffered, but they didn't want to go overboard with it. Evie offered her an apologetic smile as she hung her head slightly.
"Heh, heh, that still sounds too little, right, Harry? Right?" Gil prodded, trying to be helpful to Harry's side of the situation, but he quickly gulped when he realized that Uma was now glaring at him.
"Alright, you doubting boys!" Audrey proclaimed, growing more and more angry by the moment after her interpretation of doubt from Jay. "We can last at least five days, and that's final!"
Uma and Mal shared a glance, knowing that Audrey had got their feet stuck in it further than they had originally aimed while Audrey didn't even look worried. Of course, that likely would change when she calmed down and realized just how dumb she was for agreeing to such things.
"Well, I say it's a deal," Jay agreed after a moment of looking at his girlfriend, knowing that despite the fact that she might regret it later, she would never admit defeat. It was one of the many things that he admired about her.
Ben nodded easily, and Harry as well as Gil agreed without hesitation. However, Carlos raised his hand in an attempt to bring them to a pause.
"Woah, woah, woah. What do we boys get out of it?" Carlos questioned curiously, and the girls smiled at one another determinedly before looking at the guys.
"Well, if you guys are right about us in that we cannot effectively take care of ourselves without you, then we will never complain again about you guys making fun of our misadventures, and we will allow you to do so without any sort of protest," Evie explained calmly and sweetly in her usual patient manner that was so characteristic of her.
"Hey, once again, sounds like a deal to me!" Jay called, high-fiving Gil quickly with a big grin, but then Uma stepped up, a deceivingly innocent look on her face as she eyed them.
"Don't you want to know what we get if we win?" Uma questioned angelically, and Harry nodded emphatically, knowing that trick of Uma's well.
"Ye certainly wanna know what they get if they win. That right there is the kiss o' death, I tell ye!" Harry informed the boys, pointing at his captain.
"Well, what do you get?" Ben asked the group, an uncertain glance cast in Harry's direction.
"We get the satisfaction of you guys never picking on us ever again about jail, near-death experience, or the dog thing. Oh, and we also get one more, itty, bitty little thing," Audrey informed them, a wicked glint in her eye that was reminiscent of the Queen of Mean. Ben instinctively gulped, well remembering her words to him during that fiasco.
"We get to decide where you boys are going to have to go and stay for a few days," Mal told them, an evil grin on her face as she looked at them.
The guys sobered immediately upon realizing that the stakes had went up significantly on this bet. However, after a moment of calculated glances and quiet considering, Jay nodded slowly.
"Okay. But there's some conditions we'd like to add first," Jay informed the girls, and Audrey crossed her arms, jutting a hip out as she eyed her boyfriend.
"First, I deem that you girls should call one of us every night and show proof that you're still at the location, and not in some kind of luxury hotel," Jay declared, and all the other boys agreed.
"Fair enough," Mal replied to him easily, cool determination emanating off of her in waves, and Evie smiled at her confidently.
"Also, send us a picture in the morning and the afternoon so that we know for sure that you stayed all day," Carlos added to Jay's proclamation.
"Do you really have so little faith in us?" Audrey asked with an unimpressed huff, and Harry spoke up.
"Aye, we don't have faith in those two," Harry responded, gesturing at Uma and Mal. They couldn't help but grin wickedly at Harry, enjoying his over distrustful outlook on them.
"But the photos have to have all five of you in them," Jay finished Carlos' statement before they could get too off topic. Harry, Gil, Carlos, and Ben nodded.
"If that's all, we'll leave you boys to whatever you were doing earlier," Evie spoke formally, and when the boys all seemed to agree, the girl turned and started toward the door.
Mal was completely confident that they had this in the bag. After all, the boys probably wouldn't think of anything for at least a week or more. The five girls would have it easy, and they'd be perfectly prepared for whatever the guys had thought of for them.
"Well, actually, I think I've already thought of a place for you to go," Ben suddenly piped up, and the girls turned back to face them with an eyebrow raise.
"I know of a farm out west owned by a really nice elderly couple. They're the main supplier of milk and beef for Auradon, but they also have their own personal farm with horses, a few non-commercial cows, chickens, the whole farm setup," Ben explained, and the other four guys seemed intrigued by the proposition.
"It would be an excellent place for you guys to do this bet. What do you think?" Ben questioned as he looked at his comrades.
"Sounds good to me," Jay informed him shortly.
"It's better than anything I thought of," Carlos replied.
"Good and torturous," Harry responded with a much too satisfied grin. Evie and Mal shared a glance, not expecting the boys to think of something so quickly.
However, Mal was never one to back down from a challenge, despite how soon and unexpected it was.
"Well, I guess we'll be getting packed," Mal informed them boldly, and Evie as well as Jane looked at her with slight uncertainty. Uma and Audrey nodded resolutely, eagerly backing Mal up with their complete confidence.
There they went again on a trip of which they had no idea what was to come.
A/N: So, if this is your first story that you've read of mine, you were probably confused by the various references up front to other stories. The fanfics that I was referring to are Girls' Trip, We Are Off to See the Wizard, and Genevieve Labrador. You don't have to read them to make sense of this, but it is recommended.
Now, to everyone who read this- I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! :) I'm really looking forward to this one, because I have tons of fun and funny situations that they're going to get in. Feel free to suggest some, too, though. I don't have all five days planned.