A/N: So sorry for the slow update! This 4th of July weekend was busy for me and I didn't have time to write - this chapter, clues start being handed out and things will start to heat up within the next few chapters here! Stay tuned!
"Stop keeping secrets, Tess," Oliver complained; the four younglings slowly stepped into EZ Living's contagious sunshine. Tessa inhaled a deep breath through her nose and slowly let it back out, a warm smile finally graced her face, though she shot Oliver an annoyed glare.
"I'm not keeping secrets, ham hands," Tessa spat, Tammy snorted at her insult and tried her hardest not to laugh as Oliver looked down to his large hands in a disgruntled way.
"You're one to talk," Penny chimed as she gently nudged the back of Tessa's disproportionate hands; Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and gave her cousin a weak, annoyed smirk.
"C'mon, guys," Tammy complained as she pushed past the three and made her way into the game.
The game's sky was on fire, a mixture of the hot sun and the piercing blue sky eased the game with palpable excitement, though the puffs of large, white clouds kissed the game's core. Loud music could be heard all along the white sands of EZ Living's main beach. The board walk was littered with skate boards that clacked the cobbles, merchants that happily pressed each passerby with steals. Brightly colored umbrellas dotted the beach, setting the ocean's waves in a frenzy of hospitality. People, gamers and programmed codes of all kinds messed the beach, board walk and pier. Thick smells of delicious barbecue, honey vanilla churros and pricked banana sunscreen coated the air from the ground up. Tessa largely gestured her arms out and beamed the widest smile.
"I wish we lived here!" Tessa exclaimed softly as the four let their feet meet the cobbles and loose wood planks of the board walk. Penny crossed her arms and lugged her beach towel farther over her shoulder.
"Sugar Rush isn't good enough?" Penny laughed, her dirty blonde hair flipped outwards in a peppy way. The golden curl atop her head held true to Rancis's look. She was dressed in a pure white sun dress, her hot green bikini underneath had small bows at the tops of her shoulders.
"It is," Tessa sighed as her eyes gazed beyond the ocean's massive, white curled waves. Her auburn hair flicked gently in the cool, morning sea breeze, "I just wish Sugar Rush had something like this."
"It does," Oliver retorted, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and looked over her shoulder to her little brother.
"You should show me sometime, then, genius," Tessa chuffed as her eyebrows bent downwards in annoyance. Oliver lightly shrugged and returned the look.
"Just name your time and place, your highness," Oliver said sarcastically, though Tessa turned around and ignored him. Oliver rolled his eyes behind her back.
"Don't call me that," Tessa urged, Oliver gaped and gestured his arms.
"You're the princess of Sugar Rush," Oliver laughed in an incredulous tone, "It's fact!"
"He's got a point," Tammy mumbled as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her khaki cargo shorts. They were lightly worn at the knees.
"That's not all he has," Tessa muttered under her breath, though her group jolted once a loud set of clacking, as well as discombobulated hollers, could be heard approaching from behind.
"Watch out!" Came a loud voice before a certain someone suddenly bumped into Tessa, causing her to wobble to the side. What was crashed in front of her had the three behind her laughing loudly in a knowing way.
"Zane!" Tessa cried with a widening smile. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and put her hands on her hips.
"I-I'm fine!" Zane assured, he was laid on his back with his feet and legs awkwardly toppled over himself. His long board was upside down and a few yards away from him. The wheels on his board continued to chaotically spin.
"A likely story," Penny giggled as she nudged Tessa's back, she shot Penny a disgruntled look.
"What in Arcade are you doing?" Tessa laughed as she reached her hand out towards her friend, he fumbled to reach for her larger hand, though he easily latched onto her and eased to his feet once and for all.
Tessa's eyes slowly followed him up to his height as he stood. He was easily a half a foot taller than Tessa, he sported a tattered, brown tank top and bright blue surf shorts. His jet black hair was styled in it's usual faux-hawk, though his bright blue eyes glistened with the morning sunshine. His wide, goofy smile was contagious, yet gentle and considerate. His gaze was polite, as was everything else he did. He shrugged his shoulder awkwardly a few times and rubbed it firmly with the palm of his hand, all while grimacing, though his inward smile never faltered.
"I-I had a delivery," and uttered as he continued to rotate his shoulder frontwards, as if to now awkwardly loosen it from his fall. Tammy crossed her arms and gently looked between Tessa and Zane.
"You still working for that salty sea urchin?" Oliver laughed as Zane finally relaxed. Him and Oliver easily high-fived, though he gently reached to Penny and Tammy for a small, friendly hello hug.
"Unfortunately," Zane muttered, "I-I just don't think my parents want me all by my lonesome in Dead Zed. Big game, y'know?"
"None of us would know," Penny giggled as she shook her head and shrugged, "None of us except Tammy. We haven't been there, ever."
"Pretty sure mom and dad would flip if we ever asked," Tessa muttered as Penny nodded in silent agreement.
"Bah, you're not missing much," Zane rolled his eyes and gestured his arms as if to discard it, "Just a load of jungles, mosquitos… Dirt bikes. Not really anything different from EZ Living."
"You kidding?" Tammy retorted with a wide smile, Zane chuckled and shrugged.
"I guess it's just different when you're there everyday," Zane beamed, though Tessa looked down to the ground in silent contemplation.
"Zane!" Came a loud, crackling holler from deep inside a decent sized merchant's stand a handful of yards away; Zane flinched and hunched his back in reflexive preparation, for what, no one was sure.
"I-I gotta go," Zane mumbled as he looked back to the rather large, brightly colored stand. It was splashed with colorful drapery and shades to keep the sun out.
"We'll be here all day, we'll catch up with you later," Penny chimed with a small wave as Zane began to step away, though Tessa continued to watch him leave.
"Bye guys!" Zane urged with a wave in return, though he caught eyes with Tessa.
He let his expression lightly fall before kindly, and slyly, gesturing for her to follow him. Tessa raised her eyebrows gently before she eagerly peered back to Tammy, Penny and Oliver, who were crossing the boardwalk towards the white, beckoning sand; they all had their backs turned. Tessa quickly turned back towards Zane and didn't hesitate to let her feet push herself closer to the direction he was heading in. She finally let a wide smile sprawl her face as Zane nervously peered into the stand, where he worked.
"When are you off?" Tessa hissed in a whisper as the two neared the busy stand.
"Not soon enough," Zane whispered back as he locked his brilliant eyes on hers. She wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes.
"Why do you want to WORK while you're in EZ Living?" Tessa wondered softly as they hung near the entrance of the tent, "Surely you didn't have to get a job while you were here."
"It's something to do," Zane shrugged, his body was only slightly sculpted, he was an average guy with tank top and sandal tan lines.
"If I were you," Tessa started as she looked over her shoulder, her pupils shrunk as they were met with the blinding sun and sand, "I'd lay out there all day long."
"I did that for the first few months of coming out here by myself," Zane said in an annoyed tone as, he too, gazed back with Tessa, "Then Bubba found me and said he needed workers… Claiming I had nothing better to do, he put me to work. And that's the story of how I suddenly had no life!"
"Beats mine," Tessa glowered in the direction of the never-ending ocean.
"Where's Tessa gone?" Penny suddenly wondered, Oliver whirled around in stunned annoyance, as if this was the last straw.
"She followed Zane back to his job," Tammy said dully as she only glanced over her shoulder.
"Bah," Penny huffed as she crossed her arms, though Tammy gently put her hand on her shoulder and continued to guide her to an open spot far off down the beach, as if to silently convey apathy, "Does she not want to hang out with us?"
"I think, at this point, Zane is a bit more interesting," Tammy chuckled as she rolled her eyes; Penny frowned and gazed onwards towards the crashing waves.
"Why?" Penny wondered loudly and innocently as she gestured her arms outwards, though Oliver scoffed a noise, as if to implement that he had no idea how to answer that question.
"Think about it," Tammy sighed as, she too, gazed aimlessly down the beach. She adjusted her bag over her shoulder with a cough of a grunt and shook her head, "Tessa hangs out with us all day, every day. It's only about once a week she gets to see her best friend, Zane."
"He's just a hippie," Penny said gently with a small smirk of a smile towards her dear friend Zane, "There are plenty of hippies in EZ Living."
"Welp," Tammy sighed, "Guess she likes the random hippies that AREN'T from EZ Living."
"Zane isn't from here?" Oliver chimed in.
"Nope," Tammy said with a small smile towards her younger cousin, "He's from Dead Zed. He just got a job here because he's an extra in his game. He doesn't have a role."
"Really, now," Oliver fingered his lip and looked away, "You think mom and dad would let us have one of 'em jobs that seem to be so highly sought after?"
"Ralph and Vanellope?" Tammy asked incredulously, "Ol, it was hard enough to get them to let me take you guys to the beach today. I think a job outside of Sugar Rush might be out of the question."
"I'll be 800 years old before mom and dad will let us do anything fun," Oliver complained, Penny lightly nodded and lulled her head away in agreeance.
"They're just protective," Tammy giggled as the three easily trudged through the pillowy sand, "And for good reason."
"What other reason than to torture us?" Oliver spat, Penny laughed.
"Little do you know, your uncle Rancis saved Tessa's life. He saved everyone's life," Tammy said seriously as Penny's and Oliver's playful expressions dropped, "He saved everyone from a terrible virus that was threatening to take over Sugar Rush."
"Dad?" Penny exclaimed with wide eyes and furrowed brows, she looked down in contemplation, "H-He never told me."
"I'm sure they were just concerned that you guys were too young, and would worry," Tammy said lightly, "You should ask him and the others, sometime. It's a brilliant tale."
"So, they're overprotective because they think some evil virus is going to end us?" Oliver said in a tone of disbelief.
"No rouge viruses anymore," Tammy chuckled and waved her hand as the three approached the empty spot they had set out for, "But though they went through that horrific time, they're probably always going to be on edge. Sugar Rush is a highly sought after game, and because it's an older one, virus protections and protocols aren't totally up to date."
"Yippee," Penny said sarcastically, "Will we ever get to move out?"
"Highly unlikley," Tammy giggled.
As the evening went on, beach goers came and went. Surfers sunk their boards into the sand and eagerly waited for the fresh, crashing waves the new day would bring. From the ledged wall of Zane's work tent, Tessa calmly peered out to the ocean in the distance, past the boardwalk and forever stretching eons of white sand. Each grain seemingly sparkled under the rising moon. Just as she was about to let loose a long sigh of annoyance, Zane suddenly rushed up to her and lightly gripped her upper arm.
"C'mon, I'm off," Zane hissed in a whisper, "Let's hurry before the boss changes his mind."
"Sheesh," Tessa grumbled as the two stumbled onto the boardwalk, "Took yah long enough."
"Sorry," Zane said sheepishly, he lugged his burlap backpack onto his back and beamed a smile. He also had two rugged, worn longboard in which he tucked into his side and under his arm. He heaved a hard sigh and gazed up to the star speckled skies above, "Y'know, the question 'is there anything else you'd like me to do before I leave?' should automatically be assumed as rhetorical."
"Don't you wish," Tessa chuckled as Zane handed her an extra longboard in which he had borrowed from his work.
"Where's the others?" Zane wondered, Tessa gestured down the beach in the direction they were headed in.
"They still are at the end of the beach," Tessa said lightly as she pointed, "They have a lantern set up. I think they might be getting a bon fire going soon."
"I'm starving," Zane said in a pleading sort of tone, Tessa waved her hand around lightly.
"Don't worry, there's food," she chuckled; the two shared a few moments of still silence together. The sound of the crashing waves and gentle chatterings of others passing by were present. Tessa finally sighed and glanced at Zane, the lantern attached to his backpack lightly flicked around and attracted a small fleet of lightning bugs. She finally furrowed her eyebrows and aimlessly gazed ahead, "User, I don't want to go back home."
"What?" Zane wondered nervously, "Whynot?"
"Because," Tessa urged with a gesture to match her fervor, "My parents are so strict. I wish I was like you… Could go to and from different games whenever I want."
"Well, your parents ARE King and Queen of their world," Zane said gently to Tessa, he had hoped to bring her back down to the grid, "Didn't Sugar Rush go through a huge virus scare awhile back?"
"What?" Tessa wondered nervously, "No, I don't think so."
"Oh," Zane furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "I-I could have sworn someone was wanting to overthrow Sugar Rush."
"Where did you hear this?" Tessa asked, her eyes pierced Zane's, though he began to grow flustered.
"I-I guess through hear-say. It's not important, it was a long time ago," Zane stuttered as he waved his hands around; he was relieved that Tessa's shoulders un-tensed.
"I just," Tessa trailed off and let her eyes scan the cobbles under her feet, "I just want to Game Jump."
"You mean while the Arcade is open?" Zane wondered with an eager smile, "Oh, it's easy. Especially since no one is around to stop you."
"Really?" Tessa gave her best friend an incredulous look.
"Yeah," Zane slightly gasped and pointed at Tessa, "Y'know what? You should com visit my game! Tammy comes to Dead Zed ALL the time. It'll be great!"
"Tammy only goes after Arcade is closed, and Aunt Calhoun and Uncle Felix are aware of her whereabouts," Tessa said in a dull tone.
"C'mon, Tess," Zane hissed with a polite, yet playfully eager smile, "One run. Whatdoyah say?"
"I don't know," Tessa mumbled as she looked off to the side, she hugged her borrowed long board to her body as her eyes followed the crackled cobbles all the way to the crashing waves of EZ Living's beach. Though the night was only dimly lit by the moon and stars, the whitecaps persisted. Tessa heaved a hard sigh and finally locked eyes with Zane yet again, his demeanor hadn't changed, "I-I've never game jumped before."
"Technically, it's not game jumping," Zane said nonchalantly with a shrug to match, "We don't rely on quarter alerts to keep our games going... Our parents do."
"It's still considered jumping games," Tessa retorted with a victorious smile, though Zane leaned in and gently placed his wrist upon the top of her shoulder. Tessa largely rolled her eyes as he bent down slightly, for emphasis.
"One run," Zane said softly as his lantern awkwardly bobbed behind him. Tessa wrinkled her nose and shot Zane an annoyed smirk.
"Fine, Zane," Tessa sighed before she held up a finger, "One run."