Summer of Our Discontent

Hurry Up & Save Me

A week after everyone had met at the beach; they all went their separate ways in immediate preparation for Malon's party. Link revealed that he had been quite the chef and he and Zelda became in charge of the food. Unfortunately Zelda wasn't as experienced in the gourmet world as Link was, so she decided to find catering services. The party was in four days, so Link would have to prepare some of the foods on the day of the party. They were at Link's house; his mom gave them permission to use the kitchen all afternoon.

Zelda paced the room back and forth; she had been on the phone for the past half hour. She felt embarrassed that she had no cooking experience – besides boiling water. She could tell Link was slightly annoyed with her since she wasn't providing any legit help.

Link walked over to her, his hands coated with Cucco eggs and baking powder. Anyone else would have looked a little ridiculous with his special hat and apron. But in the back of Zelda's mind, Link made it look good.

He took the phone away from her, hanging it up.

Zelda crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"What was that?"

He said nothing, grabbing an apron and shoving it into her hands.

"I am getting sick of listening to you be useless. Now put on the apron, and help me bake the cake."

Zelda blushed, "I am NOT being useless. I am trying to get professional catering services. I wanted to help with decorations! I didn't even want to be paired up with you, so you can do all of that work by yourself. You're lucky I even showed up."

"Oh, right. You would much rather be paired up with Groose wouldn't you?"

"Okay, I was going to spend my own rupees on getting some caterers. But now, I'm leaving because I don't want to be paired up with you. I'll go to Groose if that's what you're implying. GOODBYE." She said, slightly hurt, grabbing her bag and heading towards the door.

As soon as her hand reached the door knob, she felt something tiny and hard hit her head. It oozed of transparent 'goo.' She felt her hair, her fingers getting sticky from the residue. Her fingertips were yellow, and she soon realized that it had been an egg. She saw the eggshells on the ground, and turned around to face Link, who had been laughing like crazy.

She tried to keep her calm, she counted to ten, breathed in and out – but nothing was working.

"What… the hell was that for…?" She asked, her voice quivering.

Link crossed his arms.

"If I grabbed your arm, you would have yelled 'rape,' and if I tried to talk to you – we would have ended up arguing. Dropping an egg on your head was the only way to get your attention."

"So you think dropping an egg on my head wouldn't start a fight?"

"Are you going to get even with me by ruining all the ingredients we need for your best friend's birthday cake?"

"You didn't mind ruining that egg for your girlfriend's birthday cake!"

"Oh come on Zelda, it was only one egg!"

Zelda paused. He had a point, it WAS only one egg, and if they ruined the other ingredients by getting into a food fight they would have to spend a bunch of rupees on groceries. Zelda sighed, putting her bag back down and walking away from the door.

"Fine, I'll stay. But I need to wash my hair."

She stood there expectantly.

"Are you waiting for me to show you the bathroom? Because you should know where it is by now."

Zelda blinked a few times, "Oh, right." She rubbed her arm awkwardly, walking to the bathroom.

Link smiled, shaking his head and watching her leave. He had a crush on her when they first met – of course it only lasted for a week until he realized she didn't like him at all and he felt the same way. Over time he met her friends and realized how attractive Malon was. After talking to her he thought she was cool and wanted to be her boyfriend. Walking over to the table with his thoughts in his mind, he looked over at his phone and noticed he had two missed calls.

They were both from Malon.

Smiling, he picked up his phone and called her back. She answered on the first ring. That was totally Malon.

"Link?" She asked sweetly.

"Hey Malon, I missed you. I'll take you out to dinner tonight okay?"

Malon giggled, "You're the best boyfriend a girl could ever have."

"You're too kind."

"Well, I actually had other plans."

"…What?" Link asked, disappointed.

"I didn't mean it like that; I meant that maybe we could go out for lunch!"

"What? Why would we do that?" He asked.

"Because I haven't seen you since we went to the beach, and I want to see you again! Please?"

"Or, maybe we could just hang out at my place."

"Well, I guess that's a better idea… I'll be right over!"

Link's eyes widened. He looked towards the direction of the bathroom. He couldn't have Malon come over when Zelda was there!

He cursed to himself.

"Malon, wait, maybe that isn't such a good –"

He couldn't finish his sentence, she hung up.

"I am a dead man." He said to himself, jumping up and putting away all of his stuff. The kitchen was a mess; there was powder, eggs, frosting, milk and plenty of other ingredients.

"Where the hell is Zelda?" He whispered, stuffing everything into the pantry.

"I'm right here." She said, coming up behind him with a towel wrapped around her head.

He let out a startled cry and grabbed her arm, looking around frantically.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, pulling her arm away in disgust.

"Malon's coming; she's on her way right now!"

"What? Why would you invite her?"

"I didn't mean to! But she's coming so help me clean the kitchen and find a hiding spot for you. You better not say ANYTHING!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Zelda said, running to the kitchen to help him clean.

Fifteen minutes later, everything was sparkling clean. Link smiled triumphantly, but when he heard a knock on the door his smile vanished. He grabbed Zelda and pushed her into the armoire near his hallway.

"I can't wait here for who-knows-how-long while you and Malon… talk?"

"Come on, please?"

"No, you have to get rid of her!"

"But I don't want to, I like her."

"I like her too, but we're baking a cake, I don't feel comfortable being wedged in this tiny space, and if you don't get rid of her she'll realize I'm here!"

Link sighed, throwing his arms up in defeat.

"Fine. I'll 'get rid of her,' but I'm going to be very angry with you."

"I don't care, I hate you."

He rolled his eyes, hiding Zelda, and then going to the door slowly.

He opened it reluctantly, smiling at Malon. She gave him a kiss and walked in confidently, setting her purse down on the couch.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Link bit his lip, his heart beating loudly.

"Actually Malon, I can't talk to you right now… And I need you to go home. I'll pick you up later, okay?"

Malon frowned, hurt by his words.

"What? Why not?"

Link fumbled with his words, he was usually able to come up with lies right on the spot – but looking at how hurt and confused Malon looked – he couldn't do it.

"Because… Um, I… I promised my mom I would clean the house."

Malon crossed her arms, looking around the house. Rose was always a 'neat freak,' she made sure the house was in best condition all the time. Everything was in its place and nearly perfect.

"Link, if you have something better to do then just tell me."

"I don't! My room is messy and I need to clean it. I promise I'll take you out to dinner. Trust me," he said, his blue eyes sparkling.

She smiled, "Okay." She said dreamily.

He kissed her on the cheek, "I'll pick you up at seven."

She walked towards the door.

"Okay, bye!"

"Wait." He said, grabbing her hand, she turned around and he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She gasped pleasantly and kissed back passionately.

"Ahem!" Zelda coughed in the background.

Link pulled away, smiling at Malon before giving her one more kiss.

"Bye," he said breathlessly while she smiled at him and left.

Once she was gone, Zelda came out and snorted in disgust.

"If you're going to clean anything, you can start with that armoire. It's dusty as hell. And the surprise make out session at the end, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking my girlfriend wasn't feeling very good about the way I've been treating her – and I wanted to make her feel better." He said, glaring.

"Really? Or was it just because you wanted to flaunt your relationship with her in front of me?" Zelda interjected, taking a step closer to him.

"Not everything is about you, you know." He said.

"And not EVERYTHING is about you either! You couldn't just send her out without giving her a kiss. Were you trying to butter her up in hopes that you would get lucky?"

"No! Are you jealous of her?"

"Why would I be jealous of her? In fact I feel sorry for her because she's dating an IDIOT."

"I feel sorry for her because her best friend's a BITCH."

"Take that back!" Zelda snapped.

"You take that back!" Link boomed.

They both froze in fear when the door opened.

"Hey Link, I forgot my purse…"

Zelda closed her eyes, rubbing her temple.

"This can't be happening…"

"Zelda?" Malon asked, shocked.

Nabooru frowned, typing like crazy. She had been on 'HylianSpace,'on her laptop, stalking Link's profile and looking through his list of friends. She had been on Ganondorf's account since he was friends with him. Since they were rivals she didn't understand why they contacted each other on the social network – but it was helping her get information so she didn't question it.

She found the red haired male that she and Ganondorf had mistaken for Link's 'girlfriend.' His name was 'Groose.'

"What a stupid name," she commented to herself quietly.

She looked back at Ganondorf, glaring. They were outside near his pool in Gerudo Valley, and she was trying to find a way to get into Malon's party.

"…What?" Ganondorf asked, meeting her angry gaze.

"Are you going to help me or just sit there trying to get a tan? Which – by the way – isn't going to work because your skin is as green as a frog."

Ganondorf blushed, "Shut up! I'm RELAXING. And I did do some work. I found out Link and his group of losers were hosting a party for that girl, and I logged into my account so you could stalk Link's profile. Now YOU do the rest. Get us into that party. What have you found out so far?"

"Groose's latest update says: 'So pumped! Gotta get the invites out.'" Nabooru said, confused.

She looked at Ganondorf with a thoughtful looked on her face, "What do you think that means?"

Ganondorf sat up in his seat, "Isn't it obvious? He's in charge of who goes in and out of the party."

"Then how are we going to get in?"

"Just call him!"

Nabooru nodded.

"Right! I'll call him, but there's a problem."

"What?"

"I DON'T HAVE HIS NUMBER, YOU IDIOT."

Ganondorf threw his arms up, "Okay, okay. Keep your voice down, geez. Let me get on here." He walked over to the laptop and basically shoved Nabooru off, scrolling through his information. There was his bio, quotes, hometown, current city, and… mobile phone number!

"Ta-da!" he said, pointing to at the number.

Nabooru smiled, grabbing the phone and dialing the number.

They had to wait a few minutes; Groose picked up on the last ring.

"Hello?" He said, groggily. A bunch of clatter could be heard in the background.

"Hi!" Nabooru said eagerly, ignoring the noise.

"Mido, keep it down! I'm on the phone." There was a pause. "No, I don't know where the scissors are, just wait a minute."

"Uh…?" Nabooru looked at Ganondorf with an odd expression.

"What is he saying?" Ganondorf whispered, coming close and putting his ear on the other side of the phone.

Nabooru blushed, struggling to hold onto the phone with him being so close to her.

"Sorry about that," Groose said awkwardly. "Anyways who is this? It says you're out of area."

"I'm Nabooru, I'm a close friend of Malon's and I heard you were hosting a party for her."

"How did you hear that?" Groose asked suspiciously, "we only let a few people in on the surprise. They promised not to tell anyone."

"Crap," Nabooru said, taking the phone from her ear and looking at Ganondorf with a panicked look.

"Blackmail," he whispered to her.

She nodded, putting the phone on speaker.

"Okay, listen Groose." She said in a serious voice, knowing he would be freaked out that she knew his name. "Put us on the invite list, or we'll tell Malon about your little surprise party."

"How do you know my name!" The teen replied, creeped out.

"I have to know your name if I know your number. Duh! So what's it going to be? Put me on the list or your surprise party won't be a surprise."

"…Fine," Groose surrendered. "I'll put you on the list, but there's something about your name that gives me an uneasy feeling. Nabooru sounds like a name for this certain group of people… What were they called again? Oh, right, Geru –"

Click.

Nabooru hung up before he could finish his sentence.

"The trap has been set," Ganondorf said with a sly smile on his face.

"Who was that?" Mido asked curiously.

Groose looked at him nervously.

"I… Don't know. Should we be concerned?"

Mido took a step closer to him, lowering his voice even though they were at his house and currently the ONLY occupants.

"Why would we be concerned?"

"Someone threatened to ruin our surprise party unless we invited them!"

"You mean the one for Malon?" Mido asked.

"Oh, no. The one for TINGLE." Groose replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"But no one likes Tingle." Mido said.

"Exactly! Of course it was the one for Malon you dimwit, what other surprise parties are we planning? We have to do something!"

"What was this person's name?"

"Nabooru," Groose said. "There's just something about that name that makes me feel uneasy."

"Let's – let's ask our friends if they know a Nabooru, okay?" Mido said, picking up his cell phone.

"Okay." Groose sat down.

"I'll call Saria first."

"Because you love her?"

"NO, because she's on my speed dial."

"Ooh, is she the ONLY one on your –"

Mido stuffed some wrapping paper into Groose's mouth while he waited for Saria to pick up. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Saria, it's me Mido."

"I know, silly. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes. Groose received a call from someone named… Nabooti?"

"NABOORU," Groose corrected loudly.

"N-Nabooru! Nabooru!" Mido said, blushing.

"And…?" Saria asked, giggling.

"Well, he threatened to –"

"SHE threatened to," Groose corrected once more.

"SHE threatened to expose our surprise party for Malon if we didn't invite HER." Mido looked back at Groose with a smile – but it was really a 'don't correct me again' face.

"That doesn't sound good. How did she know about the party?"

"I don't know." Mido said.

"Gosh, I'm scared now…" Saria said with a worried voice.

"Who are you on the phone with?" Mido could hear Ilia's voice in the background.

"Oh, I'm just talking to Mido-" On the other end, Mido could hear the phone being snatched away.

"Mido!" Ilia said sharply. "This is no time for flirting!"

Her voice was so loud Groose could hear it, and he ended up laughing.

"What? I was NOT flirting –"

Click.

Mido blushed, silently cursing Ilia.

"I'm calling Sheik next." He said with a scowl.

"Hello?" He replied in a bored voice.

"Sheik, is that you?"

"Who the hell is this?"

"It's me… Mido."

"Oh. Sorry. Your number was blocked."

"Why is my number blocked?"

"…"

Mido rolled his eyes, waiting for Sheik's response.

"Is there a reason you called?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes. Groose received a call from…" Mido looked back at Groose, "Nabooru?"

The red head nodded.

"Groose received a call from Nabooru. We were wondering if the name rang any bells?"

"Nope, never heard of her."

"Well she knows about the party somehow. And she threatened Groose so she could get invited, we had no choice but to surrender."

"Well how would she know about the party?"

"…That's a good question."

"Listen, as much as I'd like to chat, Midna and I are looking for some good bands to play at Malon's party. I can't talk."

Mido sighed, dialing Karane's number. Unfortunately she didn't like him, so getting information out of her was unlikely.

She picked up though, surprisingly.

"Hello?" She said sweetly. "Who is this, your number's blocked?"

Damn, how many people blocked my number? The Kokiri child thought to himself.

"Hi Karane, it's me Mido-"

Click.

Mido frowned, calling her again.

"Listen Karane, this is important, a girl named-"

Click.

Again.

"KARANE. Stop hanging up on me-"

Click.

What was this girl's problem?

"You might as well respond to me if you're going to keep picking up your phone. Now LISTEN to me, this is –"

Click.

And again.

"Karane, I really need you to –"

"STOP CALLING ME!"

Click.

Time to call Pipit.

Mido dialed his number, grinning victoriously and quietly shunning Karane while she did it.

"Hey Pipit, this is –"

"Don't try to talk to Pipit either!" Karane snapped.

Click.

Mido banged his head on the table before calling Link.

"Please Link, you're literally my only hope now…"

The Hylian picked up, lifting Mido's spirits.

"Hey Mido, listen this better be important because I can't talk right now."

"Why not?" He asked.

Link said nothing, but Mido could hear two females arguing in the background. He recognized their voices to belong to Zelda and Malon.

"Boyfriend stealer!"

"I'm NOT a boyfriend stealer!"

Link sighed.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah." Mido said.

"THAT'S why. So, what is it?"

"Groose received a call from someone named Nabooru, she blackmailed him and is now going to the party."

"What! Nabooru? I've definitely heard that name before!" Link said.

"Nabooru? Isn't she that Gerudo we saw at the beach last weekend?" Zelda said in the background.

"Oh, great. You two are sharing secrets now?" Malon hissed.

"Listen Malon, I know this whole thing seems heinous but there is NOTHING going on between Link and I."

"STOP LYING TO ME!"

The two of them continued screaming at each other.

Link didn't seem to care anymore, though.

"Mido I can't talk to you much on this matter for obvious reasons, but Nabooru is friends with GANONDORF. My arch-enemy. So whatever they've got planned is no good. Just be careful, that's all I can say now. Bye!"

Mido's eyes widened.

"Wait, Link! Don't go –"

He hung up.

Mido turned around and looked at Groose.

"Well, I know who Nabooru is."

Groose sat up, "Who is she?"

"…A very bad person."

Expect drama and tension between Malon and Zelda! That's all I can really say… Until next time.

Chapter Three Theme Song Title: Hurry Up and Save Me

Artist: Tiffany Giardina

/watch?v=0WpvgHEpfrk