Hello!
How are you?
Long time no see, huh? I'm pleased to let you know that I finally got the documents for this story back! Yay! I'm so sorry that it's taken so long but since I've been away on holiday, nothing could be done about it until recently and even then it took a while to access them. I have them now though and that's what matters. :)
Although I have the next few chapters back and saved up, I can't start posting them any time soon because I still have a few more prompts to write up on my one-shot story (Surf, Sun, Sand). I promise to try my best and get on with writing them though because I've hated leaving this story for so long. I hope that you understand!
Also, if you've come here from Surf, Sun, Sand or you're coming into the fandom after seeing the second film and you're a new reader to my stories then welcome! I really appreciate you reading my work and I hope that you enjoy it!
Even though I won't be writing for this story again for a few more weeks, I wanted to post a chapter to let you know that I haven't abandoned it and that I've got the documents back. So until I can post on this story again, here's chapter 23!
After a rather exhausting lunch rush, which the 60s teens had managed to get through with minimal help from their managers, the two food stalls were rather empty of customers. The barbeque shack and the ice cream stand were positioned opposite each other and had a collection of tables in the space between them. CheeChee was wiping down one of the tables when she felt someone's presence next to her. "Whaddya want, Butchy?" CheeChee huffed, turning to face the biker boy with her hands on her hips and a face like thunder. It was plain to see that she wasn't in the mood for light conversation.
"Huh? I don't want anythin'. Whaddya you want?" Butchy shot back, tucking the tea towel he was using to clean with under arm.
"Whatcha doin' over here then?" CheeChee asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.
"I'm cleanin' tables, what's it look like I'm doin'?" Butchy asked, puzzled as to why CheeChee had suddenly started asking so many questions. "You's ok, Cheech?"
"What's it to ya?" CheeChee retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I was only askin'," Butchy replied, holding his hands up in defense and backing off a little bit. "You had a rough day or somethin'?"
"Why'd ya ask?" CheeChee questioned, her expression softening a little.
"'Cause ya keep snappin' at me," Butchy explained rather bluntly.
"Sorry," CheeChee mumbled, dropping her arms down to the side. "I guess it's just been harder than I thought."
"It's the opposite for me," Butchy huffed.
"Why?" CheeChee asked as the pair both sank down into chairs at one of the small metal tables that they were supposed to be cleaning.
"I's not allowed to touch the grill 'cause I burnt my arm last night," Butchy explained. "So I've been mannin' the cash register and I's on cleaning duty while Seacat and Rascal have been grillin' stuff all day."
CheeChee turned her head and looked past Butchy, watching the two surfer boys at work behind the counter. Seacat looked like he was doing pretty well with it but then Rascal tried to flip a burger, which almost landed on Seacat's arm before finding it's place on the floor. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh," Butchy sighed. "What about you then?"
"Well it's not like I can't do nothin', I just think it's hard. Lela and I have been workin' together pretty well but I don't think I'm cut out for this whole 'job' thing," CheeChee huffed.
"Tell me about it," Butchy muttered. "I wish I was back with my crew at home."
"Yeah, I'm actually startin' to miss the rest of the Rodents," CheeChee agreed.
"Hey, Butchy, stop slacking, get back to cleaning tables," Seacat called, clearly joking around, but Butchy didn't seem to catch the sarcasm.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Butchy grumbled. "You know, just 'cause we gots to work together doesn't mean that you can boss me around, I'm not takin' orders from you, surfer scum."
"I know that, I'm not an idiot, greasy," Seacat shot back.
"Call me that again, water boy," Butchy challenged, fully facing Seacat now, who was stood behind the barbeque shack's counter a few meters away.
"Hey, stop your bickerin', I know it's not the most fun in the world but arguin's just gonna make it worse," CheeChee cut in, breaking apart the two boys before they got any further. Butchy glared at Seacat and went back to wiping down one of the tables, muttering something about how the surfers were still imbusiles. CheeChee took this as her cue to leave, adjusting the ice cream headband in front of her beehive and quickly shooting a smile in Seacat's direction before trudging back over to where Lela was stood behind the counter, picking up empty cups and plates on her way.
"How are the guys doing?" Lela asked once CheeChee was stood beside her.
"Alright, they's not particularly happy but they's not havin' a disaster," CheeChee replied, smoothing down the creases in her apron while she spoke.
"Do you want me to wash those?" Lela asked after a short pause, pointing at the pile of empty cups and dirty plates that CheeChee had collected from abandoned tables.
"No it's fine, I'll do it," CheeChee sighed, scooping up the items and carrying them over to the sink before donning a pair of bright pink rubber gloves and grabbing a sponge.
"Lela," Mr. Murphy, the owner of the ice cream stand, called, making Lela spin on her heels and come face to face with the man himself, who was poking his head out of the door to his office through a door at the back. "Do you want to take this order?"
Lela turned her head and spotted a young woman and her daughter, who both had blonde hair and freckled faces, stood on the other side of the counter, expectantly waiting to be served. "Sure," Lela grinned, practically skipping over to where they were stood. "How can I help you?" Lela chirped, seeming to be a lot more pleased about her job than most of the others.
"Strawberry!" the little girl exclaimed as her mother picked her up so that she could see over the counter.
"Is that how you ask for things nicely, Beatrice?" the woman asked, quite clearly prompting the little girl, who only seemed to be around four years old, to be more polite.
"Can I please have a strawberry ice cream?" Beatrice asked Lela shyly , correcting herself, much to the delight of her mother.
"Of course! You know, strawberry's my favourite flavour too," Lela grinned, making the little girl giggle. "Now is it one scoop?" she continued, aiming the question at the girl's mother now since Beatrice seemed to be losing interest rather quickly.
"Yes, just one, please," the woman smiled, hurrying the conversation along and trying to prevent her daughter from getting too restless.
"Is that in a cone or a cup?" Lela asked over her shoulder, already starting to scoop the ice cream.
"Cone!" Beatrice squealed.
"A cone, please," Beatrice's mother clarified.
"There you go," Lela smiled, wrapping a napkin around the base of the cone before handing it to Beatrice.
"What do you say, Beatrice?" the little girl's mother asked, yet again prompting her daughter to be polite as she handed over the money to Lela.
"Thank you!" Beatrice cried, already managing to get the ice cream all over her face.
"You're very welcome," Lela smiled, giving the little girl a wave as the mother and daughter walked off.
"Lela," CheeChee called a few seconds later. "Can you help me dry some of these off, please?"
"Sure," Lela chirped, grabbing a tea towel and starting to help her fellow biker girl. It wasn't long before they'd washed everything up and were left, once again, just stood behind the counter. Lela finished drying a plastic cup and placed it on the counter so that the base was facing upwards, CheeChee was emptying the washing up bowl so Lela had nothing to do. She started to tap the counter with the ends of her fingers, but that gradually evolved into a pattern and pretty quickly she was tapping, clapping and moving the cup in a sequence that accompanied the song that was playing on the radio at the ice cream stall. And of course, being Lela, she couldn't just keep it to beating out a rhythm; she had to sing along as well.
Lela: "I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
Two bottle whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leavin' tomorrow, whaddya say?
When I'm gone, when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
When I'm gone, when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone"
As Lela tapped out the tune, CheeChee finished her work and watched her sing softly to herself as she flipped the cup and a smile started to grow on her face. "That's pretty neat, Lela," she said.
"Thanks," Lela smiled, continuing the rhythm as she spoke.
"How'd ya do that?" CheeChee asked, staring at Lela's hands in awe as she turned the cup and clapped her hands some more.
"It's pretty simple actually," Lela replied.
"Can I try?" CheeChee asked, trying to work out what Lela's pattern was so that she could replicate it.
"Sure," Lela answered, sliding her cup down the counter to CheeChee and grabbing another one for herself from a cupboard. Lela tapped out the rhythm a little slower so that CheeChee could pick it up and pretty soon both of the girls were performing the little routine with the cups. Once CheeChee got the hang of it, she started to sing the next verse.
CheeChee: "I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains, it's got rivers
It's got sights to give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you
When I'm gone, when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone"
The two biker girls had grown to be a little more confident with the pattern now, so when the next break came up, they started to try out different ways of producing the same rhythm. Sometimes they swapped cups or clicked instead of clapped and other times they hit their cups together or threw them around; just to make the performance a little more interesting. What the girls didn't realise is that their clapping routine had gathered quite a crowd, and had attracted the attention of some of the customers at the barbeque shack, not to mention the workers too. So when the girls started to sing again, they had a bigger audience than they'd intended.
Lela & CheeChee: "When I'm gone, when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're sure gonna miss me when I'm gone
When I'm gone, when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone"
The two girls put their cups down and a round of applause shot up from the crowd, surprising the girls at first but resulting in them developing a deep blush on their cheeks. But the sound of a timer rang out above the noise of the people watching, signaling that it was three o'clock. And three o'clock meant that the barbeque boys and the ice cream girls' shifts were over.
"It's quittin' time!" CheeChee exclaimed, lifting her pink apron over her beehive and tossing it to the side then pulling of her pink head band and throwing that in the same direction before running out the door.
"Great work today, girls," Mr. Murphy called, poking his head out of his office door.
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Murphy!" Lela chirped, untying her apron, taking off her headband and then following CheeChee out of the door before meeting up in the table area between the food stalls with the boys.
I hope you enjoyed it!
The song that I used in this chapter is called Cups by Anna Kendrick.
Thank you so much for the four reviews I got from the last chapter! Plus, all of the ones that I got during the time that I couldn't update this story were so supportive too, I can't thank you enough for being so lovely! I really don't deserve you!
Thank you AquaDestinysEmbrace, DynamicGiraffe, DisneyChannelLover and RossLynch4ever from the last chapter! Don't hesitate to leave a suggestion if you think of one, I still want to hear them and I want to know what you enjoy reading. :)
I'm about halfway done with my next one-shot so if you're interested in reading that then it should be up within the next few days, I promise!
I know I say this all the time (if you're reading this then let me know if you've been reading my one-shot stories or not, I'm interested to know) but I want to say thank you to everyone who sends me PMs, leaves reviews and is just generally supportive of my stories because you all mean the world to me and I want you to know that I'm always here for you, feel free to send me a PM, I'll always reply! But I think that you're all absolutely incredible and you always manage to make my day!
Thank you for reading!
-cherrygorilla