Hello!
I'm finally back with another chapter! I'm sorry that it took so long, I did explain in my last author's note that I was going to be really busy and to be honest, if I didn't spend eight hours on a coach yesterday then I don't think that you'd have gotten this chapter for another week because I've got such a hectic schedule. So at least there was one positive reason for me having to be up at quarter to five. XD Anyway, I hope that you enjoy it!
Brady had been watching (well, spying on) the Wet Side Story characters for the past forty minutes or so and it wasn't calming his nerves at all. But then again, it was his fault for properly paying attention to them in the first place. After he had spotted Giggles' damp hair earlier that day, he had had a funny feeling that something was going wrong with the teens from the 60s. Brady had watched Wet Side Story enough times to know that when the characters went in the water, their hair remained perfectly dry…because their whole lives were perfect. So now that they were in the real world, it seemed like they were picking up characteristics of real people, like getting their hair wet. Who knows what would be next? The last thing that they needed was a trip to the emergency room if one of the surfers tried to surf and wiped out within the first five seconds, which is why Mack and Brady had pretty much banned them from the water. But as Brady was examining the movie characters' movements, trying to see if he could find anything else that was starting to change about them, he picked up on something rather different: something he really didn't want to see.
It was around eight o'clock when the bikers and surfers (excluding Lela and Tanner) decided that trying to figure out how to change the channel on Mack's TV was too much effort and that playing a game would be a lot simpler. Plus, after work they didn't really feel like doing a great deal. So once Butchy and Lugnut had managed to locate the board game Cluedo, the eight teens paired off with their significant other and began to set up the game.
Everything seemed to be going well up to this point, but the further into the game that they got; the less they actually played it. Other things were drawing their attentions…and Brady's too. Considering that the characters were playing the game as couples, the atmosphere should have been a little more cheery than it was. Not a single one of them seemed to be getting along. Bearing in mind that these couples were more or less scripted (i.e. supposed to work together seamlessly), they didn't appear to be too happy about being around each other.
The first thing that Brady picked up on was the fact that Struts was giving 0% of her attention to her 'boyfriend', no matter how much he tried to strike up a conversation with her. Either she found the book that Mack had given her insanely interesting or she found Rascal so dull that she couldn't even bear to look at him. And to be honest, Brady hadn't really thought that either of them would apply to the biker girl. After all, it had kind of shocked everyone when Struts became so attached to reading, considering the fact that she had made it pretty apparent that she hated everything to do with school, so that was quite odd. But the fact that she had suddenly started acting as if Rascal was a house plant was the really bizarre thing, especially after everything that she went through to make it clear that she had developed feelings for him. How had all of those feelings that had been building up for weeks now completely disappeared in the space of an afternoon?
"Is your book any good?" Rascal tried, plucking up enough courage to fire another question at the biker girl, hoping that this time they would actually be able to hold a conversation.
"Why d'ya think I'm readin' it?" Struts drawled lazily as she turned the page. She didn't even lift her gaze from the book this time; things had clearly taken a turn for the worst.
"Well is it interesting?" Rascal tried again, trying not to let the fact that Struts sounded bored out of her mind bother him too much.
"D'ya think I'd be readin' it if it wasn't?" Struts replied in the same monotone voice. She was making it sound like counting the grains of sand on the beach outside would be less tedious than this conversation.
"Well what makes it interesting?"
"It's a lot to explain," Struts shot back with a sigh.
"Ok then…how was work?" Rascal asked, taking a new approach to the situation.
"Ya already asked me that," Struts answered flatly.
"Well you didn't answer me the first time," Rascal defended.
"'Cause I got fired."
"I know, I do listen to you," Rascal replied, before muttering under his breath, "Which you have yet to prove that you do to me."
"Well ya know how my day went then, don't ya?" Struts said sharply.
"Yeah, thanks to Giggles," Rascal retaliated. "At least she talks to me."
"Good for her. Now why don't ya go 'n talk to her instead?" Struts drawled.
"I'd love to, at least she'd enjoy it," Rascal huffed.
"Well what's stoppin' ya then?" Struts asked.
"We're on a team together, we can't play the game from other sides of the room," Rascal explained, his voice accidentally picking up Struts' bored, yet slightly aggressive, tone.
"Well I'm not really playin' so be my guest," Struts said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Rascal gave up on trying to talk to her after that, but he didn't take up Struts' offer to move. Although he did shuffle a little bit away from her, but whether that was because he couldn't stand to sit that close to her any longer or because he felt like she needed some space, we'll never know. What Brady did know though was that Rascal had clearly rolled his eyes after his tiresome conversation with Struts and then seemed very distant for the rest of the evening. Things weren't exactly looking too great for him and Struts right now.
But what harm could that do? Their roles in the movie weren't terribly essential, it wouldn't affect it too much if they had a little falling out…right?
However, things didn't seem to be improving over with Giggles and Lugnut. To be honest, it probably would have benefited everyone if Rascal had taken Struts' advice and gone to talk to Giggles because at least it would have put a stop to one of the most awkward situations that Brady had ever encountered.
Something wasn't right about Giggles and Lugnut's relationship and it was pretty obvious to see now that he was taking the time to look; how he hadn't noticed it before was astonishing really. It was like everything that they did was forced: the conversation, the gestures, even the smiles. It was all too…fake. Giggles had her head nestled in the space between Lugnut's shoulder and head but neither of them looked like they were very comfortable. Brady was pretty much certain that Lugnut's arm had fallen asleep ten minutes ago and Giggles looked like she wouldn't even be able to move her head if she tried. And whenever it was their turn and Giggles had to move her arm, it would make her head move too, which would then bang into Lugnut's jaw. That is when the cringe worthy apologies would spill out. They'd either both mumble sorry at the same time, or Giggles would unsuccessfully try to laugh it off, or sometimes Lugnut would just mutter something rather unpleasant that would make Giggles' cheeks burn bright red. Other scenarios that would result in these same awkward interactions were when one of them had to check their cards and neither could find them, or the classic: both of them reaching for the dice at the same time. By the time that the characters were roughly halfway through the game, Brady had counted 27 of these uncomfortable encounters and each one was becoming more painful to watch. Not only that but every single thing that they said to each other seemed so forced that nothing sounded genuine, even what they were saying about themselves. It was like being nice to each other required all of the effort that they had. And they certainly were putting all of their effort into it. But, to Brady, it still looked like if they stopped trying then all of the chemistry between them would disappear within seconds. Their relationship was that fragile, which definitely wasn't a good sign considering what was happening to Struts and Rascal.
If these relationships were fracturing this easily then who's to say that Lela and Tanner weren't going to come to the same fate? And who knows what would happen then?
To look for some sort of comfort, Brady took to picking apart Seacat and CheeChee's relationship. What a great idea, Brady. And although it wasn't quite as bad as Struts and Rascal's or Lugnut and Giggles' situation, it wasn't exactly enough to reassure him. Seacat and CheeChee were known for their playful bickering; it's what made them them. And anyway, it always resulted in a kiss, or at least a hug. But this bout of banter didn't really seem to be coming to an end, and it had been going on since dinner time. That's an exceptionally long time, even by CheeChee and Seacat's standards. Well, they were giggling about it but even so, it was starting to move into the personal insults. And Brady didn't know how long that would last before one of them stormed out of the room. He just hoped that they kissed and made up before a war broke out.
Coral and Butchy weren't much better either to be honest, but that wasn't really anything new. At least they were getting along though, which made a change. But it was just the fact that their body language was basically the opposite of what you'd expect a couple's to be that bothered Brady. Instead of being cuddled up, like Giggles and Lugnut were awkwardly trying to be, they were just sat opposite each other, whispering and chuckling about god knows what as they tossed pieces of popcorn at each other's face. What that was achieving, Brady had no idea. But he did know that Butchy and Coral's relationship was one of the strangest out of the bunch, well if it could be even considered a relationship. It was more like they were just best friends that occasionally kissed. It was a bit bizarre really. How they had stayed together this long he would never know. But they seemed happy enough, so he just left them to it.
After another five minutes of scanning the movie characters' behaviour, Brady was still in the same situation: a situation that he really didn't want to be in. The relationships that the movie universe had created were falling apart...so what did that mean for the characters themselves? This wasn't something that he wanted to be thinking about.
Mack was just about to bustle into the kitchen, to make sure that she had cleared everything away from dinner, when she stopped in her tracks. Lela and Tanner were stood opposite each other with big grins on their faces and Mack was curious to find out why.
"What are they-?" Mack murmured to herself, a smile curling at her lips without even realizing it. She couldn't help it, Lela and Tanner were just too adorable. But the reason that she cut herself off was because Lela began to speak and Mack didn't want to get caught.
"Please teach me," she pleaded, batting her eyelids playfully and placing her hands on Tanner's chest.
"I've already said yes four times today, Lela," Tanner laughed. "How many times do I have to say it before you'll believe me?"
"I don't know, I'm just excited, ok?" Lela giggled, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she gazed up him.
"Really? I didn't notice," Tanner chuckled sarcastically. "I don't know why you're so excited though, it's not that interesting."
"I think it is!" Lela protested with a smile. "And it'll be really romantic."
"I wouldn't really class the Charleston as 'romantic'," Tanner scoffed with a cheeky grin.
"Well I wasn't really planning on learning the Charleston," Lela shot back, returning the smile. "I was thinking of the prettier ones, like the Viennese Waltz, or the Foxtrot."
"The Viennese Waltz might be a little bit much to start with and considering the fact that you get exceptionally dizzy, I don't think that that would be the best idea," Tanner explained with a chuckle, making Lela let out an embarrassed giggle and her face fall. But it didn't stay like that for long. "I think that just the regular waltz would be fine though."
"Really?" Lela asked, her eyes lighting up in an instant.
"I don't see why not," Tanner chuckled.
"Ooh, yay!" Lela squealed, excitedly clapping her hands.
"You're so cute sometimes," Tanner laughed, grinning fondly at the biker girl as he took her hands in it.
"Well the same goes for you, you big dork," Lela giggled, a delicate blush flooding over her cheeks, which Tanner promptly adopted too. "Ok, so where do we start?" she asked, obviously eager to begin.
"Probably learning the proper hold for the dance," Tanner replied. "All you have to do is put one of your hands on my shoulder and let me hold the other one."
"Like this?" Lela checked, gripping onto Tanner's shoulder like her life depended on it.
"Lela, the world isn't going to end, relax your grip," Tanner said, letting out a breathy chuckle as he spoke.
"Oops, sorry," the biker girl apologised with a giggle and another round of blushing. But she did obey and she soon picked up the right technique.
Mack had a great view from where she was standing, she was hidden from view of the movie leads but she could still see everything that they were doing. And the more that she watched them muddle through the dance the more that she realised that nothing could ever threaten the bond that they had with each other. The way that Lela clumsily trod on Tanner's foot and he so easily reassured her before she crumpled into a puddle of distress or the way that Tanner would reward her with a kiss every time that she muddled her way through the steps just aided that fact even more. They were so sweet that Mack feared that any more time spent in the harsh reality of her world would start to ruin them. She just wanted to ship them off back home before anything bad happened to them. The only trouble was that she had no idea how to do that.
After Mack had finally decided that she'd been watching the giggling couple long enough and that they deserved some privacy, she found herself colliding with Brady in the hallway. "What are you doing?" they both hissed after ungracefully regaining their balance. "I asked you first," they both retorted before taking a breath and stepping back, waiting for the other to speak.
"What have you been doing all this time? I've been waiting for you in the living room," Brady eventually asked.
"I kind of got sidetracked," Mack admitted.
"With what?" Brady questioned.
"Watching Tanner teach Lela how to waltz," Mack explained, just smiling at the thought. "They are so in love with each other it's ridiculous," she chuckled.
"Well I'm glad that some people are around here," Brady grumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Mack asked, her brows suddenly furrowing.
"I don't think that things are all sunshine and rainbows for the others," Brady said.
"What do you mean?" Mack her asked, her concern spiking.
"None of them seem to be happy, their relationships all seem really unhealthy," Brady explained.
"They were fine a second ago though, weren't they?"
"I don't know, I haven't really been taking notice until now."
"Neither have I," Mack agreed, nervously picking at her lip. "Oh god, you don't think that they're acting like that because they've spent too much time away from the movie, do you?"
"I'd like to think that it wasn't but I honestly don't know," Brady admitted. "Anyway, there's nothing that we can do until there's a storm. How else are we supposed to create a forty foot wave to send them back home?"
"Have you been checking the weather?"
"Yeah, no storms again," Brady sighed in defeat. "Look, we'll just have to keep going. If things start to go drastically wrong then we'll start to panic but it's next to nothing at the moment."
"I wouldn't consider three people getting fired for destroying a shop 'next to nothing'," Mack retorted.
"Well they're not exactly wreaking havoc now, all they're doing is playing Cluedo," Brady chuckled, finding a little bit of a lighter conversation topic.
"Maybe we should join them, we've been snooping around collecting clues so much tonight that it sounds like we're quite the detectives ourselves," Mack smiled, entwining her fingers with Brady's and resting her forehead on his shoulder.
But little did they know that these disruptions were merely tiny blips compared to what was about to come. They certainly were in for a bumpy ride.
I hope that you enjoyed it!
Not everything's going too well for some of the characters, is it? What do you think is going to happen to them? Or what do you hope happens to them? I'd love to hear what you think, hearing your ideas for my stories is probably my favourite thing ever so never feel shy to put an idea or prediction forwards.
But speaking of favourite things, over the past few weeks I have kind of become mildly (ok, mildly is a huge understatement) obsessed with Star Wars. I know that I'm super late to jump on the band wagon but because there hasn't been a lot on the TV lately, my family decided to spend our Sunday evenings watching all seven of the films. I really didn't think that I'd be that interested in it because I'm not normally into films like that but oh my goodness, I was so wrong. Are any of you Star Wars fans? I'd like to know because I need help coping with this new obsession. XD
Ok, I have something I need to ask you again. I feel like this has become a theme now. When will be the day that I have an author's note where I don't ask you a question? XD My question today is do any of you have Tumblr accounts? And if so, would you be interested in me making one specifically for my fanfictions. I just thought that it might be a fun idea. I could notify you when I'm about to post a chapter, update you on my progress, ask you for advice or ideas, maybe even host a few writing competitions and it would allow me to communicate with those of you who don't have accounts on here. If any of you would be interested in me doing that then please let me know. It's no big deal if it's not a popular idea though, it's just something that I came up yesterday. And I was so tired that I wasn't really thinking straight. XD
Anyway, I think that's all for now. I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible but considering that I have four tests coming up this next week, I don't know how much time I'll have. Really I should be revising now but oh well, I thought that you deserved a chapter. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, it means the world to me!
-cherrygorilla