"Ah, yep." Phil stretches, everyone rolling up their sleeping bags, Angelica having already left for home, Tommy lazily rolling his. "This sure was fun."
"Yeah, especially the part when Lil creamed you." Kimi smirks.
"Hey, she only won by an inch." Phil defends. "That's hardly worthy of cream filling."
"Doesn't change the fact that you still lost." Lil slyly says.
"You better get a move on Chuckie. The Java Lava opens in half an hour." Kimi tells her brother. Chuckie groans.
"Cheer up Chuckie." Dil happily says. "You get to spend twice the time at the Java Lava, which gives you twice the face time for any girls that come in."
"Great. That just means I get twice the opportunity to humiliate myself." Chuckie grumbles.
"Well I'm going to catch you guys later." Susie says, her sleeping bag prepared and under her arm. "Gonna head home and take a shower before going to see how Angelica's doing." And she waves good bye as she goes out and crosses the street to her house.
"She seemed fine to me last night." Kimi says. "Even if a few moments were a bit awkward."
"You know Angelica. She's one tough cookie." Dil says.
"I probably wouldn't be able to face anyone who saw me for days if that happened to me." Lil shivers at the thought.
"I know I wouldn't want to look at you." Phil comments. "Seeing you in your bra was enough to make me want to gouge my eyes out."
"Don't you have a shower to be taking?" She narrows her eyes at him.
"Do I have to? Can't I wait until tonight?" He whines.
"You lost the bet. You have to bathe twice a day. Once in the morning and once before bed. Now march." She orders him, pointing towards the door. He picks up his sleeping bag and grumbles as the two of them walk out to home next door.
"You too Chuckie. You got to get to the Java Lava." Kimi smiles, pushing a reluctant Chuckie out.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Chuckie frowns.
"Of course. Bye Dil. Bye Tommy. Don't make any plans for Tuesday Tommy." She calls out as she and her brother leave.
"See ya." Dil waves. He turns to Tommy who was sitting on the floor, tired, staring at his half rolled sleeping bag. "Couldn't sleep?" Tommy looks up at him, his eyes drooping, looking back at his sleeping bag, shaking his head.
"No." He replies tiredly.
"This is really getting to you, huh?" Dil worries. He doesn't answer. "Perhaps a Dil Pickles specialty breakfast will cheer you up." He suggests. "I'm thinking my alien green eggs, blasting blue bacon, and top it off with my mysterious black milk." He expected a reaction from Tommy but got none. "Wow. Normally you'd shut me down and say you'd rather have Kimi's cooking."
"I just want to try and forget about it." He says, zombie like.
"I know what you mean. I'd like to forget it too." Dil sympathetically says. "But food that tastes like that," He shakes his head, "it stays with you." Tommy just gives him a blank look before standing, leaving his sleeping bag on the floor, heading into the kitchen. Dil goes after him. He grabs a bowl out and the cereal along with the milk, sitting at the table and pouring himself a bowl. Dil grabs a bowl and joins him. "So, have you come up with any new brilliant ideas for any new films yet?" He asks, trying to help him take his mind off of Angelica.
"Dil, don't."
"What? I'm genuinely interested in knowing what future films you have in store. It's not some ploy to divert you from thinking about yesterday. It's just simple, everyday conversation." He explains. Tommy looks at him with his tired eyes. "I know we're not allowed to drink coffee but you look like you could use some." He gets up and goes over to the coffee pot, searching the drawers. "Where are those little- Aha! Found them." He pulls out a coffee filter, puts it in, pours in some coffee grounds and water, making a quick cup of coffee. He spoons in some sugar, brings it over to Tommy, pours in a little milk, and stirs. "There we go. One cup of pick me up juice, hot n' ready. Enjoy." Tommy picks up the coffee cup and takes a sip, scrunching up his face a bit at the slight bitter taste.
"How is it you know how to make coffee?" He questions.
"It's all any of our parents ever drink when they hang out and talk. I've seen them make it a million times." He smiles. "So come on, don't keep me is suspense. What's the latest film idea you got cooking in that noggin of yours?" He takes a bite of his cereal, Tommy taking another sip of the coffee.
"Well, I had this idea of a comedy centered around our pool. But, with Angelica..." He trails off.
"Right. You'll try to think of jokes and the plot and she'll just pop right on in." Dil says. "Any other ideas?" He urges him to continue.
"There's this other that I had. Something along the lines of the Coffee Creature." Tommy says, starting to feel a little more alert, taking a bigger drink of the coffee followed by a spoonful of cereal.
"Let me guess, the Java Lava comes under attack by a monster made entirely out of coffee beans?" Dil guesses.
"Yeah. The creature starts wrecking the place, seemingly unstoppable." Tommy starts to regain his usual self.
"That is until a handsome young hero and his llama companion come in to save the day." Dil stands, putting one foot on his chair, striking a heroic pose.
"Actually, you end up getting eaten by the creature." Tommy laughs. Dil sinks back into his seat.
"Sweet. I've always wanted to be digested." He grins.
"And when all seems lost the queen of coffee, the master of java, Betty DeVille, comes swooping in, coffee cup in hand, saving the day." Tommy emphasizes this, swooping his hand before picking up his coffee cup, taking a drink.
"Did somebody say my name?" Betty greets, popping into the kitchen. Tommy, out of surprise, spits coffee onto Dil, spilling it on himself, both jumping around at the heat. "Geez, didn't think you two would be this happy to see me." She jokes.
"Betty, what are you doing here?" Dil asks, after the coffee cooled on him.
"Didn't your mom tell you I'd be coming in to check on you two pups?" She asks, wrangling their hair.
"Yeah, but we thought it'd be like, in the middle of the day." Tommy says, still fanning himself off.
"If I waited until then I wouldn't have caught you drinking coffee." She laughs. "Just because you're mom and dad think you're old enough to hoof it out for a weekend without them don't mean you're old enough to drink java. A cup of that stuff and you'd have so much energy you'd be bouncing off the walls ."
"Whoa, that would be awesome." Dil exclaims.
"You two better run along and get those pajamas into the wash before they stain. Coffee stains can be one tough mama to get out." She tells them. "Just thought I'd stop by to see how breakfast is going. I better get back and see if Phily's feeling alright. Moment he got home headed straight for the shower. He never takes showers on the weekend."
"I suspect you'll be seeing that more often in the coming month." Dil knowingly says. Betty leaves and Tommy and Dil start to head upstairs.
"Oh man." Tommy yawns, stretching. "I should probably take a shower myself. Coffee woke me up some but I'm still tired."
"I'm surprised you're not fully awake after getting a lap full of it." Dil smiles. Tommy gets a change of clothes from his room before going to the bathroom and Dil goes off to his room. "Good to see he managed to get his mind off Angelica." He happily says, changing out of his PJ's and into some normal clothes, well normal for Dil, topping it off with his Sherpa hat. "I think I'll start the day off with some ¡Hospital de Tentacion!. Don't worry Enrique, I'm coming."
About fifteen minutes later. Tommy is staring at himself in the half fogged mirror, his jeans pulled on, his shirt in his hand. He swallows as the image of a topless Angelica standing in that very spot flashes in his mind. He tries to shake the image away but it persists. He clutches the sink counter, staring down.
"Why?" He asks, growling. "Why won't you get out of my head?" He slips his shirt on and Angelica in the pool flashes before him. He shakes his head, bending down, gripping his damp hair. "Why do I keep seeing you? Why do I feel the way I do when I see you? Why!" He stands back up, his heart beat quickening. He gets determined. "No. No, I refuse to let this keep me from enjoying my parents free weekend." He takes a deep breath. "No matter how confused and strange I feel, no matter how persistent the images and feelings get, I'm going to enjoy myself." With a strong hold on his determination he heads downstairs to see Dil laying on the couch watching T.V.
"Went with the strawberry scented shampoo I see, along with the" Dil takes a deep sniff, "raspberry conditioner. Bold move bro, mixing your fruits like that." Tommy stands behind the couch, shaking his head, saying something about Dil's amazing sense of smell.
"Dil, are you seriously going to spend our whole parents free weekend in front of the T.V. watching something you've already seen?" Tommy asks with a smile.
"Twas something I considered pondering, but if thee hath an enticing offer that may intrigue me as to say I was colored, then let thine words free and grace mine ears with their melody." Dil says with a poetic voice.
"I don't think I understood half of what you said." Tommy laughs. "But I was thinking we play something our parents no longer let us do inside the house. Not since we broke half of moms china." Dil bolts upwards and turns to his brother with wide eyes and a huge grin.
"You don't mean..." Dil starts. Tommy nods his head.
"That's right. Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter." He grins. Dil jumps off the couch, ecstatic.
"I'll go get my dart guns and my sock bombs." He excitedly says, running up the stairs. Tommy laughs as he goes over to a closet and pulls a box out. His laugh dies down and his smile fades.
"All I can do is try to distract myself from the thoughts." He sighs, pulling out a cardboard shield donned with duck tape. "Because these thoughts and feelings are so wrong, and it just keeps getting worse. And I don't want to worry anyone." Upstairs, Dil is digging through his closet.
"Tommy will definitely be over this whole Angelica thing by next week." He muses, holding up a dart gun, aiming with it. "And his Mutant, Alien, Zombie, and/or Hunter butt is going to be toast in ten minutes." He pulls the trigger and a dart flies out, sticking to the wall.
"Ugh." Phil shivers, coming out of the bathroom, dressed in clean clothes, his hair still damp. "I feel... clean." He cringes. "It's... horrible." He sees Lil casually leaning against the wall next to the door, holding a flower, smelling.
"Ah, that's nice." She dreamily says. "Being able to smell the scent of a flower in your presence." She smirks at him as he scowls at her.
"I hate you so much right now."
"I know." She giggles. He starts down the stairs when his mom comes up.
"Hold on there Philly." Betty stops him, popping a thermometer into his mouth, putting her hand on his forehead, forcing his eyes open, looking closely at them, looking in his ears.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Phil asks, Lil watching and giggling at the whole scene. The thermometer beeps and she takes it out, looking at the temperature.
"You don't have a fever. Your eyes aren't dilated or bloodshot. Nothing but wax in your ears. You feeling sick at all?" She asks him. He pushes by her.
"I'm fine mom." He tells her. She grabs his collar, stopping.
"Oh no you don't." Betty tells him. "You're not going anywhere til you tell me what's going on." Lil starts giggling more, trying to hold it back.
"Nothing is going on." Phil affirms.
"You think I'm going to buy that?" She crosses her arms, furrowing her brow. "You ain't never bathed on a weekend before."
"So I felt like doing something different. Big deal." Phil growls, getting annoyed.
"Oh no. Don't you use that tone with me young man." Betty scolds him. Her faces softens as a thought occurs to her. "Wait, are you doing this because you have a girlfriend?" Lil can't hold it in and she bursts out laughing, falling to the floor, holding her gut. Phil's face go slightly red.
"No mom. I don't have a girlfriend." He pushes his blush down. "I just felt like taking a shower, alright? Now can I please just go eat breakfast?" He begs.
"Okay." She says, still skeptical of the whole situation. "Just try not to make a mess. Howie made french toast this morning." Phil starts walking down the stairs again. "I know how you get your face all covered in syrup. Don't want to get your face all sticky and getting stuck to whoever your girlfriend is." Lil laughs even more, pounding her fist on the floor.
"Moooom." Phil groans, annoyed and blushing. "I told you I don't have a girlfriend. I just felt like showering. Why is that so hard to believe?" He says through gritted teeth, going into the kitchen. Betty goes up to the top where Lil was catching her breathe, laying on her back on the floor, face red, a laugh every now and again.
"And what's with you?" Betty asks her. She pushes herself up, wiping her eye, still laughing some.
"Oh, nothing." She says, laughing more.
"What about you Lilly. You got yourself a boyfriend?" She teases with a grin, crossing her arms. That stops Lil's laughter dead, as she looks wide eyed at her mom, slightly blushing.
"M-Mom! I-I... n-no... I don't..." Lil stammers. Betty starts to laugh.
"Not so funny when you're on the receiving end now is it?" She laughs. "Now get your patootie down to breakfast." Lil gratefully heads on down, joining Phil, their dad still at the stove cooking, noticing Phil was eating civilly, though he looked like he was struggling to do so.
"You just so want to tear into them right now, don't you?" Lil teases, pouring syrup onto hers.
"Arg! This way is way to slow!" He complains, fumbling with his knife, unfamiliar with how to use it. Lil giggles.
"Here, like this." She says, holding her fork and knife, cutting a piece of her french toast off, popping it into her mouth. Phil tries it her way and manages to get a piece off.
"There we are. Come to papa." Phil smiles. He starts to bring the fork towards him when the piece falls off, landing in his lap. Lil giggles more. He scowls down at the piece of toast, switching it over to Lil. He shakes his head while she nods hers. "No." He declares.
"Yes." She sweetly says. He grabs a napkin and picks it up off himself, wiping at the syrup on his pants.
"There, that's plenty." He tells her.
"I don't think so." Lil tells him. "Those are dirty now, and wearing dirty clothes is disgusting." She explains, all the while smiling. He glares daggers at her, before sighing with defeat.
"Can I at least-"
"No. Now." She orders. He sighs again, getting up, not before casting her another glare, heading out of the kitchen, passing his mom.
"Where's he going?" Betty asks, noticing his plate still had most of its food on it. "He isn't full already is he?"
"Nope. He's just going to change his pants. Got some syrup on them." Lil explains, silently laughing to herself.
"Something fishy is going on here." Betty suspiciously says, narrowing her eyes, looking after him, rubbing her chin with her hand. "And I'm going to find out what."
"Oh." Chuckie groans as he enters the Java Lava, his dad already behind the counter, getting things ready for the day. Chaz is struggling with some bags of coffee beans.
"Hey Chuckie. You mind giving me a hand here?" He asks, nearly dropping the bags.
"Sure thing." Chuckie responds, less than enthusiastic. He grabs two bags from his pile and they put them in place behind the counter, ready for use.
"Thanks son." He breathes. "Have you seen Kimi around? We open in ten minutes and she works this morning." Chuckie grabs an apron and ties it on.
"She's not coming in. I'm taking her shifts for a while." He explains.
"Oh, ok." His dad says. "You and Kimi strike another deal?"
"Of sorts." Chuckie shrugs, preparing the espresso machine.
"How long you in for this time?" Chaz grabs a napkin dispenser and starts filling it with napkins.
"A month." He dejectedly says.
"Wowie, that must have been some deal." He exasperates.
"Yeah." Chuckie sighs again. "One of jellybean proportion." He goes to the front and switches the close sign to open. Shortly there after two cute girls come in, sitting down at the counter. Chuckie smiles and gets a little nervous. "Uh, hi there. What can I get you?"
"Yes, I'd like a lemon kiwi smoothie." The first girl, blond, smiles.
"And I'd like a banana raspberry yogurt smoothie please." The second girl, brunette, also smiles.
"Right away." Chuckie happily says. He puts the ingredients for the first smoothie in the blender, quickly making it and pouring it in a cup, giving it to the blond. "Here you go."
"Thank you." She sweetly says.
"I'll have yours in a minute." He opens up the freezer, grabbing the yogurt out and putting it by the blender. He starts to get the other ingredients as he over hears the two girls talking.
"The smoothies here are always the best." The blond says, enjoying hers.
"Are you sure it's the smoothies you enjoy, and not the view?" The brunette slyly says. Chuckie fumbles with the bowl of raspberries, spilling it on the floor, falling with it, squishing several of them and staining the apron. The two girls giggle, making him blush.
"S-sorry. You're smoothie will be ready in a moment." He sheepishly says, going in the back to grab more raspberries, where his dad was busy sweeping, whistling a song.
"Had an accident with the cherries?" Chaz asks. Chuckie takes the apron off, grabbing another.
"Raspberries. Do we keep them in the fridge back here?" He asks, opening the storage fridge.
"Yeah, they're right next to the strawberries." Chaz tells him, resuming his whistling. Chuckie fills the bowl and goes back out, putting some in the blender, resuming his eavesdropping on the two girls.
"He is kinda cute, even with that dorky apron." The blond whispers. He starts blushing. He opens the yogurt and grabs a serving spoon.
"Then you should totally ask him out." The brunette whispers back. Chuckie's arm jerks and the yogurt in the scoop goes flying out, hitting the blond girl in the face, getting on her shirt, making her gasp, standing up.
"Shoot, I'm so sorry." Chuckie apologizes, grabbing some napkins and holds them out to her. She glares at him.
"You ruined my brand new top." She seethes, snatching the napkins out of his hand.
"I'm so, so sorry." He apologizes again. After wiping her face off she picks up her smoothie and throws it in his face, turning and storming out. The other one glowers at him.
"Nice going loser." She says, voice full of venom, before following her friend. Chuckie takes his glasses off, cleaning them, dejectedly sighing.
"This is going to be a long month." He groans. His dad then comes out.
"Whoa. What happened?" Chaz asks.
"I got yogurt on a girls top." Chuckie says, wiping his face off.
"Oh, I see." His dad understands. "Well lets get this mess cleaned up." They both grab rags and start cleaning up. "I don't know what deal you made with Kimi but I'll tell you what. Since you're taking her shifts for the month, I'll give you double the allowance until you're done." Chuckie freezes for a moment, surprised.
"Really?" He asks, shocked, looking over at his dad. Chaz smiles at him.
"Of course." He says. "I figure since you'll be doing double the work, you should get double the pay." Chuckie smiles and gives his dad a hug.
"Wow. Thanks dad." He exclaims. They finish cleaning up, and Chuckie's making a banana and onion smoothie for a customer. "Looks like things won't be so bad after all." He forgot to put the top on and gets splattered. "...for the most part."
Angelica was sitting at her dresser, dressed for the day, brushing her damp hair, looking at herself in the mirror. She had grabbed Cynthia out of her secret hiding place and had her sitting on the dresser with her.
"I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but something horrible happened and I need to talk to an old friend." Angelica says to her doll. "You remember Tommy right? My annoying cousin? Well his pool was finished yesterday so he, his weird brother, and all his friends, along with me, got together to have a little party in it. Then Susie started showing off, you know how she is. All of those preteens were getting all excited because she could do a little dive. She started to get a big head, goading me into trying to best her, so I had to put her in her place." She sets her brush down, sadness crossing her face.
"I bested her of course, performing a spectacular dive. But because I was such an idiot, refusing to listen to reason, I had an oversized bikini on." She looks at her doll. "I'm sure you can figure what happened next. When I came out of the water, my... top... had fallen off." A flash of her embarrassment shows. "For a full fifteen seconds I had showed all of them my... breasts. Even Tommy and Dil, my own two cousins." She quivers a bit, picking up Cynthia. "I'm certain you can imagine how horrible it was. I ended up hiding upstairs for a while, until Susie talked me into coming down for dinner. I managed to fake being fine but, the whole time I was down there I felt like they were laughing at me the way they didn't say a word about it. I was only barely able to keep a hold on myself." She hugs Cynthia. "So you can see why I need to talk to you."
"You know Angelica, you could always talk to me." Susie says, leaning in her doorway. Angelica jumps in surprise, falling off her seat, Cynthia landing on top of her.
"S-Susie?" She exclaims, getting up off the ground, holding Cynthia behind her back. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" She says with forced anger.
"Your door was open." She shrugs. "And I could hear you talking." Angelica looks down, bringing Cynthia up to her chest, sitting down on her bed.
"How much did you here?" Angelica sullenly asks.
"Enough to know you feel worse than you let on." She answers, stepping into her room, shutting the door. "Angelica, no one is laughing at you. None of us find this funny."
"Then why didn't anyone say anything, huh?" She heatedly asks.
"Because we all knew how embarrassing that was and all shared in the embarrassment." Susie explains.
"I would have said something if it happened to you." Angelica informs, her words heating up more.
"What, did you want us to have a discussion about how unnoticeable your tan lines were or give an opinion about how perky we think your breasts are?" Susie asks, heat in her words.
"Anything would have been better than pretending interest in and making jokes about some second rate Spanish soap opera that hardly anyone understands." She stands, her anger obvious. "And Tommy was staring at me the whole time."
"Wait. Tommy was staring at you?" She repeats, surprised at this.
"Well duh. What else could possibly have been bugging him the whole time?" Angelica spits. "He was obviously fighting the urge to burst out laughing. After years of me yelling at him and his friends, telling them what to do, he probably sees this as payback. That's probably why he and Dil went upstairs, so they could laugh behind my back."
"Angelica, stop." Susie orders her friend. "Tommy and Dil were not laughing at you. None of us were and none of us find this funny in the slightest. I mean listen to yourself. Do you honestly believe anything you're saying?" Angelica looks unsure of herself, biting her lip. "Well?" Angelica surrenders, sitting back on her bed.
"No." She quietly says, holding Cynthia to her chest again. Susie sits next to her, putting a comforting arm around her.
"We're your friends Angelica. I mean sure, sometimes we'd like to see something embarrassing happen to you," Angelica casts her a quick glare, "but we'd never want anything like that to happen. As for why Tommy was staring at you, I think he was still stunned at what happened. I mean he was in a daze after it happened." Angelica holds Cynthia in her lap, staring at her for a while.
"Thanks Susie." She smiles, looking at her friend. "I don't know what I was thinking, believing you guys were laughing at me."
"It's just a natural response for you." Susie explains. "You find it easier to be angry at others than to deal with the problem."
"You make it sound like I'm some hot head." Angelica frowns.
"Well, you are easy to set off." She laughs. Angelica smiles and laughs with her.
"It's going to be hard for me to be around them, at least the guys. More so Tommy and Dil." She says.
"Just give it some time. You'll get over it." She reassures her. "And I don't mean to take the place of Cynthia, I know how important she is to you. But just so you know, you can always talk to me if you ever need to." They embrace in a hug.
"Thanks Susie." She smiles. She stands and places Cynthia on a shelf, visible to the whole room. "I think you've earned yourself some time out of that stuffy hiding place. Sorry I have to keep you there but Savannah would never let me live it down if she found out I still had you."
"Of course." Susie laughs. Angelica turns to her.
"It's a good thing you're over here. Saves me the trouble of having to call you."
"And what did you want with me?"
"You're going to help me shop for some new bras." Angelica tells her, grabbing her purse.
"What's wrong with the ones you have now?" Angelica turns her back to Susie, pulling up the back of her shirt to reveal the red marks in her back.
"The ones I had kept digging into my back with their stupid hooks." She turns back to her, dropping her shirt. "So I trashed them and need to get some new ones ASAP."
"Shall I call Kimi and Lil? Having them join us would certainly help you get over the wardrobe malfunction you suffered yesterday faster. And if it'll make you feel better we could make a few jokes about it." Susie suggests. Angelica frowns at her, thinking about it.
"Fine, go ahead." She waves her hand. "You're the expert on making people feel better here, not me."
"You're right. You're specialty is making them feel worse." She laughs. Angelica casts her a quick glare before cracking a smile.
"Die zombie!" Dil exclaims, chasing Tommy through the kitchen, shooting his dart gun, missing and hitting the fridge. He pulls the dart off, a pop sound from the release of the suction.
"Don't let your guard down mutant." Tommy grins, throwing a rolled up sock at him.
"Hit the deck!" He dives under the table, knocking a chair over. He points his gun at Tommy and shoots. Tommy blocks with his cardboard and duck tape shield, dropping it and pointing his own gun at him and fires. Dil quickly rolls out of the way as Tommy retreats into the living room, hiding behind the overturned coffee table.
"Surrender you mutant!" Tommy yells out. "And I might just let you live after eating your brains!" Dil presses up against the door frame.
"Never!" He courageously shouts. "You shall never dine on the magnificence that is my mutated brain zombie!" He peaks his head out and quickly retracts it as a dart comes whizzing by. He reaches down and grabs the sock ball Tommy had thrown at him. He dashes out and throws it, bouncing off the arm chair landing next to Tommy.
"Run!" He exclaims, jumping out of his protection and getting hit by a dart in the stomach.
"Gotcha!" Dil triumphantly smiles. Tommy grabs his chest, falling onto the couch all dramatic like, making over exaggerated moans and groans. Dil stands over him as he lays on the couch, motionless, tongue hung out. "That put's the score five to two now." Tommy pulls the trigger on his gun, hitting Dil in the chest, grinning up at him.
"Actually, make that four to three." Tommy laughs. "You forgot, can't take a zombie down unless you take out their head."
"Uh no, I won." Dil disputes, holding his gun up, tapping it. "Explosive rounds, remember? Tore you in half." Tommy sits up.
"Zombies can still live even if they are blown in half. They just have to claw along the ground to move." He rolls to the floor and acts it out, moaning like a zombie. Dil laughs.
"Ok, ok, you won... this time." He grins. "But I'm going alien next round." They're about to collect their darts and sock bombs when they here a frantic knocking at the door.
"Wonder who that is." Tommy says. Dil looks out the window and sees Phil.
"It's Phil, and he seems very distressed." Dil tells him. Tommy barely opens the door and Phil rushes in, quickly closing it behind him. He grabs a hold of Tommy and starts shaking him.
"You gotta hide me man!" Phil frantically says. "I can't take it. They're driving me insane!"
"Whoa, easy there Phil." Tommy pries his friend off. "What's wrong? Who's driving you insane?"
"You been hitting the coffee Phil?" Dil inquires. "A cup of that stuff and you'll be bouncing off the walls. At least that's what your mom says."
"It's my mom and Lil. They're driving me nuts!" Phil continues frantically, pacing back and forth.
"Wait, do you smell like," Dil sniffs twice, "Lil's herbal shampoo and conditioner?" He asks, shocked.
"Yes!" He cries. "That was the only stuff in there! And to make matters worse she made me go and change my pants before finishing breakfast simply because I spilled a little syrup on them."
"Couldn't you have just wiped it off with a napkin or something?" Tommy asks.
"That's what I did. But she said they were still dirty. And to top it off, after breakfast she made me clean my room, saying that it's a disgusting habit to have a dirty room." Phil was pulling at his hair. "She's been buggin me all day, saying I can't do this or I can't do that or I have to do this or I have to do that."
"Well you did lose a bet saying you'd bathe twice daily and avoid any of your habits that measure on Lil's grossdar." Dil reminds him. "Just like Tommy here has to do all my chores." He grins at Tommy.
"Yes, yes, I know. I lost that stupid bet." He dismisses. "But if that wasn't bad enough my mom is on my case about the way I've been acting, how I'm being clean. She's convinced I'm doing all this because I've got a girlfriend." Both Tommy and Dil's eyes go wide.
"You have a girlfriend?" They say in unison.
"No!" He growls. "My mom thinks I have one. That that's why I'm being clean and not doing any of my so called 'gross' habits even though I keep denying it."
"Why not just tell her about the bet?" Dil suggests.
"Are you mad?" Phil practically yells. "Last time we told our parents about a bet we made they threatened to ground us for two weeks! Saying something about underage gambling."
"Ok, I think I understand." Tommy says. "Lil's ruthlessly enforcing the bet while your mom is trying to pry details about your 'girlfriend.'"
"If it weren't for Susie calling Lil to go out shopping, I'd never have been able to sneak away." He explains.
"Huh, wonder why Lil didn't give Tommy a call to go out shopping with them?" Dil muses. "He's under obligation to join them whenever to give his fashion advice."
"Don't jinx it." Tommy shushes. "She might change her mind and give me a call."
"Who cares about Tommy's fashion obsession, I need a place to hide from my mom!" Phil says. He looks out the window and sees his mom approaching. "She's coming!" He starts running up the stairs, stopping halfway. "If she asks, I'm not here." And he runs up. Tommy and Dil look at each other before Betty comes walking in. She looks around, noticing the flipped coffee table and darts all over the floor.
"Jeez Louise." She exclaims. "It looks like a battle field in here."
"Uh, it technically was." Tommy sheepishly says, with a sheepish smile.
"You... won't tell our parents we were playing Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter inside, will you?" Dil hopefully asks.
"It doesn't look like you broke anything." She comments. "So long as you keep it that way, I won't tell them you pups were playing." She smiles, wrangling their hair.
"I suppose it's about time for lunch, which is why you've come to check on us." Tommy guesses.
"Right you are there. That and to get Phil. Saw him running in this direction shortly after Lil headed off to the mall." She was scanning the room, looking for any sign of him. Phil was peeking around the corner of the stairs, watching and listening but staying out of sight. Dil gets a sly grin.
"Oh, you just missed him." Dil says. "He came running through, asking if he could borrow some of Tommy's deodorant, seeing as he doesn't have any."
"What? No he-" Tommy starts. Dil elbows him, giving him a look. Tommy understands and he joins in the fun. "He did more than borrow my deodorant. He also wanted some advice."
"Advice for what?" Betty asks them. Tommy and Dil share a look and smile wider.
"Girls." They say at the same time. Betty snaps her fingers.
"Hot dog I knew it. He does have a girlfriend."
"Yeah, but he's really embarrassed about it and he doesn't want anyone to know." Dil whispers.
"He only met her last week." Tommy says. "Only reason me and Dil know is because we were with him when they met."
"My little Philly's growing up." She sniffs. "I just knew that's why he's been acting so clean."
"Yeah, he mentioned something about you bothering him all day." Dil comments.
"Oh ho, I'm his mom." She laughs. "It's my job to give him a hard time about his girlfriend."
"Well, I think me and Dil are going to clean up our mess and make some lunch." Tommy tells her.
"I'll be over around dinner to check on things. You two make sure not to break anything." Betty waves, heading home. Dil held up his hand, counting down with his fingers. 3, 2, 1.
"What the heck are you two thinking!" Phil yells, furious, coming down the stairs two at a time. "Telling my mom I have a girlfriend and saying I came over for advice!"
"Sorry Phil, we just couldn't resist." Tommy laughs, along with Dil. "But it'll get your mom to let up on you."
"Great. Now I have to fabricate some story about some girl that doesn't exist and keep all the details straight which I won't be able to do at all!" He seethes, pacing again.
"Look at it this way. Would you rather tell her the truth and be grounded for two weeks or more? Or would you rather keep up a facade about having a girlfriend?" Dil asks. Phil thinks about it for a while and he slumps his shoulders in defeat.
"Fake girlfriend it is." He sighs. He then frowns at them both. "But I won't be able to keep the details straight. You know I'm not good with complicated lies."
"Write them down on a piece of paper." Dil suggests. "That way you can look them over whenever you need to."
"Fine." He huffs. "Since I'm off with Petunia right now, I'm staying here with you guys for lunch and join you for some Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter."
"Petunia?" Tommy asks.
"My girlfriend." Phil deadpans.
"Oh, right. Gotcha." He smirks.
Tommy was standing in front of the sink, doing the dishes, Dil and him having finished up dinner. He looks out the window, to the pool, the image flashing. He shakes his head and gets back to scrubbing the plate. Dil comes strolling in, whistling.
"So, how's the dishes doing?" He asks with a smirk.
"Don't worry, they'll be cleaned." Tommy says. "It'll be as if you did them yourself."
"I knew you could handle it." Dil opens the fridge and grabs a juice, detaching the straw and sticking it in. "So what about you? How are you handling things?"
"I'm doing the dishes just fine, as you can see." He sarcastically says.
"That's not what I mean." He states. Tommy pauses in his cleaning, quickly resuming.
"I'm fine Dil." He claims, rinsing the plate off, setting it aside, starting on the other one.
"Really? Could have had me fooled." Dil shrugs. "Cause I've counted three times that you've ceased washing to stare out at the pool before shaking your head. And you always manage to win more rounds than me in Mutant Alien Zombie Hunter." Tommy sighs, dries his hands off, and sits at the table. Dil grabs another juice and gives it to him, straw already in.
"I don't know why I thought I could hide it from you."
"Because you're stubborn." He simply states. "It's a Pickles thing."
"Honestly? I don't know how I am." Tommy takes a sip. "I keep seeing those images of her."
"Images?" Dil asks, leaning forward. "What do you mean images?" Tommy realizes his folly.
"I-I didn't say that." He tries to cover. "I said image... is?"
"Yes, yes you did. You've seen Angelica more than once." He pries.
"Alright, fine, yes." Tommy growls. "I woke up late last night, after only a few hours of sleep. I went upstairs to use the restroom and she was in there. She had taken her pajama top and bra off to yell at her bra for the hooks digging into her back."
"Whoa." Dil says, bemused.
"And now, I can't stop thinking about it. And it makes me feel... wrong and weird. I don't know how to describe it." He sighs. "It's like, I don't want to think about and yet... I do."
"Well, you felt better today than you did yesterday after seeing her, right?" He asks.
"Yeah, I guess." He replies, unsure.
"So, that means tomorrow you should feel even better. You were able to do other things and concentrate on other things today." Dil reassures him. "Chances are you'll continue to feel like this, but over time the feeling will grow weaker and you'll get over it."
"You're probably right." Tommy agrees. "I just wish I knew why I am the only one being affected by this so much. Why aren't you bugging like I am?"
"I'm not as mature as you are? I believe in things most people find absurd? I've taught myself to talk to dolphins, fish, and squirrels?" He suggests. "Honestly I don't know. You'd figure Chuckie would be bugging more than you would, seeing as he's older and more hormonal than you are."
"Please, I don't want to think that this is a result of any hormones." He cringes. "I'll just stick with the 'you're weird' idea."