Alright, F8tey. You've had your rest. You've read your books and done your schoolwork, worked on original projects and novels, and you have a rather normal weekend ahead of you. It's time to start hacking away at another chapter!
A Teenager's Guide to Living with Pirates
Chapter 12
Leah
Time passed quickly after saving the Monkey from the evil clutches of Waldo. Everyone got into the steady rhythm of things. Breakfast, swordplay, rest, lunch, maybe some shopping or some kind of afternoon activity, dinner, and, finally, talking. Talking was what my friends and I dreaded, and the pirates revered. Talking was pretty much a set time of day where my guests were allowed to grill me about things in our modern world, and one of us normal people had to explain supermarkets, politics, or the all important question of how to hold your pizza (See- funny story there… Jack holds it the normal style, Anamaria folds hers the New York way, and Barbossa daintily uses a fork and knife. Go figure.)
Anyway, it was about 8:00 on Thursday night, the beginning of "TalkTime", and I could tell Julie was becoming agitated. She fidgeted in her seat, her eye twitched spasmodically, and I was beginning to think that maybe Waldo had gotten to her. Of course, I knew the reason for her anxiety. She was throwing a masquerade ball tomorrow.
She had gotten Jeremy to do his techy tricks so that she could call everyone with one recorded message. By everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Melissa's crew, the goth kids, the track team, the nerds… well, you get the picture. Earlier this week I had felt a bit sorry for Julie, and I asked her if she needed any specific help from me. She pondered for a moment. And then her entire face lit up and she squealed- "You mean we can have the party here? At your house? REALLY? Thanks so much, Leah!" And as I tried to scrape my jaw off the floor, she dashed off.
Needless to say, I don't feel sorry for Julie anymore.
I drifted back out of my thoughts as Mark and Brett began to explain American Currency. We were all seated in a circle of chairs, the pirates on one side and us on the other. Jack was spinning in a swivel chair, Barbossa was hypnotically stroking Jack (The monkey! Not… oh nevermind.), the rest of them were listening intently. That is, except Will.
Sigh. Why did they have to come out at the end of Dead Man's Chest? I mean, what are the chances of that? That they come out of the movie at the exact time that no one's fun anymore. No more jokes, no more happiness, everyone was in mourning for Jack when suddenly they're kicked out of Kansas and land way, way, way over the rainbow.
Of course, everyone's fine with that now. I mean, Jack is sitting right next to them! But Will, well, he had other problems than to worry about the beloved Captain- he was betrayed by his own beloved.
Enter Teenage Angst-Fest. (Come, one and all to the Teenage Angst-Fest! Bring the angsty teenager of your life for an exciting day of betrayal, emo-ness, and reclusive behavior! We say tickets cost more at the gate, but they actually cost more online, so when you show up and realize you spent more money, you feel even worse! Yaaay!)
Anyway, Will had been brooding for a few days now, and it was getting on my nerves. I mean, when Geoffrey broke up with me in the 6th grade, I only cried for a day. (Then again, I wasn't about to marry him. So I guess its all relative. That was a bad relationship, anyway. He kept eating my French fries at lunch.)
I looked to Will. He was staring at the lamp, the equivalent to a fire, I suppose, except it was the summer and a fire would be entirely unconventional. The light danced across his features, illuminating half of his face, leaving the rest shadowed in darkness, lips pursed in frustration. His eyes gleamed with an intensity I could never match- he lived in the 18th century, his life was filled with huge ups and downs, excitement lurked around every corner, and there was never safety. I, however, lived in the 21st century. The most exciting thing to happen to me was to get an A on a final exam. The most horrible thing to happen to me was when my cat died. My life paled in comparison.
I wanted to scream.
"Guys," I interrupted their conversation on the Dollar, I needed a distraction. "Let's figure out how tomorrow's going to work. I mean, with the party and all."
"Brett and I are gonna set up the house." Julie said. "You all should go shopping or something. Stay out of our way."
Sam spoke, "We'll buy our masks."
Julie grinned, "Bring me a blue one!"
"I'll see what I can do."
…
The conversation continued for awhile, and I believe at some point I must've given up and fallen asleep because I woke up to someone poking my shoulder.
"Miss?" It was Jack. "You might want to go to your bed- that chair looks terribly uncomfortable." I could hear feet climbing up the stairs, apparently only Jack had the courtesy to wake me up. I sighed as I opened my eyes.
"Yeah, I should. Thanks for waking me up."
"My pleasure." He held out a hand, which I took, and helped me out of the chair. I yawned into my wrist as I stumbled up the stairs, it must've been past midnight but my sight was blurry and I couldn't make out the clock.
"Hey, Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"You're pretty gentlemanly for a pirate. I guess that's why Julie likes you so much."
He raised an eyebrow, but I was too exhausted to remember that I wasn't supposed to tell him that. I didn't care- I had enough problems to deal with. "G'night." I mumbled as I walked into my room. I didn't hear his response; I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
…
The hustle and bustle of the morning began without delay. After scarfing down some eggs, Julie and Brett shoved the rest of us out of the house before 9:00. With a groan, I began to lay out plans. Sam and Mark would head out with Will, Anamaria, Tia Dalma, and Gibbs. They would go to Party City and snag any missing decorations. Meanwhile Jeremy, Jack, Barbossa, Norrington, and I would go get masks for everyone.
Jeremy drove, and Norrington took shotgun because he gets carsick. I'm the smallest, so I got the middle seat in the back, and we were able to snugly fit.
For those of you who haven't been through this, that car ride was the single most unsettling fifteen minutes of my entire life. There I am, squished senseless. On my right is the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate lord of the Caribbean. The same person who drinks himself mad, sacked Nassau Port without firing a single shot, and knows how to wield a sword. On my left was Hector Barbossa, another Pirate lord of the Caribbean. The same person who was brought back from the dead, most likely rapes girls my age, and also knows how to wield a sword. Oh yea, and they're enemies.
Good fun.
Fortunately, neither of them exercised their sword-wielding abilities on the ride there, and I was not decapitated, so I guess my fears were wrong. Yay for me.
Now, we finally arrived at the Mall, and as we tumbled out of the car, Jack proudly announced, "I'm hungry."
I rolled my eyes, "We just had breakfast."
"You just had breakfast. I, however, was a sleep in my uncomfortable mattress-bed, and NO ONE thought to wake me." He glared at Barbossa.
Barbossa held up his hands in defense, "It's not my responsibility to wake you."
Jack frowned. "In any case, my stomach is without nutrition, and there is food in this mall to be eaten."
"We'll stop at Starbucks." I assured him.
A few minutes later we were in Starbucks, and the pirates were looking around the room. It was normal, I guess. Tones of green and brown and yellow, and soft lighting, and the smell of coffee.
Jack looked unimpressed, "This is Starbucks?"
Jeremy grinned, "Well, there's nothing like a nice cup of coffee, eh?"
As we headed up to the counter, I sang under my breath, "No there's nothing like coffee…"
Jeremy ordered, "I'd like a Grande Caffé Mocha, please."
The lady behind the counter smiled and nodded and wrote it down on the cup.
I ordered a Vanilla Bean Frappacino.
I raised an eyebrow as Jack stepped up to the counter with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He slammed a fist on the counter in emphasis, "I want a big barrel of RUM!"
The entire café stopped and stared at him, and the lady stuttered, "I- um, I'm sorry, uh… sir, we don't serve alcohol here."
Jacks entire face fell, and like a child, he pouted. I clapped a hand on his back, "It's ok, they would card you, anyway." I told him, but my shot at humor went way over his head, and he changed his order to match Jeremy's.
Barbossa looked at the menu and sighed. He looked at the lady and asked, "Do you have any apples?"
"Uh, we have fruit salad."
"That'll have to do." He said as he grabbed the container of fruit salad.
Norrington looked enviously on as I slurped my Frappacino, and turned back to the lady. "Can I have some tea? But with some of that white stuff on top?" He made a twirling motion with his finger.
The lady looked at him like he was insane. "You want tea with whipped cream on top?"
He nodded excitedly. The lady rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're total is $14.92."
Jeremy paid as I sat down with the pirates. "So, what color masks do you guys think we should get for everyone? What color do you want, Jack?"
"The color of the sea!" He grinned and leaned back in his chair, which tottered on its back legs.
"How poetic." Barbossa muttered sarcastically.
Jeremy and I looked at each other, and then back at Jack, and I said, "You'll have to be a bit more specific, Jack."
His chair suddenly clattered to the floor, and he fell with it (hitting his head hard on the stone floor. He got up as fast as he fell, mostly unscathed except he looked a bit more loopy than usual, gaining more curious glances from around the Café. Too much attention… we better leave.
I got us out of the café pretty quickly, and before long we made our way to the smallest and most overlooked shop in the entire mall, the Masquerade Emporium.
…
(3rd POV)
Will stayed at the back of the group, careful to stay close enough not to get lost, but far enough away so no one would try to force a conversation out of him. Sam and Mark were leading them around the store, Party City.
It was a gigantic, cluttered store. The floor was covered in fallen decorations and gruesome plastic masks and items, the walls were lined with fake weapons and make-up kits. Every once in awhile, everyone would jump as yet another balloon exploded.
Will's eyes were downcast. The only emotion he could recall feeling in the past few days was anger. It clogged his head and blurred his eyesight, and the worst part of it all was that he couldn't express his anger.
He was angry at Elizabeth- she had betrayed him. They had been best friends since they were twelve, and there was a sense of devotion in their relationship as they became engaged and then they almost married. But then she decides to go gallivanting after some pirate like a common whore. And not just any pirate, but Captain Jack Sparrow, the man who Will, to his utter shame, could never measure up against.
And then he was angry at Jack. The man he had trusted with his life, and yet Jack had sent him off to Davy Jones's ship to settle Jacks debt. Surely his former friend would have realized how much he would suffer aboard that ship… or maybe he just wouldn't care. And then Jack had stolen his fiancé from him.
Will was also angry at Leah. That night… that night she had grabbed his heart, twisted it around, tied a knot in it, and ran away with it. Well… not really, but metaphorically. And now he wanted to kill her… or kiss her…
He slapped himself in the forehead, trying to get rid of unwanted thoughts, and gained a few strange looks from the other customers.
The worst part of it all was he couldn't stay mad at Elizabeth, Jack, or Leah. He couldn't stay mad at Elizabeth, because he still loved her.
He couldn't stay mad at Jack because he hadn't yet figured which one of them owed the other for saving the other's life, as it had happened so many times both had lost count.
And he couldn't stay mad at Leah because how ever much they hated it, everyone was dependent on her. She fed them, kept them together, provided them with clothes, and allowed them to stay in her home. She was a good person, and whatever personal issues Will had with her couldn't influence his usual etiquette or respect, because then he would be in the wrong.
At least it sort of made sense in his head.
"You're troubled." Tia Dalma said to him. It was more an accusation than a question.
"Look, I know you think your some kind of Goddess or something, but that doesn't give you reason to go about in other people's business." He refused to meet her gaze, partly to make a point, but mostly because he was afraid that if he did, she would work her magic on him, and this time Jack wasn't around to save him.
"Ah, dear William," She pronounced his name in the funny way that she did, "I am a Goddess. And part of my job is to sooth suffering pirates." Her smooth voice trapped the words and cradled them.
They continued walking through the store, and he tried to keep on the air of normalcy that the teenage hosts had told them all about. "Please leave me alone." he begged her.
Tia Dalma frowned, made some kind of decision, and walked forward to the rest of the group. Will had a feeling that interaction wasn't quite over yet. He silently wished it was.
...
When all had returned to Leah's house, all hell broke loose. Everyone was fighting over masks or decorations or even dance moves. Everyone... being the six teenagers. The pirates only watched in awe as the girls began pulling out each other's hair and the guys began exchanging banter, until finally Leah noticed and the fighting died down. Embarassed, she looked at the pirates like a child caught fighting (in essence, that's what she was) and muttered, "I want a green one."
Splitting the masks up into boy and girl masks, the girls all went to Leah's room to get dressed, and the boys went up to the room the Jack and Will were in (in which Brett explained the concept of a sleeping bag).
When the first guests showed, the girls exited their room and answered the door, letting in a whole group of girls who they easily merged with. All were wearing masks and dresses and in the low light it was hard to tell everyone apart, which made the whole thing more exciting. The guys came down shortly after, just as the football team arrived, and all was running smoothly.
Though none of them knew it, the party was about to take an epic, unpredictable, and inevitable turn for the worse.
Oooh, suspense! Ok so, for the record, I have had the chapter after this planned since I began this fanfic. No joke. So... be excited. And terrified ;)
What do YOU think is going to happen? (you'll most likely be wrong, but I'll give you a virtual cookie if you try!)
~F8tey