"Elliot? Elliot! Are you okay? What the heck happened to you?"
The voice sounded as if it were floating in space.
"Seriously, you idiot, wake up!"
Elliot tilted his head and grumbled, batting the hand on his forehead away. He felt like he was on fire.
Then he remembered actually being on fire and jolted awake with a ragged gasp.
Julia's face came into view, looking confused and extremely concerned. "Uh, Elliot? Are you okay?"
"I-I-" He stared at her as if she were crazy instead of sane again. "WHAT?"
Julia smiled hesitantly. "What what?"
Elliot laughed nervously and touched the bump on his head. "Must've gotten hit harder than I thought," he mumbled. Then he looked up. "Or..."
He scrambled back to his feet and ran to the dock, which had a huge chunk ripped out of it. There was a tendril of mop tentacle floating on the top of the water.
Giddy with triumph, Elliot leaned down and ripped it from the water. Holding it above him jubilantly, he shouted, "YEEAAAHHH! IN YOUR STUPID LITTLE FACE, BANANA THE MOP!" while performing a little dance.
Julia watched, very, very disturbed. The last thing she remembered was seeing the new mop that Chen had ordered. And then, well... here she was, watching Elliot dance around like a crazy person. Of course, she had to give him credit; that bump was really bad.
"Elliot, stop it. You'll hurt yourself," she said gently, walking over to him and touching his arm.
He looked at her, startled, and then smiled sheepishly and lowered the string. His face was slightly red.
"Uh, so..." He dropped the piece of mop and regarded her hesitantly. "How do you... feel?" he prompted.
Julia smiled back. "That's my line," she remarked, indicating to the bump on his head. "But... I'm fine," she added after seeing his look.
"Do you... feel like you're, oh, I dunno... forgetting something?" he prodded.
She frowned. "Well, yeah. How did you know?" Then the furrow of her brow smoothed as she smiled. "Well, you are my best friend. You know everything."
Elliot beamed.
She giggled and kissed his cheek, then took his hand. "Come on... let's get you something for that bump, okay? I'm pretty sure that my mom has something."
Elliot was so happy that he didn't realize that Mirabelle may be a little perplexed by her daughter's sudden change. Perplexed, but relieved to be sure.
Lanna stomped down the beach, furious. She'd been fishing all day, and she hadn't even gotten a single bite! This peeved her off immensely, and she felt like doing something vicious. Maybe steal Chelsea's boyfriend or something. After all, he was super hot.
She wheeled around toward the direction of Denny's house.
That was when she saw the shipment boat. A few sailors were unpacking the orders that had been placed the previous week.
Eager to see if her fishing pole was among the things delivered, Lanna ran forward and then suddenly stopped short. Her eye had landed on a long box decorated with a smiling mop on the front. The bubbly letters on the front read, "Happy Squiggles Mop Emporium!" Below in smaller font the box declared, "Every mop is a friend for all! ™"
Suddenly Lanna felt lightheaded and giddy. It was almost like slow motion that she raced to the box and ripped it open.
There lay the most beautiful mop she'd ever seen, glistening with its mahogany handle and creamy white tentacles.
"Oh, Potato," she whispered, and buried her lips in his moppiness.
Chelsea and Denny walked by then, holding hands and swinging them back and forth. They stopped and stared at Lanna.
Chelsea smiled. "This is why you're much better off with me," she told him, and they walked away.