Again, I apologize for this taking so long. I meant to finish it much sooner, but I had songs, dances, and blocking to memorize for theatre camp (Evil Stepmother, Belle, and Conrad Birdie fangirl, what now?) But all that matters is that it's up now, better late than never right? Another thank you to my fabulous reviewers and everyone who is either following me or this story! I've already finished the next chapter and will post when I see fit (Mwhahahahahahaha!) So until next time, hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.
"Really, Joey? REALLY?" Julia groaned from the passenger seat, "I can't believe you got us lost again!"
"We are not lost!" Joey scowled, gripping the steering wheel of the rental car.
"This is the fourth goddamn time we've passed that teal building! WE. ARE. LOST." she exclaimed.
The Starkids had arrived in New Orleans early that morning and were all groaning for coffee and food. Even Jaime, who was the dictionary definition of a morning person, lacked her sunny disposition. Julia and Joey, normally the peacemakers of the group, had volunteered to make a breakfast run and were now aimlessly driving through the city, thanks to Joey's less-than-stellar navigation.
"Nuh-uh!" he argued, "And for your information, we've only passed it three times, Julia..."
"And we're about to make it a fourth! Why did I even let you drive in the first place?"
"Maybe because you were too tired to string together two sentences?"
"It's not my fault Jaime faked a concussion and nearly gave me a heart attack at three o' clock this morning!" Joey cocked his head with a look that clearly expressed both alarm and confusion. Julia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Long story."
"Oh yeah? Well, you didn't have to deal with Holden thinking he was Superman due to Red Bull withdrawal, now did you?" Julia's face mirrored the same bewildered expression that Joey had worn only seconds before. "Don't even ask."
"Fair enough," Julia agreed, pulling out a map, "But let's see if we can find that coffee shop, Jim looked like he was two seconds from keeling over when we left."
"And Walker still managed to find the strength to make a snide comment," Joey snickered, "However, it does pose a good question. If Jim fell in a forest, would he make a sound?"
"And if he does, do you yell 'TIMBER'? Or do you yell 'RUMBLEROAR'?" Julia added solemnly before both of them burst into a fit of immature giggles.
"Lame jokes are always so much more entertaining when you're sleep deprived," Joey mused, "But let's get breakfast before I pass out..."
"It's too bad Tyler isn't here, he could FIND it for sure."
"Hufflepuff puns, really? Come on Jules, I thought those were beneath you."
"I can't help it. When I don't have caffeine, my sanity flies out the back window."
"Hate to break this to you, but your sanity flew out the back window a long time ago." Julia gave Joey a scowl and playfully smacked him on the shoulder.
"Oh yeah? At least I didn't get us lost!"
"I'm telling you, we aren't lost! I just, um, am not one hundred percent positive of our exact location, right now."
"Admit it, Joey, we're lost." Finally, the boy hung his head in defeat and mumbled something very quietly.
"Fine, we are lost," he murmured almost inaudibly.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" Julia smirked, "I didn't hear you..."
"We're lost."
"Sorry, one more time?" Joey glared at her and Julia simply returned it with an innocent smile.
"WE. ARE. LOST. Happy now?"
"Now that you mention it, yes. Let's park here, the map says we should be getting close..." Joey was still sulking, but obeyed, pulling into the nearest open space. The two friends got out of the car and set off down the sidewalk. At first they walked in silence, but it was soon broken by Julia.
"I know I said I wouldn't ask," she questioned, "But, why exactly did Holden think he was Superman?"
"Well, he was playing Mario Kart with Brian and Walker at 3 AM. He lost the race to Brian and went over to the fridge to drown his sorrows in Red Bull, when lo and behold, Brian had drank the last can." Joey chuckled, "As you might imagine, there was much yelling and threatening before we pulled over at a gas station to get more. Next thing we know, Holden is knocking things over and yammering on about the infamous Hogwarts jaguar. Once we get back in the tour bus, he drinks his Red Bull and gets even more insane."
"How is that possible?" Julia remarked, "Usually that puts him in his right mind for at least an hour or two..."
"We found out he had only gotten two hours of sleep in the past two days," Joey shrugged, "Finally, Joe pretended to be Batman and pulled out some Kryptonite to 'knock him out.'"
"And he actually bought it?" Julia snorted.
"Apparently so," Joey mused, "Walker still had that little ball of tinsel with him."
"The one he used to scrape up Holden's nose?"
"The very same. Now, tell me about Jaime's so called 'concussion' this morning..."
"Basically, Lauren had to shit this morning and the only people awake were the bus driver and me. So, she made us wake everyone and pull over."
"Couldn't she have just used to bathroom on the bus?"
"No, she had to solid shit, Joey. Remember, no number two? So Lauren was going around the bus waking everyone up. What she didn't know was that Jaime was already wide awake, plotting against her." Joey gave her a confused look, mixed with surprise.
"Jaime, plotting?" he asked.
"She wasn't too happy when she had to do a concert in only one shoe last week." Julia explained, "Jaime was out for revenge."
"I see," Joey nodded, "Carry on."
"Basically when Lauren screamed in her ear to wake her, Jaime pretended to bang her head on the top of the bunk and fall back unconscious. Then everybody started freaking out, especially Lauren. I leaned over her to check her pulse, then she whispered in my ear and nearly gave me a heart attack. I agreed to help and lied to cover for her. Once everyone had come back from the bathroom, Lauren volunteered to take over watching her. Once the time was right, Jaime popped up and scared the living shit out of her-"
"I'm impressed, not just anyone can take Lauren by surprise..."
"Apparently that's what Lo thought too, she ended screaming and banging her head on the bunk, for real. As you might imagine, she was pretty pissed off."
"Sounds like Jaime is walking on thin ice."
"Over a pool of sharks is more like it. Lauren's exact words were 'I'll get you back for this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I WILL have my revenge.'" Julia gave a small shudder, remembering the exact expression the petite girl's face.
"If I were her, I'd be halfway to New Zealand by now."
"Same here, the look on her face was downright murderous." The pair stopped abruptly on a street corner. During their interesting conversation, the two had lost track of where they were going and were now unsure of where they were. Julia pulled out the map once more and suggested that they walk a few blocks. After a few minutes, Julia stopped short, causing Joey to run straight into her.
"I know exactly where we are now," Julia exclaimed, "We're in the French Quarter!"
"And how is this going to help us get breakfast any faster?" Joey mumbled, feeling his stomach growl again. Except Julia wasn't listening, she had already stopped someone walking down the street.
"Excuse me," she asked the man politely, "Can you tell us how to get to Café du Monde?"
"Y'all aren't from around here, are you?" he chuckled light-heartedly, "You walk one more block and take a left, you can't miss it."
"Thank you," Julia smiled, grabbing Joey by the wrist, "Come on!"
"Why do people always ask us that?" he complained, "Do we have it tattooed on our forehead or something?"
"Just drop it, we're going to get beignets."
"What are beignets?" Julia stopped short and stared at him.
"You're joking, you haven't tried a beignet? You haven't lived until you've tried one!"
"I thought that was a suicide?"
"That's a completely different story. A beignet is in a category all it's own! The only question is, how many dozen should we order? Lauren will probably eat about five all by herself..."
A/N: For those of you who don't know, a suicide is when you mix all the sodas in a machine together. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review!