Katie and Adyson Go to Slushy Dawg
Katie shut herself into her room, tossed her purse onto her bed, and squealed in delight. It was time to commence with her personal celebration. She took a few moments to quickly slip on her ballet slippers and hit "Play" on the classical music playlist on her iPod. As beautiful, classical music filled the air she pirouetted, pranced, and leapt about her room. Years of classes, practice, and training had taught her well how to express her emotions through dance, with ballet being her favorite style. Through it, she was the very embodiment of joy. As the music came to an end she finished her impromptu dance and simply fell back onto her bed, kicking her legs in the air as she giggled in glee again. She reached over to her purse, fished out her wallet, and opened it. From it she pulled a pink card that she looked at fondly, her eyes positively sparkling.
It was an official Tri-State Area Driver's License with her full name, Katherine Martinov, prominently displayed along with a photo of her smiling brilliantly. Months of classes, several driving classes, and two attempts at her driver's test had finally paid off. She sighed contentedly and, still holding her brand new license in one hand, fished her cell phone out of her purse with her other hand and hit her first speed dial. Three rings later, just like always, Adyson picked up on the other end.
"What's up, Katie," Adyson asked.
"I got it," Katie said, giggling madly into her phone.
"Got what?"
"It!"
"Okay…is it contagious?"
"No, but you're gonna wish you had it too!"
"Katie, what on earth are you talking abou-"
"I got my driver's license!"
The next three minutes consisted of both girls screaming over their phones to each other.
"We've got to go somewhere," Adyson exclaimed once they were finished screaming.
"I know," Katie practically yelled back. "But where?"
"It's what…11:30 AM now. Let's go get lunch!"
"Yes! Lunch! At Mr. Slushy Dawg! We've gotta tell Gretchen about it!"
"How soon can you be here?"
"I'm changing my shoes now! I'll be at your house in a few minutes. In a car! That I'll be driving by myself!"
"I know!"
The girls screamed at each other for another minute before Katie finally ended the call. She grabbed her purse, put her license carefully back in her wallet which then went into the purse, and then headed for her mother's car, which she'd been given full access to for the day as her reward for getting her license. As she started it up and carefully pulled out of the driveway, internally she was still dancing and rejoicing at her newfound freedom. This was definitely going to be a day for the history books.
A scant five minutes later, Katie had pulled up to Adyson's house to find her best friend waiting anxiously in the driveway for her. As soon as she stepped out of the car after parking it and turning it off, Adyson all but tackled her with a hug. The two of them positively bounced with joy at the prospect of the new level of freedom Katie's driver's license would no doubt bring them.
"Let's get this show on the road," Adyson said, quickly running to the passenger's side. Katie ducked right back into the driver's seat. They both buckled themselves in, locked the doors, and Katie prepared to turn the car back on. She then paused as a slightly concerning thought occurred to her.
"What's wrong," Adyson asked, seeing her friend's hesitation. "Lunch isn't gonna come to us."
"This is really embarrassing to say," Katie said, sitting back and laughing nervously. "But for all the times I've been to Mr. Slushy Dawg…I, uh, don't actually know how to get there."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Do I sound like I'm kidding? I never really paid attention to the directions."
"It's Mr. Slushy Dawg, Katie. There's gotta be, like, signs and stuff that'll point the way for us. Just start driving. We're bound to find it soon enough."
Figuring that Adyson had a valid point, Katie started the car, pulled out of the driveway, and got them underway on their journey. Adyson queued up some music for them so Katie could focus on driving. As they turned corners and drove along, it was shaping up to be quite a liberating and enjoyable drive.
Fifteen minutes later, however, their enjoyment of driving around aimlessly had sharply decreased.
"Have you seen any signs for them yet," Katie asked, feeling a little paranoid about splitting her attention between the road and looking for anything that might point them in the direction of the restaurant.
"Not one," Adyson replied flatly. "This is crazy! How can it be this hard to find the place?"
"I told you before we got going I didn't know where it was. You're the one who assumed it'd be clearly pointed out to us."
"Yeah, this one's on me. Sorry."
"It's okay, but what're we gonna do now? I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get hungry."
"Wait a sec," Adyson said, slapping her forehead. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before. I'll just call Gretchen and get directions straight from her."
"Yes! And be sure to tell her we're driving there on our own too."
Adyson hit her speed dial for Gretchen's phone and waited patiently for her to pick up, which she did several rings later.
"This had better be good, Adyson," she said, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I can't really take personal calls while I'm on the job."
"This won't take long," Adyson assured her. "Katie got her driver's license and we're trying to come to Mr. Slushy Dawg for lunch. We just need directions is all."
"How can you not know how to get here? It's Mr. Slushy Dawg, for crying out loud."
Adyson sighed in mild frustration. "I know, it's silly. But can you please just help us out here?"
"Okay, okay. Jeez it's cold in here."
"You guys have the AC turned up or something?"
"No, I'm heading into the freezer for some more supplies for up front. Now where are you guys?"
"We just passed Marsh Drive on I-55."
"Oh, well it's easy then. Just turn right on Pl…and then go…until you reach…side Drive. Then…"
"Gretchen, you're cutting out. I didn't catch half of that."
"Sorry, recep…so good in the free…all you have to do is get to…th street and you can't miss it."
"What was that? What street?"
"Look, I'm sorry Adyson but I have to hang up now. I've got a huge box of frozen hot dogs and I can't talk on the phone in the store front. Tell Katie congrats for me on the license and I'll see you guys when you get here!"
Adyson tried to get Gretchen to give her the directions one last time, but Gretchen ended the call before she could ask. She closed her phone and put it back in her purse.
"So, did you get directions," Katie asked as they came to a stop sign.
"Yeah, of course I did," Adyson replied, feigning confidence as best she could. She looked at the street signs and saw they were at the corner of Marsh and Plymouth Road. She remembered the first street Gretchen had mentioned had started with a "Pl" and figured that was it. She pointed to the street and said, "Make a right here."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm just telling you what she told me. I really doubt Gretchen would steer us wrong."
"That's true. Well, just give me a decent heads up before we come to another turn I need to make."
"Absolutely. Once we finally get there it's gonna rock!"
Thus did the girls carry on with their journey, not realizing that the street they'd actually needed – Plains Avenue - was four blocks further than where Adyson had directed Katie to turn. Blissfully ignorant of the mistake, they resumed listening to music and simply enjoying the open road and the freedom of being able to travel it without adult supervision.
"I'm beginning to think we may have made a wrong turn somewhere," Adyson noted.
"What was your first clue," Katie asked, now seriously annoyed. "The fact that we haven't found Mr. Slushy Dawg yet? Or the fact that we're not even in Danville anymore!"
Adyson sighed and shook her head as she looked in the rear view mirror on her side of the car. The "Thanks for visiting Danville" sign continued to shrink in the background as they continued driving.
"Look, I'm sorry okay," Adyson told her. "Gretchen had bad reception and I only got broken directions from her. I thought I could figure it out on my own from what I'd heard. This one's on me too."
Katie took a moment to consider Adyson's explanation and then just nodded to her. "You can make up for it by paying for gas once we're done with this trip. For now let's at least head back into town. I'll turn us around at the next exit I see."
"Hey, check it out," Adyson said, pointing ahead of them. "Is that a hitchhiker?"
Katie looked to the side of the road ahead and, sure enough, there was a guy walking on the other side of the road back towards Danville with his right thumb stuck out as he looked for a ride.
"That's pretty creepy," Katie noted. "I didn't think people still did that."
"Whoever it is, he must be some poor slob to not even be able to afford a ride into town," Adyson added with a laugh. Her laugh abated as they drew closer to the hitchhiker. Her jaw all but went through the floor of the car as she got a better look at him. "Oh my gosh, it's Django!"
"What the heck is he doing out here?"
"Like I know! Get us turned around quick, Katie."
"There's an exit just ahead, hang on."
A couple minutes later, the girls had turned around and caught up with Django. They stopped the car a bit ahead of where he was walking and Adyson immediately got out and walked up to him.
"Okay, I'm dying to hear the explanation for this," she told him, folding her arms as she stood before him. "How'd you end up clear out here?"
"Nice to see you too, Adyson," Django told her with a smile. He waved at Katie, who was still walking over to them. "Hey Katie. Congrats on your driver's license."
"How'd you know," Katie asked.
"How else would you have gotten out here by yourselves?"
"Oh. Heh, yeah. True enough."
"Enough pleasantries," Adyson said, leaning towards him now. "Make with the explaining."
"Well it's like this," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I was at Mr. Slushy Dawg with Baljeet and Ginger having a good time talking to them. Baljeet started talking about the sports statistics he was working on for the football team and I made a few offhand comments about how silly and stupid I think football is and how it's not that great a sport and so on. Well, wouldn't you know it, Buford and a few of his teammates had been there as well and kinda overheard me. Next thing I know I'm in a sack, tossed in the back of some pickup truck, and driven out here where they left me. I started walking back and figured I'd try to hitch a ride if I could. That's when you two came along."
"You have really got to learn when to shut up, Django," Adyson told him. "Hasn't your mouth gotten you in enough trouble already since you got back?"
"At least you can't fault me for being honest," he replied with a shrug. "So what brings you two to the outskirts of Danville? It's not exactly all that scenic out here."
"We're uh…trying to get to Mr. Slushy Dawg," Katie admitted bashfully.
"You do know it's not out here, right?"
"Gee, ya think," Adyson said sarcastically. "We've been having trouble with directions to get there."
"It's Mr. Slushy Dawg. How can you not-"
Adyson glared daggers at him. "Do not finish that thought."
"Okay, okay. Sheesh. With how you're acting you'd think you two had been on the road for an hour trying to find the place."
Both girls remained silent at his comment. Django narrowed his eyes at them.
"You've been on the road for an hour trying to find it, haven't you?"
Both girls nodded silently in response to his question. Django couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Okay, how about this then," he said as he started walking to the car. "You girls give me a lift back into town; I'll help you get to Mr. Slushy Dawg. It's an even trade."
"You know how to get there," Katie asked, suddenly delighted at the prospect at actually finishing their journey.
"I wouldn't be much of a teenage guy if I didn't."
Katie smiled brilliantly again. "I'm cool with it. How about you, Adyson?"
Adyson threw her hands into the air as she headed back to her seat in the car. "So long as he doesn't stink up the car, I'm okay."
Django smiled as he got into the back seat. "Relax, I showered this morning. And brushed my teeth."
Adyson looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be."
"And how sure are you about your directions?"
"Just as sure."
"You sure that you're sure?"
"As sure as I am that this is surely a silly line of questioning."
"Surely you're just joking with me now."
"I am not joking. And don't call me Shirley."
The two childhood friends stared hard at each other, trying to look serious for as long as possible before they both broke up laughing. Katie simply shook her head as she turned the car on once again, put it into drive, and resumed their trek back into town. In her mind, Adyson really needed to get over herself and just try dating Django already. To her, they were already almost as perfect a couple as Phineas and Isabella.
True to his word, Django did seem to know the layout of Danville fairly well. Once they were back into familiar territory, he guided Katie along various streets and roads and they did start recognizing some landmarks. Both girls relaxed quite a bit as a result, and the drive was enjoyable once again.
"I kept telling him: Look, Martin, you can't trust everything on the Internet," Django said, continuing a story he'd begun telling them. "But he was dead certain the person he'd been chatting with online for those three weeks was a girl who was really into him. So when they finally set a day and time to meet face-to-face he brought me with him so he could prove me wrong in person."
"What happened," Adyson said, listening intently. She had been hanging on his every word.
"Well, CuteThang947 showed up alright. And they really were into Martin, just like he figured. But, well…the part where he thought it was a girl was way off."
Adyson gasped and covered her mouth in surprise. "It was a guy?"
"Oh yeah. His name was Victor, and he was most certainly gay. Martin ran off screaming, and it was all I could do to not bust a gut laughing. That is, until I saw how broken up Vic was about it. I spent the next five minutes explaining to him that Martin didn't swing that way. He was really pretty upset. Apparently he'd really gotten to like Martin over the Internet."
"That had to have been rough for him," Katie noted.
Django nodded as he sat back again. "It was, but he got over it. He and I are pretty decent friends now to boot. Vic's pretty cool, and he knows I'm not gay so he's never tried to hit on me. Though every time Martin sees him at school he turns and starts walking in the opposite direction. It's hilarious."
"I'm surprised you became friends with him," Adyson said, turning around to face him. "I mean, isn't that kinda awkward?"
"Why should it be," Django asked her. "So he's gay; big deal. It's not my thing, but that's not gonna stop me from being friends with him. There's more to people than just their sexual orientation. It's kind of like you and me in a way. I may not agree with everything you say or do, Adyson, but I know there's more to you than that. Our differences aren't nearly enough to make me not like you."
Adyson fell silent and turned back around in her seat. Katie was able to see her out of the corner of her eye well enough to see that she was both smiling and blushing after what Django had said. Rather than rib her about it, she simply refocused on driving. She wanted to help foster whatever feelings Adyson had for Django, not annoy her so much that she'd push him away like what had happened at the party earlier that month.
"After this stop light we'll go through two more intersections," Django told Katie as they pulled to a stop. "Then it's just a few more turns and we'll be there."
"Who needs a GPS when we have you, Django," Katie said with a smile.
"Hey, it's the least I could do since you got me back into town. Who knows how long it would've taken me to walk back home?"
Katie was about to comment further, but suddenly felt her heart sink into her stomach. In her rear view mirror she had seen that a police car had pulled up right behind her. Django and Adyson didn't register it at all, but being a new driver Katie was suddenly completely paranoid. As the light turned green, she focused entirely on driving as correctly and properly as possible. She tuned out everything around her as she simply drove on, nervously checking the police car behind her every so often as it followed her. After several blocks of driving, the police car finally turned and headed in another direction and Katie exhaled in relief. As soon as she did, however, she noticed Adyson was looking at her with a supremely annoyed expression on her face.
"Uh…did I do something wrong," she asked innocently.
"You mean besides completely ignoring Django's directions," Adyson asked. "What were you doing, Katie?"
"There was a cop car behind me!"
"So what?"
"So what? I just got my license today! I'm not going to chance getting pulled over!"
Adyson sat back in her seat and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried ever so hard to not lose her temper. The whole matter of simply getting to Mr. Slushy Dawg had become such a fiasco that she was nearly fed up with it. The fact that she was absolutely starving, however, urged her to see it through successfully.
"Look, just pull over and let's stop and take a break for a bit here," she said after composing herself. "We'll get ourselves turned around properly again and Django can get us to the restaurant properly this time, right Django?"
"Absolutely," Django replied.
Katie nodded and, after passing through one more intersection, finally pulled up and stopped in front of a house. All three teens got out of the car to stretch their legs. As soon as they were all standing on the sidewalk, however, they suddenly realized that their choice of location to stop had been incredibly bad.
"Hey guys," Irving called out to them from his front yard, which they had just parked in front of. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
Despite her sons being rather over-the-top in their geeky mannerisms, Mrs. McAllister seemed to be quite a normal woman herself. Her pleasant demeanor and thoughtfulness had been quite appreciated by Katie, Adyson, and Django. Especially since they were standing in the strangest and, quite possibly, most horrifying place in Danville: Irving's room.
"If you kids need anything, don't hesitate to ask for it," Mrs. McAllister told them happily as she closed Irving's door behind her upon leaving. The sound of the door closing seemed to echo to them, like they had been locked into a jail cell.
"I can get you guys back on track in no time," Irving told them as he sat in front of his computer. "I'll just hit the Internet and get you directions to Mr. Slushy Dawg. Though really, I have a hard time understanding how you can't know where it is. I mean, it's Mr. Slushy Dawg after all."
"Yeah…we get that a lot," Adyson said nervously as she looked around the room. Photos of Phineas and Ferb lined the walls, and several mocked-up models of the brothers' past inventions stood on desks and shelves. A few even hung from the ceiling. To a small extent, it was a fascinating collection, yet Adyson's amazement was easily eclipsed by how disturbing the sheer amount of it was.
"You really don't need to go to the trouble, Irv," Django told him, also showing a bit of nervousness. "I can get us there no problem."
"Nonsense," Irving said cheerily. "You guys are clearly in need of some nerd help, and far be it from me to turn away such good friends of Phineas and Ferb. You will put a good word in for me with them next time you see them, right?"
"Oh of course we will," Katie said. "We're just really in a hurry because, y'know, we're really hungry and all."
"Say no more, I am all over it," Irving said as he buckled down to getting the directions.
Adyson, Katie, and Django all turned towards each other, huddling up quickly.
"We get the directions and we go," Adyson said to them quietly. "Do not let him try to tag along."
"Yeah, I don't wanna share the back seat with that dude," Django added, also in a hushed tone.
"After your story earlier I would've thought you'd at least be willing to give Irving a chance," Adyson said, looking at him oddly.
"Yeah, well, homosexuality and ideologies are differences I can work with," Django told her. "Being an utterly creepy stalker, on the other hand, is a bit of a different deal altogether."
"Point taken," Adyson replied with a nod.
"Hmm…which Mr. Slushy Dawg are you trying to get to," Irving asked. "There's actually more locations than I thought."
"It's the one Gretchen works at, but I don't remember which one that is," Katie told him.
"Ah, that's store number thirty-seven," Irving replied, recalling the information as soon as he had a point of reference that had anything to do with either Phineas or Ferb.
"How did you…" Adyson started to ask. She caught herself and stopped mid-question. "On second thought, don't answer that. I don't think I want to know."
"I honestly don't know if this could get any freakier," Django said to himself as he leaned against a bookcase. As he did, the bookcase shifted slightly and several panels in the walls of the room flipped, revealing monitors that sprang to life showing video feeds coming from not only various rooms in the Flynn-Fletcher home, but the backyard, garage, the brothers' bikes, and even a curious angle in the bathroom.
"Irving…" Adyson said, now seriously freaked out. "What is all this?"
"Oh, heh, just my camera arrays," Irving said casually as he looked at them. He looked particularly happy about the curiously angled feed from the bathroom. "Oh good, the toothbrush cam is working! I have to replace that thing all the time."
"Toothbrush cam," Django repeated in disbelief.
Irving paid his comment no attention as he sent the directions to Mr. Slushy Dawn to his printer. "Almost done with your directions…aw man, my printer paper jammed again. Hang on guys, I'll have this fixed in no time."
"Oh no, we're not hanging around any longer," Adyson said, having finally had enough. She ripped the half-completed directions out of the printer despite Irving's protests and quickly made her way out of the room.
"Uh, guess we're out. Later Irv," Django told him, following Adyson and Katie quickly.
Irving just waved briefly as they left. "Huh. Guess they must really be hungry. Oh well, I'll just go back to the Internet again. Maybe CuteThang947 is online. She certainly seems like a nice, interesting girl."
All three teens in the car were now physically and mentally exhausted. Their hasty departure from Irving's home, combined with a half-completed map, had once again left them utterly lost; so much so that even Django couldn't figure out where they were anymore. They were out of ideas, out of willpower, and worst of all almost out of gas.
"Let's just pull over at the next gas station," Adyson said. "After that, I suggest we just call it a day at this point."
"Yeah, this has definitely not worked out like I expected it to," Katie added.
Django wanted to try and rally them to try a little bit more, but it was clear his words would fall on deaf ears at the moment. As they pulled up to an open pump at the next gas station they came across, he quickly jumped out of the car.
"You girls go get some drinks, freshen up or something," he told them. "I'll pump the gas."
"Thanks Django," Katie told him as she and Adyson began heading for the convenience store portion of the station. "Just, like, twenty bucks worth please. That'll be plenty to get everyone home."
Django saluted her quickly and set to the task of adding twenty dollars' worth of gas to the car's tank. As he leaned against the car while it filled with gas, he looked around to take in the surroundings. There was a strip mall right next to the gas station. Further up the street in the opposite direction was a drug store. It was when Django looked across the street, however, that he busted up laughing. He stopped the gas pump as he was absolutely cracking up laughing and didn't want to end up pumping more gas than Katie had requested. He was still laughing when the girls came back to the car several minutes later. Before they could ask him what he was laughing about, he pointed across the street. Both girls looked across the street and immediately joined him in laughing hysterically.
The gas station they'd stopped at was right across the street from Mr. Slushy Dawg.
Ten minutes later, after getting their gas, they all sat in Mr. Slushy Dawg enjoying hot dogs, joking, and laughing about the entire trip.
"For a first road trip, this was pretty epic," Adyson stated. She raised her cup of soda in a toast. "To Katie and her mad driving skills."
"Indeed," Django added, raising his cup to her as well.
"Thanks you guys," Katie said, blushing a little at their compliment. "Aw crud, I'm out of soda. I'll be right back, I'm gonna get a quick refill."
As Katie took her leave of them for the moment, Adyson simply took a moment to watch Django as he ate. She had to admit that he was occupying her thoughts more and more lately, but especially after this trip. Django caught her looking at him and sat up straight, taking a long drink from his soda before he spoke.
"Something on your mind," he asked. "Before you ask, these clothes are indeed clean. I did laundry two days ago."
"It's not that," Adyson told him. "Though that is a relief to hear. It's just…I guess I owe you an apology."
"An apology? For what, for heaven's sake?"
"Back at the party you tried to convince me that you did care about yourself and others despite how you looked. After all the other talking we did that night, I kind of wrote it off as you just trying to smooth talk me some more. When you told me about your friend Vic back in California, though, I could tell you meant what you said. You really are a good person, Django. So I'm sorry for thinking you weren't being genuine with me back then. I should've known better."
"Well, I hadn't given you much reason to believe me back then, so I can't fault you for thinking like that. But…thanks. I appreciate hearing that you don't utterly hate me."
"Django, I've never hated you," Adyson said insistently. "I've been frustrated with you to be sure, but I could never hate you. It's like you said earlier in the car, our differences aren't nearly enough to keep me from liking you. And I do like you; as a friend, of course."
Adyson had added the last bit hastily, hoping Django wouldn't get the wrong idea. Fortunately, he was too tired and still too hungry to give her words any particularly deep thought.
"Thanks, Addie," he told her with a smile. "I'm glad to know I haven't lost my best friend even after all this time."
"The same goes for me," she replied, smiling back. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table and resting her face in her hands. "So tell me more about California. Are the girls out there really everything you said they were?"
"I can't make that kind of stuff up. Some of them are so fake I swear they make Barbie dolls look anatomically correct."
"Ugh, ew. No wonder there's so many gay guys out there then. I'm surprised you haven't turned as a result."
"Vic calls it 'joining the Dark Side of the Force', and I'm really not interested. I'm way too attracted to girls to even give it consideration."
Adyson giggled at the reference. "I guess that makes you a Jedi, then?"
"Heck, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi here. I'm just missing the beard is all. Maybe I'll grow one out…"
"Please don't, beards are seriously gross."
"Just kidding. I happen to agree with that. Martin tried to start growing one a few months ago. It didn't exactly go well."
"Oh, another Martin story? This has got to be good."
As Adyson and Django continued to talk, Katie continued to watch them along with Gretchen from the store counter. Katie leaned on the counter while not taking her eyes off of the two.
"So this is what it's like to be a spectator to romance, huh," she said to Gretchen.
"Yup, though are you sure you're cool with this," Gretchen asked. "Speaking from experience, it can be a bit rough when you don't have a love life of your own while your best friend gets a boyfriend."
"I'm okay, really. I've got something else I'm passionate about. The last thing I need is a love life taking time away from it."
"More power to you then. So, when are you gonna interrupt them?"
"In a few minutes. They need half a chance to just be themselves. So in the meantime, can I get a strawberry shake?"
Gretchen set to preparing a milkshake while Katie continued watching Adyson and Django talk and laugh. Her original feeling for the day had turned out to be spot on. This had definitely been a day for the history books.
Next Episode Preview: When Candace gets a mystery delivery, Phineas' curiosity demands to find out what it is despite being locked out of her room. Will Phineas find out what was in the box before he drives himself absolutely crazy?