"So what exactly is this long story?" Gabriella asked, turning around in the passenger seat of Troy's truck to look at Mack and Brady.

The two of them were packed tightly on the narrow back bench, nearly sitting on top of each other and a giant gym bag full of Troy's basketball stuff.

"Well, it's kind of complicated. I don't really know where to start," Brady replied, looking to Mack.

Mack quickly offered, "Maybe we should wait until Troy comes so we don't have to tell the whole story twice."

"And so we have time to make up the story," Brady added under his breath.

Not hearing Brady's comment, Gabriella sighed and looked out the windshield, wondering what was taking Troy so long.

Mack took the opportunity while Gabriella wasn't looking to give Brady a punch to the knee. He recoiled, turning to her with wide eyes, only to see her making a zipping and locking motion over her mouth.

"There he is," Gabriella breathed, looking toward Troy, who had just shut the gate behind himself and was now running into the parking lot.

Gabriella turned the key in the ignition, and seconds later, Troy hopped into the driver's seat.

"Let's get out of here!" Troy exclaimed, throwing the shifter into drive.

"Seatbelt, Troy," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "This isn't Charlie's Angels."

Troy paused in his frenzied state to stare at Gabriella. When she pretended not to notice, he frowned deeply and looked away, slowly pulling on his seatbelt and then easing his foot off the brake.

As they pulled away from Lava Springs, Mack and Brady tried to escape the tension of the situation by staring out their windows, taking in the vast red canyons that neighbored the resort.

"We're definitely not at the beach anymore," Brady whispered, in awe of the view around him despite his confusion.

"We sure aren't, Dorothy," Mack whispered back, resisting the urge to reach for Brady's hand. She had resolved to let Brady go for the sake of both of them, and no turn of events, no matter how crazy, was going to change that.

Mack squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable with the silence between Troy and Gabriella. She really just wanted to talk to Brady to figure out what had happened and what they were going to do next, but it didn't seem like the right time or place.

After a few minutes, Troy couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore. "So… it turns out that the security guard was a big Wildcats fan. Was a freshman at East High when my dad was a senior and went to all the games, home and away. We took a picture together on his phone, and then he let me off the hook, said he'd cover for me for the rest of my shift. How lucky was that?"

Brady watched Gabriella in the side view mirror as she rolled her eyes.

"Wow," Mack said, putting together the pieces as she looked at the Wildcats logo on Troy's gym bag. "Basketball star, huh?"

When Troy hesitated to respond, Gabriella closed her eyes and leaned back on her headrest. She said wearily, "The Wildcats won the championship last season. Troy was the captain, and the MVP."

"Yeah," Troy agreed tightly, focusing squarely on the road ahead. Opting to change the subject, he asked, "So where exactly am I taking you guys again?"

"Um…" Mack hesitated, looking around for a distraction.

"Gabriella, are you okay?" Brady asked, turning Troy and Mack's attention toward Gabriella. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was massaging her temples.

"I'm fine. Just a headache," Gabriella said dismissively.

Troy silently beat himself up for not being the one to notice that Gabriella was in pain. "Do you have medicine with you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I usually carry some in my purse, but I guess I've been kind of disorganized lately."

Troy frowned. "We'll pull over soon and pick some up, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Gabriella agreed.

Civilization gradually reappeared, and Troy pulled into the first gas station they came across.

"I'll be right back," Troy said, parking and turning the truck off.

"I'm coming," Gabriella stated, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I need to use the restroom."

Troy turned to Mack and Brady. "You guys coming in?"

"No!" Mack replied a little too enthusiastically, realizing that this was her chance to finally talk to Brady alone. "I mean…"

"She means that we'll just wait here," Brady chimed in.

"Okay," Troy said uncertainly. He and Gabriella exited the truck and went into the gas station, Troy holding the door open for an unresponsive Gabriella.

As soon as they were out of sight, Mack half-yelled, "Where are we? How did we get here? I'm going to miss my flight! How do we get back home?"

"You're still worried about that stupid flight?" Brady asked. "We have much bigger problems than that, and I'm pretty sure you've missed your flight by now."

"Don't say that! That stupid flight is supposed to be taking me to my future! I can't miss it!"

Brady took her by the shoulder and tried to shake a little sense into her. "Mack, when we were at the beach and the storm was coming, it was morning. When we came out of that pond on the golf course, it was afternoon. Not to mention that right now we're surrounded by canyons instead of the ocean and sand. Something is seriously wrong here."

Mack sighed and sank down in her seat, letting Brady's hand slide off her shoulder. "Fine. But what are we gonna do?"

Brady thought about it for a moment. "Well… Gabriella and Troy have been really helpful so far."

"Yeah," Mack agreed. "I don't know what's going on between the two of them, but they seem like good people."

"Yeah, they do. Maybe we can get some answers out of them."

"But what are we going to tell them in the meantime?" Mack asked. "If we tell them the truth, they'll think we're crazy! I mean, if I heard our story, I would think we were crazy too. When a girl is trying to catch the biggest wave of her life, she usually doesn't end up wading in a golf pond in the middle of nowhere!"

"Maybe we are crazy," Brady said, not able to think of a better alternative. Then his eyes lit up. "Or maybe we went through a wormhole!"

"A wormhole? Seriously? Maybe you're crazy."

"Do you have a better explanation?"

"Yes! Well, no, but I'm going to get one," Mack said, forming a plan. "Let's stick with Troy and Gabriella for a while and see what information we can get out of them. I think we need to know where we are and how we got here before we can figure out how to get back."

"So… we're not going to tell them the truth?"

Mack shook her head. "Not all of it, not yet."

Brady nodded. "Well, I guess we need a cover story now."

"And I guess we're gonna have to make it up as we go," Mack said dismally as she noticed Troy exiting the gas station carrying a bottle of aspirin and a full drink tray.

"We can do this," Brady assured her as Troy opened the door.

Troy had gotten fountain drinks for everyone, but he got an extra-large drink especially for Gabriella. He wiggled the oversized cup into her cup holder and then placed the bottle of aspirin in her seat.

"I hope you guys like Dr. Pepper. It's Gabriella's favorite," Troy said, holding the drink tray out to them.

"Thanks, that was really thoughtful of you," Mack said, taking two drinks and handing one to Brady.

"Not really. It's just boiling out here. I hope Gabriella is okay," Troy said.

Brady had another lightbulb moment and asked, "Do you want Mack to go and check on her?"

Catching on to Brady's plan, Mack said, "Yeah, I'll go check on her! I'll do that because I'm a girl and I can go in the women's restroom, and you guys can't!"

Brady couldn't help but chuckle a little at Mack. "Go get answers," he mouthed to her, taking her drink from her hand.

"Right," she mouthed back.

"I mean, sure, if you want…" Troy started, but before he could even move to let Mack out of the backseat, she had climbed over the center console and bolted out of the truck.

"Is she always like that?" Troy asked, watching Mack run into the gas station barefoot.

"Yeah, she is," Brady said, grinning.