If you loved my cats in the last chapter, this chapter will definitely be a treat. =)
Walking away from the tree and following the direction of the signs that had 'Mad Hatter' and 'March Hare' written on them, AJ headed in the direction that was leading her away from the tree.
"I was really hoping I'd be able to make it out of here or at least find Punk, but now, I'll just be lucky if I can go back home before it's time for my meeting," AJ said, musing out loud.
Looking around at her surroundings, she started to notice that there weren't as many trees around, which gave her a better chance to look up at the sky and take a look at the clouds. She also started to notice that the sun was at a different position in the sky.
"My god! All of this aimless walking around is running up time I won't be able to get back!" AJ said.
She had managed to get through the forest and what she saw on the other side had her shocked and amazed.
"Wow. Look at that," AJ said in wonder.
What she saw up ahead was a little house surrounded by a fence. The house was roughly the size of a small cottage and was painted white, pink, yellow, light green, and sky blue. It was surrounded by many different kinds of plants and bushes in bloom with flowers. She also happened to notice that there was a lot of smoke and excited talking coming from behind the house.
"I'm really starting to wonder if everyone in this place are all on some kind of drugs. All of this smoke around here seriously cannot be a good thing for a person's mental functioning," AJ said, walking up to the fence.
Carefully pushing the fence open, AJ walked in to get to a better spot to hear what it was that the people were talking about.
"Such a wonderful day for a tea party!"
"I just hope you guys don't eat all of the sweets this time!"
"Too bad, so sad. Maybe that'll teach you to sleep through a party."
"You know I can't help it. I'm always feeling tired!"
"That's nobody's fault but your own for not going to sleep at night when we tell you to."
"Last I checked none of you were my parents, so I don't really feel the need to listen to you guys trying to act like parents to me."
"Well, maybe this time, you'll be able to stay up through this party and get something sweet to eat. After all, you know how we always seem to have a lot to eat."
Hearing all of this caused AJ to start laughing and soon after, all conversation stopped and all eyes were on her. Once AJ got a good look at everyone at the table, she laughed even harder: everyone there was a familiar stranger to her in the forms of her friends John Cena, Zack Ryder, Alicia Fox, and Layla. John was wearing a green and black top hat, a white polo shirt along with a green vest and a black tie, black pants, and a pair of boots. Zack was wearing a pair of brown and white rabbit ears, a white button-down polo along with an orange vest and a black bow tie, black pants and a pair of boots. Alicia was wearing a navy blue and white sailor dress, a pair of knee-high white stiletto boots, and a pair of brown mouse ears. Layla was wearing a light blue blouse, a dark blue mini-skirt, a pair of black stiletto boots, and a pair of black mouse ears.
Confused, the four people sitting at the table looked at AJ, wondering why it was that she was laughing.
"Dare I ask why it is that you seem to find something funny here?" John asked.
After catching her breath from her laughing fit, AJ said "I'm sorry. It's just, you guys happen to look an awful lot like some of my friends."
"Interesting story. Though I find it impossible to say that we look an awful lot like them seeing as how it's impossible for two people to look alike," John said.
"That's not entirely true. What about identical twins? They look like each other," Alicia piped up.
"Of course! I forgot all about pairs of identical twins! Thanks for that reminder," John said.
"No problem. After all, your head's not completely full," Alicia said grinning.
"Is now really the time to be talking about who has the most brains between us all? After all, we do have a guest. And might I add, a very cute guest at that," Zack said, winking at AJ.
Blushing, AJ looked down and started to fiddle around with the tablecloth. "I think you might be going a bit overboard when you say that," AJ said.
"I don't think so at all. I mean, you are very cute, so why wouldn't I say it?" Zack asked.
Before AJ could open her mouth to say anything, Layla cut in and said "I think you should stop right now. You know how most girls are. They've got a really weird time taking compliments like that."
"I know, but you that there's not much in the way of a filter on what I say. I say what I want when I want to," Zack said.
"Please ignore them. They usually don't argue this much," John said.
"It's fine. I'm used to having friends that can get into arguments like that from time to time so it's normal to me," AJ said, laughing.
"Then you sound like you play the role of mediator like i have to from time to time. So, tell me a little bit about yourself, little missy. What brings you to a place like this?" John asked.
"Well, I guess I could start by saying that my name is AJ. And, for lack of a better way to explain, I've just been wandering around this place for a while, running into all sorts of different people and things," AJ said.
"Haha. Sounds like you've been on one of the more crazy sides of Wonderland. Why would you just walk around aimlessly when you could always be somewhere, making friends with the other people?" John asked.
"I actually didn't plan on being here in the first place. You see, I was waiting outside of my boss's office for a meeting earlier today," AJ said.
"What was the meeting going to be about?" Alicia asked around a mouthful of cake.
"Let's just say that I work for a company of actors and I've been having to bounce around and do a bunch of different roles that I don't necessarily like," AJ said, reaching for a cup of tea and taking a sip.
"What were you two going to talk about during your meeting?" Zack asked.
"He was going to give me another role similar to the ones I've had before and I don't really want to face the prospect of having to do something like it again," AJ said, looking down.
"Why not just say that you don't want to keep playing roles like that? Why not let someone else take over with what you've been doing?" Zack asked, after swallowing the bite of cookie he took.
"Because, to put it this way, I'm one of the more popular women so they felt it would be best to use me," AJ said.
"Why not just say that you want to pass on what you have to do to another one of the women that you work with?" Alicia asked.
"My boss is a pretty scary person. I don't really have much of a backbone when it comes to telling people how it is that I really feel about something, so I've never really had guts enough to tell him," AJ said.
Yawning, Layla said "You should tell him about how his treatment of you really makes you feel. If he can't really take brutal honesty on how much you dislike his use of you, then maybe he should just forget about having you around. After all, a girl as nice as you shouldn't have to deal with the stress that comes with a dictator of a boss," before falling asleep.
Staring in wonder over what Layla had just said, AJ took time to mull over what it was that Layla had just said while she failed to notice that she and the other four were being joined by four others.
Ahh, nothing like a good cliffhanger to keep you waiting for what's in store for the next chapter. =3 R & R please.