Before anything, I'm deciding to split the Carnival into a couple chapters because I wanted to start part 1 by sharing a little 'lore'. Remember Patsy's previous 'date' that the rest of the Bean Scouts were stretching the truth about to Lazlo and did not know the 'true story' of what happened to the last boy that tried to date Patsy? Well, you're about to find out. Haha. ;) The chapter begins 9 months before the night of Patsy and Lazlo's date at the carnival. Enjoy!
9 months ago
({No POV})
Dusk set in over the neighboring town of Hawthorn Woods near Prickly Pines.
The town had concluded its local high school's homecoming parade and football game to take stage for the next set of festivities for the local high school students, the dance and the crowning of the homecoming king and queen. And one such local student in her junior year was no exception.
Patsy Smiles.
She was still getting ready after putting on the dress she got with her mom a few weeks ago for the dance.
Patsy was especially excited since she had gotten asked to the dance by the running back on the school football team and a teammate of hers from their school track team, Paul Katz.
Sure while she still held onto her crush on Lazlo to an extent even now, years of him never returning to the Prickly Pines area for reasons she still did not know was making her see this as an opportunity to 'move on'.
After all, she liked Paul and thought he was a cute and nice guy. So, if anyone could help her move on from the longest crush she ever had and FINALLY lead to her going on her first real date and getting a boyfriend, this was the perfect opportunity.
Plus, Patsy couldn't deny how excited she was in general.
She was going on a date with a cute boy she liked from her school and was ready to have a fun night of dancing with her date and her friends.
But, unbeknownst to Patsy as she was finishing up getting ready upstairs, an older, used, yet well-kept sedan pulled up into the driveway and a young meerkat the same age as Patsy dressed in nice slacks, a blazer, dress shirt, and tie stepped out with a smile onto the driveway.
Paul Katz.
Already riding on a high from his team winning their football game on a field goal kick in overtime and excited that Patsy (a girl he's secretly had a little crush on since the 8th grade) said she'd go with him to the dance, he was excited to get this date he's been working up the courage for started.
Wanting to make a good impression, he smoothed back his hair a little and grabbed the corsage he got for Patsy out of his car and started to walk up to the front door of the Smiles's family home. Right as he got to the door, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves before smiling again.
But, before his finger could even press the button on the doorbell, the door slowly opened. Although Paul's expression faltered a little when he realized it wasn't Patsy who answered.
Instead, he was face to face with none other than Patsy's father, Commander Hoo-Ha.
He was standing at attention in the doorway, arms crossed behind his back, and nostrils flared with eyes narrowed at Paul.
But, right as Paul was about to try and say something, he immediately went into shock and froze (as well as wondering for a second if he peed himself in horror) when Commander Hoo-Ha pulled a standard shotgun out from behind his back and held it across the front of his body with both hands as he said through his teeth, "Listen up, casanova. I don't know who the hell you think you are trying to make a play for my little girl. But, let me tell you right now, that no snot-nosed boy is getting anywhere near MY pumpkin. So, I'm gonna give you a choice, boy. You can get your sorry butt off my property and stay far away from my daughter, or…" Commander Hoo-Ha stopped speaking as he cocked the shotgun with a loud 'click' before continuing, "You can stick around and 'see what happens'? So… choice is all yours, casanova."
After a second of being frozen in shock and absolute fear at the threat just imposed upon him by Hoo-Ha, it looked as if all excitement and desire to take Patsy to the dance immediately left his entire being and was replaced by terrified 'self-preservation' as Paul threw Patsy's corsage aside and took off in a dead sprint back to his car, started it up and sped off like something out of chase scene in an action movie away from the house.
Right as Commander Hoo-Ha saw his intention in his mind that he did his 'fatherly duty' to 'protect his little girl' worked, Patsy shoved her dad out of the way from behind and ran out into the yard and looked down the road as she called out, "Paul! Wait!"
But, her attempt to try to save the first and only real date she ever got asked out on was too late since it looked like Paul was already long gone and was definitely not coming back.
Patsy just stood there in wide-eyed shock for a moment in the middle of her family's front lawn until Commander Hoo-Ha called out, sounding nothing but proud of himself, "Don't worry, pumpkin! I handled it and got it all taken care of!"
Immediately, it looked as if every muscle in Patsy's body contracted as her back went taut in reaction to her dad's words like a trigger.
Her hands eventually balled up into fists at her sides and her body started shaking in pure rage as she eventually turned around with an equally enraged glare in her eyes at her dad as she shouted, showing how clearly pissed and enraged she was at the psychotic overprotective display her dad just did to ruin her night and scare away her date, "Handled it?! HANDLED IT?! You just ruined EVERYTHING, dad!"
Hoo-Ha looked at his daughter in total confusion as he questioned and pointed out, almost trying to brush off and justify what he did, "Hey, what's gotten into you, pumpkin? He wasn't even good enough for ya anyway!"
Patsy was beyond enraged as she now was silently almost staring daggers into her father until she walked right up to him and ripped the headband she put on off her head and threw it on the ground as she directed, clearly showing that what just happened was the 'final straw' with her dad's overprotectiveness of her, "Fine… I'll just lock myself in my room and stay 5 years-old forever then!"
After that, Patsy pushed past her dad and ran back upstairs to her room before slamming the door shut and locking it tight, clearly not in ANY mood to even consider going to the dance at this point.
This left Commander Hoo-Ha downstairs in absolute confusion about why his daughter was so angry with him.
After that night, Paul avoided Patsy at school and never even tried talking to her again after that night, as well as now having most of the other guys at her school doing almost the exact same thing to her too as a result of them hearing about what her dad did to Paul that night.
Present Day
(Patsy's POV)
I was getting ready for my date with Lazlo.
My ACTUAL date with Lazlo…
I shook my head to try and stay focused even though I literally feel like I'm going to explode right now.
The amount of times I thought about this and it is FINALLY happening! I'm actually about to go on a REAL date! And it's with Lazlo!
I know, I'm going to be 18 in December and I only recently had my first make-out session and am about to go on my first date.
But… not like I exactly had 'options' or even a 'choice' since my dad single-handedly ruined all my chances of dating for me at school.
I still couldn't believe Paul even asked me to the Homecoming dance last year since even before that guys at school avoided anything beyond talking to me after what they heard happened at Camp Kidney with my dad because of me back when we were 11.
And would have probably been fine if I had just gotten ready earlier and beat my dad to the door to go with Paul. Plus my mom needing to leave for a family emergency with one of my great-aunts that same night also didn't help.
But, no need to worry about my dad finding out or ruining this tonight!
He's at a leadership conference 5 states away, so we're in the clear!
Sure it sounds like everyone from our camps is going to the Carnival tonight, so it's not like we'll have any time 'alone' away from our friends.
But, it's still something and we're not the only ones meeting for a date.
After all, Clam and Gretchen are meeting halfway for a date there too and then Nina's just 'going with the group' to go on a couple rides and then she and Almondine will try to outsmart the carnies running the guessing games to win more prize tickets.
Last year, I thought they were going to make the owner of the Carnival kick us all out when Nina and Almondine did a little 'too well' at the games.
But, I don't care!
I just can't wait to see Lazlo and have fun going on the rides together.
I haven't seen him since we 'crossed paths' in the woods and had that moment during his rite.
Immediately, I felt myself get almost overwhelmed in my head as I sat back and just 'thought back' to our first kiss-turned-makeout session in the woods.
My thoughts got lost as I slowly reached up and touched my lips for a second, remembering everything about how the kiss felt.
Sure he smelled a little gross and hadn't brushed his teeth in 3 days because of the rite making that impossible, but… WHAT DO I CARE?!
I wouldn't have changed anything about what ended up happening and I still remember everything. His lips on mine, his arms wrapped around my back pulling me closer to him, and even his adorably sweet reaction of 'thinking he did something wrong' after I pulled away when I just felt like a terrible person for holding him up.
It was pretty much everything I wanted and way more than I was expecting.
Ugh, even now I feel like just thinking about it was going to make my entire chest explode from happiness. Considering, I don't think I've ever felt this happy and excited in my entire life… and that's saying something!
Honestly, and even though I still really hate what could've happened with me and Paul last year getting ruined by my dad… I don't know?
What if the universe was trying to tell me something?
I know it probably sounds crazy and I know Gretchen especially would think of it as crazy since she always thought things like 'unexplained intervention' and 'fate' are 'a dumb load of crap' from her exact words that she usually uses whenever we mess around with the universe board for fun together.
Especially when any of us think it could 'mean something', I still remember that time we did our seance and she was getting annoyed that we were apparently taking it 'too seriously'.
That time we asked the universe board during that planetary thing Nina wouldn't stop talking about with our soul mates as kids was definitely Gretchen showing that we were taking way too seriously with her being nice to Nina after seeing how upset she got being the only exception that night.
I know I was probably annoying her since I didn't stop talking about how 'the universe said Lazlo and I were meant to be together' and then it ended with me annoying her to ask the universe board about her 'soulmate' and her immediately flinging the board into the wall and saying it was stupid right as it was about to show us the first letter of the name.
Well, 'flinging' I guess isn't exactly the right word since Gretchen literally picked up the universe board and violently threw it at the wall before saying word for word, "Ugh, this is stupid!"
And I still have no idea what that was all about even now.
But, anyway, I can't help it.
I've always been a pretty spiritually in-tune person and totally believe in things like fate and that we all just don't know about our destiny until we go out and look for it.
So, what if in some weird way… the universe meant for things to end like that with the Homecoming dance last year and was guiding me back to Lazlo for a reason?
Because, and as crazy as it sounds even to me considering the same seance when we were 11 led to Nina's situation with Chip and Skip that same night, but… what if the universe board was right about me and Lazlo?
That Lazlo is my 'soul mate'.
I shook my head as I felt myself about to get lost thinking about it and trying not to 'get ahead of myself'.
Right now, I'm just trying to just enjoy the fact that I can go on this date with Lazlo without my dad ruining things for me for once!
And then hopefully we keep going out and all I have to do is just hide this from my dad!… Forever…
Even though, I could feel my thoughts getting to me again as I thought about how this was the last summer both Lazlo and I have to be scouts at summer camp and how maybe 'this' with 'us' might be just for the summer.
Since I live here in the Prickly Pines area and plan to go to college and Lazlo will probably go back to Florida (where I know Lazlo's family's fruit company US base is located after I maybe looked that up once out of curiosity) or maybe he'll go back to Brazil to do… honestly, I have no idea what Lazlo wants to do?
But, that would be something for us to talk about as we're going around the carnival!
Because as much as I 'know Lazlo', I also don't really know a lot about him at the same time.
And… I really do want to make the most of whatever time we have now to get to know each other more without letting us being stupid little kids with a camp rivalry always get in the way.
I put on these turquoise earrings that I got for my birthday last year since I always wanted something with my birthstone on it.
Wait…
I remember Lazlo said he was born in October.
That means his birthstone is opal and tourmaline, which can be cool colored stones just like mine is! And odds are he's also a Libra which means we're also astrologically compatible and!...
No, I'm not going into astrology signs right now.
I just need to relax, not overthink this, and have a good time with the guy I've by FAR had the longest crush on.
Right then, I was snapped out of it and jolted a little when the screen door slammed open and I heard Gretchen say, "Hey! You just gonna sit there or are you coming so you can go make out with your Monkey Lover Boy already?"
Don't need to tell me twice!
I smirked and got up from the chair in front of the vanity in our cabin, but I didn't want to let her off that easy with teasing me about Lazlo as I met her by the door and teased back, "Could say the same to you about a rhino."
She shot a look over at me and I couldn't stop myself from smirking, making her immediately scowl at me before saying and conceding silently that I'm right, "Who asked you, Smiles?"
I just kept smirking as I shrugged before responding, "You started it."
After that, she elbowed me a little in the side and I elbowed her right back, making us both smirk at each other and laugh, knowing there were no hard feelings.
Although, I am kinda surprised about it after yesterday.
By the time we were having lunch yesterday, everyone involved from the cabin incident the night before who basically all told me they thought I was crazy and I hallucinated kissing and being asked out on a date by Lazlo gave me a signed handmade 'apology card'.
And everyone actually seemed genuinely sorry and apologized to me to my face after giving me the card.
Even Gretchen genuinely seemed sorry and admitted that she was wrong!
She almost NEVER does that!
I mean, sure, was I still really mad about basically all my friends here at camp thinking I was crazy?
Well, duh.
But, at the same time, I could tell they were really sorry about it yesterday and all of them were being extra nice to me almost to the point of pretty much groveling and asking me if I 'wanted anything' the rest of the day which I even thought was a little weird and ridiculous and I was almost ready to tell them to 'stop being weird about it'.
Almost…
Look, I wasn't going to string it out that much like some horrible person, but if they were willing to give me the first in-line spot at lunch and dinner plus Honey and Amber offering to paint my nails and give me a facial before my date today… why not just take advantage of that for just one day?
Besides, I have to give Amber credit. She did a really great job with my manicure!
Eventually, Gretchen and I got to the center of camp and I was about to get an early start on meeting half where our camp paths meet up with Lazlo so we could walk to the Carnival together until I heard Nina say, "Hey Gretchen, are we still meeting up to go into town by the flag pole?"
But, before Gretchen could say anything, all of our heads turned as we heard a familiar yet slightly deeper voice say, "Hey! Nina!"
Right as we looked at the gate, I saw exactly who I thought it was.
Henry.
And like usual for the past 2 years was still dressed in jeans, glasses, and a nerdy t-shirt for some show or comic he liked that he always looked like he was one muscle flex away from ripping his way out of it standing at the camp gate smiling and waving with Almondine looking like she was trying to get Henry to sign in on the guest clipboard.
It was almost immediate as Nina broke out in a huge smile and yelled out in nothing less than joy and excitement, "HENRY!"
After that Nina took off in a dead sprint for the gate and Henry immediately hopped over the gate and also started sprinting to meet her halfway as Almondine was called out from the guard station in slight annoyance, "Henry, you need to sign the clip!… ugh, forget it."
As soon as Henry and Nina got close enough, the resulting hug was almost instant as Henry even lifted her off the ground like he usually does, making Nina laugh.
They kept doing their thing and also getting a kiss in the situation for a second, until Henry saw me and Gretchen as he said with a slight smile, "Oh, hey guys! What's up?"
Nina backed away a little and said, "But… how did you get here? I didn't even know you were coming over!"
Henry just laughed a little and rubbed the back of his neck as he explained, "Ha! Right? Me either. But, hey, you gotta check this out!"
Immediately, Henry pointed to this older-looking pickup truck that I didn't remember being there before as he said, "Guess who's gotta truck now?!"
Nina's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open slightly as Henry kept saying, "It was my grandpa's old truck. When he passed away and my dad and uncle were trying to figure out what to do with his stuff, they said I could have the truck since I was the only one out of my sister and cousins that didn't have a car yet. So, I got the truck for free as long as I kept it up myself. AND now I don't need to ask my parents about borrowing a car anymore for us to go out! As long as my parents say it's cool, I can drive here to see you more when I don't have summer football stuff going on."
Right then, I remembered Nina telling us about Henry's grandpa as I chimed in, "Oh yeah, Henry, Nina told us about your grandpa. I'm really sorry about that."
Hey, I'm an army brat. My parents always taught me to pay respects.
Henry looked back at me and even though I could 'see through it' a little that he was sad about his grandpa, he smiled a little at me as he said, "It's cool, Patsy. Thanks. My grandpa wasn't doing that great, so we knew it was gonna happen. But, seriously, thanks."
Then, looking like he wanted to change the subject before thinking too much about his grandpa, Henry readjusted his glasses before looking back at Nina and asking, "Anyway, babe, I wanted to see if you were down to go out tonight? I was gonna see if you wanted to go to a movie, but when I drove in I saw this Carnival going on in town. Wanna go? I can drive us down there whenever you're ready if you're down."
Nina immediately lit up as she responded immediately, "Oh, sure! Actually, I was about to walk down with everyone since we were going to the Carnival tonight anyway as a group."
Henry smiled and grabbed Nina's hand as he said, "Nice!" Then he looked at us as he said, "Oh, hey, do you guys wanna ride down too? There's only room for one other person on the bench inside, but some people can sit in the flatbed since it's not a far drive from here."
Almost instantly, Gretchen raised her hand and called out, "I call flatbed!" Nina, Henry, and me all looked at eachother before looking back at Gretchen who was already starting to walk toward the truck.
Well, until Nina stopped her as she said, "Uh, Gretchen, you know that you can sit inside the truck with us if you want, right?"
But, looking like she didn't even need to think, Gretchen looked back at us with a quirked up brow and slight eyeroll as she responded, "And what? So I can listen to the two of you 'talk nerdy' to eachother the whole ride down? Yeah, hard pass."
Then without even being prompted, Henry looked back at Nina and started with a huge excited smile across his face as he nerded out, "Oh, yeah! Babe, did you see they're making a new Galactic Battles movie?! The trailer looked so cool and…"
"Yup! I'm stickin' with the flatbed." Gretchen cut off as Henry 'proved her point' and then proceeded to walk toward the truck as me and Nina both just rolled our eyes, smirked, and laughed at 'Gretchen being Gretchen'.
But, then Henry looked back at me as he motioned back to his truck as he asked, "You want to ride in the cab before someone else calls dibs, Patsy?"
Knowing I needed to get moving and even though getting a ride down sounded nice, there was something way more important that I needed to make sure I'm right on time for.
So, I just smiled and shrugged before saying, "Thanks, but I'm going to take the walking path. See you all there though!"
With that, as well as seeing Nina smiling and mouthing 'good luck' at me, I jogged off to the walking path to make sure I could meet Lazlo on time.
Finally ready for my first and actual real date to start.
So, while the Bean Scouts were stretching the truth about thinking the last guy Patsy dated was either torn limb from limb or going missing because of Commander Hoo-Ha were wrong… they were at least right about things 'not going well' for Paul. Lol. I mean, just putting what we know about Commander Hoo-Ha, how protective he is of Patsy, and 'what happened' during the Valentine's Day episode… yeah, I could see Commander Hoo-Ha being the kind of dad that would do something demented like bringing a gun to the door to scare away Patsy's dates because he would see it as 'protecting her'. I mean, am I wrong that he would 100% do this? Lol. So, we'll see how Lazlo fairs! Fingers crossed for our favorite Brazilian Spider Monkey! Stay tuned for part 2, thank you for reading, and have a great rest of the weekend!
Stay Classy!
Dexter1995