Life With Drake::IV
Contents
- Chapter 15 Happy Birthday
- Chapter 16 First Wedding Preparations
- Chapter 17 Last Chances
- Chapter 18 Lola's Family Tree
Chapter 15 Happy Birthday
I was finally turning eighteen years old.
Mom called me at 5 a.m. She didn't say too much. She was in such a hurry.
Apparently, that time shift of three hours between Massachusetts and Los Angeles were the reason for the mess.
OK, that was just the start of my great day.
But was it really that great?
6.30 a.m... Megan woke up. The year before, she had known my birthday.
This had been strange.
She had known me for a few weeks only.
But today...
Megan seemed to think of it as of a normal day. "Good morning... breakfast... are the boys already in the bathroom?"
We used to help the boys waking up and get their clothes done. We did so today, too.
Without my care, Dustin would have run around with his old underwear for several weeks.
He had grown for almost a foot during the last summer, rendering most of his old garments useless.
But today...
Dustin just complained about my protectivity.
I was getting impatient. Had my own little brother forgotten about my birthday? I had never ever forgotten his.
Drake, well... he had often enough forgotten Josh's birthday 1.
I did not have to wonder about that.
We walked down for breakfast.
I hugged dad a good morning, waiting for him to congratulate me as he had used to do.
But there was nothing like that.
Audrey shrugged. "Tea or coffee?"
Megan and Dustin giggled and whispered many sweet things unto each other.
The whole breakfast went by without a mention of my birthday.
I sighed with despair.
Drake had taken us to school.
It was not one of his days scheduled for advising the school's band.
For that avail, he just waved at us and returned downtown.
I was looking forward to my friends.
Lola was already awaiting for me. She was probably the first to congratulate me. "Hi Zoey, nice weather!"
I coughed. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, but I had been waiting for something else. "Probably..."
We walked to our science classes.
Quinn was sitting in front of us. "Hey... do you think I should show him my invention?"
I shrugged. "Nice to see you, too..."
The boys remained ignorant, as well.
Chase and Michael had their mind wiped out.
Or so it seemed.
Logan remained silent, too. But he was a jerk.
I was not surprised,
The classes started.
Mr. Beringer's classes were boring as usual.
Suddenly there was a voice from the megaphone. "Zoey Brooks to the administration office, I repeat..."
Mr. Beringer gave me a pass.
I shrugged and walked away. No headmaster would have called a pupil into his office just in order to congratulate for a birthday, would they?
Executive Chairman Garth Berman was already waiting. He was probably not aware of my birth date.
Dean Rivers was still in rehabilitation.
The board had not yet decided on a new dean.
For that avail, Berman took over part of the dean's responsibilities, delegating others unto some of our teachers, such as Mr. Bender.
I shook hands with Garth,
He used to be really nice for a chairman. "Good morning, Miss Brooks. I've prepared the papers requested by you."
I plastered a forced smile.
The papers were for the admission offices of some colleges.
Alas, Garth saw my personal data lying in front of himself.
Each intelligent person should have noticed mt birth date and compared it to the current day.
But Berman remained calm. "Good luck for your college applications!"
I grinned. "Thank you..."
Berman had prepared similar papers for other students, such as Firewire and Maria Hughes.
I left the office with some disappointment.
The day had gone by.
Not even Kazu had remembered that day of the year.
I wanted to have a tempura roll before returning home.
But he was hastily closing down Sushi Rox for the rest of the day. "Sorry, an emergency case..."
I sighed deeply.
Drake picked us up at the student drop in order to take us home. "Our parents have gone out for the evening with our new neighbours."
I grunted, "why, oh why?"
Megan and Dustin shrugged. Alas, they were glad about the parents' absence. As had been said, they had something to hide from them.
OK, there was no way to celebrate the evening of my birthday with dad and Audrey.
But maybe the kids were finally remembering that special day?
Drake remarked, "oh, I've got to go, too. Helen Baxter has called me. There are some troubles at the theatre. She needs my help."
I sighed with excessive despair.
So I was left all alone with Dustin and Megan.
It was their last chance to remember the day.
But they appeared to remain ignorant.
Megan asked, "Zoey, will you take us to Drake's concert tonight?"
I gasped. "Drake is giving a concert?"
Dustin nodded solemnly. "Megan and I, we've got backstage passes. Please..." He rubbed his head against my shoulders, glaring with puppy eyes. He was already strongly pubescent. But he had not unlearned to use his baby's weapons.
I could not contradict. But I was Drake's manager. So, he was about giving a concert, without me knowing? There was something smelling fishy. Not even Kazu's waste bin could have hold a candle to that stench. In addition, Megan had never been going to the `boob''s concert, let alone accept backstage tickets. I had to find out. Maybe they were going elsewhere, just to be alone with each other? I had to investigate.
Sadly, I grabbed the keys for the family's second car.
We arrived at the concert hall.
Megan and Dustin dragged me to the back entrance.
I didn't have tickets, but I was left through.
Dustin explained, "our big sister needs to watch over us!"
I shrugged. Of course I did. But it was unusual for Dustin to say so. He was usually embarrassed and would have loved to be left unsupervised. Walking the backstage, I was imagining some voices.
"Illumination... check! Sound... check!"
It sounded like Quinn's voice.
But my forgetful friend was impossibly there, inspite of being able to perform tasks like checking accoustics and optics of a stage.
Students were usually not given regular passes in order to leave the campus for an evening job.
Dustin and Megan dragged me into the filling audience.
We were sitting in the front row.
The hall was very dark.
Helen Baxter's voice went trembling through the ground. "OK, ladies and gents... Drake wants to say something to his fans, a special dedication or so..."
The audience applauded.
I was listening deliriously only. The day had been one big disappointment. So why bother at all?
Drummer boy Neil 2 made his drumsticks dance.
Drake stepped up to the microphone. "Hi! This evening is dedicated to someone special. I could not concentrate on my music without a competent manager doing all those organisational tasks. It is a special concert for someone showing me the way to go. For the best manager and most wonderful step-sister in the world... Zoey Brooks!"
I gasped. Had Drake just been talking about me? I rubbed some sleep off my temples.
Megan and Dustin grinned and poked me.
I was hit by a flood of spot lights.
Lola stood by Drakes side, snuggling up to him. "Oh, happy birthday, Zoey!" She waved, grinning mischievously.
They had not forgotten about my birthday. They had ignored it in order to surprise me.
Oh, that was one surprise!
Also, I had not been imagining Quinn's voice.
She was waving at me from the engineer's spot. "Happy birthday!" She had organised the whole mess, along with Josh Nichols.
I was dragged up to Drake's spot by Megan and Dustin.
He hugged the living hell out of me. "Happy Birthday!"
I smiled. "Thanks a lot!"
From there, it was possible to overlook the audience.
Dad and Audrey were there. They waved around.
Drake explained, "Chase and Addie have written a bunch of birthday poems for you. Michael and Wendy contributed the tunes. Now I'm going to perform all the mess," he cackled.
Chase, Michael, Addie, and Wendy stood up and waved at me. They grinned like rascals.
I sat down again.
Drake started playing his new songs.
They were totally wonderful.
But it was time for a break.
Alas, it was already past 9 p.m.
Curfew was approaching.
But Garth Berman showed up. "OK, Miss Brooks, I knew about everything... the kids told me to remain silent."
I shrugged.
Berman had given my friends passes for the whole evening until midnight. "Tomorrow, classes will only start at 11 p.m."
I grinned. "Cool!"
Mindy and Firewire apologised for their previous impossible demeanour.
Even Rebecca hugged me a happy birthday. She was trying out for Drake's band. She had been granted that wish by Drake in turn for supporting me against Chuck Javers.
The party made us hungry.
Fortunately, Kazu had been preparing a buffet for us. He had closed down Sushi Rox early in order to prepare it.
Megan gave me some salsa.
It was her own invention. 3
Tempura rolls dipped in Megan's salsa... aw! I swooned.
I panted. What a party!
Drake smiled. "Oh, they have just arrived..."
I wondered, "who has arrived?"
Megan told me to turn my head around.
Craig and Eric stood in the entrance.
Stacey stormed towards her beloved Eric and smooched him recklessly. "Aw my sweetie..."
I hugged Craig briefly.
Drake grinned. "OK, time for a dance."
I gasped. I was going to dance with Craig? I was hit by waves of excitement, blushing and fainting withing seconds.
Craig wore the tuxedo suit from prom night.
Alas, I was still wearing my street outfit.
Dustin and Megan giggled. They opened a suitcase containing my prom gown.
Drake commanded, "Megan, go and help Zoey change clothes!"
Megan nodded solemnly and dragged me away.
The party went on.
Dancing with Craig wasn't uncool.
I had hardly seen him since junior prom.
Drake and Megan even played Beautiful Dreamer for us.
Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
Even as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
I swooned when guided slowly across the stage floor by Craig.
My best birthday... ever!
1 cf. Drake & Josh : Josh Runs Into Oprah 2 cf. Drake & Josh : Megan's New Teacher 3 cf. Drake & Josh : Peruvian Puff Pepper
Chapter 16 First Wedding Preparations
One of the following evening, I sat alone on the veranda of their new home. She whistled a merry tune.
Drake saw her. "Oh, hi, I've already been looking for you."
I looked up. "Hi!"
Drake sighed. "Lola and I..."
I trembled. "Are there problems between the two of you?"
Drake shook his head. "I don't hope so... But she's soon turning eighteen. And then..."
I panted. "OK, do you want to say that you're going to be serious and finally marry Lola and move in with her?"
Drake sighed. "Ideally I want to marry her the day after your senior prom..."
I beamed. "Great! Have you found an apartment for the two of you?"
Drake sighed. "I'll ask around among my friends. I think you would be a great help for signing contracts and stuff..."
I nodded. "OK, I will doublecheck before you sign anything. So, have you already told Lola?"
Drake stammered, "somehow... we've talked on and off about marrying soon after her birthday and moving together once her school ends."
I smiled. "So, you basically want the same thing?"
Drake grinned. "Certainly!"
I beamed. "That's great! Supposedly, you need help with preparing your wedding?"
Drake confirmed, "exactly... you could make the outfit for the couple and the bridesmaids and the groomsmen..."
I nodded. "Of course. You can count on me."
Drake hugged me. "You're a perfect step-sister, and the best best friend of a bride ever..."
I felt flattered. "Do you want me as a maid of honour?"
Drake sighed. "Lola will choose either Quinn or you. In the case of Quinn, Josh would be my best man."
I nodded. "That sounds fair. But if it's me?"
Drake grinned. "I've watched you and Craig..."
I blushed.
Drake chuckled. "Come on. At your junior prom, it may have been an emergency solution. I've seen the two of you dancing there, and I've seen you dancing again at your birthday party."
I fainted. Drake must have watched very carefully...
Drake explained, "the more time Eric and Stacey spend dating, the more will Craig need you. And you do give inexperienced boys a chance, which is very rare today."
I looked aghast. "I do?"
Drake continued, "remember Jeff Norkin? 1"
I stammered, "which devil old you..."
Drake replied, "The little dust devil..."
I understood. "Aw Dustin," moaned I, "yeah, it's true. But I was in seventh grade. I was the popular girl, he was totally timid, yet always dreaming about being kissed by me. But that's long past ..."
Drake agreed solemnly. "But you are still the same good old Zoey. Or so says Dustin."
I fainted.
Drake ruffled my hair playfully, making her giggle. "Still, I prefer Josh over Craig as a best man. But that's just me. Lola is ultimately up to choosing."
I nodded. "OK, I'm going to make a check list for organising your wedding."
"One thing," added Drake, "when you were new at Pacific Coast Academy, you had such a bubbly best friend ... she was totally obsessed with me..."
I gasped, "Nicole Bristow? You remember her?"
Drake nodded. "I remember when she jumped at me... But actually, Lola has mentioned her on occasions. We wanted to get her for your birthday party, but we dd not know how to find her that fast without telling you and spoiling the surprise."
I was totally excited. "Aw, I miss her sometimes. Especially now when you tell me... Of course, I understand that you and lola want her at your wedding. I would have died from joy."
Drake nodded gleefully. "Well, let's go and look for her again."
I smiled. "I have changed my cellular phone ever since, and my address book went down the drain. But her dad runs the greatest juice factory of Kansas. 2"
Drake beamed. "We will get thirsty at our wedding... the heck we will..."
I continued. "Let's go through the web site of the board of juice vendors."
Drake high-fived with I.
Megan came slouching downstairs.
I called Megan over.
Megan arrived at the veranda. "Hi I! Hi boob!"
Drake ruffled Megan's hair playfully. "I tell you. I've missed you calling me like that during my last tours..."
Megan shrugged. "OK, what's up?"
I explained, "Drake and Lola are going to marry, and we need someone to play the bridal chorus from Wagner's Lohengrin."
Megan chuckled. "Boob? You really want me to play?"
Drake sighed. "We can't afford a real orchestra..."
Megan pouted.
I corrected, "hey! Megan plays very well..."
Megan grinned. "I may get Dustin to sing along, but we need to practise together."
I smiled. Were they just looking for a good reason to be together alone?
Megan waved at us in order to escape.
Drake smiled. "Megan and Dustin spend a lot of time together. That's wonderful."
I agreed. "So... let me find Nicole!"
With Quinn's help, I've been studying the list of juice vendors.
Quinn had to remember someone else. "I wonder about Dana. Is she still in France?"
I fainted. I had never really forgotten about Dana. But I was embarrassed. "You think we should find her, too?"
Dana and Nicole had been at each other's throat.
But choosing one over the other would have been rude.
Alas, it was not going to be easy to find her.
Wait! Lola had arrived after Dana's departure only.
Ok, there was no reason for Lola to invite Dana.
But I wondered about my ex-roomie, anyways.
Quinn had finnally spotted Bristow Juices.
I also looked at the prices for delivery of large amounts of drinks.
Fortunately, we did not have to save too much.
The reason: Malcolm Reese had decided to sponsor the wedding of Drake and Lola as an event of Hollywood's public interest.
This arrangement came apparently with a downside, as well:
The atmosphere was going to be stressy.
I wanted to talk to Quinn about Lola's upcoming choice of the maid of honour.
Quinn sighed. "It isn't easy. Now Stacey wants to be in the wedding, too..."
I wondered, "Lola has always treated her like dirt."
Quinn sighed. "That's true. But I've threatened them to get along or to do their science class projects without my help. It was so annoying... "
I understood that. "That would mean Eric being in the whole business, too."
Quinn nodded. "But as long as Eric and Stacey are by each other's side, not much bad will happen."
I smiled. My birthday party had proved that true. "Yeah, it won't be that bad..."
Quinn replied, "but Josh will still be Drake's favourite as a best man."
I nodded solemnly.
I was done with government classes and ready to check my mailbox. What did I see?
There was a message from Nicole!
I was totally excited. Call her back --- soon!
There were ten minutes left until gym classes.
I decided not to try.
But my heart started hitting like a steam-driven sledge-hammer.
I typed a long string of digits.
"Nicole Bristow... are you a cute boy? I hope that you are. For otherwise I would have to..."
I gasped. "Sorry, I'm a girl..."
Nicole pouted. "Ouch!"
I continued. "Zoey Brooks..."
Nicole squealed like a fury. "Zoey!"
It took a few minutes for Nicole to calm down.
I smiled. "OK... Lola is going to marry, and we want you to be there."
Nicole squealed again. "Whoah! Will there be cute boys at the wedding?"
I nodded solemnly. "But of course!"
Nicole jumped up and down with excitement.
Either that, or her heart was bouncing between floor and ceiling, and any of the surrounding walls.
Well, we needed to come back to that topic at some later point.
Drake was not necessarily pleased by Stacey's wish of being an attendent. On the other hand, he was unable to uninvite his friend Eric.
This would have been particularly rude in virtue of Craig's rôle.
Drake sighed. "Nicole was also a great friend of Lola, was she?"
I nodded solemnly. "You want her as a bride's maid?"
Drake shrugged. "With an appropriate groomsman..."
I chuckled. "Nicole would be happy with any cute boy... There are some in your band, aren't there?"
Drake smiled. "I can't judge a boy's cuteness as well as a girl can." I could not contradict. "Lola would be really worried about you."
Drake chuckled.
I added, "by the way, it takes a lot to put up with Nicole's bubbly demeanour."
Drake gasped. "Hey! I might know the right one..."
I choked.
Drake explained, "my friend Trevor 3! He's really bubbly for a boy."
I shrugged. "OK, I might send a picture of him to Nicole."
Drake agreed.
That sounded great.
But there were still many things left to do until the wedding...
1 mentioned in Zoey 101 : Vince Is Back --- actually the name was taken from a member of Schneider's Bakery 2 cf. Zoey 101 : Jet-X 3 cf. Drake & Josh : Dune Buggy
Chapter 17 Last Chances
Two years ago, the team of the Pacific Coast Academy had failed in the state finale because of the suspension of Vincent Blake.
Alas, this year, they made it that far again.
And it was going to be the last chance for our team.
Quarterbacks like Vince Blake did not exactly grow on quarterback trees.
Was there even such a thing?
Quinn Pensky had already invented so many plants, including some banapple tree. 1. She could have easily invented a quarterback tree.
But her inventions tended to fail at first glance.
I did not want an even worse version of Vince Blake.
Bear with it!
The main problem was of course, simply said, the most Vincent Blake's most likely reaction to losing the match.
Whom was he going to blame in the case of a failure?
Of course Chase was already prepared for saying his last prayers.
Ashley Blake had already insinuated something like that on various occasions.
Addie Singer was totally worried. She had been threatened over and over by the little diva.
Talking about Quinn...
This year, it was also her last chance to win the state science fair.
She was an utter genius, but she used toi fail for so many stupid reason.
Her banapple aforementioned banapple tree looked and smelled nicely.
But its fruits were extremely acidic, burning through metals.
Then she had been excluded from the science club by Firewire. She had forced her way back into the club by destroying Firewire's war robot, using her own invention, a laser cannon. 2
But it had been too late for that year's science fair.
And then she had been inventing some strange bacteria, causing an accident and getting us quarantined for a whole day. 3
The following year had been the most frustrating of all.
Quinn's anti-gravity chamber had been a failure.
`Paige Howard' had repaired it in front of her eyes, making her depressive. 4
Also, a liquid torch blew up violently for no apparent reason. 5
Quinn had tried to submit a project about laser surgery, especially eye lasering. 6
Unfortunately, laser surgery was illegal without credentials from a med school.
This had caused another science fair go down the drain.
This year, she was desperately looking for a project worthy of her.
Josh wanted to help her.
But this would have been against the rules.
Josh was slightly too old for that matter.
I was sitting in our lounge, waiting for Dustin and Megan.
Alas, Rebecca came to me.
I wondered, "have you got a messege for Drake? I will tell him!"
Rebecca shook her head. "My voice is not good enough for a vocal rôle in his band. Or so I've figured." She sighed with despair.
I remarked, "you're a cheerleader. I'm dern sure... You will be a good dancer for a band like Drake's. He hasn't yet found a great dancer. Thus he tries to do without stage dancing. But he has always thought it cool."
Rebecca sighed. "That might be my last chance..."
I would not have said it that directly.
But there was a lot of truth in Rebecca's words.
Rebecca continued, "are you still designing fashion?"
I nodded solemnly. "from time to time... yes, I do."
She grinned. "I've applied as a model at Bloomstale's 7..."
I shrugged. "You would certainly be a great supermodel."
Rebecca felt flattered. "I hope so... but I've noticed something... they are also looking for a new fashion designer." SDhe glared at me in a suggestive manner.
I shivered. I had not yet given that option much of a thought.
My parnts had always expected me to make a bright career as a lawyer or a corporate officer.
Maybe I had what it takes to do so.
But then again...
There were things causing much more fun.
One of them was fashion design.
Rebecca's idea was simple.
I should design something for Rebecca to present to Bloomstale's. I had to think about it.
Maybe this was my last chance to show dad what I really wanted to do.
I had to hurry up.
But there was something else to be reported by Rebecca.
The busty half-latina explained, "you know, I'm a cheerleader. And I will be in the cheerleading squad for the great football match."
I nodded solemnly. "Not much of a surprise!"
Rebecca continued, "Mandy Franklin, Trisha Kirby, Maria Hughes, and Sarah Kyla will be the others."
I nodded solemnly.
Of course, Mandy and Trisha were going to be a big problem for me.
Rebecaca confirmed that, reporting, "Mandy and Trisha always talk about doing bad things to Chase for his perverse treason. Maria and Sarah like Chase, they would not hurt him. But the others..."
I moaned, "they are so..." I did not find any suitable words for them.
Rebecca had to leave me alone.
I was glad about the possibility of dealing with Rebecca in a normal manner.
This was not a given for an old nemesis.
Talking about nemesis...
Mindy Crenshaw had made her way into the very same lounge. She grinned mischievously.
I shuddered with disgust. "Have you come plagiarising again?"
Mindy grinned sadistically. "Hey, why do you think that?"
I grunted, "because you have been mean all your life... to Drake, to me, to Josh, you have abused Megan shamelessly for your lowly purposes,..."
Mindy chuckled mercilessly. "Aw, you don't know what I did to Dustin, four years ago?" She whistled in a seductive manner.
I coughed.She did what? To Dustin? I was close to throwing up.
Mindy smiled. "Oh, you would not want to know... He has sure enjoyed a real girl's supreme attention a lot." She cackled with a prenetrating glee upon stressing the words real girl.
I was infuriated. I did not notice her exclusive intentions of just playing with my protective feelings.
Everything was invented.
Dustin had not even met her back when she was enrolled at Pacific Coast Academy, just seen from afar.
Along came Megan and Dustin.
I was still so upset by Mindy's fake confession. I grabbed Megan and Dustin in order to avoid more incidents of the aforementioned sort.
We darted out faster than light beams.
Home sweet home...
Dustin had finally unveiled Mindy's statement as mere fantasy.
Megan calmed me down. "Mindy likes playing with other people's feelings."
I sighed deeply.
Dustin smiled. "But she is pretty, nothing withstanding."
Megan glared jealously.
Drake came downstairs. "OK, Rebecca told me something about new some new outfit for our band. She will be a model for that. She also wants to become a dancer in my band."
I nodded solemnly. "OK, I might apply as a fashion designer for Bloomstale. But don't let our parents know about it..." I fainted.
Drake shrugged. "It's OK for me. Rebecca is a cheerleader. She will be fine as a dancer, much better than a singer."
I agreed wholeheartedly.
Drake walked closer. "Does the thing Bloomstale excite you a lot?" He must have heard my heart beating while talking about that potential opportunity.
I nodded and moaned, "sure!"
Drake calmed me down. "I was excited before my first public performance, subbing for Devon Malone. 8 And then before my first record conrtract with Spin City. 9"
I sighed anxiosly.
Drake hugged me. "You're my perfect step-sister. You will do it, no matter what."
I snickered.
Megan and Dystin huggled me, too, secure in the knowledge of my superior skills as a fashion designer.
The door bell rang out.
Drake dared to open. "The Creature!" He froze for consternation.
Mindy Crenshaw stepped in. She grinned sadistically.
Drake grunted, "what do you want?"
Mindy's penetrant smile made me nervous.
Megan faced Mindy with grin determination, "don't ever dare to get too close to Dustin, or else..."
"Is the little bugger trying to threaten me," wondered Mindy. She kept on cackling satanically.
I wanted to let Megan stay out of the trouble.
Mindy continued, "so you really want to apply for a job of Bloomstale's? Forget it! You haven't even got the gutrs to sell your skills. Recently, a fashion label from New York City has employed a high-school kid as a vice president for young fashion. 10 You could do even much better by appropriate marketing of your skills."
I glared aghast.
Mindy boomed, "you will never get far enough. After leaving your school again, I started selling your backpacks over the interweb, over and over, including some other of your designs."
I looked aghast.
Mindy's diabolic laughter went trembling through the house.
She continued, "so... the money was frozen on an account, but now we are adults. There it is. You may need it in order to convincer your parents of your independence." She handed me a paycheck.
My eyes bugged out.
"20k bucks?" I slumped onto the couch.
Dustin was worried.
Mindy smiled. "OK, I'll sell your skills at Bloomstale's, and you will just watch. OK?"
I was flabbergasted.
Megan and Dustin had a hard time believing it.
I believed in dreaming.
Megan had to pinch me in order to prove me awake.
Mindy continued, "oh, there's something else..."
I sighed deeply.She was always up to surprising people...
Mindy chuckled. "You know, Firewire wants to participate in the science fair, but I can't help him. Likewise, Quinn..."
I nodded.
Mindy concluuded, "OK, gfet them to work together on something. That will make them win any science fair."
I choked hard. After years of mutual hatred| That was going to mean serious troubles. But it was their last chance...
Drake had to hurry up. "I need to practice with the cheerleaders for the football match. See you!"
I waved at Drake before starting to go to talk about details with Mindy Crenshaw.
The football match was on.
The opponent was Lincoln High 11, the hardest team of California.
Our cheerleaders were busily chanting and cartwheeling to Drake's guitar performance.
Of course, Lincoln had its own cheerleaders. They were also stuffed with titans measuring more than seven foot and bulging muscles bigger than Quinn's brain.
The match was pretty close.
Vince Blake, Weissman 12, Comisar 13, Logan Reese, Duke Blatzberg, Corey Matthews, and a bunch of other brainless jocks did their best. They were even about to win.
Only one quarter was left to go.
The adversary's coach appeared to send a new player into the match.
The guy wore a pich-black helmet.
Instead of a name, his player's jersey read, "Critical Danger --- Keep Out!"
Was that a good thing?
Our team was not intimidated.
But the critical danger guy roughed them up and mowed them down.
Duke Blatzberg was most consternated. He was the toughest guy of our defense. He had never been run over by anyone before `Critical Danger'.
But the mystery tank ran over him like thrice a minute.
One second left...
Lincoln scored a touchdown.
It was again the strange guy.
Finally, the adversaries won by two points.
We were disappointed.
Vincent Blake was mightily upset.
His mood stank up the atmosphere for several miles.
Finally, the mystery player was unmasked by his comrades.
I was consternated when noticing, "that's no guy at all, it is... Dana Cruz!" She had often been nicked to danger. That should not have surprised me!
Dana thundered, "Wait, Blatzberg! You won't escape!"
Duke Blatzberg feared for his life. He was incredibly strong, but too slow to get run away from Dana's wrath.
Dana reached Blatzberg, grabbed him violently, and kissed him without warning. "OK, that's what I wanted to do during the last minutes of the match, but that dern helmet and faceguard..."
Duke blushed, twitched and stammered. But he could not resist the charm of the attractive jockette.
I laughed my hindside off.
Vince had had the intention of beating up Chase and Addie, but now he was even more mad at Blatzberg. Alas, he did not dare to mess with unstoppable Dana Cruz.
Mindy Crenshaw kept her promises. She boldly negotiated some record contracts for me and Rebecca.
I was totally astonished, feeling compelled to hug yet another former fatal nemesis.
Mindy's cellular phone rang. "Mindy Crenshaw... hi, sweetie..."
It was apparently Firewire.
Quinn and Forewire had just returned from a science fair.
Mindy grinned. "Cheers! You're the best!" She explained, "Quinn and Firewire have won with a new sort of special cloth..."
I shrugged.
Mindy promised, "you will design fashion using this cloth, and..."
I understood.
Mindy was able to make money from all sorts of dirt, it seemd.
I preferred her now as a new friend rather than an old enemy, anyways.
1 cf. Zoey 101: Backpack 2 cf. Zoey 101 : Robot Wars 3 cf. Zoey 101 : Quarantine 4 cf. Zoey 101 : Paige At PCA 5 cf. Zoey 101 : Zoey's Ribs 6 cf. Zoey 101 : Traiting Places 7 spoof off Bloomingdale 8 cf. Drake & Josh : The Guitar 9 cf. Drake & Josh : Really Big Shrimp 10 alludes to True Jackson VP 11 cf. Drake & Josh : Football 12 cameo in Zoey 101 : Chase's Birthday 13 cameo in Zoey 101 : Great Vince Blake
Chapter 18 Lola's Family Tree
My senior prom was approaching at the speed of light.
Lola and Drake had decided on coupling the prom weekend with his wedding celebrations.
Well, Malcolm Reese had a lot to say, too.
I was a bit dismayed by the fact of such a personal invent being basically nothing but a promotional gig for Malcolm Reese's products.
But it was Lola's and Drake's wedding.
Thery were totally OK with it.
Thus I had to accept it.
And no earlier than the begin of the week ending with the prom did Lola reveil me as her maid of honour.
This, of course, increased my excitement to no end.
It also made Craig Ramirez best man at their wedding.
I was thus doomed to open the wedding ball with Craig.
Of course I was done designing the wedding dresses before that point.
The difference between the gowns for the bridal maids and that for the maid of honour was just some detachable ornation.
The same applied to the groom's guys and the best man.
This was thus no big problem.
But there were a few things I had come to know during the last weeks leading up to the prom.
And those were not really pleasant at all.
Malcolm Reese had invested an insane amount of bucks into Lola's and Drake's wedding. Even more, he paid them a honeymoon trip around the world: Rome, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, Tokyo, and so on.
Drake did not have to look at all for a suitable apartment for himself and Lola.
Malcolm provided him with one.
And it was more than just an apartment, much more...
Truth told, Malcolm had donated them a really big estate.
And I knew that one:
It was the summer residence of the Reese family, located near Santa Barbara! 1
I was flabbergasted when hearing those news. Shouldn't Logan have inherited the estate?
After all, my impression was that of Malcolm treating Drake like a son in law.
Mr. Reese had virtually adopted Lola and partly disowned Logan.
But when and why did this start?
I needed to investigate.
Megan suggested me to interrogate Chaunsey, the faithful butler of the Reese family. She suggested tickle torture.
This wasn't exactly my style.
I needed to be more careful.
Alas, down to her former friendship with Ashley, Megan was able to provide me with some potentially valuable hints.
Ashley had started working for the company of Malcolm Reese at quite some early age. She was as old as Dustin.
This knowledge allowed me to calculate that she must have started being familiar with the Reese clan about the time of my arrival at Pacific Coast Academy.
This was quite some impressive era.
I had a hard time remembering the days before my life at the Pacific Coast Academy.
Megan had learned about Logan having always felt neglected by his dad.
Apparently, Malcolm would have wanted a son or daughter in the likeness of his first wife, some Hollywood starlet of the seventies.
Logan had never had the diligence for becoming an actor. He only thought of it as a way of impressing girls, but he was nowhere near patient enough for the business.
I had come to learn about this the hard way --- during my first year at the Pacific Coast Academy, upon some school play 2.
Also, Ashley and Logan were very close by now.
But since when had this been the case?
I had a meeting wiuth Chaunsee in the frame of wedding preparations. Upon this occasion, I started talking about the problem.
Chaunsee was --- of course --- not going to part easily with family secrets.
But by dropping some bits and pieces learned from Megan, I achieved to get the staunch butler to reveil quite a bit.
Chaunsee admitted, "I don't know how, but Malcolm's first wife was not just quite a bit like Lola Martinez, she was..."
I gasped when I heard the name of Malcolm's first wife.
She had died early.
But I remembered her name not just from old movies, but from a list of Lola's ancestry. I had tried to gather a family tree of the bride. This way, I had stumbled upon the same person, apparently some cousin of Lola's mother. And now I felt like hit right between my eyes by some huge meterorite dropping out of the clear blue sky. Thus I needed a break.
We moved onward to discussing the arrangements for the wedding banquet.
Back at home, I started discussing my discovery with Megan.
Many questions emerged.
When did Malcolm discover the relationship between his deceased first wife and Lola Martinez?
Did Lola know about these extraordinarily stunning circumstances?
There were many possibilities with different consequences.
The family tree, as already mentioned, was a wedding gift, and thought as a surprise for Lola.
I did not have the guts to spoil it for my best friend.
On the other hand, waiting until after the wedding was going to leave me with an increasingly creepy feeling. It had the potential of making me flunk my tasks as a maid of honour.
This, of course, would have been embarrassing for Drake, Lola, and Reese Inc.
Even Megan was clueless about what to do. She did not want to interrogate Ashley.
Things between Megan and Ashley had gone a bit awry during the last two years.
Megan could not really answer the question about Logan's and Ashley's mutual affection. She had been surprised by their confidential talks during my junior year. But she tried to piece some clues together.
Ashley had once been talking about some supercute son of some influential Hollywood giant. But she had never given away too much about that.
Megan remembered, "Ashley had mentioned him like... three years ago."
I sighed.
This was more or less the time of my trip to Logan's summer residence, along with most of my friends.
This lead me back to the question:
Did Malcolm know about the connection between his first wife and Lola?
Did Lola know?
Had Malcolm invited us properly in order to see a promising relative of his deceased love, or, at least, in order to check rumours about such a connection?
I tried to remember hard about her first reactions towards the news of Logan being the son of a famopus Hollywood producer, Malcolm Reese.
This had been upon her arrival at Pacific Coast Academy, almost four years ago.
She did had not demonstrated any signs of being familiar with Logan Reese and his family.
But, wait!
Lola had already been one very convincing actress. She was certainly able to feign complete ignorance about the whole `Reese connection'. Oh yeah, she went even far enough to feign to deny any knowledge of Malcolm Reese.
Such a fact would have been surprising.
Any actor or actress looking forward to a career at Hollywood was familiar with the names of the most important producers, including, beyond any trace odf a doubt, Malcolm Reese.
Megan had been following my thoughts up to there. She concluded, "you want to say that Lola knew about that certain connection, and she had tried to feign ignorance? Whom did she want to fool?"
Dustin stumbled into us. "Hi!"
Megan urged me to tell him about my discoveries and speculations.
Dustin almost fainted. He had stopped being a friend of Logan long since, but he was still worried about one thing. He groaned, "have you never thought about Logan's feelings?"
I gasped.
Of course, we girls had only thought about Lola.
But what about Logan's knowledge concerning the `connection' between his dad and Lola's family?
Well, unlike Lola, Logan had been a miserable actor. He could only act as a total jerk.
I tried to think of his reactions towards Lola's arrival at our school.
He had not seen in Lola more than one of many wannabe Hollywood actresses.
And there were more than just a few of them at our school.
We concluded, "Logan had not been aware of such a special connection at that point."
But he may have recognised them ever since. And he was unlikely to have reacted nicely to such a revelation. He had always been such a jerk, but...
Dustin suggested us to talk to Lola's dad.
I shrugged.
As reported, the `connection' was between Malcolm and the mother's side of Lola's family.
But it was worth a try.
Of course I had to talk about certauin things with the bride's dad, anyways.
Juan Martinez had not been fairly familiar with his wife's family tree.
For my research, I had drawn my informations from some specialised interweb sites about genealogy.
But Juan mentioned, "sending Lola to Pacific Coast Academy was largely the idea of my wife, or, rather, her family. They had been loosely in contact with Malcolm Reese."
Supposing my speculations to be anywhere near accurate, this was not much of a surprise.
I wondered, "OK, the question may be embarrassing, so it could upset you. So, stopme in the case of being too curious. Did you get some partial support for the tuition fees from Macolm Reese?"
Juan choked, "OK, you're right it, was partly paid by some foundation of alumni..."
I nodded.
Malcolm Reese was a member of the board of sponsors and the alumni, probably the most influential among them. As per my speculaions, he had used his significant position in order to lure Lola to the Pacific Coast Academy.
But what were his motivations for all of his efforts?
Juan sighed. "It was a big chance for Lola, with or without the `connection' between the families. Knowing about it would not have changed my mind."
I agreed wholeheartedly. "The Pacific Coast Academy is doubtlessly a great chance for kid, with or without the vicinity to Hollywood."
My principal concern was the possibility of Lola getting drawn into something beyond her abilities to handle.
Also, Logan's possible, no, definitely present, envy was causing me headaches.
I thanked Juan on my way out.
Megan and Dustin had been awaiting me anxiously.
I was, of course, ready to report about my conversations with Juan Martinez.
Alas, even before the end of my story, Megan and Dustin confrinted me with their own speculations.
Dustin explained, "Malcolm wanted Lola to like Logan, and vice versa."
I gasped.
Megan chuckled.
Of course, this would have reconnected Malcolm to his deceased wife's family in some prettily elegant manner.
Judging from Lola's and Logan's story here at the Pacific Coast Academy, Malcolm Reese's great plan had gone horribly awry.
But this did not prevent Malcolm from going a further step and honour Lola with parts of his fortune. And that's where we were.
Dustin trembled in anticipation of Logan's wrath.
Megan shivered in anticipation of Ashley's evil revenge. "Ashley must have felt consternated by Malcolm's attention towards Lola Martinez. She has always deemed herself the greatest of al, future Hollywood stars."
Megan's words struck my brain right down the middle.
I had really not got a clue concerning Ashley's feelings for Logan, or vice versa for that matter.
Many options were possible.
On the one hand, Ashley might have had feelings for Logan before Lola's arrival at our school. She would have watched Lola with eclatant jealousy.
On the other hand, Ashley and Logan could have been equally intimidated by Lola's arrival. Lola was deemed both as a danger for Logan's heritage and for Ashley's career. This common threat could have soldered Ashley and Logan together, with or without proper mutual affection.
I have not talked to Lola's mother about the situation.
You may wonder why.
Fact was:
Lola's mom and her dad had started to fight each other over certain things yet unbeknownst to me.
These struggles had started during or slightly before last summer break.
Lola had only told me about them during the first term of senior year. She was very insecure.
Even more, the struggles between her parents had caused her to hurry up and get married to Drake as soon as only possible.
She sided rather with her dad.
A mention of her mom by Quinn had once stunk up Lola's mood for several days.
Alas, there was one relative from Lola's motherly side in my reach: Her cousin Rebecca.
She had already helped me to some degree during my research of Lola's family tree.
I met the aspiring supermodel in the cafeteria.
She was already looking forward to Lola's wedding. In addition, she was going to present the wedding gown at a fashion fair.
I asked her about our discoveries and speculations.
Of course, I had to be equally careful.
But Rebecca did not hesitate admitting to some knowledge. "It makes more than just a bit sense... I'm as related to Malcolm Reese's first wife as is Lola."
I nodded.
She continued, "Malcolm may have chosen me instead of Lola. I had been dreaming of Hollywood, too, the big screen, not just commercials for bras and stockings... But Lola is older by one or two years, closer to Logan's age..."
I sighed. "Would you have liked Logan, in Lola's situation?"
Rebecca admitted, "probably... I would not have flunked as much as Lola had done. A hot guy and son of a big producer, hello! No sane girl could deliberately turn that down."
I coughed and choked. "Hey!"
Rebecca was sorry. "I mean, I certainly wouldn't, it was my big dream... Alas, when Chase dragged me to this school, I was no longer willing to seduce Logan. After Chase's refusal to pay me, I was already so upset at Lola's whole gang..."
I sighed. "You've probably just saved yourself from Ashley Blake's furious wrath."
Rebecca fainted. Of course, she knew no details concerning Logan and Ashley. But, just like anyone else, she feared a possible fallout at Lola's wedding.
We were running out of time.
Senior prom and Lola's wedding had become so close.
And we were still left in the dark concerning Ashley's and Logan's plans for the wedding of Lola and Drake.
It was not unlikely for Ashley to spoil the wedding in some way or the other.
But how? A kingdom's worth for Ashley's plans!
Now we've been talking a lot about Lola's parents.
But what about Drake's dad?
Certainly, one would have expected him to be invited to his son's wedding, too.
Alas, Megan, inspite of trying hard to remember, was not able to reconstruct his destiny.
Asking Drake would have spoiled his surprise.
In addition, his memories of his dad had been fading away long since. And they were not necessarily nice memories.
Audrey had never talked to me about her first husband, the father of Drake and Megan. Did she have something to hide?
Regardless of all my frenzying worries about the upcoming wedding, I tried hard to leave Drake and Lola mentally unencumbered.
It was meant to be their greatest day.
1 cf. Zoey 101 : Spring Break-Up 2 cf. Zoey 101 : The Play