Chapter 1
“Owww!” Jedia Morgan moaned, rubbing her head where it had connected with the bottom of the wooden cabinet.
“I’m surprised you’re tall enough to hit it at all,” Starr Monroe braced herself for the next pothole.
“Alana, is there any less painful route to this campsite?” Kristine White asked from where she was sitting at the head of one of the twin beds in the back of the RV.
“We’re not going right to the campsite. Mom and Dad want to check up on the construction work at the cabin before we head down there. The crew was supposed to be gone by now but something keeps holding them up. Dad just wants to go do the manly thing. You know, yell and scream and point out how he could do a much better job and how he’s not paying them to sit around eating all day,” Alana Johns grinned from her place on the other bed between Jedia and Starr.
“That reminds me,” Cassy Day piped up, “I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Jedia pointed out
“She has been since the day she was born,” Starr laughed, “Her first word was donut.”
“Are you serious?” Alana asked
“Is she ever?” Jedia gave Starr a playful shove, “You dork.”
“Owwww!” Cassy cried as the RV hit a bigger pothole and sent the girls flying backwards “Can’t you try and go around those ones?”
“You complain too much,” Alana’s mother called from the front seat, “This your vacation, you enjoy!”
“You no speak good English,” Alana shouted
“Shut up you stupid.” Mrs. Johns cackled as she ran over another pothole “You stink.”
“Owww!” Jedia and Kristine moaned.
“Your mother drives worse than Cassy does.” Starr remarked “At this rate we’ll be lucky to start the vacation in one piece.”
“Well there goes my bladder,” Cassy crossed her legs, “This stupid jumping RV isn’t helping. I’ve gotta go pee!”
“Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip,” Starr smirked
“Drip. Drip. Drip,” Alana, Jedia and Kristine picked up the chant.
Cassy squeezed her thighs tighter together, covered her ears and screamed. “Stop it!” She shrieked. “Guys, this is so not cool!”
“Just think about a bubbling brook,” Kristine pointed out.
“Or an ocean wave crashing on the beach,” Jedia offered.
“A light spring shower over the rainforest,” Starr laughed.
Alana sprang up and stumbled into the bathroom. “You no use my toilet!” her mother yelled “Hold it!”
Alana adjusted the handle on the shower, allowing the water to drip down, one drop at a time. “Hear that Cassy?” She asked.
“Bitch!” Cassy howled.
“Drip. Drip. Drip,” The other girls started up the chant again.
“Arggghhhh,” Cassy flopped backwards, smacking her head against the wall. “Crap! Now I’ve gotta go pee and I’ve got a headache!”
The five girls burst out laughing, leaning back and enjoying the ride now that they were traveling on a smoother road. They had only been apart for a year, but it was the first year they had spent apart since Alana had moved to the area in the seventh grade. They had called weekly, seen each other every month or so but it wasn’t the same as being together all day long like they had been throughout high school.
“Home sweet home,” Alana’s mother sang as they pulled into the driveway.
“Bathroom!” Cassy cried, bolting out the door.
The other four girls climbed out more slowly, stretching their legs and then eyeing the structure in front of them. “Alana, I have a question for you. If your family owns this...cabin, why the hell are we staying in an RV?” Kristine asked
“It’s not going to be finished for awhile. That’s why Dad wanted to come up here and yell at them.”
“I thought they were just building a tool shed or something,” Kristine shielded her eyes from the sun.
“It’s kind of a family tradition. This place has been passed down in my family since the mid 1800s and everyone who inherits it adds onto it or fixes it up somehow,” Alana’s pride was obvious as she looked up at the towering cabin. “My dad is fixing up the attic and the tower room and he’s already told me that I’m getting it after him. I know exactly what I want to add on already.”
“Is there enough room for all of us?” Jedia asked
“Trust me, there will be plenty of room, even after Kira and Livvy come up.”
“Where are they anyways?” Starr asked “I’m guessing they’re coming up later, right?”
“In a little over a month,” Alana replied “School doesn’t get out for a few more weeks and after that, Livvy has her tests for another week and then Kira graduates a week after that. They’re staying with Aunt Shelly and Uncle Hank until then.”
“I can’t believe Kira is graduating. It makes me feel so old,” Jedia complained “My little sister graduates next year and that’s even harder to believe.”
“How does the inside look?” Starr cut in, looking anxiously towards the door.
“We repaint with the magazine article.” Mrs. Johns came up behind them “Rooms look better now.”
“What magazine article?” Kristine asked
“Starr found this thing in one of her mother’s house magazines about how different color schemes are supposed to cause different moods when they’re used in different settings. Mom really liked the idea so when they redid all the bedrooms, they did them each with a different color scheme,” Alana paused at the top of the steps.
“So where’s the orange room?” Jedia grinned and elbowed Starr. Starr didn’t move but shot her an angry look.
“That was cold.” Kristine said softly
“Not according to Gestalt. I was thinking that it would be cool to make it a mood based theory, kind of related to Gestalt theory, where each color actually had some kind of hidden meaning. Gestalt theory is based around one main word, perception, the basic idea is that the whole is not equal to the sum of it's parts. It was a very popular theory once, but isn't really used much anymore. They would say that in reality, the fact that the color orange signifies intense feelings of maladjusted discrepancies within your internal cognition that orange as a whole is not the locus point of control here, cognitive discrepancies with perception are in fact related to the individual parts that make up the sum. Wait, I have another idea!"
Kristine gazed off into the woods while Starr began to study her fingernails intently. Alana tapped her foot impatiently "Can someone turn her off?"
Jedia ignored her comment and continued with her train of thought. "At times, the individual parts that make up the sum may also be the cause of internal discrepancy. The color "orange", as a whole, is non threatening in and of itself but the symbolism behind orange is only one part of what orange actually entails. What orange represents to you is a stretch from what orange may signify to another organism. I have a sense here that the fact that one part of orange significance to you is in fact based around a boy, that this causes cognitive instability to your inner child that may think of orange as being a part of a childhood memory. It could be like painting your childhood playhouse the color orange or sitting in the middle of a sandy beach eating an orange or orange may also signify a popsicle. All of these different cognitive scenarios make up the sum of the word "orange". So, what we have here is not merely a problem of a painful memory of a shattered and seared heart at the result of the tormented ego tripping of a teenage male, but an internal struggle between a teenager and her inner child. Thus, in conclusion, the color orange really is your way of wishing that you were still a child” Jedia paused to take a breath, “Right?”
“No Jedia.” Starr shook her head and started up the porch steps after Alana.
Kristine and Jedia followed quickly after them. “Oh my God.” Jedia breathed, staring up at the high ceiling, wooden beams stretched across the room. Thick couches filled a corner of the room, a dark contrast against the brightly gleaming wooden floors.
“Mom had this room designed mostly for Dad,” Alana explained, heading down a hallway “He just wanted a place in the house that didn’t look like it came out of Better Homes and Gardens where he could actually relax.” She shoved open a door “This is my room. Mom hated the shade but-“
”It’s you,” Kristine said simply, taking in the dark purples and blacks.
“I thought she had talked you into the lavender?” Starr asked
“She thought she had but I told the painters otherwise. It got her off my back until she saw the finished product. There’s a bathroom right next to my room to save everyone else the hassle of fighting me for it,” Alana straightened a pillow on the bed. “Come on, I want to show you the other rooms!” She took them on a whirlwind tour through the pantry, kitchen, dining room and sun porch before heading up the stairs.
“Guys! Where are you?” Cassy shouted “Ugh! Alana, your stupid dog is slobbering on me!”
“Upstairs,” Alana called back. “Maddy doesn’t like stairs, he’ll stay down there.”
“I still can’t believe you named your dog after a character in Willow,” Starr shook her head.
“Madmartigan had a nice ring to it,” Alana shrugged off the comment and opened a door to reveal a room patterned with pale yellow flowers. “This one is Livvy’s room. There’s a trundle bed under there so we figured that Livvy and Kira could share Kira’s room when they come up and two of you could crash in here.”
“What about the other two?” Cassy asked wrinkling her nose “This isn’t my idea of a nice room.”
“I like it.” Starr ran a hand over the dark wood of the bed and armoire. “It’s calm. The contrast turned out nicer than I expected.”
“There’s a pullout couch in the basement.” Alana told Cassy “It can fit three but there’s no reason to stick more than another two down there. There’s an extra dresser in the laundry room and a bathroom down there that should be finished by the time we come back up here.”
“Wasn’t this in the magazine too?” Kristine asked Starr “I thought Mrs. Johns said the house was designed from that article you showed me.”
Starr shook her head “This design came a few years before. It was just something I suggested to Mrs. Johns. I thought it would nice, but it really went well together. You know how Livvy is more girly than Alana and Kira are. Well, this room feels like her, it’s classic, cheery, and feminine all at the same time.”
“Right...” Alana trailed off “This one is Kira’s room. She brings up so many friends that Mom figured she’d be better off with two twin beds instead of a queen sized one.”
“They look like antiques,” Kristine noted.
“They probably are. Most of the furniture is from the attic and just gets switched around depending on what the owners want. The only things that my parents had to buy were for the living room, kitchen, laundry room and basement.”
A loud whine came from the bottom of the stairs. “Stupid dog,” Alana moaned, “No wonder Dad got him so cheap. Maddy, shut up!”
“Poor puppy,” Starr went to the top of the stairs and looked down. The husky pranced around at the bottom and whined again. “Come on Maddy, you can do it!” Madmartigan scratched at the first step and started to bark.
“He’s gorgeous but so dumb,” Kristine laughed. “Beauty times brains equals a constant, right?”
“What does that mean?” Cassy asked
“One goes up, the other goes down,” Starr replied cheerfully, peaking into the master bedroom and whistling. “This is bright.”
“You’re the one who mentioned the marriage colors. Mom took you way too seriously.” Alana opened the door so the other girls could look in.
“It’s...different,” Kristine tried to be diplomatic.
“I like it!” Cassy cried out, wandering in.
“You and your roses,” Jedia shook her head, “It just figures.”
“Well, it’s supposed to be romantic,” Starr pointed out. “At the very least it did accomplish that much.”
The girls eyed the rose patterned wallpaper and bedding against the white wicker furniture. “I can’t even begin to picture your father sleeping in here,” Jedia finally giggled.
“He threw a fit when he saw it but it’s really comfortable and after sleeping on it for one night he decided he could ignore what it looked like as long as he could get a good nights sleep,” Alana shut the door behind them. “You guys need to see the basement!”
Jedia, Kristine, Cassy, and Alana clamored down the stars, leaving Starr to walk more slowly behind them, studying the rooms and halls they had ran through. She and Alana’s mother had spent an entire afternoon, years earlier, redesigning the cabin for when it would come into the family. They had pasted pictures into a notebook that Starr was sure had been lost in the years between.
There were so many similarities between the fantasy cabin and the reality that Starr was shocked into silence. Livvy’s entire room was exactly how she had envisioned it from wallpaper samples and cut outs from the JC Penny’s catalogue. Her eyes shone with just as much pride as Alana’s had earlier. It wasn’t bad for a girl who was just going for a liberal arts degree at the community college.
Unlike the other girls, she had no idea of what she wanted to do with her life. Her only goal was to get away from her mother and from the suffocating small town life. “It turn out good.” Mrs. Johns came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I keep notebook, change some thing, leave other. You have good idea.”
“Thanks,” Starr murmured, looking up at the fake green vines wrapped around the eaves in the hallway.
“This your vacation, worry later,” Mrs. Johns gave her a playful shove. “Go have fun now.”
Starr smiled and made her way down the staircases into the basement where shouts of excitement engulfed her. “Starr you have to see this!” Kristine ran over to grab her and drag her around the corner where the other girls were standing around a pool table and a foosball table.
“It’s one of those three in one tables.” Alana flipped it open “Air hocky, foosball, and ping pong.”
“I take it your father put all this stuff down here to keep you all out of his hair,” Starr walked over to admire the stereo system tucked next to the big screen television. “This stuff had to cost a fortune!”
“The pool table has been here for ages but the rest of the stuff is brand new,” Alana unfolded the couch. “This is probably more comfortable then some of the beds in this place.”
Cassy threw herself down on it “I found my bed, where are the rest of you planning on sleeping?”
Jedia stuck her tongue out “Move over bed buddy,” She sat down. “Wow, this is nice!”
“It looks like we’re sharing Livvy’s room,” Starr dropped her arm on Kristine’s head. “Oops, sorry. I keep forgetting how short you are.”
Kristine stuck her tongue out “Vertically challenged, thank you very much,” She straightened her posture, trying to make her five foot two inches seem taller.
“Not all of us can beat the height average for women,” Jedia stood up next to her, crossing her arms over her chest
“Actually, none of you can,” Starr grinned.
“Shut up blondie,” Cassy sat up.
“It’s dirty blonde, thank you very much,” Starr shook her head and eyed the curls with disdain. “She’s the blondie.”
“Hey!” Jedia protested “I am not!”
“If you were any blonder, they would have overlooked the gender difference and put you in a boyband,” Starr pointed out.
“What are you saying about boybands?” Kristine asked, “How many CDs did we end up bringing with us?”
“I’ve got 9,” Starr grinned.
“I’ve got 7 here and some others I left at home because I knew Starr would be bringing them,” Jedia smiled sheepishly.
“I got rid of most of mine. I think I have two or three left,” Alana searched through the CD shelf, pulled out a case and blew the dust off of it. "Here’s my N’sync CD.”
“I just steal Starr’s,” Cassy shrugged.
“I just brought two with me,” Kristine started tossing a pool ball from hand to hand. “Guys, we’re just sad.”
“What’s wrong with admiring pretty faces?” Cassy asked
“Nothing for a little while,” Kristine admitted.
“Well, when you think about it, six years is only a little while in the grand scheme of things,” Starr smacked the side of her head, “Darn you philosophy!”
“Wanna see the best part of the room?” Alana asked
“What is it?” Cassy asked
Alana opened the small refrigerator that was tucked into a corner of the room and pulled out a few bottles of beer. “Anyone want a drink before we leave?”
“Alana, does your dad know you have that stuff down here?” Jedia asked as Cassy reached for one.
“Where the hell are they?” The girls heard Alana’s father upstairs. Alana grabbed the bottle back from Cassy and shoved them back in the fridge “We’re down here, Dad,” She called back.
“I’ll take that one as a no,” Starr muttered, “I thought she stopped drinking so much.”
“So did I,” Kristine turned away.
“Get your butts up here!” Mr. Johns shouted “We’re gettin’ outta here.”
The girls ran up the stairs and back out onto the porch. Maddy ran across the lawn, leaned down on his front paws before jumping up and barking. “Shuddup you stupid dog,” Mr. Johns shouted, waving his hat at him. “Alana, control him!”
“How did he get up the porch if he doesn’t climb stairs?” Starr whispered.
“They’re double wide so they might not bother him as much,” Kristine shrugged it off and climbed back into the RV. “How far away is the campsite, Alana?”
“It’s about a twenty minute drive,” Alana plopped back down on one of the twin beds.
“Come on Maddy,” Starr called, “He’s allowed in the RV, right?”
“Yeah, as long as we can keep him back here with us. Dad is getting sick of him in the truck,” Alana looked down at him and with a sigh, started to scratch his head, “Stupid dog doesn’t ever stop barking.”
It was another hour before they had the campsite set up with the RV and pop up camper surrounding the campfire that Mr. Johns had coaxed to life. “I claim one of the beds!” Alana shouted.
“I’ll sleep over the cab,” Starr offered.
“Then I want the other bed,” Cassy put in, “My parents have an RV like this and those table and cab beds hurt my back.”
“Which one do you want?” Kristine asked Jedia.
“I’ll take the table bed. I’m shorter than you are so it won’t be as tight a squeeze for me. That bed really isn’t good for more than one person anyways,” Jedia flashed her dimples.
“Looks like we’ll be bunking together the entire time,” Kristine turned to Starr.
“Awww…darn,” Starr scuffed her shoe. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather share with Alana’s parents?”
“You dork,” Kristine gave her a shove. The dog ran around them in circles, barking excitedly.
“Don’t push her,” Alana warned “Maddy has this thing where he assumes anyone fighting with someone else is automatically the bad guy. He’s kinda overprotective of Starr anyways.”
“I drove to the shelter with them,” Starr climbed up into the bed and dangled her head down. “We bonded while Alana drove home.”
“Okay, so now what are we going to do?” Cassy asked.
“Go get groceries!” Alana’s parents shouted.
“Guess that answers that one,” Alana grabbed her sneakers, “Come on and I’ll show you the town.”
The town of Wanakena, if it could even be called a town, wasn’t much more then the general store, an ice cream shop and a small souvenir stand that sold the craft items that the Adirondacks were known for. The wood carvings, stained glass pieces, and wind chimes weren’t what attracted the girls to the store. The small selection of jewelry drew them in and the penny candy jars drew cries of delight.
“N’er ‘ind gettin’ old.” Jedia said, happily sucking on a fire ball. “I can’t believe there are places that still do that.”
“Alana! Don’t snort the smarties!” Kristine exclaimed, “Starr, can’t you get her to stop?”
“Wha?” Starr turned away from where she was admiring her dream catcher earrings in the side mirror of a car parked on the side of the road. “Didn’t we stop doing that in elementary school?”
“I never tried it before. How bad could it be?” Alana crushed a yellow smartie in her hand and then sniffed the powder. “Holy fu-” She coughed, her eyes tearing up. “Why do kids do that in the first place? That stuff burns!”
“Idiot,” Kristine said affectionately “Let’s get these groceries back to camp.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is a very long, very drawn out fanfic. This story started back 1998-1999 and we thought it was finished after we left high school. It was until we went to the concert this summer and I had the urge to rewrite it from the beginning to fix our horrible high school writing skills. The boys aren't coming in until chapter 3 but the first two are still good to read if you care about the story beyond the boys.
