Chapter 1

It was a chilly 50 degree December day as the Rocket Power Gang was anxious to get out class and on winter recess. Mrs. Shoop again was lecturing the sixth grade science class on the anatomy of frogs. As usual Twister and Otto were dead asleep as the lecture went on, while Sam was anxious on every word she had to say. Meanwhile, Reggie was in art class, molding pottery. She intended to give it as a gift to Ray, because it reminded him of his deceased wife. The bell rang, which awoke Twister and Otto up. Twister and Otto yelled “YES!!!! Christmas vacation is here, finally!!!!
Reggie met up with the gang as they were biking home. Twister was starting to itch his arm, worried that he had a rash. Otto teased Twister about this and he said “Awww… does Twisty have a little rash?” The gang never forgot about the fire ant prank the giant monkeys pulled on him, namely Laura and Aaron. Reggie started to ask everyone what present they wanted for Christmas. Otto replied “A skateboard! Mine is broken in half. I need a new one!” Sam responded, “How about a computer game?” Otto said “Why, cause you’re a computer nerd?” Sam ignored this. Reggie asked Twister “How about you Twist, what do you want?” Twister replied, “You may laugh at me for this…but I want a puppy!” Sam and Otto just laughed. Then Sam said “Seriously, you lost one, why would your parents spend $800 to get another one?”

Reggie said to Sam that Twister missed his puppy real bad when he was five years old and has cried about it every night since then. The gang got to Ray’s house and Reggie hand tossed each of the guys a Coca-Cola 20 ounce soda. Ray said “Reggie and Otto, you have a message. Listen to it.” Reggie and Otto raced to the telephone in excitement. BEEP! “This is Aaron and Laura, and we’re coming to Ocean Shores! We’ll be there the next morning. And Laura says “Twister, let me take care of that rash!” The gang just laughed again. That was too funny not to pass up! Twister was embarrassed and furious about it, “STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!” Reggie said, “Come on guys, we have to go to Mad Town and the movies! I heard they had Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in theaters right now!” Otto loved Lord of the Rings, especially Aragorn, the sword slashing hero who would save Middle Earth from evil. He did an imitation of him on Sammy, who was hiding underneath the couch.

“You’re such a Squid!” remarked Otto. Ray said “Have a fun time, and I’ll be there to pick you up at 10 pm, and here’s $40 to get you guys snacks at the movies! The gang immediately biked over to Mad Town and Twister had his camera with him.” Look at me go, I’m going to save Middle Earth with my great skateboarding skills!” Otto exclaimed. Twister: “Yeah! A Super McTwist 540 followed by a 5050 grind! You the Man, Otto!” Otto said “Thank you, please no autographs!” Reggie told Rocket Boy to get real. He was no superhero, but Reggie was staring at Twister as if he was Legolas, the handsome archer in the movie. She looked at him as if he was her knight in shining armor. “Reggie, you’re up!” said Twister! “Who me?” “Yes you!” Twister filmed Reggie as she was about to do a 360 Right Spin, but wiped out! Reggie’s concentration was basically on Twister.

“Let’s get out of here, it’s time for the movies!” Sammy exclaimed. “I want popcorn!” Otto said “With extra butter too!” With that the two were at the Ortega theater waiting. Meanwhile, Reggie had just pinned Twister and was kissing Twister! Twister said “You love me?! I thought I was too stupid!” Reggie replied “You silly thing! I always liked you, but I have to say you are too cute not to love! Let’s go to the movies now! Obviously, Reggie wanted Twister to keep this a secret, otherwise Otto would blow it. Otto said “Where have you two been? It’s been about an hour in line!” Twister remarked “I was filming Reggie doing grinds in the bowl!” Otto: “For an hour?” Twister and Reggie nodded nervously “Yep.” Otto: “Okay, whatever, this is too weird.” Otto was unsuspecting of the kiss Reggie planted on Twister. The gang went in at about 6:40 pm, and ordered some popcorn and Freezie Freezes and a few Pepsi’s. The movie started, and already Twister was burping his large Pepsi. “Keep it down, Twister!” Sammy said. Twister burped again. Reggie just had to snicker a little. Twister was cute, but immature at the same time.

She figured that has immaturity had something to do with being lonely. It had to do with the puppy, she thought. Without anyone around him, he would tend to be isolated and act up in order to be noticed. Regardless, the gang almost got kicked out. Twister just let out a big fart. Otto: “Gross! Who was that?!” Reggie lied, “It was me.” Twister let out a sigh of relief. Reggie did love him for sticking up for him. Maybe he thought, if he acted a little more mature she’d love him even more.

The movie lasted straight until 10. Reggie and Twister had to go to the bathroom before they left. Otto and Sam waited outside. Sam said “Wait Twister, that’s the…” Too late. Twister went into the women’s bathroom and did his business. Reggie noticed this and said “Twister, you are in the wrong bathroom, silly!” Twister blushed in embarrassment. Another stupid thing he did, but Reggie kissed him again. Otto was just laughing because
Twister went into the bathroom “Here, Twister, let me get your purse for you!” The gang was laughing. Twister had to laugh too. That was pretty silly. Ray picked the gang up and went over to Ray’s house for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a great day!

TO BE CONTINUED….

Chapter 2

The next day, the gang waited at the Ocean Shores Airport for Aaron and Laura's flight. "I can't wait for Aaron and Laura to come," said Sam. He sat deep down into his chair as he fiddled with his glasses.
"Me neither," said Otto. "I can't wait to take them to Mad Town and show them my Super McTwist 540!!"

"I dunno," said Reggie. "They may not be up to it. They may be tired, they had long flights. Especially Laura, since she's coming from the East Coast."
"I just don't want her and Aaron to prank us again," said Twister. "I'm still kind of itchy from the rash!"

"Here they are," said Ray as he saw Aaron and Laura stepped off the boarding gate. They looked a little tired, but not that bad.
"Hey guys," said Otto as they approached. He greeted them with hugs, as did the rest of the gang. When they finished their greetings, they headed to the luggage return.

"So how was the flight?" asked Squid, trying to make conversation.
"Long," said Laura. "Even though it was a stopover flight."

"What's that?" asked Twister as Sam chuckled under his breath.
"The plane stopped in Indianapolis, and I got on a plane there and so did Aaron," she said.

"Our seats were next to each other, too," said Aaron. "So we thought up ways to bag on you guys," he continued with a grin.
"NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" said Twister. "NOT THE GIANT MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!" He started to run until he got to the luggage belt. Not seeing it ahead of him, he tripped and fell right on top of it. He tried to step off, but it was going fast and it was going in that little place where no one can see it.

"Twister!" said Reggie as her hand flew over her mouth.

"Oh my God," said Ray as the gang ran towards the belt where Twister had disappeared.
"Those monkeys weren't real," said Laura randomly. Just then, a black suitcase with a Good Charlotte sticker on it came by, and she recognized it as her own. "That's mine," she said as she picked it up.

"I would have never guessed," Reggie said sarcastically.
"At that concert, your face was priceless," said Otto with a grin.

"I've never seen you blush so hard," said Sam. Just then, a blue suitcase with a Bulls sticker came out, and Aaron picked it up.
"Oh yeah, we got to go to that Bulls game," said Otto. "It's going to be a blast!"

"Well, that wasn't a blast!" said a voice. Twister was sitting on the moving luggage belt, which had returned to the front, and the gang busted out laughing at what they saw.
Twister had a big luggage tag hanging from his ear. "What's so funny?" he asked as he hopped off the luggage belt. Aaron pulled the tag off and showed it to Twister.

"How come everything happens to me?" asked Twister as he looked at Reggie, who was struggling not to laugh.
"Because," said Laura. Then she started singing, "You're jaded! Stupid and reckless......"

"Shut up," said Twister. "It's not funny!"
"Not as funny as you walking in the women's bathroom last night," said Otto as Aaron and Laura began to laugh.

"It was an accident!" said Twister as the gang continued to laugh. "So I'm not like that song!"
"All right, guys, let's go," said Ray. "So stop embarrassing each other and get going." With that, the gang all walked out of the airport.

******

That afternoon, after Laura and Aaron checked into the hotel, they both went to their rooms and unpacked. After doing so, they met in the lobby and headed to Mad Town, where they would meet the rest of the gang.
"Aaron!" Otto shouted as soon as they arrived. "I want to show you my Super McTwist 540!"

"Followed by a 5050 grind," added Twister, who had the Twist-Cam rolling.
"Let's see it," said Laura. With that, Otto hopped on his board and nailed the trick perfectly.

"Oh, you're a great crowd," said Otto when he finished.
"Otto Rocket, the skater with an ego bigger than a dinosaur," said Reggie sarcastically.

"I'll pretend that you're not jealous," said Otto as he stepped off the half pipe. For the rest of the day, Otto boasted as the rest of the gang skated.

******

That night, Reggie was working on an article for the 'Zine when she got a phone call. It was Twister, and he sounded frightened. "Twister, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Mom said that we were getting the Christmas tree this weekend, and Lars, he told me the truth about Santa!" said Twister with fear in his voice.

"Well, Twist, you had to find out sometime," said Reggie. "You'll get used to it."
"How can I get used to Santa coming down the chimney and stealing my underwear?!?" said Twister.

"What?" Reggie asked, confused.
"Lars said that every night on Christmas, Santa comes down your chimney, and steals your underwear! And that Mom and Dad really leave all the presents! I told him that I didn't believe him, but then he said, 'Where do you think all of your Schmoopy Woopy Bear boxers went?' and I looked and he was right!"

"Twister, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," said Reggie. "Lars is just messing with you!"
"Well I'm not taking any chances," said Twister. "I will prevent Santa from coming this year! I just got to find a way!"

"Twister, it sounds like you need some sleep," said Reggie.
"I am tired," Twister agreed. "Bye, I love you."

"Love you too," said Reggie as she and Twister hung up. She put a hand on her forehead.
Poor Twister, Lars was always messing with him, and there was no talking to him.

Meanwhile, Twister lie in his bed in thought. What Lars said had to be true. His Schmoopy Woopy Bear boxers did all of the sudden disappear. Well Santa couldn't have his boxers this year, Twister decided. But how could he keep Santa away? Well his mother always said that if you were bad, Santa wouldn't come. Suddenly, Twister was struck with an idea.............

TO BE CONTINUED.....................

Chapter 3

VRROOM!!!! Sandy and Raul heard a noise coming from Raul’s work room! “Maurice, what are you doing?” “I’m cutting the rug,” he said to his mother. Raul “MAURICE RODRIGUEZ!!!! You are in trouble!” He spanked Twister, a thing he’s never done since he was 4 years old. “You are NOT getting any presents from Santa!” Twister replied “I’m doing this because Lars told me that Santa would steal my underwear!” Raul replied “That’s such a lie, go to your room right now!” Twister then realized his brother fooled him again. He thought “Only if I could get him back…” Twister then said to himself he had an idea! He called Aaron! “This is Aaron! What do you want? Oh…you want me to do a prank on Lars? Raul and Sandy are going to be gone for the week? Great! I’ll do something so humiliating that he will stop messing with you!” Reggie heard the conversation “You really aren’t going to do this are you?” Aaron replied “Yes I am. And I’m sure Otto, Sam, and Laura are up to it. You want to come?”

Reggie replied “You’re 22 years old, Aaron, and this is a really childish thing to do. Aaron just snickered as if he was still eleven. “Hey, I still can have fun, can’t I?” Reggie groaned and left. Aaron went to the Rodriguez house alone, and offered Lars a soda. He drank it. What he didn’t know was that he put in a depressant in Lars’ soda. Lars fell asleep quickly. Aaron then went to the store to buy some rope and handcuffs and a few other useful items. Aaron snickered as he biked back to the Rodriquez house. Otto, Laura and Sam were there with Aaron. “Laura, you handcuff Lars, Otto take his pants off, and Sam, I’ll tell you when to do your thing, I’ll do my thing. Lars is still asleep? Good.” Otto took Lars’ pants off, while Laura handcuffed him down. Aaron opened a package of….diapers! Aaron put it on Lars’ butt then taped it to him. “Sam, tie him up!” He did so. “Twister come down here, and see your baby bro!” Twister was laughing so hard! The sedative wore off though, and Lars woke up. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? I LOOK LIKE A BABY!!!!!” Laura said “Shut up Lars!” as she put a bib on him. Otto “You treated Twister like crap, and now your punishment begins now!”

Aaron prepared some bottled milk and fed it to Lars. “This thing has laxatives in it, so it should work in a couple of minutes. Lars tried to resist, but Aaron was too strong and soon the milk went down Lars’ stomach. Lars said “Hey I have to go to the bathroom!” The gang just laughed and walked into the living room to watch a movie, “Home Alone.” Two hours later Twister noticed a nasty smell. He went into the kitchen to notice a bad smell. Lars had just pooped his diapers. “Ewww! You are such a baby! I’m not changing you!” Laura went in there and did the job, she cleaned Lars off, and untied him, but left the handcuffs on.

Laura remarked to Aaron “Aaron, that was a good prank, but that’s too much to do to Lars.” Lars crawled into the room bawling. “Twister! I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to be mean to you and this is TOO humiliating for me.” Otto said “Too bad, Lars. You deserve this for what you did to my buddy!” Laura and Aaron felt pity for Lars, so Laura un-handcuffed him. Lars went to the room to change into his boxers. Lars was just crying his eyes out. Twister went to his room to talk to him. Twister admitted, “Lars, I know you’re not a bad person, I just wanted a big brother who wouldn’t bully me around, this was my idea.” Lars wanted to whomp him, but he was shamed so badly that he hugged Twister tightly. Both of them came out and smiled together. It took something like Aaron’s prank to get them together. Pi, Sputz, and Animal saw this prank and laughed at him.

"You are a big baby, Lars!” they said. Lars got SO angry that he started to chase them, he was able to get Pi and he was clobbering Pi so bad that he left a black eye. “You punk!” Lars said. “I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!! GET OUT OF MY LIFE NOW!” Otto observed this “Wow, I never saw this side of Lars. Maybe he’s a good human.” Laura and Otto nodded. Lars sobbed and was on his knees. Lars realized he hanged with the wrong crowd. Laura consoled Lars and said “Lars, let’s go on a date.”
She hugged him hard and Lars was just reduced to tears. Laura actually loved Lars and felt bad for him. Lars said “I’ll pay for you.” Lars got dressed up in a tux and got ready for dinner with Laura.

Aaron called Reggie “You won’t believe this, but Laura is offering a date to Lars. The prank worked so well, that he whomped Pi bad.” Reggie said “I don’t agree with the prank, but I agree with the results. Let’s help Lars have a good holiday! He doesn’t have any friends anymore, but at least he has a girl.” Aaron nodded. Three hours later, they set up candles at the Shore Shack and Tito agreed to cook for them. Laura showered and dressed up. Ready Laura? You look so beautiful,” Lars said. She hugged and kissed Lars as Mrs. Stimpleton chauffeured them to the Shack. “Welcome to the Shore Shack! What can I get for you two?” “A burger, fries and a strawberry shake.” Laura said. Lars replied “Same here.” “You know, Laura. I heard Twister wanted a puppy. I don’t have all the money to buy it. Maybe Aaron has some too.” Laura agreed “Let’s get him a Lab, they are so cute, and besides I have one.” Lars was grabbing something out of his pocket “It’s my Good Charlotte CD, autographed by Benji, do you want it?” Laura was shocked. “I can’t take it, Lars. It’s yours. But thanks.” “Maybe I can make one, for you, Laura?” Laura grinned as they got their food. “Sure! Maybe we can get something special for Aaron too.” The two started eating as Reggie, Otto, and Aaron observed them. Reggie was just smiling at this scene and thought: Lars has a crush on Laura, and I think this is cute, maybe I should do something with Twister. Otto had other thoughts: “ I’m going to shred Mad-town! I really want to impress Aaron. He’s my bro.” Aaron thought to himself: I shouldn’t have done this to Lars, but if I didn’t, would this romance happen? Aaron thought this was a sweet moment. How long would this last though? Oh well, he thought, it was a good thing for now. Aaron just smiled.

TO BE CONTINUED…..





Chapter 4

That night, Laura headed into her hotel room. She got into her pajamas, simply black shorts and a Bart Simpson T-shirt, and she turned on the television. She channel flipped until she got to MTV, which surprisingly was showing a special on Good Charlotte. This was certainly a special event, since all MTV ever showed was rap and Real World or Road Rules. And Laura hated all three of them.
However, she couldn't concentrate much because she had thought about her night with Lars. It was sweet, and she had seen a side of Lars that she had never seen before. She saw his sweet, caring, sensitive side. She felt bad about the prank on Lars, even though she thought it was pretty funny. Except for the part where she had to change his diaper.

But what was next to come? Everything had happened so fast, and Laura, well she had practically no dating experience. The only boyfriend she had ever had was four years ago, and they went out for two weeks tops, and absolutely nothing had happened. Now, just in one night, she had gotten her first kiss and dressed up and had a "formal" date. Well, it was at the Shore Shack, so how formal could it get?
Laura wasn't sure whether this would work, because not only did she kind of like Benji Madden, but Lars lived in California, and she was from Virginia. How would a relationship that distant work? Also, Laura had no clue about having a boyfriend or anything, because of her lack of dating experience. She did like Lars a lot, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to date or anything like that. The thoughts whirling around in her head, she soon fell asleep.

******

The next day, the gang decided that they would do some Christmas shopping. They split up since they were getting gifts for each other, and agreed to meet at the food court at 3:00. Twister walked around the mall, and being Twister, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to be walking around the mall alone. He looked at the map and thought of what he could get for his friends. He could get Sam something involving computers, Otto something involving skateboards, Aaron something involving the Bulls, Lars something involving Rancid, his favorite band, and Laura something involving Good Charlotte. But what about Reggie? He had to get her something special. Something that showed his affection for her. He thought of where everything might be, and continued to look at the map. He spotted a red square that read "You Are Here".
"'You are here'", he read. "They still know that?? Cool!" He then saw Hot Topic on the map, and thought that there would be Rancid and GC stuff there. He headed over there, and his eyes grew wide at what he saw. It was a dark store, with a TON of black clothing with studs and spikes and chains, you name it. It was kind of scary looking, he noticed, as he walked around the store. He then spotted a jewelry section, and he saw Rancid and GC wristbands and belts. He picked them out for his brother and his new girlfriend, when someone who worked there came up to him.

"May I help you?" asked the guy.
"AHHHH!!!" Twister shrieked. The guy was dressed in black from head to toe, and had spiky green hair and a nose ring.

"You OK?" asked the guy.
"Did that hurt?" asked Twister, pointing to the nose ring.

"Not really," said the guy. "I got it done at Urban Exchange."
"Hmmm," Twister said to himself as the guy went back to work.

******

Twister went into Urban Exchange after shopping in Hot Topic. Maybe if I get a nose ring, Santa won't come to steal my underwear, he thought to himself. He walked in, and the clerk looked at him.
"May I help you?" she asked.


"Can I get a nose ring?" he asked.
"How old are you?" she asked.

"Uhhh," said Twister. He didn't know much, but he knew that you had to be at least 18 to get a piercing. "I'm 19. I didn't eat my vegetables. So I stopped growing."
"OK," the clerk simply said. She motioned for Twister to sit in a chair. He hopped up there and watched as the clerk got the nose ring ready. Twister felt a little nervous, but he sat still. This could possibly save his boxer shorts.

"OK, this might hurt a bit," said the lady. She took the piercing stud and leaned towards Twister, and Twister got nervous as it came closer and closer............
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Twister as he hopped up from the seat. He didn't care if this made him look bad, this was just too damn scary! He ran out of the store and through the mall, screaming like a baby. He kept running and running until he tripped over the step to the water fountain, and he fell right in. By now everyone within thirty feet of him was staring at him, sitting there in the wet fountain. They were pointing and laughing, and he was angry. Dammit, why do I keep tripping over stuff? This was worse than when he fell on the luggage belt at the airport. He stood up, and despite being as wet as a fish, he continued to shop.

******

Meanwhile, Lars went shopping. He knew what he was going to get for everyone, especially Laura. He was going to get her the Good Charlotte DVD, but he also wanted to give her something straight from his heart. She wasn't extremely feminine, she was kind of like Reggie, so jewelry and flowers were out. He really liked Laura, and was glad that she had asked him out after the gang humiliated the shit out of him. But he wasn't sure how much she liked him, because she seemed to be head-over-heels for Benji Madden. Maybe she just asked him out because she felt bad for him. But then again, maybe not. They did have stuff in common, they both loved Good Charlotte, Rancid, and Simple Plan, and they both were the oldest in the family, so they both had to deal with little siblings. Lars grinned as he thought about this. Maybe this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

TO BE CONTINUED...................



Chapter 5



Aaron thought to himself while he was in the mall “What should I get Laura?” He knew that Laura wasn’t a girl’s kind of girl. He kind of loved Laura, even though Lars had a crush on her. Aaron went into the Sam Goody to see if they had their latest CD. They didn’t. Just then, he saw a GC T-shirt that said “Torn Up” He knew Laura would love this for Christmas. So he busted out $20 to buy the shirt. Aaron also got a free GC ornament to hang on the Christmas tree. Laura would love this he thought!
Meanwhile, Twister was still humiliated that he tripped right into the fountain. He thought “Why do I do stupid stuff like this?!” Uh-oh, Pi and Sputz were coming his way! Pi spotted Twister and soon the two of them tackled Twister and were stealing his Christmas money! Twister screamed “HELP, HELP!” No one was near the area. Suddenly a tall figure jumped out and tackled Pi and Sputz and punched them into submission. It was…Lars?!
“You okay, bro?” Lars said. Twister tried to ask “Why…?” Lars replied “It was the right thing to do, but don’t get too cozy. As for you Pi and Sputz, if you don’t get out of here in 30 seconds, I’m going to whomp you all the way to China! GET OUT NOW!” Twister couldn’t believe what he was seeing, after that diaper prank Aaron pulled on Lars, he changed his attitude. They went shopping together seeing what they could get Reggie.

Then, Lars spotted a gold necklace with a diamond in it. It said: SALE- $200. Lars said to Twister “If we put our money together, we can buy this for her as a gift from us!” Twister said “Yeah, let’s do it!”
Two hours later, the whole gang met up again and Laura asked Twister “How’d you get so wet?” Twister said “I was going to get my nose pierced, then I screamed for my life and tripped into the fountain.” The gang just laughed at Twister. Otto teased Twister “Aaaw…you want me to call your mommy?” Reggie told Otto to lay off. Otto then remarked “Where’s Aaron?” Reggie said “He told me he was going back to Twister’s house that he was wiped.” Laura wanted to pull a prank on Aaron and had a great idea. Twister said “You’re not going to do the same thing that you did to Lars, right? All of them went “TWISTER!”
When the gang got home, Aaron was dead asleep on the couch. Laura started taking Aaron’s pants off, slowly pouring water on his front and Twister put whipped cream all over Aaron’s head. It kind of looked like Santa. Wait a minute, Twister though, maybe Aaron was the one that was going to steal his boxers! Then he ran in fear and went running up the stairs but tripped and fell back down. Laura and Reggie were just giggling at Twister. Reggie remarked “Twister, you are so naïve. Aaron’s not Santa and he’s not going to steal your boxers. Sheesh!” Suddenly, Aaron woke up.
“What’s so funny, guys?” he said. “Oh no, I wet myself.” “And why do I have Cool Whip all over my face?” Laura said “Aaron, you’re half right, you had Cool Whip on you face, but no you didn’t wet yourself, I took a bucket of warm water and slowly put it down your pants.” Otto just had to laugh at Aaron. “Serves you right for putting ice cream down my rear end!” Aaron blushed kind of hard. “I got to split.” he said.



He went over to the Humane Society of Ocean Shores and he saw a cute little puppy about 3 weeks old. It’s name was also Twister, because he saw his tail and chased after it in circles. “How much is the puppy?” $300?! He didn’t have that kind of money, but just then a familiar voice said “I’ll pay!” “Oh no you don’t!” Aaron snapped. He turned around and saw it was Laura! Aaron was so embarrassed! Twice in the same day he got humiliated. People were staring at him and laughing. Laura said to the people “Shut up, it’s not like any of you people ever did the same thing in public! Geez!” “Aaron, let’s do lunch, I have something to tell you. Oh, by the way, can you save the puppy until Christmas day.” The clerk said “Sure thing. A present, right?” “Right.” said Aaron.
T he two went to the nearest Wendy’s and ordered burgers, fries, and a Coke. Aaron asked “What’s up?” Laura frowned and said “It’s about Lars.” “What about him?” he said. “The truth is…I’m doing this because I felt bad for him. This relationship isn’t going to work out. He’s from California, I’m from Virginia.” Coincidentally, Lars was there too, and he overheard Laura. Just then, Lars stormed out and cried. He couldn’t believe he was used. Laura tried to chase after him, but it was too late. Lars had left. Laura was there in the parking lot crying. She had just hurt Lars’ feelings, but wanted to wait to tell him. She didn’t think that he would be there. What would happen next?
Lars then went into his own house crying and Twister wondered what was wrong, but Lars had just said “None of your business, dork! No one loves me! I just want to die. Just let me die.” He started cutting himself by the arm with a knife. Lars was trying to commit suicide. Aaron and Laura then rushed to the house to see what Lars was doing. Laura said “Lars, I’m sorry! Please don’t do this. I like you a lot.” Lars just said back crying “Do you have any *bleeping* idea what you did to me?! You crushed me. I don’t deserve a thing.” Laura then snatched the knife away from Lars. “This is stupid, Lars, you shouldn’t do this.” Lars just collapsed into more tears. Laura was there to hug him. Maybe I should love him or not? Laura thought to herself. This was a terrible dilemma she was in. She didn’t want to hurt Lars’ feelings, but yet realistically a distant relationship wouldn’t work out. What would she do?





TO BE CONTINUED…

Chapter 6

"C'mon Lars, let's go talk this out," said Laura when she and Lars separated from their hug. Laura looked down at Lars's arm, which was bleeding. "While we clean this up," she added.
"OK," Lars said weakly as they headed to the bathroom. Laura got a wet washcloth and put it on Lars's arm and told him to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. They did so, and sat on the side of the bathtub.

"Lars, I'm sorry," Laura said simply. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But you did," said Lars. "You used me."

"I know, I know," said Laura. "But I really didn't mean to. I just, well, I felt bad for you. Don't get me wrong, I like you a lot, but I don't like distant relationships."
"It's Benji, isn't it?" asked Lars. "You only want him."

"No," said Laura. "It's the distance thing, and the fact that I'm just not ready for a relationship. I'm really sorry."
"I guess you're right," said Lars. "It couldn't work."

"But we're still friends, that we can do," said Laura as she gave Lars a quick kiss on the cheek.
"How long do I have to hold this on?" asked Lars, tired of applying pressure to his hacked arm.

"Lift it up," said Laura. Lars did so, and the bleeding stopped. Laura took the washcloth and put it in the hamper. "You need to put some peroxide on that," she said. Lars opened the closet, and got the bottle and applied it on his arm with a cotton ball.
"Ah! It stings," he said as he threw the cotton ball away.

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have cut yourself," said Laura. "It serves no purpose."
"I wanted to die," said Lars quietly.

"That wouldn't have solved anything," said Laura. "As Joel Madden said, 'Life is something that nobody should give up on.' That's why they made the video for 'Hold On'"

"You've been watching that Good Charlotte video too much," said Lars with a grin as he and Laura headed out of the bathroom.
"It's Good Charlotte, what did you expect?" replied Laura.

**************

That night, the gang decided to forget about the day's events and have a Christmas special movie-thon. They sat on the couch in the Rocket house and watched a bunch of Christmas flicks, from Eight Crazy Nights (even though it was more about Hanukkah, but Laura loved Adam Sandler) to The Nightmare Before Christmas.
"I'm going to go make some popcorn," said Otto as he hopped up off the couch.

"Be careful that you don't run into Santa," said Twister with a hint of fear in his voice.
"For God's sake Twister," said Aaron. "Santa WON'T steal your underwear!"

"And it's not even Christmas Eve," said Sam. "Santa is still in the North Pole."
"That's what he wants you to think," said Twister. He stood up. "You have to be on your toes," he said as he stood on his tiptoes, then lost his balance and fell forward on his face.

"Twister!" said Reggie as Twister stood up off the floor. "You are such a dork!" said added with a grin on her face. Twister sauntered over and sat down next to her.
"If you two would get done, I'd like to watch the rest of this," said Lars as he continued to stare at the TV. They were watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, right at the part where the Boogie Kids kidnapped Santa.

"I hope they keep him there," said Twister. "That way he won't steal my underwear!"
"I was lying when I said that," said Lars. "Santa doesn't really do that."

"Well what you said about the Schmoopy Whoopy Bear boxers made sense," said Twister. Just then, the power went off!
"Reggie! Hold me!" screamed Twister as he threw his arms around Reggie.

"Chill, Twist, I'm sure the power will be back in a few minutes," she said. Just then, she felt something warm and oily poured on her head. "What the?!?" she asked.
"You felt it too?" asked Laura, who was putting a hand through the oil that was on top of her head.

"What is going on?" asked Aaron. Just then, he felt someone come up to him and he felt something being tossed around the room. It felt like.............popcorn? He grabbed the person behind him as Sam got up to turn the power switch back on. Aaron had the person in a headlock until the power came on 5 seconds later. It was Otto!
"Dude, let go of me!" said Otto as he struggled to get loose from the headlock. Aaron let him go, and looked around the room. He began to laugh, because everyone had pour-over butter and popcorn all over their heads. He looked at Otto, who was cracking up hysterically.

"Otto, you dork!" he said as he threw a pillow at him. It hit Otto right on the head, knocking his sunglasses off.
"I just couldn't resist!" said Otto in between laughs.

"I say we pin him to the ground," said Reggie with an evil smirk on her face. She, Twister, Laura, Lars, Sam, and Aaron all got up and cornered Otto. Aaron ran up to him and give him an atomic wedgie, and then Reggie pinned him on the ground. It didn't hurt, because Otto was laughing the whole time.
"OK, OK, I'm sorry!" Otto said while still cracking up, and the gang let him go.

"Well thanks to you, Otto, we all have to clean our hair to get the butter out!" said Reggie.

"Sorry," said Otto.
"So I guess we should head home," said Twister. "It's a good thing you took off my hat, 'cuz I would've killed you if you got butter on it!" he said to Otto.
How about this?" said Reggie. "We'll go in the bathroom one by one with towels around our necks, and Otto can clean our hair, since he got us into this mess!" And that's exactly what they did for the next hour. When Otto finished washing everyone's hair, they continued to watch the movies until they got tired. Then they rolled out their sleeping bags and began to go to sleep, but were awakened by a voice.

"What if Santa is hiding in my sleeping bag?" Twister asked innocently.
"TWISTER!" everyone exclaimed.

"Just asking," said Twister. With that, the gang went to sleep.


TO BE CONTINUED...........





Chapter 7




Aaron went to shower off the popcorn residue while the gang was still sleeping. Laura woke up to the noise of Twister screaming. “What’s wrong?!” said Laura. Twister replied, “Someone stole my boxers!” Twister freaked out. Laura told to Twister to calm down. Twister now knew who it was. It was Lars. He went down to put a chokehold on Lars.
“Punk!” Lars was surprised as heck when Twister was on his back. “I didn’t steal your underwear!” The gang decided to investigate Lars’ room. Nothing was found, until Laura heard a familiar laugh. It was that jackass Matt from her high school class. “Good Charlotte sucks!” he said. Aaron and Lars gave chase to Matt and started to beat him up. Aaron remarked “What should we do with him?! Should we do the same thing we did to you, Lars?!” Lars elbowed Aaron “Don’t mention that in front of anybody!” “Sheesh! I was only kidding, Lars” he replied. Aaron interrogated Matt and he saw a bag. The bag had Twister’s boxers in it.
“Otto, you climb the tree, Reggie, tie Matt up! That boy stinks bad!” Aaron ordered. Laura threw the rope to Otto and he tied it to the trunk of the tree and Twister climbed up to assist Otto. Reggie first blindfolded him. Otto and Twister pulled up Matt in mid air. Matt said “What’s going on here?!” Laura took a plastic bat and started swinging at Matt’s butt. It started to sting badly. Aaron ordered Matt down, and started shaving his hair off. Just then, Sam heard the phone ring. He was still asleep inside until that moment. Sam yelled out to the people “Cassidy’s coming! Tomorrow she’s coming! And she’s got presents!” The gang decided to go to Mad Town.

Aaron, who really couldn’t skate worth a lick decided to film the gang. Aaron had never done that before in his life. He was enjoying it. “Hey, Aaron watch this!” Otto said. Otto promptly did the 900! Reggie did a grind on the half pipe. Twister was busy skating the blocks until he saw Santa. Twister ran in fear “He’s going to steal my underwear!” Laura said “TWISTER! Watch out!” Twister slammed face first into the wall and was knocked out cold for a good half an hour.
“You are so stupid, you’re jaded!” Laura laughed. “Shut up!” laughed Twister. Where’s Sam?! Everyone wondered where he was. Suddenly, a large fart came from Otto and Aaron’s butt. “BUST!!!”
Sam was laughing hard and kicking. Otto had to laugh, but went after Sammy and gave him noogies for his troubles. Afterwards, Sam went to the mall to do his shopping alone. Reggie was worried for Sammy because there were a lot of muggings lately at the malls, especially the one with Twister by Pi and Sputz.


Sam got Aaron NBA Live 2004 for the Gamecube, he knew how much Aaron loved video games. For Twister, he got him a mini camera for road trips. Reggie, Sam got her a locket. Laura was hard, but he got her a hat and an autograph GC guitar. Just then, he saw Benji Madden, who was in town for a week. Benji said “Hey sporto, you a GC fan?” Sam replied, “No, but I have a friend who is and she loves GC.” “What’s her name?” Sam said, “Laura’s her name.” Benji nodded. “Tell you what, you give me the location, and I’ll be there on Christmas Day.” “Thanks, I’ll be there.” Sam smiled, “Now for Otto.” He got Otto a Tony Hawk game, he knew how much Otto loved being with Tony Hawk.

Suddenly, outside of the mall, a dark figure jumped behind Sam. It was Matt. He started punching him down, even though Sam knew martial arts, he was overpowered quickly. Matt ran off with the bags “Haha, see you later, loser!” Matt dropped his jaw quickly. It was Lars to stop him. Even Sam was stunned. LARS?! Sam never thought Lars did that. Lars said to Matt “I suggest you give that back to Squid dork right now.” Matt said “I’m not scared of someone who got punched out by a five year old and wears diapers. Little baby!” Lars just exploded and punched Matt right in the mouth. Matt just laughed. “Pathetic, you only knocked out two teeth.” Matt punched Lars in the nose, and blood was dripping out of his nose. Matt was laughing hard. Lars wound up and punched him in the stomach and kicked him in the nuts. Lars had Matt in a hold he couldn’t get out of. Matt just cried and ran.

Lars picked up Sam and gave him the bags. “You ok, Squid?” “Yeah, thanks, Lars.” “I can’t wait for Cassidy,” said Lars. “Let’s go home, I’ll race you,” nudged Lars. They got their blades on and raced back. Sam lost badly, but he didn’t care. Lars seemed to befriend the person he tortured over the years. Lars seemed to care more about people that truly loved him, not thugs. Lars and Aaron seemed to becoming best friends. “Aaron, want to hang out, just you and me?” said Lars. Laura said “Go ahead, everything will be fine. Go to a movie. It’s on me.” Lars and Aaron chest bumped each other. Laura just exclaimed “Men.” She thought Lars and Aaron becoming best buddies was just a sweet idea. Lars was finally hanging out with someone who had an idea of what success is. Aaron wasn’t perfect either, he was selfish, until Laura made him see that there are better things in life than just yourself. It was the perfect friendship. Lars and Aaron just high-fived each other. Tomorrow, Cassidy was coming, and the gang was excited!


TO BE CONTINUED…..






Chapter 8

The next day, the gang awaited Cassidy at the airport. They sat in the chairs and waited and waited. The flight had probably been delayed, since it was Christmas Eve. The airport was very crowded with people awaiting traveling family members.
"It would have been nice if she had come earlier like you two," said Otto to Aaron and Laura.

"Not everybody can be as good as us," Laura quipped. "This is going to be awesome, because I've never met Cassidy face-to-face."
"You only talked to her online, right?" asked Aaron.

"Yup," said Laura.
"We should prank her," said Twister.

"I dunno," said Reggie. "She's been going through a lot lately. She's been sick, her sister and her aunt died, she needs to relax."
"Maybe we could go light on her," Lars suggested. "Just do a little something."

"What do you have in mind?" Reggie asked Twister.
"I don’t know," said Twister. "I don't know how to think." Reggie put a hand on her forehead as there was an interruption over the intercom, announcing that Cassidy's flight had arrived. The gang stood up and headed towards the gate, and awaited their friend.

"Hey Cassidy!" said Aaron as she came, greeting her with a hug.
"Hey Cassidy!" said Laura.

"Hey Laura," said Cassidy. "Well this is the first time we've seen each other in person."
"Yeah," said Laura. "Now that you've seen me in person, you kind of regret it," she joked as the gang laughed. They headed over to the luggage claim and saw a guy dressed up like Santa Claus, greeting all the little children getting off the planes.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Twister. "HE'S GONNA STEAL MY BOXERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He ran through the airport, Cassidy staring at him.

"It's a long story," Reggie said to Cassidy. Just then, Twister tripped over the luggage belt AGAIN and his shorts got caught on a hook. They ripped off, Twister's Schmoopy Woopy Bear boxers exposed to the world as he fell on the belt and went back in the area where no one can see that puts the tags on the luggage.
"What's his prob?" Cassidy asked, laughing.

"I told him that Santa comes down the chimney and steals your boxers on Christmas Eve," said Lars.
"Why'd you tell him that? That was mean," said Cassidy. Cassidy was a very nice person with a good heart, and not a mean bone in her body.

"Because I was a jerk," said Lars. "But I learned from these guys to be a better person," he continued, grinning at the gang.
"He beat up this kid, Matt, who makes fun of me on the bus," said Laura, smiling.

"Why does he make fun of you?" asked Cassidy.
"Because I love Good Charlotte," said Laura.

"That's dumb," said Cassidy. Just then, her suitcase came up on the luggage belt. She walked over to it, and picked it up. Just then, Twister came back, still sitting on the belt. He had a tag on his ear AGAIN, and he took it off. He hopped off the luggage belt and stood up. Everyone was staring at him and giggling, and he had no clue why.
"What's everyone laughing at?" he asked.

"Look down," said Laura as she bit her bottom lip in attempt to stop laughing. Twister did so, and his eyes grew wide.
"I see," he said. "This is the beginning of Santa's evil plan. DAMN YOU, SANTA!" he began to scream. Everyone in the airport heard him, including the guy dressed up like Santa, and stared at him.


"You better watch out!" said the guy dressed up like Santa.
"Ha! Now I'm too naughty for you to come and steal my boxers!" Twister continued to scream. Reggie walked over to him in embarrassment and put her hand over his mouth. Mortified, the gang dragged him out of the airport.

************

The rest of the afternoon, the gang had simply hung out and caught up on each other. Each one of them thought of a small prank they could pull on Cassidy, one that wouldn't hurt her too much. Just then, Aaron grinned and thought of an idea. That night, they crashed at Raymundo's house. They sat on their sleeping bags as they watched South Park, and since Cassidy was tired, she was the first to fall asleep. Since she was the guest, they let her sleep on the couch. Aaron whispered his plan to Otto, who grinned. Otto walked into the kitchen, and came out with a spray can of cheese.
Otto snuck over to the couch, and looked at Cassidy's slippers, which were by the couch. He sprayed the cheese into them, and wedged it in there so that she couldn't see it. The gang snickered. Otto put the spray can back in the kitchen and the gang resumed to watching South Park. After it went on, Reggie changed the channel to Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the gang watched that. Just then, Cassidy woke up.

"OK, now I'm ready to stay up all night," she joked as she slipped her feet into her slippers. She felt something gushy and gross, and she took off her slipper.
"Why is there cheese in my slippers?" she asked with a grin on her face. "It was Aaron and Laura, huh?"

"Actually, it was Otto," said Twister.
"Why'd you think it was us?" Aaron asked.

"Because your little pranks with the monkey suits at Halloween made the national headlines!" she said. Laura and Aaron looked at each other and busted out laughing.
"Oh damn," said Laura. The gang laughed, then resumed to watching Whose Line. After it went off, they had gotten tired, so they decided to go to bed and await the big day. Sam lied in his sleeping bag, excited that Benji would come over. He knew how much Laura idolized him, she would be so psyched! And Aaron, he would love his video game. Aaron lived and breathed for video games, they were the perfect gift for Aaron. Just then, he fell asleep.

******************

The next morning, the gang woke up and saw a big pile of presents under the Christmas tree.
"DIVE IN!" said Aaron as they headed towards the tree. But before any of them could open a present, they heard the doorbell ring. Reggie and Laura headed to the door to answer it. Reggie's jaw dropped at who she saw. She looked a Laura, whose jaw was also dropped, and her cheeks were crimson red.

TO BE CONTINUED............


Chapter 9




It was Benji…and he had a friend with him too! Benji said “Hello guys! Twister, I believe this is for you!” It was a puppy! The puppy jumped right onto Twister and started licking him in the face! “Now I have a puppy!” Twister said. “Take that, Santa! You didn’t steal my boxers this year!” Reggie just shook her head. Twister had royally embarrassed her at the airport yesterday.
Benji stared right at Cassidy “I know you had a rough holiday, but please come out in back for a surprise. Look under the tree in the backyard.” Cassidy did as she was told. She gasped with what she saw! Keys! Then, she went to the front yard to see a 2003 Mercedes BMW. Cassidy just shed some tears of joy. She hugged Benji and just would not let go. “For Laura, right now, go inside. Look under the couch!” Laura did what she was told to do. She uncovered the couch to find at least 8 or 9 tickets to a Good Charlotte concert in Chicago. That wasn’t the end of it! Aaron also learned that his friends after the concert in the afternoon would get frontcourt seats to a Bulls game. They would also get $1,000 in shopping money!
Now everyone went to the tree and started opening their presents. Laura just gasped when she saw a necklace from Twister and Lars. “That was so sweet!” Laura just cried. Laura gave Lars her present to her. Lars shuddered. Laura just laughed “It’s ok, we’re not going to dress you like a baby again.” Inside was an autographed and framed poster from Shaffika, the famous artist who wrote “Get Dancing.” Lars just went crazy! “Get dancing, get dancing!” Twister did the same. The gang was just laughing. Otto was just pounding his fist, because it was hilarious.




Otto opened up his gift from Aaron. It was a new skateboard, autographed by Tony Hawk himself. Twister opened his present to find out that he got a new Panasonic camera from Sam. The Squid opened his as well to find…*SPLAT!* A cream pie just hit Sam in the face. Aaron was just laughing out loud. That was his idea, but the present was from Laura…a bunch of computer games. Sam just cleaned himself off and threw the remains of the cream pie on Aaron. He deserved it! Laura opened her gift from Aaron and just hugged him tightly until he turned red in the face! Yes, it was total chaos in the Rodriguez house….until…Twister’s mom and dad came in! Raul just said “Twister you’re grounded until…” The gang just decided to tie him up to a chair and leave him there as well as Twister’s mom! They weren’t going to ruin Christmas Day! They were having too much fun for that. Twister took a can of whipped cream and sprayed it on his parents. Lars did the same. The brothers were just having too much fun to realize how much trouble they’d be in after. Twister said to his parents “So you’re the ones who stole my boxers! I guess I’m so naughty now that you can’t do that anymore!” Lars just sighed and thought it would be best if he said nothing at all.
The gang then decided it was warm enough to go surfing for about an hour. Twister got his blades on and started blading towards the beach, but tripped started rolling down the hill. Reggie’s eyes just got all big and said “TWISTER!” Luckily, there were no cars around, since everyone was home for Christmas Day. Twister eventually landed up in the bushes, spitting up branches. Otto was just laughing “Hey, you look all green. Want me to water you?” Twister just had to laugh at that. Twister may be clumsy, but he’s sure as heck funny!
Then, it was time to get onto the plane to Chicago from Ocean Shores. The gang was watching a movie called “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Twister just let out a big fart, as well as Otto did. They just stunk up the place. Laura just said “Want me to change them, Aaron?” Aaron just laughed “No, let’s just let them have a rash.” They of course were kidding, but all of the people were just laughing at Otto and Twister. Lars really didn’t laugh though, because he knew what it was like to get the shit humiliated out of. He just sat back and ate his popcorn. Meanwhile Benji was with Laura “Surprised, Laura? I hope this makes it a great Christmas.” “It did, thanks Benji.” Laura just hugged him to death. Everyone now knew if Laura hugged you, it would make you at least turn blue and gasping for air. As for Sammy, he was too busy on his laptop doing games. Nerd kind of stuff.






The gang landed in Chicago and decided to have a bite to eat. Aaron said “I know this place where they make great pizza! It’s called Giordano’s! They make the greatest stuffed pizza.” “It’s all on me guys!” The gang went inside and all of them ordered their pizzas. They had cokes with their pizza. Uncharacteristically, Reggie just let out a big burp. So did Laura. It wasn’t always the boys that had bad manners. They sure did like to pass some gas! Otto remarked, “Did you brush your teeth today? Whew! It stinks bad!”
Then, a limo awaited the gang for the concert. Laura was just so excited! This was either her third or fourth GC concert. She knew Aaron would just love GC. Aaron really never had an interest in music, but decided to adopt GC as his favorite band, just for Laura. Just then, Laura threw a shirt to Aaron “Put it on, it looks good on you, Aaron.” He did so. “Aaron, you are the sweetest friend I could ever have.” She hugged him. Everyone just stood there and said “Aww!” “It’s not like you guys ever hugged anyone, so shut up!” Aaron said. The gang just had to laugh.
The concert lasted about 3 or 4 hours. Laura said to Aaron “Wasn’t that great?” Aaron said “What?!” Otto said to Aaron “She said ‘Wasn’t that great?’” Sammy made an observation “Maybe he’s deaf from the loud music.” Twister said “Either that, or he can’t hear things.” The gang just said “Duh!” Twister always had a way of saying something stupid. Cassidy randomly said “I love pink elephants!” Cassidy, too was pretty much random with what she had to say. It was so funny, Aaron just burst out in laughter like an 11 year old on the ground.

Then, it was on to the Bulls game. The crew had front row seats and were special guests for the Bulls that night. They had their autographs taken at center court before the game. Twister had to go to the bathroom at half time. A sign said “I am here. How do they keep knowing this? Is it some kind of secret?” Just then, a costumed gorilla came up to him. Twister screamed “Giant monkey! AHHHHHH!!! Invasion!” Just then, the screen on the scoreboard showed Twister running away from the masked monkey! The crowd was just laughing. Reggie just shook her head and thought “When will he get it?”

It was time to go home for everyone. Aaron got picked up by his brother. Cassidy flew back to Virginia with Laura and the others went to Ocean Shores. There was definitely a special bond between everyone. This was the true meaning of Christmas. Not the presents everyone got or the perks. Just spending the time with the ones you truly love and care for. Someday, they would meet up again and it would be…well, just magical again.

THE END