chapter four: In the Basement "Finally... I feel clean!" Tate chirped as she headed down the basment stairs, still dabbing at her hair with a white towel. "Haha, yeah. Finally!" Sighing, Tate and Joey plopped down on the couch and clicked on the TV. "So what's this show I've been missing out on?" Joey asked her friend curiously. "The one B and the boys have been doing as their summer job." "You wanna see some of it? Hold on, let me call my slave down here." "Your slave..? Ohhh, you mean your boyfriend!" Tate laughed. "Well, for now he's my slave because of his apalling behavior down by the swings. Check it out--" Tate pointed to a few scratches beneath her left eye, and a few on her wrist and hands. "I got those from him when he pushed me off the swing." Joey giggled. "You poor, poor thing." Tate nodded before turning about in her spot on the couch. "BRENDAN!" A few seconds, and they could hear the basement door opening. "What!" he called from the top of the stairs. "Could you go fetch a BLS tape, pretty please?" "Okay." "And bring back a pint of ice cream on your way back, too!" "You want fries with that?" Brendan answered. "Well," Tate began, grinning at a still-giggly Joey, "if you can manage it. Fries and ice cream are quite a good combination." "All right," Brendan sighed. "I'm on it." "Cute," Joey remarked. "You guys are cute together. I'm going to have to start calling you Tater-Tot and Brench Fry from now on. And it fits because you both are couch potatoes." "We're the Spud Couple," Tate laughed. "And if you say it just right, it sounds like the 'Odd Couple'." Joey smirked. "That's right. Spud Couple! If you two were a restaurant, you'd have tater-tots on brench fries on your menu." "Okay... enough of that," Tate said with a grin. "Bernie should be back any minute now." And, indeed, he was. "Here you are--a BLS tape and two pints of Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough. Enjoy." Brendan turned around to leave, but Tate whined, "Where are my fries?" With a sheepish grin and scratch of his head, he replied, "I got hungry on the way back... Sorry." He turned around again and Joey said, "You're not going to watch the tape with us and give us a Director's Commentary?" "Man, you two sure are demanding. And I'll have to live with both of you in the same house till Tuesday. I've already lost a great chunk of sanity, and it's only Friday, too!" "Oh, sob," Tate said teasingly. "Now sit down so we can pop in the tape and eat ice cream by the bucket like the pigs we are." Brendan couldn't help but grin and gladly do as he was told. He took the non-existant spot between Tate and Joey, who were forced to skooch over a bit so he could sit down properly. It was just twelve minutes past midnight, and they had gone through about three and a half tapes by then. Brendan was already fast asleep, having done so in the middle of his Director's Commentary after only two episodes. "They're a bunch of funny guys!" Joey said happily, watching the scene were Kevin and Ryan were playing two-on-one with Brendan, yet stuck wearing the same shirt. "Yeah, I know... It's been a blast growing up with them, too." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hello?" "Hi, Mrs. Leonard!" "Hello. Who is this?" Mrs. Leonard replied, whilst pouring herself a mug of coffee. "Mrs.  Leonard, it's Ryan!" "Oh, Ryan!.. Ryan?" "Yeah, Ryan Turner! How can you NOT know my voice, Mrs. L? I've been coming to your house since God-knows-when and you still cannot recognize my voice? Crazy! Now, Mrs. Leonard, I think you--" "BRENDAN!!" Mrs. Leonard called urgently, holding the phone away from her ear, Ryan still blabbing away on the other end. "Phone, sweetie!" Patiently, having finished his speech, Ryan waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, he couldn't take much more silence and said into the receiver, "Mrs. Leonard? You still there?" "Ryan, it's 7:28 in the morning. Whaddya want?" "Oh, hello, Brendan!" Ryan grinned gleefully as he heard his friend yawning quite loudly. "What is it, Ryan?" "What, I can't call up my best bud?" "Not at seven on a Saturday morning!" "Well, aren't you a Grumpy Gus in the morning." "Yeah, well, you're a Hyper Henry." "It's these new chips, man." Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, Brendan sighed. "What's up." "Not much... put Tate on the phone! I want to wish her a good morning, too." "She's sleeping. Which is what I should be doing right now." "Well, wake her up!" "No." "Whyyy?" "Because I'm her slave as it is. And she is VERY demanding." "Well... you shouldn't have pushed her off the swings. That's rule one in the Dating Handbook." "Then what's Rule Number Two?" A pause. Ryan seemed to be thinking... that, or he had abandoned the phone for the time being. But, he answered within a few seconds. "Don't ever wear her high heels." "Why would anyone do that in the first place?" "Yeah. Why would they, BRENDAN?" Annoyed, weary, and desperate for sleep, Brendan placed the cordless on Joey's shoulder, so that it was resting by her ear. Relieved, Brendan closed his eyes again, dropping his head against Tate's. As Brendan drifted off, Joey's eyes opened at the sound of meaningless chatter blaring in her right ear. "Hello?" she mumbled sleepily, getting up from the couch and stretching. "FINALLY!" "Uh, who is this?" Joey asked, a brow raised. "Who's THIS?" "Oh, hi, Randall." "Hi, Janice." "Ryan's still on the phone?" Mrs. Leonard said incredulously as Joey appeared in the kitchen, the phone against her ear still. Drowsily, she blinked and nodded. Mrs. Leonard simply laughed and went back to skimming the newspaper. "Brendan and Tate still sleepin'?" Ryan asked. "Mmm, yeah." "Well, they're not being good hosts, are they?" "Is there a right or wrong answer to that?" Joey answered, chuckling lightly. "Nevermind that. I'd be a MUCH better host. Get dressed, and I'll be over in a few. We are going all over town! And what's more, we're going to leave Brendan and Tate a ransom note, give them directions, and have them unkowingly meet up with us someplace. Are you up for it?" "Sounds like fun," Joey laughed. "Oookay. Gottagobye!" Grinning, she bid him farewell and clicked the phone off. "Ryan's coming over, but don't tell B and T," she whispered to Mrs. Leonard. "Is he staying here as well? We might as well transform our home into a motel!" Mrs. Leonard replied. "Nah, he's just going to show me around Winnetka. But, we're leaving a note for Brendan and Tate to come and meet up with us. Only, it's a ransom note." Mrs. Leonard smiled. "Good thing Brendan will have Tate with him. He's not the greatest at riddles and puzzles and such. Have a good time!"