Waking Up in Vegas

Chapter 3

“Oh my God!” Carly cried, dropping the two aspirins onto the floor. She studied the band on her finger. “No…no no no no no no no.” she mumbled, completely panicked. She slipped it off and studied it in the light. It appeared to be real gold, though she didn’t know much about gold to begin with. She placed it back on her finger so she wouldn’t lose it and began searching through the apartment frantically for some evidence as to what happened the night before. She froze when she saw a professional-looking folder sitting on the wooden and glass coffee table in the middle of the living room. She picked it up with a shaking hand and opened it. She pulled out the stack of papers inside and sank down onto the couch once she saw the contents. It was a marriage certificate, signed rather sloppily by both herself and Ross. Attached was a photo of the two of them, plus Rocky, Riker, Ellington, and Nichole, smiling happily with an Elvis impersonator inside of a cheap-looking wedding chapel. They all looked completely trashed. “No way.” She mumbled. “This can’t be happening!” she cried. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth, remembering that Ross was still asleep in the bedroom. She suddenly felt a strong feeling of panic overtake her. She had absolutely no idea where Nichole was. She sat back against the couch and began frantically racking her brain, trying to remember any small details about the night before. She remembered doing shots with the guys. She remembered spending a lot of time with Ross. Around 1:00 in the morning, they had all left the casino. That was the last clear memory she had. The rest was just bits and pieces. A limo, a hot tub…at one point she believed they had been on the rooftop of someplace. But she had absolutely no memories of being in a wedding chapel, or anyplace that even remotely looked like a wedding chapel. The hot tub would explain Ross’s swimtrunks. She quickly stood up and jogged back into the bedroom. She quickly pulled the blankets back and gently felt the hem of Ross’s trunks. Maybe if they were still wet she could determine at what point they’d been in or near a hot tub. It might be one step closer to piecing together what happened. She frowned when she realized that the fabric was completely dry. She was no closer to figuring out anything about the night before. Ross stirred and groggily opened his eyes. He quickly sat up when he saw Carly standing over him. “Carly! What are you doing in my suite??” he asked. She groaned. Clearly he wasn’t going to be any help in determining how the previous night had gone. “I woke up in here.” She said pointedly. A look of remorse and guilt quickly overtook the look of confusion on his face. “Wait, did we…?” he asked, trailing off. She shook her head. “I honestly have no idea.” She admitted. She sat down on the bed next to him. “I mean I had clothes on when I woke up but…I can’t remember ANYTHING from last night.” Ross nodded as he stood up, “I don’t either.” He turned to face her. “Where are the guys??” he asked frantically. She threw her hands up in the air. “I have no idea! I don’t know where Nichole is either!” Ross groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He froze and quickly lifted left hand up to his face. “Oh my God!” he cried. He also had a band on his ring finger. Carly sighed and held out her left hand as well. “Yeah, one step ahead of you.” She mumbled. He took her hand in his and pulled it upwards so he could get a good look at the band. “Hey, hey, my body is still attached.” She grumbled. She stood up so he could get a better look. He ran his fingers over the thin band. “This isn’t happening.” He said quietly. They both jumped when they heard the front door slam. “Ross please tell me you’re in here!” Riker’s voice echoed down the hallway. “In here!” Ross called. Riker and Rocky immediately appeared in the bedroom doorway. “Thank God.” Riker breathed. “Mom would kill me if I lost you in Vegas.” Carly snapped her head over to look at Ross. “Mom??” she asked. “How old are you ??” she demanded. Ross looked down sheepishly. “Ummm…I’m 18.” He admitted. Carly’s jaw dropped. “Eighteen?!” She ran her fingers through her hair and tugged at the ends in frustration. “Oh my God!” she cried again, sitting down on the bed. She buried her face in her hands. Riker looked at Ross curiously. Ross wordlessly extended his left hand towards his brothers. “Oh my God.” Rocky groaned. “You’re joking.” Riker said in disbelief. Carly extended her hand as well. “Not kidding.” She muttered. She lifted her head to look at the three boys again. “Wait…how old are you Carly?” Riker asked. Carly felt her cheeks go pink. “I’m 21.” She said flatly. She stood up and turned to face Ross. “What is an 18 year old CHILD doing in Vegas??” she demanded. Ross glared up at Carly wordlessly. She whirled around and turned to Rocky and Riker. “Are you all 18??” Riker shook his head. “Calm down, I’m 22 and Ellington is 21. We just brought the younger boys along for a little weekend fun.” He said, attempting to calm her down. Rocky raised his hand hesitantly. “I’m 19.” He said quietly. “I don’t care!” she snapped. She turned to face Ross once again. “How did you guys even get in??” she asked incredulously. Riker sighed. “I might have gotten fake IDs for Rocky and Ross.” He admitted. She turned back to him. The constant turning from Ross to Riker was making her headache a thousand times worse. “That’s the most irresponsible thing I have ever heard! You’re his older brother! Shouldn’t you be setting an example??” she scolded. Riker looked down at his feet. “Who let the fun police into Vegas?” Ross muttered. Carly turned slowly to look at him. “Apparently the same person who let in a child.” She snapped. Ross wordlessly stood up and stormed out of the room. Carly sank down on the bed and looked up at Riker. “Have you seen Nichole?” she asked tiredly. Riker nodded. “She and Ellington are still asleep. We all woke up in what I’m assuming is yours and Nichole’s suite.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” She said quietly. Riker sat down on the bed next to her. “I think we should head home early. Ross and Carly are obviously going to have to get this marriage reversed, or whatever it is that they do for idiots who got drunk and married in Vegas.” “Annulled.” Carly piped up quietly. Riker nodded. “Yeah, that. And we’re going to need mom and dad’s help to figure out how to go about doing it.” Carly nodded. “Where do you guys live?” she asked. “Los Angeles.” Rocky interjected. Carly laughed. “No way! I live in LA too. I go to UCLA.” She said in disbelief. A smile broke out across Riker’s face. “Talk about convenient. Ross picked the perfect girl to drunkenly marry.” He joked. Carly groaned and rolled her eyes. “Don’t even remind me. I can’t believe I was so stupid! I knew I should have stayed home.” She muttered. Riker patted her back reassuringly. “Look Carly, it’s gonna be okay. I don’t think we’ll have a problem finding a judge to grant an annulment for a drunken Vegas marriage. One day this’ll just be a funny story for you to tell.” Carly smiled slightly despite her worry. “Carly!” Nichole cried, bursting through the bedroom doors. “I was so worried!” She threw her arms around Carly and pulled her into a tight hug. “You were worried?? You were way more wasted than I was!” Carly replied, hugging her back just as tightly. Rocky stifled a giggle. “You sure about that?” he mumbled. She shot him a glance from over Nichole’s shoulder. She pulled away and eyed Carly suspiciously. “What is he talking about?” she asked. Ross re-entered the room and threw the marriage certificate and wedding photo into Nichole’s hands. “This.” He said bitterly. Nichole’s jaw dropped. “No way.” She said incredulously. Carly sighed and extended her hand for the tenth time in less than an hour. Nichole lifted her hand towards the light to admire the golden ring. “Wow…is that real gold??” she asked. Ross threw his hands up. “I don’t know! There’s no telling. I can’t find my debit card or my wallet anywhere.” Nichole shook her head. “Don’t look at me. I can’t remember anything from last night. I don’t even know where these clothes came from.” She gestured at the sequined mini dress she was wearing. Rocky and Riker exchanged glances and laughed. Carly glared at both of them. “I don’t see anything funny about this!” she cried. Riker quickly shook his head. “No…it’s just…this whole situation kind of reminds me of one of our songs.” He explained. Carly gave him a confused look. “Songs?” she asked. Rocky looked up at Riker with an amused expression. “She doesn’t know who we are.” He said quietly. Suddenly Nichole’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God!!” She pointed at Ross. “You’re on Disney channel!” Ross nodded exasperatedly. “Yeah, I am. And we’re in a band. Look we have more important things to deal with right now besides us-” “Oh my God R5!! I listen to Pass Me Byon the radio all the time!” Nichole squealed. Ross groaned and sat down on the bed once again. Carly smiled slightly as she watched her best friend fangirl all over the boys. Nichole suddenly stopped squealing and looked over at Ross again. “Wait…how old ARE you?” she asked. Everyone in the room groaned. “Ok I really don’t feel like going over everything again. Can we please just book a flight and get out of here? The sooner this is all over the better.” Ross muttered. Carly looked over at Ross, slightly annoyed. Yes, the situation wasn’t ideal. But it was fixable, like Riker said before. Did Ross really have to have such a bad attitude about it? They might be stuck together for a while. No need to make the situation worse by being so bitter about it. Riker nodded and stood up. “Ross is right. We need to get going. We actually didn’t fly, we drove. Made it into a road trip. So Ross we can’t fly back and leave the car here. We’ve got plenty of room to squeeze in two more. Carly, Nichole, why don’t you two head back to your suite and pack up? We’ll get our stuff together and meet you down in the lobby at 2:00.” Carly and Nichole nodded before making their way out of the bedroom and back down the hallway to their room. “What floor are we even on?” Carly mumbled. Her head was still pounding. “The ninth I think.” Nichole replied quietly. A few seconds later she snickered silently. “I can’t believe you got married.” She laughed. Carly allowed a grin to break out across her face as she laughed as well. “You’re never going to let me live it down are you?” she asked. Nichole just shook her head, still laughing. “Never.” They approached the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor. “Look, no one else needs to know about this, ok? We can get the marriage annulled quickly and we’ll never have to see Ross or any of them again. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?” Carly turned to look expectantly at Nichole. The elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. Nichole looked at her incredulously. “What?? Are you kidding?? Ross is hot! I mean yeah, get the marriage annulled. But why does that have to mean you’ll never see him again??” she demanded. Carly sighed. “I know nothing about this guy!” she said defensively. Nichole scoffed. “Well, get to know him! He seems like a nice enough guy. And like I said, he’s HOT.” Carly rolled her eyes. “Nikki he’s 18.” She said simply. Nichole’s jaw dropped slightly. “Oh.” She replied. The elevator doors opened at the seventh floor and the two of them stepped out. “Well this’ll definitely be a story that Auntie Nichole tells to your future children.” Nichole joked. Carly rolled her eyes as she slipped the keycard into their hotel room door. “I don’t want to think about the future right now. I just want to go home.” She mumbled.