"Does your hummus smell worse than it normally does?" Eddie asked as they all sat at Falafel Phil's.
"It's not the hummus" Milton told him, "It's coming from him" he pointed at Jerry.
"That's my new cologne" he explained proudly picking up the bottle, "It's called 'impurity'."Jerry sprayed some of it into the air and they all jumped back while trying to save their food.
"Ah, hey!"
"Whoa, dude."
An obnoxious girl giggle cut through the air. "Check it out" Milton said and they turned to look at the newly arrived pair.
"Swathmore Academy students" Jack said in disgust, "Perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect teeth."
"Perfectly disgusting" Kim added in a similar tone.
"You two sound a little jealous" Azalea muttered.
"They must have finally realised Phil makes the best falafel in town" Milton said.
"Put it in a doggie bag, you" Claire, one of the Swathmore kids, ordered Phil, "It's for our dogs. Can you imagine? He thought we were going to eat this."
Both Swathmore kids laughed arrogantly, "What's next?" the boy asked, "Should we go bathe in the mall fountain?"
"Oh, uh, not — not from 3:00 to 4:00" Jerry told them, "That's Jerry time."
"Hello, Jerry" Claire said, "I wish I could stay, but my poor pug is starving. Woof" she flirted before walking back to get her order.
"Ew" Azalea said.
"My poor pug is starving" Kim mocked mimicked Claire, "Woof. Who talks like that?"
"Unfortunately, no one I know" Eddie sighed.
"They think they are so much better than us just because they go to a private school" Kim grumbled.
"Well, we are eating their dog food" Jack pointed out, taking a bite of his falafel.
"Well, Queen Elizabeth feeds her corgis with chicken and beef, is that dog food too now?" Azalea shot back.
"And they are a week away from showing us up again during Seaford on parade" Milton sighed.
"You know, I thought out float last year was a winner" Jerry admitted.
"It was Ernie the janitor sitting in a shopping cart with a tube sock on his head" Jack deadpanned.
"Winner" Jerry said.
"I don't know why they always win the float competition. I mean, what was so impressive about their giant space shuttle last year?" Kim asked.
"It flew" all the boys said in choir.
"They have a point" Azalea said, taking a falafel from Jack's basket sense hers was empty.
"Hey! That's mine!" Jack exclaimed so she quickly put the falafel in her mouth.
"Sharing is caring, Jackie" Azalea said, her words coming out a little weird because she had food in her mouth.
"What a lady."
☆★☆
The gang was warming up in the dojo when Eddie walked in, "Guess what, guys? I was selected to be the head of the float committee because I'm the only person who even has a chance of pulling it off."
"And you are also definitely the only person who wanted the job, am I right?" Azalea snorted.
"Yes, I am" Eddie admitted, not as enthusiastic as he had been before.
"It's already Seaford on parade?" Rudy asked, "I hate this time of year."
"What's wrong with Seaford on parade?" Jack asked and Azalea smacked him on the head.
"You really haven't learned not to ask questions yet" she groaned.
Rudy let out a dramatic sigh, "This is the week where the whole town is reminded the horrible thing I let happen. The year was 1996."
"Oh, no."
"Yep. Here we go."
"This is your fault, Jackie."
"I was proudly pushing the Seaford float down the street. My theme? The mighty lentil. In honor of Seaford's number one crop" Rudy told his story.
"I love a good lentil story" Milton said excitedly.
"Don't encourage him" Azalea deadpanned.
"Out of nowhere, ten — nay! A hundred rich kids from Swathmore Academy attacked me, led by Teddy Kavanagh. Oh I fought back" Rudy continued dramatically, "But when the dust settled, the Seaford High flag was gone and my lentil had been — violated" he ended like it was the hardest thing he ever had to say, "Our flag has been held captive by Swathmore ever since."
"Rudy, that happened a long time ago" Kim said dismissively, "You're an adult now. Just go over there and get it back."
"NO!" Azalea exclaimed, "Don't give him any ideas, Kim. He can't handle them."
"Yeah" Rudy said like he hadn't even heard her, "Maybe you are right."
"She's not!"
"I'm gonna march right over to Swathmore Academy and get back what Teddy Kavanagh took from me!"
"Do you have any more good lentil stories?" Milton asked hopefully.
"Hundreds" Rudy grinned, "Here are my top five."
"Oh, no. Not again" Azalea said as everyone except for Milton walked away, "You're all amateurs."
☆★☆
Azalea sat on a couple of mats, with Jack and Jerry sitting behind her on a higher level, watching Milton walk around Kim, dressed as a tailor while the blonde girl wore some hideous red dress.
"Wrong, wrong, wrong" Milton said snobbily, "Turn around" he ordered and when Kim did he grimaced, "Oh, sweetie, wronger."
Kim looked at him offended, but Milton didn't seem to notice, "What were you thinking when you put in that abomination?"
"My aunt loaned me this dress" Kim told him, glaring down at the boy.
"Let me say this as delicately as I can-" Jack started with a grimace, "Your aunt does not love you" Azalea finished.
"You know, the pageant's a pretty big deal this year" Jerry told them, "The winner gets a crown and gets to go to England to represent Seaford for a month."
"Why would Seaford need a representative in England?" Azalea asked, "I'm pretty sure we don't even have one in the state."
"I don't care about crowns or England" Kim smirked, "I just want to wipe that smug smirk off of Claire's face."
"Farm girl" Milton clapped to get her attention, "you want to win this is what you do. Get yourself over to gown depot. Talk to Georgio, tell him I sent you and that you need — The disaster package. Make it work, Kimberly."
Kim scoffed, "I don't need you or Georgio's help."
"You kind of do, honey" Azalea said carefully.
"Give me that" Kim snapped, snatching the card from Milton before storming out of the dojo.
"Finally! I thought I would die of boredom" Azalea cheered, jumping off the mat she was sitting on. Unlike Kim, she wasn't a girly girl.
"Jack, this float thing is killing me" Eddie, who stood at the other side of the dojo painting, said, "I don't have a theme. I'm blocked. I'm freaking out, man! I'm freaking out!" he grabbed onto Jack and screamed in panic.
"Eddie!" Jack said firmly, "Eddie, man, just calm down. We'll help you come up with an idea. Right, guys?"
"Yeah, let's just do a little free association" Milton suggested, "Uh, you know, spitball."
"Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that may work" Eddie said, now a little calmer, "Uh, why don't you guys just say the first word that pops into your head when I say — Seaford!"
"Seaford" Jerry said quickly.
"No, no" Eddie turned to him, "It can't be Seaford. Any word but-"
"But" Jerry said.
"No, no" Eddie turned back to him again, "Dude, just say wha pops into-"
"POPS!" Jerry yelled, "Keep 'em coming, man. I'm in the zone."
"Forget it!" Eddie sighed, sitting down on the bench in defeat.
"Believe that?" Jerry asked in disbelief, "Try amd help a guy."
"Kavanagh wouldn't even validate my parking" Rudy muttered to himself as he stormed into the dojo.
"So I'm taking it, you didn't get the flag" Azalea said, earning a soft shove from Jack.
"Rudy, how did it go over at Swathmore?" Jack asked, taking their sensei's angry state into consideration, unlike Azalea.
"Actually, it's a — it's a funny story" Rudy said, sounding like he was going to cry, "I, uh, I went down there, and — This is totally going to make you laugh."
"I doubt it."
"Um, the kid who took the flag is now the headmaster" Rudy laughed forcefully, "It's funny, huh?" When none of them laughed Rudy became even more dejected, "It's funny!"
"For who?" Azalea asked, earning a glare from her brother.
"So you asked for the flag back and he said no?" Jack asked, not believing it.
"Yeah. Not only that. But he said when he took the flag, Seaford High officially became the home of the losers."
"You know what?" Jack asked, "That's it. If they won't give us our flag back, we're gonna take it."
"Then you know what you guys could do?" Rudy asked, excited by the idea, "You could climb up on that General Swathmore statue in front of the library and put a big bra on it. And one of those adulty diapers on the horse" he laughed, "Wouldn't that be so — Wouldn't that — with the diaper — or you guys could just go get the flag back."
"Idiots" Azalea said, gaining the boys attention, earning confused looks, "That's the first thing I think about when I hear Seaford. Idiots."
☆★☆
Azalea and the boys were undercover at Swathmore High, wearing the snobby school uniforms. "Why do I have to wear a skirt?" Azalea complained as they stood by some lockers, trying to blend in.
"I would have offered, but no one would have liked to see that" Jack smirked at her.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if we had Eddie and Kim here to help us find the flag" Jerry complained."
"Nah, Kim is building a float for the parade and Eddie is in the Pearl of Seaford pageant" Jack said.
"I think it's the other way around. At least I hope so" Azalea told him, "I don't trust Kim's abilities to build a good float."
"Now we just have to blend in" Milton told them, "Put these caramel Jolly whoopers in your mouth and bite down. They'll make our teeth stick together and we'll sound just like 'em."
"How do you know — what?" Jerry asked confused.
"How is biting down on some candy gonna make us sound-" Jack put the candy in his mouth and his voice changed, "Oh, oh. Oh, it totally works. Milton, you are a genius."
Milton offered Azalea one but she declined, "Thanks, but I can manage without candy."
The boys looked at her in disbelief so she sighed deeply before breaking out in giggles, "Can you imagine that my father won't allow me to have a party on his yacht this weekend?" she asked in a snobbish tone while twirling a piece of hair around her finger, sounding just like Claire.
"She got this" Jack said before they were approached by a blonde girl.
"And I said, 'Pull over, Daddums. I will not be caught dead in a white Ferrari after Memorial Day" Milton said to act cool and the guys laughed weirdly. "Seriously, huh?"
The girl walked away, "What it do, girl?" Jerry flirted but the blonde just continued walking away.
"Hey, let's split up and find our flag" Jack told them. "Just don't draw any attention to yourselves. Let's go."
"Okay, cool" Jerry said as everyone walked their own way. Azalea heard a loud crashing sound but just continued walking, not wanting to be apart of whatever Jerry destroyed.
Azalea searched the school for that damn flag, cursing her brother for losing it years ago. She must have looked for at least half an hour when she was ready to give up.
She turned a corner sharply only to crash into someone. Azalea fell to the ground with a groan and glared up at the person who had knocked her down.
"Who do we have here?" a boy with blonde hair and brown eyes smirked down at her. He wore his Swathmore uniform in a perfect way and his hair was slicked back.
"The person you just knocked to the ground," Azalea grumbled, standing up on her own sense the boy clearly wasn't going to offer any help. She tried to step around him but he blocked her path. "I'm sorry, did you want something?"
"I haven't seen you around before" the blonde boy smirked, "What's your name, babe?"
"Well, it's not babe" Azalea snapped and when he realised that he wasn't about to move she crosses her arms and sighed in annoyance, "I'm Azalea."
"Like the flower?"
"Yes, like the flower" she deadpanned, "Can I go now?"
"Aren't you going to ask what my name is?" the blonde boy smirked, taking a step closer to her.
"No, I wasn't planning on it" she gave him a fake smile, once again attempting to walk past him only for the boy to grab her arm.
"I'm Dean, Dean Andersson," he told her with a smug look.
"Congratulations, your parents must be very proud of you" Azalea rolled her eyes, not having the time to talk to some rich boy who thought he owned the world.
She tried to rip her arm out of his grasp only for him to pull her back and push her up against some lockers. "You really shouldn't have done that" Azalea glared at him before kneeing him where the sun does not shine.
He fell to the ground with a painful groan. Azalea smirked in victory and stepped over him only to see tree other Swathmore guys looking at her wide eyed.
"He was already there when I found him?" she said, although it sounded more like a question, "Okay, bye" she smiled before running the other way.
After escaping she quickly ran through the school, almost crashing into Jack, Milton and Jerry. "Run!" Jack yelled as a horde? of Swathmore students came into view and the four quickly ran out of the school.
☆★☆
"They are gonna fly our flag on their float?" Rudy asked when they returned to the dojo and Jack told all of them what he had overheard in the principals office. "That taffy-tugging tyrant!"
"Ooh, an alliteration. I didn't know you had it in you, bro" Azalea said, sitting down on the floor, mindful of her skirt.
"Guys, I've been thinking about this" Jack said while untying his tie, "I think I've got a solution."
"Yeah, me too" Jerry said.
"Really? What have you got?" Jack asked curiously.
"Uh, no. No. I don't know. I thought you were gonna go first, and I was just gonna say, 'that's what I was thinking'" Jerry admitted sheepishly.
"All the floats start in that hangar by the train station" Jack said with a smirk, "What if we got our flag back before the parade starts?"
"Yep, that's what I was thinking. Mm-hmm" Jerry snapped his finger, nodding along.
"How are we going to get near their float?" Milton asked, "All the Swathmore kids know what we look like. They will be guarding that flag."
But before anyone could answer him, Eddie rolled something that looked a lot like fallen log into the dojo, "Guys, I finished our float."
"Great!"
"Awesome!"
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"It's a replica of the screaming log of Seaford" Eddie stated proudly.
"Oh, legend has it that the founder of our town crawled into a hollow log to survive the harsh winter of 1808" Rudy said.
"Why do they call it the 'Screaming Log'?" Milton wondered.
"Unfortunately, a family of wolverines had the same idea" Rudy said with an awkward look.
Azalea snorted loudly, before knocking on the log to see if it was indeed hollow, "Do you know what this is guys?" she smirked, "This is how we are going to get our flag back."
"What happened to our rule-following Azalea?" Jack grinned.
"She took a vacation when this became a matter of winning or losing" Azalea shrugged, "I don't lose."
☆★☆
Azalea, Jerry, Milton and Jack hid inside the log, waiting to make their entrance. They heard the lady in charge bark out orders and Eddie's verbal battle with Kim before Rudy's enemy, Teddy Kavanagh spoke.
"What is that thing?" he snorted, "Some kind of a sea turd?"
"Your float is a joke" a familiar sounding boy said as Teddy laughed mockingly.
"Ha-ha! Joke is on you!" Rudy yelled from inside the log, followed by a loud thud as he tried but failed to jump out. "Ha-Ha! Jokes on you!" he repeated, but the same thing happened, "Eddie, open the stupid latch!"
"Oh, my bad" Eddie said followed by him opening the door and them climbing out dressed like lumberjacks.
"Ha-Ha! Ha-Ha!" Rudy yelled again, "The joke is on you. We've come to get our flag back" he stepped out of the log only to stumble and lean on Azalea for support, "Oh, oh, foot is asleep."
"Let's go" Jack said and they quickly started to climb up the large ship the was the Swathmore school's float.
"They are taking the ship!" Teddy yelled.
Jack and Azalea were the first ones up and immediately started fight the Swathmore kids that attacked them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the little flower" Dean said with a clearly fake smile.
"You really can't take a hint, can you, Devon?" Azalea wondered as she knocked one of the other boys to the ground.
"It's Dean!"
"What did I say?" she smirked and he lunged for her.
"Two minutes! Two minutes please!" the lady in charge yelled, not even bothering to look at the fight on the ship.
Azalea picked up a fake sword from the ground and started to fight Dean who she assumed knew how to fence from his skill. But her many years of training with a bo-staff, not to mention the many hours spent watching Pirates of the Caribbean, had actually paid off.
When she finally managed to knock the sword out of his hand she kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall back, knocking over one of Milton's opponents as well. "I would have made such a great pirate" she concluded.
Azalea turned around to see that Jack had been backed out on the plank and were having some problems so she quickly jumped up on the railing, taking ahold of the rope that hung down from the sail and swung herself over, knocking all three Swathmore kids to the ground.
"Thought I would swing by" she smirked at her boyfriend. Jack just rolled his eyes at her before jumping down to join her on deck again.
"I had it sorted" he scoffed.
"You really didn't" Azalea snorted.
"I got it! I got it! I got it" Rudy waved the flag in victory like a madman, knocking down Jerry in the process just as the poor boy finally had managed to climb up on the ship.
"Really?" Jerry exclaimed in frustration.
"Well, if it isn't the new Pearl of Seaford everybody!" Azalea cheered as she saw Kim, who she assumed had joined the fight earlier, walk towards them. "Is her Pearl-iness too good to take a ride with her friends on a log?"
"Now way!" Kim exclaimed, "I can't leave the Swan Queen alone, can I? Let's do this!" she cheered.
"Oh, I had actually managed to repress that shameful moment of my life" Azalea whined.
"Kimberly, it's go time" a man in a suit and purple tie said, "Let's get back in your clam, girl" he said but the next second Eddie managed to shoot him in the head with a canon as he climbed onboard, "Guys, I think I might be really, really hurt" the guy said, soot covering his face. "I'm driving that clam over to the hospital."
•*•*•*•
Eddie drove the ship-float out of the hangar as the others stood onboard. "Do you think this is okay?" Milton wondered, "Us taking their ship."
"They abandoned it" Jack shrugged. "We might as well."
"I feel so bad for Eddie" Kim admitted, "He worked so hard on his log."
"I'm driving a pirate ship!" Eddie cheered.
"I think he will get over it" Azalea chuckled.
______________
Azalea's Outfit: