The day after, I picked up my phone and called Missy.
"Hey," I said as soon as she picked up. "So, what did you think of the movie?"
There was a short pause before she replied, "Okay, first of all—my parents didn't want me to go see it just because it was a horror movie. My mom said something about 'blasphemy' and 'demons' and refused to come."
"So how did you see it?"
"I convinced my brothers to go with me," she said proudly.
Missy didn't need to convince Georgie to go with her, nor did she need a fake ID. Paranormal Activity was rated PG-13—another great move by Pepper. The original, if I remember correctly, was rated R for excessive foul language.
I chuckled. "So, that's a good thing, right?"
"It was terrifying! But yeah, I loved it," she said. "I can't believe you didn't warn me properly. And don't think I didn't notice your name in the credits."
I laughed. "And what about that video camera I sent you?"
Missy lit up. "I set it up right in front of us. I watched the footage after—it's hilarious. Sheldon was screaming like a little girl, and even Georgie made some funny faces. I'm totally using it against them."
She continued, "There was this one part in the movie where Sheldon kept muttering, 'This is not real, this is not real,' and 'That's not physically possible'—but he was still clearly terrified."
I laughed. "Just don't go overboard."
We chatted a bit more before saying our goodbyes.
After the call, I started pressing through my Nokia 3310 buttons to browse my contacts. When I passed Tori's name, I paused for a moment. We'd grown a bit distant after she and her family moved to Europe—thanks to her dad's job. Then I kept tapping and saw another name: Paige Swanson. Yeah, I hadn't talked to her since my birthday...
Rory—never called her. Mandy (Barbados)—never called her. Joanie?? Why do I even have her in my contacts? And how does a nine-year-old even have a phone?
Oh yeah—her mom was absolutely nuts.
Next up: Josh 'Butt guy'. Should I tell him to go see the movie?
Then came Aunt Rachel.
I tapped the call button and brought the phone to my ear, listening to the dial tone as it rang.
"Hi, Rach," I said when she answered.
"Hello, Jake," she replied warmly. "I was just thinking about calling you. Just a moment..."
I could hear her calling out in the background, rounding everyone up.
A few seconds later, I heard a chorus of four different voices calling out "Hi, Jake!" from the other end of the line.
"So," I said with a grin, "who was the one that screamed like a little girl during the movie?"
"Ross!" I heard them all say in unison from the other end of the line.
"Oh man, I thought it would be Chandler. Lost that bet with my uncle," I said.
I heard an indignant "Hey!" in Chandler's unmistakable voice from the other end.
"But he did embrace me pretty tightly," Monica added with a laugh.
A second, even more indignant "Hey!" from Chandler followed.
"It was a pretty scary movie," Rachel chimed in.
"No it was not," Ross said defensively.
"Even Jake is making a deadpan face now, Ross," Chandler added.
"Yeah, but what was more scary was watching it next to Phoebe," Monica said. "She just laughed through half the movie..."
"It was funny that possession part," Phoebe added casually.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Rachel said suddenly. "We made a bet about the movie too."
"It was more about the movie marketing clip—the one you're in," she explained.
"Okay..." I said, a bit wary.
"We bet on how many of the four girls in the clip you've kissed," Rachel continued.
"What??" I said, genuinely surprised.
"Who said I kissed anyone there?" I added, feigning indignance.
"I bet just one," Ross chimed in.
"That's way too little, Dino Dad," I shot back.
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Oh, now I understand why Monica called me earlier this week acting all suspicious, fishing for gossip..." I said with mock realization.
"Really, Monica?" Rachel said, exasperated.
"She loves to win..." Chandler added.
"I bet two of them," Phoebe uttered cheerfully.
"I bet all of them," Monica declared confidently.
"Chandler and I bet three," Rachel added, "but different girls."
"You two got the correct answer," I said. "I didn't kiss the one with the more Asian look. She's one of my best friends..."
"YESSS!" Chandler shouted. "I win!"
"Damn Jake, go kiss her!" Monica said, frustrated.
"You're really making the most of high school," Rachel said with a chuckle.
"By the way," Monica jumped in, "we're going to VEGAS!"
The rest of the group cheered in excitement.
"Now that Joey's filming is wrapped up—it was shot in Toronto and Chicago—he said he's spending some time in Las Vegas. We're going there to surprise him!"
"And after that, we might swing by to visit you in L.A.," Monica added.
"Noiceee," I grinned.
"Just call me, I'll prepare something cool," I added.
After chatting a bit more with each of them, I finally said my goodbyes and hung up.
"Las Vegas," I murmured to myself.
"Was there any Friends episode set there?" I wondered, thinking back. "Well, the timeline's already a mess... and with all my interference, things might've shifted even more."
Just then, my phone rang again. It was Carly.
"Hello, Carly, what's up?" I answered.
"There's something I need to tell you," she said. "Can you come over?"
"Okay, I'll be there in an hour," I replied.
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