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Hezekias Wrench, better known as Zee to most, wasn't the type to really celebrate Christmas with friends or family. To him, his favorite way to celebrate was to gather all his sodas, get nice and cozy on the couch in his room and just zone out watching Zephflix movies and shows while drinking himself into a soda coma. Ok, maybe the last part wasn't exactly true, but one thing's for sure, every year he'd pretty much clean out his local stores of soda, only leaving the banana sodas he doesn't like behind, and those drinks would be his home for the next week until Christmas morning.
This year, Zee's parents were away on a cruise and even though they invited their son to join them, he turned the offer down. How could he resist having the entire home to himself to do whatever he wants without anybody asking him to take out the trash? That was like, way better than getting seasick on a big crowded boaty thing that preferred to serve that gross fruity wine juice stuff instead of delicious soda.
Right now, it was his third day of being home alone with himself and his soda friends. After a hearty breakfast of gummy bears in a fruit roll up with a glass of maple syrup to wash it down, the good vibes only guy went down to his room in the basement, and leapt onto the couch like he had been doing every holiday season.
"Ahhhh, this is the life." Zee said to himself as he flicked on the TV, scrolling through the shows on Zephflix to find something new to watch. "Just me, my couch, this cozy warm blanket and my hundreds of sodas, nothing could possibly go wrong." But he forgot the one very important rule about TV: Anytime you ask something like 'what could possibly go wrong', immediately something will go wrong. Just like that, his show intro was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, it was loud and obnoxious and sounded kind of...panicked? He dived under the coffee table as if it were a nuclear fallout shelter, hoping the ringing would eventually stop.
"O-Ok...this never happened before..." Zee muttered. "Please whoever's at the door, don't be a murderer, or even worse a soda thief." He kept quiet for what felt like five whole minutes, hoping this murdering soda thief would just give up and leave. The ringing did stop...for about ten seconds.
"Ohhh alright alright I'm coming." The good vibes only guy admitted defeat. He grabbed a colander and wore it like a helmet as he cautiously walked upstairs to the front door. "But if you're the evil murderer soda thief I'm not gonna hesitate to hurt you man!" As he opened it, he jumped back, only to find it wasn't no 'evil murderer soda thief' at all, it was his buddy Emma Thorne, whom he met competing in the new Total Drama season.
"GAAAAHHH!" Emma and Zee screamed in unison at the suddenness of the door swinging open and seeing each other so suddenly. After a good 10 to 15 seconds of this, the pair finally calmed down and composed themselves.
"Zee?!" Emma exclaimed in shock. "This is your house?!"
"Not really, it's more my dad's house. He's the one that paid for it." Zee answered a little too literally. "But what's up Emma man? I never thought I'd see you all the way over in my town! This is so awesome! And thank god you're not an evil murderer soda thief!"
"Evil murderer soda thief?" Emma questioned. "Zee, have you been drinking your weird soda mixes again?"
"Uh...maybe once or twice this week." Zee admitted. "So what brought you out here? I thought you'd be at home with Chase or making some video or something."
"Ugh! Do not mention that name to me Zee." Emma grunted in frustration. "I rewatched the season and found out Chase only got himself eliminated for a pizza and not me. A pizza. So I guess he never really cared about me. Just his stupid prank videos and his stupid pineapple pizza." Emma kicked the dirt in a huff, trying not to cry over her ex-boyfriend.
"So then...why'd you come all the way out here again?" Zee asked out of confusion. It wasn't like Emma had to drive to a completely different town if she wanted to get away from Chase.
"We were filming a video at a SkyBnB Chase rented out around twenty minutes away from here." Emma explained. "I was rewatching the season of Total Drama we were in while we were on a break time and well, that was when I found out about the whole pizza thing. Before Chase could even come back to tell me he was ready, I was gone. Outta there, didn't want to see his stupid face anymore. All I did was leave a little note saying we were through again and to enjoy cheating on me with his pizza." Emma sighed. "But with me ditching Chase like that I got a good feeling he's looking for me right now, probably too stupid to realize that it's over between me and him. I'm not finishing that video and I'm not going back...everrr."
"So...you could just Zephflix and Chill with me until Chase gives up and goes home." Zee offered. "I usually spend these holidays by myself with my sodas but since you're here now, we could catch up." Emma tried not to laugh at Zee's obliviousness to the term he said.
"Zee, I uh, I don't think you know what Zephflix and Chill means. It's not what you think it is." She whispered it into Zee's ear, this made his eyes shrink as he awkwardly fiddled with his prosthetic leg.
"Wait you're kidding, I always thought it meant hanging out or something." The good vibes only guy said embarrassed. "The internet's real weird sometimes man."
"Yeah, it really can be." Emma agreed. "I would know given some of the comments I get on TubeStation Snippets. Seriously, some of them sound like they were written by a braindead 8 year old goldfish who just got their turn on a MyPad."
"I have no idea what a MyPad is." Zee said dumbfounded. "But hey, come inside." He stepped aside from the door to allow the breakout internet star into the house, not bad, kinda tropical themed decor, not her taste but it wasn't her house so who was she to complain? She followed Zee into his man cave and immediately was aghast at the mess compared to the upstairs area. Soda cans lay everywhere, a raccoon scurried across the floor and there was a foul stench of dirty laundry.
"Oh sweet mercy this place stinks Zee!" Emma choked. "Don't you ever clean up after yourself?!"
"I did recently dude! Just last month!" Zee responded. This only made Emma start hacking and coughing. The house could not smell any worse even if the good vibes only guy tried. Oh wait, it could. It could smell like Chase's house.
"Zee come on, this is awful! It looks like the average fedora wearing Breaditor's apartment." Emma wheezed, holding her shirt and sweater over her nose.
"I think my mom's got that flower smell spraying stuff in her closet if you smell anything that's buggin' you." Zee tilted his head.
"Hezekias Wrench I swear to every known deity, your basement needs way more than just a Febreze covering." Emma complained. "This thing needs a deep clean, right now. I'm talking vacuuming, dusting, window washing, and all the empty cans gotta go." She already got herself started by picking up several of the empty soda cans and stuffing them in a trash bag. "If your parents saw you kept this place clean, what would they think?"
"Uhhhh...I dunno." Zee nonchalantly answered. "It's usually only this dirty on my lazy Christmas week. But I'm gonna miss those cans. They were like the brothers and sisters I never had." Emma rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. The inner machinations of Zee's mind were an enigma.
"Well, I'm sure they'll be proud that you're improving on your clear lack of hygiene." She then gave Zee a pair of rubber gloves and a spray bottle. "You could maybe start with the windows while I pick up these cans."
"Uhh, ok, I'll try..." Zee muttered as he put on the gloves. "...How do you wash windows?" Emma facepalmed, this was going to be harder than she'd hoped it would be. But at least it beat being around that no good, pizza hogging maniac that was Chase Mayfield.
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As the pair were in the middle of clearing out the basement, they heard a car horn beep outside.
"Yoohoo! Emma! Where are you babe?" Called a familiar voice. The breakout internet star's eyes shrank to the size of a neutron star. It was Chase. She recognized his unnecessarily expensive yellow Ferrari 488 anywhere. Yellow...after her hair color, ugh.
"Hey Emma, it's Cha-" Zee blurted out before Emma's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shut up Zee, don't let him know I'm here." She whispered to the good vibes only guy. In her state of panic, she went down on the floor and covered herself in a pile of Zee's cans. "J-Just tell him I'm not here."
"Emma! I know you're on this street! I can see your car, in fact I'm parked bumper to bumper! Come on! We still got our SkyBnB trashing prank video to finish!" Chase called out in a singsongy tone. Emma's face turned a bright red and her ears felt hot, but she had to keep quiet. Screaming at Chase's stupidity would only give herself away.
"I could talk to Chase. He don't mind me man." Zee grabbed the bag of cans and headed upstairs to the door. As he opened it, Chase wasn't there, in fact he was next door trying to ask the neighbor of his 'girlfriend's' whereabouts. With no avail, Chase soon turned to Zee and immediately recognized him.
"Zee my man!" Chase joyfully called out. "I had no idea you lived here! Oh man! We should totally do a short together!"
"A short? What's that?" Chase's mouth fell open at Zee's question. "I don't really watch the 'Tube stuff."
"Dude! You are missing out!" Chase said with shock in his voice. "TubeStation Snippets are the in thing! They're awesome! Especially the ones made by my channel Three Guys in a Beachhouse! You totally gotta subscribe to it!"
"Uh...I'll look at it later then." Zee smiled at the other internet sensation. That seemed to satisfy Chase enough. "So what brings you here?"
"I've been looking for Emma." Chase explained. "She just ran away while we were filming our latest viral vid. I don't get why, she used to love renting and trashing SkyBnBs!"
"She did?" Zee questioned. Chase pulled his phone out and started playing a video from his TubeStation channel. While she was seen messing with Chase and his friends and helping them trash a SkyBnB like the internet sensation said, something about her smile looked forced. The good vibes only guy might not be the sharpest tool in the...place where they keep the tools, but he could tell when someone was not really happy. But believing Emma wouldn't want him keeping Chase around to argue over a video he just kept it to himself.
"Heh heh yeah, that's kinda funny dude." Zee forced a laugh, one that was convincing enough to fly over Chase's head. "Anyway no I haven't seen her." Chase raised an eyebrow.
"Then why is her car parked 2 blocks down the street?" He pointed out.
"It's probably someone else's car and they bought the same one." Zee claimed. "That's happened before hasn't it?"
"Zee, I know that's her car because I know the license plate." Chase crossed his arms.
"Well maybe she sold it."
"You're supposed to take the license plate when you sell your car."
"Then maybe they carjacked it?" Zee was starting to run out of excuses, he never thought he would have to deal with lying about a car otherwise he could've thought of more excuses.
"She's here...isn't she?" Chase asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"N-No! I swear man!" Zee stuttered. "I've not seen her all day! Uhhh...maybe..." An idea suddenly popped in his head. Maybe if the excuse was internet video related he'd believe him? It was worth a try. "Maybe she left the car there and ran off into the woods so you have to go find her! It must be a video idea of hers, we do have a pretty big forest a few minutes away!"
"Ahhh playing hard to get is she?" Chase murmured to himself. He then raised his volume. "Huh, now that you mention it I guess you're right, man Emma. I guess she still got it in her. I should've known that forest would make an awesome video. See ya dude. Hope they bring us back for another season on the show!" He then took off and headed for the woods. When he was out of sight, Zee exhaled and wiped the sweat from his brow before heading back inside.
"Hey Emma!" Zee called. "Chase left now!" Emma threw herself out from the can pile and inhaled a huge breath of air. She'd been so determined to stay invisible to Chase that she had spent the last few minutes breathing as quietly as she could.
"Oh thank god." Emma exhaled. "I thought that moron was never gonna call it quits." She then got back up and resumed the cleanup. "You still good to finish up with me? I know Chase can be a pain that just drains all your energy so if you can't you can rest."
"Hey I'm fine, I wasn't tired at all." Zee laughed. "But you're right about Chase, he's really got the de- the deter-...thingy."
"Determination?" Emma corrected him.
"Yeah that!" Zee finished. "He really doesn't like to quit. Thanks, I was never really big on big words...too co-uhh dammit it's another big word."
"Complicated?" Emma asked before stifling a laugh.
"That's the one!" Zee laughed at himself. Maybe it's time to ask his parents for a dictionary this Christmas. Suddenly he remembered a word the breakout internet star had said earlier. "Wait...did you say vacuuming?"
"Yeah I did say vacuuming, why?" Emma was confused at why Zee would pick that word in particular.
"Is that big machine that sucks up everything on the floor the vacuum thing?"
"Yes." Zee then gasped at Emma's reply, he remembered he had something in the vacuum bag.
"Give me one minute." Zee said in a blind state of panic before hurrying back upstairs. He rummaged through a closet looking for his mom's vacuum. "There you are!" He pulled the zipper down and reached into the bag. After rummaging around for a few seconds he pulled out a small, wrapped, rather dusty gift. "I'd been looking for you the past 4 days dude. You shouldn't have hid from me you naughty present." The good vibes only guy headed back downstairs where Emma was waiting, both with the dusty gift and the vacuum cleaner in his hands.
"What's that Zee?" Emma asked, almost repulsed by the dirty object in Zee's hand.
"This? It's a vacuum cleaner." Emma stifled a laugh.
"Not the vacuum you dope." She pointed to the object in Zee's other hand. "The...dust cube you got."
"Ohhhh that's the gift I was gonna give you this Christmas." Zee handed it over to Emma. "Don't open it until the 25th. I was gonna mail it to you but since you're here that really gives the present less of a nightmare to get home to you." Emma so wanted to keep to Zee's word on keeping it a surprise, but somehow she just couldn't contain her excitement. She tore away at the dust covered wrapping paper, which Zee didn't seem bothered by. "Or you can open it now. It's like, your gift man." He picked up one of the sodas off the floor and drank away as Emma continued to rip her gift open. When she finally got to the thing hiding under the wrapping paper, she gasped in amazement.
"You got me a new webcam and mic bundle?!" Emma squealed. "H-How were you able to afford this?! This had to have cost like hundreds!"
"Nah I found it in a charity store clearout." Zee chuckled sheepishly. "No idea how it got there, I guess it got mixed up in spring cleaning with the actual junk. I knew you always like doing that internet video stuff so I thought I'd get it as a present for you."
"It's still so thoughtful of you to have picked that out." Emma happily told him. "I'd been looking to have a second camera to shoot another angle." She gave the good vibes only guy a hug, catching him by surprise. "You opened a new window to a streamer's heart today! Not a totally clean window but we can both finish the cleanup in no time." She then pointed to the window that Zee had started cleaning, he hadn't finished it yet but it was clear that he had made some good progress before Chase rudely interrupted. The pair quickly got to finishing their big cleanup before flumping down on the sofa. They were tired and ragged, but the basement looked almost spotless, likely the cleanest it's been in years.
"Oh wow, that was something else." Zee exhaled sharply. "Cleaning stuff is hard."
"It's a lot harder when you let all the filth pile up to the ceiling." Emma remarked. "But it's so rewarding when you get it done." She grabbed a can of Fresca and flicked the TV on. "So um, I'm not exactly ready to leave just yet in case Chase tries to look for me again, you find if I stick around and join in your holiday chilling? We could uh, Fresca and Chill!" She flopped her head back on the sofa cushion as she held up the can she was holding. Zee couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the pun she made. How he loved his soda puns.
"Hey why not." Zee replied chuckling. "It'll really switch things up to have a bud chilling with me. Find us something good to zone out to." Emma quickly agreed and together the pair sat back and relaxed, as this Christmas was gonna be the way Zee would want it, just good vibes only and no Chase in sight.