Dinner and a Disagreement

“Good evening and a continued Happy New Year, Eldermoss! I’m Sanna Bank, your loveable co-host of Sussing with Serinda and Sanna, and I'm back with another report from the scene of your favorite guilty pleasure: Honey Hollow. Serinda and I–”

“Seriously? You’re going to do that nonsense during dinner?” ten-year-old Tenille Day said in exasperation. She clattered her fork against the plate for added effect. “We just started!”

“We have to!” Serinda responded.

“Look, Tenny, this might be a momentous moment in the annuals of Honey Hollow. Favorite besties from Season 14, Lana and Peyton, are feuding. Okay, sure they bicker a lot, but that happens mainly in Arbor Corners these days and isn’t covered by Nosy Nectar. And we’re eyewitnesses to Finn’s attempt to fix their friendship,” Sanna explained.

“Finn’s going to fix it. It’s what he does and what he has to do,” Serinda insisted, still pointing her camera at her younger sister.

“Stop acting like this is a TV show. It’s dumb,” Tenille declared.

“Wow. Somebody sounds grumpy like Polly,” Sanna commented, holding up her hands for protection.

“I’m not grumpy! You two just need to get a life.”

“You really shouldn’t be so uptight, Tenny. You’re only ten. It’s not healthy,” Serinda remarked, shaking her head sadly at the younger girl.

“And your negative attitude isn’t popular with our viewers. I mean, your final Q score isn’t in yet, but preliminary Q ratings don’t look good,” Sanna added, causing Tenille’s expression to turn incredulous.

“My what?!”

“Hold on, Ten. These aren’t official Q ratings but our own version. Polls don’t close for another 48 hours–” Serinda began.

“So tonight could really help your chances of being brought back,” Sanna clarified.

“San’s correct. However, the comment section doesn’t look promising. You’re in trouble and trending toward villain status.”

“Unlike little Trey here,” Sanna continued, reaching over to pat the eight-year-old’s head. “His Q score is going to be off the charts. Everyone thinks he’s adorable, and his role in the **** scheme is already the most commented-about topic from last night.”

Trey beamed with pride and stuffed cheeks from a mouthful of food.

“Oh. My. Gawd! Y-You two have lost your minds!” Tenille shrieked, catching the attention of the adult’s table.

“Everything alight over there?” Cecelia Bank called over.

“It’s all good, Grammy. Tenny’s just acting like her mother for a minute,” Sanna replied.

“She does do that,” Nate agreed before Peyton scolded him for talking with a mouthful of food.

Although Serinda and Sanna initially complained about getting stuck at the kids’ table–a foldout card table situated a dozen feet away from the main dining room table—the two sisters eventually agreed that the location provided an excellent camera perspective for the main action at the dining room table. Clearly, Tenille didn’t care for their table manners, but Trey found their reporting funny. The little boy even helped secretly place Sanna’s phone on a cabinet across from Finn, Lana, and Peyton’s seats to provide a second, closer camera angle.

“Look, we realize you’re not as fun as your cousins, but you–”

“Who are trending on our blog. People want to know more about the Toone Twins’ pranks,” Sanna interrupted before apologizing to her sister. “Sorry.”

“--could at least try to be more like your dad. Teddy Day was an early hero of Nosy Nectar, which makes you almost royalty,” Serinda finished. “You could be a famous, special guest star for years!”

“I don’t want to be a famous guest star!” Tenille squealed.

“Well, you’re not going to with that poor attitude,” Sanna stated. “You know, we were going to offer you a guest commentator opportunity. Kind of give us the view of what people in Fountain Beach think of Nosy Nectar. Now, we don’t think viewers want to hear your opinions.”

“Okay, I think we’re finally getting to the good stuff,” Serinda alerted her sister after following the conversation at the main table.

“Look, we’re facing a serious grounding once we return home. Which I don’t need to remind you is happening because we helped get **** for your dad, Ten. So this might be our last fun show for a while, and it would be nice if you didn’t ruin it. Okay?”

“Fine,” Tenille grumbled, going back to her dinner.

“Good, let’s try another take,” Serinda responded, pointing her phone again at her sister.

“Good evening and a continued Happy New Year, Eldermoss! I’m Sanna Bank, your loveable co-host of Sussing with Serinda and Sanna, and I'm back with another report from the scene of your favorite guilty pleasure: Honey Hollow. Serinda and I both expected only to have our departing video left for tomorrow. However, an unexpected bonus has popped up thanks to our grandmother. That’s right, people, we’re currently located at the home of Red and Cecelia Bank, our grandparents. Dinner is going down now, but also, we’re about to witness a callback to Season 14, as Finn Singer, our cousin, mends the fences between Lana Stratton and Peyton Tarver following this morning’s syrup incident.”

“A huge question is if this night will be pivotal in rekindling the passionate romance between Finn and Lana. Keep your fingers crossed, Eldermoss,” Serinda directed after turning her phone to face herself.

“They’re not getting back together,” Tenille mumbled.

Her mumble led to an off-camera middle finger from Serinda and a giggle from Trey.

“And if you hear any additional comments, guys, that’s just our extra table guests. We have the breakout **** star in Theodore Day, the Third, better known as Trey, and his bossy big sister Tenille,” Sanna said, introducing their off-camera guests.

“Now let’s get back to the action,” Serinda announced, zooming in on the main table.

Nine people sat at the eight-person table, leaving them slightly scrunched in together. Finn sat in one of the center spots with Lana on his left-hand side and Peyton on his opposite side. As usual around the Bank home, Lana reverted to her sweet, helpful young lady act. And as always, Finn’s grandfather, Red, fell for her performance while sitting next to the redhead.

Next to her husband, CeCe mimicked Rachel with her concern about Barney’s lack of a girlfriend. Unsatisfied with the answers, CeCe planned to order Finn to help his friend out when they returned to college. Meanwhile, Lacey practically begged Barney to let her help him.

“I really do have a solid list of women for you. Here, it’s on my phone if you want to just give it a glance,” Lacey offered for the third time since sitting down.

“Please no,” Barney moaned, hoping help would come.

“Geez, give the guy a break,” Nate remarked from the petite ginger’s other side.

“That’s an excellent idea! Why don’t you play matchmaker for Nate, Lace?” Peyton suggested while glancing at the buxom blonde who sat between her and the eldest Toone sibling. “What do you think, Zay?”

“Do you want some names and descriptions of women at Sandbar College?” Zaylie queried the young matchmaker. “I’m sure I can bring up their pictures as well.”

“Whoa! No, no, no! Leave me out of this!” Nate exclaimed.

“Yeah, leave my Smurfie alone, bitch!” Lana warned Peyton.

“Dammit, Lan, that’s enough,” Finn sighed in exasperation.

“You can have your Smurfie all to yourself. I don’t want him!” Peyton yelled back, leaning forward to glare past Finn at her best friend.

The rest of the table rolled their eyes, if not their heads, in exhaustion at the continued bickering. Only CeCe appeared concerned about the current fight.

“Shocker! Peyton Tarver, yet again, doesn’t want a man. She’s too busy drying up her pu–”

“Lana!” CeCe exclaimed, figuring out where her grandson’s ex-girlfriend was headed. “There are children present.”

Sanna and Serinda looked at each other and shrugged before glancing at the Day siblings and nodding in agreement that their grandmother probably meant them. Trey didn't seem bothered in the slightest as he munched away on a dinner roll. On the other hand, Tenille appeared confused as she hadn't put together the unfinished section of Lana's sentence.

“Now, let’s not assume Lana would say anything offensive, honey. Not this sweet, little lady,” Red praised, patting the busty ginger’s arm. “I think Peyton is the one who needs to apologize for what she did at the hotel this morning.”

“Me?!”

“Pey, let it go. Please,” Finn whispered the last plea.

“No, I will not let it go! It’s Lana’s fault that you ended up in bed with the scheming skank last night,” Peyton pointed out.

“Peyton, please,” CeCe responded, motioning toward the kids’ table.

Lacey held her head while Barney squirmed, wishing he’d gone home already.

“Pey, we agreed not to mention Farah or Teresa tonight,” Finn reminded, seeking to avoid a bigger blowup between his two best friends.

“Yeah, Pey, way to break your word so quickly,” Lana remarked snarkily.

“I should’ve broken your nose or jaw. Shut up that slutty, smart mouth of yours,” Peyton shot back.

“Always taking after her mother with the foul language,” Red remarked.

“Grandpa, just stop!” Finn nearly screamed, causing Sanna and Serinda to grin at each other.

“I’ll stop when you get your head out of your butt and finally apologize for what you did to this wonderful girl. It’s high time you make an honest woman out of her,” Red ordered, causing Lana to lay her head on his shoulder.

The loudest response to Grandpa Bank’s suggestion came from Lacey. She laughed so hard at his calling her sister an honest woman that she snorted milk out of her nose.

“Ah, gross!” Nate squealed, feeling a few droplets land on his arm.

A round of loud laughter filled the dining room at Red’s view of Lana and Lacey’s reaction. CeCe laid a hand on her husband’s arm while shaking her head at him.

“I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“Because Peyton’s the good girl, Grandpa, not Lana,” Sanna clarified.

“Huh? That’s not right,” Red muttered, shaking his head.

“Are you calling me bad? I thought you girls liked me!” Lana moaned, feeling betrayed.

“I’m Team Fana, and we love you!” Serinda shouted.

“I didn’t call you the bad one. It’s just that you’re…” Sanna drifted off, unable to think of the proper word.

“Naughty!” Trey exclaimed, surprising everyone.

“That works,” Nate agreed with his little cousin.

“It kind of does,” Sanna admitted.

“Well, I guess naughty is better,” Lana said, accepting the description. “But Peyton does owe me an apology. I’ve spent my life protecting her, and she pours maple syrup on my head!”

“Protecting me? You’ve been protecting me? How?”

“I risked my neck to get Butch Klackhurst to leave you alone by threatening to repeat what your aunt did to Lash,” Lana reminded.

“I didn’t need you to do anything. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Peyton argued. “And Brandy isn’t the one family member with strong legs.”

“See?” Lana said, glancing around the table. “Ungrateful.”

“Ungrateful?! I’ve spent almost my whole life keeping you out of trouble! I’m the one who spent our whole freshman year of college dragging you away from dorm parties, house parties, and sketchy bars that didn’t care if our fake IDs sucked,” Peyton rattled off. “All to make sure you didn’t end up with a piece of shit scumbag because you wanted to steal the spotlight from Kiki.”

“Geez, watch the mouth, good girl. There are children present.”

Finn managed to hold back Peyton after she lunged past him. Instead of reaching Lana, Pey lay across her male best friend’s lap in an almost provocative position. Sanna immediately perked up at the sight.

“Maybe Team Feyton has a chance.”

“No!” Serinda shrieked in horror. It wasn’t that she disliked Peyton; she just loved Finn and Lana as a couple.

“What’s with always trying to attack me? You did that a lot freshman year. Such as with that wooden paddle,” Lana reminded.

“That was not a wooden paddle!” Peyton bellowed, sliding off Finn’s lap to return to her chair. “And you were out of control that night. You knew Omega Beta Gamma had a shitty reputation. So it’s frigging moronic to try and put on a striptease competition with Kiki and Poppy. At least those two knew not to go too far. Not you! You had your bra already unhooked before I ran into the room. And it was an empty paper towel roll, not a wooden paddle.”

“I know it was the wooden paddle they use on pledges!”

“It was a paper towel roll,” Zaylie said, backing up Petyon. “I was in the kitchen when Pey grabbed it. You’re lucky Jamie-Lynn didn’t reach you first. She had an empty vodka bottle ready to use as a weapon to save you or stop you.”

“I didn’t need saving!” Lana defended her actions before muttering. “It sure hurt like a wooden paddle.”

“You were seconds away from a fraternity gangbang, Lan!” Peyton screamed.

“Peyton, please, there are children present,” CeCe stated, although less forceful than before.

“Don’t worry, Grams. It’s all good over here!” Sanna called out.

“Yeah, Trey didn’t understand that part, and Tenny can just cover her prudish ears if she needs to,” Serinda added, causing Tenille to sputter in her attempted reply.

“Wow, you don’t need to be so melodramatic,” Lana remarked.

“No, we really think Tenille has had a sheltered upbringing,” Sanna responded.

“She was talking to Peyton,” Lacey clarified.

“Whoops,” Serinda snickered.

“Oh, dear, they definitely aren’t like Sander,” CeCe commented to her husband.

A temporary lull settled over the room. Based on the glares from Lana and Peyton, the quiet wouldn’t last long. However, Nate cracked under the tension first.

“I don’t know what the big deal is. So, Pey poured syrup on you. The biggest fight ever happened that summer you guys came to Breezy Bay back when we were fourteen. Now that was epic,” Nate declared.

“Dude, not helping!” Finn exclaimed, flashing his friend a what-the-fuck look.

“Oww!” Nate yelled after Zaylie slammed the handle end of her fork down on his hand.

“That’s right!” Lana exclaimed.

“I still can’t believe you guys got to spend a whole month in Hawaii summer. We got four rainy days,” Lacey complained, recalling their short vacation.

No one knows why Rachel and Clive allowed Lana to spend four weeks visiting Breezy Bay with Finn and Peyton. They probably allowed it so Finn could visit Nate, three years after Cassie’s ****, with his two best friends. Bridget had been all for the idea, excited for her daughter to spend quality time with her oldest friend. However, Lacey and Sean were considered too young to stay. They only visited briefly when their parents flew in to drop off their eldest kids.

Of course, the trip turned out quite eventful.

“That was the first time I met you three,” Zaylie recalled.

“And already territorial around Nate,” Peyton remembered with a chuckle. “You and Lana didn’t hit it off right away.”

“Hey, I needed to check out the girls circling my little buddy,” Lana defended.

Over at the kids’ table, the Bank sisters and Trey stood up straighter. The sisters loved a good story they’d never heard, while Trey adored Zaylie enough to be curious about how she met the others. Even Tenille raised her head to listen.

“Ooh, a story,” Serinda said, raising her eyebrows at her sister.

“Tell us more!” Sanna begged, ignoring Finn’s hand wave to cut it out.

“Peyton and Lana feuded over a guy,” Nate revealed, pulling his hands close to his body while scooting closer to Lacey.

“You did?!” Serinda gasped.

“Who was it?” Sanna questioned.

“Kiefer Tidcombe is the older brother of our friend Melissa. Two years older than us, he’s always been popular with girls,” Zaylie said, picking up the story after Peyton shrugged at the unspoken question.

“Kiefer’s nothing special. Maybe a good surfer,” Nate muttered.

“Nothing special? Sugar, don’t sound so jealous. So what if Kiefer is extraordinarily handsome with spectacular abs and an impressive package,” Zaylie replied, teasing her ex. “Even at sixteen, he had women swooning on the beach.”

“Impressive…How the hell do you know that?” Nate challenged, suddenly interested in the blonde’s description of the older guy.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Zaylie baited.

“I do want to know!”

“Oh, Nate! Do you still have feelings for Zay? What about our destiny?” Peyton mocked. “Maybe you’re meant to marry her.”

“Nate and I are never getting married. That ship sailed,” Zaylie scoffed at the notion.

“No! Zaylee!” Trey screamed, heartbroken. He rushed over to the buxom blonde.

“Aw, don’t worry, buddy. Even though I won’t marry your cousin, I’m still part of your family. I’ll always be around,” Zaylie reassured the upset boy while hugging him. “Perhaps I’ll end up with one of Nate’s male best friends. I can either steal Finn from Lana or maybe end up with Hobbie. He’s always been a sweetheart.”

“Hobbie? You stay away from him!”

“Would you prefer I go after Kiefer? Melissa can probably set it up,” the beach blonde teased. “I’m sure he’ll keep me satisfied for life.”

“No, I want to know how you know,” Nate pressed. “Did you cheat on me with him?”

“Lighten up, sugar. We stopped dating after you tricked me into accepting only one college. It’s been a long, fun-filled three and a half years,” Zaylie teased, enjoying the needling of her ex.

“We’ll see what Tidcombe says when I confront him,” Nate vowed.

“Jesus, you do need to lighten up,” Peyton added.

“No, he doesn’t!” Lana screeched.

“Put a cork in it,” Finn ordered, causing his ex to stammer an outraged reply.

Sanna and Serinda looked at each other yet again, annoyed. They wanted to hear about the big fight over this surfer, and they said so.

“Fine!” Peyton gave in. “We spent most of our days at the Beachberry Resort, where Nate’s dad works. I met Kiefer and developed a crush on him. He had the classic surfer look for a summer romance. Give me a break. I was fourteen, and it felt like a movie.”

“It did? Wow!” Serinda sounded.

“But then a villain appeared?” Sanna hinted at.

“Yes, an evil villainess with red hair,” Peyton agreed.

“Like the devil!” Sanna said, causing Trey to gasp in fear.

“Hey! I was not the devil nor the villain,” Lana protested.

“You did steal Kiefer away from Pey,” Zaylie pointed out.

“That’s not what happened!” Lana denied.

“Oh, really? That’s how I remember it,” Finn stated, suddenly interested in Lana’s version of this re-telling.

“Well, uh, he came after me! I was only fourteen and impressionable,” Lana argued. However, she sensed nobody except Grandpa Bank bought it. “Whatever, Peyton played dirty!”

“What did she do?” Sanna pressed when nobody said anything.

Nate couldn’t hold back his need to tell the tale. Showing off some decent storytelling ability, he described the day when Peyton got her payback. It took place at the end of the second week of their stay. Always busy on weekends, Beachberry was unusually packed that Saturday, with many locals using the beach. Peyton had patiently waited until a suntanning Lana dozed off while waiting for Kiefer to arrive. Seizing on the opportunity, Peyton tiptoed over and untied Lana’s bikini top.

“Uh-oh,” Serinda sounded.

“Oh, yeah, it was glorious. Lana jumped up when Kiefer arrived. She ended up flashing the crowed beach,” Nate recalled. “Even back then, she had some tits–”

“Nathan,” CeCe admonished.

“Right, sorry.”

“It was not glorious. I got in a lot of trouble! The staff hauled me into Mr. Sandberry’s office, where I got read the riot act. He couldn’t believe that the daughter of Clive Stratton and Rachel McCracken would do such a thing. I guess they take underage flashing seriously there. I got banned from the resort!”

“It was only for the rest of our stay,” Peyton informed the others.

“It could have been for life if they didn’t know my parents from college!” Lana shot back.

“Please, you spent the next six months bragging about the ban. And it’s not like I scarred you for life. You sure took your sweet time grabbing your top once you realized it wasn’t on,” Peyton replied, rolling her eyes.

“Dad was pissed. He was worried that he’d get in trouble at work over it,” Nate recalled.

“Your dad? Aunt Tinny went off on me. She grounded me for a whole week, and we only had two weeks left,” Lana whined.

“You see? Flashing your boobs always gets you into trouble,” Peyton added sarcastically.

“That’s not why I got grounded when you should’ve, and you know it!”

“Oh, right, something about not stealing your best friend’s guy. Tinny did feel that was way worse than what I did,” Peyton gloated.

“You’ve always been her favorite!” Lana screamed, hinting at a bit of jealousy.

“Huh, I guess I forgot about the flashing part,” Finn said.

“What?! Don’t even try that, buster!” Lana warned. “When we started dating, you told me that was your go-to image whenever you jerk–”

“Lana!” CeCe exploded.

Having pushed her plate forward, Lacey laid her head on the table and covered it with her arms. It wasn’t clear if she was embarrassed or laughing. Barney seemed ready to bolt while pointing downward at Finn.

“Wait, how did Peyton and Lana make up?” Sanna asked.

“I’ll take this one. It’s actually how Melissa and I came to like the girls. Not that we hated them or anything. It’s just that Nate always talked up his friends back in Honey Hollow, which was somewhat annoying,” Zaylie began. “So while Pey and Lan feuded, and Lana got grounded, another classmate of ours, Arlyn Delmore, made a move on Finn. Arlyn had an ego that wouldn’t stop.”

“Arlyn wasn’t that bad. We had a fun few months when we dated later,” Nate argued.

“Sugar, she gave you mono that she got from kissing another guy,” Zaylie reminded him.

“But I also knocked his tooth out once I felt better,” Nate said, shrugging off being cheated on as a teenager.

“So you all teamed up and put this bitch in her place?” Sanna questioned.

“Me, Missy, Pey, and Lan came up with a plan that–”

“Okay, I think that’s enough. Let’s move onto a subject that won’t lead to my son or daughter-in-law calling up to complain about,” CeCe directed, interrupted Zaylie after hearing her youngest grandchild call someone a bitch.

“Good idea, Grammy B. I don’t want to hear what I regret. I should’ve never forgiven Pey back then,” Lana proclaimed.

“Forgave me? You’re the one that apologized for going after the guy I liked,” Peyton pointed out.

“Well, I shouldn’t–”

“Enough!” Finn roared, standing up.

Sanna needlessly slapped Serinda to make sure she recorded this moment.

“Downstairs, now!” Finn ordered, grabbing Lana’s wrist and yanking her out of her chair.

“Ooh, if you want to get kinky, you just needed–Hey! I’m not doing anything with her!” Lana cried, spotting that Finn had also pulled Peyton from her spot.

“Be quiet! We’re going down to the basement and ending this,” Finn declared.

Everyone watched as Finn pulled the two feuding girls toward the kitchen. Peyton put up far less of a struggle than Lana, probably because she was more resigned to her fate. Once they disappeared and had time to exit the kitchen for the basement, CeCe clapped her hands while standing up.

“Who wants dessert?”

“I do!” Trey squeaked, raising his hand.

“Well, come and help me,” CeCe replied, motioning for him to follow.

“I’ll help too,” Tenille announced, anxious to leave the group momentarily.

"Whoa! Is Finn…are they going to…is his plan make-up sex with both?" Nate asked, looking around in awe.

A loud sigh of disbelief or annoyance came from his right-hand side. A muffled scream sounded next before Lacey raised her head.

“Don’t be an idiot,” the usually sweet girl remarked.

“Well, nobody told me what the final part of the plan would be,” Nate responded.

Lacey slowly shook her head before looking over at Barney, who cleared his throat.

“Um, my dad forgot to tell me until last night at the ball that he found his old camcorder and a few videos while cleaning out the basement. I plan to convert them to digital files when I have time, as most people don’t have VCRs anymore. However, since the Banks still own a VCR–”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Grandpa Bank challenged.

“Uh, no reason. So, since they have one, I suggested that Finn could use the videos. They’re from our childhood, including one of my birthday parties.”

“I don’t know. Are videos going to work when all those pictures didn’t?” Nate questioned.

“Oh! Uh, sorry, I forgot to mention…um, Finn’s mom shows up in them,” Barney revealed while Lacey grinned triumphantly.