Barbie: Beyond the Trip

Onward and Upward!

"Woo hoo, take that!"

"Oh, no you don't!"

"Comin' back at ya, sis!"

"Phew! That was a close one!"

It was a beautiful May day at the Roberts' Malibu Dreamhouse... The sky was crystal clear, the sun was hot, the pool water was sparkling ever so perfectly, the birds chirped peacefully as they set up their nests for their summer offspring.

And yet, the loud, boisterous excited shouts from four females of the household contradicted the calm nature surrounding them.

Barbie and Ken were finished for the semester at NYU... Classes let out a few days ago, and they took the opportunity to hightail it back to Malibu with Skipper for a couple weeks in between summer sessions to visit their families. Barbie was looking forward to buckling down and taking as many classes as she could to try to earn her minor in Journalism. If all went to plan, she could graduate next December, or possibly in the summer if she worked hard enough.

For now? She was enjoying some well-deserved R and R with her best guy and her sisters.

"Hey, that was a cheap shot!", Stacie shouted in protest at the ball that had volleyed nearby, splashing her in the face. Skipper cackled and shook her head from the other side of the pool on her own raft.

"It was not! It was so fair and square!"

"You're square!", Barbie blurted back, giggling as she helped Stacie reach for the ball to avoid falling in. Chelsea grunted in annoyance, rolling her eyes at the terrible joke.

"Really, Barbie? Who calls anyone square anymore?"

Skipper and Chelsea high-fived at the little insult, much to Barbie's chagrin as she smirked back, pretending not to be offended.

"For your information, it's still used in New York quite often. Right, Ken?", she turned over to her boyfriend who was perched on the side of the pool deck at the table.

He didn't respond...

Ken Carson was buried nose deep in his laptop for some reason. He had lugged home, to Barbie and Skipper's amusement, a whole host of papers and binders, as well as his laptop, from New York, as if he were still studying for classes. Carefully, his eyes scanned the screen, combing its contents, peering directly into the soul of the display to the point where anyone could practically read the messages through the reflections of his eyes. As time grew on, he grew increasingly eager in his search for... who knew what.

"Ken?", Barbie questioned again, raising her eyebrow at the diligently preoccupied man. Stacie smirked and grabbed the volleyball in her hands, tossing it back and forth.

"Yo! Earth to Big Guy!", she blurted, tossing the game ball over towards his direction. Yet, as the ball bounced right off his head, the man still didn't acknowledge anything other than the computer, completely unaffected by the intrusion.

Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea all shared half-worried and half-amused looks between themselves before turning their attention back to the silent man.

"Ummm... I think Ken's officially checked out", Skipper quipped dryly, chuckling a bit.

"Maybe his brain was abducted by little purple aliens!", Chelsea blurted, feigning fright.

"Hun? Everything okay?", Barbie asked kindly, wondering what the heck was keeping her distracted boyfriend so oblivious to everything around him. She swam closer to the edge of the deck, pulling herself up and onto the platform away from her raft.

As she got closer, Ken began to slowly murmur to himself, growing louder and louder and more frantically excited with each word.

"Yes... Wait a minu–... Okay, okay... Hang on.... If this is... It's... Yes... Yes... YES! YES!! WOO HOO! OH YEAH, BABY!!"