The Road Trip

Chapter 2 - All Kinds of Susprises

Chapter 2

All Kinds of Surprises

I struck my ending pose, smiling widely as Christina Aguilera's 'Express' stopped pounding through the speakers. Even if it was one of our easier dances, I loved it. The song was one of my favorites, so that was a perk. After a few seconds, me and the rest of the girls on my team collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.

We had been practicing for two hours straight, without rest. No joke. After warm-ups my teacher, Mrs. Caraway, had made us run through Express over and over again until she was satisfied. Apparently, that last time was satisfactory because she gave us a nod of approval before quickly walking out of the room. My chest continued to rise up and down at an abnormal pace as I pushed myself to my hands and knees and crawled over to my purple dance bag.

Lilly, one of the girls on my dance team, plopped down next to me, grabbing her bag. She had brown hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, loose curls falling down her back. Her pink leotard was starting to get dark spots from sweating, and I'm sure my tank top looked the same, if not worse. Her green eyes had lost some of their sparkle after hours of torture.

"Why do we dance again?" She asked weakly, gulping down several gulps of her water. I took a couple of swigs of mine, wiping the sweat from my face, before answering.

"Because we love it." I sighed, rolling my eyes. Sometimes I had a feeling that I was the only one on my team who enjoyed our time at the dance studio. There were six of us total, but I was the only one who cared. It was sad, really. For everyone else, it was just a hobby.

"Alright, girls!" Mrs. Caraway called as she hurried back into the room. She clapped her hands twice, motioning for us to line up. I scrambled to my feet, hurrying to get in place. She was usually a nice person, but when kept waiting she could be a witch. Her eyes looked us over slowly as if asking herself if she had overworked us. The answer was yes, she had. But I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. "As you all know we are going to the Texas State Dance World Competition this Saturday..."

There were a few groans while I broke out into a huge grin. Mrs. Caraway had given me a jazz solo to perform, so naturally, I was super excited. I loved my team, don’t get me wrong, but I loved doing solos more. There was something about being on stage alone, knowing that the whole dance depended on me, that was very appealing. I held the key to success or failure; I didn’t have to depend on anyone else, which was a hard thing for me to do.

"No groans!” She snapped, sending a warning glare down the line. “It's a two-hour drive from here to Fort Worth, so I expect each and every one of you to be here by eight AM sharp. Am I clear?"

We all nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Caraway."

"Good." She smiled, "Your costumes have just arrived, go get them from Ms. Walter and try them on.” Squealing, we dashed for the door. I was practically run over by Lilly, who I had never seen move so fast. “After that don't take them off! We're going to run through Express one more time, in costume."

"Hey girls." Ms. Walter called, placing a box on her desk when she saw us coming. She picked up the first package, glancing at the name. "Lisa," And then she chucked the plastic-wrapped package at Lisa's head. Luckily, she caught it before it did any damage. "Addison." I smiled, prepared for the package to fly towards me.

As expected, it hurdled through the air and I caught it seconds before it made contact with my face. Through the plastic, I could see bright red, sparkly material. Wow, Mrs. Caraway went all out. Without waiting for everyone else, I sprinted to the changing room, stripping quickly and tearing into my package. Shortly after I arrived, the rest of my team stumbled into the room.

I put my costume on so quickly I didn't even look at it until it was on my body. Lilly had to zip me up, but then I hurried to the nearest mirror without glancing at my teammates. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise by seeing it on someone else.

What I saw actually shocked me. Mrs. Caraway usually picked, erm...different costumes. This one, however, I actually looked good in. I was wearing a bright red dress, covered in sparkles, that stopped just below my butt. It was a halter top that flowed loosely down until it clenched at the waist, creating a skin-tight skirt. There was a bright red leotard under it so that my boobs didn't hang out, thank God.

"We look like prostitutes." Rebecca deadpanned with a smile, wiggling her eyebrows. We all burst out laughing, expecting that kind of thing to come out of Becca's mouth.

"You say that like it's a good thing." I chuckled, eyeing my friends. We really did look like we should be standing on street corners. When my dad saw me up on stage in this, I had a feeling he would be a little bit upset. "Come on, Mrs. Caraway will be waiting." I quickly grabbed Lilly's shoulders and steered her out of the doors. If I hadn’t helped her, she would’ve spent the next hour staring at herself.

As I had predicted, Mrs. Caraway was waiting. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was tapping her foot. Her gray eyes narrowed at us as we walked in before she smiled, looking us all over. "You all look great." She complimented, "Now, I want you to wear black fishnet leggings and your black character shoes for this number." Yep, Becca called it. Prostitutes. "I'm leaving hair up to you guys, do whatever you want. Now, get into position and we'll run through Express one more time."

We did as we were told and did our number. Miraculously, we did it flawlessly. Mrs. Caraway even gave us a round of applause when we were done, saying that was the best we had run it yet. That was probably a good thing, seeing as Dance World was five days away.

"Great job girls! You're dismissed! Addison, I need you to stay after rehearsal tomorrow to practice your solo." She called out to us as we ran out the door.

"Yes, ma'am!" I yelled, giving her a nod. My solo wasn't a big issue for me, I had it nailed down to a pin. When she had given it to me on Monday, I had worked my butt off until I had it perfect. There was no room for mistakes, that was my motto.

I grabbed my bag from the corner, quickly changed, and then skipped out to the parking lot. Immediately, I spotted my ride leaning on the hood of his car.

"Holden!" I shrieked, running up to him and throwing myself into his arms. He caught me easily, spinning me around a few times.

"Happy birthday, babe." He laughed, giving me a quick peck on the lips. "I have your present in the truck if you want too-" I squealed, running to the passenger side and jumping in. He gave me a weird look before laughing at my antics. I practically bounced up and down on his leather seats as he got into his truck. I wasn’t really sure why I was so excited, but my heart was practically pounding out of my chest.

"What is it?" I asked as he grabbed a bag from the back seat. It was purple with a pink, sparkly heart on it. Purple polka dotted tissue paper stuck out through the top.

"Open it and you'll find out." He winked, thrusting the bag into my arms. I giggled and started pulling out the tissue paper. Once the first obstacle was out of the way, I reached inside and pulled out my present. I felt my heart drop when the only thing inside was a box wrapped in 'happy birthday' wrapping paper. Holden held his hands up in defense as I shot him a glare. "Keep going."

Annoyed, I continued unwrapping layer after layer of paper until finally the only thing left was a little blue velvet box. Slowly, I cracked it open, gasping in shock. Inside lay a perfect little necklace that had a silver heart charm. On the charm, in big, swooping cursive letters, were the words, 'I Love You.' I glanced up at Holden, tears pricking my eyes.

"I do." He said, giving me a shy smile. "I love you." My heart rate was speeding up as my cheeks turned bright red. That was the first time he had used the 'L' word.

"I love you, too." I croaked, giving him a big hug. My chest felt like it would explode. He pulled back slightly, looking me in the eyes before crashing his lips to mine. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed myself closer. Sometimes, I hate cars. There was hardly any room so I was practically sitting on his lap.

"Woo! Get some, Addie!" Lilly's voice yelled, making me jump. I hit my head on the top of the car and fell back to my seat, rubbing my head. "Hey, Holden! Maybe you'll get lucky today!" She called sweetly before starting up her car and pulling out of the parking lot. My cheeks burned a bright crimson from embarrassment, so I stared out the window, clutching the box in my hand.

We drove home in silence, neither feeling the need to speak. I just clutched his hand, loving the way he stroked my hand with his thumb absently. Scratch that, I loved everything he did. I loved him with all my heart, and I was sure of it.

Before long we pulled up to my typical suburban, white house. Luke was playing basketball in his front yard. I could see him shooting baskets from my driveway.

"I'll see you on Saturday. You're coming to my competition, right?" I asked with a smile, giving Holden an awkward sideways hug.

"Wouldn't miss it!" He exclaimed, "And we're leaving straight after that right?" I nodded. "Awesome, can't wait. This road trip is going to be awesome, even if your parents won't let us go alone." I stuck my tongue out at him, rolling my eyes.

"They just don't want me to lose my 'V' card." I laughed, grabbing my bag. "Love you." I pecked him on the lips before opening the car door and jumping out.

"Love you too, see you Saturday." I waved as he pulled out of the driveway, wishing he could stay. But, alas, his parents were forcing him to spend time at home. He would be gone with me most of the summer and was leaving for college soon. That's why he was only staying with us on the road trip until California. Then he was on the first flight back home so he could pack up his stuff and get settled down in his new dorm room.

It kinda bummed me out that he didn't get to go to Hawaii, but I would get over it. With a sigh, I threw my bag onto my green lawn and jogged over to Luke. He was still shooting baskets, oblivious to the fact I was around. His gray t-shirt was pretty much sweat soaked, letting me know he had been at it for quite a while. I quickly walked around so he could see me, giving him a small wave. He stopped immediately, dropping the ball and running over to me.

'Hey,' I signed, 'How's it going?' He smiled, giving me a quick hug. Usually, I would've complained about the sweat, but since I was already drenched it didn't matter.

'Great,' He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry about this morning.' He quickly grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the porch. They had a porch swing, which Luke and I often sat on to have our conversations.

'I've said it's fine, already,’ I sighed, 'Just forget about it.' He frowned but nodded, 'Oh, my god! Guess what Holden said to me today?!' He shrugged, frowning. 'He told me he loves me!' My smile faded when I saw him scrunch up his face. Luke was officially killing my vibe. 'What?'

'You know I don't like him, Addie.' He frowned, 'You could do better.... And I think he's a jerk.' I gasped, only half offended. Luke had made it quite clear from the moment I first started dating Holden, a few months back, that he disliked my man. 'Call it a deaf person's intuition, but I say he's bad news.'

‘You've been saying that from the beginning.' I stuck my tongue out at him, 'But that hasn't changed my mind. I love him.' Suddenly, his eyes got wide and his face got slightly paler.

'You’re home late from practice.' He stated, looking me over. Well, that's weird. I know I'm a little later than usual, but he usually didn’t notice. Why did it matter, anyway?

'Yeah?'

'And you were with Holden?' I nodded, 'Did...Did you guys...' He trailed off, looking away as he gestured downward. Frowning, I wrinkled my eyebrows. What was he.... Oh, god!

'No!' I exclaimed, my cheeks flaming. 'I am still very much a virgin!' He sighed in relief, his posture visibly relaxing. This was not something I was comfortable discussing. My prolonged virginness was none of Luke’s business, anyway.

We would've done it in Holden's truck! Ew.

'Hey, Addie?' Luke asked slowly. He had a weird look on his face; he almost looked nervous. 'Talk to me.' I raised an eyebrow, confused.

'We are talking.' He frowned, glancing away before looking at me seriously. What could he possibly mean?

'No, without signing.' He insisted, a determined look crossing his face. What was his problem? I was so confused.

'Luke, what are-'

'Addie! Please.' He begged, sticking out his bottom lip. I sighed, giving in. I couldn't say no to the puppy dog look.

"Fine, Luke," I said, without using sign language. It felt weird, unnatural. "How are you today?" I made sure to talk slowly, putting emphasis on every word.

He hesitated for a second, biting down on his bottom lip. I felt like we were building up to something big, something important. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what that was.

"I'm fine, thank you."

And that was the first time I heard Luke Daniels’ voice.