The Road Trip

Chapter 19 - Happy Thoughts

Chapter 19

Happy Thoughts

"No," I groaned, rolling over and pulling the blanket back over my head. I heard someone sigh and then walk away. Score! I really needed some sleep; I was wiped out from the day before. After we had left the campsite, we had driven all the way to Topeka, Kansas. I don't know how long we had driven, or how late we arrived at our hotel, I just knew I was still tired and needed sleep.

Dried tears were caked onto my face and I could tell my face was still swollen. Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes. Someone had started shaking me again, and it was really pissing me off.

"Addison," Trent whispered. "Luke says you won't get up." I was somewhat startled by how close his voice sounded, but I shrugged it off. Pressing my eyes closed, I rolled away from him. He sighed.

"Addie is asleep," I whispered back. He chuckled and jumped onto my bed, landing right next to me.

"Hey, listen," He said, wrapping his arms around my waist. I was too tired to protest and secretly liked the feeling of his body pressed against mine. I could feel his breath on my neck. "I talked to your parents and-"

"You what?" I squeaked, quickly turning over to face him. His face was only inches from mine, but I couldn’t have cared less. "Why the hell would you tell them?!" It was the last thing I needed at the moment, my parents finding out that I had just broken up with my abusive boyfriend.

Trent winced, "I didn't tell them Holden hit you, I just told them that you guys broke up and you're pretty beat up about it…” I sighed in relief, at least that was better than the other thing. "They're flying out to California soon and are going to meet us there."

"Thank you, Trent." As much as I loved the boys, I needed my mom at that moment. She would be able to help me through this and comfort me in ways the guys couldn't. I mean, they were doing a good job, understanding my need for personal space and silence, but they couldn't do what a Mom could do. It was her natural instinct that made her better for the job.

`He smiled, "No problem, Add's, I'm here for you." I smiled at the use of my other nickname, Add's. No one called me that anymore, because I had made them stop, but somehow, I couldn't bring myself to correct him. It sounded too good coming out of his mouth.

"Where's Luke?" I asked, stretching and wiggling out of Trent's grasp.

"He went to grab us breakfast before the breakfast bar closes," Trent explained, standing up from the bed. He was wearing a red T-Shirt and jeans. "It's almost noon." I sighed, running a hand through my knotted hair. That didn't surprise me, I was known to sleep forever. It was shocking, though, that the boys let me sleep that late.

I rolled off the bed and sulked into the bathroom, dragging my suitcase with me. Not feeling strong enough to take a shower, I just put my hair in a messy bun and splashed ice-cold water on my face. The chilly droplets rolled down my neck and into my Micky Mouse tank top, making me shiver. I quickly wiped them away and stripped from my pajama's. I threw on random undergarments and picked a lacy white tank top from American Eagle and paired it with jean shorts.

Satisfied, I quickly brushed my teeth and was ready. I didn't need makeup; I was only with Trent and Luke. Besides, I was depressed. Why should I go to the extra effort? Why was breaking up with Holden hurting me so much? I had just found out that he hadn’t loved me at all, and he had hit me. I bet he was only going to stick around until we had s*x. The thought made me shiver.

Scowling, I stormed out of the bathroom, slamming my suitcase on the ground when it got caught on the door frame.

"Well," Trent sighed, "Someone's in a great mood."

"f**k off," I muttered, sending him my best glare. Gosh, PMS much? A few seconds ago, I had been in an okay mood, happy that my mom was coming, but in just a few seconds I was cursing at people. Must've been thinking about Holden.

Trent rose his eyebrow in mild amusement, smirking at me.

"We should probably go downstairs now, we have a long drive ahead of us." I groaned, picking my suitcase back up and storming out of the door. I could hear Trent muttering behind me, probably cursing my bad mood, but I didn’t really care. When I got downstairs, I found Luke quickly. He was sitting at a table stuffing his face with bacon.

I plopped down in a seat without a word, huffing and crossing my arms. Luke swallowed loudly, quickly taking a sip of his water.

'You okay?' He signed, looking me over carefully. I shook my head, sighing. There really wasn't an excuse for me to act this way. I was just being childish, but I couldn't help it. It just happened. 'You going to eat?'

'Not hungry,' I replied. He looked me over once more and must've decided to leave it because he turned to his pile of pig without saying another word. Trent came down and sat with us, giving me a look when he noticed I wasn't eating.

"Addison, get something to eat." He gave me a stern look, narrowing his eyebrows at me.

"No, I'm not hungry," I said defensively, "What about you, you're not eating."

"I ate earlier when you and Luke were still asleep, now eat."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Trent, I said no."

"Addison, I'm older than you,"

"Not by much!"

"It's enough!"

"You're not my father!"

"But if I'm oldest I am in charge until your parents get here."

"Nu uh."

"Uh huh."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

We both jumped in the air when Luke pounded his fist on the table. Much to my embarrassment, I noticed the few people left in the room and the janitor we're staring at us like we belonged in a mental hospital.

'You guys are idiots,' Luke sighed, 'God, that was annoying, and I can't even hear it.'

'Whatever,' I turned to Trent, "I am not eating a thing, so don't say anything else." He rolled his eyes at me, but remained silent, much to my pleasure. Luke finished eating and we piled into the VAN. It was decided Trent would drive, Luke would sit up front, and I got the back to myself. Still tired, I pulled a blanket over my shoulders, rested my head on the window, and closed my eyes.

***

When I woke up, there wasn’t much change in scenery. We were still driving through the middle of nowhere, just like we had been when I fell asleep. The clock read five, so I had been sleeping for five hours. God, that couldn't be healthy...

"Where are we?" I asked, slowly sitting up from my hunched position. Trent glanced at me momentarily through the rear-view mirror but then turned back to the road.

"We entered Colorado about hour ago," He answered, turning on his blinker and pulling off of the highway. We had just entered a small town, so he pulled into a gas station. "I assume you're hungry now?" My stomach growled in response.

"And I have to pee," I admitted, unbuckling my seat belt and hopping out of the car. Luke was asleep in the front seat with his face pressed against the window, "Should we wake or leave him?"

"Wake, I don't want to stop in ten minutes so he can use the restroom," Trent said, shaking his brother. I nodded, showing I understood and headed into the building. It was small, dirty, and smelt like cigarette smoke. There was a young emo kid behind the counter, smoking. I assumed that's where the smell came from, but as I got closer, it began to smell more like…skunk.

The kid rose an eyebrow at me, and I realized I had been staring. I opened my mouth, searching for something to say.

"Is that pot?" I asked stupidly, c*****g my head at him. He chuckled, making his long, bright blue hair sway around.

"Yeah," He said, holding the joint out at me, "Want some?"

"No," I squeaked, horrified, "You shouldn't be smoking here, anyway, it's a gas station." He laughed again, looking at me like I was crazy.

"Obviously you're not from around here," He said, and I heard a bell ring behind me. The boys must've just walked in. "We haven't had gas for years, it's just a convenience store." Hmm, odd, but I wasn't going to complain. He was right, I wasn't from around here.

"Does this convenience store have a restroom?" Trent asked, slinging an arm around my shoulder. Not sure why he did that, but I wasn't complaining. The boy nodded, suddenly looking upset. He shoved his joint in his mouth and handed us two keys, each clearly labeled. One had 'girls' written on it and the other had 'boys.'

"Around the right corner," The boy said and pointed to the door. Trent grabbed my hand and turned me around, almost making me run into a confused Luke. We got out of there so fast I didn't get to see what the convenience store had in stock.

"What's your problem?" I asked once I had regained my senses. Trent released my hand when we were around the side of the building.

"Did you not see the way he was looking at you?" He growled, signing so Luke could understand as well. I glanced at Trent's brother, who had his eyebrow raised.

"He was looking at me like any regular pothead would," I defended, not quite sure why I was standing up for the guy.

"He was looking at your chest, which, by the way, kind of stands out since you're wearing a red bra with a white shirt." Slowly, I glanced down, my cheeks burning. He was right, you could see my bright crimson bra clearly. It was probably the same color as my cheeks.

"Oh," I muttered, tucking my hair behind my ear. I must've been so upset earlier that I hadn’t noticed.

"Yeah," Trent scoffed, handing a key to Luke, "Here," He shoved the other key in my hand, "I'll get you something to eat if they have anything editable here." I nodded numbly, still too embarrassed to look at him. I quickly opened the bathroom door and closed it behind me, turning the lock. Bad idea. It smelt like some lady had just taken the dump of her life in here.

Despite the overwhelming crap smell, it also smelled strongly of urine. There was a puddle around the toilet, which I was scared of. The tile was black, so I couldn't tell the color, but I had a suspicion that if the tile was white there would be a big yellow puddle there. I had to pee really badly, though, so I held my breath and did my business quickly.

When I turned on the water, the whole sink started to shake. Gasping, I took a few steps back. A loud, high pitched gurgling sound came from the spout before it started spraying brown water. Grimacing, I quickly turned it off. Screw washing my hands, I was using the hand sanitizer in my purse.

"Sorry, it's a mess in there," The pothead apologized when I handed him back the key. I shrugged.

"I've seen worse," I lied, attempting to make him feel better. He gave me a small smile and offered me his blunt once again. I eyed it suspiciously, weighing my options. I had never been high, but I could certainly see the appeal now. All the emotions running through my body about Holden had my head spinning, so with one last f**k it thought, I grabbed the joint and took a long, deep hit. It hit my lungs harshly, making me cough and sputter so much it made my stomach hurt.

“Whoa there,” the boy smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Not so much and hold it in otherwise you’re not going to as…happy.” Rolling my eyes, I took another hit, this time holding my breath before exhaling the smoke. It tasted bitter and made my eyes water. “So, where are you from?”

“Texas,” I answered, taking another drag. “You?”

“From right here,” he motioned, declining the blunt when I tried to hand it back to him. I hit it again. “This is kind of the family business, I guess you could say.”

“It’s…Nice,” I lied, although I could see from the amusement in his eyes, he knew I wasn’t being truthful. After a couple more hits, when my lungs started to burn, I decided it was time to leave. “Well, I better get back.”

“Yeah, don’t want your boyfriend to miss you too much,” he smirked at me, not at all looking me in the eyes. I ran out of the shop, very aware that he had, in fact, been staring at my chest. Perv. When I got back in the car, Luke and Trent we're already there. "Want me to drive, Trent? You've been driving for hours."

"I'm good for now, Addie," He said, giving me a look. "But we have nineteen hours left, you'll need to drive at some point." I sighed, grabbing my hand sanitizer from my purse and squeezing a huge glob into my hand. This ride was going to take forever. “Why do you smell like you were just in the middle of some hippie mosh-pit? I thought you just needed to take a shit.”

I giggled, my head suddenly feeling light. Trent was funny.

“Oh god Addie, tell me you didn’t,” he turned around to look at me, eyes widening. I couldn’t stop laughing. “Well great, we’ve got Happy the giggly dwarf riding with us today.”

“You’re funny, Trent,” I giggled, leaning forward and placing my hand on his shoulder. Luke was reading a book, paying no attention to our conversation. “And hot,” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, leaning forward. Suddenly, I had the urge to kiss him again.

“Okay, we’re leaving,” Trent announced, wiggling my shoulder out of my grip. He started the van, glancing at me through the rear-view mirror. Pouting, I sat back and crossed my arms across my chest. He was no fun.