Fall break had finally arrived. Evie was so happy to have a week off from her classes. She was also excited about the trip she and her friends were going on for the week. Daisy and Doug had arranged for Evie, Mal, Carlos, and Jay to spend the break at their house. Fairy Godmother had agreed to the vacation.
Evie had all her make up in one suitcase and nearly all her clothes in another. Mal had made many snide comments about Evie's two suitcase compared to her single duffle bag.
"I'm just bringing the necessities." Evie tried to reason.
"E, we're gonna be up in the mountains. You're not gonna need that much make up or your high fashion designs. Daisy even told you to bring functional clothes." Mal countered with an annoyed huff.
"I'm bringing clothes for every possible situation." Evie defended. Mal thought she heard a hint of panic in her sister's voice. Or maybe it was desperation. Either way, something wasn't right.
"Evie, what's wrong?" Mal cut to the chase.
"You seem to think that I'm being unreasonable with my packing. That's what's wrong." Evie waved her hand around like she was trying to smack away the subject.
"Evie." Mal said in a firm voice that made Evie finally look at her. Mal had a knowing look in her eye.
Evie frowned and sank onto the floor, leaning back against her bed. "What if they hate me?" She asked shakily.
Mal gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Who?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
"Doug's family. I mean he didn't tell them about me. I might understand if he didn't give them all the details about me, but he didn't even tell them he had a girlfriend. Is he ashamed of me? Does he not want them to know about me? What are they going to say when I show up on their doorstep?" Evie was having a mental break down.
"Evie Royal! You know damn well that Doug loves you and is not ashamed of you!" Mal scolded her for even thinking that. "I'm sure Doug has a good reason for not telling his family about you. I mean, think about all the stuff we hid from our parents."
"That's different, Mal." Evie pulled her knees to her chest.
"How? The parents here can be just as strict as ours were." The purple haired girl sat down beside the bluenette. "Maybe he's not allowed to have a girlfriend or maybe he wanted to see how well things went before he told his parents. Maybe the thought of telling them about you just slipped his mind. You know how forgetful his is. He couldn't think of one of his uncles' name, for Pete's sake." Evie laughed at the last part.
"I just... I just want them to like me. I love Doug, and I don't want this to screw things up between us." Evie clung to her ruby heart necklace. It wasn't the same necklace she had on the Island. This was a real ruby from the mines that Doug had given her the first day back to school.
"It won't." Mal gave her an assuring smile.
A knock at the door made the girls get up from their spot on the floor. Mal went to open the door as Evie dried her misty eyes. Daisy was at the door, grinning from ear to ear.
"Are you ready?" the dwarf asked eagerly.
"Yes. Are the boys downstairs?" Evie grabbed her suitcases and walked out the door as if nothing had happened.
"Um... Yeah. The car is here too." Daisy informed them as she fell into step behind Evie and her two suitcases. Daisy gave Mal a questioning look. Mal rolled her eyes and shook her head, silently telling Daisy she tried. Daisy suppressed a giggle.
The girls came out of the building to find Doug talking to the driver, Carlos giving Dude one last run before the long car ride, and Jay loading their bags into the yellow SUV. Jay noticed the girls walking up. Evie and Mal dropped their luggage at Jay's feet and gave the boy mischievous grins. Jay rolled his eyes at his sisters before they took off to play with Dude. He caught Daisy taking off her backpack out of the corner of his eye.
"Here. I got that." The boy held out his hand to take her bag.
"I've got it." Daisy insisted. "Besides, you're gonna need your strength for Evie's suitcases." she joked in a hushed tone. Jay chuckled.
Daisy helped Jay organize the bags while the others started coming back to the car.
"Shotgun!" Mal called before Carlos could get to the door.
"No! Not fair! I need to be up front so Dude can hang his head out the window." Carlos pleaded.
"Too bad. To the back." Mal slid into the passenger's seat.
Evie and Doug sat next you each other in the second row. Carlos climbed in to the back row with a small pout.
"Got all the luggage in the car, Jay?" Doug asked from his seat.
A sudden scream caused Doug to jump and spin to look out the back of the vehicle.
"Yep. I got everything." Jay appeared at the side door. A mischievous smile painted on his face and a petite body thrown over his shoulder.
"Jay, this is not funny. Please put me down." Daisy begged, but a giggle in her voice betrayed her words.
"I don't know. I thinks it's kinda fun." Jay played, bouncing the girl on her shoulder to get a better grip on her legs so he didn't drop her. Daisy, however, took the shift as he was dropping her. She screamed and wrapped her small arms around the boy's midsection.
"Jay!" Daisy warned with laughter laced words.
"Set her down, Jay. We need to get going." Mal said firmly.
Jay nodded and crouched down so Daisy's feet were on the ground. She pushed off of his back to stand up. When Jay returned to his full height, Daisy stuck her tongue out at the boy. Jay stuck his tongue out in return. The four teens already in the car laughed at the childish scene.
Jay climbed into the back row with Carlos and Dude. Daisy sat between the boys and set Dude in her lap.
The driver got behind the wheel and started the car. As they pulled away from the school and began the 5 hour drive to Dwarf Mountain, the energy around the teens was a mix of excitement and anxiousness. This week was going to be one they'd never forget. The group just hoped it was for a good reason.
A/N and the journey to Dwarf Mountain begins :) I've had this chapter written for a long time. I didn't want to post it because I wanted to have more stories to develop the way I see these characters under my belt before I took on this project. I'm predicting this story to be longer than First Day Jitters. I can't promise that the chapters for this will be up in as timely a manner as the chapters for my other stories because my fall break officially ends at midnight tonight, which means back to school, homework, and after school theatre rehearsals. I'll try not to totally disappear but updates will most likely be spread out. Sorry :( stick with me though because I really think you're gonna like this story and the verity of events I'm going to have play out through it :D