It was springtime. Maxville was slowly turning green as the plant life around the city woke up from its long winter nap. The air was still tinted with the chill of winter, but held the promise of scorching hot summer days.
Students at Sky High were rather boisterously excited about this particular Friday. Why you may ask; because it was the last day of school before Spring Break.
Many students had not so secret plans for not so secret parties. Girls twittered about the mind-boggling amount of shopping they would do. Boys challenged each other to video game tournaments. Pool parties, lake parties, ice cream parties, and sleep overs...
The exuberant atmosphere that pervaded the school did wonders to lift the spirits of just about everyone...but was found heinously annoying by a certain pyro.
Though he had accepted months ago that a certain group of freshmen were bound and determined to make themselves a permanent part of his life, that didn't mean that he was used to or even liked them popping up at random and invading his personal space.
"So you're coming right? You got the time off from work?" Will asked with great exuberance.
Warren was rather startled to find the face of his once "enemy" turned "friend" where his locker door was previous to him closing it. To his credit, he expertly morphed his startlement into his ever-present scowl and thus covering the fact that he was startled by the sudden appearance of the obnoxious red, white, and blue teen.
"You aren't going to leave me alone until I say yes are you?" Warren asked cautiously.
"Layla keeps saying you're deviously smart." Will answered.
Warren shook his head in exasperation. "You don't even know what that means."
"I think she saying you're smart. But I don't see it." Will said as they began walking toward the cafeteria.
Warren glanced at the other teen at the remark. He was either blissfully unaware or willfully unaware of the danger he had just put himself in. Warren hadn't quite settled on which.
"You haven't answered the question." Will almost sung as they made their way to their usual table.
"Why repeat myself." Warren grumbled as he saw the same question written all over the rest of their faces.
"Because." Will said as he sat next to Ethan. "I'm your best friend and I should get to know first."
"Repeat what?" Layla asked as Warren sat next to her.
"That unfortunately Mrs. Chang was all to happy to give me next week off. And my mother was far too enthusiastic about the whole thing." he said flatly.
"So you're going!" Layla happily confirmed.
"Awesome dude." Zack added.
"Why was your mother enthusiastic about the trip?" Magenta dared ask.
Warren quirked an eyebrow at her curiosity. Why his parents were an endless source of curiosity for these five freshmen in particular was beyond his comprehension. "Something about character building and a great head start." he said. "It didn't sound too good for my summer plans."
"What does next week have to do with summer break?" Zack asked.
"Don't know." Warren shrugged as he took his sandwich and book out of his bag. "Mother's cryptic like that."
Anything else the five friends would have asked was withheld for a later time. Most of them (all but Zack actually) had learned that once Warren opened a book; that was the end of any conversation he was reluctantly pulled into. The boys just shrugged it off, intent on completely forgetting it until it was brought up again. The girls shared a knowing look...they would get it out of him eventually.
He usually tried to stay far away from their little schemes. And with his job, it was usually very easy to avoid their little group sessions.
But when the five of them got the same idea in their heads, he was usually doomed.
So it was with great trepidation that he listened to the hair-brained scheme the five of them approached him with three weeks prior. They wanted do something over spring break, as a group…as friends. So the girls had gone to the Internet, and found some camping adventure thing that they thought would be perfect.
Turned out it cost an arm and a leg, and took a few personal connections to get them in, but apparently the Strongholds were more than willing to take care of it all. Warren of course refused their generosity and paid for his own entrance fee, insurance fee, plane ticket, and everything else that cost something on this little venture. But he was sure that Zack and Ethan's parents at least were grateful to the super duo, if only for getting their children out of their hair for a week.
It had been with great unease that he listened to them plot the "perfect" camping adventure over three week's worth of lunch periods. As he listened to their conversations his sense of foreboding doom as concerning himself…lessened. But his sense of foreboding doom as concerning the rest of them...that was skyrocketing.
But he had to figure, after following his mother through dense jungle for a month to find the Temple of the Elements (exact location is to remain classified: above top secret) with homicidal goons bent on their demise dogging their every step last summer; a week in semi-civilized woods with five inexperienced ...friends... shouldn't be too hard.
Famous last words…
The rest of lunch, and in fact, the rest of the day, passed unremarkably uneventfully. The six of them boarded the busses to take them to their various stops as soon as the bell rang. They would disperse to their homes to gather their belongings required for the upcoming week, and meet at Will's house for dinner and to have Warren inspect their luggage to ensure everyone had what they needed.
It was decided weeks ago that Warren was the most knowledgeable on the subject when it was discovered that he alone of the six of them had ever been camping before. All Warren could do at the time was roll his eyes at their helplessness and give them a hastily scribbled packing list.
He was still incredibly uncomfortable at any of their homes, most of all at the Stronghold home. Josie Stronghold had practically adopted him as a second son, which from his perspective was a little weird. And much to Steve's surprise, he found that the teen was actually very likable, but he was still unsure what to do with the surly teen, so just followed his wife's lead and treated him like he did Will and hoped for the best.
Unknown or unnoticed to either of them, this course of action thoroughly unnerved the reclusive teen. He was very unsure of what to do about the two adults. So he tried to avoid them as politely as possible. At least all the other parents treated him in a somewhat predictable manner. That is to say that they regarded him with a health dose of suspicion in general, if not unlike the feral cat the kid dragged home and insisted on keeping.
So it was with dread that he tossed his pack into the back of the Jeep and headed toward the Stronghold house that evening. He actually drove the speed limit. He even drove 5 below when there wasn't anyone behind him. Heck, he contemplated turning around once. But he figured if he didn't show, they would instigate a citywide search for him and then interrogate him for hours…days…months even…about why he didn't show. After thinking that one over he decided that it would be less painful to face them now rather than the alternative.
So he finally pulled up to the curb in front of a quaint little house in the quaintest little neighborhood in the city. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before he turned they key and opened his door.
He was immediately assaulted.
"Hey War." Will said as he popped up next to the Jeep.
"You're late." Layla said as she gave him a quick hug, arms unconsciously lingering around his waist.
He was certain that it would take him an eternity to figure out how the five of them could be as loud, obnoxious, clumsy and overbearing as they were, with the combined stealth expertise of a freight train, yet still be able to pop up out of nowhere if getting his attention was involved.
"We're all ready." Will said as they moved to where everyone's stuff was laid out on the driveway. Warren blinked at the site. Everyone's belongings had been laid out in the garage, mostly according to the packing list he had scribbled for them weeks ago, as if they were to endure a military level inspection.
"We figured this would be easiest." Layla said, as she caught Warren eying the display in confusion, or was that horror?
Warren took another deep breath and plead with every higher being in the universe for the help he would need in getting through the following week and approached the task that was laid before him…literally.
He was half way through Zack's pile when Josie wandered out with a plate of appetizers.
"Oh good." She said when she saw the dark haired teen bent over a pile of what was supposed to be camping gear. "I was wondering if I needed to worry about Zack's choice in personal hygiene supplies."
Warren spared her a glance before turning back to Zack. "There will be no power there." He said as though he were explaining a basic concept to a two year old. "So unless you can power this with your glowyness, leave it here." He then placed the hair dryer off to the side in the reject pile. "Why do you have an electric shaver?" He questioned, "You don't have anything to shave."
"Do too." Zack protested.
Warren raised both of his eyebrows, his expression clearly inviting an explanation.
"Right here dude." Zack said as he pointed to a single two-millimeter long, fine blond hair growing from the tip of his chin. "Didn't shave this morning, so it's kind of long right now. Manly right?" He waggled his eyebrows at Magenta.
Warren closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It stays here." His word was final. He also proceeded to put in the reject pile the half gallon bottle of shampoo and conditioner, the tub of hair gell, the pair of Jordan knockoffs, the portable DVD player and the pile of DVDs. Four of the six pairs of pants went into the reject pile, eight of the ten T-shirts and two of the three hoodies followed.
"Why did you pack a winter parka?" Warren asked a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"Cuz we'll be in the mountains, it gets cold in the mountains." Zack explained.
"This is too heavy. You'll sweat in this and get colder. You can use the rest of your clothes to layer." He said as he put the coat in the reject pile.
"You don't need to go through there." Zack was quick to say, but too afraid to physically restrain the older teen from opening a particular pocket on his backpack. Warren paused, hand hovering over the zipper, and looked at him awaiting an explanation.
"You know," Zack said throwing a nervous glance toward the ladies of the group, "My, uh, my…" he couldn't bring himself to say the word underwear in front of the girls, at least when the word referenced his own personal underwear.
"Do you have at least eight pairs?" Warren questioned with minimal sympathy.
"Eight?" Zack asked, "Dude I got 14."
Warren resisted the urge to burry his head in his hands. "Do you have at least that many pairs of socks?" he asked instead.
"Why do I need 14 pairs of socks? We're only going to be there for a week." Zack questioned.
Warren didn't even bother answering that question, just upped the heat in his glare by a fraction of a degree.
"Uh…I don't remember." Zack said nervously.
"Are they in this pocket?" Warren asked.
"Yah…um…I'll count them." Zack moved quickly.
Warren finished up with the rest of his pack while he counted his socks. He didn't have 14 pairs, but Warren said he had enough to learn a lesson from. No one was sure what to make of that statement. Will surreptitiously snuck off to gather more socks from his room. Layla and Magenta drifted off to their own packs and started taking items out that were similar to what was now in Zack's reject pile.
The girls were more practical in their hygiene items, but he still had to nix their shampoo and conditioner bottles. This though was met with a demand to explain how they would clean their hair, and themselves when he put the bottle of liquid body wash in the discard pile.
"Baby wipes." Was the only explanation that he gave them. "And you're not going to care how greasy your hair is after the second day you're out there."
All in all the rest of the packs weren't that bad. Warren had to nix all of Ethan's books. Though he did allow a small journal each. He had to carefully balance his slightly sadistic desire for them to learn a lesson with his potential loss of sanity after listening to them complain for a week straight.
Sanity won.
On their way inside for dinner, after everyone had repacked what was approved of, Warren approached Mrs. Stronghold. His body language and facial expression clearly stated that what was on his mind was not a…comfortable…issue.
"Is there something wrong?" Josie asked worriedly yet quietly.
"No." Warren said, clearly searching for a way to say something. He gave it a try a few times. Each time no words came out. Josie waited patiently, worry gone, but curious as to what may have the quiet teen so consternated.
"Can you make sure the girls, and yourself, have the right…" he paused looking for the right words, "girls stuff." He finally said.
Ah yes, Josie understood the discomfort. She was surprised really, so she couldn't help but ask; "What made you think of that?" She couldn't help but be ever so slightly amused.
Warren tensed in either annoyance or exasperation, whichever one it was, was heavily overshadowed by embarrassment.
"Most of my backpacking experience has been with my mother." He said tersely.
Josie smiled. "I'll make sure they're prepared."
Warren just nodded and entered the house.
Now…all he had to do was survive dinner and spending the night before driving to the airport in the morning.
Oh joy.
