"Okay, let's get a headcount!" Lucas shouted over the noise of his friends chatter. Lucas smiled. "By saying 'here' you are officially committing to getting into the car. That means we are not turning around for a forgotten hair dryer. Brooke."

Brooke scoffed. "Trust me, Squints. You do not want to see Brooke Davis without her hair dryer."

Rachel lifted her sunglasses and looked at Brooke. "Diva."

"If by diva you mean I want myself to look good, then yes. Call me what you wish."

"Anyway. Say 'here' when I call your name. I'd like to get to Rachel's cabin before the twins' birthday. Not afterwards."

"Yeah, it's not every day my girls turn eighteen." Nathan smirked as he threw his arms around Brooke and Grace's shoulders.

"Gross, Nate." Brooke quickly unwrapped herself and Grace simply punched her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Yeah, jerk. You have only one girl."

Lucas interrupted the fight. "Brooke Davis."

"Are you seriously being this nerdy right now, Luke?"

"Brooke. Davis." Lucas said again stubbornly.

Brooke sighed. Here.

"Grace Davis." Here.

"Nathan Scott." Here.

"Rachel Gattina." Yeah, yeah. Here.

"Peyton Sawyer." Mhm.

Lucas clapped his hands together. "Well alright! Skillz, Bevin, and Mouth are meeting us there. It looks like we're good to go."

"Finally!" Grace and Brooke said in unison.

Peyton rolled her eyes. "I hate when you two do that."

Brooke linked arms with Peyton. "You love us, best friend."

Peyton stuck out her tongue. "So you think."

B………………..D

Lucas turned the high beams on and tried to see through the downpour and fog. "This sucks."

Graced yawned and nodded. "Yeah." Grace leaned her head against the window.

"Aw, come on Grace. Don't fall asleep on me like the rest of them."

Grace turned to the back of the car. Brooke was sprawled out, her head resting in Rachel's lap. Rachel's arm was protectively around the brunette's shoulders. Nathan and Peyton were in the furthest backseats sleeping against their respective windows.

Grace laughed. "Hey, I promised you I would sit with you so things weren't awkward with you and Peyton. I never said I would stay awake with you too."

"What if I dazzled you with my smile and called you my best buddy?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere Lucas Scott."

Lucas laughed but it slowly crept into a frown.

"What's wrong?"

"It just sucks. That I screwed everything up."

"Well you know I love you, Lucas. But I can't give you any sympathy. You went for my sister while she was with Rachel when clearly Peyton liked you. You're lucky everyone is still your friend. Hell, you're lucky Rachel didn't kick your ass."

Lucas sighed. "I know."

"Just try and be happy. Who knows? Maybe this birthday weekend away from the rest of the world will change things for the better."

"Maybe... Alright screw this. It's Brooke's turn to drive."

"Aw, don't wake them up! They look so cute."

"I've been driving for two hours. It's her shift. You could be a good sister and take her shift for her if you want."

"Yeah, no. I'm not that nice of a sister."

Lucas laughed and pulled over. He jumped out quickly and opened Brooke's door. He shook her awake. "It's your turn to drive."

Brooke stretched. "Damn," Brooke looked at Lucas who was still standing in the rain getting soaked. "No way in hell am I going out there." Brooke hopped over the front seat and Lucas grumbled but got into the back.

"Sure you can handle driving without your girlfriend holding your hand the whole time?" Grace teased.

"Shut up, Grace. I never see you without your boy toy. You're just jealous that Rachel's hotter than Nathan."

Grace pretended like she was thinking it over. "Yup, you caught me. Now my evil plan to win her over will never work. You'll be watching me like a hawk." Grace replied sarcastically.

"How about you two stop bickering? I stopped driving so I could sleep." Lucas called from his seat.

Both twins turned around and shot a glare at Lucas. "Shut up."

Lucas threw his hands up in defeat and when Brooke turned her eyes back to the road both Davis girls shrieked. Brooke spun the wheel and the car spun in an unknown direction. The rest of the passengers woke up, startled.

"What the fuck was that?" Nathan shouted.

"I think we almost hit a guy." Brooke whispered from the front.

"Well is he alright?" Lucas rolled down his window and tried peering through the fog. "I think he's alright. He's just standing near his car. Probably broke down."

Brooke turned to her sister, noticing she was started to hyperventilate. She instantly grabbed her hand. "Not the time for a panic attack, Grace. Breathe, okay? We're fine. You are going to be fine."

Deep breath. "Okay." Grace's breathing began to calm down. "Thanks."

Peyton put her seatbelt back on. "Brooke he's walking over to us. Get us out of here."

Lucas began opening his door. "I think we should make sure he's okay."

"No way. We're a bunch of teenagers that almost hit a guy. Somehow I bet this would end with us in jail or something. Just drive away Brooke." Nathan ordered.

Brooke reluctantly started the engine and burned rubber as she sped away. She glanced in her mirror and noticed that the man was not alone.

B………………..D

Brooke, Grace, and Rachel walked inside the gas station in search for some junk food. They were only about an hour away from the cabin but they had the munchies. The boys stayed with the car to pump the gas.

"I'm going to go get some Pringles." Rachel said over her shoulder. She walked to the back of the store where she noticed a blonde man about the same age as her.

He walked up to her. "Hey. I'm Derek. Derek Banks."

Rachel didn't look up from the Pringle's container she was set on studying. "Hey. I'm Not. Not Interested."

The man made a burning noise. "Ouch. That one hurt a little. So what are you doing out here?"

"Listen, buddy. I'm going up to my cabin in Knot Woods and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't try and ruin my first night. Get lost."

"Fine. Sheesh."

Grace and Brooke stayed near the front grabbing a few candy bars. They started to argue about what candy was better, Reese's or Kit Kats, when another man entered the store. Grace instantly felt uncomfortable around the man and Brooke simply smiled and went back to her candy.

"Hey. You got a phone I could use to call a tow truck?" The man asked the guy at the front counter.

"Sure do. It's called a pay phone, right outside the store door."

The man smiled slightly and looked at Brooke. "I don't suppose you have some spare change I could use, do you?"

Brooke put her hands in her jean pockets but came up empty. "Sorry. My friend has our money."

"How about you?" He nodded his head to Grace.

"Um…" Grace looked through her purse and took out a quarter. "That's all I got."

"I'm John Ryder. Thank you…" The man paused.

"That's Grace. And I'm Brooke."

"Well then. Thank you Grace and Brooke. I'll see you." With that, the man walked through the doors and to the payphone.

"Well he seemed nice."

Grace slapped Brooke on the arm. "Are you crazy? Why would you tell him our names? He seemed creepy. 'I'll see you.' Who says that?"

"I think he was just being friendly."

"Well I think you're wrong."

Rachel came up to the counter and squeezed herself between Brooke and Grace. She slightly hip checked Grace out of the way.

"Bitch." Grace mumbled under her breath.

"Put your stuff on the counter so I can pay for it."

The cashier began checking them out when the blonde man from the back of the store sauntered up to them. "Woah. I think I'm seeing double."

Brooke looked unimpressed. "We get that a lot."

"Double the beauty." The blonde tried again.

"We get that a lot too." Grace chimed in.

The blonde's smile changed from cheerful to menacing within a second. "The things I could do with you two if I had you in my bed…"

Rachel instantly turned around and shoved Derek into an aisle shelf causing bags of chips to crash to the floor. "Fuck off."

Rachel grabbed the rest of their stuff and the three girls rushed back to the car. They jumped in as Nathan finished pumping the gas.

"Let's get out of here. This gas station is full of creeps."