Chapter 1
Carl walked out of his house carrying a small black camera case. "Have all the bags been packed?" He asked Cleo while closing the front door.
" I think so." Cleo replied taking the camera from him and walking to the car. Their friend Jasmine was holding a sleeping bag, pillow, and a blanket.
"What's that for? It's not like we're going camping." Carl asked her opening the trunk.
"O, I know." she said. "I might want to sleep on the way though."
He nodded looking into the trunk, there was a lot of space but it seemed all the bags were there. Everyone made sure to pack the least amount of stuff so they wouldn't burn more gas on their way to the concert. The band 'White Cliffs' were on their second world tour and were going to be performing in Florida this weekend.
Jasmine, Sidney, Carl, Cleo, Jamal, and Samm were riding together in Carl's SUV. The Lincoln navigator had been a graduation present from his parents.
His father, Alvin, works for Farmers Insurance Company doing business development and financial services. Grace, his mother, works for Lockheed Martin Cooperation as an Information Technology Specialist. Carl is clueless as to what they do specifically, but he knows it involves a lot of calls, paperwork, long nights, and business trips. They also make tons of money or it's just that everyone tells him they do.
Carl never saw himself as spoiled, even though he was an only child and has few wants. Everything he owns is necessary or a gift of some sort for his good behavior and academic achievements. His parents were very proud of him and rewarded him for different things such as: being Captain of the debate team, graduating as Salutatorian of his class, and being one of the state's best Lacrosse players.
Their single friends Denise, Hayden, Lizzy, and Jake were riding in Danny's grey Cadillac Escalade. It was funny things worked out that way, it's not like they planned to separate themselves like that.
Samm's cell phone rang. "Hello…. alright… yeah we're all here and ready to go. Okay see you soon, bye." She hung up the phone and tossed it in the passenger seat. "That was Lizzy, they're almost here." She said, smoothing her hair back into its ponytail.
Sidney was sitting in the backseat on his phone, laughing loudly. Cleo cupped her hands to the window to look at Sid, Carl walked up behind her and said, "Do I need your handprints all over the window?" She turned around and put her hands behind her back smiling at him. He grabbed her waist and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Do I need your lips on my face?" she asked with a smirk as she pulled away from him.
"Dismissed" Jasmine said laughing at Carl. He rolled his eyes at her as she climbed into the truck.
"Finally they're here." Jamal said coming out of the house. He was chewing on something.
"What could you possibly be eating?" Carl asked.
"I just finished raiding your pantry; there were some cookies in there. I couldn't pass those up." Jamal said shrugging his shoulders.
"You always manage to find something to eat." Cleo said laughing.
Carl reached in his pocket and pulled out the keys, "Hey, lock the door. I'm gonna talk to Danny." He tossed the keys to Jamal, and he ran to the door.
"Hey/What'sup" came from the Escalade as Danny rolled down his window.
"Hey guys." he said looking in the backseat.
"Yeah, so we ready to do this thing or what?" Jake asked, excited about the trip.
"Yeah, were ready to get going…. You got your GPS system up?" Carl asked Danny. Hayden laughed from the passenger seat.
"It's got a mind of its own, this thing is so complicated. When he started driving here, the lady was taking us to Spicy's Gentleman Club, no joke." She said smiling.
Carl laughed, knowing it most likely was a destination at one point of Danny and Jake's. He shook his head, "I got mine programmed and besides I've driven to Miami before. Just follow me and we shouldn't have any problems." He hit the car and said, "Alright, let the road trip begin!"
Cheers of "Whoo-whoo/Alright/Lets go" rang from the two vehicles. Carl jogged to his truck and got in. "Everybody ready?" he asked looking to see if everyone was in the car.
"Yeah, we're ready." Cleo said from the passenger's seat.
"Okay, let's go." Carl said putting the car in drive. He turned out of the driveway passing Danny's car and heading towards the main road.