"I thought you said a road trip would be fun?" Cinder said from one of the backseats in the van.
"Hey, sometimes when you're part of a road trip, there is going to be some dull moments in which nobody speaks. And that moment is now." Thorne stated as he drove. "Why dont you guys eat a snack or something?"
"I would if I wasn't the one in charge of the map. Turn left." Cress, who was sitting in the passenger seat, muttered.
They were on their way to this famous city called Artemesia. It was like, what, 11 hours away? So far, they have only driven for 2. Supposedly, Kai was suppost to have a meeting with a woman on buisness and money. Typical Kai things. He wanted everyone to go because he's staying there for a week and he thought it would be fun to have a little vacation with friends.
Everyone had to squeeze in Thorne's mini van since Cinder wasn't allowed to drive her big one. It was actually a miracle that Adri let her come. Well, she didn't actually ask or anything. She just told her that it was a school project. Yes, a school project Cinder had to work on for a week.
Makes sense.
"Hey, Kai?" Scarlet deadpanned. He rose his eyebrow in response. " Why couldn't we just take your private jet instead of this...so called van?" Kai let out a long sigh.
"Torin is using it. He-"
"So called van?! For your information, red head, this so called van cost me alot of cash and if you dont appreciate this, then-" Thorne interrupted but was cut off my a slap in the arm. Cress glared at him.
"He's on a trip to Africa with Cress' dad to research this new disease or something" Kai finished.
Scarlet groaned. "Why did I agree to this? And how come Winter and Jacin get to go on their own van?" She leaned on Ze'ev as he slept on the little back seat.
"She's technically royalty." Cinder chewed on her Hershey bar. "and isn't she Kai's allie-to-be's stepdaughter?"
"Allie to be?" Kai snickered.
"Well yeah. That woman will probably want to merge companies with you or something."
"Then you guys would have to marry" Cress agreed.
"And bam. Is that not how politics work?" Scarlet finished.
"Woah woah woah" Kai's expression was now alarmed.
"You mean to tell me this meeting might lead me to marriage?!"
"Seriously dude" Thorne laughed. "I thought you knew about these things."
Cinder didn't actually want to add anything else. Cause that would just lead her to bad thoughts. Thoughts like leaving Kai and... ugh
"Turn right"
They stopped at what happened to look like a very fancy restaurant. There, they met up Winter and Jacin, who looked very well rested, especially since they had a private driver.
Kai walked in front of his friends, looking way more confident than any of them. Not surprising, Cinder thought, he goes to these fancy restauarants way too often.
"I'm sorry," The waiter looked offended for some reason. "McDonalds is in Aqio st."
"Excuse me?" Scarlet gaped. "You better take that back before-"
"Mr. Kaito!" The waiter looked exasperated now. "Are you with these people? Do you have a reservation"
"Yes and no" Kai deadpanned.
"Well, I guess you don't need one. Follow me" The waiter guided to a long, gaudy table. The center pieces were candles surrounded by beautiful white roses. Not to mention the lighting. It was like a mini chandelier with thousands of diamonds hanging on top of them. Of course, it was nothing compared to the actual chandelier in the center of the restaurant.
Cinder had never gone to fancy places or parties. Adri would. She would take her 2 daughters instead. Oh how lucky she was to have Adri as her stepmother. There were advantages, though. She had most of her time to herself, which means hanging out with the crew, she was never bothered when she was working either. Cinder doubted Adri would care if she came back from the trip or not.
"Are you sure this is English?" Ze'ev stared at the menu the waiter had given them. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah. Just in a very fancy wording." Kai called for a waitress and ordered something with a very unusual long name. "Roast of lamb with a balsamic reduction. Guys will have the same. For the ladies, Chateaubriand. Oh and don't forget the drinks"
"Back in a minute. Thank you, Mr. Kaito." The waitress smirked and wrote down the order. Everyone stared at them, completely lost.
"Whatever that dish is, it better be good" Jacin said.
Winter was still looking at the menu when she said, "What about the Filet Mignon…or Braised pork loin.?"
"Eh. Sorry, I already ordered" Kai shrugged.
"You know, if you're going to be my stepfather, you should start acting like it'
"What? You too? You think I'm going to marry Levana? No way. We can just sign a contract."
"A signature isn't strong enough, Kai" Thorne laughed and put his arm around Cress. "Isn't that right, ocean eyes?"
Her face flushed completely and she crosses her arms. "Thorne. We're in public."
"So? Ze'ev and Scarlet kiss in public all the time." He waved his hands towards where the couple whispered and giggled cute things to each other.
Cinder checked her phone and saw that Adri had sent her a message. It said Pearl, her only sweet sister, was diagnosed with a bad fever. She looked over at Kai and Cress and started to panic. "Kai, Cress, what disease were you guys talking about?"
"Something about a blue fever" Cress shrugged.
"Yeah. Letumosis." Kai stated. "They say no one has survived from it. Why?"
"We have to go back" Cinder started to breath heavily. "My stepsister-"
"Cinder, I'm so sorry, but we're going to be able to drive you. Not in time anyway. If I don't arrive at Artemesia by tomorrow morning, I might just die. My father, Levana are already there too."
"But-"
"Kerridon can drive you" Winter suggested. "You can get home in about 8 hours."
"Thank you so much, Winter. I promise I'll come back. Probably by tomorrow noon, ok?"
"Have a safe trip!" Cress waved as Cinder rose from her seat and walked out.