The Trip

Here in the middle, we have a long tradition of kids raising money for their school by hitting up their neighbors, to buy crap they don't want to buy or need. Following in that great tradition, Sue is selling cheese and sausage meat for the Orson Junior High. I think what makes Sue such a great seller is that she can take rejection. Probably because she's had so much practice. Let me tell you: When it came to selling cheese and sausage, Sue was driven. She was driven by Mike all over Indiana.

Mike took her to Terre Haute. They went to Gary.

She almost hit every county in the state.

~8~

Sue was really kicking butt.

She was a shining beacon of motivation.

Axl and Laynee? Not so much.

"Axl, how many times do I have to say it? Turn off that TV and get dressed for school!" Laynee heard Frankie yell as she bounded down the stairs.

Turning to her left, she saw that Axl was still in his underwear on the couch with pants pooling at his feet and a shirt across his lap.

"It'll take me, like, two seconds. Chill."

Laynee placed her bag down and sat next to Axl, grabbing some of the cereal that rested in between them.

"Ma, we're out of cereal," Axl shouted as he yanked the cereal out of Laynee's hand and shook it upside down.

"Axl, don't be so rude." Laynee commanded as she shoved the remaining cereal into her mouth.

Axl scowled and slumped farther back into the couch.

"Damn it, Axl! I told you to turn off the TV and get ready for school! Now the bus is here and you're not ready." Frankie complained.

Axl groaned and pulled his shirt over his head. Jumping, he yanked up his pants. Buttoning them up, he walked out of the room.

"Told you, two seconds."

Laynee hopped up and followed Axl out of the room and the two walked down to the bus.

~8~

Laynee walked down the street. Now that her cast was off she could finally go back to the gym and start to work again. Turns out that she didn't miss much in those weeks that she was gone.

Her cast was literally one word though.

Axl.

Axl.

AXL!

That was what was all over her cast. Her friends didn't have any place to sign it because Axl's name was covering up the whole thing.

Laynee approached the gym and looked around the room.

She was an hour early.

It was time to get back to business and get to the goal that she had placed in her head since she was eight.

It was finally time to begin again…

~8~

Laynee sat on the couch with Axl as they watched one of their favorite TV shows, South Park.

"Sue!" Laynee heard Frankie call from the other room and then the thudding of feet rushing down the stairs.

"What's it like not having your cast anymore?" Axl asked as he grabbed a handful of chips.

"It's just the same as when I didn't have the cast." Laynee responded.

"Does your hand still feel the same?" Axl wondered.

"It should."

"Let me see," Was Axl's response as he grabbed her hand and looped his fingers through hers.

Layne felt herself blushed slightly and when she tried to pull her hand away, Axl tightened his grip.

A comfortable silence passed only to be interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Wordlessly, Axl got up and walked to the door without letting go of Laynee's hand.

"Axl, let go." Laynee said as he partially dragged and she partially followed him to the door.

Axl grunted and opened the door a smidge.

"Hey, Brick's girlfriend's here."

"Ohh!" Frankie exclaimed as she rushed to the door.

Laynee tripped over her feet as Frankie pulled Axl out of the way causing Axl to pull Laynee back with him. Laynee stumbled into Axl as Axl stumbled into Mike. Mike steadied Axl and Axl grasped Laynee's arm, stopping her from falling over. Once they were stable, Axl laced his fingers through Laynee's once again and lead her back to the couch.

~8~

Laynee was sitting in her room reading a book when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," She called.

"Laynee." She heard a voice say and she looked up.

"Oh. Hey Brick. What can I do for you?" Laynee asked as she put down her book.

"How do you break up with someone?"

"Um…" Laynee mused, "Well, is this a gentle break up or a rough break up?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. Well, for a gentle break up you gotta be all like 'Listen, you're a really nice person and I love what we have done with each other. I will never forget the memories we made but I think it's time for us to separate." Laynee paused, "But for a rough break up you gotta be all like 'I am done! You are driving me crazy! I don't know why I went out with you in the first place!"

Brick nodded.

"Great! Glad I could help."

Brick headed for the door and before he left he turned and looked at Laynee,

"Have you ever broken up with someone?"

"Yeah. There was Brad and the James."

"I'm guessing that Brad got the gentler break up and James got the rougher one."

"I knew you were a smart kid, Brick."

~8~

Pulling the shower curtain open, Brick looked up at Axl.

"How do you break up with a girl?"

"You wanna break up with that chick?" Axl asked as he grabbed the body wash, "You're weird, dude. You got a hottie that likes you."

"I'm sure."

"All right," Axl grabbed the shampoo, "Girl's like it when you talk to them, so try blowing her off or something."

"What about rough and gentle break ups?"

Axl gave him a confused look,

"What?"

"Laynee said something about rough and gentle break ups," Brick explained and Axl narrowed his eyes.

"And who were these guys?"

"Brad and James. How do you blow off a girl?"

"Like this," Axl said and he grabbed the shower curtain, closing it.

~8~

Axl stood in the living room in a towel holding the remote and flipping through the channels.

"Great advice, Axl!" Brick exclaimed as he stormed into the house, holding a baby doll.

"Now we're married and we have a baby! I should've listened to Laynee."

~8~

Brick, Laynee, Axl, and Mike sat at the kitchen table with their drinks. Laynee had her head resting on Axl's shoulder and Axl was staring blankly at the table.

"I can't do it anymore," Brick said as he placed his orange juice down.

"So you're stuck with her. It's not all bad. Olivia's got her strong points. She's strong." Mike consoled.

"I know. She threw a pumpkin at the car." Brick said.

Laynee watched as all the Heck boys picked up their drinks and drank at the same time.

"Hey, if you and this chick got pretend married, why don't you get pretend divorced?" Axl asked and Laynee nodded in agreement.

"She said that if we ever broke up, she'd take half my books and we'd split the babies." Brick explained.

"Oh," Lanyee winced, "I'm guessing she'd get Strawberry Shortcake and you'd get Rainbow Brite."

Mike and Axl turned and looked at her.

"How do you know this?" Axl asked, confused.

Laynee shrugged,

"You'd think I'd miss the birth of my nieces?" She took a sip of her drink, "No way."

"Yeah," Brick agreed, "I'm not even sure if Rainbow Brite is mine."

"I don't know what to tell you, Brick." Mike sighed, "Women are complicated. They're not simple and straightforward like us guys."

"Yeah," Axl agreed, "I only got two thoughts in my head. Driving and sex."

"Oh my Gosh, Axl." Laynee said, horrified.

"Oh, grades." Axl quickly changed, "Driving and grades."

Laynee stared at Axl with wide eyes as Mike carried on.

"Really, Axl." She muttered to herself as she watched Axl's tense form relax once he knew he was off the hook.

Grabbing her drink from the table, Laynee walked off.

"I'm gonna give you guys some man time."

~8~

There it was, Sue found her voice. And boy, was it loud.

Yeah. My girl was a fighter. She was gonna be fine. And all the cheese and sausage in the world doesn't make you feel prouder than that.

Oh, and Brick? Turns out that he could take care of himself too.

Damn, I'm good.