Thanks for the reviews! It made my day!
Sorry for the long wait. I was going to make the road trip and the vacation all in one big long chapter, but I haven't written any of the vacation yet. So, instead of keeping everyone waiting even longer, I'll post this now and the vacation later. Enjoy!
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CHAPTER 10 – ROAD TRIP
"All right, Lucas, your shoulder seems to be getting a lot better. You should still be careful with it and don't overexert yourself, but I think you'll be okay to go on the trip."
Lucas sat with a smiling face after his doctor told him that. Karen sat in a chair next to him and began asking questions.
"Now, are you sure about that? Because if something happens, I won't be there to—"
"Ms. Roe, I assure you that I wouldn't be giving Lucas permission to leave Tree Hill if I wasn't positive that he could handle it," Dr. Jennings interrupted the worried mother. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, I could order Lucas to keep his cell phone on at all times and stay with a friend?"
Karen shook her head. She was just worried. After all, she'd been gone for a month and a half and right when she got back she'd found out her son had been in an accident. And shortly after that, he'd started a new relationship with his best friend Haley, who he'd known since they were eight. Recently, their relationship had grown even stronger, and even though she trusted Haley's word that she would always wait until she got married, Karen knew that Lucas was the one person that Haley would do anything for. She didn't want Haley ending up like she did, pregnant and alone. But Lucas would never do that. "No, doctor, that's fine. I'm sure Lucas can take care of himself."
"I can, mom. Don't worry. Besides, I've got four great people coming with me and I'm sure they'll look out for me." Lucas had said this to his mother several times that day, but he figured the more he said it, the likelier it was that she'd believe it.
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Two days later, Lucas was roaming through his closet, picking out random clothes and stuffing them into his suitcase. Himself, Haley, Brooke, Peyton and Jake were all going to pack into Brooke's new car and take a road trip to Daytona Beach, Florida. It was supposed to take about 9 and a half hours, but it would probably end up taking longer. The only city they'd be stopping in before getting to Daytona Beach was Jacksonville, so instead of making it a two day trip, they'd all agreed to leave early Saturday morning and they'd be there that night.
Lucas picked up a shirt of his that he'd never seen before, and tossed it into his bag, assuming that his mother must've bought it for him. He found a pair of pants that he liked, and stuffed them in his bag as well.
"Ugh, what are you wearing, Luke? Those colors clash way too much."
Lucas turned around to find Haley leaning up against his doorframe.
"Hey, Hales. You've been hanging around Brooke too much."
Haley mocked anger before plopping down on Lucas' bed next to his suitcase. "Are you still packing? We're leaving tomorrow morning! I finished packing yesterday!"
"Not all of us take hours upon hours to stuff a bunch of clothes in a bag," Lucas pointed out.
"Hey, it's not just clothes. There's hair stuff, makeup, books, music..."
"Okay, okay, I get the point." Lucas reached up onto his shelf and pulled down an old tie. Swinging it over his head, he began tying it up.
"Lucas, please tell me you're not trying to wear that over your T-shirt!"
"Calm down, I just want to make sure it looks okay on me," he replied as he finished tying it. He quickly eyed himself over in his full-length mirror before turning back to his girlfriend/best friend.
"Everything looks good on you, Luke," Haley told him, grabbing onto the tie and pulling him toward her. "Trust me." Haley pulled Lucas' face closer to hers and gave him a small peck on the lips. She then pushed him away and stood up, smiling. "Well, I just wanted to come by and say hey. So, "Hey" and be ready early tomorrow. We're picking you up at 8:30."
"That's all I get? A peck? Come here," Lucas whined, taking hold of Haley's hand and bringing her toward him. They shared a passionate kiss that could have gone on longer if Karen hadn't poked her head into the room, "Ahem"-ed them, and told Lucas she needed to speak with him.
"I'll be out in a minute, mom."
"You better be." Karen closed the door.
"Wow. Well, that was embarrassing," Haley whispered, blushing ferociously.
"Cool the color there, Hales, it's not like this was the first time. In fact, I think she's made it her mission to walk in on us every time we kiss. It's happened a lot lately."
Haley nodded before backing away. "I should get home. It's getting late, and my dad wants to have a father-daughter night tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."
"'Kay. Bye," Luke kissed her one more time before allowing Haley out of his bedroom door. He packed a few more things before heading to the kitchen, where Karen was making a fresh pot of coffee.
"Hey, mom," he greeted, sitting down. "What'd you want to talk about?"
Karen set two filled-to-the-brim mugs on the table and sat in a chair opposite from her son. "I just wanted to go over a few things before you left tomorrow."
"Mom, what more could there possibly be to go over?"
"Oh, don't worry, I've thought of lots. Now, first things first, you and Haley are not to be sleeping in the same bed, understood?" Lucas nodded. "Neither are you and Peyton or you and Brooke, just in case."
"Mom! I love Haley."
"I know which is exactly why I want you to get your own bed. Second of all..."
Lucas pretty much zoned out right there. He was in his own little world, thoughts of Haley swirling through his mind. Just smile and nod,he told himself.
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The next day, Lucas was awoken by the most horrid sound ever created. His alarm clock. He hit the snooze button and lay there for five minutes before realizing that he had only given himself fifteen minutes to get ready. That was now ten. He had a 3 minute shower and tried to fix his hair as best he could. That took about 5 minutes. He didn't even know why he bothered, because it looked pretty much the same as it did when he first rolled out of bed. Lucas dragged his suitcase through the hallway and set it by the front door. He now had two minutes to eat breakfast. Lucas knew that he had to eat before he left, because Brooke had made it very clear the other day that they would not be stopping until they got to Daytona Beach. That excluded, of course, bathroom breaks.
Lucas jogged into the kitchen and gave his mother a good morning kiss on the cheek. "Wow, is this all for me?" Lucas asked, scanning the table and seeing countless plates topped with bacon, eggs, toast, ham, hash browns and more.
"Well, no," Karen replied. "Haley called a little while ago and said that everyone was running late." Great. I rushed for nothing. "They'll be here in a few minutes since I offered everyone breakfast."
"Gee, mom, and I thought I was special."
"Don't worry, you are."
Just then there was a knock on the door. Lucas opened it and in came Brooke, Peyton, Jake and Haley. The first three went straight for the kitchen, but Haley stayed with Lucas for a minute.
"Hey, cutie," Haley greeted, giving Lucas a short but sweet kiss on the lips.
"It's been forever," Lucas told her.
"Oh, I know. 12 hours is just so long," Haley replied sarcastically. They lightly laughed and then headed for the kitchen.
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About an hour later, all five teenagers were cramming themselves into Brooke's car. It wasn't small, but for five people it was pretty uncomfortable. The car was similar to her silver convertible, but it was a bit larger. Everyone said their goodbye's to Karen, and Lucas managed to stop his mother before she reviewed the list of things not to do on the trip; again. Finally, they were on their way.
Not even two hours into the trip, Lucas, Jake, and Peyton were all squirming around. It was those unlucky three that had gotten the back seats, and it was getting very squishy. "You guys better get comfortable," Brooke told them, looking into her rearview mirror, "because we still have over seven hours to go." She received the response that was expected as the three backseat teens groaned. Brooke and Haley, comfortable with their seats, laughed. Haley stretched out her legs and arms, making sure everyone noticed. She received a smack on the head from Peyton, who was sitting directly behind her.
With about five hours to go on the road, they had gone through all of Brooke's CD's that she'd brought along. Jake offered the next music before Peyton could have a chance. Peyton had nearly 100 CD's with her, and everyone knew that if they started listening to Peyton's music now, they wouldn't get a chance to listen to anything else for the rest of the ride. Brooke turned up the music as loud as she could. Hey, they were on the highway, who's gonna get mad at them?
Finally, they arrived in Jacksonville, Florida, their only stop before arriving in Daytona Beach. As soon as Brooke stopped the car, everyone inside jumped out. Peyton and Jake headed for the bathrooms, and Haley and Lucas went into the 7-Eleven to buy sodas and chips. Brooke took her keys out of the ignition and went to find someone to help fill up her car with more gasoline. She could never figure out how to use the self-serve.
Before long, Brooke had yelled for everyone to hurry up and pack back into the car, and they were again on their way. There was only about an hour and a half left on their road trip.
Finally, they arrived in Daytona Beach. Brooke had the top down on her car and herself, Haley and Peyton pulled out their new sunglasses that they'd all bought when they went shopping a few days earlier. In a few minutes, Brooke was pulling into the parking lot of Harbour Beach Resort. It was a beautiful hotel that was on the oceanfront, and the group had booked two rooms that were right next to each other. The rooms had a conjoined balcony that overlooked the beach. Each room had two queen-sized beds and one bathroom, with a mini-fridge in the corner near a desk. Peyton had brought a lap-top that her dad lent her, and everyone had their cell phones with them.
Haley was the first to step out of the car, followed by Peyton, Jake, Brooke and Lucas. All five of them just stood there for a minute, getting used to once again being on their feet. Haley grabbed two bags from the front seat, one of hers and one of Brooke's. They'd been put there to save room in the trunk for everyone else's bags. Lucas was still amazed that they'd been able to fit five suitcases into that trunk. Once all the bags were removed from the car, Brooke pressed the button that pulled the top of the car up, and then she locked the doors. The five teenagers dragged their bags into the lobby and waited while Brooke and Peyton checked in.
They all headed into the elevator and were very thankful that it was empty. Jake pressed the button that took them up to the 7th floor. They walked down the hallway until they reached their rooms, and swiped their cards in the door to unlock it. Brooke, Haley and Peyton headed into one room, and Jake and Lucas into another.
"Wow, this is huge!" Haley exclaimed as she walked in, shutting the door behind her and dropping her bags on the floor.
"Really?" Brooke asked. She'd been to many of these places when she was little, when her parents actually paid attention to her and took her on vacations.
Haley, however, was not used to this. She had hardly ever been out of Tree Hill, but when she had it certainly had not been to huge places like this. She was used to small but cozy motel rooms that had two double beds, a bathroom, and a window.
Peyton was like Haley in that she'd never really left Tree Hill, but her dad had been to many of these kinds of places so she'd heard all about them and wasn't at all surprised.
"I'm just not used to this," Haley answered Brooke. "This should be fun."
"Hell yeah!" Brooke exclaimed, throwing her suitcase and a few extra bags onto one of the beds. "I call this bed to myself for tonight, since I drove the whole way here."
Peyton replied, "Hey, it's not our fault you won't let anyone else even attempt to get behind the wheel of your car." Peyton received a glare from Brooke that told her to back off and let Brooke have the bed. "Fine," Peyton continued, "but I get it tomorrow."
"And me next," Haley said before Brooke had a chance to call it again.
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In the other room there were smaller beds, but that was fine with Jake and Lucas. Jake was caught on the bad end when he failed to get to the window side bed first. They'd both already started unpacking and taking full advantage of the dresser drawers. Lucas was about to exclaim "10 bucks!" at the price of a soda can in the mini-fridge when there was a knock at the door. Jake opened it and in came the three girls. They'd changed into some comfier clothes that suited the weather.
"Still not ready?" Brooke complained. "Hurry up! You can unpack later, lets go have some fun!"
"Brooke," Lucas started, "how can you not be tired?"
"It's only 7:30!" Brooke told him. "Besides, we're only here for two days and we have to take full advantage of the time we have."
"We are," Jake complained. "You've booked us full for the next two days, remember?"
"Well, this is the only night we're going to be able to go to a club. Come on, guys? Please? Don't tell me Haley, Peyton and I got all dolled up for nothing."
Lucas and Jake looked at each other silently before giving in.
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