(Ray's POV)
"Hey, Andrew. How are the kids doing?" I asked when he called my cell phone.
"They are doing good. Otto seems a little off though, and Nikkie and Brandi are still here. They don't get to see much of Reggie, but they love helping out at the Ranch." He replied.
"Maybe, I can use their help at the Shack now. We are little short handed without Reggie and Otto, Lars has been covering a few shifts." I replied.
"I'll talk to them about doing some shifts at the shack. They really are great kids. But I had a great idea." Oh, lord Andrew with a great idea.
"Let me brace myself." I said laughing.
"Well, Reggie asked about having the gang come out here for Halloween, I mean I have plenty of space here, and at the hotel. They could definitely stay." He said, the idea seemed a little insane.
"Is there more?" I asked, a little scared if there was.
"Alright, you know how you are coming out here the morning of Homecoming?"
"Yeah?" I questioned.
"Well, you said you were getting Reggie that car, but you could drive your car, and have one of the kids drive it up here on Halloween. While Reggie and Otto are at work we could set up a huge party and surprise Reggie with her car. And surprise them with the party, and with their best friends." He said.
"That really isn't a bad idea Andrew. Are you sure you could house Nikkie, Brandi, Catie, Nick, Twister, Lars, Sam, Corey, probably Tito and me too?"
"I have two extra rooms, then there's the living room, and the basement too." He replied, obviously he had the room.
"I can see what I can do. I'll have one of the kids help me organize it. Are you going to ask Nikkie and Brandi about it?" I asked.
"I planned on doing that, I have to bring them to work in like fifteen minutes, so I'm going to talk to them about it. I can't believe those girls took a week off school to come out here." He replied.
"Yeah, funny thing is Lars was telling me he was e-mailing their homework to him, and they are e-mailing what they can back to him to turn in." I told him.
"Yeah, I see them slaving over books they brought, and numerous ones I bought for them. They really pour their time into the work." He told me.
"Is Reggie doing her work?" I asked.
"She is always doing it at work and she's up late after dance doing it too. Her teachers say she's a great student. Otto is doing good too, don't worry." I was so relieved to hear that.
"Well that is very good. I'm going to go get Reggie's truck tonight, with Lars and I'll talk to him about getting everyone together to go out there."
"Sounds like a good idea. How is Lars doing?" He asked, I forgot he knew Lars.
"He's doing better now. Stuff is going on at home, so him and Twister are usually over here or at Sam's." I told him.
"They seriously go to your house and just hang out?" He asked.
"Yeah, I don't mind, I've known the Rodriguez's forever, and their sons are like my own." I replied.
"Wow, that's some dedication right there Ray. But I have to get going, Nikkie and Brandi are getting antsy." He laughed. I heard them yell in the background that they weren't.
"Tell them I said hey and to stop by anytime." I told him.
"Alright, I will. Bye Ray." He said and hung up.
I took off for the Shack and waited for Lars to get out of school.
"Hey Tito." I said when I watched him walked down the stairs. "Reggie said hi and she misses you." I told him.
"I miss my Rocket cuzes." He said making a burger.
"I miss them too. Want to close up The Shack for the halloween weekend and come out to Colorado with me?" I asked him, there was no way this trip wouldn't be complete without him.
"I wouldn't want to intrude." He replied.
"Andrew said it was cool. He even wants to bring the whole gang out there." I told him.
"All of them?" Tito asked a smile on his face.
"Lars, Twister, Sam, Corey, Brandi, Nikkie, Nick and Catie." I said.
"I'm in for it. What's your devious plan Ray?" He asked.
"Well, you and I can go out there on the 30th, because that's when their homecoming is, and we'll take my car out there. Then I'll have one of the kids drive Reggie's truck up there Halloween morning while her and Otto working, when they get back from the Ranch, we'll have one of the kids drive it to the house, with the rest of them in the truck, and surprise them."
"That's a brilliant plan Ray." Tito replied. "You really trust someone to drive the Avalanche up there for Reggie?"
"Yeah, I'll probably have Lars and Nikkie drive it. We'll see how the arrangement works out though. I'm going to see if Lars will help me get it all together." I told him.
"This is very devious." Tito said laughing as he served some customers.
"I really hope it works out." I said. Tito nodded.
Finally Lars arrived at The Shack.
"Hey Raymundo." He said strolling in skateboard in hand. He knew not to use it in The Shack.
"Hey Lars. What time did you want to go look at that car?" I asked. It was a pre-owned Avalanche that someone was selling an hour north of Ocean Shores.
"Whenever you wanted to go." He told me sitting in front of the counter.
"Did you want to head out within the next hour?" I asked him, he eyed me carefully. "I'm going to call some people to cover the shift." I told him. I called Sam and Catie who were excited to cover the shift. When they arrived, Lars and I walked down to his car.
"Andrew called me earlier." I told him as we sat in his car, I could smell the pot in his car, and the cigarettes, I should definitely talk to him about it.
"Yeah? What about?" He asked me.
"He wanted to have the gang come out there for the Halloween weekend." He started the car up and headed off towards our destination.
"Wait, are you serious?" He asked.
"Yeah, we even devised an amazing plan for it." I replied.
"Details, please." He said with a light chortle.
"Tito and I are going to take my car out there on the 30th to see Reggie and Otto off for Homecoming." I waited for his response.
"Then who is taking her Avalanche up there?" He asked.
"Thought you'd say that. I was thinking you could drive it up there, well with someone with you of course." I told him.
"Wait you are going to let me drive this truck from Cali to Colorado?" He asked, astounded.
"Yeah, I'm trusting it to you and someone else. Just one other person though." He said.
"That's no problem. What's the rest of the plan?" He asked.
"Well, you guys can drive up and be there by ten in the morning. We want to set up a wicked party for it. We will find somewhere to put the cars. But you see I have this brilliant plan to have you guys all be in the Avalanche, like in the bed of it or something while someone drives it to the house to totally freak them out. What do you think?"
"I love the plan. It's really good. Andrew is really going to let us stay at his house?" Lars asked.
"Yeah. He asked how you were Lars..." I paused and caught his look.
"What did you say?" He asked bringing his eyes back to the road. I knew he was scared
"I said things were rough at home but you were doing okay." He seemed relieved.
"Lars, I raised two kids I can tell, and I'll always listen."
"I'm worried about Reggie. She hasn't called any of the gang, e-mailed us, texted us... nothing." He said.
"She's been e-mailing me. She seems fine, she's just really busy right now with school, work and dance." I told him.
"Reggie's taking dance?" He asked. He didn't know anything.
"Yeah, hip hop and ballroom." I told him, the gang really was out of the loop.
"I guess I missed that." He said, and his phone started vibrating. It was a text, he waited until we stopped at a red light to check it. I didn't look, it wasn't my business. He texted whoever it was back.
"Uh, Ray. Reggie got her belly button pierced." He said to me.
"Oh?" I said, "It's not that big of a deal, she's seventeen, she can make a decision like that."
"She got a tattoo." He said. That was a little more drastic.
"Where? Of what?" I asked.
"Stars on her left hand." He said.
"Oh that's not that big." I said, he showed me the picture, she sure looked different. "Well, she texted ya, didn't she?" I said looking at the brighter side.
"Yeah, that is true."
"What's really wrong Lars?" I asked. I knew Reggie being gone hit him but there had to be something else.
"I lied to Reggie." He said. It was like he just said 'Oh, I like that car.' Like it was no big deal.
"What about?" I asked.
"I started smoking cigarettes again, and" He paused. "I haven't stopped cutting."
"Lars, you need help." I said in a serious tone. My wife would have been so upset if she knew little Lawrence Rodriguez had turned into this boy.
"I know I do. Please, don't say anything to Reggie." His posture changed.
"I'm not going to, but Lars you really need to stop, the cutting at least. If you get the urge just come over to my house, or go to The Shack. I can pay for you to go to a psychiatrist if you want. Your parents don't have to know." I wonder if he would still have turned out like this is Livia was still here.
"I don't need a psychiatrist, I promise. But thank you." He said.
"Reggie is starting a new job in November." I stated, trying to ease away from the conversation.
"What is she going to be doing?" He asked, not moving his eyes from the road now.
"She's working for Mark Drune." I said.
"Wow, how did she land a job with him?" He was actually astounded.
"He went into the Ranch, because his grandson said they have amazing grilled cheese, and Reggie astounded him with her math skills and memorizing twenty-five drink orders." I said.
"I knew her crazy math skills would help her some day." He laughed lightly, a new light had filled his eyes.
"Yeah, it's her dream job. She is really excited." I stated.
"What does she get to do?" His eyes were filled with a look I remember from so long ago.
"She gets to write articles, and organize fashion shows and charity events." I replied.
"Wow, that really is her dream job." A smile now pulled at his lips and I knew.
"Is that the place?" I asked seeing the Avalanche with a For Sale sign on the back window.
"I believe so." He said pulling up alongside the curb. A young man walked from the house.
"You must be Mr. Rocket." He said shaking my hand.
"Call me Ray." I said, simply.
"I'm Jeff. Who is this?" He asked indicating to Lars.
"That's Lars, one of Reggie's best friends." I said.
"Well it's a pleasure meeting you," He said shaking Lars' hand.
"You too Jeff." A smile crossed his face.
"Alright let's get looking at this thing." I said eyeing this pristine car.
"Like I said there is a small scuff on the counsel inside," He said pulling the back door open to look at it.
"Oh, that's nothing." I said, it really was small. The seats looked good, there was a CD player and cassette player.
"Does it run?" Lars asked.
"Yeah, perfectly. Want to take it for a drive Ray?" He asked.
"Sure." I said taking the keys.
"You can take it around the block, but I'm trusting you not to steal it." Jeff chuckled lightly.
"Alright, I'll be back." I said getting into the car and pulling it out.
-----
(Lar's POV)
"So Lars, tell me about Reggie." He said.
"Oh god. She's amazing, such a sweet girl. Drop dead gorgeous, hilarious, crazy." I said thinking of her.
"Why isn't she here?" He asked.
"She's out in Colorado, that's where she is staying."
"With her mom?" He asked.
"No, she's with her uncle."
"Oh, why?" He asked.
"She got in a lot of trouble in Cali." I said.
"Oh, I see. Do you have a picture of her?" He asked.
"Yeah a few. Want to see?" I asked flipping through pictures on my phone. I showed him a few from when she was in Cali. Then I showed him the newest one. The picture was gorgeous, she had her shirt pulled up so the piercing was visible, and her hand was on her hip showing off her new tattoo. She had a pink lip ring in and my god did she look gorgeous, but so very different.
"She looks really different." He said seeing the new one.
"Yeah, I know." I said looking at the picture. She was still gorgeous, but she seemed off.
"I think it's her eyes, they aren't as bright. Maybe it's her smile." He said.
"Yeah, it really could be. I can't wait to see her again." I tucked my phone into my pocket.
"Yeah, she seems like a good fit for this truck." He said staring at the street.
"She will be. I get to take it out to her in Colorado. We are taking the whole group out there to visit her and Otto." I smiled at the thought.
"That's really cool. When are you going out there?"
"For Halloween. I wish I had gone with Nikkie and Brandi, they are with her right now."
"Ah, the best girlfriends." He laughed.
"I hope so. They got into a huge fight over my brother." I said wondering if they ever fixed things.
"Wow, that's pretty bogus. All three of them?" He asked.
"Oh, no. Just Brandi and Reg. Nikkie was just there, I suppose." I missed all those girls.
"I see. It's pretty typical of girls."
"Yeah it is. Why are you getting rid of the truck anyways?" I asked.
"Got the new Yukon, and already have two sports cars, I really don't need it." He said looking at his collection.
"Are you married?" I asked, not seeing signs of a woman anywhere.
"I have a girlfriend." He stated watching Ray pull the truck around the corner closest to the house.
"How long have you been together?" I asked.
"A year." He muttered.
"Oh. I see. You don't seem to psyched." I said.
"She wants to move in together, but wants me to move. I have a great house." He stated.
"Oh, yeah that sucks." I said. "She want the cars gone too?" I asked.
"Yep." He said as Ray pulled into the driveway.
"Dude, that sucks." I said, nearly laughing.
"I'm not sacrificing my cars." He said with a light laugh. If I were him, I wouldn't do it either.
"How was it?" Jeff asked.
"Amazing, I definitely think she will love it." Ray said looking at the car. It was exactly what she wanted. A yellow Avalance.
"I sure hope she does. Are you going to buy it today?" He asked eyeing the car, oh how I knew he'd miss it.
"It's a possibilty." Ray said looking at the car again. "What year is it?"
"Two thousand seven." Jeff rattled off.
"How much do you want?" He asked, Jeff could totally bullshit this and ask for a ton of money.
"Fifteen thousand." He said, it really sounded reasonable, I wonder if Ray had done his research.
"Really?" He asked. I'm not thinking he did. I searched it on my phone. It was a reasonable price.
"Yeah. I'll toss in this road kit thing I got for my birthday for an extra fifteen bucks." He said conjuring it from the back of the truck.
"What for?" I asked.
"I have seven of them." He laughed, we joined in. Guess people thought he has some pretty bad luck.
"Here." I said handing him fifteen bucks. That thing could come in handy, truthfully.
"So are you willing to buy it Ray?" He asked, with a light smile on his face.
"Do you take checks?" He asked leaning against the car.
"Yeah sure. Do you want to do installments?" He asked.
"Nope, I'll pay in full." He said pulling out his check book.
"Are you serious?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll clear it with my bank." He wrote the check out to the man for fifteen thousand and handed it to him.
"Here's my name and number if you have any problems with the car. And I have your contact information." Jeff said smiling. "I'll grab the extra key for you and the papers, alright?" He disappeared into his garage and conjured an extra key and papers. He handed them over to Ray.
"Do you want to drive it back?" He asked me.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Yeah, I don't mind driving your car." He said, "As long as you don't crash it, I mean you will be the one driving it out to Colorado, so you might as well get used to it."
"I won't I swear!" He handed me the papers to put into the car. He tossed me the set of keys with the control on it. And he took the other key from me. Jeff handed me the kit.
"Alright, we are going to stop for dinner somewhere, and we are going to get a few copies of this key." He told me as he shoved it in his pocket. I handed him the keys to my car.
"Sounds good to me. Just call me when you see where you want to go." I told him. "Oh wait I'm going to need a CD." I said pulling my car door open and grabbing my Hawthorne Heights CD. It was the first CD, The Silence In Black And White.
I jumped into the car and waited for Ray to drive off. I had tossed the kit on the backseat. I put my CD into the CD played, and felt the power of the truck in my hands and under my feet as I pulled out of the driveway. I waved to Jeff as I pulled from the driveway. I was singing along to my CD when Ray called saying he wanted to stop at an Ace, to get the key copied. We pulled in, and got two copies made. He handed me one key, and pocketed the other two.
"Why do you have two?" I asked.
"I'm giving one to Andrew." He replied. I nodded, it made sense. We were about twenty minutes from Ocean Shores right now, so I asked, "Where are we going to eat?"
"The Hot Skillet, I suppose." It was a good idea. We drove there and ate. When we were leaving we swapped keys. He drove the Avalanche to The Shack, and I followed in my own car. Entering The Shack we saw how packed it was and helped out.
"Did you get the car?" Sam asked me.
"Yeah, it's awesome. I got to drive it back." I said with a wild grin on my face.
"That's awesome!" He said.
"Yeah, so ask your mom if you can go out to Colorado from the Halloween weekend." I said, just plainly, like I cared.
"Why?"
"We are all going to visit Reggie and Otto." I said. I explained the rest of the plan, Catie was listening too as I explained everything.
"Well that's awesome." Catie said smiling.
"Who is riding with who?" She asked smiling at me. Oh, boy.
"Ray said I could only have one person in the Avalanche with me." I said praying she wasn't going to ask. I was scared of what she would want to do to me in that car.
The customers were finally cleared out and I saw my brother sitting at one of the tables talking to Ray.
"Dude, we're going to Colorado?!" Twister yelled, I guess Ray was telling him the plan.
"Yeah, Twist. Can you guys get the rest of the gang here?" Ray asked. We nodded. Catie called Corey, and Sam called Nick. I called Nikkie's phone and she answered right away.
"Hi Lars." She said.
"Are you with Reg?" I asked.
"No, she's at dance. Brandi's here though." She said.
"Good, put it on speaker." I said.
"Okay!" She chimed.
"Hey Lars!" Brandi said.
"Hey guys, we're all talking about the plan. You know about it right?" I asked.
"Yeah, all of us in Colorado!" Nikkie squeaked. "Is everyone there?"
"Corey and Nick should be here shortly." I said.
"Okay, let's discuss something fun until they get there." Brandi said.
"Where's Otto?" Twister asked.
"Should we tell him?" Sam asked.
"Probably not." Brandi said.
"But this is for Reggie isn't it? With the car and all?" Twister said.
"Well we are going out there for Otto too, but Reggie's just getting the car too." Nikkie replied.
"Oh okay." Twister said.
"How is California guys?" Brandi asked.
"It's boring without you guys here." Catie said. "I'm stuck with the boys." She laughed.
Nikkie and Brandi both laughed, "We'll be back soon. Andrew is letting us stay a little longer, we'll be back by sunday night."
"What time do you guys have to leave to get here by Sunday night?"
"Well it's like a twenty-one hour drive." Brandi said.
"Is it seriously?" Twister howled.
"Yeah, to get there by midnight we would have to leave by three am on Saturday morning." Brandi said.
"Why don't we just leave at three and get back to Ocean Shores by six on Monday morning." Nikkie chimed.
"Because we have school." Brandi replied.
"Yeah, so? We will have plenty of rest." Nikkie said.
"Fine. Apparently we'll see you at school on Monday." Brandi said.
"How's Colorado?" Sam asked.
"It's a lot of fun. The Ranch is amazing, it's so fun working there. Andrew is super cool too, and the people out here are super nice." Nikkie said.
"But it's cold." Brandi said.
"Is not!" Nikkie yelled.
"Is so!" Brandi squeaked back.
"NOPE!" Nikkie yelled.
"You love the cold, shut up." Brandi said, everyone was laughing.
"Whatever." Nikkie said trying her best not to laugh.
"Hey guys what is this about?" Nick said walking into The Shack with Corey walking next to him.
"Hey NICK!" Nikkie squealed.
"Hey, Nikkie." He replied.
"Is everyone here now?" Brandi asked.
"Hey sis!" Corey yelled.
"Hey brat." She laughed, we all did.
"Everyone is here, let's get down to business." Ray said. He explained the plan once more, so Corey and Nick knew it. "If you parents need to talk to someone tell them to call me." He said, we all knew nothing would stop us from going.
"Alright let's decide who is going with who." Ray said.
"We need one more driver to go with Lars." He said looking around the room. Catie and Twister were the only ones without their license.
"I will." Nikkie finally said. I knew she would prefer to go with Brandi or Nick.
"I'll take Nick and Corey." Brandi said.
"Who does that leave me with?" Sam asked.
"Catie and Twi--oh that doesn't work. Brandi you have to give up one of your driver's." Ray said.
"Alright, I'll take Twist." She said, "Who do you want?"
"I'll take, Nick." Sam replied.
"Alright so let's make it clear. Nikkie is with Lars. Twist and Corey are with Brandi. And Catie and Nick are with Sam." We nodded.
"Sounds good." Brandi and Nikkie chimed together.
"So what are we doing for the party?" Sam asked.
"We could just have a bunch of games to play, I mean she's going to be excited enough to have us all there."
"Good point. We can all help set up decorations and stuff." Catie said.
"What time do we have to leave by?" Twister asked.
"Should we stay somewhere for the night or just split the drive up?" Brandi asked.
"What did you two do?" Nick asked.
"We switched off every three hours." Nikkie said.
"How was that?" Corey asked.
"It wasn't too bad." Brandi said. "We got to sleep, and we drank a lot of stuff to wake us up, and we stopped at a lot of gas stations throughout the drive."
"I think we should just do that." I replied.
"So what time do we have to leave at?" Twist asked again.
"Well we could leave at 10 am on the 30th, we'll get there by 7 on the 31st, no actually probably eight." Sam replied.
"That seems fair." Nick replied.
"When would we have to leave to come back home?" Twister asked, always with the questions.
"Well, we would have to stay there longer then a day, what day do we plan on coming back?" Sam asked.
"Wednesday?" Catie chimed. It seemed reasonable.
"Wow, we are going to miss a lot of school." Nikkie said laughing.
"Yes, but second quarter will be starting soon, so your days will get dropped." Sam said.
"You make a good point Sammy." Brandi laughed, hey as long as their homework got done, so what.
"So we want to attend school Thursday?" Corey asked, "Or do we want to just come back Monday morning like Nikkie and Brandi are doing?"
"Nikkie or Brandi can you get Andrew and see how long he will let you guys stay?" Ray asked.
"Yeah hang on." Nikkie said taking off.
"Hey guys." Andrew said.
"Hey Andrew!" Everyone chimed.
"Hey Andrew, how long can we stay?" Corey asked.
"As long as you want. Wait no, as long as your parents will let you. WAIT NO!" He yelled. "I don't want you guys in any kind of trouble with your school." He said.
"Can we stay out there for a week?" I asked.
"Oh yeah that's fine. Lars, was that you?" He asked.
"Yeah, how are you Andrew?" I asked.
"I'm just fine, how are things going?" He questioned.
"Things are good, we just got Reggie's present." I replied.
"Oh, that's cool. You get a good price?"
"Yeah, fifteen thou." I replied.
"That's pretty good. What year?"
"Two thousand seven." I replied.
"Now, that sounds really good. Is the truck in good condition?"
"Yeah, and it's a great ride too, stereo is amazing." I replied.
"Oh you got to drive it?"
"Yeah, drove it home." Everyone was staring at me, I laughed a little.
"That's really cool. Why was the guy getting rid of it?"
"Nagging girlfriend and he just got a new Yukon." I replied.
"Wow, that is cool then. So you are staying out here for a week?" He asked.
"Yeah, we are leaving Saturday morning at six to come home." Sam replied.
"Works for me, so you guys are going to like just make it to school then?" He asked.
"Yeah, but it's okay, who cares about school." Sam laughed.
"Right, Sam you are the last person who would ever say that." Nikkie laughed.
"What's Otto doing?" Ray asked.
"He's, you know what I'm not sure. I think he's over at Colin's or in the basement. I don't remember which right now." Andrew replied.
"Otto's in the basement. I was playing video games with him before." Nikkie replied.
"So Ray, what do you think about Reggie's job?" Andrew asked.
"Oh, god it sounds amazing she was telling me about it last night. It's definitely something I know she'll love."
"Reggie has a new job?" Twister asked.
"Yeah, she's working for Mark Drune!" Nikkie howled.
"No way! That is so amazing, how did she land that?" Catie asked.
"Well, she knows his grandson for one and she has talent." Andrew replied.
"Wait who is his grandson?" Brandi asked.
"Aiden. I thought you knew that." Andrew replied.
"No way! He is so hot!" Nikkie screamed. "Oh my god and Aimee is so cute!"
"Oh, I know isn't she?" Brandi replied.
"Who is Aimee?" Nick asked.
"Aiden's daughter. Her birthday is the same day as Reggie's!" Nikkie squealed.
"Aiden has a daughter?" Corey asked.
"Yeah, why are we talking about this?" Andrew asked.
"I have no idea." Nikkie said.
"Did we have anything else to talk about?" I asked.
"Right, I have no clue. I think that's it." Ray said.
"Okay, I guess that's it then." I replied. "We'll see you on Monday guys."
"Bye everyone! I can't wait to see you again." Nikkie yelled.
"Bye!" Everyone yelled. Nikkie hung up the phone, and everyone was looking at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." Sam said. It seemed strange, I really don't know why they were looking at me so weird.
"Did you guys see Reggie's tattoo?" I asked, everyone except Ray looked at me weird. "So I was the only one told about this."
"Nikkie told me about it, but I haven't seen it." Nick replied. I opened the picture and passed it around.
"She looks different." Catie said.
"Yeah. I know." I said and left it at that.
A/N::
Yay, party and an Avalanche for Reggie ;D
