I lounged on the couch, watching the images dance across the TV screen. Mellissa sat on my stomach, watching with me, and the others were out and about.
I had bought- yes, bought. Don't ask me where I got the money. - this hotel room so we could all stay in it together. Sorta like roomies, but alot more people. It was a fairly decent room, like a suite, except, like, bigger. There were three beds, one a fold-out from the couch. Everyone else slept on the floor, on randomly strewn blankets and sleeping bags. There were all the proper facilities for a good home. Two bathrooms and a kitchen, as well as a bedroom with the two regular beds.
Katy was lying on the floor, on her back, staring at the ceiling. I shook my head. She always said people had a better perspective of things on their backs. She'd been laying there for over an hour. If she got stuck to the floor, it wasn't my fault.
Rudy was on a laptop he had brought with him, probably writing a story. He was pretty good at that, writing. I admired his work, it was pleasantly refreshing, and looked forward to reading what he was writing. He pushed his bangs back, and looked thoughtful for a moment, then got back to typing.
Kat was holed up in a corner with a ton of paper, scratching away furiously with a pencil. Her art was just as good as Rudy's stories, and surpassed my own work in many ways. I also looked forward to seeing what she was doing.
Chrissie sat on the ground, back against the couch, watching TV as well. Her mouth was open slightly, and she was staring, unblinking at the flickering screen. I waved my hand in front of her face, and not once did her eyes move.
A new addition to our little group was Tyler. He sat hunched on the other side of the couch, carefully avoiding contact with Chrissie, so as not to give her the wrong idea. Tyler was a smooth kinda guy, if you know what I mean. He had blonde hair that was enviable, falls perfectly into place without the use of a comb, and a slight cowlick in front that never went away. He was somewhat tall, a bit shorter than Chrissie, and a calm look in his eyes. He lounged like he was made to do just that, an unshatterable calm, that made him look lazy. But lazy was not the word for Tyler. Nah, Tyler was sharp and quick-witted. A real cool guy.
"I'm bored." Tyler announced. "Let's go blow something up." I stared at him, and sighed.
"Fine. The dynamite's in the upper left hand drawer, Katy. Can you grab a couple sticks?" Katy dug around in the computer desk drawer, and tossed me three sticks of dynamite, but with a concerned look.
"Isn't this stuff illegal, Ian?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Katy, since when did you care about laws?" I asked, suspiciously.
"Oh, never. I was just asking it so that I won't get arrested when you do." She said, smiling cheerily. Mellissa got off my stomach and let me stand up, then shoved me back down and sat on my lap.
"You're not blowing anything up, dear. You might get hurt." She said, taking my hands and putting them around her waist. I sighed.
"Come on... please?" I pleaded, putting my chin on her shoulder.
"NO." She stated firmly. "Where did you get this dynamite anyway?" She added, taking a stick from my hand and looking at it.
"E-bay. 50 bucks for 10." I replied, grinning. She stared at me.
"Well, you're selling it back." She said, leaving no room for argument. I grumbled.
"Can I sell it for twice as much as I bought it for?" I asked.
"I don't care, so long as you get rid of it." I grinned in response, tossed Katy the sticks back, and turned to Tyler.
"Sorry. Looks like we're gonna have to do it some other time." I said sadly. He shrugged.
"It's ok." He said, looking back at the TV.
Yup, we were your average group of teenagers living in a hotel room.
Froot Loops and burnt toast for breakfast. It was about all I knew how to cook, and no one else was offering up their skills. I munched on my toast sullenly, trying to fall asleep without slumping down and everyone noticing. It wasn't working over so well. My face fell forward, onto the edge of my cereal bowl, spilling it all over the back of my head and down my shirt. I couldn't have cared less. I was content, in a comfortable position. Then my chair slipped out from under me and I fell to the ground with a thud. The only person who so much as looked down was Tyler, but only to ask if I had broke the chair.
"Nuf, I dun thunk soo..." Came my muffled reply.
"Good." He said and went back to eating. I lay there for a moment, and then stood up, wiping cereal off my face.
"Guys, I just had an idea!" I announced. Everyone mumbled about marking calendars, and first-times and such, and I grinned. "See you later, be back in a bit!"
Monica sat in a small corner of her jail cell, playing a small wooden harmonica and singing, quite badly. "Noooo bah-deeee knoooows the TROUBLE I SEEN! Nooooo bah-deeee knooooows my sorrow..." She blew randomly into the harmonica, and then fell over in a fit of hysterical giggles at the sight of my face covered in duct tape, lowering myself on a silk harness into her cell, holding a Raptor Magnum.
"Monniecakes, let's blow this scene." I whispered fervently to her. She stood up and shook her head so hard so spun in circles and fell down.
"You can't rescue me until you do it right!" She whispered back. I blinked, then lowered myself onto the ground and stared at her.
"How do I do that?" I asked cautiously. She threw her hands up in the air.
"No one knows how to rescue these days! Sheesh." She muttered, putting her hand to her head and shaking it. "No one can handle a sword, or mount a horse. Mah Gawd! They have to use .45 magnum... thingys, and drive Hondas!" I blinked at the torrent.
"Uh..." I started, but she shushed me.
"Seriously, there are no good saviors these days." She shook her head sadly. "Go! Go now, before you disgrace me more!" She tossed her head back and flicked her hand at me.
"Monica..." I started again, but she plugged her ears and sung real loud, real high, real off key. I shook my head, grabbed her arm, and yanked her away.
"No! No! You're not DOING it right!" She shrieked as I hauled her away. "Unhand me, yon ruffian!" She yelped louder as I hauled her through the ventilation shaft.
We were halfway through when she banged her knee and unleashed a string of profanity such as the likes never seen in print before, and not gonna be seen in this one in order to maintain a PG-13 rating. I had just about enough, and whirled around best I could in the cramped confines of the shaft.
"See my magnum, Monnie? See the handle? The handle is bone. Bone hurts when you get struck in the skull with it by an angry boy named Ian who has had enough of your talking. So unless you want to be pistol-whipped to half-death, I suggest you shut the hell up!" I hissed. She scowled at me, but not another noise passed from her for the rest of our daring escape process.
I burst through the door to our hotel room thing, panting and sweating. Mellissa looked at me, and then Monica came in, grumpy again.
"Hi Monica!" Chrissie bounced up, all happy, and they embraced in the middle of the room, before Monica opened the fridge and grabbed a slice of cheese.
"HeyguysnotmuchtosayyouknowmebailedMonicaoutperfectlylegalhahaha!" I said, putting my hands on my hips and laughing. "Yessiree perfectly legal hahaha so what's everyone doing!" I asked cheerily. Tyler poked me in the shoulder.
"This is gonna be the part where you say it'd be a good idea to leave the state, isn't it?" He asked cautiously. I grinned cheesily, grabbed a piece of cheese, and nodded vigoursly. Everyone groaned, and Katy stood up.
"Dammit Ian!" She upbraided me. "We just got here! At least you could have waited a month before breaking the law! Geez!" Everyone grunted his or her agreement as I ran a hand through me hair.
"Sorry you guys. I was all hyper." I sighed. "Well, we could all wait around here a bit, see how big things get before deciding to flee somewhere else." Everyone looked around, and Tyler shrugged.
"At least he's not dead, right?" He said. Everyone stared at him. "Right?" He said, shrinking back a bit. I shook my head and sighed.
"I think it the best idea to lay low here for awhile. That cool with everyone?" There was a moment of silence, I shook my head and sighed.
"I think it the best idea to lay low here for awhile. That cool with everyone?" There was a moment of silence, then a mumble of general agreement. I clasped my hands together. "Dandy! Who's up for a night on the town!" I grinned, as everyone cheered and started filing towards the door.
I felt a tug on my arm and turned around. My grin faded as I say the sober expression on Mellissa's face.
"Ian, we need to talk…" She whispered.