Chapter 3: She Drives Me Crazy Jesse's POV
By Star
"They're here!" Peter yells, smacking me in the stomach with his bag in his excitement.
"Ow." I push him away from me. "If I wanted to be beaten up, I'd ask. Now back off, dwarf."
Peter kicks me in the shins. You'd think after over ten years of friendship, I'd learn not to annoy him. And especially not mention his lack of height.
"You bully!" He kicks me again.
"Shut up, Peter." My brother and I chorus.
The two vans pull over and Adam jumps out of the first one before it's even stopped.
"Hey Preppy!" I yell cheerfully.
"Cake-Eater!" He responds, bouncing over. I blink. Banksie bounces?
"Don't pay any attention to him." Guy advises, getting out of the van in a more sedate fashion. "He's been hyper all morning."
Charlie ambles over looking annoyed. The rest follow him, stretching themselves out. Adam stands next to Charlie, bouncing happily.
There are a lot of hugs (and a couple of "Who the hell are you?"'s from Peter) and we all grin at each other idiotically. Except for Charlie, who's still sulking.
I know most of them quite well. Every so often Peter, Terry and I used to go over to Eden Hall for a weekend just to hang out. Or the Ducks would come and see us. I've heard a lot about Julia, but never met her. Annie I've seen a couple of times, but never really talked to.
"No Averman?" Terry asks.
"No, he got a job." Charlie mutters.
Why is he so down? "Why so glum, Spazway?" I ask. Then I gesture to Adam (who is still bouncing and now singing too). "And what's up him? I turn my back for two lousy months and the two of you have turned into Jay and Silent Bob."
He finally cracks a smile. "You try sharing a van with Banks and the Hellcat singing loudly and be cheerful."
Julia glares but she's too far away to do any damage to him.
"Ok, let's go!" I say quickly. "Which van are we in?"
"You're with the Bashes, Luis and Annie." Charlie responds. "You can have Banksie as well if you like."
"No you can't! He's the only one that sings with me!" Julia quickly argues.
"Have 'em both?" Charlie offers hopefully.
"But I want to be with Jules." Julia grins.
"So do I!" Connie adds quickly.
"And I want to be with Connie." Guy adds.
"Which is why we came up with this arrangement." Portman interrupts before anyone else can state their seating preference. "So, Terry, Jesse, Peter, you're with us and Charlie, you've got the same people you've had for the past two hours."
"Who made you the boss?" Peter demands, staring up at Portman.
"Shut up, Peter." Terry and I say for the hundredth time today. We each take an arm and escort him to the van.
I look around the group, and already people are glaring at each other.
I glance at Terry, who shrugs. I know exactly what he's thinking:
If people are already getting in moods, what are the next few weeks going to be like?
__________________________________
Julia's POVBy Charisma
I quickly slide next to Jules before Connie can. Score! I grin innocently at Connie who huffs and sits across from us.
"Let's go Charlie!" I call over my shoulder.
"Since when were you the boss of this van?" He asks, glancing at me in the mirror.
"Oooh, la la." I grin and shrug. "Just letting ya know, we're ready to go."
"We'll go when I'm good and ready."
"Charlie..." Jules glances at him. That's Jules. The peacemaker. The Charlie peacemaker. Whatever. As long as she gets Charlie to stop being so mean.
"Sorry." He gives her a half grin and starts the engine. Adam waves wildly at Portman's van. The more hours I spend in this van, the more I like Adam.
We all laugh, well except Charlie, as everyone in Portman's van gives him an amused look. Fulton, Luis and Annie waves back. Everyone else looks relived that he isn't in the van with them.
Their loss.
I settle down into my seat, Jules pulls out a book. Connie opens her mouth to say something, but I beat her to it.
"Whatcha readin'?" I ask.
"Bridget Jones's Diary" She replies. I saw the movie, but didn't read the book. I don't have much interest for reading, I'll start a book, get into the first three chapters of it, then start another one and then I lose interest in that book and go back to the another one, but then I have to read it again so I understand it, so I don't bother in books. Magazines are easier to read. Plus there's pictures!
"I saw the movie."
"You saw it with me." She glances over at me with mild amusement. Without even realizing it, she just told Connie something we did together. Us. As friends. Friends see movies together.
Sue me, I happen to be competitive when it comes to friends. Plus I feel protective of her, Jules and Connie had this huge falling out a long while ago and I was there, a beautiful friendship started between Jules and I. Then Connie came crawling to her on her knees. Okay, maybe that isn't exactly what happened. Actually I don't really know how they made up, Jules said something about them having a good long talk.
'A good long talk can fix things up.' That's what she said.
"We should camp out for the night." Charlie cuts into my thoughts. How dare he! But a good idea.
"Cool!" I call back. "I'm up for it."
"Aw!" Jules moans. "I rather sleep in a bed."
"Jules, where's your sense of fun?" Adam asks, slightly bouncing in his seat. "Pass 'em!" He points at the rear end of Portman's van.
"No." Charlie shots back. "Gimme your phone, I'm going to give Jesse a call, tell him our plans."
"Excuse me!" Connie exclaims. I almost excuse her. But think better of it. "We haven't made any plans!"
"Come on, it'll be fun, Julia's even up for it!" Guy tries to coax her. Bad mistake Germaine, never bring me into it. I think he realizes.
"I'm up for it, if I'm up for it, then you can be up for it!" He quickly changes the topic to him and Connie. I exchange looks with Adam. He just shrugs, grins brightly at me and starts to pester Charlie to pass Portman's van.