Peter's POV.
By Charisma
Trust Luis to get the most gorgeous girl in the world. Of course she's blonde. He has a thing for blondes. I'm surprised I haven't heard about this. Annie and Luis. I knew who Annie was of course, but I never really spoke to her much. She's beautiful. Beautiful girls makes me nervous. I'll give it a try this time.
"So Annie," Great start Peter.
"Shush!" She presses her fingers to her temples. Now I notice that Luis is concentrating on something and Annie looks deep into thought.
I exchange a look with Jesse.
"I'm too tired to do this." Luis complains. Annie drops her hands onto her legs. Mmmm, nice legs.
"Luis!" She sighs, "If we don't keep practicing, how will we be able to communicate through ESP?"
He shrugs. "I'm going back to sleep."
"Don't be surprised if you dream about red monsters chasing you." She crosses her arms.
Red monsters?
"Thanks for the warning." Luis says, curling up into a ball.
"Man, do you think Annie's from outer space or something?" Terry whispers to me. I shrug and look back at them. Annie is leaning onto Luis, whispering into his ear.
"Man, when did that happen?" I ask Terry.
"Them?" Terry asks. I roll my eyes.
"No, Portman and Fulton!"
"That happened-"
"Man! I was being sarcastic!" I cut him off. "Annie and Luis!"
"What about them?" Terry asks looking at them. I sigh. Terry can be awfully slow sometimes.
"When did they happen?"
"Them? Happen?" Jesse butts in. "They haven't happened dude!"
"Then what's up with that?" I jerk a thumb into their direction.
"Oh, they act like that all the time." Jesse shrugs.
"So, Annie's single?" I ask. Terry raises his eyebrows at his brother.
"Sounds like somebody got a crush!" Jesse grins.
"Don't be so childish." I mumble slouching down into my seat. I dig into my bag for my walkman.
"Is Peter blushing?" Jesse asks Terry. Terry studies me.
"I think he is."
I pull on my headphones. And switch on my walkman. Eminem's voice blares into my ears. Ahh, bliss.
*
Somebody pulls my headphones off. One thing I hate is people pulling off my headphones. What's wrong with just tapping me on the shoulder? I open my eyes to curse at whoever did this crime.
It's Annie. I, of course, can't yell at Annie. Beside she doesn't know I hate it. So Instead of giving her a dirty look, I smile politely and ask what she wants.
"We're trying to overtake Charlie's van." She informs me, I glance out of the window, sure enough, Adam is waving wildly and Charlie actually has a grin on his face. Maybe the camp out did him some good.
After five minutes of everyone jumping all over me, I'm so small that they don't even notice that I'm there. I snort and write on a piece of paper.
It reads : Help! I'm being kidnapped by the Mighty Ducks! Call the National Enquirer!
Charlie points at me and says something.
"I'm hungry!" Luis and Annie call out, they both glance at each another.
"This is a breakthrough!" Annie grabs Jesse's cell phone.
"Okay, we're stopping for food and new music!" Fulton calls out, sending Portman a quick glare that turns into a cheesy smile. "Pass that on!"
"Will do!" Annie yells back.
We all jump out of the van as soon as Portman stops. We all chatter excitedly as we enter the shop.
I grab a packet of pretzels, a bottle of Pepsi and after deciding which one to choose, I end up buying peanut M and Ms and chocolate M and Ms along with the Pepsi and pretzels. I head out and of course me, being Peter, bumps into Fulton and drop all of my junk. Of course Annie is there to witness my clumsy moment.
"You alright?" Fulton asks. "You look flushed."
"I'm fine." I gather all my stuff up and climb inside the van. Lucky I'm so small that I can climb under my seat and die.
Of course that doesn't happen because Terry has taken it up onto himself to tease me about Annie.
I wonder if it's possible for somebody my size to climb out of the window. I settle for kicking Terry in the shins.
__________________________________
Charlie's POVBy Star
I wave at Fulton as he overtakes me. He and Portman grin cheerily at us. Then I see the rest of the passengers, they all have their faces pressed up against the window making crazy faces at me.
Despite the fact that they've been doing this all day, I laugh.
Adam turns to me looking stunned. "Did you just laugh?"
"I might have done." I reply, giving him a grin.
"And that was a smile too." He comments in tones of amazement.
"Bite me, Banksie." I grin wholeheartedly this time.
"It's ok, Spazway, I won't tell anyone you were happy…" he shrugs. "And even if I did, they wouldn't believe me."
I glance around the van. It's not the most happy of places at the moment. Julie, Julia and Connie are all glaring at each other, Guy keeps trying to play peacemaker and they all keep telling him to butt out.
Adam is using this quiet time to send numerous text messages to Jesse's cell phone. I pity his father, who is footing the bill for that phone.
I overtake the other van once more. This time Peter is waving a sign that reads "Help! I'm being kidnapped by the Mighty Ducks! Call the National Enquirer!"
"Someone reply to that lunatic." I point at Peter.
Julia snorts. "Did Charlie just make a request for humour?"
"Not your kind." I say shortly. I don't know what it is about this girl, but she's driving me mad. Me. And Connie. And poor old Guy as well. And Jules is caught in the middle of it all. And not only that, she's winding up Banks and making him act like a toddler with a sugar high.
Guy grabs his bag and searches for a pen while Adam rummages through the glove box for something to write on, but quickly stops when he gets another text message from Jesse.
"What's happening in the other van?" I ask.
"Annie and Luis have had a telepathic breakthrough – according to them. They both said 'I'm hungry' at the same time." Adam laughs, then resumes his search for something to write on.
His phone goes off once more. He shuts the glove box again. "We're stopping at the next services to get some food and a new CD. Apparently there's a big fight over what music to listen to."
I can relate.
Once more Banksie looks for something to write on. He comes up with a map and a lime green glove.
"Wow." I comment. "I always thought that glove box was just a clever name."
Adam laughs. "See, you do have a sense of humour!"
"That's an objective statement." Julia comments.
Adam laughs again and I glare at her in the rear-view mirror. I wonder if we can leave her behind.
Guy looks mightily tired and annoyed. "Guy, why don't you swap with me when we stop, I'm tired of driving." I suggest. If he's driving, he won't feel obligated to sort the girls' problems out.
He gives me a relieved smile. "Sure thing."
**
I'm glad to get out of the van for ten minutes. My tail-section is completely numb. Why don't movies ever show the downside of roadtrips? Like annoying passengers like Julia.
I wander over to the shop and find Luis and Annie buying CD's and snacks. She's busy talking him into buying her Roxette's greatest hits and Avril Lavigne's Album. I notice that Peter is staring at her with a look of adoration on his face.
No chance, Annie isn't aware that anyone but Luis exists.
I spot Adam buying a pack of Fizzballs, the only candy in the world that has over 110% sugar and a Britney Spears album.
I sigh deeply. The next few hours in the van are going to be hell.