Chapter 6: Travelling Nightmare

Luis's POV

By Star

      "Just Jelly Babies and then I'm all set."  Annie pleads with me.

      I give her an indulgent smile.  I hope all this telepathy practice pays off, this girl is seriously denting my wallet.  She slips her hand into mine and we set off towards the counter to pay.

      Adam bounces past us, stopping only to grin idiotically.  I see Charlie looking horrified.  I guess he's less than pleased that for the last two days Adam has been channelling his inner-Tigger.

      "What am I thinking?"  Annie asks.

      I yawn.  "That you're really tired because it's impossible to sleep in a tent that is pitched on the sharpest most pointy rocks in the entire state?"  I reply.

      She grins.  "No, but I have been thinking that all day."

      "See, we're getting better."  I say.  Annie and I have been trying this for four years, but to be honest I don't think we're getting better, just closer.  And I'm sure that's cheating.  It's not telepathy if you know your friend so well that you can make an educated guess.

      We wander outside again and meet up with the others.  There's a fierce debate going on, mainly caused by Connie and Julia's obsession with staking their claim as Julie's best friend.  Her only best friend.

      Charlie looks pissed off, Guy looks exhausted, the rest look amused, except for Julia and Connie who look two seconds away from going Jerry Springer on each other.

      "Ok!"  Portman bellows loudly.  "That's it.  Time for a change!"

      "I want to be in a different van to Peter!"  Terry pipes up instantly.  "He keeps kicking me."

      Jesse turns on Peter.  "Stop picking on my brother!"  And he promptly slaps him around the head.  Jesse turns back to Portman.  "Can I be with Peter?  I want to keep an eye on him."

      "I don't need a babysitter, Jesse!"  Terry protests.

      "He does."  Jesse nods at Peter, who glares back.

      I exchange a look with Annie.  At least things are simple for us, we're always together.  It's simple and it's good…

      "I'll swap vans."  Annie volunteers cheerfully.

      My jaw drops.  It would have been nice to have ESP at that moment.

      "What?"  I ask.

      "Just think, we can practice ESP."  She smiles.  "Being in separate vans will help keep us focused."

      "I think I'll swap vans too."  Peter says casually.  "I'm bored of everyone I'm with at the moment."  He gives Terry a pointed look.

      "And I want to keep an eye on Peter."  Jesse says.

      "I'm nowhere near your brother!"  Peter shouts.

      I sigh deeply and head back to the van and leave them to it.  If I'm not with Annie there's no point in listening to them argue.

      I slump on a seat and close my eyes.  This is going to be a boring couple of hours without her.

      "Go!  Go!  Go!"  I hear Guy shout, a female giggle follows it.  I open my eyes and see Portman slamming the door and Terry slamming his foot on the gas.  I look back towards the other van.

      Connie and Julia look mutinous, Annie looks amused and Adam is still bouncing.  I wink at Annie as we pull away and she blows me a kiss.

      I glance around the van, we have lost Jesse, Peter and Annie, and gained Julie and Guy, who both look simultaneously guiltily and very proud of themselves.

      "Hi."  I mutter.  "I take it you pulled a switcheroo."

      They nod.  "I couldn't take it any more.  They were driving me crazy."

      No prizes for guessing who the 'they' Julie's talking about are.

      The van seems a lot smaller with Portman in the back with us instead of up front driving.  Terry keeps looking over his shoulder to talk to us, I think he's only had his licence a few months.  This should be fun.

      "I think Charlie needs rescuing next."  Guy comments.  "He and Julia just do not mesh well."

      I don't care how many people we have in this van as long as Annie's one of them.  She's very comfortable to fall asleep on.

      "Isn't it quiet without Peter's constant requests for Eminem?"  I muse.

      "And it's nice not to have to watch him making puppy dog eyes at Annie."  Terry replies.

      I stare at him.  "What?"

      He turns to face me again, and everyone in the van hurriedly yells at him to keep his eyes on the road.

      He meets my eyes in the rear-view mirror.  "He's crushing on Annie.  Don't tell me you didn't notice!"

      "But… but…"  I'm not sure why this idea is so objectionable, but it is.

      "But Annie's not a girl!"  Fulton suggests helpfully, turning around from the passenger seat.

      I glare at him.  Of course Annie's a girl, I am aware of that.  Believe me, when you get busted for sleeping in Annie's dorm as many times as I have, you learn that it's because she's the opposite sex.  It's just…

      "He's not her type."  I say finally.

      Portman snorts derisively.  "How would you know?  Annie's never dated anyone.  She's too busy with you."

      "I've never stopped Annie from dating anyone!"  I respond.

      "And she's never stopped you.  It doesn't change the fact that the two of you have been turning down offers of dates in favour of sitting in your room and practicing telepathy or whatever it is you do."

      "Well, I…"  What am I going to say?  He's got it all wrong.  "It's not our fault that none of those other appealed to us!  Annie and I are –"

      "JUST GOOD FRIENDS!"  Everyone choruses.

      I sigh deeply and stare out of the window.

      Annie, if you can hear me, van change.  NOW.

      Portman's cell phone goes off.  He reads the text message quickly, then sighs.  "Time for a van change."  He turns to Guy and Julie.  "Guess who have just nearly killed each other?"

_____________________________

Connie's POV

By Charisma

      Adam lets out another loud laugh, caused by Julia no doubt. I take a peek over my shoulder, sure enough Adam and Julia are on the floor scrabbling around for cards. And Adam's Fizzballs.  Jesse is watching them and trying not to crack up himself.

      "Hah!" Julia sits up. "I found one."

      Adam grabs it out of her hand and pops it into his mouth.

      "That's gross Banks." Jesse pulls a face.

      "Shut up cake-eater." He grins and dives under his seat. Julia dives under with him. The only sound we can hear that is coming from them are really painful sounds. I sigh and twist around so that I face forward.

      "Do you really have to do that?" Charlie asks. The thing is, he didn't snap. Or sneer. Just asked cheerfully with a bit of sternness in his voice.

      I take a sip of my diet coke. The kind with lemon. I still can't believe Julie tricked us into sharing this van together. This is like war. She could have just brought me along with her, she knows Julia and I don't get along.

      "Put this in!" Julia leans over Charlie's should. In her hand is a Britney Spears CD.

      "Are you joking?" I blurt out. "No way in hell!"

      She climbs over the middle seat, before she can put it in, Charlie grabs it out of her hand.

      "No!" He holds it out of her reach. "I've had enough of your crappy tastes in music!"

      "For your information, this CD belongs to Adam." She slouches down and crosses her arms. "I'm not leaving 'till you put it on."

      "Britney Spears fan?" Charlie asks.

      "The biggest." She snorts. "Put it in and we can make fun of her!"

      "Do I have to remind you-"

      "My van, my van!" Julia mimics him. She climbs over the seat 'accidentally' kicking him in the face.

      "God." Charlie mutters. "That girl…"

      "I know." I stare out of the window.

      "First she jeopardizes Jules and your friendship and then-"

      "She isn't doing it on purpose." I surprise myself as I defend her. Why would I defend somebody who's trying to steal my best friend? I snort at the thought. Charlie gives me a quizzical look.

      "Sure. If you say so."

      "Ok, she is annoying I'm the first to admit-"

      "Annoying?" Charlie lets out a short laugh. "No, try a complete and utter travelling nightmare."

      "But she's not that low. She knows I'm important to Julie, she wouldn't risk her friendship with her to jeopardize our friendship. She's just trying to steal-" I cut myself off.

      "Exactly what I thought." He slams on the steering wheel. "She's causing fights all over the place."

      I glance over my shoulder. "You do have to admit, she's good for Adam…"

      "Hah!" He glances over his shoulder also. "She's turning him into her. He has no clue what he's in for."

      I give him an odd look. He's taking this a bit too far.

      "Charlie….are you ok?"

      "Peachy." He scowls.

      Just to think, he was actually happy a couple of minutes ago.