A/N: Man! Only three more chapters to go! Thanks for all those who are still keeping up with my twisted tale. In the next chapter, everyone who reviewed is getting a special thank you. Like I stated at the end of the previous chapter, these last chapters will be angst-free, for the most part. After this, Finally Seniors will start. Well, enough thinking ahead- here's...
April
Tommy:
"So, are you packed?"
I rolled my eyes at the question. "We're not leaving for another eight hours, Dil! I'm almost ready."
As I drove around town, I made a mental note to find some suitcases.
Dil snorted at my answer. "I seriously doubt that, but okay. Hey, thanks again for taking me to get some stuff."
"No problem. It gave me a good excuse to miss school, anyway." Today was Friday, and I had convinced my parents that since our teachers were mentally on vacation anyway, that my time would be better served helping my poor little brother shop.
After we finished picking up some clothes for Dil (mostly pants and shorts large enough to slip over his cast), we headed in. When we arrived at the house, Phil and Lil were just pulling in their driveway. I waved to them as we got out of our car.
"So," I said after crossing the yard, "Anything happen at school today?"
"Not a thing, thank goodness. My brain shut down at the beginning of the week." Lil sighed.
"Same here. We should be exempted from all forms of school activity during the week before spring break." Phil looked around the yard. "So, when are we leaving here?"
"Flight leaves at 1am, so around 11:30pm. That will give us enough time for check-in and all that fun stuff."
"So, Tommy," Lil asked with a twinkle in her eye, "Have you finished packing?"
"No, not finished," I hedged.
Dil, who had walked over to join us, snorted again. "Try hasn't started. Tommy doesn't seem to realize that we're leaving this Friday."
"I have too started!" In my head, I was wondering if thinking about the clothes that you wanted to take counted.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that. But don't blame me if all you have to wear is what's on your back the whole week."
"I wasn't planning to, Dilly."
"Don't call me that, Thomas."
I had to laugh on the perturbed expression on my brother's face. Not even the use of my real name spoiled my mood.
"If you want, I can help you pack, Tommy," Lil offered. "I'm already finished with my stuff."
"I'd appreciate it."
"Okay, well, just let me drop off my backpack and then I'll meet you at your house, all right?" She turned and ran swiftly into her house.
"Well, I really need to finish up my packing. See you later." Phil too, went into the DeVille house.
"I guess that's my cue to actually go get some suitcases, huh." I followed Dil inside my house.
***
My friends arrived at the house at 11:00. They were as excited as I was, and I was bouncing off the walls. My parents, and our friends' parents, kept taking pictures and giving us last minute warnings. 11:30 seemed like it took five hours to arrive. When it finally did, we piled into my parents' minivan with the other parents following us. We arrived at the airport at 12am, more than enough time to check-in, even with the extra security.
By 12:30, we were wandering around our small airport, bored and tired. I kept yawning, even though I had drank three cups of coffee since 10pm.
"Hey, let's go sit in the waiting area. At least that way we can see our plane land," Phil suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Kim agreed, and proceeded to bounce her way across the airport.
"How much of Tommy's sludge did you drink, girl!" Lil laughed.
"I'll have you know that I make really really good coffee!" I protested.
"Yeah, and that's the reason I can turn a cup of your coffee upside down," Phil said. When I opened my mouth to speak, he waved the insult off as unimportant and continued, "So, did anyone notice where Chuck, Dil, and Joe ran off to?"
We looked around in confusion. "You know, the last time I saw Chuck was when we arrived and went through the security checkpoints. He is planning to go with us, right?" Kim looked around worriedly, but never stopped bouncing.
"Aren't you worried about Dil and Joe?" Lil asked me.
"Nah. They're probably doing what we're doing, wandering around, trying to kill time. Besides, my brother's lame." As my friends looked at me, I hurriedly explained, "With the leg and all. So they're probably already at the seats."
Sure enough, when we got to the concourse, Dil and Joe were there with all of the parents, staring out the windows. When they noticed us, they motioned for all of us to come over to where they were.
"Look, I think something's up." Dil said bluntly. "Our parents are plotting, and Chuck's gone."
"And how is any of that different from usual?" Phil asked.
"They keep saying things like 'oh, they'll be surprised' and 'we really pulled this one off'. Maybe they're shipping us off to some camp or something."
"You're such a pessimist. Maybe it's something like they got us some kind of presents. Anyway, you guys haven't seen Chuck either?" Kim stopped her bouncing and began searching for her brother in earnest.
"Well, it's," Lil checked her watch, "almost time to start boarding now. He'd better get a move on."
We watched as our plane's personnel started boarding. Then we heard the announcement, "Flight 202, from Silver Heights to Orlando, now boarding. We ask that the elderly and infirm start boarding now."
"Hey!" Dil swung around on his crutches. "I'm infirm!"
"Only you would be happy about it," I said as he quickly maneuvered over to the gate. He showed the flight attendant his boarding pass, and they had a quick conference. Dil motioned to our parents, and I came over too, thinking that they weren't going to let him go.
"... already cleared it with the doctors," my mom said to the flight attendant.
"That's not the problem, ma'am. We think he may have difficulty with the way the seats are arranged in coach. So, we would like to upgrade him to a complementary first class ticket."
All of us (except for the flight attendant, of course) gasped in amazement. "You're kidding," Dil said when he was able to speak.
"No. I take it that will be satisfactory?" the flight attendant said, smiling.
"That will be great!" Dil smiled broadly and went on the airplane without a look back. Then he turned around and said, "Thanks, Mom and Dad! I'll call as soon as we get there!"
Our parents smiled and said good-bye as I went back over to our friends.
"What was that all about?" Lil asked curiously.
"Dil scored an upgrade to first class!" I said enviously. "Lucky broken leg."
My friends laughed as I realized what I said and then flushed slightly.
Soon, it was our turn to board. We said our final good-byes to our parents, promised to call, and finally got on the plane. Our parents must have brought a block of seats, because all of us ended up sitting together. Realizing that we could switch around after the fight started, I sat next to Chuck, Phil and Lil sat right behind us, and Kim and Joe sat across from us. As we began to taxi, I looked out the window and saw our parents, still standing at the windows, and waved one last time before we took off into the sky.
The plane ride was basically uneventful. As soon as the seatbelt sign clicked off, we got off and switched seats until the girls ended up together and us guys sat in the four seats. Luckily, it wasn't a full flight so we didn't have to worry about disturbing people. They showed an in-fight movie that we had all seen, but enjoyed, and we fell asleep and didn't wake up until the captain came on with the announcement that we were about to land and would we please fasten our seatbelts. We did and watched out the window blearily as the plane touched down and pulled up to the gate.
As people began to deplane, we turned to Chuck, because he had all of the cabin info and everything. "Um, I know this is an odd time to be thinking of this, but we do have a car and everything to get us to the house, right?" I asked curiously.
Chuck laughed, "Yes, our arrangements are all set. Ready to go?"
We moved to get off the plane, stopping to get Dil, who was still sitting in first class, listening to his headphones. When I tapped him, he stood up happily, got his backpack, which was on the seat next to him, and led us out of the plane. When he got off the ramp, he stopped dead in his tracks, making all of us exclaim in annoyance. Then we saw who he was referring to.
Angelica, Tim, and Susan were standing there, looking self satisfied. "And you thought we would miss a trip to Florida?" Angelica said, smirking after everyone started hugging and cheering.
"Wow! I mean, wow!" Kim said from the circle of Tim's arms. "How..."
"Well, apparently, your parents planned this, then called us. They did have a contact person in your group..."
"Chuck!" Phil, Dil, and I said together.
"Well, yeah," Chuck said, smirking. "And you guys say that I can't keep a secret."
"We have never said that," I said. "Well, can we discuss everything at the house?"
Lil:
Apparently, our parents had gone all out for this vacation, because Tim led us to a black SUV. "The other one's sitting at the house," he said apologetically. "I didn't stop to count and think that there would be ten people plus luggage."
"We'll be okay," Tommy said confidently, hefting luggage into the back. "We've rode in tighter cars before."
"Like the time we all rode with Tim right after he got his license." Phil came around, carrying more suitcases. "I think all of us were in the car."
"Yeah, we were, and I think we ended up with seven in the back seat. We were triple stacked!" I laughed at the memory. "Remember how you called me heavy because I sat on your lap, Tommy?"
"Yep." He finished putting the luggage in and closed the hatch. "Sorry about that."
"Don't be. At the time, I had about three inches and thirty pounds on you, at least."
"Hey! I wasn't that skinny!"
"It's okay. You're my beefy manly-man now." I put my arm around his and simpered, "Mah hero."
"I'll always protect you, little lady," Tommy said in an artificially deep voice and patted me on the head.
"Okay, now I'm sick. Phil, make them stop," Angelica commanded.
Tim hopped in the driver's seat, with Dil riding shotgun. "All of ya'll, get in!" he yelled.
In the end, we squeezed into the back two seats with Susan, Chuck, Phil, and Angelica in the middle seat and Tommy, Kim, Joe and I in the very back. The ride to the house didn't take long, which was good, because we were pretty much in a puppy pile.
Tim pulled up in front of what looked like a mansion to me and said, "Okay, we're here."
"You're kidding!" I exclaimed. As soon as I could, I scrambled out of the car and ran to stand in front of the house.
The house was gorgeous. It had a wraparound porch and I could see swings and a hammock. It was painted a soft color that was hard to distinguish in the dark, and I was too impatient to figure it out, so I ran inside, not waiting on anyone else.
The inside was as beautiful as the outside. The hallway led right to the living room, where I could see a big screen TV and a stereo system. The furniture looked almost too good to sit on, because it was all a creamy white. Walking on, I saw that we had a formal dining room (I snorted at the thought of us actually using it) a full kitchen, laundry room and bathroom. There were steps which I assumed belonged to a basement, but I wanted to look upstairs. All of the bedrooms were fully furnished, and they all had themes. I saw one with a lot of old pictures on the walls, and thought that would be perfect for Tommy. As I thought of him, I went back into the hallway and counted the rooms. Six bedrooms, ten of us... it was kinda obvious that some of us would be sharing, but the question was, who?
I went back downstairs to see what everyone else was up to, they were all standing in the living room. "So, stake out your bedroom yet?" Kim teased me.
"Actually, I found one that would be perfect for Tommy!" I stuck out my tongue at her.
Tim, Susan, and Angelica all said together, "The Photo Room!"
"They have a photo room? Cool!" Tommy turned to run up the steps.
"Wait!" Chuck yelled. "Before everyone goes tearing off, we need to assign the bedrooms. There's only six of them..."
"... and ten of us," Susan finished.
"So, let's see. Who's definitely sharing?" Angelica asked. Chuck, Susan, Phil, and Angelica immediately raised their hands. After a look at Kim, who raised her hand, Tim put his hand up too.
"Okay, that's three taken care of right there. So, that leaves Tommy, Lil, Dil, and Joe."
Before any of us could say anything, Phil said, "I have a suggestion. Why don't Tommy and Dil share? We know they don't mind sharing, and that would leave Lil and Joe with rooms to themselves."
"Sounds good to me," I said. "So, what do you guys think?"
"Same here," Tommy said. "Dil, you don't mind the Photo Room, do you?"
"Nah."
We took our suitcases upstairs and put them into our respective bedrooms. Angelica, Phil, Chuck, Susan, and Tim headed back downstairs, but I was ready to call it a night after I unpacked and everything. After I changed into my nightgown, I sat on the bed, brushing my hair when I heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in," I called.
"Hey." Tommy poked his head in. "Oh, I didn't know you were about to go to sleep."
"Yeah, I'm bushed," I said, yawning a little. "But it's okay. Come in."
He did, sitting on the bed gingerly. "So, you didn't want to share a bedroom with me?"
"That whole staying away from temptation thing. I'm sure you understand."
"I'm just teasing. I was just surprised when Kim didn't want to stay with Tim!"
"Yes she did. I guess she didn't feel comfortable just volunteering them."
"Naw. I saw that look she gave him."
I socked Tommy lightly. "And you say that girls gossip a lot! Anyway, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. 'Night, Tommy."
"'Night, Lil." We kissed briefly before he left the room.
I climbed under the covers and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Kim:
I rolled over and started in shock. I was being held in someone's arms rather securely. I began to struggle, but stopped when I spotted a familiar thatch of blonde hair. Tim, I thought with relief and snuggled in deeper. Spending the whole night with Tim was something that I hadn't experienced before. I figured that I would enjoy it while it lasted. The alarm went off ten minutes later, which both startled and angered me, because who sets an alarm on vacation?
Tim reached an arm out and hit the alarm, then got out of bed. "Where are you going?" I croaked.
"To shower," he said. "Lots of things to do today."
What! I thought. We're here to relax!
Sighing, I got out of bed and made it so that I wouldn't be tempted to crawl back in, then decided to see just how many of us were up. I was willing to bet money that Tim and I was the only two crazy to be up. I made my way downstairs, pausing at a bedroom door when I noticed snoring. I remembered that being Chuck's room, so I laughed at the thought of Susan having to stand that assault.
As I suspected, no one was even downstairs. Mad that I even was up on a non-school day, I flopped
on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping channels aimlessly until I hit MTV. Some random video came on, and I began singing softly to it.
Angelica came stumbling down the stairs, yawning as she headed for the kitchen. "Hey Kim," she muttered softly. She stopped and stretched, and I could hear her joints crack. "Why are you up?"
"My boyfriend is insane," I told her. "I could ask you the same question."
"I wanted something to drink. But I'm heading right back to bed. I don't want Phil to wake up and be... lonely." She gave her version of a wicked grin and disappeared into the kitchen.
Deciding that I might as well do some exploring if I had to be up, I went down into the basement. It was full of different games, and had a pool table. I spotted a shelf full of different video game systems, and laughed when I saw an original Nintendo system, with some games. Within five minutes, I had hooked it up to the television down there and was happily playing Super Mario Bros. I was so engrossed in the game that when Tim poked his head down to find out where I was, he startled me. "Oh, sorry," he hastily said, laughing when I pouted because Luigi died. (Yes, I'm aware that Luigi is the 2nd player character, but I like him better, so I just kill Mario fast by letting the little Koopa thing run into him, and then I can play as Luigi!) "So, you ready to go?"
"Where are we going?" I said, jumping up excitedly. I wouldn't mind getting up early if we were going to, say, the beach.
"Actually, it's a surprise! Um, you might want to wear comfortable shoes."
I was a little puzzled by his request, but let it go and went back upstairs. Once I got back to my room, I changed into a set of overalls with a halter top with a swimsuit underneath. I dug out a pair of sandals that had been broken in the previous year. I trotted back downstairs, picturing Tim and I spending the day together, alone. When I got to the kitchen, I grabbed a banana and headed out to the car, where Tim was already sitting impatiently.
"Well, come on!"
I laughed and hopped into the car. "Lead on!"
*****
Five mind-numbing, foot-swelling hours later, I hobbled into the house. Shooting one last angry look at Tim, who continued to look clueless, I went up to Lil, who was on the couch flipping through a magazine. "Um, can I talk to you? Like, now?" I asked her.
"Sure." She threw the magazine down and followed me upstairs. After a moment's hesitation, we went into her bedroom. "Okay, what's wrong, Kim?" she asked, flopping down on the bed.
"He's. Driving. Me. Crazy!" I flung myself across her bed, sighing dramatically.
"Care to explain a little more?" Lil questioned, her eyebrow raised.
"Okay. So, he woke me up all extra early, but it was okay, because we were going to spend time together. But guess where we end up? At a museum. For five hours! We took a tour, sat in on a lecture, and took another tour! And here's the kicker- this was a car museum. I now know more about combustible engines than any girl should know."
"But you agreed to go," Lil said, bewildered.
"See, I thought we were going to the beach, or somewhere else fun. Looking at cars that are older than me is not my idea of fun."
"Man, you're really heated up about this," Lil mused.
"Yeah, I am. I guess it would have been all right, if he had asked. But he just assumed that I would just go along with whatever he had planned."
"And we all know what they say about assuming."
"Yeah, it makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me'. But I don't know. I don't think that Tim would purposely just ignore how I feel. I'm probably just blowing this out of proportion. I need to go talk to him," I declared, standing up.
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Hey, thanks for letting me blow off steam. And why aren't you spending time with your boyfriend?"
"I wanted some time to relax before tonight. Susan told us about this party on the boardwalk, and all of us are going. That includes you and Tim, alright?"
"Okay. Bye." I headed out her room, determined to go straighten things out with my boyfriend.
Chuck:
"Sus, are you ready?"
"In a moment!"
Not a minute later, Susan emerged from the bedroom. She was wearing an emerald swimsuit with a matching cover-up.
Chuck whistled admiringly. "Ooh, I might have to keep you in here, looking that good!"
Susan preened, smiling. "Good to know that my efforts weren't wasted. Is that what you're wearing?"
Chuck looked down at his outfit of a white t-shirt and swim trunks. "Why, what's wrong with it?"
"Nothing! I just thought that you might want to go shirtless."
"And shock everyone with my blindingly white chest?"
"Maybe you can pick up some color," Susan suggested.
"No, I go from white to red and peeling."
Susan shrugged. "Well, okay. Let's go see what everyone else is up to." She started down the steps, but Chuck stopped her.
"What?"
Chuck kissed her softly. She responded ardently before stepping back slightly. "Now now, none of that. Well, at least not yet."
"But later?"
"Oh yeah."
They started down the steps, hand in hand. Everyone except for Phil and Angelica was in the kitchen, eating.
"Hey guys, took you long enough," Tommy commented.
"We were getting ready!" Chuck protested.
"Oh, so that's what they call it now," Joe teased.
Chuck flushed a hot red as Angelica came into the kitchen. "Ooh, I heard that," she said. She went up to Joe. "Welcome to the family."
Phil walked in and came up behind her. "Hey, why'd you leave?"
"Hungry, dude! You should be feeding me."
Without arguing, Phil grabbed a plate and started putting food on it. Dil imitated a whip-cracking sound. Phil flipped him off.
"Aww, thanks for the offer Phil, but I'm already taken. Sorry!"
"Man, Dil, you've gotten razor sharp lately." Angelica commented. "Right on!" She took the full plate of food from Phil. "Okay, see ya'll later."
"Aren't you coming to the party with us?" Lil asked.
"Nope," Phil said simply. He grabbed a fork and followed Angelica back upstairs.
"Okay, that was different," Tommy said. "I'm just glad that they have the furthest bedroom."
Everyone made a face at that thought, then turned their attention back to the food.
****
"This is nice." At the moment, Chuck and Susan were sitting on the beach, looking at the stars.
"Very nice. Babe, let's talk." Susan turned to face Chuck.
"Okay, shoot."
"Well, it's about this summer. There's a summer internship, in Indianapolis, at a hospital. I just received an offer to attend. But I'm still kinda undecided."
"Were you looking for my opinion."
"Not particularly," Susan said, smiling to take the bite out of her words. "Actually, I was wondering if you would maybe want to come with me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's only for six weeks, so you won't be gone the whole summer. It doesn't start until July, so you won't miss graduation."
"Man, you've really thought this through," Chuck mused.
"I have! I was just going to turn it down, but I think it would be a great opportunity. This hospital is known for its teaching programs. But I didn't want to be away from you any more than I had to."
"Same here," Chuck said. He put his arms around Susan and they stretched out on the blanket that they had laid on the sand.
"So, I guess I need to talk to my parents," Chuck said after a while.
"Yeah. I haven't even told mine."
"You haven't?"
"No. My older brothers and sister have been driving my parents crazy, so I'm trying to lay low."
"What are they up to now?" Chuck asked curiously.
"The big news is that Buster's moving back home. My parents already told him that after he graduates from SMU that he would have to get a job. But now he's whining that it's a bad job market, and my parents bought it."
Chuck nodded seriously. They fell silent again, watching the waves crash on the shore.
"Hey," Chuck said suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"You know, if this goes well over the summer, I guess it would be like a test, for the future."
"Are you saying what I think you are?" Susan questioned slowly.
"Um, it's not official," Chuck said hastily. "I mean, but..."
"I know, Chuck. We never talk about the future. But I think we both know what we have here... it's not just a thing."
"Yeah."
"And in the future, which is a long way away, we might want to consider, you know, more." Susan stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay, serious talk over. Ready to head back to the house?"
"Sure. Think everyone else, well, except for Phil and Angelica, are still at the party?"
"Probably."
"So, we'll be kinda alone..."
"That's never stopped us before."
"Shh," Chuck said playfully. He stood up and pulled Susan to her feet. They grabbed the blanket, shook it out to get the sand out, and started back to the house.
Dil:
"Summer lovin', had me a blast!"
"Summer lovin', happened so fast!"
"Met a girl, crazy for me!" All of the guys, well, almost all of them, sang.
"Met a boy, cute as can be," the girls, with Dil and Joe, answered.
They sang the whole song, applauding when Dil hit the note that Olivia Newton-John did.
"Didn't know you had it in you," Joe whispered to Dil after the song was over.
Dil shrugged. "I like to sing. Just, you know, not in public."
"And this isn't public?"
"I'm with family, friends, and people I'll never see again. Yeah, this is cool."
"Okay. Well, wanna dance?"
Dil froze. "I can't dance! Crutches here!"
"C'mon! It's a slow song. I'll hold you up. And I wanna dance with my baby."
"Ooh, quoting Madonna at me! How could I resist?"
The two got up and walked a little away from the crowd. Joe set Dil's crutches down on the ground as Dil balanced on one leg. "Okay, you gonna lead?" Dil asked.
"Well, you're taller. But if you want me to..." Joe stepped up to Dil and placed his hands on Dil's waist. "Know where your hands go?" Then he saw the expression on Dil's face. "Okay, never mind! Smart ass."
Dil tried to wipe the smirk off of his face and failed. "Aw, you know you love me."
"Yeah, I do, Dillon," Joe said, suddenly serious.
"I love you, Joseph. Now, may I have this dance?"
They swayed together for about four songs before Dil dipped his head and captured Joe's lips with his own. For long moments, they stood there, intertwined in each other. Finally, Joe pulled back. "We gotta stop," he said, panting slightly.
"Don't wanna," Dil moaned, nipping Joe's ear.
"We have to, or I won't wanna stop!"
"Not seeing the problem here." Dil switched his attention to the other ear.
"Look," Joe reached over and grabbed Dil's crutches. "We need to talk about this." He handed the crutches to Dil.
Dil, realizing that Joe was serious, sighed and walked over to a nearby bench. "Hey, what's up?"
"I know that we haven't really discussed this, but... about us, being, um, intimate, I don't think that it's time yet."
"Well, yeah. We've only been dating for four months. But I don't wanna wait," Dil admitted.
"Neither do I. But, I think it would be better if we could wait until you turn seventeen, so there won't be any question of age of consent or something."
"Wait a minute." Dil counted on his fingers. "That's seven months away!"
"Yeah."
"So you're saying that I'm cut off?"
"When were you cut on?"
Dil waved his hand around frantically. "That's not the point! Well, wait a minute. I'm going to be blunt."
"Okay," Joe said cautiously.
"We're still gonna kiss?"
"Of course!"
"How about touching?"
"Some, not all. Do we need the Good Touch, Bad Touch speech?"
"Will it come with demos?"
"Um, no."
"Damn!" Dil snapped his fingers. "I was gonna pay attention to that." Then he sobered up. "Okay, October. On my birthday."
"On that day?"
"The only present I want."
"All right." Joe gave Dil another kiss and said, "Aren't you glad we had this talk?"
"I still think I could use some demos of what kind of touches are bad, but yeah, I think it went well."
Joe sighed. "And I put up with you because..."
"You need someone who can live up to your snark level."
"Good enough."
Tommy came up to them. "Guys, we're heading back to the house. They're getting a little out of control here, and I really don't want to spend my vacation in jail."
"Right behind you," Dil said. He and Joe stood up and followed Tommy to where Lil, Kim, and Tim were all standing.
"So, is anyone," Tommy coughed, "not able to drive home?"
Tim reluctantly raised his hand, earning a dirty look from Kim. Lil put her hand up too.
"Lil, you were drinking?" Dil asked.
"Yeah, they had this punch. Really, really good! You should have some, Dil."
"That's okay. I heard that alcohol and crutches don't mix."
"Joe, did you want to drive?" Tommy waited for Joe's nod and tossed him the keys. "Great! I'm sitting with my girl, making sure she doesn't climb out the window."
"I wouldn't do that!" Lil protested. "That would be silly." She collapsed into a fit of giggles. "Silly silly silly, Billy!"
"Um, alright!" Dil walked over to the SUV and climbed into his usual spot. Everyone followed and got in.
The ride back to the house was uneventful, unless you count Lil's singing "Up Against the Wall" over and over, and Tim and Kim's argument in the back seat, which consisted of Kim's heated whispers and Tim saying over and over "What did I do?"
When they arrived at the house, everyone started climbing out, and Joe put out a hand to stop Dil. He waited for everyone to go into the house before he started talking. "Hey, I didn't mean to be all parental back there."
"You weren't. It's true that we don't need to jump into anything, and I am young. Sorta."
"Well, and the rules will probably change again by the time that October rolls around. Maybe we can... refine some of the things."
"Refining is good," Dil agreed.
"Okay. Now, let's enter the House of Love."
"House of Love? How do you figure?"
"Look, Phil and Angelica haven't left since we got here, and you notice that the other SUV is already at the house, meaning that Chuck and Susan are already here. Hence, House of Love."
"That's better than the name I had for it," Dil said casually.
"Which would be..."
Dil leaned over and whispered something into Joe's ear, finishing it with a lick to his earlobe. Joe sat still for about a minute before exclaiming weakly, "Hey!"
"You never said anything about licking," Dil said innocently. Then he saw the look on Joe's face and laughed aloud before grabbing his crutches and speeding as fast as he could to the door.
Phil:
"Okay. So, this week, we hung out on the beach?"
"No, we can't use that one, because we're as pale as when we got here."
"Okay." I scratched that one off my list. "Went to an amusement park?"
"No souvenirs. And the whole outside thing," Angelica pointed out.
"Toured museums?"
We looked at each other and said, "Nah." Angelica added, "Like they would believe that, anyway."
"Oh, I got it. We did the same thing that we do at home on vacation. Laid around and watched TV, played video games..."
"I read a book or two," Angelica said, getting more excited.
"And we went out at night, which wouldn't tan us, and it's why we slept in all day."
"Great! I didn't think we'd ever find something to tell our parents." Angelica finished putting her clothes back into her suitcases. "Okay, I knew I over packed!"
"You should've done like me."
"Yeah, because only packing two sets of clothes is so me."
I sat back on the bed. "So, you're out of school for the year when, again?"
"May 15. So, the week before your prom."
"Are you going to come with me?"
"Yeah, I am. I need to improve your rep."
"Because being the most popular guy in school is so bad for me."
Lil poked her head in the doorway. "Are you two done yet? We're leaving in a half hour!"
"I've been finished," I said smugly. "I'm just waiting on my girlfriend here."
"Phil, I swear, if you didn't know that trick with your tongue..."
"Okay, way too much information. Leaving now. Hurry up!" Lil exited, her face as red as a beet.
"Oh, that was dirty." I felt sorry for my sister for all of a second, then asked Angelica, "So, you really like the thing with the tongue?"
"You betcha! Man, I thought my toes were permanently curled!"
"I'm the man, I'm the man!" I strutted around the room. Angelica hurled a pillow at me.
"Be the man later. Could you help me take these downstairs?"
"Sure thing." I hefted the two suitcases, along with my backpack, and started to exit the room.
"Oh wait! There's something I forgot." Angelica went over to the door and closed it. "Now. I had a great time, Phil."
"Me too, Angie."
"I love you."
"I love you!"
She kissed me sweetly, and then opened the door. "See, I had to do that now, because at the airport, I plan to sock you in the arm and say, 'hang in there, kid' in a deep voice."
"And I'll say... oh, screw it. You got the best line." I started down the steps carefully, and made it outside to where we were loading up the SUV's. We would return them to the rental place first, then take the shuttle to the airport.
"So, did someone do a final sweep, to make sure we didn't forget anything?" Lil asked.
"I did!" Susan said. "Everything is neat, and there was no incriminating evidence left."
"Good deal. Let's roll!"
We piled into the two SUV's and drove off. Tim, Tommy, Chuck and I ended up in one SUV. "So, Phil, did you even know that we were on a beach this week?" Tommy teased me.
"Screw you man. Just because I'm the daddy mack doesn't mean that you have to hate on me."
"Okay, Phil, didn't we tell you that you couldn't read "Getto Rap for Dummies" anymore?" Chuck asked.
"Tim, if you have something to add, do it now, before I put my headphones on." I started digging through my backpack.
"Hey man, I got nothing." Tim's tone made me look up.
"You okay, Tim?" I asked.
"Yeah."
I shrugged mentally and found what I was looking for in my backpack. I slipped the headphones on and relaxed as the soothing sounds of Korn came on.
Tommy:
We got everything taken care of with plenty of time, and ended up at the airport with an hour to kill before anyone's plane was scheduled to take off. Tim, Angelica, and Susan were flying straight back to school from here.
"Okay, so, what should we do?" I asked, as we wandered around the airport."
"Let's go to the lounge." Chuck suggested.
"Don't you have to be 21?" Dil asked.
"Nope. It's not a bar. It's just a place that you can sit and kill time before you fly."
Trusting that Chuck knew what he was talking about, we followed him to this dimly lit place that was deserted. We went in and sat on the old leather couches. For a while, we sat in silence, not really knowing what we should say.
"Um, okay. I just wanna say that this was a great week." Phil said suddenly.
"Yeah, it was. Just hanging with my friends and family. I couldn't ask for more." Lil mused.
"This was just the spring break I pictured when I pictured us having one together," I said.
"So, everyone agrees that this was the coolest thing we could have done?" Chuck asked.
Everyone nodded.
"I have something to say," I said. "Um, I'm really glad that you guys are my friends."
"We're glad too! Let's jump on Tommy!" Kim leapt up and tackled me, knocking the wind out of me.
"Um, let's not. He's too frail and he bruises." Lil said dismissively.
"Gee thanks honey," I said sarcastically.
"Um, so, when's the next time we'll be together?" Dil asked.
"Probably prom time." Susan said. "I know I'm out for the year right before then."
"So, we're all going, right?" Phil asked. "I know Angie and I are."
"Yeah, I guess." Joe looked at Dil. "You'll be out of the cast by then, right?"
"Yeah I will."
"So, we'll all go, and have a great time!" Phil said enthusiastically. As he started to say more, he was interrupted by the intercom.
"Flight 150, Orlando to Indianapolis, now boarding."
"That's me!" Susan stood up. "See you guys." She hugged everyone and then left, with Chuck following her.
"Who's next?" I asked.
"Probably mine," Tim said. "Since I have that cross-country flight and all."
Sure enough, his was the next one called. He got up, said bye and walked out. Everyone looked at Kim, who was still sitting on the couch, staring at her nails.
"Um, Kim, you're not going to go see your boyfriend off?" Lil asked.
"We already said our goodbyes earlier." she answered shortly.
We didn't say anything else as Chuck came back into the room. He glanced at his sister, but Lil made a subtle cutting motion, which Chuck picked up and just sat back down quietly.
"Flight 504, Orlando to Silver Heights, now boarding."
"Oh, that's us!" Kim leapt up. She hugged Angelica quickly and ran to the gate.
We watched as Angelica said to Phil, "Hang in there, kid," and then punched him in the arm. Phil said, "You too, little lady," and chucked her on the chin.
"God, can't you too just say good-bye like normal people?" Lil protested.
"Where's the fun in that? Okay, bye guys, see you next month." Angelica walked us to the gate and watched as we all boarded. We waved to her as we started taxiing.
The flight going home was pretty much the same as the one coming. There was more people on board, so we were quieter. The in-flight movie was the same, so we fell asleep and didn't wake up until the captain told us to fasten our seatbelts.
As we exited the plane, we saw our parents standing there. My mom came up and hugged me hard. "Tommy! We missed you guys so much!"
"Okay, um, great," I gasped. "Mom, I need air."
She let go after a final squeeze. "So, did you have fun? Did Dil do okay?"
"We'll tell you all about it on the way home. Hi, Dad."
"Hey champ." He ruffled my hair. "Ready to go?"
"Sure thing." I went over to Lil, who was telling her father about some of the things that had happened. "Lilly, can I ask you something?"
"'Kay. Dad, I'll be right back." She stepped away from her father and said, "Shoot."
"You guys going straight home?"
"Probably."
"Okay, I'll talk to you later."
"Good deal."
I walked back over to my family and said, "Let's roll!"
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Again, thanks for your patience. When writer's block hits me, it really hits. So, chapter 7 is all about the prom! And the special thank you will be then. Until next time!