When Daria and Trent returned with Jesse in tow, Jane had quite a
pile of stuff on the Lane front lawn. Daria looked at all the crap they
had in the car now- between Jesse's stuff, her stuff, and the food they
bought- there was no way it was going to all fit inside the trunk. Jane
apparently came to the same conclusion when they started to get out of the
car with all their things.
"Okay. We can do this. Crap in the trunk, and blankets in the back. It'll just be," she winked at Daria, "'cozy' for whoever's sitting in the back."
After a painstakingly slow process of shoving everything into Trent's midget sized vehicle, the foursome was on their way; Trent and Daria up front, and Jane and Jesse in the back, looking extremely 'comfortable'. After they had been driving for about two hours, Trent pulled over to the side of the road.
"Jesse, man. Your shift. I'm gonna run us off the road pretty soon. And you know where we're going- right?"
"Uh, yeah." They began to switch places. Jane sat up.
"C'mon, Daria- we're switching, too. There's no way I'm gonna rely on your verbal skills to keep Jesse awake at the wheel." Daria glared at Jane as she reluctantly switched spots with her.
There were so many blankets and other soft objects crammed in the back seat with them that Daria was smashed completely up against Trent- bodies touching from shoulder to ankle. Daria went tense, and her cheeks broke out in that pesky rash yet again. Trent yawned and tapped Jesse on the shoulder. "Yo man, how long till we're there?"
"Uh, a while?"
"Right," he managed to rumble, before he was completely passed out; head resting on one of the sleeping bags rolled up on his left side.
Jane grinned back at Daria. "I know he looks bony, but he can be a really great pillow."
"Shut up, Jane." Daria replied, cheeks still flushed, arms crossed. She leaned her head on the pile of soft fluffy stuff to her right and closed her eyes, hoping she could just ignore the fact that she was so close to Trent. She found this to be extremely difficult to do, especially when he fidgeted and moved around in his sleep. After fifteen minutes of excessive discomfort mixed with joy and overwhelming sensory excitement, Daria had reason to believe she would never fall asleep. Trent rolled towards her in his sleep, resting his head in the crook of her neck. She tried to stir to the point of waking him, so he wouldn't be embarrassed when he did wake up, but only succeeded in making him shift further into her neck to the point that his lips were partly against her skin, his warm breath on her throat. "Oh god," she thought, then squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep from shuddering whenever he exhaled.
***********************************
Trent had that weird dream about Daria again. It was weird enough to be dreaming about his kid sister's best friend, but she always acted so weird in the dream. Not to mention the fact that there were two of her. The first Daria looked like she always looked, but acted more like her annoying sister. She would demand that they go to some place called Chez Pierre, and then ask repeatedly whether or not he thought she was cute. The other Daria would never actually speak to him; she just stood at a distance, watching him with the other Daria while crying silently. He always felt like he needed to just shove the annoying Daria out of the way and comfort crying Daria, but whenever he tried, annoying Daria would start trying to pull him the other direction, and crying Daria would just turn away and start shrinking. But not this time. This time he managed to break free of annoying Daria's grasp by telling her that the pimple on her forehead made her look extremely un-cute. He ran to crying Daria, grabbing her shoulders from the back, and managed to pull her back up to normal size. When he turned her around, she was still silently crying, but there was such an expression of fear and surprise on her face that he gasped and let go of her. Suddenly all her clothes were gone and she tried desperately to cover herself up, quickly sitting down and curling up into a ball to hide her shame as silent sobs shook her body.
Before Trent had a chance to tell her it was okay, that she didn't have to be ashamed, the car stopped and he heard Janey trying to wake him up. His face was pressed up to something soft and warm, and when he opened his eyes, only one of them could see; the other was pressed shut. It took him moment or two to come out of his sleep haze and realize that his face was pressed into Daria's neck.
"Yo, you up Trent?"
He quickly pulled his head up from its resting place. "Yeah, I'm up." He turned to look at Daria, who was now looking at him. "Uh, sorry- I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that."
"That's ok. It was like wearing a slightly fleshy scarf."
Trent smiled and scratched his head, feeling embarrassed- though he didn't know why. That dream creeped him out. It was like it was supposed to mean something, but he didn't know what. "Yeah." He turned to the door as Jesse opened it, trying to catch the blankets that spilled out. He had driven them to a really cool camping site, actually. It was a large clearing, with woods on all sides except where the road came in and led to the lake. There was plenty of room for tents between the trees, though, and nearby a picnic table and a fire pit with a grill over it with an old pile of firewood nearby. "This could actually be okay," he thought to himself, then climbed out of the car to help unload.
Digging the tents out of the back, Jane threw the Lane tent to Trent- she and Daria would take the nice one Daria had found in her basement. As complex as tents could be they found it surprisingly easy to set up, which was a good thing- seeing as how it was already getting pretty dark. They threw half of the sleeping bags and blankets into it, then dedicated themselves to starting a fire; it was getting unpleasantly chilly.
Both Daria and Jane had nicely toasted hot dogs on sticks when the boys finally reappeared, looking frustrated and tired.
"That tent sucks." Trent said, then went to the car and pulled a sweatshirt out of the backseat.
"Yeah. It was already missing a pole, and then we accidentally poked a hole in it with one of the tent spikes." Jesse had already begun to stick a hotdog of his own in the fire while he explained. Trent joined them, and they feasted on hot dogs and marshmallows while it got darker.
"I guess me and Jesse'll just sleep out here next to the fire. Should be okay."
"You guys could squish into the tent with us, I'm sure we could manage," Jane said through a mouthful of burnt marshmallow, winking at Daria.
"Nah, that's alright. We'll be fine." Trent had noticed Jesse warming up to Jane's incessant invitations, and didn't feel like encouraging that behavior. "Right, Jesse?"
"Uh, yeah, man. It'll be cool."
"Yes, it will be," Daria said, shivering. It was a lot colder than any of them had expected, and Daria was ready to go climb under all those blankets in the tent. She looked at the fire, then at Jane. "Though I dread leaving this stimulating conversation, I'm gonna go try and catch some shut eye."
"I'm with you, amiga. I'm freezing my ass off out here."
Jesse looked at Trent with scorn, thinking of how cold they were gonna be out here.
"Okay. We can do this. Crap in the trunk, and blankets in the back. It'll just be," she winked at Daria, "'cozy' for whoever's sitting in the back."
After a painstakingly slow process of shoving everything into Trent's midget sized vehicle, the foursome was on their way; Trent and Daria up front, and Jane and Jesse in the back, looking extremely 'comfortable'. After they had been driving for about two hours, Trent pulled over to the side of the road.
"Jesse, man. Your shift. I'm gonna run us off the road pretty soon. And you know where we're going- right?"
"Uh, yeah." They began to switch places. Jane sat up.
"C'mon, Daria- we're switching, too. There's no way I'm gonna rely on your verbal skills to keep Jesse awake at the wheel." Daria glared at Jane as she reluctantly switched spots with her.
There were so many blankets and other soft objects crammed in the back seat with them that Daria was smashed completely up against Trent- bodies touching from shoulder to ankle. Daria went tense, and her cheeks broke out in that pesky rash yet again. Trent yawned and tapped Jesse on the shoulder. "Yo man, how long till we're there?"
"Uh, a while?"
"Right," he managed to rumble, before he was completely passed out; head resting on one of the sleeping bags rolled up on his left side.
Jane grinned back at Daria. "I know he looks bony, but he can be a really great pillow."
"Shut up, Jane." Daria replied, cheeks still flushed, arms crossed. She leaned her head on the pile of soft fluffy stuff to her right and closed her eyes, hoping she could just ignore the fact that she was so close to Trent. She found this to be extremely difficult to do, especially when he fidgeted and moved around in his sleep. After fifteen minutes of excessive discomfort mixed with joy and overwhelming sensory excitement, Daria had reason to believe she would never fall asleep. Trent rolled towards her in his sleep, resting his head in the crook of her neck. She tried to stir to the point of waking him, so he wouldn't be embarrassed when he did wake up, but only succeeded in making him shift further into her neck to the point that his lips were partly against her skin, his warm breath on her throat. "Oh god," she thought, then squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep from shuddering whenever he exhaled.
***********************************
Trent had that weird dream about Daria again. It was weird enough to be dreaming about his kid sister's best friend, but she always acted so weird in the dream. Not to mention the fact that there were two of her. The first Daria looked like she always looked, but acted more like her annoying sister. She would demand that they go to some place called Chez Pierre, and then ask repeatedly whether or not he thought she was cute. The other Daria would never actually speak to him; she just stood at a distance, watching him with the other Daria while crying silently. He always felt like he needed to just shove the annoying Daria out of the way and comfort crying Daria, but whenever he tried, annoying Daria would start trying to pull him the other direction, and crying Daria would just turn away and start shrinking. But not this time. This time he managed to break free of annoying Daria's grasp by telling her that the pimple on her forehead made her look extremely un-cute. He ran to crying Daria, grabbing her shoulders from the back, and managed to pull her back up to normal size. When he turned her around, she was still silently crying, but there was such an expression of fear and surprise on her face that he gasped and let go of her. Suddenly all her clothes were gone and she tried desperately to cover herself up, quickly sitting down and curling up into a ball to hide her shame as silent sobs shook her body.
Before Trent had a chance to tell her it was okay, that she didn't have to be ashamed, the car stopped and he heard Janey trying to wake him up. His face was pressed up to something soft and warm, and when he opened his eyes, only one of them could see; the other was pressed shut. It took him moment or two to come out of his sleep haze and realize that his face was pressed into Daria's neck.
"Yo, you up Trent?"
He quickly pulled his head up from its resting place. "Yeah, I'm up." He turned to look at Daria, who was now looking at him. "Uh, sorry- I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that."
"That's ok. It was like wearing a slightly fleshy scarf."
Trent smiled and scratched his head, feeling embarrassed- though he didn't know why. That dream creeped him out. It was like it was supposed to mean something, but he didn't know what. "Yeah." He turned to the door as Jesse opened it, trying to catch the blankets that spilled out. He had driven them to a really cool camping site, actually. It was a large clearing, with woods on all sides except where the road came in and led to the lake. There was plenty of room for tents between the trees, though, and nearby a picnic table and a fire pit with a grill over it with an old pile of firewood nearby. "This could actually be okay," he thought to himself, then climbed out of the car to help unload.
Digging the tents out of the back, Jane threw the Lane tent to Trent- she and Daria would take the nice one Daria had found in her basement. As complex as tents could be they found it surprisingly easy to set up, which was a good thing- seeing as how it was already getting pretty dark. They threw half of the sleeping bags and blankets into it, then dedicated themselves to starting a fire; it was getting unpleasantly chilly.
Both Daria and Jane had nicely toasted hot dogs on sticks when the boys finally reappeared, looking frustrated and tired.
"That tent sucks." Trent said, then went to the car and pulled a sweatshirt out of the backseat.
"Yeah. It was already missing a pole, and then we accidentally poked a hole in it with one of the tent spikes." Jesse had already begun to stick a hotdog of his own in the fire while he explained. Trent joined them, and they feasted on hot dogs and marshmallows while it got darker.
"I guess me and Jesse'll just sleep out here next to the fire. Should be okay."
"You guys could squish into the tent with us, I'm sure we could manage," Jane said through a mouthful of burnt marshmallow, winking at Daria.
"Nah, that's alright. We'll be fine." Trent had noticed Jesse warming up to Jane's incessant invitations, and didn't feel like encouraging that behavior. "Right, Jesse?"
"Uh, yeah, man. It'll be cool."
"Yes, it will be," Daria said, shivering. It was a lot colder than any of them had expected, and Daria was ready to go climb under all those blankets in the tent. She looked at the fire, then at Jane. "Though I dread leaving this stimulating conversation, I'm gonna go try and catch some shut eye."
"I'm with you, amiga. I'm freezing my ass off out here."
Jesse looked at Trent with scorn, thinking of how cold they were gonna be out here.