15.
Louis had actually adjusted to his job in the law firm's mailroom quite well. Once he stopped tripping over his own feet and started calling his manager by his actual name Mr. Drango, and not Mr. Dingo, he actually earned his boss's respect a little bit. True, Louis was the youngest person in the mailroom, but he was earning about $6.00 per hour, so he was happy. His dad told him that if Louis worked there for 6 weeks straight without getting fired or anything drastic like that, or earned $1000, he'd see to it that Louis got a week off to go on a trip with his friends. And once Louis learned this refreshing news he jumped up and down, screamed imitating a girl and covered his lips with his fingertips, also imitating a girl. He started hugging his dad over and over and Steve had to settle Louis down because he still had to complete the minimum six weeks. But Louis was too excited to keep the news to himself. He had to call Twitty up and tell him the great news.
"So, man, is it just gonna be you and me then or something?"
"Oh, we can invite Tom if he wants to come, too."
"What about Tawny?"
Louis thought for a second. "Hmm, I don't know if my parents will go for that what with this being an overnight trip deal and her being a girl with us guys. . ."
"Yeah, you have a point. Anyway, I'll call Tom."
"Cool. Later."
"Bye."
Later on, Tom got the news and they decided on a time to take their actual trip and where they were actually going. They didn't know if they wanted to stay in-state or go a little out. Florida was much too far. Las Vegas offered a little too much for Steve and Eileen Stevens to allow their son to go. San Francisco was too close. Seattle had too much rain. Los Angeles was too big. However, since no verdict could be reached, the Stevens' caved in and said that Los Angeles was OK. After all, Louis would be 18 by then and Tom and Twitty were already 18. They figured they could be trusted. Then Louis got a phone call from Tawny.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Louis."
"Oh, hey there Tawny. What's up?"
"Not much. I just heard that you guys are going on a little senior trip."
"Um, yeah, kinda."
Tawny wasn't really getting through to him. She knew the guys were going on a trip and they hadn't asked her. "Louis, I know about the trip. Thanks for not inviting me."
Louis was really taken aback. "Wait, wait. That's not it. That's not it at all." Louis could literally hear Tawny's eyes rolling. "Listen, Tawny, it's not that I, or we didn't want you to come along or anything like that."
"Look, Louis, if your parents didn't think it would be a good idea for a girl to come overnight with you guys I'd totally understand."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Listen, I'm pretty busy this summer anyway. I'm working almost full-time at the coffee shop and volunteering at the art gallery. I'm also in a summer theater group with Corey, and we're doing stuff together and I'm taking care of stuff for college in the fall. That's something that you might want to think about too."
"Yeah, maybe. But you're not upset? I mean, we still have time this summer to hang out before we go and after we get back."
"Sure."
"Alright. Great."
"Bye, Louis."
"Bye."
So, as the weeks passed by, the gang got ready for their big trip. Louis was getting used to his job in the mailroom and had saved up enough for him to go on the trip. Twitty had long gotten over Amy and was back to normal. Tom stayed home and helped his mom around the house a lot. Tawny and Corey were still together and were having a good time between working together and their social time together. One evening when Louis was hanging out at the mall after work, he was walking out of the video arcade and he got greeted by something very rude. He had no more than taken three steps when he got hit with an old-fashioned water balloon. Louis was dripping and started looking around to see who might have done that. If Louis didn't know better he would have thought that the perpetrator was Larry Beale. But Larry would have been stupid enough to be nearby laughing so Louis could see him. However, Larry was nowhere to be seen. Even though Larry wasn't around, Corey was. He was snickering away with a few of his friends. Louis stared at the group. Then they all looked in different directions and started whistling, signaling their obvious guilt. But Louis didn't get too mad. He could dish it out and he could take it as well. Louis Stevens was one who could really appreciate a good prank. Then Corey himself started walking in Louis' direction. "Hey there, runt."
"What?"
Corey bent down so he was eye-to-eye with Louis and in a mocking sort of voice said, "Aww, what's the matter? Is somebody a little hard of hearing? I called you a runt. Do you know what a runt is? Or do we need a picture?? Hmm?"
Louis' fists were clenched, but he didn't budge. Louis wasn't necessarily a pacifist, but even with his anger to aid his aggression, Corey Richmond would have seriously pounded him. "No, Corey. I know what it is. I don't need any help," Louis said very tense, but calmly. Then Corey rubbed his hand across Louis' scalp messing up his wet hair further. Louis was not amused. He could take a joke or a prank with the best of them. But this guy was just plain mean. Then Corey walked away laughing and was pointing back at Louis for his friends to see.
Louis started walking away. He wanted to get the creep off his mind. Then he saw Tawny walking up. She was coming out of a bookstore. "Hi, Louis," she said.
"Hey."
She put her hand on his shoulder as a friendly gesture, "What happened to you?" referring to Louis' wet state.
Not wanting to tell Tawny that her boyfriend was a jerk he said, "Oh, just stood under the sprinkler again I guess."
She gave a half-grin and said, "Well, I hope you get dry. You don't want to get sick when you go on your big trip."
"Nope. Well, I guess I'll seeya later, Tawny."
"Bye, Louis. Have a good trip if I don't see you!"
"Thanks. Bye," Louis said. He was thinking, Man, I can't wait to get outta here, especially after this. However, that was not the end for Louis and his run-in with Corey. He walked out to the parking lot to get his car, except a little present was left there for him. The whole body of Louis' Nova was covered in cream and toilet paper. Louis thought, Hm, at least he left some whipped cream. Louis then took his finger, wiped it across his windshield and took a taste. He had a pained expression on his face because the cream was not actually whipped cream, but shaving cream. Louis was spitting out the cream and coughing. In the background Louis could hear someone laughing. Yep, it was Corey.
Across the parking lot there was a group of people coming out and there was laughter going on. "What's so funny?" Tawny asked.
"Oh, I was just thinking of a joke," he replied, when he was thinking of the trick he played on Louis. Then he elbowed one of his buddies and said quietly so Tawny couldn't hear, "What a loser. The guy thinks he's Mr. Funny Pants when he plays a few lame pranks at graduation. Who's getting the last laugh now?" He felt pretty confident of himself. However, at the other end of the lot there was a guy, still a little wet, standing next to a much-loved Chevy Nova that was not amused at the recent turn of events. Louis Stevens drove home that day with a rare scowl on his face.
