A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews again. We're back at it again with Chapter 17. Enjoy!
17.
There it was, a sign reading "Welcome to Los Angeles, California: City of Angels." The guys were grinning as they approached their final destination. Louis and Twitty exchanged a high five and Tom, who held up his hand, was left hanging, as usual when he went for the high five and not the handshake. "We're here, Dude," Twitty said clenching his fist in anticipation. They had arrived.
"Yeah, man, we're here!" Louis exclaimed.
"What shall we do first, home-brothers?" Tom asked.
Louis and Twitty each raised an eyebrow to Tom and Louis said, "We're gonna cruise, man. Maybe get some chicks. But we'll probably get some hot food first. Besides, I'm tired of being in a car all day with you guys!" Twitty smacked Louis as they turned off the interstate and looked for a place to get some grub. After replenishing their systems, the guys made a break for the hotel.
Once checked in, Louis made a leap for the bed. "Ohh! This feels so good," he said. "Let's get some room service in here!!"
"Um, dude, I don't think there's gonna be any room service here. It's a drive-by-night hotel on the outskirts of Los Angeles."
"Oh. Well, then . . ."
Louis never did finish that statement. The guys were so excited to get to Los Angeles that when they finally got there they realized that they didn't even know what they wanted to do. Certainly there was more to do in Los Angeles than there was in Sacramento, wasn't there? Then Tom spoke up, "I say we check out the geology museum! What do you think about that?"
Louis and Twitty frowned and Louis said, "Hmm, I suppose that could be a possibility, but how about the beach?!" They were all in agreement and the guys quickly changed into more appropriate "beach gear." Twitty was in his swim trunks and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. Tom was in his sneakers and more casual plaid shirt. Louis had kept his Hawaiian shirt on, grabbed his own swim trunks and put his shades on. He was ready to hit the beach and the beach chicks as he put it. The gang quickly piled back into the car again and were off to try and find a beach. Any beach.
They came up to one with a big sign which read, "The Sunny Side" and they pulled in. Twitty unfastened his surf board which he attached to the top of the car and made a run for the waves. He ripped off his shirt and laid belly-down on his board as he caught a wave. Tom was busy applying far too much sun block and Louis was already out strutting his stuff. He was there to check out some girls. Louis was getting into a very elaborate strut. It was so elaborate and Louis' body was moving so much that a girl about Louis' age came by and said, "Excuse me, sir, are you OK? Your body was moving so unorthodox that I thought there was there something wrong."
Louis was quite embarassed. He took off his sunglasses and said, "No, I'm fine. Just re-adjusting to life on land I guess." Louis took a seat on the beach and took a look at the scenery. Twitty was out on the ocean and surfing quite well. Tom was swatting at flies and Louis realized he was having a crappy time so far. Then Tom walked over and said, "Why the long face, Louis?"
"It's nothing."
"Come on, Louis."
Louis slowly took off his sunglasses and started talking. "Well, I'm not really sure what's going on."
"What do you mean? We're here in Los Angeles and Twitty is out there on the waves and you and I are here chatting on this beach. What do you mean you're not really sure what's going on?"
Louis sighed and said, "I mean, we're more than halfway through the summer now and everybody's gonna be off at college soon. You're going to Harvard and Twitty's going to UCLA I think. Tawny's probably gonna be at some art school and I don't know what I'm gonna do. Part of me kind of wants to go to college but the rest of me, most of me, really wants to play pranks and just have fun. I'm not sure I really want to join the working world. I mean, I don't think my dad lost his magnificent head of hair because he was having fun."
"I see what you mean, Louis. It sounds like you're having doubts about your own self-worth and you're busy comparing yourself with your peers and perhaps your own family and you are overwhelmed by the extravagant expectations, especially being a Stevens, I mean if my father was a fantastic lawyer and my mother was a distinguished state senator and my beautiful sister was as brilliant as Ren and my brother was as . . ."
"Tom!!" Louis screamed, cutting Tom off. "This isn't therapy! I start talking a little bit and suddenly you're psycho-analyzing me or something. That's creepy. You see, this is exactly why I don't talk to you about this stuff. At least Tawny would never overact like you, or me for that matter!" By this point Louis was extremely upset and Tom was trying to calm him down.
Then Twitty came running towards them dripping wet with his surf board under his arm. "Hey guys. What's wrong? I could hear you screaming all the way over there," he said pointing out into the distance. "What's going on?"
Tom put his hand on Louis' shoulder and said, "Our beloved companion is having thoughts of self-doubt."
Louis slapped Tom's hand and said, "I am not. For crying out loud, this is ridiculous. That's it!! I'm going back to the hotel. I'm leaving!" Louis screamed throwing his arms in the air going towards the car.
Twitty and Tom got panicked expressions on their faces and said, "Wait! You can't do that! You're our ride!"
