Never let an Eoraptor drive your vehicle. That's something you need to learn in writing. Not from experience. It's much worse than what it seems, believe me. You do not want an Eoraptor driving your car, and much less one that has no common sense.

Larry was doing some crazy tight turns. I was worried that one of those turns the TIV would literally go spinning out of control or something. Somehow, he managed to keep us stable. Well, as stable as you can get going at 60 miles per hours on sharp corners and sudden stops.

We over a bridge and as you can assume, Larry's handling of the road made us plunge front-end into the creek below. I stared at the waterline out the passenger window. "Well, this another fine mess you've gotten us into."

Almost immediately, several police cars appeared. They came out of nowhere and surrounded the bridge. Their sirens were blazing and the lights reflected on the water and the underside of the bridge. When they came to a stop, the deafening sirens were replaced by shouting officers.

"Here! It's over here!"

"Quick! Search for the King!"

"Clear the area! Set up roadblocks!"

"Bring the choppers and the paramedics!"

I climbed all the way to the back of TIV and opened the trunk door from the inside. "We're fine!"

"Are you okay, sir?" said a policeman who was already in the water.

"Yes, we're fine."

"What was it? An attack? A terrorist?"

"No, just some lunatic so-called friend who forcefully took over the wheel."

His face suddenly changed to one of Oh, is that all?! He didn't say it, but I know how to read expressions. "All right. Brink the chopper in. We need to get this thing back on the road."

I closed the door and pushed Larry out of the driver seat. "Let me handle this, okay?"

"That's sure to get us killed."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

We heard the sound of the chopper's blades pounding on the ceiling. Then a metal clank. Pretty soon, we felt the sensation that you get when you start to go up an elevator. The waterline went down then disappeared from the windows. Water dripped and splashed from underneath us.

Our heads and jaws jarred when they dropped TIV back on the familiar, two-lane cement path. And just like that, all the choppers and the police cars disappeared. "Well, let's just get this whole thing over with."

We drove into the town of Neolaía. It's a suburb of Amarkia. I know I haven't mentioned it before, but it's where the school is and where Arnold's is also. It's the closes populated community to the Palace.

Anyways, we drove through some residential areas before reaching the small downtown area. After parking in front of the beauty parlor, Larry and I stepped inside. There was Lilia already being attended by the manicurist. Or should I say pedicurist?

She seemed surprised to see me. "Hi, Spiny. What are you doing here?"

"Well I got your message and, wait! Darla? What are you doing here?" She was also getting a pedicure. She also was stunned to see me. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. What are you doing here?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm waiting in line for my turn to face the firing squad."

"Really? What are you in for? They got me on federal theft," Larry answered.

"I'm getting a pedicure, that's what I'm doing!" Darla shouted.

"Oh, sorry. I just never thought you would ever come to a salon. I just thought that…"

"Listen, Spiny. One more word out of you and I'm going to break your nose!"

All right, all right! Geesh! Cool off, will you?

"Please, by all means. Go ahead and do it," said Larry. I glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he replied.

"By the way," Lilia said. "What are you doing here?"

"I got your message a while ago," I explained.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I haven't texted you all day."

What? Come on, don't give me that. I pulled out my phone and showed her my most recent text from her. "See? You told me to meet you here."

"Oh, I know! I sent that message to you by accident."

"What?"

"That was meant for Darla. When I realized I sent it to you, I just forwarded to her. I didn't think you'd…I mean I was sure you would…"

Nobody said anything. It was like a staring contest. Then Larry blurted out, "Well, apparently, Spiny is stupid enough to have believed it and not stop to think that she may have sent by mistake."

There's a time and place for everything. And here was not the time nor the place to try to beat the fool out of Larry.

"O-kay. In that case…I'll just slip out of here and we'll forget the whole thing." I crashed through the front door and we drove back home. By now it was late afternoon and we were bringing all the gear and stuff outside to pack it in TIV.

In the midst of it all, Robert came with the same fishing gear he'd brought before. "When'd you decide to take up fishing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It just hit me all of the sudden. Just something I'd like to try."

Behind him, Greeny was carrying bags of graham crackers, Hershey's, and marshmallows. He wasn't just carrying the marshmallows. He was helping himself from one of the bags. "Greeny, don't eat the marshmallows."

"Aw! Why not?"

"Because we won't have enough for when we want to make s'mores. Plus, I don't want you to get a stomachache that will ruin the whole trip."

I tell you, it was definitely not my day. Patty came out with her stuff. "Ooh! Marshmallows!" She grabbed two and started chewing them. "No, Patty! I was just telling Greeny that," Larry then interrupted by saying, "They're radioactive!"

You should've seen the expression on Patty's face. Man, it was priceless! It was so funny! I had to bite my tongue, but some stifles did escape. "It's okay, cuz. They're not radioactive. I just want there to be enough for the trip."

"Ohh!" She glared at Larry then placed her bag in the trunk. When they had all left, I turned to Larry and said. "For once in your life, will you please not do, act, or say anything stupid or sarcastic? Can you just stop it? Even if it's just for five minutes? Please?"

He rolled his eyeballs and sighed in frustration. "Oh, fine." But when he sighed, the metal on the front end of TIV started corroding. "Ahh! What's that?"

"What's-oh, oops."

"What do you mean 'oops'?"

"I think I accidently had my Acid Breath Power on." I quickly whirled around in all directions. We dodged a bullet. A really close one. There was no one outside. Phew! "Larry! Try to have a little self-control, will you? What if someone had seen us?"

"That's no problem. I'd just knocked them out with either gas or the Forgetit Stick. Then I repair it, make them lose memory of the incident, and wake them back up. It's that simple."

"Still. Please try to cultivate self-control."

I heard a motor revving. I looked around again. There were no vehicles except the TIV. And I had the keys with me. "Are you doing that, Larry?"

"What? No, I'm not! You need to cultivate trust in other people, if you ask me. Stop trying to pin everything suspicious on me!" He tilted his ear to listen. "Yeah, I hear it too. But it sounds too small for it to be a car and too big for a motorcycle."

He looked and pointed to a hill next to the Palace. "Look!"

It was about a mile away and I saw a figure on a four-wheeler. "Roger Loski! What are you doing up there?!"

"What?"

"I said what are you doing up there?"

"Passing time!" He started some wheelies and roared down the hill towards the driveway. On the last bump, he made a 360-wheelie. Or as commonly known a back-flip. He stopped next to TIV. He jumped off and walked up to us. His hair was a complete mess and his clothes and his face were covered in mud and clay.

"Why were you playing with the four-wheeler?"

"Ah-why are you talking to me that way?"

I groaned. I've had enough of this day. "Never mind. We're done packing. The others are going to meet us here tomorrow early and we'll pack their stuff then. Right now we need to go inside and rest for tomorrow."

"Now that sounds very appealing," Larry mentioned running like greased lightning back inside. Roger and I just shrugged and exchanged glances. We had a nice dinner that evening and went up to our rooms to rest.

We went to bed early. It wasn't even 9:45 when Roger, Larry and I were in our room. Larry was in his bed and Roger bunked in with me. Remember, I have the actual King's bed. So it's pretty huge. While Roger was brushing his teeth, Lilia called me. Mostly just to apologize for whatever embarrassment she caused and that she hoped to have fun on the trip.

"Sure we'll have a great time!" I said. "Plus, it'll be a great way for us to make up."

"Oh, Spiny, please!"

I just laughed and was sure to hear her giggling. "Well, I'm going to catch my my ten hours of sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at 8:30, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be there. I love you. Sweet dreams."

Just then, Roger came out of the bathroom. "Love you, too, princess. Sleep well. Bye-bye." I made a kissing sound then hung up. Roger was just staring. "What? Don't you call Darla?"

"Yeah, but we're not as, um, affectionate as you two."

"You mean mushy?" said Larry.

"Goodnight!" I shouted and turned out the lights.

I had set my alarm for 6 in the morning. But Larry had other plans. He trumpeted a bugle and roared, "Everyone up! UP! UP! UP! UP! Get out of those beds! Come on, you lazybones! Get off your duff!"

I groaned and felt my breath hissing. Just preparing for the trip was a nightmare. What's the actual trip and the camping going to be like?

Oh, boy…..