9: Roadtrip I
As Riley and the rest of the gang sat at their usual spot next to the entrance of Topanga's, they realized that the café was missing something. However, they couldn't quite place their finger on it till they saw the waitress, Ophelia, scurrying about all alone in an attempt to serve the first wave of patrons coming in for breakfast. It was only then that they realized the place was missing the bright, accented drawl of Katy Hart's voice. And after two years of working there, her absence stood out like a sore thumb.
"Where's Katy?" Zay asked the question on everyone's minds in-between chews of his blueberry pancakes. "These just don't taste the same without her saying 'Eat up, hon!'"
Riley smirked, thoroughly entertained by his attempt to mimic the woman's voice. "I think I speak on everyone's behalf here when I say that we've missed having you around," she said, gesturing towards him.
"I know," Zay replied, looking pleased with himself. He and his family had just returned that morning from their vacation in Texas – hence the group's decision to meet and catch up over breakfast.
This caused Riley to shake her head. "I just boosted your ego, didn't I?"
Zay was about to respond when all of sudden, they were interrupted by Maya's entrance, which saw her bursting through the doors of the café with eyes ablaze and a charge in her steps.
"Ah, at least we've found one Ms Hart," Lucas pointed out, settling back into his chair.
Maya pushed the stray locks of her hair away from her face and let out what sounded like a cross between a growl and a sigh. She tossed Lucas a look. "That's because the other Ms Hart is currently travelling out of town with Shawn," she revealed.
Riley perked up upon hearing the name of her father's best friend. "Shawn?" She repeated. "You mean like Uncle Shawn, Shawn?"
"Yes!" Maya exclaimed, flinging her arms up. "Let's go, we have to go after them!"
"Wait, why do we have to?" Farkle asked, a confused expression etched on his face.
Maya plucked the glass of ice lemon tea away from his unsuspecting hands and set it back down onto the wooden table in front of him. He backed away a few inches, knowing all too well that this was the action of an angry girl who wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Because," she said slowly, "my mum refused to tell me why they were leaving town this morning. All she said was 'I'll be back first thing tomorrow' and she drove off into the sunrise with Shawn."
The girl plopped down onto the bench beside Riley, exasperated. "I – I'm just afraid that they'll do something rash like elope or something. I know I shouldn't be meddling with my mum's relationship but I'm just scared for her and I don't want her to jump into anything without filling me in on it first."
"But Maya," Lucas tried to reason, "it's Katy and Shawn we're talking about here. They hardly seem like the type who would do such a thing. And you mean a lot to them, so surely they would consult you before doing that."
"Well, that's the problem," Maya said. "We promised each other a long time ago that we wouldn't keep any secrets, but that's precisely what she did today."
Upon seeing Maya so tensed, Riley reached out to give her hand a tight squeeze. "I say we do it!" She declared, turning to face the rest of her friends.
The three boys gawked at her like she was out of her mind. It was Farkle who broke the silence first.
"Okay," he started, leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees and his hands clasped together. Everyone could see the invisible gears and motors whirring inside him as he tried to wrap his head around the idea.
"Supposedly we do go ahead with this. We still have two problems: one, they've already left, so how could we possibly follow them? And two, neither of us own a car nor know how to drive one."
Zay nodded fervently. "Farkle makes sense. It's impossible."
Maya let out a sly smile right then – the first one they'd seen from her since she stepped into the cafe. "I don't just propose things without thinking them through, alright," she said, extending her hand towards the gangly boy. "Farkle, your iPad please."
His hands flew protectively to the bag resting next to him. "How did you know I have one with me?" He asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes.
"Farkle," Riley chided, "just hand it over."
"Oh fine," He sighed, glancing over at the amused brunette before fishing out the silver iPad mini from his bag and passing it to Maya reluctantly.
They then proceeded to watch as the girl's fingers danced over the keyboard and logged into one of the device's pre-installed applications, waiting for her to provide some sort of explanation as to what she was doing.
Just then, a beeping sound could be heard emitting from the device, and Maya raised it up to show everyone the screen. It was the road map of New York, with a bright blue dot blinking down the street labelled 7th Avenue.
Farkle did a double take, his eyes widening and sparkling with mischief upon realizing what Maya had done. He looked from her, to the screen, and back again.
"I knew there had to be a reason why I love you," he said, his initial frown sliding into a grin.
Lucas stared blankly at the two of them. "Care to explain what's going on here?" He asked.
Farkle shifted excitedly in his seat, the words tumbling out of him like a landslide. "Basically, Maya planted her iPhone somewhere in Shawn's car and activated the tracker app so that we can trace its location using another external Apple device like my iPad! That was a brilliant idea on her part, honestly."
Riley strained her neck to get a closer look at the blue dot, which was indeed, still moving forward along 7th Avenue.
"So that means tracking down Maya's phone will lead us straight to Katy and Uncle Shawn too," she said.
"Exactly," Maya snapped her fingers as she let out a proud smile.
Riley shook her head in awe. "You're amazing, peaches."
"Well, but we still don't have a car," Zay butted in, though anyone could see that he was just as excited to get on board.
There was a moment of contemplative silence before Riley dug her phone out from the pocket of her denim overalls and waved it with a cheeky grin. "I think I might just have the solution to that."
"Let me get this straight," Josh said from where he sat in his white, beaten Honda Civic. "You want me to drive you and your friends out of New York to stalk Katy and Uncle Shawn?"
Before Riley could reply, she was nudged away from the window by Maya, who flashed the boy a pleading smile. "Come on, Josh, no authentic New York experience is complete without your good ol' car tailing. And besides, I prefer to use the word…follow."
Josh heaved a sigh, looking at the steering wheel gripped in his hands. "But who knows where they might be heading to?" He said. "I'm going to have to take responsibility for all five of you if something goes wrong, you know."
Maya bent a little lower to get a better view of him. He had on an NYU cap to shield his eyes from the harsh summer sun. "Look at us, Josh. You have the literal human embodiment of sunshine, a cowboy, a mad genius, a jokester and a rebel. What could go wrong?"
"Now that you put it that way...a lot could go wrong."
Josh made a quick sweep of the group of teenagers crowding outside his car. He knew all of them personally with the exception of Zay Babineaux, though the stories that Riley had told about him made the boy as little a stranger as everyone else.
The five friends were staring hopefully back at him, and despite being only three years older than most of them, he suddenly felt like a father who was caught between either having to disappoint or satisfy his children. Taking that into account, some part of him was certain that if he really were a dad, he would rather be caught dead than be seen letting his kids down. So there was no surprise when he finally revealed his answer.
"Get in the car," he relented, nodding his head towards the back seat.
"I call shotgun!" Maya exclaimed, grinning as she jogged over to the other side of the car and slid into the seat beside him. She regarded him gratefully. "Thank you, Josh. Really. I owe you one."
"It's nothing," Josh shrugged, casting the girl a smile. "My parents won't be here to lecture me about it anyway."
"How about Mr. Matthews?"
"Oh," Josh waved the thought away, "he's too much of a softie to do much harm – even to his own daughter."
Maya pulled a face. "That's very true."
From behind them, there was a slight ruckus as Riley, Lucas, Farkle and Zay jostled their way into the backseat. While Lucas and Zay sat at opposite ends of the row with their bodies pressed against the doors, Riley and Farkle were trapped in the middle, with a quarter of the girl's slender frame ending up on the latter's lap.
Josh couldn't help but suppress a chuckle upon seeing the pitiful sight through his rear view mirror. "Are you guys ready?" He called, starting the engine.
Following a few muffled agreements from the back, the car rumbled to life and began to roll away from Topanga's Café and onto West 4th street, heading towards 7th Avenue as directed by Maya. Given its old age and many years of use, the Honda Civic was by no means in good shape as it jerked and launched forward with every pothole and bump that it hit along the crowded streets of New York.
"So where to?" Josh asked Maya as he made a sharp turn. The back row was strangely silent except for a couple of "oomphs!" whenever the car jerked.
The girl squinted at Farkle's iPad. "It looks like they're heading towards I-78 W," she said. "Whatever that is."
Josh raised an eyebrow in surprise. The route that they were taking felt strangely familiar, especially since navigating the streets had now come easy to him after nearly three years of travelling to and fro Philadelphia and New York.
"If you would allow me to make an intelligent guess," he said, "it looks like Uncle Shawn and I are headed back for home."
Uncomfortably packed at the back of the car, the other four friends hardly spoke a word to each other. Enduring the tight squeeze was tiring enough without them having to catch their breath.
This was especially the case for Riley, whose head kept hitting the roof of the car each time it sped over a bump, causing her to wince every now and then. It didn't help that she was occupying literally half of Farkle's lap, though it appeared that she minded it more than he did.
"Ugh, I'm sorry Farkle," she grimaced as the car hit yet another bump.
The boy smiled and merely settled his hand above her head so that his palm could cushion the blow whenever she bounced up.
"Don't worry about it, Riles," he said chirpily. "I'm actually quite liking this."
A tiny smile formed on the girl's face.
"I don't understand how you can get away with flirting with two girls while dating another at the same time," Zay commented upon seeing that. "It's basically every boy's dream!"
"Well, maybe you could learn a thing or two from him," Lucas suggested cheekily.
"Says the boy with the cruddiest love life out of the three of us!" Zay countered.
Lucas' mouth dropped open even though he had probably seen that coming. "Low blow, dude," he said. "Low blow."
"Guys, don't fret," Farkle spoke up from beside him. "Smackle knows that I'm faithful to her."
Zay's eyes lit up with excitement. "Dang, Farkle, does that mean you finally took it to the next level?" He asked.
Everyone immediately fixated their gaze on the boy, including Josh, who was watching everything unfold through his rear view mirror. Riley had to crane her neck a little more in order to get a good look of him, but there was no denying the scarlet hue that began to colour his cheeks.
"Well did ya, buddy?" Maya prodded from the front seat.
"My lips are sealed," Farkle replied bashfully.
But he didn't really need to say anything in the first place – his shy expression had already given everything away.
The whole car burst into equal parts teasing and 'Awwws'. Riley grinned, knowing how big a deal this was to him.
It was only when the commotion died down that Maya leant back against her seat and sighed. Staring at the traffic ahead, she said, "I guess we'll have to include her into our group soon, don't we?"
A good hour passed since the group left New York, and they were currently cruising down the interstate just a few miles out from New Jersey.
Toggling the radio, Maya switched back and forth the various stations in order to find one that didn't have DJs who spent three-quarters of the time talking. When she eventually settled on one, she turned the volume up so that Tori Kelly's song blasted through the speakers and filled the car with lively, upbeat music.
Everybody's looking for that something, no one ever wants to pay the price…
"Hey Maya," Lucas suddenly called from the back seat.
"Hmm?" She responded, still bobbing her head and humming along to the tune.
"I was just curious. Why are you so afraid of your mum and Shawn getting married when you already look up to him so much?"
The next syllable to the song got lodged in Maya's throat. She took a couple of seconds to process what he'd just said before realizing that she never really gave her friends a proper justification for her impulsive actions today. She saw Josh cast her a sideways glance before refocusing his attention back on the road ahead.
Despite the song that continued to play in the background, the atmosphere in the car suddenly fell silent and serious as the rest awaited her reply.
Swallowing her saliva, Maya patted her jeans and said, "I don't know. I guess it was just my usual instincts kicking in to make sure that my mother doesn't get hurt again. I mean, dating still has a sort of impermanence to it, but when two people get married, they make a vow to be by each other's side in sickness and in health and all the other shit that life throws at them. So that's when people start to feel tied down and thoughts of just up-ing and leaving come. My dad did that, and I know that Shawn isn't him, but some part of me is still afraid that…he might do the same."
She took a deep breath and forced out a reassuring smile for her friends at the back – all of whom now sported solemn expressions. "Thanks for following me out today, guys," she said, "I really appreciate it."
Riley watched her with soft, understanding eyes. "You know we would do anything for you, Maya," she replied.
Lucas nodded his head fervently. "You don't need to feel bad about it."
All of sudden, the girl felt shameful and guilty for running off after her mother and Uncle Shawn. And to haul her closest friends along with her without any blatant regard for what they're own parents might think was very selfish of her to do so. Who on earth had blessed her with such wonderful and special individuals as friends? Only the best and truest would willingly decide to come along with her without even a moment's notice.
We'll just check in on them, she promised herself. We'll just check in on them and then turn back for home.
A few minutes later, Maya checked the iPhone tracker to make sure that they were heading in the right direction. The blue dot was now blipping over the entrance to Philadelphia, which confirmed Josh's suspicions of their final destination.
Riley clasped her hands together in realization that they would soon be arriving back at their hometown. "Hey Josh, we could visit grandma and grandpa!" She suggested in a flurry of excitement.
"No, we can't," Josh said. "Unless you want to lose your ticket back to New York."
"Oh right," Riley muttered.
"Um, Josh, are you sure this car can take us all the way to Philly?" Farkle suddenly spoke up uneasily from beside her.
It was only then that the sickly noises that the car had been making came under everyone's attention. The Honda Civic coughed and sputtered and started to lose its momentum, decelerating slowly to a stop by the side of the interstate. Cars in other lanes whizzed past its sorry sight, while those trapped behind it let out a series of annoyed honks before filtering out.
"What happened?" Zay scrambled awake from his sleeping state upon feeling the slight jolt.
"The car broke down," Lucas deadpanned. "Do you know what went wrong, Josh?"
The boy at the driver's seat seemed a little flustered and taken aback as he searched frantically around for any signs that pointed to what might have killed the engines. That was when he saw the tiny red hand of the fuel gauge hovering over 'E'.
"I found our culprit," Josh announced, unbuckling his seatbelt. "We're out of fuel."
"Out of fuel?!" Maya repeated.
He shot her a look. "How would I know that we would be travelling 97 miles today? But lucky for you," he said, pushing the door open, "I always carry spare fuel with me wherever I go."
Josh stepped out onto the roadside and went to the back of the car to fetch the fuel from his trunk. However, it came out empty, save for a portable tire inflator and car polish.
"What the heck?" he muttered under his breath. "I could've sworn it was right here."
"Bad news?" A voice piped up from behind him. It was Maya, who had come out of the car to help him. Her blonde hair flicked across her face as cars whizzed by, leading her to tuck it behind both her ears.
Josh looked up at her frustratedly. "I really did have spare fuel with me. Where on earth did it go?"
The girl smiled in an attempt to settle his nerves. "Don't worry Josh, we'll just call a tow truck to come get us."
"Um, guys," Riley said, standing behind the open door of the car. "I just got a call from Aunt Katy. She's in the hospital."
Maya's heart skipped a beat as she checked for her phone's location on the iPad. The dot had finally stopped moving, but it didn't land on any shady place or romantic café as she thought it would have. Instead, it was parked right over the building labelled Pennsylvania Hospital, the least dubious place that could possibly exist. She stood frozen to the spot, fearing the worse.
A/N: Hey guys, here's the first part of the hive five + Josh's 'road trip'! I hope you enjoyed it :) Apologies for taking so long to update - I was feeling really nervous over the last week because of my 'A' Level results. But I just collected it this Friday and I did pretty well, so I've been busy visiting the different universities' open houses here in Singapore over the weekend! The next chapter may not come so soon because March is going to be a hectic month for me, I have to study for my theory driving test and submit my applications for unis and scholarships so do pardon me if I don't update soon :( i promise the next one will be uploaded latest by the start of April, though! Anyway, thanks for the favs, reviews and follows so far! Let me know if you're liking the story or what you think Katy and Shawn are up to in Philadelphia through the reviewing! c: Have a great week ahead, guys. Till the next chapter!