Weird...two updates in one day. It's just that spring break is ending soon and I really didn't want to have to stop writing at such an eventless point in the story. It would produce disastrous results. So, I uploaded another chapter. But there's still one more chapter to go before what I believe will be my favorite point in the story.
So, in this chapter, they drive through the state I (reluctantly) call my home: Arizona.
It's not my best chapter, or my longest, but I encourage you to Read and Review!
Disclaimer - I own nothing.
Finally, the repair shop opened and the car had a new tire in no time, as well as two spares for each car. They had learned their lesson.
As they stood outside the repair shop with their newly fixed vehicles, they discussed the plan from then on.
"I feel like we should make up for lost time by driving throughout the night!" Rachel proposed.
Most of them objected the idea at first, but Tina agreed. "I don't want my audition to feel rushed and unprepared. I think I would be a lot more comfortable if I could...practice in the hotel beforehand?"
Nobody could argue with Tina. She was, after all, the reason they were on the road trip in the first place.
They were ready to disperse into separate vehicles when Finn caught up with Matt.
"Hey, yo, Matt!" Finn greeted.
"Hey, what's up?" Matt returned nonchalantly.
"I was just wondering…" Finn scratched the back of his head innocently, "…if I could drive?"
Matt hesitated, and Finn took it as his cue to explain. "See, I get really bored sometimes, so I want to drive and make the trip a little…faster. Ya know?"
Matt still wasn't convinced.
"I promise I'm not the bad driver I was when I first started!"
Matt couldn't help but agree. What's worse than hitting a mailman?
"Okay, I trust you," Matt finally concluded, handing Finn the keys.
"Yes! Thank you!" Finn acted as though he just won a prize. Matt laughed.
Finn was focused on the road like a hawk on its prey. Rachel sat nervously in the passenger seat, jumping at every slight bump or curve in the road as Finn followed the other car, driven by Quinn.
"Rachel, calm down! You're not going to die!" Finn reassured his girlfriend.
"I know. I'm still getting used to the fact that you're driving. Finn Hudson…driving…" Rachel shuddered at her statement. Finn sighed. Nobody seemed to believe in him...
Behind Finn and Rachel sat Matt and Mike, watching carefully for any potential mistakes.
Santana and Brittany were relaxing in the row directly behind them.
The group proceeded like that for a long while, until suddenly, Brittany broke down in tears.
"Brittany?" Santana asked, in shock by the sudden emotional curveball. "…You okay?"
"No…" Brittany said in between sniffs and sobs. "It's Reginald…he's…"
"Not real?"
"Dead…"
Santana shook her head in disbelief, but immediately returned to comforting her friend.
"It'll be okay, everything's going to be fine…" Santana said, taking the blonde into her arms as she sobbed silently. In the front of the car, the Gleeks questioned Brittany's sanity.
"It happened so quickly," Brittany explained. "One second he was chirping happily, the next I could no longer hear his voice…"
"I see…" Santana was confused.
"I think it'll be okay, though. He's going to be in heaven. Cricket heaven. But it's not just crickets, it'll be everyone that he loves. He'll be happy forever…"
That's a lie. Even if the cricket were real, he'd be in hell. God hates crickets, that's why they're so small and ugly. And a cricket named Reginald? Even worse. Who named him Reginald, anyway? That's like one of those old people names for a guy who lives alone all his life talking to his lamp shades made of animal skin. Yes. Reginald was an old, creepy man-cricket with animal-skin lamp shades. And now he's rotting in hell. That's what Santana thought. What she said was "Ok." Brittany smiled.
The sun was starting to set, and the Gleeks were soon driving through the Arizona desert.
"You'd think a desert would have sand," Santana complained. "All I see is dirt. Dirt…and ugly shrubs. It's like we're on Mars, except with ugly shrubs. And the cactuses…they suck. Nothing like the movies. They're deformed and small. I pity the poor people who live here." Everyone agreed before falling into an awkward silence. The only sounds were of the car shifting at every bump, rock, and crack in the road. And there were many on this dirt road, causing Santana's complaining to start up again. "Ugh, I'm never gonna get my sleep like this!" she whined before pulling some type of container out of her small overnight bag.
"What are those?" Brittany asked.
"Drugs."
Brittany looked confused.
"Sleeping pills. You want one?"
"Sure! I like to sleep!" Brittany eagerly accepted the pill and downed it quickly.
Both Matt and Mike thought the pills were a good way to get some sleep, too, and so they asked for one each as well. Rachel accepted one eagerly, seeing as how it would contribute to her "beauty sleep" at such a convenient and welcome time.
Santana coldly denied Finn, however.
"You idiot, you're driving! Do you want to kill all of us?" she nagged.
"Maybe just one…" Finn muttered. No one heard.
Santana sat back in her seat, putting her earphones in to listen to her iPod.
"Well, that's that. I'm going to sleep." Brittany looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. They were enough of an explanation for the Latina. She sighed. "Come here, Brittany." Santana opened her arm as the blonde eagerly scooted in and put her head on her best friend's shoulder. Santana shared one of the earphones with her as they both got comfortable.
Mike, Matt, and Rachel followed suit as they shifted in their own respective seats for a comfortable spot of their own.
Soon, they were all drugged up and fast asleep, leaving Finn virtually alone.
A couple hours passed, and Finn was starting to get sleepy. Not talking to anyone and focusing on a boring rugged road for miles will do that to a person. He silently cursed himself for wanting to drive in the first place, and then silently cursed Matt for the lack of a radio in his car.
He decided he should do something to keep himself active, so he started counting the yellow lines in the road. When he had gotten to four, he lost count and gave up.
Okay, stay awake, Finn. Gotta stay awake… He thought. Let's look at stuff. Like…Mercedes' license plate…the dirt on the sides of the road…the stars in the sky…the back of my eyelids… Finn drifted off for a second, but woke up with a start immediately after, swerving the car sharply.
Woah, that could've been bad. Gotta do something else… No one seemed to have woken up from that fumble, so Finn decided on singing to himself. He had made it through all of "Hello, I love you" and half of "I'll Stand by You" before drifting off a second, more lengthy time.
And this time, he drove off the road, straight into the dirt. And in his obliviousness, and the rest of the group's drugged state, as well as Quinn's failure to realize the sudden absence of headlights behind her car, no one noticed how Matt's van was driving deeper and deeper into the desolate desert with no signs of stopping.
What's worse than hitting a mailman, again?
Finn AND Rachel making a mistake? Looks like Team Finchel is losing some points. Don't worry, they'll make up for it.
No, Reginald is not the character I was talking about who dies. Someone else dies. ;)
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