The bickering, hateful comments and just being total jerks to each other. Is this what this trip would bring? Well Lizzy was not going to stand for that. "Can we just stop it?!" she yells as she glares around the room, admittedly primarily at Cass though she made sure a steely gaze rested on every person in the room. "This is supposed to be a way to have fun, relax and see some of this country we wouldn't have otherwise are we really going to spend it all fighting like three-year-olds?! she yells, each of her words becoming louder than the last. She then notices how much of a bitch she just seemed. The anger washes out of her face to be an expression of somewhat shock and self-disappointment as she rests on her heels, pinching the bridge of her nose. It was extremely rarely the young teen exploded, she doubted half of the group had ever seen her do so, but when she did she had a powerful set of lungs. Once again she felt terrible, she didn't mean to snap or sound so... cold.

"Look, I'm sorry guys," she says gently, giving a sigh as she ran a hand over her orange-haired scalp. She couldn't do anything right, could she? "I didn't mean to sound so cruel it's just... I was looking forward to this trip, y'know, letting loose and that, it's just... it's gonna make it hard to have fun if we're bitching about each other all the time,". She took a deep breath and close her eyes for a few seconds. She couldn't have helped it, they were fighting and she freaked, too many bad memories resurfaced in such circumstances and although she could usually pretend to ignore the pain she was only human, there's only so much she can take. Didn't stop her from feeling terrible though.

Lizzy gives a slow, shaky breath before plastering on, and presenting each person with, a small smile despite the memories of breaking glass bottles and hateful words alongside the word 'hypocrite!' Screaming in her head. She blocked it out, she ignored it. She was used to pretending she was okay, it was as normal to her as breathing, sometimes it faded into a second nature, sometimes she had to be wary of how she did it.

"Now," she starts her tone much lighter, gentler and more cheerful. "We don't have to all be at the one place at once I'm sure. If Philly wants to go to a museum, he can go. I know I, for one, would be interested in joining him but if some of you, like Cass, don't want to go we're not gonna force you! You can go do whatever tickles your fancy. Now, as for cars I'll go with whoever would enjoy my company," she says, allowing her grin to grow.

"Anyway," she says, hoping her continuous talking would result in the others forgetting, or at least let slide, her just-gone outburst. "Ariel and I made these cookies and it seems everyone but us has tried one! It seems only fair we get one too," she says, strolling over to one of the trays, which had already had half the cookie gobbled up by, who Lizzy assumed had at least, Theo and lifted 2 odd-circle shaped cookies from the rack and tossed one in Ariel's direction before taking a bute out of her own and mumbling in approval.

---

---

the little noise of shock briefly alarmed jay, concerned he'd actually frightened his friend, but jarvis seemed to recover just as quickly. when he heard laughter he peered around jarvis, looking to catch a glimpse of the smile he suspected had appeared. he returned the amiable expression as soon as he saw it, pleased he could trigger such a thing, and then looked round swiftly, gaze landing and stopping on ada. "hey, princess," he half-sang, tone calming down. to most, the nickname might sound condescending, infantilizing, what have you - he meant it almost endearingly, empowering. princess who broke the rules and seemed to have the supernatural ability to always get away with it, princess who reveals her anger at the most inopportune moments and yet can maintain friendships with those who become victims of it, princess who has to keep her emotions in check lest she reveal something ugly to the rest of the nation. for all intents and purposes, he meant the nickname literally, and adored the fact that ada suited it so well - ironically so, because she was the exact opposite of what you might expect a princess to be like. he was almost re-appropriating the word itself, losing the 'placid and demure' aspects of it and replacing them with 'rebellious and free.' somewhat free, anyway. jarek was sure there was something she locked out of sight from the others that only maybe someone like jarvis knew. not that he'd ever ask, anyway.

in response to his nickname, jarek bobbed his head proudly, looking as if he'd received a pulitzer prize. truthfully, it felt special to have a name all to himself, although there was no one else it could have gone to - really, any attention at all was pleasing enough to jay. it often felt like that was the primary reason he spent most of his time with jarvis, because he was so adept at focusing all of his attention onto one person at a time; usually, it could only be directed towards two people: jay himself and ada. it was strange, because jay wasn't exactly ada's best friend. when he looked over jar's shoulder, he followed the other boy's gaze to her hair and, hell, he admired it too, but aside from that he wasn't exactly in on her deepest, darkest secrets. he wasn't quite that way with anyone, actually. this group seemed to get along solely because they were linked by bad pasts, or at least, some sort of deep-seated repression. it was kind of cliché, jarek thought, but he couldn't see himself getting along with the kids in his own social class. they're all actually equipped to deal with status. jarek, on the other hand... suffice to say he used all that excess money for fake ids and alcohol so pure that he may as well be in some warped, distorted version of the prohibition era. that was no one's business but his own.

once jarvis had repositioned himself further away, jay loosened his grip on his friend, tilting his head expectantly. he had half the mind to ask why jar was even coming, if only that question didn't sound so much like an attack. really, he was only curious because, like "philly cheese steak" over here, jarvis wasn't the most socially skilled kid out there and his financial situation was... well. it certainly wasn't like jarek's. he respected jar's father for all the work he did to both keep those two afloat and provide all of his son's nerdy comic books and action figure and geeky 'what-have-you's; it certainly wasn't easy, from the looks of it, because jarvis already had those off-and-on jobs of his own. jay couldn't imagine it - he hadn't worked a day in his life it was always the nurses and the servants dealing with domestic duties, and his father was the one who brought in the majority of the cash. both parents, however, came from an 'old money' family anyway. they could've lived better off than jarvis even without working until their cozy early retirement. it was confounding how his friend could stay the way he was, then, with such a life behind the scenes: he seemed consistently stable and sane, which was something jarek had never been able to say for himself, and at the same time generous. honestly, it was strange how that worked. get nothing your whole life and still be generous... that's just the kind of person jarvis was, he figured.

talking about how we shouldn't go to a beach or you might accidentally drown yourself... or someone else. jarek laughed vibrantly as if no other conversations were being held, placing a hand over the button once jarvis's had moved away, looking half like a puppy that'd just been kicked and half like he'd just been given a birthday gift. the latter was almost accurate, considering how grateful he was to watch jar's eyes light up in vivid aquamarine. as much as he'd like to return the mesmerizing favour, jay's stayed glazed over and glassy, like he was in a dream. that was semi-true, come to think of it. "play nice, or i'll accidentally drown you, moore." he arched an eyebrow, trying to keep a straight face as best he could, before cracking up and shrugging his shoulders boyishly. jay's eyes, always wandering, were still able to see out of his periphery that jarvis kept his concentration on him - much to his delight. there was more of that heavenly attention. too often when he knew all eyes were on him, like when he made a scene publicly, was he filled with a certain sense of euphoria (although there was the inevitable dysphoria that followed later, hours even, when he retraced the day and regretted how dumb he must have looked or how foolish he must have sounded, so on and so forth). that didn't quite happen in simple moments like these, when jarvis had only the innocent intention of looking at him. jarek played dumb for a minute before suddenly making eye contact, then smiling profoundly like he'd just won a game.

leaning in as if the gentle tug from jarvis was enough force to bring him over, jarek rolled his eyes impatiently at the question. he may enjoy getting the spotlight, but not necessarily when it addressed his bad habits. sometimes there was that sweet moment wherein the company hosting the 'intervention' might mention how much value you have, jarek, or how you should take care of yourself more; so many people would miss you - sickening, how that worked. the rest of it was boring, a waste of his time. he lowered his voice, allowing side conversations to go on without his brash volume interrupting this time. "i've got a house full of food, jar, what'd'you expect?" he replied, quirking one side of his mouth up. that wasn't exactly a lie; 'twas a good enough response by his terms. jarek moved the spearmint gum from his cheek to between his front teeth, baring them ferally. "and now i have gum. want some?" he leaned forward, teasing toward jar like he'd transfer the piece over, before laughing and stepping back - as much as he was sure his friend wasn't exactly comfortable with his exhibitionism, he kept on with it anyway. it seemed respecting personal boundaries was a rule only one of them kept by.

"the beach!" jay repeated after jarvis, whipping his head toward phil triumphantly. he wasn't exactly observant enough to notice the half-mechanized movements like the closer friend lizzy had, and instead assumed the choice to be innocuous. he likely wouldn't associate phil with rigging the decision either way - seemed like everyone underestimated the poor guy, and jarek was no exception. so now that we've got that sorted, who's going with who? his gaze lingered on lizzy even after she spoke, waiting for perhaps some suggestion, and jarvis was quicker to come to a conclusion than him. jay sneered at him, acting just as repulsed, before looking round at the group whilst they introduced their different options. he felt half-ashamed for his own inability to drive; he had nothing to contribute... well. "oh, definitely. you get to ride on my handlebars." he spoke in a grand tone, like being given the gift of riding jarek's old-ass bike was something unimaginable, but could only hold it up for so long and laughed abruptly. knowing he'd have to make a choice quick lest they be separated (and he really couldn't stand riding separately for so long), jarek sized up the different members offering their transport.

the first one his gaze landed on was theo (or 'teddy'), who was, coincidentally, his top choice. jay was quite certain that he was too obnoxious for the guy's tastes, but he envied theo's self-confidence and streak of reckless shenanigans. it's not like he didn't have his own, but 'teddy' had a certainly more refined way of going about things - bonus, the guy was a goddamn artist. triple threat, quadruple threat, he'd lost count a long time ago. jarek would abuse the chance to spend time with him whenever the opportunity arose, and now was fine enough. "mind if i take you up on that offer, teds? i've got a captive, too." ignoring the grip jar had on his jacket, jarek forced a bony arm round his shoulders and ruffled his hair, as if he was making him presentable. not only was theo pretty much choice out of the selection here, his car wasn't too bad either, if he'd seen it correctly outside. likely smelled of that damn banana bread, though. both a blessing and a curse.

the rampant conversation following was unexpected, and jarek turned to watch as cass went off on a sass tangent. good christ, he wanted to applaud her for coming up with all of that on the spot. he himself wasn't exactly the most witty when it came to insulting others (although you could barely call it insulting when it came from cassandra rowley - that was just her way of communicating). her offer was almost as inviting as theo's, but he was sure if he went with cass he'd just butt heads with her the entire time. similar personalities tended to do that, even if cass's was the more intriguing out of both of them. phil handled her well despite this; jarek was surprised with his shorthanded response before he reminded himself who it was coming from. phil certainly didn't seem like someone to pick a fight if he didn't absolutely have to, even when cass was throwing around some savagery like she was wont to do. when he went on with his explanation - practically a speech when it came from phil - jarek simply shrugged his shoulders, teetering from heel to toe because he didn't have a clue about the geography of his own country. didn't keep up with much.

despite it all, lizzy was, as per usual, the more levelheaded of them all. he admired the scene as she stepped in to cut off all the bitter words, wondering why he hadn't thought to do the same first. ah, right - that whole 'lack of compassion' thing. it didn't occur to him whatsoever to defend phil from the barrage of verbal attacks, even if they weren't actual threats. even still, she faded from that moment very gradually, her expression morphing into a more sheepish one. in an attempt to at least look understanding (he certainly couldn't feel whatever was going through her head), he nodded slowly at the apology, lips pursing together in faux sympathy. he tuned out of the rest of her speech, though, feeling detached from the situation already, and rightfully so - impulse told him to pour all the water from the bottle in his pocket over them, because god knows what his mind is doing coming up with these ideas, but he restrained himself, leaning against the nearest surface for support. for a moment he looked expectantly around, like he was waiting for someone to break the ice and help lizzy move on from her brief episode, before figuring he could be the one to do it. jarek removed his hands from his pockets and wandered over not-so-gracefully, lifting up a small cookie from the sheet and inspecting it. "dunno about you guys, but i totally wanna go to fairytale town." he stared at the sweet, crumbling in his fingers, and cracked up slightly. "hear they've got the most rockin' japanese garden." he peeked up from his hands daringly, like he was waiting for more negative input.

---

---

It looked like it was James' lucky day, what were the odds that Cheese-Steak would have landed not the place Jamie had just been talking about? "Well would ya look at that, I'm one lucky motherfucker," He said with a smug smile. The next order of business appeared to be carpooling, hmm, decisions decisions. He was gonna have to take a hard pass on driving with Theo. James wasn't a huge fan of sausage-fests, and four guys would probably lead to butting heads anyways, too much testosterone. Wolfe spoke up again, "I'd take the r8, but I can only fit three people comfortably and that third person has to be like, Lizzy or Ada size. So uh, dibs on shotgun in the Kia!" Jamie said this with a goofy grin on his face, both sets of teeth showing.

Cass piped in shortly after, and damn, she had a beautiful way with words. "Man, fuck a beach," Cass said, practically dismissing the general vibe of the room, turning her head towards James for the moment. "It's not like some California tail is any different than the girls you leave behind here. Well, they won't know you so that might actually work out in your favor. Unless I swoop in and woo them away from your little ass."

James pointed both index fingers excitedly after she spoke, in a "you're very correct," manner. "Exactly! Plus, a lot of girls around here have flat asses and I'm ready for a change ya know? I heard white girls are evolving over there, well their asses at least... And is that a challenge?" Jamie had a mischievous look in his eyes. "When we get to Sacramento, you and me, will have a little competition. Whoever gets the most numbers wins eh? You already have the advantage, you get to hit on both genders, you lucky bitch."

"But anyways," he began, changing topics once again. "We could all try and cram into the bitchin' Camaro? Dibs on being a lap boy if we turn the Camaro into a Mexican road trip." He joked, but as he was talking he realized Lizzy had been getting quite upset.

She kind of freaked out a little but recovered fast, her level-headed persona couldn't compromised that easily could it? "Jeez Liz, it'll be fine. Be cool like the Fonz and let's get this show on the road." He gave her two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Jarvis had known Jarek for majority of his life. It was the reason he could put up with his erratic behavior so well; he was used to it, had adjusted to it at a young age, and grew to accept Jarek for the way he was. Knowing Jarek for such a long period of time made Jarvis notice things other people just didn't about the teenager, or made him capable of handling Jarek at his worse when others couldn't. They were two odd peas in a pod, so completely different yet somehow fitting together. Maybe Jarek forced two of the wrong puzzle pieces together because that was something he would totally do. Either way, Jarvis wasn't going to complain, because he had the patience of a saint, and it showed around Jarek. To be honest, Jarvis couldn't imagine a life without Jarek in it. Jarek had become a fixture in his life, a constant, a force that was always there and never left, and Jarvis didn't want it too.

Because he had known Jarek for nearly all his life, he could easily pick out the inflections in his voice, know just what mood he was in, or about to be in, from his tone alone. So, when Jarek called Ada princess, he didn't bat an eye, because Jarvis knew he meant it in more of an endearing way rather than a condescending way. Even, Ada was a princess; a take-no-shit-strong-and-beautiful princess. It was what Jarvis loved about her. Obviously, the geeky teenager had a thing about being attracted to opposites... depending on how opposite the opposite was, of course. Jarek was probably as opposite as opposite got when it came to Jarvis. Yet, when they were kids, and Jarek had stolen his blanket during nap time and Jarvis just gave a careless shrug and said they should just share it, they had become inseparable. Even Jarvis' dad teased him about it. "Always Jarvis and Jarek, never just Jarvis, isn't it? Always the Jars." he'd tease and it never ceased to make Jarvis blush or give a half-hearted retort. Jarvis wasn't embarrassed of being bestest best friends with Jarek, far from it. He just got embarrassed when it got pointed out because yeah, they were oddly close, but Jarvis didn't want to have it any other way.

Jarvis always felt pride swell in his chest whenever he got Jarek to laugh. Which, he got him to laugh a lot, because he knew how Jay ticked and knew what buttons to press (no, Jarvis wasn't talking about the buttons on his jacket either). No matter how many times he got the other boy to laugh though, it always put a smile on his face, that pride evident in the twinkle in his eyes. Jarek had a way of getting laughs out of Jarvis, too, and his threat to "accidentally" drown him made him give a laugh, though it was less vibrant than Jarek's own, more quiet and breathy. "Okay Jay-bird," he said, rolling his eyes with lingering amusement in the blue-green depths, "I'll believe it'll be an accident and won't haunt you... too often." he and Jarek were always having some sort of back and forth, it was just their thing. If they weren't having a back and forth, or one wasn't making a playfully snide comment, there was something seriously wrong. When he caught Jarek's eye after bird-watching, and saw the sincere smile that broke across his face, it made his own smile grow in intensity. Jarek had the tendency to have that effect on him; Jarvis wasn't usually one for loud reactions but Jarek just made him forget about his own boundaries that he put on himself, his own fears and worries, and he could just breath around the other teenager, let the stressful thoughts that swirled in his head leave at least for a while.

He let out the smallest of chuckles when Jarek leaned in from Jarvis' gentle tug. Jarek always played along with his games and it always made Jarvis feel special, like someone would always understand him and accept him. Sure, he could get that feeling with Ada, but Jarek was... Jarek. Jarvis felt like Jarek was a part of him, be it from how long they've been friends or how well they clicked, it didn't matter. All he knew was that Jarek felt like an extension of his own person and he felt like he couldn't live without that extension. However, his smile dimmed at Jay's eye-roll at his question. Jarvis did have a tendency to fret over Jarek more than anyone else, just because of his strong connection with him. Jarvis mother-hen'd the boy, not that Jarvis would quite call it that aloud. He just worried about his best friend, and didn't want anything bad to come of him. He was always trying to watch out for him. It could be tiring and stressful, sure, but again, Jarvis had the patience of a saint and always managed to keep his own negative emotions under control while dealing with Jarek's own negative emotions. Jarvis was good at ignoring himself when taking care of not only Jarek but anyone else, which wasn't always a good thing. He'd give up just about anything to help anyone in need and while that attitude was a moral and nice one to have, it did get Jarvis hurt plenty. Jarek never hurt him directly; Jarvis more so got hurt over the way Jarek treated himself. Always the sensitive one when it came to people he cared about, that Jarvis was. There was an retort for Jarek's sassy little answer right on the tip of Jarvis' tongue, ready to spill forward, when Jay-bird was showing off his gum and offering him some. It was sad, because Jarvis didn't get it for a split-second, and was going to say sure, he'd like a piece of gum. Then, Jarek was leaning forward, and on instinct, it made Jarvis lean back, eyes going a fraction wider. Jarvis hated the way his face felt like it caught fire, cheeks growing a darker shade from the very slight rose they usually had.

He disliked that Jarek could get those reactions out of him, frowned as he laughed and stepped back. Jarvis always blushed easily; he was an inexperienced little thing and it was easy to draw those reactions out of him. They always embarrassed the hell out of him, too. He tried to shake off the embarrassment that had built inside his mind from his reaction to Jarek's teasing, that was one thing he would never get used to about Jarek, and decided to just forget about it. Which was easy to do, since the conversation was flowing easily between the two, like it always did. He snorted when Jarek said he could ride on his handlebars. "We tried that when I was, like, eight, and I still have a scar so no thanks." he replied with a grin, playfully nudging Jarek's shoulder. He still did have a scar though, just a pink, long right beside his elbow, where he had broken it. Jarek convinced him to do dangerous things sometimes; it was sort of normal, even for Jarvis, that when you were Jarek's friend, you better expect to do some stupidly dangerous thing at least twice a year, if not plenty more. Jarvis went to turn to Theo when Jarek asked if they could ride with him, to see if it was all right, when Jarek was grabbing him and messing with his hair. It made Jarvis let go of his jacket, and give out another small laugh, as he reached up and half-heatedly batted at Jarek's hand. "I've been your captive since I was about four." he grumbled, dropping his hand and giving in to his fate that was Jarek torturing him (not that he was complaining, honestly).

Then, the moment was broken, when Cass decided to comment on the new destination. He had overheard her and James' comments before. Jarvis was good at concentrating on more than one thing at once. He made sure to ignore them, because he never liked a womanizing attitude before, but he wouldn't go against them. He knew to say something wouldn't make any difference at all. Just about all of Cass' comments rubbed Jarvis wrong but that was the thing about Jarvis; even when someone rubbed him wrong, he still wouldn't pass judgement on them. He didn't know Cass that well, perhaps she was different in different settings. He wasn't sure of that but he wasn't going to judge her harshly or not speak to her just because he disagreed with her way of speaking. He was so nice, some people actually took it for him being fake because some people just couldn't believe someone could be that nice. Not that that bothered him either, everyone had their own opinions.

Philip began speaking about the beach, and Jarvis was relieved when Philip handled Cass in a respectable manner. Oh, eh... he was speaking about lack of beaches, rather. He twisted his upper body to be able to look at Philip, giving him his full attention in respect of listening to his explanation of the area. The disappointment Jarvis felt was clear on his face in the way his face fell; the poor boy looked crescent fallen over the new knowledge of there being no ocean-side beaches for him to go running on like some cheesy scene from Baywatch (not that he ever wanted to be the Hoff (no offense to him at all though)). Jarvis' emotions were almost always clear on his face, his heart almost always exposed on his sleeve; it was rare he was able to hide a true reaction. Only when he really didn't want something to be known, could he then hide it very well. As Lizzy came back in, before her small outburst, Jarvis had managed a smile and to say, "I'll go to a museum with Philip!" which he totally would, he had no shame. A science museum would be so freaking cool though, Jarvis might geek out right here, right now.

He was ready to turn to Jarek to do just that, because Jarek always took his fan-boying in stride, when Lizzy began yelling. It was surprising. He knew Lizzy for a good while now, no one here nearly as long as he had known Jarek, and had never seen this side of her. She was actually quite like him in the sense of being calm and level-headed, nice and giving. So, to see her having a tiny breakdown, did concern him. He had been pushed to that breaking point before, too, they all were only human. So, he couldn't put it against her at all. The seething comments had been stressful, even for him, and he didn't know or care for Philip like Lizzy did. He made sure she knew he was listening, even if he wasn't close to one of the ones causing any verbal fighting, and nodded when her eyes connected with his. He wasn't going to disrespect her. She was right; this trip was supposed to be fun and relaxing, not full of tension and biting comments. Though, Jarvis highly doubted they would stop, he appreciated Lizzy trying. He felt his heart go out to Liz a little. He could understand losing it sometimes, and personally thought she didn't have to apologize. He smiled a bit at her attempt to get everyone to get a cookie. "It's okay, Liz, really... I shoved a cookie in my mouth the instant I walked in - but you know, more than one cookie is the norm for cookie-eating." he commented and watched Jarek wander over to get a cookie, narrowing his eyes just slightly at the not-so-graceful way he did. Jarvis worried about Jay way too much and it was constantly showing on his face.

At Jarek's comment on fairytale town, however, his eyes lit up, and he walked over to snatch up his own cookie. "Dude, we can mark that off our bucket list!" he told Jarek like the excited puppy he actually was, having no shame in letting everyone know they had a bucket list together. They got bored, even around each other, and found things to pass the time... Jarvis thought bucket lists were cool. He liked mapping out things he wanted to do for the future, even if it put an ache in his chest, because he had a deep fear he wouldn't achieve them, and he would always be stuck here, working his fingers to the bone to barely get by like his father. He loved his father to death but he couldn't imagine his future being so financially unstable. It was a very scary thought for him. For the most part, he ignored James, until he said something about getting this show on the road. He snorted from behind his cookie, since he had been about to take a bite. "On the road, indeed," he said like the ultimate dork he was, before shoving the cookie in his mouth and giving a close-lipped smile at no one in particular.

---

Philip didn't really know what to do.

He had said his piece, Lizzy was standing in the middle of the room, and he wasn't really comfortable with very many other people. But then again, if he ever needed to sit with someone at lunch, he usually sat with Ariel. Speaking of which, Ariel was waiting at the door...

Phil glanced at everyone, noting a general lack of activity- no one was in a real rush to head out- and decided to be the first, next to Ariel. He pushed himself off the wall, and started across the room, rubbing Lizzy's hair and then snatching a cookie in one smooth motion.

Taking up position next to Ariel, he folded his arms across his chest, watching everyone else without expression.

Quietly, he asked Ariel, "I suppose you won't mind if I join you in your car?"

Catching Lizzy's eyes, he raised an eyebrow questioningly, with a slight jerk of the head towards Ariel- silently asking, coming with? He took a bite of cookie to punctuate it, and rolled his opposite shoulder, a little sore from holding his duffel bag so long without putting it down or even really moving it.

Absently, he wondered what sort of things the group of them would get up to. He was creative enough to imagine all sorts of scenarios- fights, police officers chasing after Cass, angry women armed with pitchforks and torches running after Jamie, Jarek and Jarvis making o-

Oh.
No.
He wasn't going to imagine that sort of thing.

Dammit, it was coming back.

He shoved the thought out of his mind, and externally squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't have anything against the two, no matter how 'close' they seemed to appear, or how much red appeared on Jarvis's face every time Jarek leaned towards him, but it was not a scene he wanted to see. Gah! Political correctness is such a tricky thing, combined with personal preference.

Instead, the scene of Cass-

Frick.
No.

What the hell. This was going to be a long trip.

---

---

When Jay invited himself and Jar to ride with Theo and commented on Jar being his captive, Theo couldn't stop one side of his mouth curling into a smile. He liked the Jars, sure, they would be good company but it was the line about the captive that Theo found funny. Captives generally didn't follow their captor around like a lovesick puppy and, to Theo at least, that seemed to be what Jarvis spent half his time doing. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he worried about being stuck in a car with them. He was fine with...whatever the hell those two had going on. He just didn't want to be stuck in the middle of it while they made puppy dog eyes at each other...or worse. He took a quick look around for someone else to invite along so he'd be less of a third wheel but it seemed like everyone was already making plans to go in other cars and Alex, for some reason, seemed to have offered to go alone with everyone's luggage which Theo wasn't sure if he was entirely ok with. It was going to be a long trip and no one was going with Alex?

He didn't have a lot of time to think about it because his friends were still bitching at each other and, before he knew it, Lizzy was erupting like a tiny little orange volcano. He had to admit, her uncharacteristic outburst had gotten to him slightly. He didn't like seeing her upset. Liz was probably the one person in the entire group that could prompt Theo to offer a consoling shoulder to cry on. Lizzy being the youngest member of the group meant he was especially protective of her. He didn't have a chance to say anything though as others apologized to her, made general comments on the outburst and...Cass, who, true to form, was an ultra, mega, snarky bitch about the entire thing. Theo rolled his eyes at her comment and decided to get things going again.

"So..." he commented as he jumped down from the counter and began counting on his fingers "Clothes, cars, cookies, destination and asinine comment from Cass...I think we've got everything. Let's go."

He gave Liz a quick pat on the shoulder before snatching up another cookie and heading out the door.

This was going to be a long trip and he couldn't help but wonder how many of them would make it back alive.

---

---

Turning around just at the right moment as a cookie was thrown her way, Ariel caught it just in time, eating the thing whole in just two bites. The truth: she was hungry. What she wasn't going to do: eat. There was way to much excitement for such mundane things. "Jeeze Louise, Liz. Calm down, sweetie. Here's the thing. We all know that my cars going. That was decided weeks ago. I'm assuming we all don't want to be crammed, so perhaps we should just let people choose. The car that empty, you can just stick in the garage. I don't really care." She took a deep breath. As excited as she was, perhaps Liz was right. Maybe she should have mentioned this to her dad before now. Ariel quickly shrugged the thought off. Surely her father wouldn't be too pissed, right? At least that's what she had to tell herself. She had indeed been pushing the boundaries her lateley.

It was at that moment she cleared her mind while listening to competition that was going to be taking place between Jamie and Cass. And then their was a sudden realization that Liz and Phil had been in kahoots with each other. Ariels jaw almost dropped to the floor. Surely that wasn't true. One of the two would have spoken up by now. She moved in quickly with a cover for Lizzy and sarcastic over-exaggerated rolling of the eyes. "Oh please. Lizzy would have said something. Besides they've been best friends for just as long as we have. We take up for each other, just like she does with Phil. Surely you don't expect us to all be fucking?" She gave a curt nod to Phil. Of course she didn't mind him riding along, but Jamie had called shotgun, making the girl smile.

---

---

---

---

Ada couldn't help but sit there on the couch beside Cass and laugh at her comment. "Okay, darling, I'll give you that one. It is, indeed, a BITCHIN Camaro." Theo was heading out the door, and her closest friend, Jar, was currently being flirtatious with Jarek. In response to being called princess, she couldn't help but to blush ever so slightly. With a gentle flip of the hair, she would just simply laugh as she watched the two. Surely others had picked up on this. But then again, maybe not. The only way that Ada knew was that her and Jar was so close. She had no problem with going to a museum, not that it was her favorite thing, but hey, you live, you learn. With a quick glance over at Phil, she could tell that the sudden realization had hit him of such facts.

Brushing all of that to the side, Ada practically jumped up off the couch. "I wanna ride with Cass. But that would pretty much be taking all of the cars... but hey, as long as we get the heck outta this town, who cares?"

Lizzy gave her bestie a smile as he briefly rubbed her scalp yet did not follow him back.

Lizzy knew Cass too well to not be surprised when she didn't take any blame, that was what she did nor did it surprise her when she snapped back, calling her 'mum' in the process. It was a common nickname given to Lizzy, almost all of her friends had used it in regards to her motherly nature toward her friends, even if she was the youngest. What she felt about such a nickname she was unsure but even she had to admit it was definitely fitting. None of Cass' actions were ones that would or could catch the tiny teen off-guard though. What did, however, was Cass' new theory.

"Are you two fucking? You and CHEESE? There's no way! Cheese is the type of dude that showers in a bathing suit, no way he got into your pants. Someone's got a hard on for a red head!"

"Wha-what?!" Lizzy spluttered stumbling backwards in genuine shock. Yes, her parents were sexually active at her age, Lizzy wouldn't have existed if that wasn't so, but she had no intention in following in their footsteps, she didn't even want to consider having sex at this point in her life. Whether Cass knew that or not probably didn't matter, she was going to continue to use it to rile them up and it would most probably work, Lizzy knew.

The orange-haired teen recomposed herself. "No!" she argues, allowing her voice to cxarry throughout the room. She looked Cass directly in the eyes. "Phil and I are not engaging in sexual activities! Quite frankly, Cass, I'm still a virgin. I just think visiting a museum might be interesting. If my best friend happens to be going, good for us." That was when Ariel cut in and Liz loved her for it. She walks over to Phil, standing near Ariel herself. Liz nodded at every word the girl, who might have well been her sister, said before continuing herself, looking in Cass' direction again.

"Just because Phil and I are of the opposite gender and are best friends doesn't mean we're banging each other! We're not even dating," she points out before, with a sigh, reassessing the room and those in it. Quickly Theo changed the topic, good, they did not need to continue talking about this. She gave her friend a kind, grateful smile as he gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. Theo was very protective of Lizzy, being the youngest lead most of your friends to want to treat you like a younger sister, even though she acted very much like a mother to them a lot of the time.

---

---

Alex sat by as the room slowly filled with people. He watched as Cass and who he assumed to be Jamie, he had only heard a breif discription of him from Ariel a few weeks ago, came into the room followed by Jarvis and Phillip. When he heard Cass and Phillip make their comments about each other Alex almost said something but chose not to deciding it wouldn't be the nest course of action. When Jarvis came over to the cookies and addressed Theo and him, Alex just responded with a head nod and wave of the hand. Then he heard Phillip make a retort to Jamie as well with which Jamie made a response. Alex really hoped that these three didn't act like this the whole trip or he would feel obligated to do something. When Ada came in Alex still sat back and didn't speak to anyone. He liked this. He didn't have to worry about talking during the trip because the room was filling with lots of speakers. When Jarek walked in and picked up Jarvis Alex wasn't surprised at all. Those two seemed like the best of friends and Alex didn't think anything would be able to change that.

Noticing that everyone who Ariel told him would be here had shown up, Alex started his usual inner dialogue on each individual. First was Ariel, who he called Little Mermaid. Out of all the people in the room she was the person he was probably closest to and that's saying something. She is one of the few he can open up to and just talk. She understands that he doesn't like talking about things the way most people do and when they do talk it's not just things like how ones day is going. He also watches her YouTube videos despite not liking the same kind of music to the extent that she does. He even reads her blog from time to time but hasn't told her that. He can tell she is hiding something from people but has no idea what. By his nature he will probably never ask mainly because he has his own secrets and feels if she tells him hers that he should tell her his. Which he won't do. Not because he doesn't appreciate her as a friend but because he doesn't want to load her down with the pain he feels inside.

He then turned to the older sister of one of his better friends. Alex met Lizzy, who he prefers to call Momma Jones due to her motherly nature, and her brother because of Ariel. Alex started spending time with Josh mainly because he clicked a lot better with those younger than him. Alex felt that most his age would always forget him or just ditch him. With kids though they tended to look up to Alex not just because of his height though. Alex always loves to be that older brother type. With Josh and Ariel every now and then saying something about Lizzy, Alex really doesn't know what to think about her. Alex does feel like the two of them are somewhat like the mother and father of the group yet not. She will be a soothing yet authoritative hand depending on the situation, and he will, really only if asked, give the fatherly like advice while making sure they don't get everyone in trouble. Alex usually leaves the chaos control to Lizzy though opting to only intervene when things get really bad.

Next he turned his attention to Theo, who he called Pres. This guy liked to get high just like Alex. On adrenaline I mean. Alex just wasn't as open about it and didn't do it as often. He usually only climbed rocks and hills wherever he could find them. Amazing places to get some alone time. Alex liked hanging with the guy though. If Theo ever asked him to do something that got the heart pumping Alex would join without hesitation. Alex would also try his best to get some of Theo's moms cooking. Good food was good food and that is definitely something that Theo's mom made. If Theo ever said no to Alex's request for food Alex would offer to tutor Theo in math as an exchange.

Alex then proceeded to observe Jarvis, which was Hugo Strange to Alex. This kid, from what he was told, had a lot of the same interest as Alex namely video games and comic books. This guy seemed to have more knowledge on Marvel and DC than Wikipedia. Alex would spend more time with the dude but didn't wan to risk getting into an argument about the comic book genre, because everyone knows it's impossible for two people to have the exact same view on every detail when it came to comic books.

Next was Crass Rowley. He knows it's Cass but deliberately calls her Crass. Not to be mean or anything like that but because that is just how she acts. Alex knows she isn't unintelligent, but he still calls her Crass Rowley. The only reason he even spoke to the girl at all though was because they had similar friends. So he would at times go out of his way to be kind even if she wasn't. Unless she did something really bad, which hasn't happened yet, she would never be able to get anything that seemed unkind to come from Alex other than the nickname by which he calls her.

Alex then looked to the person beside Crass which happened to be Ada, commonly called Jubilee by Alex for no real reason at all other than to be different. She was definitely different than Alex. While anyone other than those close to him would say Alex is shy no one would ever even think about calling Ada shy. She was outgoing and quite possibly knew more people now than Alex ever would. They didn't speak to each other that much due to being on opposites sides of the Introvert/Extrovert scale, but they got along well enough.

Then the next inspection belonged to PI, a.k.a. Phillip. Alex didn't know much about him other than what Lizzy mentioned about him from time to time. He does know that the guy likes history which Alex wants to get into a conversation about with him one day since not that many people like history. Alex did wonder though why he had come. From what Lizzy and Ariel told him this guy did not like being around others so Alex had no idea why he would put himself near people who would be very-uhh-out there.

When Alex's eyes landed on Wilhelm Scream, otherwise known as Jarek, Alex noticed the kid was doing the same exact thing as he was. Observing. Watching those around him and developing thoughts and ideas on the individuals. Despite it being the exact thing Alex was doing he didn't like that someone else was doing it to. That meant that he probably had some idea about Alex, and if he constantly watched like Alex did then that meant his eyes may notice what Alex doesn't want anyone to notice. Himself. Alex preferred to go as unseen as possible. He'd rather no one paid him any attention so that if he felt the need to he could just slip away without anyone even realizing it until minutes later. However, with someone who pays more attention then just to the most prevalent thing going on that would be hard to do. Alex didn't really have anything against Jarek, but felt that if anyone noticed something it would be him.

And then last, but not least, because Alex preferred being considered least at most times, was Jamie. The only person in the room Alex had not met before a few seconds ago. It's usually hard to not make first impressions the main thing you look back to in terms of a person, but despite what Ariel told him about Jamie, Alex didn't like his attitude or demeanor. Alex didn't like people who were considered 'Playboy's' or those who seemed arrogant and cocky. It seemed as though that this was what the guy was. Alex would do his best not to be mean, but he made no promises yet.

With his internal dialogue over Alex started paying attention to the happenings within the room. PI and Momma Jones had reemerged and said the first location was Sacramento. Not Alex's last choice, but certainly down on the list. When the topic changed to transportation Alex decided to let everyone else handle the issue since he was already set-up as luggage carrier. Then the bickering between PI and Crass Rowley started up again. Alex really wished they'd stop, but knew it was highly unlikely.

When Lizzy spoke out though about the constant back-and-forth Alex felt like he should say something. He was the oldest and she was the youngest, yet it was always her being the adult. Each time she had to intervene on something Alex felt a little worse about the situation. Sure everyone in the little group had their individual roles and no one expected Alex to do anything, but shouldn't they. Really though, he was the oldest and quite possibly one of the least responsible. He always sat by and watched anytime an argument started. He rarely ever tried to stop an argument and maybe that should change, but not right now because jumping in now would only add more fuel to the flames. Talking to the two individually would probably be best. In fact he thought of a way to get some conversation in.

His train of thought was dislodged though when Crass made an uncalled for remark. Really though the rumors were old and many had flushed them down the toilet to meet some fishes long ago. It seemed Crass was one of the few who kept pushing it for no reason other than to be a pest as Alex saw it. "Come on Crass, PI. Don't make me be authoritative to. I don't really feel like it, but really let's just get on the road, and please no one say anything until the cars are moving down the road. And if we lack seating someone can ride with me in my truck. There would be room for one. I do have to say though that the ride would be pretty quiet. Offer is open to anyone who wants to take it though. I just recommend keeping Crass and PI in separate cars is all."

---

---

Damn, James was enjoying this already and they hadn't even gotten out the house yet. People were so fun to fuck with and at the moment, Cass was doing a hell of a job at it. It kind of looked like Lizzy got sucker punched by Cass' words, her expression was priceless. James doubted there was a more sensitive nerve that his partner in evil could have struck. Lizzy immediately denied any attraction towards Phil, this guy was so far into the friend-zone he was like a brother to her. Jamie couldn't help but to laugh a little when she called it "sexual activities."

"Jesus Liz, you sounds like a nun. I don't engage in pre-marital sexual activities, I am a pure Christian." He imitated this in his best nun impersonation. Then he heard that she was still a virgin, which he hadn't expected. "Oh but uh, I mean, waiting is cool I guess. Less fun, but cool I guess."

Cass accepted his bet and Jamie grinned, devilish glint in his eyes back once again. "I got it, loser has to streak in one of the towns we go to." Then, Wolfe had the best idea ever. "Oh shit! Brainstorm! I vote we go skinny dipping at some point. That's on my bucket list, right under fucking on a boat. I've done it on or in most other vehicles but bangin' on a boat has been the most difficult by far honestly. Mostly 'cuz I don't have a friggin' boat."

After James had called shotgun, Phil asked if he could tag along, ugh, way to put a damper on things. "I mean, as long as you and Liz don't make out in the back I'm cool with it. And if you fuck in the backseat, like, give me a warning man. I don't wanna look back and see you're white ass going to town. Oh and bring a towel, it'd be awfully rude if you stained Ari's seats."

Alex, who had practically been a ghost while everyone had been talking back and forth, finally spoke up. James didn't really know much about the guy, but he seemed like a party-pooper with the "settle down children," attitude he had. Maybe he was the Dad to Lizzy's Mom.

"Are all of you guys gonna complain this whole trip? Live a little for fucks sake. Let everyone do their own shit and let's have a good time, it's a pretty simple concept." Jamie was getting bored of just sitting around, could they hurry it up already?

"Okay peeps. Everyone ready? I'm sick of sitting around, I've got a lot of places to see and people to do. I'm a busy guy ya know."

Philip Howard Iverson

---

Insufferable pricks.

Total douchebags.

Worthless sacks of radioactive waste.

Humanity's greatest accidents.

God's greatest mistakes.

Accidental blights upon the timeline of life.

At least he wasn't thinking about those two sitting down next to each other and ma-
Shit.

He refused to let himself think of that, or him and Lizzy in the same state. It was a nice fantasy, but naught but one, and thinking of it would bring no gain, only pain.

Philip briefly wondered if they were religious. Or, if they really loved their parents- he could think up all sorts of pleasing, yet vicious, remarks to make about them. Ooooh, he wanted to rip them a new one, to tear into them like a hyena would a carcass, as a swarm of stereotypical piranhas would a hunk of meat.

But as everyone finished and stopped speaking, Philip looked at everyone, giving half of them that blank look, Lizzy and Ariel that vaguely fond-ish look that was probably twenty steps up from his normal blankness, and giving Jamie and Cass that very quietly said, straight from the depths of his eyes, I will murder you in your fucking sleep.

But he held out his hands in a calming gesture, all pleasant and slight smiles, as if nothing in the world was wrong, as he prepared his reply.

"Can you two please stop? All you're doing is ruining this trip, because, sure, it's a laugh or some shit for you two, but it'll just ruin this entire thing for me and Lizzy- because we are not going at it like Jamie would. So show a little respect, would you? I mean, I know it might kill you too, but you always love a challenge, right? At least you do, Cass. So I challenge you to not make a single snide remark regarding Lizzy and I 'doing' each other. I'll give you fifty bucks if you can last two days. Or are you too weak-minded and with so little control that you can't manage that simple thing?"

He was goading them- or at least, Cass- intentionally, trying to appeal to her... pride? Something in there, hopefully. He wasn't entirely sure if there was anything of worth inside Cass, but he knew that things could always change, or there could be more.

But holy shit, he wanted to punch the assholes in the face.

---

---

watching jar lean back, disconcerted by his rather confusing gesture, jay laughed sharply and stuck his elbow towards the other boy as if to calm him down. he always accused jarvis of being so straight it hurts, and that belief was only amplified whenever his lusting attitude was brushed off this quickly. thankfully, jarvis moved on rather swiftly (even if the redness that had risen to his cheeks wasn't so ready to leave), and jay smiled at his smart retort, turning his head to examine the scar in question. yep, still set on his elbow, and didn't seem to have healed correctly. must be jarvis's shitty nutrition that was responsible. these weren't the only things they got up to that were dangerous - in fact, jarvis seemed to be honey for flies when it came to bullies, and jarek was the swatter in the same metaphorical sense. mean words could only go so far when jay was around; he couldn't count how many times he was suspended or placed in detention throughout school because he was beating down those damned bullies. they had a myriad of things to make fun of about jar, but also plenty of weak spots for jarek to take advantage of when fighting. in that case, he was usually the winner, despite being such a scrawny little kid.

jarek's jaw dropped briefly while he listened to jamie prattle on - though it was hard not to laugh at his made-up unit of measurement: "lizzy and ada size." he supposed it was a perfectly suitable way to size something up. that hint of amusement gradually faded as the young man went on some objectifying tangent about girls. "...you get to hit on both genders, you lucky bitch." jarek half-rolled his eyes and snorted, moving his gaze to the wall and throwing the cookie he'd now crumbled completely in his hands back onto the tray. not only was he being entirely heteronormative, now he was a guy using the word 'bitch.' jay raised an eyebrow at james, considered scolding him, then decided against it. he didn't exactly have the authority when it came to things like this. he did, however, have a fairly snide comment to make. "you could try men, wolfe," he offered, one corner of his mouth raising slightly. maybe he was being a bit too heavy; as the only openly non-heterosexual male presence, though, he had to try and convert. the subject still shifted.

seeing as theo didn't outright deny their coming, jarek was quite pleased that he'd earned them a ride. he wasn't perceptive enough to realise any concerns teddy might have about being a third wheel, but it's not like he would have comforted him over it anyway - actually, if he knew, jay would just worsen things by being more affectionate. in any case, he nodded pleasantly once jarvis agreed in complacency. it was true - at four years old, he was the one who basically stole that poor kid's blanket from him at day care. it was just his luck that he be sent to said kid's school a little while later (expulsion from a private school was hard to talk youself out of, even when rich). that was where they made the bucket list jarvis excitedly mentioned now, actually, including - but not limited to - the resolution they made in high school that read "trash jarek's loser ex's house." that one was around 70% jarvis's idea, come to think of it. speaking of that nerd, jarek shoved him slightly once the pun was made, then scrunched up his nose in an amused little sneer.

despite his disapproval for the unwarranted comment, jarek laughed with cass, mentally slapping himself for it at the same time. he'd only just agreed with liz on the fact that they'd better cool down on the rudeness, and now he was straight-up chuckling at the idea of philip and her fucking - just as quickly as the laugh came, jay shut himself up, placing a hand cradled in the other over his mouth. at ariel's defense, he immediately nodded, trying to make himself look a bit less guilty and removing his hand. the inquiry was a poor choice to make, though; jarek himself knew of the rumours about him and jar, and gladly fed them fuel (much to jarvis's dismay). ada appeared to be moving on with the conversation, but jarek was more interested in moving on physically, following theo's lead towards the door and making sure to do so in reverse steps so he could watch what was going on. no way was he going to miss the interesting conversation that followed rowley's ridiculous accusation.

for sure, lizzy replied with a very hasty no, refuting the remark with somewhat nervously crafted defenses of her own. the offer of money from phil, though, was particularly clever. jarek couldn't resist smiling and wondered if that offer would even hold up - if they took on the bet, that is. not like it was very hard to just tape jamie's and cass's mouths shut, or stick some jolly ranchers between their teeth to stop their jaws. whichever. he likely wouldn't have noticed alex if he didn't have hyper awareness developed to the point of "hairs on the back of your neck" reflexes, but eyes were definitely on him. he usually liked that sensation, but from one person at a time, it felt strange. he didn't bother looking at the blond, figuring that'd only out him for noticing the attention given to him, but quickly glanced over once it seemed alex had moved on. he smiled absently at the little speech the eldest group member gave, agreeing nonverbally with that last comment (however entertaining it might be), and found himself appreciating all the input. alex never seemed to be one to talk very much, so this was an accomplishment.

"fifty bucks, hear that? make it one-fifty - i'm pretty excited to see how well you can hold your tongue." and he had money to spare, anyway. jarek was holding the door open at this point, trying to usher the group out since it was getting old standing around.

Of course Jamie was to take part in this also. As much as they were, to an extent, friends, sometimes Jamie could be a bit of a.... ur... Lizzy attempted to think of a less bitchy word to say than asshole but couldn't really think of any in that moment. As Jamie taunted Phil and her, Lizzy watched him, making it obvious she was unimpressed. She was ready for more crap aimed at her when she mentioned her virginity, however, Jamie's reply was much gentler.

He did that sometimes, soften his voice, not replying in jerkish ways when Lizzy said something that would let most people to Jamie's taunting, it was as if he was afraid to mentally hurt her for some reason and he wasn't the only one who did so. Lizzy was both the smallest and the youngest of her friends, both of those were features that often made others want to protect you or look out for you she supposed, even if you are the motherly one.

Then there was Cass. She remained seated on the couch, smile on her face. She was winning, she had gotten to Liz and Phil with her comments, of course she was pleased. Lizzy knew it was stupid to let it get to her, Cass was, well, Cass, she did things like this all the time. However, it was still getting to her.

Upon the mention of the 'rarity of redheads' as if they were a different breed entirely, Liz couldn't stop her hand from shooting up to her vibrant orange hair. It, quite obviously, wasn't her natural colour. Liz hated her natural hair colour, an off-blonde/brown shade Liz regarded as disgusting. It wasn't always that colour. In her early years of life she was actually a ginger-haired child, however, it faded into the colour it is now. Or would be, at least, if Liz didn't dye it consistently.

When she was 13 she found some old photos from when she had ginger hair which inspired her to dye her hair orange. Her parents were quite easy on their children, particularly Lizzy in her early-developed maturity, possibly too much so. At 13 she could have gone out, gotten drunk, gotten laid and fallen pregnant yet her parents would barely bat an eyelid about it, not that such a situation was her cup-of-tea at all. So when she requested to dye her hair they had no problems with it.

She blinked a couple of times to calm her wandering, reminiscent mind and focus again on the current scene before her.

"But hey, what's the matter, Truckstop? You got a hard-on for Red Riding Hood too? Hear that, Lizard? You've got options, girl. But why choose? Nothing says magical first time experience like being the line in the letter-"

At this point Lizzy wouldn't have been surprised if Cass would eventually theorize every male in the the room wanted to get lucky with the orange-haired teen. Lizzy held back a biting remark, she wasn't going to stoop to her level and instead gave a sigh, once again pinching the bridge of her nose. Before Cass could go on she was cut off.

Philip, whom Lizzy almost always affectionately called Philly, once again spoke. That was the second time that day he had surprised Lizzy by how much he said in the company of others besides herself and maybe Ariel. She gives her best friend a kind smile and clearly mouthed the words thank you.

"Uh... Cas, there's 48 hours in two days. Seriously, you should know that," Lizzy points out softly, saying something for the lack of speech she took to, almost as if Phil and her swapped roles briefly. Soon enough Cass made her way to the door as Theo had not too long ago.

Lizzy clapped Philly on the shoulder and gave Ariel a smile. "We better get the cookies into containers and make way to Sacramento. Where's our first stop?"

---

---

It was then that Ada popped up. "Oh! Could we go shopping? Everyone loves to shop."

Ariel laughed. "If it's okay with everyone else I guess we could."

"Uh... Cas, there's 48 hours in two days. Seriously, you should know that," Lizzy pointed out to Cass as she was walking out the door. It was then that her friend gave her a smile."We better get the cookies into containers and make way to Sacramento. Where's our first stop?"

Ariel couldn't help but be surprised at Phils bet. Everyone was heading out the door, and this was actually happening. First stop Phoenix. Because, why not? Oh snap, good thinking Liz." Running into the kitchen, she quickly got a container out of one of the cabinets and put some cookies into it, leaving some for her dad still on the plate. She grabbed her overstuffed duffle bag by the door, handed the container to Liz, and then pulled her car keys out of her pocket in just one swift motion, never stopping her movements just as Ada skipped by. "Okay guys, asses out the door. Let's do this."

---

---

---

---

Theo's ass was out the door long before anyone else. He had always been rather impatient and was already sick of waiting around. Not to mention that he didn't want to listen to any more of the ridiculousness that was swirling around inside. He was glad he wouldn't be riding with either Jamie or Cass. Theo was good at keeping his cool but he had a feeling that if he was stuck in a confined space with either of them for a prolonged period of time, even he would snap.

While the others were still inside, Theo made his way back towards his car, giving Ariel's neighbor a large smile and a wave. He was never particularly fond of life in suburbia. Everyone was so nosy and knew everyone elses business like it was somehow their own. Theo was a city kid. In the city, no one really paid each other much attention and it was far easier to go unnoticed. Theo liked that. There was probably some kind of deep rooted psychological reason behind this but he didn't want to get into that.

He opened the back door of the red Dodge Charger that was his pride and joy and stuck his head in to grab the couple of bags he had chucked in there earlier. They were promptly chucked in the trunk with exactly as much care as he had chucked them in the back seat. It was only then that he realized his skateboard was in there. He pulled it out from under one of his bags and flipped it in his hands. He hoped there would be time to ride at some point soon. If not, it could at least be used as a blunt object to bash Jamie or Cass over the head. He couldn't help but smile at that thought. He wouldn't actually bludgeon them to death but it sure was fun to think about.

With another flip, he placed the skateboard back in the trunk with far more care than he had given his bags and closed the trunk. All that was left to do then was meander over to the side of the car and wait for the others. He pressed his back against the driver's side door and crossed his arms over his chest. He noticed then that the neighbor was still giving him the eye. To which Theo responded by puckering up and kissing at the air in his direction.

It was hard to keep up with everything occurring in the room, to be honest. Jarvis wasn't used to being in the presence of so many people at once, and it was a bit overwhelming, trying to focus on more than one thing. Focusing on the cookies sounded like the prime thing to do then, didn't it? It doesn't mean he wasn't aware of what everyone else was saying, and that he wasn't drawing his own opinions on the matters, but the cookies had most of his attention, to be honest. Because cookies. He was actually naive enough to think things were calming down in the room, because it seemed like they were finally going to move outside, and actually get on the road. Which had been the whole purpose for this so he wasn't sure why everyone was taking their sweet ass time. He was excited to get out and see new places, since he hadn't really gotten out before. Jarek had tried to drag him on family trips outside of the state before but Jarvis always resisted, insisting his Dad needed him here... expect for that one time Jarek was successful but Jarvis didn't want to recall that specific trip at the moment.

But now he was eighteen, and he was applying for colleges far away, and it was time for him to attempt to spread his wings. This summer would prepare him for being without his Dad, and basically on his own, for when he went to college next year. He didn't linger on those thoughts either, eyes quickly cutting to Jarek, who was two years younger than him. He hadn't told him yet that he had been applying for a few colleges already, one being Stanford for science, specifically Physics, and that he was pretty positive he would be accepted into all of them. If not all of them, then at least one, and they all weren't around here. He couldn't bring himself to tell Jarek just yet that he was planning on not only leaving town and his Dad behind, but Jarek too. Sometimes, Jarvis felt like he should just stay here, go to a community college, stick with the things he knew and the people he cared for, but he felt like there was so much out there and he didn't want to miss it.

Crap, these cookies must be thought-provoking. He caught himself staring at Jarek from the corner of his eye and snatched up another cookie to fill his mouth with. Well, he had been paying attention to everyone, but from that little space out, he did miss some conversation. He could probably fill in the blanks: Cass made some disrespectful comment, Jamie said something about a woman's butt, Philip was getting 110 percent done with everyone, and Lizzy was trying to keep the peace. Yep, he probably just called a lot of what happened. However, his brain decided to tune in right as Jarek spoke. He had been vaguely aware of him, only now noticing he hadn't even ate his cookie and frowning, but his thoughts didn't linger on it, because he heard the words, "you could try men, wolfe."

After that, the cookies didn't have that good of a taste, and Jarvis was sort of done with them anyway. He moved away from Jarek without a glance at him, deciding instead to go over to his other closest friend, Ada. "You're gonna leave me stuck with Jarek?" he whined, loudly, with the purpose of Jarek hearing. Even Jarvis had his streak of being a little shit sometimes, even if he didn't want to acknowledge what had triggered that reaction in the first place. He ignored the bets of money being thrown around, especially when Jarek popped into that conversation. The rich boy was always spoiling him with his riches, no matter how many times Jarvis had told him to stop. He wouldn't ever tell Jarek that he envied him for the money he had; Jarvis never knew the feeling of a big bank account or heavy wallet, but he hoped he would one day. He hated taking money from Jarek whenever he offered, because he didn't want to rely on anyone, even Jarek. Though, he would admit, he was excited, too, to see how well Cass could hold her tongue.

He smiled at Ada, lightly nudging her in the side. "Shopping at a comic book store? Video game store? Sure, I'm on board!" he teased her, giving her a gentle smile. He did adore Ada. She was someone who got him with certain matters, someone he had confided in, and someone he considered a very close friend. No one would be on Jarek's level, because Jarvis was bias and gave him too much credit a lot of the time, but Ada was a very close second. He glanced over, catching sight of Theo going out the door. At least someone finally had the right idea. Just get out there and let the others follow. He wondered where he should put his bags, if Theo even had room in his trunk. He'd find out, he'd guess. "You can ride with Cass, if you want, Princess. But I'm funner." he playfully nudged her again, that same gentle smile on his face. He did throw Cass the same smile, because he wasn't going to be outright rude to her, and he was only joking. Jarvis was rarely rude, it was just in his nature to be kind, and not judgmental at all (even though, admittedly, that was sometimes hard to uphold that gentle nature of his).

He gave Ada a playful wink before moving on, to grab up his bags and follow after Theo. He didn't want to keep him waiting, and the purpose of this whole thing was to be in cars, not in a house, feeling tensions go up and down. He came out just in time to see Theo messing with the neighbor; it made him laugh as he approached the very pretty car. "Trying to pick up a date?" he asked, chuckling to himself, before briefly lifting up his two bags so it caught Theo's attention. "Is there enough room in your trunk for my junk?" he asked, at first not thinking nothing of it, then he blinked. His cheeks grew a little darker and he laughed, a bit of nervousness creeping into the edge of it. "Uh, okay, wow, suggestive..." he nearly winced at his own very failed recovery and cleared his throat a little. "You know what I mean," he grumbled, not looking at Theo now, instead looking down at his worn sneakers and scuffing the toe of one against the paved driveway. Smoooooth. Way to play that one off, Moore, totally not obvious to everyone within a ten mile radius.

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Jeez, Cheese-Steak was more of a wuss than he first thought. Not only was be bitching about the jokes from Cass and himself, but he offered to bribe them. What the fuck? "Really, you can't handle a couple of jokes man? Imagine how much of a pussy you would look like if in the real world you tried to pull that shit. Like you'd be doing your job or whatever and some co-workers start making jokes. Then you offer to pay them to shut up? They'd tell you to fuck off cuz that's weird as Hell." Jamie sometimes got distracted by how a person phrased a certain sentence. He had a way with words so he tended to pay close attention to what others said.

Sadly, he didn't have enough time to fire another string of jokes at Phil because he seemed to have sparked the group into motion. Everyone started to get their shit together and it hit him fast. They were actually about to do this. It was crazy, his last big bang before having to grow up. It made him think, ya know? What had he accomplished so far in his 18 years of living on this beautiful, crazy, world? Nothing, he had accomplished nothing. Well, nothing with a strong impact, not to him at least. Sure, he had enjoyed himself: partying, drinking, smoking, banging, etc. But those were all temporary pleasures. Almost every morning after having a good time the night before, he felt like absolute trash. What was it all for? The memories and stories he could share when he was older? No one was going to want to hear about how he got so trashed one night at a party that he ended up in bed with two girls but right before shit got good he puked on the bed. Who in their right mind would want to tell adults anything like that?

Before he could become too absorbed in his thoughts, he was pulled out by everyone exiting the house. Damn, he almost felt weird for a second there, he put his game face back on. Fuck thinking too hard, it stopped him from having fun. James slid out the door and grasped his keys from his pocket to pop his trunk. He managed to get his luggage out easy enough and rolled it over to Alex's ride. He recognized it from the school parking lot so he just left it there, he figured Alex would want to organize it the way he wanted to. Not missing a beat, he made sure his car was locked and okay before sauntering to Ariel's Kia, waiting for her to unlock it. He was going to make another joke about Phil and Liz banging when they arrived, seeing as he wasn't tied to the bet, but he kept his mouth shut for once. It was because of Lizzy, she seemed more bugged by his chaos than Phil, and he actually liked Liz. He counted that as his good deed of the day, but since he was gonna have to deal with Phil the whole, he assumed it was about as nice as he could get. It was gonna be a hell of a ride.

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One side of Theo's mouth turned up into a smirk at Jarvis' comment about trying to pick up a date before he replied "Please, I'm way out of his league."
Jar's next comment made Theo fully smile. Well not so much the comment but Jar's own reaction to it. Theo knew exactly what Jar meant but he kind of enjoyed watching him squirm a little. Not in the same way that Cass seemed to enjoy watching others squirm...Or maybe it was. Theo didn't want to think about that too much. He laughed slightly as Jar turned red with embarrassment. It was just a harmless double entendre, albeit an unintentional one. Theo didn't see much to be embarrassed about. In fact he was going to play along and make his friend even more uncomfortable. He pushed himself off of the car and quickly moved towards Jarvis as he said "There's always room in my trunk for your junk." He took the bags from Jar and turned towards the back of the car but not before giving Jarvis a suggestive wink.

Theo had no doubt that if Jamie of Crass had overheard that comment, they would have some stupid and highly inappropriate gay joke to make about it but he didn't care. He wasn't into Jarvis but he was comfortable enough with himself to joke about it. He made a mental note to catch Cheese Steak for a moment later and teach him how to ignore their barbs. Or maybe he'd just show him how throw a punch...There was still that option.