Cyrus smiled at Leo and kindly gave a light-hearted laugh before responding to his comment,
"Well y-yeah I guess I should be, but I think I prefer to be in the back. I like watching stuff as we go by. Plus, the guy in the back always gets top snack and nap priority. So I guess I set myself up nicely in the long run.Oh let me pass this up front by the way, we could play it at some point".

He reaches into his small duffel bag and begins to pull out a small disc enclosed inside of a casing. He'd then pass it forward to ben. On the discs there would be the words "Graduation PANSIES 2K17".

"Sorry about the title, I thought it would be a little funny to give each one of the disc it's own funny little message."

Ben looked at the Disc that was handed up and let out a laugh! He put the new disc into the player and let out a bigger laugh when the first song was No Sleep Till Brooklyn. The sun was starting to hang low in the sky as they made their way closer to NYC. He was tapping along to the beat on the steering wheel. "SO! what is everyone's plan once we reach New york City?".He asked everyone in the car. Ben wasn't really sure what he was going to do. He was fishing for ideas. He could find something to skate and get in more practice in before the he reaches the west coast. He all of a sudden swallowed hard and let out a deep breath. He was definitely nervous about the X Games and not knowing what to do when he got there. Plus if he didn't get in. What would he do with the rest of life? He leans back and keeping his eye on the road holding the steering wheel with his right hand and has his left arm out the window but he brings it up and bites on his fingers knuckle. They started to reach the outskirts of New York with the tall skyscrapers of the city in the background. I'll deal with it when it happens I guess He thinks to himself.

Zac wore an excited smile as they started to pull out of the parking lot, tapping his hand to the beat of the song, humming along with the melody softly. An appropriate first song for the trip. He nodded at Roawn's question, making sure to follow Ben. "Yeah, I think so. That should be fun. Either of you been there before?" He asked before Rowan started calling out to people as they drove past the front of the school. Their dad's apparently. "They're not happy you're going huh?"

As they were stopped at a set of traffic lights, Zac glanced back at Claire quickly with a smile before shrugging at her question. "Not much to tell really. Just a music nerd who likes to write as well as play. Fairly boring."

He continued to follow Ben, making sure not to lose them, the smile on his face not fading. He listened happily to anything the other two had to say, enjoying the company and the music. He hadn't gone on a road trio without his family before, and he definitely had a good feeling about this one already.

Rowan shook their head. "No. And I knew they wouldn't be. That's why I told them I was going last second...." She turned from the window, leaving her fathers behind. "I've never been to New York. Don't really travel much. I've always wanted to go." They bit their bottom lip. They'd never really talked to anyone they were traveling with before.

"How long do you think we'll be stopped there? I...I have some things I'd like to do. Or at least, try to do," Rowan said with a chuckle. Now, they turned to Claire. "Something about myself? Well, I lived in California, so it'll be nice to be back there. And as you saw, my dads didn't like me leaving them."

Leo watched as Ben placed the CD in the player and then placed his head back on the rest. "Hey, this is more of a rotating seating kind of deal right?" He said, looking towards Ben, suddenly worried. While he has stayed up for about twenty four hours before, he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep his eyes open on the road. He didn't exactly want to sleep on Ben. That'd be rude of him.

"Take a shot of anything interesting." Came Leo's reply added with a chuckle. Honestly, he never planned anything beforehand. He just thought of winging everything. Besides, the only reason why he came along was to get to know these people better and have some more fun. Okay, you could also say that he had some other things to do in California but that was a story for another time.

He looked back at the van where Zac and the girls were. He planned to take a picture but it wouldn't really amount to much of a shot so he decided not to take it. He fixed himself on his seat again, "I wonder what kind of surprises wait for us here." He said before bringing his camera up and taking a picture of the incoming city.

Ben looked over at Leo when he asked about the seats. "Yeah Bro. I just figured people will call dibs on seats.". Ben looked back at the road and let out a breath. He never was good at making friends and keeping friends. He just shrugged it off and looked in the rear view mirror to see Cyrus in the backseat. "You awake back there?" He didn't try and say it loud just in case he was asleep. Ben smiled when he saw Leo take a picture. "Did it turn out okay?". He asked Leo. They started getting closer to the hub of New York City and traffic was beginning to get backed up and heavy. "Wow this city truly never sleeps huh?". As two police cars speed by with there lights on and sirens whirling. Ben grips his steering wheel and goes when the lights change and they get on the Brooklyn bridge finally heading down town. He pulls out his cell phone and hands it to Leo. "Call Zac.. We're looking for a room and food. Someone in his van might have good idea of where we can get both..

"Yeah I'm wide awake back here, if anything I'll probably pass out from starvation. I didn't eat breakfast before the ceremony and I don't want to eat any of my snacks right now."

He'd be paying close attention to the cop cars flashing by,a worrisome look would come over his face.

"I hope whatever is going on, that whoevers involved will be okay."

"Turned out fine!" Leo said with a grin on his face. As they went in deeper to New York City, traffic became commonplace. He propped his elbow on the side of the car as he waited for them to move again. "Well, let's look around for somewhere to eat yeah?" He told the other boy before the cops whizzed past them. Oh man, that probably wasn't good. Then again, the denser the city, the higher the crime rate. Hopefully, they won't somehow get involved with the police. His father would kill him.

He then took Ben's phone before dialing Zac. Once he picked up, Leo would start speaking. "Yo, Zac, do you or the girls know of a place to crash and eat? We can keep driving and looking but it'd be best for us to actually have a destination."

At the edge of the New York city boarder a run-away orphan girl wearing a tie-die crop-top and a pair of overalls had parked herself on the side of the road with her thumb out pointing in the direction she was heading and her skateboard and dufflebag resting against eachother on the ground.

Jaclyn huffs out of boredom has she sits down on her duffel bag and pushes up her round thick sunglasses has she watched the cars go by trying to pass herself In the hot summer sun before standing up and waving her arms in the air when she say a tealish van come her way.

"HEY! HEY WAIT!" She yells trying to get their attention hoping they would notice her and give her a lift to South California so she could make her name known in this world and leave the memories behind in New York and finally get a happy ending in her life dispute her bad luck she has had her whole life. She jumps up and down waving her arms in the air hoping someone or anyone would pull over to give her a ride and wouldn't be a weird creep thinking she is some prostitute or little boy lost.

Zac shrugged a little, still bopping along to the music as he drove along the highway. "Not sure, maybe a day or two?" He answered Rowan's question, though slightly unsure. "Enough to get a good amount of stuff done I hope. I'm hoping to catch a gig while we're there. I went on Facebook earlier and there's a pretty good one on tomorrow night."

After a while, his phone rings, and he picks it up rather quickly, holding it to his ear with his shoulder. "Hey Leo. Yeah, I have a friend with an apartment in Manhattan who is out of town for the weekend and he said we can use his place. I'll get Rowan to text you the address." After he hung up, he handed the phone over to Rowan. "The address is the latest note in there. But please, for your own sake, don't go through reading any others." He warned with an uneasy snicker.

As they continued to drive, something caught Zac's eye. Someone on the side of the road. A hitchhiker. At first, he didn't give it much thought, but as they got closer, he saw it was a girl who looked about their age. And she looked rather desperate too, flagging them down rather enthusiastically. Normally, Zac wasn't the kind of guy to pick up ransoms off the side of the street, but this trip was about trying new things. Taking risks. So that's what he did. "I'm gonna pick her up... Though Claire, she's getting in with you, so, uh... Watch our stuff and maybe keep something you could use as a weapon next to you..." He warned the other two, as he pulled over to the side of the road, next to the girl. "Hey, uh, need a ride?"

Rowan gave a 'yes' gesture, pumping their fist. Perhaps they'd be able to see a musical. Whatever musical would be fine by them. Then Zac received a call, and he picked it up. When he was done, he handed the phone over to Rowan and told them to text Ben the address. He warned them not to go through the other notes, and they giggled.
"Of course not, Zac. I respect your privacy." They had to admit that they were tempted to look at the other notes, what with some interesting names, but didn't. They texted Ben the address and handed Zac back his phone. When he talked about picking "her" up, Rowan looked up and saw a girl on the side of the road. She stared at the girl, taken back by the appearance. It looked like something they might wear. Rowan was fascinated with the girl, before shaking their head.
"Hey, uh, need a ride?" she heard Zac say.
Oh girl, please say yes! she thought. It was no doubt in Rowan's mind that the girl looked, ah, cute to them.

Jacklynn quickly ran back and grabbed there stuff as she saw them pull over and walks up the the window of the passenger side back door. "Thank you guys so much! And yeah, I'm hope to get to South Cali or some where Near that has long has its on the opposite side of the country!" She says smiling happily at everyone inside the van, "The name is Jacklynn, but if y'all wanna you can just call me leapfrog, since its my street name. If there is any way I can repay any of y'all just let me know." She pulls open the door and poked her head in to get a better look at the people she'll be riding with.

She started in the back of the car making mental notes of what everyone was wearing and what kimd of persom they might be. Tho, one of them really caught their eye since they couldn't figure out if it was a girl or boy, so the decided that they, where whoever they are and it didn't matter but with the other it was pretty easy to figure out. She was also at the same starting to make a mental plan while waiting for a response form them and I direction to where they could sit at.

"Your street name?" Claire raised an eyebrow at the newcomer that Zac had just decided to pick up from the side of the road near New York City. Somewhere back in Massachusetts, her parents were having a heart attack. Surely they cared little for her outside of her physical safety, but they hadn't even let her leave the street unsupervised until age thirteen let alone would they be ever be even remotely alright with her (and her new "friends", if they could be called that just yet) picking up a random hitchhiker from the side of the road.

"Welcome to the group, I guess. My name is Claire. Try to enjoy your stay with us."

"I hope so to..". Ben was worried and didn't like this part of town. He received the text and copied the address and googled it and got a map to it on his phone. He started heading that way when he saw the van pull over. No. Oh no please. Don't let them be having engine issues. Ben could fix almost anything but he wouldn't want to fix on the side of this busy road and in this questionable neighborhood. He pulled off to the side down the road just a few yards and looked in his mirror again and saw someone getting in the van. He twisted around to take a better look and saw someone grabbing they're stuff. "Looks like we picked up a hitch hiker. Hope they like SoCal..." When he saw Zac was ready to go, he started heading toward the address he was given. They were finally out of the questionable neighborhood and into a nicer and quieter part of New York City. Ben's phone said turn left at the light and he was on the wrong side of the road, he crossed over a couple lanes of traffic and got flipped off by 3 different drivers. Trying to sink into his sink so he can't be seen he waved his hand out as an apology. He wasn't use to this much traffic. He finally turned and pulled up to the apartment complex. He pulled into a parking space that had a free space next to it and shut off the car. He was interested in the hitch hiker. He got out of the driver seat and stretched out the stiffness in his back and arms. He twirled his keys around his finger as he walked to the trunk, he put in the trunk key and twisted and the trunk opened up so people could get their luggage. He grabbed his skateboard and waited for everyone else.

Hey um Ben? We should look around before leaving the car here, city parking can be a little too vague sometimes and it would suck to get towed for parking in the wrong spot. By the way what are gonna do for food and bed tonight? I dozed off back here for a while, this thing drives real smooth.

He yawns and covers his mouth and wipes his eyes a bit.

"Welcome aboard, Jacklynn!" He called out cheerfully, pointing to another seat that was across from Claire. "South Cali huh? That's actually exactly where we're going! So you're in luck. We are probably gonna spend the weekend in the city here though, hope that's okay?" He smiled at the girl, his eyes scanning the girl briefly before turning around again and getting back on the road. She was pretty cute, he had to admit... Her style was, interesting to say the least, but he kinda liked it.

As they were ready to go again, Zac noticed Ben had waited for them, and he let out a sigh of relief. He kept driving, staying close to the other car so they didn't lose each other. "I'm Zac, by the way." He called out to the new girl. It would be very obvious by the luggage in the back of the van that someone was a musician. Three guitar cases, another instrument case of some kind, maybe a keyboard, and... Was that a disassembled drum kit in the corner, wrapped in towels for travel purposes?

After not too long, they were in the city, and Zac followed Ben into a parking complex, not for from the apartment they were staying in. He pulled up next to Ben's car and smiled at them as he turned off the van. "Hey guys!"

Leo gave the phone back to Ben once the conversation ended before looking back to see that the van had stopped. "A hitch hiker huh? Well, well, this got interesting." Leo said with a chuckle before the Impala began to move again. He looked around the area, feeling a little vulnerable. This was the shady part of New York City and he wasn't much of a fan of criminals. He got in trouble with them once, because of his father, and he'd rather not go back to that. His hand rubbed his neck for a moment before settling back on his lap.

They got out of the neighborhood and then Ben just so happened to get on the wrong side of the lane. "Damn Ben be careful." He said, grabbing onto the door and then lowering himself like Ben so they wouldn't be seen. Last thing he wanted was getting trouble with the locals. Once they were parked, he took off his seatbelt and exited the car. He looked back at Cyrus, "Ah don't worry man. We're gonna live here in this apartment for a while." He said, gesturing to the apartment complex close to them.

As the van pulled up, he took another picture of the people inside going out. "We are forever grateful to your friends for giving us this wonderful place to stay~" He said in a mockingly regal way before flourishing a bow.

"Yeha I'm a skateboarder In New York City and Manhattan, so when we have competitions we go by street name based on ow styles and what not. So because I'm so good and jumps and keeping my feet off the ground and in the air, I got the name LeapFrog," Jacklynn explained has she shifted her stuff around and hopped up into the car with the skateboard closest to her, "Well its a pleasure to meet you all." She smiles happily as she looked out the window watching them pull away and start driving to where Zac said they will be staying at for the night.

Once they got to the apartments she climbed out and stretched stiffly still holding onto her skateboard. She looked around the place as it reminded her of a building that she would always skate at since it's normally pretty dead and she would get in so much trouble for doing so but it was a lot of fun. She watches has another car pull up, she sets down her skateboard and balanced herself on it as she waited for everyone, "Quick question. Where are y'all from? I have never seen you around here before and if any of y'all play those instruments and you are part of a band, then i would love to hear you guys play."

He unbuckled his seat belt while looking at Leo. He gave him a silent nod and simply followed behind Ben and him as they left the car. He reached into husband pockets and pullled out some earbuds that were wrapped around his phone and proceeded to put them in after selecting a song from his Spotify on his phone. He nodded his head to the beat and followed the lead of his buddies.