You said it, queen, thought Aleks Belikov.





"Hmmph."

Aleksandr Belikov looked to his right, staring daggers into the spoiled thot that had halved the free space he'd originally imagined having in his Elise. Even though the planning for their road trip had hardly been haphazard, it seemed like they were constantly running into issues that threatened to derail the whole thing. Chris was rendered unavailable, putting the work into his career - which apparently amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors in the eyes of AJ. AJ, who would fistfight a fucking school bus if he thought Jamie and his new boyfriend had once ridden it to a fourth grade field trip. Dumb, naive AJ and his dumb, perfect ass. And then there was that greatest of existential questions - is Yessi coming?? The answer was a complete crapshoot. She'd had her heart set on taking her Tesla across country with them, probably so she could trick herself into thinking she was a better racer than Aleks, Monica, or Ellie. Meanwhile, what would she be doing? Enjoying the open road? The sights and smells of America?

(Such as they are.)

Nope. She would be be using the Roadster's vaunted autopilot, cruising along with minimal direct involvement while she spent the whole trip on Snapchat. When that was the plan, he couldn't have given a fuck less. It meant he could put the Elise through its paces without any distractions. But it seemed that overnight, a dilemma had struck her - charging the damn thing. Suddenly, she was in an uproar, a tornado of high-pitched panicking and broken Spanish that was fretting over her entire availability. She had gotten so keyed up that she had even started to rip open her bags, unpacking things and repacking them as she waffled over whether she would be able to join the rest of their friends. For a while he had let her do it; he knew what she wanted him to ask, but he wasn't about to cave in. He only did so when it looked like she was going to fling herself from her Calabasas water slide to an early grave that he surrendered. At the time, he thought he was being a good best friend.

Now Aleks realized what a fucking imbecile he truly was. One morning into the trip - they hadn't even left the Los Angeles metropolitan area! - and what was she complaining about? They had gone to Starbucks that morning, and she wanted a sip of Aleks' Strawberry Açai Refresher. Even though she had a perfectly serviceable iced Blonde Americano. With her stupid coconut milk and everything. Coconut milk. Coconut water he could understand; it was the perfect hangover cure, but good luck explaining that to her. She wanted coconut milk. Oh, and cupholders. She was tired of holding her own fucking drink, and didn't know why Aleks' Lotus had no cupholders.

Because it was a Lotus Elise 260 Cup, a fucking British cruise missile, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Colin Chapman's original racecar of the future. Because it was a car he had been desired since he was five years old in London, watching them rip up the streets from the building-length glass window of his family's condo. Because it was his dream car, and Aleks Belikov didn't waste time dreaming of fucking cupholders.

Was Yessi coming??

Jesus Christ, was she ever. But to text his mom the affirmative - just to type out the letters 'Y,' 'E,' 'S' would have felt like a defeat. Instead, he parked the Lotus beside AJ's car and stepped out with his Refresher (considerably lighter, he noticed) in hand. He took a long, deep breath of the 'fresh' air and tilted his head back, eyes half-lidded and lazy, to offer his face to the California sun. He would actually miss the weather. He had never lived in a place with so much sun before. Once he had learned to keep his skin protected from it, he'd found himself growing fond of it.

He would miss the 3x3s, too. He had no idea what other regional burger chains there were in America, but the thought of them filled him with trepidation. Not quite as much trepidation as he felt when he took a single look at AJ, but it was there.

AJ.

He had his sunglasses on, and he sat alone atop one of the bench's. The combination meant his eyes were almost certainly clouded with thoughts of gossip columnists gone by and sex techniques that he'd heard described in excruciating detail that were probably being practiced in Greece as they spoke. Greece.

Have you ever been to Greece? The only thing they should be practicing is a route back to the airport, he'd tried telling AJ, but AJ had a habit of ignoring good advice about terrible boys. The mirror universe of Instagram was filling his head with sweet nothings and murder fantasies, and no amount of sage counsel communicated with a sexy foreign drawl would ever change AJ's mind. He'd learned to live with it, temper his expectations a little, and offer advice that was so manageable even an idiot would have to follow through.

"You have lettuce in your teeth," Aleks warned the idiot, sitting at the bench and rattling his near-empty Starbucks cup.

Baby steps.

---

---

Warm orange light gently glowed as Jules checked his phone for the n'th time that night.

He was tired. There was only so long a person could stare at their ceiling, counting all the faint squiggles and dots that danced at the edge of their vision. And he was tired in the I've-been-up-for-19-hours sense too. But he'd been laying in bed for the past three hours and he knew he probably wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon.

Oh well.

He supposed he could repack everything again. The t-shirt design Memes had asked him for could use some touching up. And his portfolio could use some updating too now that he thought about it.

A soft sigh sounded from his lips as he sat up, pulled the blanket off, and swung his feet off the bed.

---

---

With round shades on, suitcase trailing behind him, and the best internal frame hiking backpack porn commissions could buy, Jules strut down the paths of the Santa Monica beach looking like he was ready to take on the whole world. His sister, who was walking behind him, was moving at a pace that people who didn't think they were on the set of a summer teen blockbuster movie would actually be walking at.

"Why do you do this to me Marsh," his sister finally asked.

"Sorry, I don't talk to peasants who can't afford their own tacos. Too busy being fabu," was his response.

Jules could feel Mimi rolling her eyes behind him, but he didn't care. He was, in his own words, being "fabu."

In any case, today was the day all the little Misfit toys of Santa Monica would finally set off on their cross-country road trip. The announcement of it had been a little bit sudden considering Sami had only given them a week's notice to prepare. Luckily, most of the Misfits came from Beverly Hills so money was no issue for them, and Jules had his own little nest egg saved up that he only dipped into when Mandy wanted to go for another retail therapy session; it was still enough to where he was sure he could comfortably pay for himself and maybe cover one or two of the others in a pinch. Of course it'd also depend if they'd be roughing it for a few days which honestly, Jules wouldn't have minded considering he'd have wanted probably tried to force everyone to at one point on the trip anyway. Otherwise, there really wasn't anything Jules needed to prepare since he already had everything he thought he would need for the trip.

More than the trip though, Jules was excited to finally see everyone again. Since they had all graduated, he thought that they'd all be able to spend more time with each other, live out the best summer they could before everyone inevitably started going their separate ways. Jules would still be relatively close since he was going to USC, but he knew Emilia had wanted to move down to USD, and Val was going back to Florida. It was supposed to be their last chance to make unforgettable memories but... nothing happened. There were no wild adventures. No events of the terrifying and death defying nature. Life seemed to go on like normal.

And then Sami happened.

Sami, Mr I-Can-Fix-It-All, sends one little fucking text and changed everything. Again.

Fucking Sami.

Annoyance continued to drag at his feet as he rounded the corner and saw the taco truck where the Misfits usually met up. Right behind that old, familiar, comforting vehicle that sold even tinier floury vehicles of pure meaty Mexican goodness Jules saw Kim walking up to someone hunched over the - wait is that Sami? Was that the RV? That janky pile of sheet metal on wheels was supposed to be their vehicle to a summer of pure, dumb, teenage fun?

... Fucking Sami.

Well. Nothing to do about it now.

Hiding all exasperation, annoyance, and a million other things behind a mask of unabashed confidence, Jules strode forward toward the pair and exclaimed "What's up bitches, y'all don't need to wait anymore, the party is here," stopping right in front the taco truck. He took a moment to place his order - al pastor and carne asada, obviously - before leaving Mimi with the task of doing everything else involved with it as he walked to the RV.

"Hey Kimmy," he said with a wink towards her, placing all his bags and items at the door.

"Sami," he said, much more curtly than intended. "Need any help."

Astraia should have known what was awaiting her that night.

First of all, her parents were never on the same damn coast, let alone in the state, at the same damn time. Really, to even imagine them in the same house together, AND to have planned a dinner for them all to share? Someone else HAD to have died…

Or maybe she was going to die.





WHEN did she even learn to cook?!?

Do you know how long it had been since Yessi could remember the last time her mother made dinner? No, you don’t and she couldn’t remember either.

This was dangerous territory she was entering. She knew it but fate had other plans for her.

Just when she decided to turn around and make her silent exit back to Aleks’ house, her phone blared signaling the latest response from Jules, and the ushering of her impending doom, via the chorus of Queen Mariah Carey’s 2008 hit. yes we stan.

“Astraia? Come sit down, mi amore.”

Mierda There was no escaping now, with a defeated sigh Yessi met her fate, though not without keeping up the conversation with her favorite pretty boy (and directing all of her attention on him.)



“Astraia, we’ll be expecting an answer upon your return after the summer. Rember, Seoul or Milan.”

”What?”



The past five days were a whirlwind of turmoil, between her parent’s surprise decision to move out of LA, her old fling BLOWING up her phone, and figuring out last minute she’d have to be a passenger on this road trip, Yessi was officially over it.

Not to mention this sudden idea that depriving herself of a necessary dietary component was putting a real damper on her mood.

The quick stop at Starbucks was much needed and greatly appreciated but Aleks’ attitude was not. Why was he so stingy with his drink? All she wanted was a damn sip, she’d gladly share her delicious Americano with him! Honestly, it was probably better than that drink he got anyways.



Just a few sneaky sips later and without a moment’s hesitation, Yessi was jumping out of the Lotus’ passenger seat and smugly into the bustling burger joint. It didn’t take long for her grilled cheese and fries to come out, and for her to slide onto the bench across from the dumbass and right next to Aleks, who was rattling his stupid cup.

“There would be more in there if you would’ve just shared~”

Yessi couldn’t help that she was a brat, she didn’t raise herself. Blame her parents for creating this amazing monster.

“No estamos tontos. The road trip hasn’t even really started. Cheer up or Te voy a dar razones para llorar"

The warning was given in a near perfect imitation of the many times her tía had jumped on her ass when she was a kid. Though a quick toss of a french fry at AJ's dumb face was the Yessi way of assuring you she still tolerated liked you.

Chris' loving greeting was filled with all the things she absolutely adored about him...
"Awh, Chrissy-poo don't give AJ all of your attention, it'll make me jealous." she had an arm wrapped around his bicep and was pressing into him, whispering in just short of a growl, "Fix him before I get the nerve to demonstrate this roundhouse kick I've been practicing."

Yessi was back to her grilled cheese, green eyes shooting between the two besties expectantly as her second favorite asian beauty had entered onto the stage.

"Ah, finally some estrogen! Hurry up and get your food, gordita. I need to be saved from these... men."

Well... she never expected to hear those words come out of her mouth.

Even though Nathan had woken up a few hours ago he had been lying there for at least an hour looking up at the cracked ceiling of his basement bedroom. Today was the day that he and his friend had planned to leave town and travel across the country in a, according to Sami, luxury vehicle. That wasn’t really what was bothering the young man. No the feeling that was eating him up inside was guilt. Guilt because he had yet to tell his sister that he was planning on not coming back. So there he was still in bed chewing on the inside of his cheek rehearsing a dialogue in his head for the fifteenth time. With a frustrated grunt he threw of the covers and finally got out of bed. After a quick shower and finally getting dressed, Nate grabbed the two duffle bags he meticulously packed the night before and his backpack before heading upstairs.

At the kitchen table he found his sister eating breakfast with her back turned to him. Nathan paused in his tracks. He sighed before dropping his bags on the floor as noisily as possible to announce his presence. His sister didn’t move a muscle much less turn around. She was still pissed. A deep sigh left the boy as he rounded the table and took a seat across from Addison. “Hello…” he asked tilting his head almost laying his head flat on the table trying to make his sister look at him. But she just stared down in to her bowl of cereal without acknowledging his existence.

“Look… I know you are angry.” He started as he leant back in his chair staring out of the window. “But I just can’t… stay here anymore. I just can’t watch him walk around like a zombie and sit in his chair as he stares out into the void. I need to get out of this fucking city. I- I need to find out who the fuck I am! And I can’t do it holed up in this house.” he lamented. His head snapping back to attention at his sister standing up suddenly storming towards the sink throwing her bowl in it.

“Just shut up Nate…” she hissed and stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Getting up from the table felt much heavier after hearing the hurt in her voice. But he had people expecting him.

Stepping of the LA public transit always felt like a religious experience. Nathan shook his whole body as if to get rid of the grime from the bus. But that feeling was soon replaced with the warm familiar feeling he always got when he arrived at the Santa Monica beach. Checking his watch he saw that he was quite early. He decided he would take this opportunity to have one last alone time thinking session. So he dumped his bags at the edge of the beach and used them as backrest and sat down in the warm sand.

He spent some time snapping some pictures of the people surfing and playing at the beach, and cracking open his new journal he had gotten to document the trip. Making the first journal entry of many. Suddenly almost two hours had past.

Looking towards the food truck he spotted some of his friends beginning to arrive. With a smile he stood up brushing the sand from his jeans.

“Whats up guys?” he asked as he rounded the food truck giving his friends a small wave. He looked at the RV and let out a low whistle. “Wow… Sami you… uh really hit the jackpot here!” he commented slapping the side of the vehicle. Following his friends lead he put his bag in the door of the RV before sitting down on the floor.

“Hey Jules. Long time no see…” Nate shifted his eyes between his feet and his friend. It was more awkward then he had thought it would be. But since his friend had stopped coming around he had this sinking feeling it was something he had done and on top of that he also felt bad for not reaching out.

“Anyone heard from Em or…. Val?” he asked leaning back on his elbows surveying his friends with a smile.

The sun was shining brightly over the beaches of Santa Monica. Too brightly for the driver of the white 1996 Volvo 850 that was puttering along at its own casual pace. As she continued along Colorado Avenue towards the pier, she muttered something in soft Swedish as she searched for a parking space. Content to give up on trying to find anything near the popular Ocean Front Walk, she pulled into a nearby McDonald's and slammed on the brakes, bringing the veteran vehicle to a stop in the shadow of the Golden Arches.

The senior citizen breathed a sigh of relief as the giant corporate logo did block enough of the sunlight to allow her
to get her bearings. As she adjusted the narrow sunglasses on her nose and shook her head of long hair that was now more platinum than blonde, she turned to the passenger she essentially chauffeuring off on this grand adventure. "That's enough for Gramma," she commented with the Swedish accent still somewhat present in her voice. "I don't need to fight with all the tourists just to be able to smell the seagull poop! I can do that from here!"

The younger woman riding shotgun shook her own blonde hair out and adjusted the aviator shades with the rose tint on the frame. Almost a mirror move of the driver. "It's fine, Gramma! I just appreciate you willing to drive me down to the pier at all! I mean, I know you'd rather I not leave on this trip."

"This is true," Gramma admitted. "But I also know you can't be moping around the house with your parents gone all day just feeling sad and angry for yourself! I did that enough with your mother for 20 years. So if my grandbaby thinks this is what she needs to help sort everything out, then I will not stop you." She looked back ahead towards the ocean. "But I will make you walk for it." She winked at her granddaughter.

"That's OK. I can work off the caramel mocha that I'm gonna buy cause you had to stop in front of the place where that is readily available," The young woman stuck her tongue out playfully. "Mom's gonna ask why I gained 20 pounds this summer, and I'll say, it all started at this moment. Because I strayed too close to the McCafe."

Gramma chuckled. "She thinks I spoil you enough as it is. One more log on that fire won't kill me." She pushed her sunglasses down, allowing her grey eyes to stare directly towards the blue eyes next to her. "Although if you ever want to come back home this summer, do not hesitate. I will drive to the airport to get you, and I know your father will too once he returns from his Scandinavian scouting trip. I know it may not feel like it some times, but they still love you, Emi."

Emilia Seger smiled warmly at her grandmother and nodded. "I know, Gramma. I know I am lucky. But like you said, I have to do this. For me, just to figure out myself. I mean, I want to know what to do. I'm a high school graduate now. I should have a plan. Maybe this will help me figure it out." She giggled. "Maybe I'll never want to leave LA again, and I just stay here next fall? Who can say?"

Another short laugh escaped the driver. "I wouldn't mind at all, dear." She leaned over and gave Emilia a big hug, the kind of hug that kept kids warm in the Minnesota winters. "Just look after yourself. And that Sami! Tell him not to get into so many fights! I'm not going to be there to patch him up now!"

Emilia giggled again. "I will tell him, Gramma! And I will keep you posted on all the adventures!" The teenager hopped out of the car, smoothing out the blue skirt that didn't really go with the black leather jacket she decided to buy for this trip and wore over a deep yellow cami, but she didn't care. Comfort over color scheme on the open road. Plus the jacket looked so ... rad, and it helped her necklace stand out.

She lugged one of her father's hockey duffel bags out of the back seat and slung it over her shoulders before adding her backpack to the load. The lone Seger child waved goodbye to her grandmother as the Volvo quickly peeled out of the parking lot, speeding back down Colorado.

Emilia looked at the restaurant doors she was certain she would fit through, even with her entire wardrobe slung on her back. "Hmmmmm, I can probably get drinks for the rest of the crew too. It's dollar days, how hard can it be?"



Turned out, it was very hard. People were not appreciative of someone bringing an Everest's trek worth of gear into a tiny ordering area, and definitely not when that person decided that multiple McCafe specialties were necessary. Even more difficult was balancing seven drinks on those flimsy cardboard trays that they hand out and keeping the other bags in place on her shoulders. But Emilia was going to make it happen. For the crew. With her family's well-known grit and determination, she made her way towards the pier, knowing that the meeting spot wouldn't be terribly far away. She may not have been in with the group as long as some of the others, but she knew well enough where to be and when to be there.

Or so she thought. Everyone was pretty much already there by the time Emilia spotted Sami and ...... what appeared to be an old cruise missile converted into a vehicle? It was hard to tell exactly what it was that Sami had gotten a hold of. But he was there, and he was tinkering away on it. I'm sure it's a fine vehicle capable of tackling anything that might cross us on this voyage! It must be! Most of the others appeared to be there too, so everyone would get their drinks nice and cold.

"Hello everyone!" she shouted to the assembled masses, bright smile on her face even as the weight on her back had her struggling a little bit. But all those hikes with Jules were paying off for her endurance. "Sorry I'm late! Gramma didn't want to come all the way down here, so I had to walk from Colorado. But I brought drinks for everyone!"

She finally reached a nearby picnic table and quickly set the beverages down so she could dump the bags on the asphalt. "Whew! All right! Good to see you all! Here! I got a sweet tea for Jules with triple cream, and a creamless mocha frappe for Kim, and.... Emilia held up a large bright pink drink in her hand before realizing she didn't have a Florida girl to hand it to. "Oh shoot, where is Val? I knew I should have asked if she needed a ride... She took a long sip of her iced caramel mocha, scanning the beach to see if her friend was just on the horizon.

Emilia didn't have to scan the horizon very long. Or at all. Valeria Drake was the type of girl to announce her presence long before anyone noticed she was there. She emerged from the beach area, still wet from the ocean surf she was no doubt cavorting in given the board in her hand.

It was at surf club that she first met the Florida girl. Emilia had no idea how to surf, and quickly proved that her above-average height was not going to help her in that regard, but watching Val tame those waves like nothing, it was almost like poetry on the water. It led to talking at the very least, and a friendship that many others would have deemed unlikely, given Val's abrasive punk nature and Em's Disney-esque kindness to all people. But it was a good contrast. At least Em thought so. Besides, she liked to think Val had a hidden sweet interior to herself. One that was partly expressed through the choice of beverage Emilia held in her hand.

The blonde smiled wider as she heard the squeal coming from her friend who had placed her board on the still-disabled RV. "Em, have I ever told you just how much of a perfect person you are?" If Emilia wasn't blushing before, she certainly was after the shorter girl planted a kiss on her cheek. "How about we ditch these guys to run off and get married somewhere? I promise I'll love you forever: cross my heart and hope to die."

For a split-second, Emilia's brain gave the proposal a serious thought. Maybe it was still because of the prom incident, but it honestly didn't seem that bad. There had to be a chapel somewhere nearby... Then Miss Seger snapped back into her own head. She was still blushing, and it almost translated into her response. "I...um, well you know, I totally would do that, Val. Like in a heartbeat." She looked over and found her center again in the other female in their group. The one who was always so calm and collected it seemed as though nothing could faze her. Again, something Emilia appreciated as a contrast to her own self. "But we can't leave Kim here by herself with the others! How would we live with ourselves?" She took another drink of her caramel mocha. "Nope. We are just gonna have to wait until we get to Salt Lake City, and can make it a three-way wedding. That's how it has to be!" She giggled at such a notion. She didn't even know if it was still a thing in Utah, but if it was, they probably weren't interested in legitimizing a polyamorous lesbian marriage. She sat down on top of the picnic table and looked over at the RV, it's owner still working underneath. "Speaking of getting to Salt Lake City, how's it going over there Sami? Will we be departing soon?"

Aleks liked the way the ice rattled in his cup. It made him imagine the sound Yessi would make if he lost patience and started choking her. His fingers, clutching the pliable rim of the plastic lid, released their hold on his empty drink; the Russian reached his arm around and trapped Yessi's neck in the crook of his right arm, pulling her away from Chris and closer to him in a one-armed chokehold. Or an embrace, if you thought he was feeling particularly affectionate towards Yessi. Aleks chose to think of the involuntary motion as a hybrid of the two. It kept the bitch contained for a moment, long enough for him to plant a quick kiss on the top of her head that he was certain she would complain about. He was pretty sure she'd just had her hair done; doubtless, she would start complaining that his evil Communist lips and fingertips would only fuck it up. Fine. He was sure one of his other assembled best friends would be happy to be his go-to kiss.

AJ could have used a firm making out with, frankly, in order to bring him back to the plane of reality they all inhabited and not the one he had journeyed to where they all harbored Jamie in their shadows. Knowing him, he would argue that any kiss planted on him wasn't as good as one he could have planted, but Aleks let that slide like the bullshit it was. AJ couldn't even tie a cherry stem with his tongue, let alone do it on beat to most songs below 120 bpm.

Like Aleks could.

The surly Russian boy leaned forward on the bench, resting his elbow on the edge of the table and cupping two fingers under his chin. His food sat underneath him, momentarily untouched. If he didn't start going in on it soon, Yessi and Chris would begin to repurpose and cannibalize his order, flinging half of it at AJ while polishing off the remainder by themselves. He was hungry, too. But it would be rude to start digging in like he was at a trough - and especially after there were new arrivals present. Monica and Manda were connected like chain links at the elbow, so the smile and brief wink he directed specifically at Monica was aimed at both of them. He waved at them with his fingers before finally letting Yessi go and beating her to the punch by grabbing a French fry.

"Hey," he said in a simple, general greeting to the new arrivals, raising the fry and lowering it from horizontal to vertical, then back, then forth. His next sentence was directed to Monica specifically: "Should've brought my bike instead. I still need the practice."

❝Glad to see you springing back to your natural self. Oh, you.❞

Aleks' mouth tightened in mock severity.

"I am not joking," the Russian insisted, though his soft drawl made the j- sound more pronounced and gave it a faintly pouty sound. "It is bugging me."

There was a faint beat of silence as he kept raising and lowering the French fry, closing an eye so that he could imagine its shape was framing his bratán's chin, then his jawline. Then his wrist bent forward so that he could flick the spud at AJ's face, just as Yessi had. Aleks' mouth tightened again, this time into a coquettish smile.

"I raised you to have better table manners, God damn it."

---

---

Jules couldn't help but feel annoyed and roll his eyes at how quickly Sami had brushed him off. The atmosphere significantly brightened however when Nate came onto the scene, though he was a bit confused by how awkwardly his friend had greeted him. As far as Jules could tell, the only thing that happened between them was that they just hadn't seen each other in a while which was no real reason to be awkward. Mentally shrugging and figuring he could always ask what was up later, he greeted Nate with a warm smile and said "Hey boo, it has been a while. But I mean, that just means this road trip is the perfect chance for us to catch back up again right? Not to mention we're gonna have our work totally cut out for us with recording it all. I mean, we are going on like, the most hella rad photo shoot of our lives after all."

Everything became even better when Emilia arrived with everyone's drinks, with Jules grabbing his knock-off milk tea and a "thanks Em." Val came rushing in after in her usual fashion. He laughed and waved off her kiss, quietly listening and sipping at his tea as the ladies started talking about their eloping plans. "Now hold on," he began to interject, "if it's a shotgun wedding you want Las Vegas is like - Jesus fucking Christ Sami."

Jules stared at Sami's battered face, shock registering on his own face for only a second before it was overtaken by a mixture of anger, fear, and worry as he also just realized what Sami had implied when the annoying Cubano told Nate about how the RV was lifted from his father without permission. "Jesus fucking Christ," he repeated, storming off towards his bag, "what the fuck did you do, have a streetfight with a lamp pole?" He knew Sami would never spill the tea on what had happened of course, but that only meant that his urge to spill all his tea on the idiot increased by a heck of a lot more than what it had been previously.

Retrieving a face towel from inside his backpack, he stomped up to the taco truck and asked for it to be filled with ice. Mimi tried to get him to explain what happened, but Jules was too furious to notice her properly and quickly stomped his way back to the group after retrieving his makeshift ice pack and paying for it. He momentarily entertained the thought of whacking it across Sami's face but settled instead with roughly shoving it into the idiot's chest. "And what the fuck did you mean when you said that the RV was from that sleazebag?"

He was a liar.

That’s what Matt realized as he sat on the hood of his BMW, observing his cigarette like it was a stick of incense. In the past months he had only lied more. It started in autumn with the white lies. The little things you tell people for their own good. Then there were the silences he kept. Lies for the greater good. For friendship. Then there were his lies of omissions. He never told a soul just how shit he felt the last month. He just smiled and said he didn’t feel so good and that he ate something wrong. But there was always a smile so nobody dug deeper. He didn’t want them to dig deeper. Everyone had their own stuff to work through. Though recently he graduated to full-on, blatant lies. The one he sold AJ a week ago about why he couldn’t be at the party. He told him he had to be at some factory rave last night, tying up some loose ends.

All because he didn’t want to see her. Avoiding things had been his strong suit. Matt didn’t want any conflict or awkwardness. It made his life difficult. If he couldn’t solve the problem with a pill it wasn’t worth engaging. Of course, that always comes around. Even now he wasn’t sure if she was going to join them. He touched the phone in his pocket. At any point, he could call Matt and ask. That would raise suspicion though so that was out of the question. On the other hand he could just call and say he’s out. Take away the uncertainty of it all. No, he wanted to be on this trip. He needed to be on this trip.

So there was only one thing to do. As his cigarette burned down he tossed it away and said his goodbyes to the wonderful LA beaches. Minutes later he was tearing out of the parking lot and headed for the In-n-Out they’d all meet at. Of course, he had Gwen on the radio. What else would a literal former student of BHHS do at the end of the year? He smiled as she mentioned the Gearhead trip. Finally, the head gossiper heard about it. Then she said something about a Misfit trip too. Now that was an odd thing. Oh well, there was nothing to worry about. The gearheads would tear off into the sunset before the misfits left LA. The very thought summoned a bright smile as he enjoyed his trip.

It took him half an hour to reach the In-n-Out. He was late but that was his style. As he drove up the parking lot he downshifted a gear too low for what most would use and pushed the gas. His engine roared for a moment. Heralding his arrival before he quickly parked his car. Once he got out and while he lit a new cigarette he was quick to notice just how late he was. Almost every ride of the Gearheads was present.

“This is going to be good!” He exclaimed as he approached the group though he remained standing. Then he saw everyone eating, out ordering or stealing food from another. Damn, AJ had lettuce stuck in his teeth. “I’m MIA for one party and suddenly you all start acting out?” He said with a teasing smile before he took another drag of his cig.

The young man just laughed loudly at Sami’s pulp fiction reenactment from under the hood of the RV. Nate lifted his camera and snapped a picture of his friend flipping him off with his head still hidden. “I guess it has character.” Nate mused looking around the inside of the vehicle. “It suits us!” he grinned.

It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as Jules enthused about their upcoming trip and the time they would spend together. At least Jules wasn’t mad at him for some reason. Maybe he had been paranoid after all. He nodded at his good friend shaking his camera “You’re right! I’ve brought along a whole studio it feels like.” he said patting one of his duffle bags.

Nate’s smile widened as he saw his bubbly blonde friend struggling towards them precariously carrying a tray of drinks. “Thank you” he mouthed as he accepted his iced coffee from Emilia and took a sip of the ice cold liquid. “Wait…” he exclaimed shaking his plastic cup at her. “You walked all the way from Colorado? Em, why didn’t you call I could’ve come and met you and you know help you carry all that!” Nate shook his head chuckling shrugging his shoulders.

His smile turned into a thin line as Val walked over dripping wet. He rolled his eyes so hard he almost sprained them at her comment. “Watch it!” he grunted shielding his camera hanging around his neck as Val sprayed him with water from her hair. He frowned as he wiped his face dry with his shirt. There was something about the small girl that always got under his skin, he didn’t even know what to respond half of the time because he was so annoyed. So he settled with just sighing and going back to his position in the door of the RV.

“I think Kim could handle herself though… In fact I know it!” he winked at the brunette as he polished of his coffee.

A deep sigh left Nate as Sami revealed his busted face. “Wha…” he began but changed his mind. He knew that his hispanic friend wouldn’t want to talk about it. And besides Jules was fuzzing over Sami enough for all of them. Nate stood up dusting himself of and walked over to Jules and Sami. “Let it go Jules. It’s already done.” he commented as he put an arm around Sami “Great job dude! Let’s get this show on the road!”