It was going to be a rough trip if two of the Misfits were already nursing injuries. Given Sami's battered face, it would have done no good if Umbra has picked up a concussion or heatstroke or something nasty negative minutes into the trip. Emilia did her best to assess her fallen friend, and Kim had similar concerns about the dreadlocked girl. "Is she alright, Em? She didn't knock her head or anything on the way down, right?"

Emilia continued to hold the drink out at waist length. "I hope so. It would kind of be a downer if our first stop on this trip had to be a hospital." Luckily, Umbra proved resilient as ever and revived herself on the promise of sweet orange liquid as she grabbed the cup from Em's hand.

The blonde was relieved to see her friend drink deeply from the cup. “If you drank my orange soda I would have had to hex your life or at least haunt you after I die, which was pretty close just now.”

She giggled, "C'mon, Umbra! You know I wouldn't do that to you, unless, you know, it was going to go flat or something. Although, if you did die, I would think your ghost would be good company. Plus you could have all the orange soda you want, right?"

These were existential questions that Emilia didn't have any answers to, and she suspected Umbra would have terse ones. However, the witch of the group was more concerned with the other injured crew member. "What happened to Sami’s face? Did he lose a fight to the RV trying to fix this thing?

Emilia bit her tongue at first, debating on whether or not to tell the truth of the situation they were in, but it was Umbra. She had ways of drawing the truth out of people anyway. At least, Em thought she did. There mush be some kind of truth lasso in her spell book or something. "Well...it wasn't from fixing the RV. Mostly from acquiring the RV...cause it's kinda roughly borrowed."

While everyone else was preoccupied it seemed as though Emilia was the only one to react. The good thing about Em and Um was that they shared mutual information pretty easily, trust that had been built on for years. It was either that or the power of the voodoo doll of Emilia she kept at home. Regardless, Umbra swallowed her truth like a spoon of molasses. It was bittersweet though. While a stunt like this was in Sami’s wheelhouse, the cost was almost too high. “I think you mean stolen! Who’d he steal it from? I don’t need to read his palms to know there’s a pack of frozen peas in that boys future.” she said giggling with effervescence.

Emilia giggled and rolled her eyes. "You know how he is, Umbra. Jules tried to patch him up, Sami refused. Dumped the ice in a cooler. He stole it from his dad, because it's Sami. It's the best way to get back at that ... no-good person."

A small sigh left her lungs, it was sweet how wholesome Emilia truly was despite all of Umbra's particular influence. “Yes, well I guess he’s a creature of habit, I’ll just have to make something to put in his drink. Do you want to help?” Had it been up to Umbra, Sami’s dad would have had a change of heart long ago.

The bubbly blonde tilted her head back and forth to think about it for a couple seconds before the rumble of the RV coming to life shook her from her thought process. She thought Umbra was talking about the driver. "Maybe once he's not behind the wheel. Then we can get his drink. Just don't want whatever you have kicking in while he's on the highway, you know?" She winked at her dreadlocked friend as if to confirm they would try it another time.

Unfortunately for Umbra, Em was right. Whatever potion she would concoct had not been completely tested. Resting a single dread above her lip, Umbra squinted her face and perked her chest out with hands at her side. With her best impression of an elderly English male she spoke, “Well then young lady, what do you fancy we do for the rest of the ride?”

Emilia giggled loudly. Whenever Umbra did that trick with the dread mustache, it just looked so silly. She couldn't help herself. She couldn't even do it good, either. Her hair was too fine for it. Emi tried to stifle herself enough to counter with her own bad British accent, sounding like a strange mix of Cockney and Scottish. "Well, I do say, maybe we should, as the kids say, strap ourselves in for the ride! Aye, what?"

If there was one thing the wicked witch did enjoy, it was the soothing laughter of her closest friend. It was so contagious that Umbra couldn’t help but laugh herself; her upper lip having undergone a quick shave. Luckily for Umbra, they were both horrendous at their accents. Slapping her knee, she continued her British Invasion. “Ah why yes what a marrrrvelous idea my dear. Tally ho then, god save the queen and all that,” she said, standing up with her hand reaching for Emilia’s. This trip was shaping up to be one heck of an adventure.

Emilia laughed and took Umbra's offered hand. "Yes, yes, um... well, One Direction and Ed Sheeran and such?" Now she was laughing at herself. She didn't have much for British pop culture aside from the Ariana-adjacent music she heard on the radio, but it would work for now.

As Sami announced that the show was about hit the proverbial road, Emilia looked around. "Wait a minute! Val never got on the..." She stopped in her tracks as she looked towards the big bed in the back that she had claimed before her bout of tears. It appeared that her soon-to-be Nevada wife was already perched on the mattress, with her lips in her familiar pout as she cared not for the sound of the engine. How the fudge did she get back there? Did she teleport? Is she a stealth ninja or something? Is there an open window? Is there an open piece of the RV? I don't want to sleep back there if there's no wall... The revving of the gas pedal told her there wasn't much time to think about Valeria's new magical abilities. "Oh ...um, never mind, I guess." Her and Umbra took a seat on the couch beside the table seats and braced themselves for what was about to come on this whirlwind tour.

Inside the Lotus, the cold war over the cupholder situation had become untenable; what had begun with some lighthearted jabs and whining about where to store Yessi’s drink had grown heated when Aleks refused to let her set her water bottle, dripping with condensation, onto the leather seat of her true love’s race car. That had sparked a fresh torrent of Hispanic sound and fury in his ear, more gripes about the Roadster, more blah blah blah. Finally, he had reached a compromise with her and stuck out the back of his hand, perfectly balanced, for Yessi to store her drink upon. The water rested perfectly within the contours of his tattoo like a rocket on its launch pad, at a perfect level for Yessi to grab and sip from at her leisure. Maybe it wasn’t as preferable as having the convenience of a cold drink gripped between her thighs, but if the petulant bitch kept this up she wouldn’t be squeezing Aleks with them either for a while. Besides, by now, he had demonstrated with a sniper’s precision that his hand was incapable of budging, even at this speeds.

I am a fucking amazing cupholder.

Aleks had rolled the window down and crooked his left elbow on it, so that he could steer and feel the desert breeze on his bare forearm at the same time. It was not unseasonably hot yet, and the heat on his skin was still dry and comfortably arid. It also served to carry his voice out of the car, a barometer for the enjoyment he took from whatever particular song happened to be playing. Sometimes that was Gwen’s radio station; sometimes it was a mix from his own phone. The latter was currently on the docket.

I found blood, and I saw stars

“ALL IN THE BACK SEAT OF YOUR CAR!”

Aleks’ lilting accent had risen high, audibly straining to be heard over the music and the California wind buffeting the Lotus, crawling through his window, angrily mussing his hair with fifty-fingered tendrils; it blew away from his forehead in large tufts, the way that girls liked to push it away from his forehead.

He turned to Yessi.

And I told you it was love

“OHH, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THE TRUTH!”

The Cold War kid winked at his best friend playfully, tilting his head away from the road and towards his passenger, so the wind couldn’t hurl his blown kiss from the window.





The unusual quietness of a particular brat should have been a clear giveaway to the second most precious human being on the planet, that she was up to her usual antics.

The scrolling through the phone in her hands, that was obviously not her own, (as hers was protected by a custom case sporting a collage of pictures she had ‘stolen’ of Aleks), was easily going over Aleks’ head, between balancing her water bottle and battling the music coming from the speakers of the not Roadster with his off-key singing, he was perfectly occupied.

First thing on the agenda was to add a touch of Astraia to the device he always tried to keep her away from. How bold of him to put the most important person in his life as a simple “Yessi”, lame, none of that shit. Those bitches that somehow managed to guilt him into their beds would know she was that bitch when they looked at his phone. Speaking of, his lock screen needed a little refresher…

With the first of two missions complete she turned her gears to the music selection, while she could not deny how much she adored seeing him like this, MGMT was sadly not on her list of road trip ‘bops’. A small smile found her lips as her thumb hovered over the theme song of her life, with a smooth motion she returned that kiss blown her way with a quick peck to his lips while switching the tunes of the car from the rock band to the current queen of pop.



Well, he could take the thot out of the city, but...



This opened up a whole new trap, though. Yessi was known for her coordination and poise in almost any position, but if she was sitting upright in a vehicle and attempting to dance, Aleks had learned to avert his motherfucking eyes and keep his extremities to himself all the time, lest he wind up being Fabioed by a stray rich girl limb. With his arm outstretched and Yessi's water balancing on the delicate bones of the back of his hand, a veritable plastic house of cards, his eyes glazed over with all the possibilities of dashboards, t-shirts, jeans, all being soaked through with one stray elbow during that infectious fucking hook...

Ah, shit. At least it's only water.

Unless she soaked his phone. Then she would be less Ari dancing in the car and more Pete, stranded on the fucking highway.

Stranded on the fucking highway?

He saw the familiar highlighter-colored Benz pull to the side of the road up ahead of him, parking on the shoulder in front of an absolutely blown-the-fuck-out recreational camper. The low, desperate wail of a banshee would have risen up from the throat of a lesser human, one perhaps less accustomed to the high maintenance cost of that messy pansexual tornado currently trouncing over to the RV. Whoever was in the driver's seat seemed less than enthused by AJ's charm offensive; yelling, AJ yelling back, more yelling, fourth verse was same as the first. Aleks had seen this show before.

The Mexican munchkin bouncing out of the RV and rolling up on AJ was an unforeseen variable. That wail threatened to well up in his chest; Aleks managed to crush it without a sound, although the effort it took would probably come back to give him a heart attack by the time he was 45. He heard the characteristic sound of a slap on one of AJ's pretty cheekbones. Ah, fuck.

He muttered his next curse in Russian. It was...worse than ah, fuck.

Unbuckling his seat belt and casting open the door, Aleks gently lowered the water bottle into the driver's seat, all fear of a moisture ring on the leather evaporating with the same ease that the condensation itself likely would. He slammed the door shut, Yessi and his phone and all of his concerns still sitting inside with the air running, and started advancing on the scene of the accident. The raised voices were about what he expected.

“Your face looks busted as hell, I’d only make it worse. Like, man, if I had a face like yours, I’d fucking sue my parents.”

Ah, no, no.

”You’re dead, pendejo.”

no no no pleaaaaaaaaaaaase

The sound of a low, soft whistle cut through the stifling desert air as Aleks approached, like the sound of a tea kettle slowly coming to boil; Aleks' long pianist's fingers were miming turning down the dial on a stove, attempting to relieve some of the pressure inside his friend's hot head before he wound up dehydrating himself.

“--ove you, J. But damn, man: you really are a pain in the ass.”

The fingers on the dial outstretched and turned into a silent wave - before patting the midget on the head and ruffling her hair.

"Sssh. Please. You're all okay?" the Russian asked softly, crossing his arms across his chest and reaching out with a foot.

He nudged the RV with a toe to see if it would do anything. More steam. He didn't need Chris for 'steam = bad.'

The 120 or so minutes running along 1-15 north were pretty joyous. Nate made good on his promise of Ariana karaoke to the delight of one. Kim assured Nate he was doing well, but it was easy to tell just how much she meant it. Emilia was content to let Nate off the hook with just a couple of songs. For the good of the group. Then the conversation turned to superpowers. The blonde tried to make the case as best she could for controlling the weather, to make sure it was always sunny whenever plans were made, but it was a losing battle. She didn't care though. Someone had to be Storm.

The reverie was wrecked with the sudden jolt of the RV, a quick veering off the road and a lot of bumps. Emilia was thrown against Umbra as she tried to brace against the side of the vehicle. It wasn't effective, and she was thrown to the floor of the vessel.

“What the fuck was that?!” As usual, Val put into words what Emi was having a hard time doing at the moment. Although she could have done without the cursing. The Latina sparkplug lept into the front seat as Sami asked if everyone was all right. Emilia was unable to answer immediately, still a bit shaken from the impact.

She looked around as the other Misfits slowly got up to see what the heck just happened to their chariot. The blonde was feeling a bit woozy. She looked out the front of the window seeing nothing but steam or smoke or something rising out of the front. Her time in Auto Club was short, so she wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she knew vehicles weren't supposed to do that. Oh god. It's already broken. We made it to what, Barstow? Some trip this is. Stranded in the middle of the desert. My head still hurts. This is terrible... I need... I need air.

Emilia stumbled towards the exit of the RV and made it a few steps outside before collapsing into the sand at the side of the road, hands on her knees. A commotion had sprung up with Val aiming to keep Sami away from...

AJ....

She knew AJ. They had a couple of brief chats over the last couple years. Whenever Emilia was visiting Brandon on the sidelines of football practice...

He...he knew Brandon...who...who...

For the second time in two hours, the emotions were too much for the young woman. The combination of a crash, a possible concussion and the reminder of why she experienced both of those things sent her into a tizzy of bawling into the sands of the Mojave Desert. It couldn't be confirmed which was leaking more fluid at this point; the RV or Emilia. But she didn't care. It was too much. Her hands left her knees and held her head as the waterworks flowed.

Matt did not feel particularly inclined to follow AJ in his antics. He had no need to swerve and weave between the cars like his hotheaded friend. For him it was all about the sensation. The rumble of the engine, the vibrations of the car, the hot sun pouring down upon him and the wild wind. He was alone in his car and he was very happy about that. He loved Mandy and that’s why he knew she was better off in AJ’s car. Matt was more someone you talk to when you and him both had that one drink too much. Not too much that it makes you drunk but that one drink that pushes you that little bit further than you thought you’d go on the night. Right now though, Matt mostly wanted to be alone while he listened to Gwen’s music.



He snorted. It felt like a challenge. Something to do along the way. A little project for the summer. “Very well, Gwen.” He muttered. Yeah, it was to himself but what else was he supposed to do? Be mute the entire car trip? No, that wouldn’t do. In the distance, his eyes kept track of everyone’s vehicle. He could see Aleks’ car driven as only Aleks could. Monica was off speeding on her bike. Fast and agile but to Matt she was one of the best bikers he knew. Then there was AJ in the distance. Reckless as ever. Until it was a little too reckless. Matt saw the flash of yellow that was AJ’s car overtake a slow RV, the RV jerked off the road. Then there was just dust. Matt slowed down.

Luckily the yellow sports car of AJ came back into view. Not a scratch. Matt let out a sigh. The tension he didn’t know he was holding vanished from his body. Nothing bad happened. Well no, nothing bad happened to his friends. Frankly, he couldn’t particularly care about the RV. It wasn’t toppled or burning. AJ thought it was worth checking out though. So did Aleks apparently. So Matt slowed down enough to get ready to park near his friends.

The last thing he could see was AJ approaching the camper and someone inside getting out of it. Nothing bad seemed to happen. So Matt parked his car in front of Aleks’ car. When he got out things were getting out of hand fast. Was that Sami? It didn’t matter. Matt didn’t know the dude so he didn’t care for him. He did care for AJ and it looked like they were about to square off. Matt was many things but when the rings were off and the fists were out he stands right behind his friends. Ready to throw down if needed. So he made his way to the scene. Only to see The Crazy Bitch get out of the RV. He stopped next to Aleks’ car as he watched the scene unfold. Then the hug came. Yet anyone who saw Matt’s face could tell it looked sour. Like things just have gotten ten times worse. For Matt, that was an understatement. He took a long drag of his cigarette. The sort of drag you take with your eyes closed. The embers were visibly consuming the white paper and the tobacco inside. Half-way burned he tossed it aside.

He would be calm, yes. Calm. Calm and utterly ignoring the worst possible ‘human’ being on this planet. Aleks was nudging the RV with his toe. As to see what was wrong with it. Matt knew though. Coolant got busted probably. An easy fix. “That’s busted, man. Nothing we can do about it!” He said rather loud towards the Russian and Monica as walked towards AJ. He would have to convince him to leave. Matt didn't want to be around the misfits for longer than necessary and to him, the necessary time had long since passed.

Then Emilia, dazed and stumbling, made her way out of the RV. Matt froze to the ground. His eyes wide and all blood drained from his body. To the point that he could feel a little chill running through his spine. Of all people, of all misfits, she had to be on that RV. When she collapsed he woke up from his own shocked state. Shit, things were even worse. A part of his brain told him to run. To get out of there. He almost took a step backward until he saw her mannerism change. She began to cry.

Matt had enough. Suddenly everything changed. As resolute as ever he went up to her and set down in front of her. “Hey, you’re okay. That wasn’t such a big crash. You’re still in one piece.” Her sobs were tearing apart his chest. How much did she know? Had anyone told her about the other stuff? He wasn’t sure what was crueler. Her not knowing or someone telling her. “Want a chocolate bar?”

As he typed out the fourth text to his sister Nate let out a sound that was a mixture of grunt and a sigh. The three texts he had sent since they had set off on their road trip had been left on read and he was starting to get pretty annoyed. He had been trying to push his feelings of guilt to the back of his head. But of course he was failing tremendously. He threw his phone in front of him with a last loud sigh. He rubbed his eyes before he leaned back in the little kitchen sofa surveying his friends that was spread out around the RV with a happy grin plastered on his face. At least he was surrounded with people that he really liked...well mostly.

“Hold on tight!”

Nate’s head snapped to the front “Sami? Wait wha-” he called out as the RV suddenly shifted from upright to leaning on it’s side. A groan was uttered as Nate peeled his face of the RV’s window sitting up straighter. He turned around to see if everyone was ok. His friend seemed to be as confused he was. Suddenly Val was rushing passed everyone to jump out and yell loudly at the people gather outside. He didn’t really think much about it until he heard his name being screamed followed by a slapping sound. He stared at the open door of the RV with a confused look on his face before slowly making his way outside.

“What about me? What did I do?” he asked hopping out of the slanting RV. There was an assortment of people that had joined the misfits. Most of the gearheads had arrived and Val was in a tight embrace with their leader AJ Tyler and beside them Em was crying… again. Unfortunately an Ariana Grande karaoke session seemed inappropriate in their current situation. All he could do was watch it unfold with a concerned face. To his relief Matt of the gearheads stepped in and comforted her. Not far from them a familiar face stood looking annoyed. Nate’s eyes widened and a wave of embarrassment washed over him and he turned on his heels. He hadn’t faced Yessi since the party where they had made out and he felt majorly awkward about it.

Instead of dealing with that, he decided to join Kim and Sami at the front of the smoking RV. He placed himself on Sami’s otherside putting a comforting hand on the latino’s shoulder. “Well… It’s not a party if doesn’t start with a bang, right Sami?” he said with a small laugh. As Kim went to check on Em, Nate relaxed even further. This meant that Emilia was taken care of. “Do we have plan? You think any of these guys can help?” Nate gestured with his head towards the gearheads.

---

Near Barstow Heights
Afternoon

---

Despite Jules' attitude, he couldn't keep the sulky persona up for too long, especially after seeing Em running into the RV and crying and Umbra faceplanting her way inside. The sudden shifts in mood were too much even for this sleep-deprived (former) slut and he rejoined the rest of his pack once everyone and everything settled down and the rickity behemoth under them rumbled into some state of living.

The next two hours passed by pleasantly, though Jules didn't remember much of it, especially once Sami jerked the RV violently off to the side, taking them off the safe concrete path and slamming them into the roadside dirt. Uncharacteristically, Jules' body followed the path of least resistance as it followed the momentum of the vehicle with it stopping at almost the exact same time as the RV by way of his head meeting a wall that was denser than Sami. Immediately his world turned to black as an incessant ringing started to chime and rise in volume only to return back to reality a second later. Unfortunately an intense headache followed suit as it clamped it's vice-like embrace around his skull, eliciting a groan of pain as he rolled around in his seat.

Jules was dimly aware that something was happening outside and people going out to see what was up. It sounded like whatever it was, it was about to get violent which meant that Sami was more than likely about to do something stupid which meant that Jules had to be there to knock some sense into his perfect Cuban ass.

But as Jules attempted to rise from the couch, something that he only now noticed that he was laying prone on, he found that he couldn't. His arms felt like they were filled with concrete and his body was deep in the Mariana Trench. And the couch was so comfortable and smelled only slightly off-putting. How long had he slept last night? Like maybe three hours total? Non-consecutively at that? He was tired. Everything was heavy. Going outside again sucked.

His friends were out there however, dealing with who-knows-what in who-knows-where. What if it was some crazy person that tried to deliberately run them off the road. What if Sami got into another fight. What if Val started fighting. What if Em started breaking down again. Or what if someone started touching Kim. What if-

With sudden clarity of thought and desperate strength, Jules forced himself to tumble off the couch and stumble up onto his legs as he made his way outside, his mind racing through hundreds of worst case scenarios, fists balled and legs ready to kick whoever's nuts he had to so that his friends would remain safe.

By the time Jules stepped his first foot outside, he was ready to beat the shit out of the whole fucking world if he had to, only to find that he wasn't ready for the scene before him. At the very least, it looked as if all his friends were safe, but he didn't expect his other friends to be here as well. Well, really, the only non-Misfit he knew that was gathered around him at the moment was Aleks, but it wasn't too far fetched to recognize that the rest of them were likely the Gearheads judging by the fleet of fancy cars that surrounded them (which also meant that Yessi was more than likely nearby).

The hidden strength inside him drained away immediately as he took one step to the side and slumped down next to the Misfits' metal monstrosity, saying to no one in particular, "what the fuck."

As her knees dug deeper into the sands surrounding their now doomed RV, tears splattering the dust before drying up in an instant, all the usual breakdown thoughts were swirling in Emilia's head.

How much did AJ know? Why didn't he tell me Brandon was going to break it off? Why did he break it off? Why am I so worthless? Can't even fix a stupid RV! Why is my life like this? I'm so alone!

None of this was stemming the flow from Emi's eyes, even as she heard footsteps coming towards her. Heavy footsteps, cracking the gravel on the shoulder of the road before softening in the sands beneath her. Maybe it's someone who has come to put me out of my misery.

She heard a thump in front of her as someone else hit the sands. “Hey, you’re okay. That wasn’t such a big crash. You’re still in one piece.” Who is that? I know that voice... “Want a chocolate bar?”

Emilia managed to lift her head out of her hands and squint her eyes at the person in front of her, although it was hard to see through the water and the Barstow sun. Eventually, she rubbed her eyes enough to make out the man now holding the promise of candy in front of her. What she got though, was another unpleasant reminder of the man who so ruthlessly spurned her. Matt Brown. She remembered Matt. Just like AJ, he was on the football team. The running back, so she saw him talking to Brandon a lot. Again, their conversations had been very cordial, lest Brandon get jealous she was hanging around other teammates, but for a football player, he seemed all right. The problem was that first part though. Football.

The tears started to well in Emilia's eyes again and this time there was someone to catch the full blast. "MATTTTTT!" she wailed. "WHY?!? WHY DO THESE THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO MEEEEEE?!? She made a motion to wipe her nose on her still new leather jacket, but even in this state she managed to catch herself. "What did I do? I thought... I thought I was a good person? Why does God hate me? I don't... I..." She was starting to lose steam. The hot desert sun was tiring at full blast, and she was starting to run the risk of dehydration without another place to get frappes nearby. "I can't... I don't want this hurt, Matt. I don't want it... Make it go away..." She continued to cry, muddling the words somewhat, but she couldn't help it.

While Emi was stuck in her own pity loop, she was oblivious to the Blossom to her Bubbles arriving behind her. At least until Kim put a hand on her shoulder. Initially, she thought it was Val or Umbra, since Kim usually stayed away from the whole touching thing. "Better? You hurt anywhere?" The shock that it actually was Kim snapped the sobbing loop, at least for the moment. Kim. Kim cares about you. You have friends. You are not alone. So buck up.

The blonde sniffled and toned down the crying enough to sound somewhat normal again while talking. "I don't think... I'm hurt from the crash," she confirmed to Kim. "It's... it's just the usual hurt." She tried to use her hands to wipe away the rest of the tears, but they were saturated as it was. "It's the usual sucky hurt."

---

---

---

---

For a long moment after the Elise had pulled to a stop and her karaoke partner had gone to the rescue Yessi stayed in the passenger seat. Manicured fingers paused a moment as the sounds of yelling pulled her attention away from her phone and drew her eyes to the scene just in time to see AJ receiving a well deserved smack. From the looks of a shorter, tanned guy stomping to the front of the smoking RV and the couple people stumbling out Yessi could assume what had just happened.

Not without an exasperated sigh she unbuckled her seatbelt and begrudgingly exited the vehicle. A slightly annoyed expression took her features as she approached the growing group of new graduates, why wasn’t anyone calling a tow truck or a mechanic?

Yessi stopped next to Monica as the group of misfits seemed to have their combinations of breakdown… or well, really just one person was sobbing. Though that’s not what had Yessi’s attention, rather it was the palpable anger rolling off of AJ who Monica had placed herself close to. A raised eyebrow was thrown his way as Yessi looked at his stiff posture in the arms of… whatever her name was, the midget. Bumping her hip into Monica’s to get her attention she whispered lowly to her, “You might want to find cover, I think another tantrum is coming.”

Another stumbler exited the rust can but this one caught the Spanish girl’s attention immediately and she cocked her head at his obvious embarrassment as he turned on heel and went the opposite direction as she.

Was kissing me that bad?

"Stop acting like we're okay, because we're not."”



Yessi couldn’t help the snicker that left her lips as she gave Monica a knowing look, whatever issue AJ was having with the girl wrapped around him was not her business, and frankly dealing with him when he was this upset was better left to the professionals like Chris… who wasn’t here… so next up meant…



The thought pulled her eyes to look at everyone else on the scene as she moved away from the ticking time bomb, and landed on another familiar face, but this one didn’t run away from her. Yet. Barely able to contain the bubbling excitement she practically skipped over to the cutie pie that had “stolen her heart” in middle school and stopped just in front of him.

"what the fuck."

“I haven’t seen you that tired since the night I popped your cherry, Juju. What were you misfits doing on that RV? Yessi teased as she crouched down in front of him a soft smile playing at her lips.

The luscious, lascivious Latina seemed to shine in front of her little japchae as he lay down beside the RV, though a combination of the Gucci bags weighing down his eyes and the fact that it was so fucking bright like goddamn who thought inventing the sun was a good idea made it hard to exactly see where his favorite rich bitch was. That didn’t stop him from still cracking open his eyes just a tad in a practiced sultry expression as he purred out a wavy ”oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that,” leaving his fingers and his wrist to do most of the talking.

He straightened out his back before crossing his feet, using them to push himself up at the same time as he took Yessi’s hands and pulled her up alongside him, twisting her around so her arms were crossed over at her waist in a dance that they had done countless times before. Automatically his head craned over her cheek with lips pursed, but something stopped him at the last centimeter. A wave of ice and revulsion viced onto his head as he hovered just a breath away, but he forced himself to plant one anyway on her beautiful bronzed skin.

The odd, cold feeling still lingered, however. Jules quickly disentangled himself from Yessi, turning her back around so that she faced him at an arm’s length, hands just barely touching her hips. ” Better question for you though babe is where is your little electric beast? Don’t tell me you’ve taken something that you actually have to drive?”

If Yessi had noticed his hesitation or the slight change in his expression she didn’t show it, instead at the mention of the Roadster her head turned and she threw a lazy thumb over her shoulder at the purring Elise. “Nope, I’m not driving… not that I’m opposed, but I’m sure Aleks would kill me if I even asked to drive the damn car. So I get to annoy him from the passenger seat until he kicks me out and makes me ride with someone else.”

Jules rolled his eyes at her, hiding a deeper annoyance that he managed to quickly squash before it lingered too long.

Yessi took the time to look over Jules and realized how much he had changed since she last saw him. They were no longer the same height, it wasn’t drastic but he had gained a couple of inches over her, his once cute baby face had matured and his features were sharper and definitely more handsome, his hair still looked soft but was shorter than she had ever seen it, and fuck did he start working out? Yessi had to drag her green eyes from his exposed midriff to meet with his familiar brown ones. If not for his usual charm and humor, and the still bomb-as-fuck fashion, Yessi probably “wouldn’t have recognized him, and that made her feel kind of awkward.

” Holy shit Jules, you look like a whole new person…”Her voice was softer as she shifted a bit restlessly, a sheepish smile finding her lips,” It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry… for being MIA… I hope everything has been okay.”

To which Jules did not have a response, at least not immediately. Well, at least not to the last bit of her sentence. Instead, he was more focused on how her weight was subtly and continually waving from one hip to the other and how her eyes seemed to drift away from his, then snapping back to meet them before moving away again. He leaned just a little bit closer, bending at his waist so that he was just slightly above level with her. Fatigue (aside from his bags) was no longer apparent on his face and the earlier discomfort suppressed under the prodigious importance of one singular directive: tease the ever-loving fuck out of her.

One hand began a purposeful journey from Yessi’s hip to her navel, tracing its way up the center of her body, then stopping with a middle finger resting between her collar bones and his index gently placed under her chin so that her face was forced to meet his. ” Oh my god,” he mouthed.

”Oh my god,” once again. ”Is my Thotiana actually embarrassed about something?”

The trailing of his hand caused an involuntary shiver to go up her spine and warmth to reach her cheeks as he leaned in closer to her. Astraia could smell the inviting scent he wore and felt herself leaning into his touch, ah how stupid she was. There was silence between them but his lips were moving she noticed a second too late, her eyes were squinted in confusion but unluckily he repeated what he had mouthed, still, there was confusion. Then he spoke. Seven taunting words were all it took for that warmth on her cheeks to turn into a noticeable pink tint as she pulled back from him, eyes narrowing in annoyance, and heart fluttering from his game.

“I-I…” she cut her stutter off and cleared her throat moving her eyes anywhere but his face for a moment as she pulled herself together. What the fuck was that? When her eyes moved back to his she sported a full glare and her voice carried her annoyance, “I’m not embarrassed about anything babe.”

A joyful laugh tinged with the lackadaisical exhaustion of insomnia bubbled from Jules as he used his playful hand to cover his mouth. ” Sorry Estrellita, you were just so cute acting all-”

”-I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T FUCKING GET IT!”

Jules’ head snapped immediately to where he thought the red firebrand was only to see she wasn’t there. But nothing was on fire, nobody was screaming except for Val and AJ, nobody was crying except for Emilia (which was depressingly becoming more and more normal), so everything seemed fine. Val was the type of person who needed to vent and it looked like she was at least familiar with her shouting dummy.

Everything seemed fine.

Turning back to Yessi, he put on his happy face again and flashed her a smile and an eyeroll, but it felt stiff, forced, unnatural. Mostly because it was. His easy charm was gone, replaced with the weariness that fit all too comfortably onto his visage. There was no choice but to keep on acting, however, just like he always did. Go for the easy joke: ” Those two definitely sound like they need to bone down, especially from what I hear about Pretty Boy over there.” Let out a laugh. Wait for a response. Zone out. What was Val saying? Is she talking about her insecurities? About damn time. Guess her bottle met its cap. It had been forever since he had seen Yessi. God, she was still so beautiful. It seemed like she found a cute side too. When was the last time that-



Jesus fucking Christ Val really did find the perfect person to have a shouting match with but god fucking damnit did their therapy session be so. Fucking. Loud. Jules’ couldn’t shake this off as easy as he could with Val though, mainly because Jules knew Val, and he didn’t know AJ. And AJ was currently yelling at one of his best friends.

But Val needed this. Girl needed to let out some steam. Girl needed to let loose.

But also fuck anyone who was yelling at her.

”Sorry babe,” he coldly intoned to Yessi. ”Gotta make sure nobody gets beat up.”

“Duty calls... I guess.” Yessi grumbled out her attention moving to the two in the middle of a shouting match, as everyone’s would be, it’d be impossible to ignore the two idiots at this point. Whatever thing was going on between Jules and she would need to be revisited at a later time, right now the more pressing matter was making sure neither of their best friends killed each other.

Jules quickly walked towards the front of the RV where a small gaggle had already formed and shoved his way past, not really caring who or where he was touching to get people out of his way, and then going a little further around until he found Val straddling AJ with fists raised, blood and fury alight in her eyes.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jules’ body shot forward, propelled by the explosive force of legs that had been running daily all their life toward the pair. That fucking bitch did something, didn’t he? Sure Val was like a little chihuahua in where she would literally bark and fight anyone that even looked funny at her, but in all the years that he knew her, Jules knew that she never got into anything without at least a reason.

Man was he tired.

The next thing he knew, Jules was in the same ditch where the RV had trapped itself just a little further down. His back was down on the dirt, and he found himself curled around the petite form of one Valeria Drake. Seems that when he tackled her - which he guess he just did - he turned his body around so that his own body would take most of the impact when they landed. Knowing how feisty she can be, however (especially considering how she was literally about to deck AJ’s face in), he quickly disentangled himself from her, but not without giving her an exasperated ” What the fuck Val!? Are you planning on making a new Black Eyed Peas band with Sami or something?” At the same time, Jules stood up from the ditch and pointed a finger at the little princeling that was on the floor. ” And you Pretty Boy! If you know Val you better haul your ass out of here before you both do anything even more stupid.”

Whether AJ wanted her help or not Yessi was quick to swoop in once Jules had taken care of the little terror, she grabbed his hand offering him some reassurance in her grip as she helped him to his feet. Though to prevent a second round from happening, her fingers laced between his and she started off towards his car, carefully leading him along, the last thing she needed was add fuel to his fire by being pushy, “Take some deep breaths, let’s fix this together so we can get back on the road and have a good time, yeah?”

His heart was rend now. There was an actual, physical pain in his chest. As if his very body was in anguish over the pain Emilia had. Her wails cut straight through his soul. It summoned the memories he was cursed with. Locker room banter, alcohol-induced confessions and the lies he saw. Then the juggling between him, Brandon and AJ in an attempt to save everyone involved in some way. Worst of all, he was all alone in it. He cast his eyes to the ground, in hidden shame. How did it get so bad? Why did he let it get this bad? He swallowed deeply.

Kim arrived and all shame that was ready to pierce his mask vaporized. It would appear the girl’s touch calmed Emilia down somewhat. A moment later a black girl showed up. Now the first girl didn’t particularly engage him but that was to be expected. He was probably a stranger from school to her. But the black girl was far fiercer and Matt did not like her tone. He never looked up at her. Not even when she asked for the chocolate bar. It wasn’t hers.

But Emilia’s words kept bouncing in his head. ‘Make it go away’. With his free hand he went into the pocket of his leather jacket. Inside he felt for the little plastic bag. He rolled the plastic wrapping the tiny, crystalline shape in between his fingers. A solution, if only a temporary one. But he could still see the red streaks on her cheeks. The pain she held was evident. She needed this more than he would ever. So he took it out, hidden between his palm and another bar he kept in reserve. With a quick sleight of hand he pushed both bars, hiding the little baggie under them, into Emilia’s hand. No doubt she would feel the little nub pressing against her palm.

“Here, one for you to share with your friend.” Matt said with a weak, pitiful smile. “And one for you as well. It should make you happy.” He was referring more towards the little crystal than the bar, though her friends couldn’t know that. Matt got up then. There was nothing more he could do but Emilia looked like she was in good hands: between two of her friends. He turned around but he knew something remained unsaid so he turned back: “You’ve always been too good for him.”

He took a few steps away from the whole ordeal and pulled out a cigarette. He felt exhausted as a trembling hand lit the tobacco. The smoke, working like incense, calmed his mind. Though he knew what he really needed. A bottle or a fight. Something to make him forget it all for just a moment. A good party would do the job as well.

His state of calm quickly vanished though, when the shouting match began. He turned around and saw something that made him feel just a little better: AJ yelling at Val. And soon after, Val yelling back at AJ. Her tirade was far longer than his. Though he did return in kind. Matt cracked a small smile. Few things felt as good and sweet than hearing how hurt your enemies are. This wasn’t a standard issue AJ Tyler outburst. This was full blown, seethed anger. Stuff that had been brimming under the surface for longer than just five minutes. And then the bombshell. Nate. Yes, this did make him happy.

Matt knows what a fogged brain looks like. It’s a red face. A shocked, frozen stance. He knew what was about to happen. Every fiber in his body told him to move in. To help his friend. Like he’d always do. He took a step towards them. But there was a little voice in his head that stopped him in his tracks. He was well aware of AJ and Val’s relationship. He had hated it for months. Now he just saw it breaking apart. Both of them were far too bullheaded to ever apologize. This would be the end of their friendship. So why intervene? Instead of moving in to get Val off AJ, Matt just waited. Taking another drag from his cig as another Misfit pulled her off of him. Yessi helped up AJ.

“I think we better leave.” He said to AJ and Yessi, not even caring that he should be ignoring her. That didn’t matter right now. “There’s nothing we can do about that RV. They can call a tow truck.”

As she continued to kneel in the California sands, Emilia was feeling less alone with the attention that Matt and Kim were giving her. It felt less hopeless, even if her relationship with the football player was nowhere near as advanced as her relationship with one of her best friends. The crying continued to ebb as the breakdown was beginning to pass.

Kim was taking the lead, as she usually had a level-enough head to do. "You're gonna dehydrate from all those tears, under this sun. Wanna go back in the shade, at least?"

Emi nodded her head and sniffled a couple more times. At least to hold it in until she could make it to a tissue. She slowly stood up. "That sounds fine..."

However, she didn't get a chance to move before feeling a sting against her face, a sting stronger than the wind or the sun. A sudden shock to the system delivered by a hand Emi was definitely not expecting as the girl she ended up inadvertently bracing herself against during the RV's off-road antics delivered a wake-up call. Usually if anyone was gonna slap her, it was Val. This caught her completely off-guard.

“Get a hold of yourself, man! You’re tougher than this or did I pick the wrong white girl?!”

Emilia tried to respond, but the dreadlocked girl quickly turned her attention to Matt, before running out of steam while talking to Kim. All she could do was rub her cheek as the reverberations continued to be felt in her face. When did Umbra build up that kinda strength?

The slap left her almost unprepared for the actions of Matt Brown. “Here, one for you to share with your friend.” The football player quickly produced the promised candy bars and pressed them against her palm, but it was clear that there was something else underneath the chocolate, unless it was a ziploc bag filled with pixie stick dust. “And one for you as well. It should make you happy.” She quickly moved everything into the pocket of her leather jacket. She wasn't sure what she had just been handed, the fact that it was in a baggie probably meant it was some kind of drug. But there were candy bars for now, which would help the situation immensely. Matt turned to walk back to the rest of the parked cars that had gathered in front of the RV, so now Emilia was left wondering just what she now carried in her pocket. Or she would have before Matt added a few parting words.

“You’ve always been too good for him.”

Those words hit just as hard, if not more so, than Umbra's slap. Matt walked away after saying them but the impact was brutal. Possibly not even fully felt by the still-dazed blonde. Always been too good for him? What does that even mean? What is Matt saying with that? Did he know something about Brandon? Did he think he would have been a better boyfriend than Brandon? Is he just trying to puff me up? I don't...

"I'm calling a tow truck. We can probably get one from Victorville." Kim's statement broke Emilia out of her own head, at least for the moment. It was going to be a set back, having to head backwards on I-15, to a place that was kind of a dump. But at least there was candy. "Save some for me if there's dark chocolate in there." Emi carefully removed the two bars from her pocket. Kim was in luck. There was a dark chocolate Mars bar, probably discounted in order to catch a customer's attention, along with a packet of Almond M&Ms. The candy-coated treats may not have counted as a traditional "bar", but it was a welcome sight to Emilia.

"You're in luck, Kim," she informed the girl now on the phone trying to get them out of the area. "I'll put it in the fridge for you!" She hoped the fridge was still working at least. Emi turned back to Umbra, tear streaks still on her face, but now dried up with the lack of replenishing fluids. "I'll split the M&M's with you if you give me a warning next time before you slap me like you did... Oh who am I kidding? I'll split them with you even if you don't. Thank you though. You didn't pick the wrong white girl. At least I hope not." Breakdown number two was quelled for now, but even as she anticipated tearing into the beige bag with the goodies inside, Matt's last sentence was ringing in the back of Emilia's head. It probably would for some time.