Fire Summoner

Chapter Fourteen: Bad Vibes at a Gas Station

"Bad vibes!" Alice and Emily cried out while the boys in the cab cursed. Alice giggled, the sound was full of unbridled joy. The current energy in the cab of the truck reminded her of all of the road trips they had all taken together throughout college. The sun was still a few hours away from setting, the sky was clear and endless above the highway and Alice felt happy.

"Can we please stop somewhere, anywhere!" Connor groaned, running a hand down his face. His eyelids comically pulled down and away from his eyes before snapping back into place as his hand passed over his high cheekbones. He was still in the back seat with Alice; Emily and Nick were still up front. Everyone except Alice had taken turns driving to give Nick a break as they had been on the road for almost seven hours at this point. Currently, Emily was driving the truck, pushing 90 on the highway, the old truck's engine roaring every time she pushed down on the accelerator. It was nearing five o'clock and everyone was beginning to feel a bit restless after a day of driving. The only stops that they had made was in a drive thru for lunch, and a few gas stations here and there for bathroom breaks.

Everyone agreed that they should make as few stops as possible. Connor and Emily claimed that they would need time to track down the exact location of this person's house, which was located somewhere in the backcountry of Montana. "Best to get as far today as possible, get the map then find a motel." Connor had stated when Alice had questioned why they didn't stop at one of the many rest stops they had passed throughout the day.

They had just passed one such rest stop, but Alice and Emily had been playing a little game of their own once Emily had taken a turn at driving the truck. The girls had simultaneously decided to taunt the boys by refusing to stop at each and every rest stop they passed. They claimed to get bad feelings from them all, the lie was only bought for the first two that they blew past. After the third, Nick and Connor caught on and would grumble every time either of the girls would claim something was wrong. One was too close to the woods behind it. Another didn't have a cute enough looking picnic area. Alice claimed that they couldn't stop at the last one because "The color of the roof was all wrong, too dark!". Nick had muttered under his breath at this, slouching in his seat and crossing his arms across his chest. Alice just let out a laugh and reached around the seat to ruffle his hair. "Grumble, grumble, grumble." she poked at him. She didn't miss the slight tilt of the corner of his mouth at her antics.

"All jokes aside, please, in the name of all I hold dear, can we stop at the next rest stop? My bladder is gonna explode if I wait any longer." Connor said while squirming around in his seat, reminding Alice of a child doing the potty dance.

"The exit sign says that there's a gas station five miles up, can you hold it till then?" Emily asked, relenting on the game she and Alice had been subjecting the boys to.

"That, or just pull the car over. I'll make do with a good bush at this point." Connor groaned.

"Absolutely not! I'm not gonna subject other drivers, and more importantly me, to the view of your ass off the side of the road while you relieve yourself. You can hold it." Emily told Connor with a stern, almost motherly look in her eye as she peered through the rearview mirror at him.

"I don't pull my pants all the way down like a kindergartener!" Connor defended himself, his mouth dropping open at her words. Alice, who had been taking a sip of her water just then, choked at the mental image that her friends had unintentionally put into her mind. She began to cough and splutter as Connor leaned over her and lightly slapped her upper back.

"Ugh," Alice grunted, trying to clear her throat, "You know that does nothing to help me, if anything it just makes it worse. But thank you nonetheless for the help." She said around her rough and sore throat. Connor stopped hitting her back, laughing a little as he said "Only you would scold me and thank me in the same sentence, Ali."