"Come on..." I say through gritted teeth as I look hopefully up at the clock. three seconds, two seconds, one second – RIING! The whole class jumps out of their seats and walks out of the classroom, talking excitedly amongst themselves. "Have a great summer, everyone!" I hear Ms. McGuire say as I hurry out of the classroom with my fellow graduates.
Hi, I'm Austin Cruz. I'm 18 years old and I'm officially done with High School forever – now all I have to do is tackle College. I hear footsteps coming up behind me and I assume it's Peter, my best friend "Hey, Pete" "School's out!" is all he says. I turn to look at him. He has dark brown scruffy hair and tanned skin, he's tall but shorter than me. We continue to walk down the street until we reach my house.
When we enter, I'm surprised to see my three cousins standing in the living room. "Road trip!" says Oliver. He's 19. Average height and has blond hair, which he got from his dad. His 2 siblings look a lot like him, Melody and Shawn – both 17 – twins. I look at them and grin "When do we leave?" Peter looks from me to them and checks his watch "better go," He slaps my back before he walks back towards the door "See you on the other side." I grin at him before I look back at my cousins "I'll go pack." I head upstairs and pack a duffel bag full of clothes, deodorant and my toothbrush. I hurry back down the stairs and see that they're already in the car. I run outside, onto the driveway and into the passenger seat.
"Where we headed?" I ask "Sanddale Bay," says Shawn from the back seat "Down in Florida" "Florida?" I ask in disbelief "That's... a 17 hour drive" "Well we'll stop at a motel, obviously" says Melody, who's sitting beside Shawn "Drive thrus, gas stations... we'll break it up" I shrug and look down at my phone. It's 3:30, so that means get there by around 8:30 tomorrow, but that's only if we don't sleep the whole way. I groan and slouch in my seat. This is going to be the longest 17 hours of my life.
A few hours have passed by and we're pulling into a McDonalds "Can I have a Big Mac combo with a Sprite?" Says Oliver. "A McChicken combo with extra mayo," I shout from the passenger seat "and an Iced Tea." "A McDouble combo with a coke" says Melody "A 10 – piece and a root beer" says Shawn. We finish giving our orders and drive up to the window where we'd get our food
We're back on the road and music is blasting from the radio while we eat. I can tell you, never has a McChicken tasted this good. "14 hours more" Oliver says "Joy!" Shawn says sarcastically. I pull out my phone and put my AirPods in. Time goes by when none of us are talking. Then – "Oh, looks like Mitchell's having a party tomorrow." says Melody "He lives down in Sanddale." "Cool," I say "should we go?" The rest of the car exclaims in agreement "I'll text him" Melody says once we've made a decision. Boy, am I excited for tomorrow.
It's been eight hours since we left and we have nine hours to go. It's almost 11:45 so we decided to pull into a motel off the highway. We enter the motel to see a dirty carpeted floor and walls with paint peeling off of it. We all look at each other skeptically. "Uh, Sir?" I ask the man at the front desk. He looks half asleep "uh, any available rooms?" The man grunts and hands me a room key. I take it with a shaking hand and walk back to the group.
We walk down the hall towards our room. It's just as bad as the lobby – and even worse, it only has one bed. I gulp "well... Melody can sleep on the couch," begins Oliver as he tugs on the collar of his shirt "Shawn and I can have the bed and–" "I'll sleep on the floor" I finish with a sigh – why is it always me?
Oliver and Shawn settle themselves in bed, Melody lies down on the couch and I go looking for some blankets to separate me from the roach infested floor. We don't bother changing – why waste clean clothes for this trash heap?
The next day, I wake up with a sore back. I sit up and yawn loudly. I check my watch, It's 8:45 – nine hours to go! I stand up and stretch my back, walk over to the bed and see that Oliver is still asleep 'Shawn must be in the bathroom' I think to myself. I walk over to the couch to see Melody lying there on her phone "Morning" I say as I rub my eyes "How was your sleep?" she says back
"The worst I've ever had. My back is killing me"
she grins
"You sound like Abuelo. Who else is awake?"
"Shawn and us–"
I hear Oliver let out a loud yawn from behind me
"Scratch that, we're all up"
An hour later, we're pulling out of the motel parking lot, all looking extremely tired. "What time is it?" Oliver asks "9:50" Shawn replies. We're halfway there.
YOU ARE READING
You Saved My Life!
RomanceIt's the beginning of summer. Austin and his cousins are taking a road trip to Sanddale Bay. That's where he meets the hottest guy he's ever seen. Here comes the drama!
