Newsies' Daughter [Rewrite]

11 - Travel Day Part One (the part when everyone sleeps)

Whatever I said about the world not being so bad, I take it back. Waking up at 2 a.m. after a 4-show weekend to get on a bus and drive for 12.5 hours? Seems pretty bad to me.

We all met outside the theater at 2:30, eyes half open, shoulders slumped, blankets burritoed around our bodies.

Jeff was the only one who seemingly had energy. "Alright, newsies, who is ready for our first travel day?!"

I'm sure the grumbles he received were not the answer he was looking for.

"Okay then. Everybody pick a bus, load up your bags, find a seat, and we'll hit the road. We'll be stopping every four hours at a rest stop for fifteen minutes. And since nobody has any questions, everybody load up."

Slowly buy surely, everybody's bags ended up under one of the two busses. People found seats. Some **cough, cough, Sky, cough, cough** fell asleep as soon as they were sitting down.

I settled in the back by a window. Andy came and sat in the seat next to mine. Although still extremely tired, he seemed to have more sleep than I did, which wasn't hard, considering I had less than an hour. I curled up against the window, my eyes fluttering shut as I drifted into sleep.

🌃🌆🏙

"Li. Wake up."

My eyes snapped open. I turned towards the sound of the voice.

Andy motioned for me to get up. "We stopped. I thought you'd like to get out for a bit."

"What time is it?"

He checked his phone. "6:45."

"Please tell me there's a Starbucks."

He laughed. "Let's go."

We stood up, maneuvering down the narrow aisle of the bus to get out. Blinking at the brightening sunlight, we walked into the rest stop, a little building with multiple restaurants--not including a Starbucks.

"I'm getting Dunkin," I announced to nobody in particular. And I did, in fact, get in line for Dunkin, where I got a donut. I know, shocking.

Donut in hand, I walked across the hall to the convenience store. I twisted and turned to avoid people on my way to the drinks.

I stood there staring for a moment.

Someone put a hand on my shoulder.

I jumped and whirled around, wielding my half-eaten donut towards my attacker, who was, in fact, not an attacker. Just a very tired Josh.

"Sorry," he muttered.

I smiled tiredly. "It's alright. I'm not in your way, right?"

"No. I just thought I'd come talk to someone other Nick or Sky or Ben."

"Valid."

I opened the refrigerator door, grabbing a Gatorade (purple, ofc) and a smart water (because it has the fancy top). On my way back towards the cash register, I grabbed a bag of hot cheetos and a ceaser salad box.

Goodies in hand, I journeyed back to the bus to find my seat next to an increasingly more alert Andy.

"No Starbucks," he pointed out.

"Clearly."

Word Count: 497