Hello Sunshine

Chapter Six: A Crazy Van Ride

The hour went by faster than Troy had expected, but at the same time it had felt much longer than it was. Was it because he was actually having fun? Probably. He'd admit that even though they were a bunch of weirdos, he would call them his friends if someone had asked.

He wouldn't dare say anything out loud though otherwise.

Mike had called everyone around to do a head count before putting everyone into the van. Well, Sophie, Mark, and their brothers road home with their Dad. So it was just him, Tony, James, Scott, Brooke, Arron, and Haru.

Mike drove of course, and Arron took the passenger seat, talking about what was on the radio that he couldn't hear through the noise. Tony and James took the very back row, cracking up at something as the light of their phones revealed their faces in the dark van. The sun had set not too long ago and now it was getting pretty dark outside, being almost eight o'clock now. The next row sat Scott by the window and Brooke near the edge, close to the other window. Troy sat in front of her in the next row with Haru on his left by the window.

He heard Brooke talk and turned his head to see that she was giving her brother a look. "You're gonna shower after we get home, right? Because you smell Broskie." Troy raised a brow at the strange nickname, but decided not to question it.

Scott looked slightly offended, but seemed that he was faking it. "You make it sound like I don't ever shower."

She raised a brow teasingly. "I'm talking more than twice a week, bro."

"I do, thank you! It's my teeth I brush twice a week."

Brooke and Haru laughed at how proud he sounded, Brooke shaking her head. "Dude, that's even worse, but I guess twice a week is better than twice a month."

Troy winced and gave a disapproving look. Sure he may not do it twice a day like people should, but if he didn't brush his teeth at least several times a week, his gums would bleed. "Dude, gross."

His remark only made Brooke and Haru laugh harder and Scott sighed in defeat before looking at Troy, probably trying to change the subject. "By the way, I'm Scott, Brooke's brother."

Troy nodded, realizing that he hadn't actually introduced himself to the teen yet. "Yeah I know. I'm Troy."

Scott turned to Brooke with a bright smile. "You talked about me!?"

She stopped laughing to give him a thoughtful look. "Not that I remember." This seemed to depress the taller sibling somehow and he pretended to sulk by the window, circling his finger on the glass. She rolled her eyes. "Blondie probably figured it out."

Troy scrunched his face at her. "Blondie?"

She grinned. "It's a nickname, dweeb."

Haru giggled next to him, and Scott laughed, seeming to be glad that she had found a new target to tease. Haru's eyes landed on Brooke. "Then what's 'dweeb' for?"

Brooke continued to smirk. "That, my dear friend, is an insult."

They laughed and Troy decided to just ignore them, turning his attention to Scott, who had pulled out his phone to take a really bad selfie, his face twisted into some weird double-chin with his eyes wide open in a creepy way. Troy pointed to Brooke. "How can you live with that?"

Brooke interrupted before Scott could answer, poking her brother's twisted face as she spoke. "That should be directed towards me, don't you think? I mean, look at that. I feel bad for whoever you're sending that awful picture to."

Scott finished and sent the picture, saying nothing, but smirking all the same as there was a buzz from Brooke's pocket. Her eye twitched before she slowly pulled out her own phone, glaring at Scott after staring at it a few moments, who burst out laughing with Haru. "Somehow, I halfway expected this..."