Viaje

4. Sleep is a necessity

I'd slept next to Harriet more times than I could count so I did actually get some sleep. Although Oscar got up in the middle of the night and moved over next to me because the twins were taking up too much room. We all woke up at different times but at 9:30am we all decided to wake up and get some coffee into our systems. Luckily Tom didn't forget to bring the coffee. We all pulled out some cups and heated up the water from the water bottles in the mini electric kettle. Once everyone was awake we put the chairs back in their positions and off we went. Noah volunteered to drive and no one complained about it so he drove the next 3 hours. We stopped and changed drivers, Ana went for another puke and Cadeyrn bought some more coffee. Harriet drove for the next 3 hours and by the time she was about to pass out it was 8:45pm. We stopped again to sleep but we all agreed to get up earlier tomorrow, Ella and Frankie put alarms on their phones for 7:30am so we could leave ASAP. Before finding sleeping positions we decided to play a game of uno. Luckily Ana chucked them in last minute because everyone was actually really excited to play. It was a long game too, we had all gotten very good at it over the years. Cadeyrn won. After the game we just all lied down and had deep conversations. It was like an episode of Doctor Phil. Oscar and I were very close and he was talking to me about what he was going to do after high school. He always let me lay with him and crawl up into his side. I remember him telling me that he wanted to travel, after all he was always the guy who knew every place in Perth. He knew how to get there too. I could hear Ella and Noah talking about how they'd always visit each other after high school. Ella got accepted into WAPA and Noah got accepted into a ballet school in Sydney. I don't even know if distance could separate those two though.

Other than Tom and Cade the rest were asleep. I think I fell asleep before Oscar did, but I was still curled up next to him when I woke up. Frankie was up before everyone and had already got the coffee ready, even though she never liked it. "Aw Frankie you didn't have to", Harriet croaked with her morning voice. Everyone thanked Frankie for the coffee and then we were off again. "Wait guys I gotta take a piss before we leave" Cade said rather strangely." Whatever" said Tom, who was driving next. "Hurry up".
We waited 10 minutes and Jude was just about to go and find him when he came back. But he wasn't alone.
"Guys look who I bumped into" he joyfully said as he rushed to the kombi.
It was El. El Knight.
They went to school with us. They were in my year and we were super close in year 7,8,9. We kinda drifted apart in year 10 but had reconnected that year. Cade was super close with El and he said that they had just bumped into each other and El screamed at him for ripping their earphone out of their ear before even realising it was him. "Got room for one more?" El asked and we all just nodded our heads. It was gonna be super crowded now but hey the more the merrier. Tom was driving and we were already two nights into our journey. We all explained to El what was going on and they wanted to come with us to Melbourne as one of their friends, who was 4 years older than us, was currently living there. His name was Ronny, El and him were close back in year 8, which was his senior year.

"So El, long time no see. What have you been up to?" Asked Jude. El and Jude dated back in year 7 but they were friends still. "Oh you know, bit of here and there, just trying to find something to do. How lucky is it that I ran into you guys?" They said happily. Harriet added from the backseat, "It's so good to see you again" and Ella agreed. It'd been 2 hours since Tommy had started driving and he was already exhausted. Probably because James snored so loudly that he didn't get any sleep. Cade decided to takeover as he was full of energy from the caffeine. He was a.. somewhat reckless driver. He got his licence after the rest of us and still needed a bit of practice. While he was driving I sat in the very back of the van and decided to call Gene. It was a surprise that I was coming to visit him and he thought I was going up north for a while with some mates. "Good morning", he said when he picked up the phone. "Morning, how are you?" I asked. His response was short "I'm fine". I thought and said "I have a surprise for you" but he didn't seem phased. "Babe can I call you later I'm busy right now" he rushed his words and hung up with a quick 'love you' before I could even respond. Ella, who was sitting next to me, rolled her eyes and then proceeded to watch Snapchat stories on her phone. He must've just been doing something while I called him. Anyway Cade's turn to drive was over and I think everyone was glad that it was. Ella hopped out from the backseat and rushed to the front, calling 'shotgun'. It was her turn to drive next.

Ella was a graceful driver, very cautious and calm. Tom went back to sleep while she was driving. Ana got like a million phone calls from her mum who was worried sick about her even though we all promised her to treat Ana like our baby and not let anything happen to her. James- on the phone to Chanelle. Oscar, Jude, Harriet, Cade and I were playing a classic game of truth or dare. It resulted in me having to kiss Cadeyrn for the thousandth time in 4 years. In the end I think we all kissed Cadeyrn during that game. Frankie, Jude and I decided to have a lil band discussion with Lucinda for like half an hour at one point. Everything was just so smooth while Ella was driving. When Tom woke up we talked about music stuff for awhile, he was doing his music exams and was giving me some advice. After talking with Tom for a bit I went to sleep next to Cade. If I remember correctly Ana drove next, although I was asleep for most of it. Cade woke me up at lunch time by sticking his finger in my ear, after putting it in his mouth. As a kid we always called those wet willy's. Lunch was 2$ sandwiches we found in a servo on Dapaley road. "Who wants my chicken?" Harriet, the vegetarian, asked the group as she accidentally got the sandwich with chicken in it. Jude's hand shot straight up at the exact same time Cade's did. Everyone sighed as we knew this was going to be solved by a wrestling match. This was always how those two liked to handle situations.