You're The Voice - Sidemen

Chapter 5

"Right. Are you lot sure you're going to be alright, driving down to Cornwall?" Josh asks, throwing the keys to Tobi, who catches them one-handed. "I mean, it's a long way."

"It'll be fine, Josh. We can take turns driving." JJ attempts to reassure him, but it doesn't do much good, to be honest.

"Remember, Tobi's the only one of you insured to drive her. If any of the rest of you are driving, make sure you're on your best behaviour. We don't want you getting pulled over for stupid driving, only to have the lack of insurance on top of that."

"Although, he's not encouraging you to drive stupidly either, Tobi." Simon reprimands from behind Josh, leaning over his shoulder from where they stand in the doorway of the shop, wrapping his arms around Josh's waist.
"Also, don't let Sarah drive, she's fucking terrible on the roads."

"My mother was burning her bras in the 1960s so I could be treated like this?" Sarah gasps, a fake scandalised tone to her voice, "pure, unadulterated sexism, that's what that is. You should be ashamed, Simon." At Vik's raised eyebrow, she laughs, "in all honesty Vik, I am a terrible driver."

Vik laughs, and looks at the van, and the six of them about to embark on their journey. While Sarah may be a terrible driver, she's fantastic at decorating things. Much to Josh's chagrin, she'd taken it upon herself to decorate his van, in the hippie, stoner-vibe ways of the 60s. The seats are all decked out with exotic rugs, and the makeshift seats of the back are comfortable. She'd enlisted Ethan's help, decorating murals all over the inside walls. It's beautiful.

Impractical, but beautiful.

"You'd better take care of Dilly. I still can't believe you dressed her up like that, but I don't want her coming back too damaged."

"Yes, Dad." A monotonous chorus reply.

After a final round of hugs and handshakes between the 6 travellers, Josh and Simon, they're off. Vik looks through the blacked out windows of the back of the van, watching Simon and Josh wave at them until they turn the corner.

They're on their way.

The journey down is relatively uneventful. They get lost a couple of times, but get set back on track with Sarah's surprisingly good map reading skills. JJ gets told to shut up, singing the same repetitive songs over and over again. Eventually, they ease into one another's company in such an enclosed space. Conversation moves on to songs of their childhood.

"Please, Sarah. The Rolling Stones are far better than the Beatles ever were. Sympathy for the Devil? That's an iconic song and you know it." JJ shouts, Ethan nodding along in support. "Not to mention the instrumentals they had, damn they were impressive."

"But the Beatles had so many diverse songs! Their lyrics had substance, at the same time as being easy on the ear pop tunes. They had variety."

"They were off their faces most of the time." Tobi mutters, his fingers tapping at the steering wheel. Sarah glares at him, offended. "Sarah, I love the Beatles as much as you do! I'm just being honest. You know as much as the next person what Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds really means."

"Also Sarah, you're trying to say that I Am The Walrus has meaning? The entire point of the song is to stop people from looking too deeply into the music of the Beatles." Vik pipes up, and a brief silence comes over the bus.

"Ooooh, get you!" Vik rolls his eyes.

"Norwegian Wood is a good song though, and I liked Paperback Writer."

"But you prefer The Rolling Stones overall?" JJ inquires.

"Of course I don't. Most of it is just noise and dodgy singing, but again, they had a couple of good ones that I enjoy. Ruby Tuesday's got to be one of my favourite songs."