The steady hum of the engine resonated throughout the barren fields, piercing the silence with the soft noise. Gravel crunching under the weight of the car as the tyres moved from asphalt to a dirt road, dust billowing behind as the vehicle travelled forwards. Beams of the sun shone down through small holes in the cloud cover, reflecting against anything possible, making it difficult to focus on the road ahead whenever other cars would pass by. The blistering heat making it uncomfortable to sit in the worn faded brown leather seats without exposed skin sticking painfully to the material; flies flew recklessly in and out of the open windows, buzzing obnoxiously around the passengers of the car.
A feminine hand reached out to fiddle with the various knobs and buttons on the centre console, turning on the A/C. Turning the temperature right down to the coldest setting possible, she adjusted the vents, opening them right up and tilted it down to face her. A barely audible sigh left her lips as she leant back, her eyes closing as she revelled in the continuous stream of chilled air; surprised that it actually worked this time. Usually, whenever it was turned on, the only temperature that would work was the hottest one.
They had been driving for hours now, and nowhere near their destination.
“Riley, turn on the radio, would you?” Asked one of the many people from the back of the car, his leg twitching at the lack of sound which was coming out of the speakers; he was the type of guy who hated silence, he absolutely couldn’t stand it. “Please?” He added on as an afterthought.
“I’m glad you said please five seconds afterwards, Matt.” Riley grumbled, rolling her eyes at the knowledge that her statement fell on deaf ears. Matthew Sanders, the high school’s reputable ‘bad-boy’ – a laughable label due to his caring nature towards his best friends and family. He was Riley’s best friend, and had been since before they could walk. Both happily in relationships, so there was no underlying feelings of lust between the pair; having already been down that road before, they vowed to each other that it wouldn’t happen again.
“Since when does Matt say please?” Evelyn said, her eyes flitting in between the road and Riley. Her lips twisted up into a devious smirk, knowing that she was right. Riley sighed and nodded in agreement, not wanting to argue with her best friend, despite her being on the mark. EvelynScott, Riley’s best friend and Matt’s currentgirlfriend.After a play-date in grade three, the pair have been inseparable ever since – even after Evelyn and Matt had started to date. Everyone thought that there’d be jealousy or a declaration of love from Riley, but that wasn’t the case. And, what was more is that their friendship didn’t fall apart.
“I’ve been known to say please, Ev. Offense is taken,” Matt huffed, and in the reflection of the rear-vision mirror, the girls could see him cross his bulky arms over his broad chest. Riley muffled her laugh at the pout that had formed on his face, contrasting greatly with his usual stoic facial expression. Evelyn just rolled her eyes and focused back on driving onwards, the car swerving as gently as possible to avoid the many potholes which littered the light brown dirt road.
“Jesus fuck, Scott. Give a man a little warning before you decide that you want to play real life Crazy Taxi.” Brian groaned from where he was sandwiched between the car door and Matt, his elbow jabbing Matt in the ribs in an effort to move the mass of muscle off from his own body. “Sanders, lay off the junk food. You’re getting fat.”
Brian Haner Jr, everyone’s sarcastic asshole. Yet, despite his [i]charming[/i] personality, he was actually a rather good friend to have, and when push comes to shove, he will be there; a jerk at best, but loyal as anything. Also, he was the cockiest fucker anyone will ever know, due to his devilish good looks that were bound to get him into a lot of trouble one day. Brian let out an audible sigh of relief once Matt moved over.
“Asshole,” Matt muttered under his breath, his hand rubbing at where Brian’s elbow had poked him.
Riley just shook her head at the pair in the back seat and turned around to face the front, her finger pressing the button to turn the car’s radio on before gripping the knob lightly to twist it. Her face screwed up with a mixture of disgust at what was playing, and concentration.
“Do you two ever stop fighting?” Evelyn asked, her voice rose slightly to be heard over the steady bass beat pumping through the speakers.
“I don’t think they do, ever since Brian took the last blue crayon in pre-school, Matt has been nothing short of a prick towards him,” Riley answered, her voice holding a slight tone of humour as he looked back towards her friends. Both sporting a matching expression of disgust, noses upturned in offence. “Also, dating didn’t help either. Despite being in love, Matt soon got fed up over Brian’s constant flirting.”
“We can be nice to each other, Brooks,” Matt murmured, arms folded over his chest. “We don’t fight [i]all[/i] the time,” He emphasised, nose scrunched up a little as he thought over what Riley said. “Brian’s promiscuous. Out of everyone here, Evelyn’s the only one who hasn’t been with him due to the fact that they’re cousins.”
“Fuck off, dickwad. I can’t help the fact that everyone’s attracted to me,” Brian said, his eyes flitting over to Matt briefly. If anyone were to have caught that small glance, they would have said that there were still deep-seated feelings for the slightly younger male. Confront Brian about it, however, and he would deny the fact vehemently.
“Boys; either kiss and make up, or shut up,” A voice next to Matt’s other side spoke up. His emerald eyes narrowed in annoyance at his best friends. Zachary Baker, the ‘geek’ of the group, rather than partying and fucking everything that moves, he would prefer to curl up under his blankets and read comics. But, the one thing that he has over everyone in the car is Brian’s virginity kept firm in his back pocket. After Brian got him drunk for the first time ever, it sort of just… [i]happened.[/i] But thankfully, he doesn’t remember it, nor is hopelessly devoted to Brian as a cause of it. Much unlike everyone else who’s ever fucked him. It ended up being a mutual understanding that they would both forget that it actually ever happened and move on.
“Fuck off, Baker,” Matt growled, slapping Zacky’s leg before shuffling over closer to Brian. Rolling his eyes, Zacky shook his head. Hating the fact that Johnny and Jimmy both drew the short straws as he would rather sit between them both than being in the middle with Brian and Matt. Jimmy Sullivan was Brian’s best friend ever since eighth grade; however, had no intentions of ever being with Brian, at all; sexually, romantically or whatever. The man was as energetic as an energiser bunny on red bull, and was the most loyal person ever.
Johnny Seward on the other hand… Brian was his first. Thankfully, it took him meeting Jimmy for Johnny to move on from the older man. And, a month or so later, they started to date and have been ever since. The pair complemented each other equally and were just as in love as Evelyn and Matt.
“How long until we get there, Ev?” Jimmy whined from up the back, his lips twisted into a fully- fledged pout as he looked out the window, his legs already cramping up due to the confined space that he had found himself in as he was several feet far too long for the back.
Giggling, Evelyn just rolled her eyes and took a sharp left, smirking at the groans which soon erupted around in the car. Shouts of pain and grumbled curses made her day all that worthwhile. “Not too long, Jim. We’re almost there, promise…” She murmured, narrowly avoided a dead carcass in the middle of the road, not wanting to smell dead sheep for the remainder of the trip. “Want me to pull over for a bit so you can stretch out?” She asked, glancing into the rear-vision mirror again.
Nodding furiously like a bobble-head doll on crack, Jimmy groaned his approval, “Please and thank you!” Was his high-pitched agreement, chuckling as Johnny leant against his side. Relieved that he would be able to stretch out his legs which were aching.
