The Stepbrother

Road Trip!

"Need any help?" Zach said, walking towards the distressed Jade. She was currently carrying a very heavy suitcase out of the townhouse, slowly.

"Why does a guy think whenever a woman is struggling with something, that she obviously needs their help?" Jade asked. Grunting she lifted the suitcase off the first step and moved it to the second.

"I think that's called being a gentleman!" Zach said, watching her pick up the suitcase again, moving it to the next step.

"Gentleman my ass, you just think I'm helpless."

Zach sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you. If I am correct that's your last bag, so I'm going to make sure everything is cut off in the house." Zach passed by Jade and walked into the townhouse. Jade stood up and stretched feeling a little pain in her back. She looked at the suitcase at her feet and sighed. Even though it was a bitch packing she couldn't wait to see her mother again and to go home!

The previous day when Jade found out she would be leaving she had told Olivia about not being able to accompany her on Friday night. Olivia was already upset, because of the hickey incident, so it wasn't all that shocking when she threw a tantrum. And that made Jade change her mind about telling Olivia about Josh. Thank goodness she would get away from Josh for a while; she definitely needed to get rid of some stress.

"I can't believe you even suggested doing this?" Jade yelled, looking at the curb. She stared at the gold-colored Yukon Denali that was behind Zach's motorcycle. Jade bent back over to pick up the suitcase again, as Zach came out.

"What's so unbelievable?" he asked, locking the door.

"You rented a car and got me to join you on a road trip!" Jade said. She finally got the suitcase to the end of the steps and wiped her forehead.

"My motorcycle is ok, but how would we be able to take all our stuff?" Zach asked, moving beside Jade. "Besides, it'll be fun. Who can say they drove from California to Texas in two days? Think of it as an escapade."

"I've never done anything like this before! Leave it up to you to not want to be ordinary and take a plane or a train. Ow!" Jade yelped when the pain in her back became too much for her. Jade placed both hands on her hips and bent backwards.

"Here," Zach said, grabbing the suitcase with ease. He lifted it onto his shoulders and carrying it to the trunk of the car. "There you go," he said after closing the trunk of the car.

Jade held her back and shook her head. "Thanks!" she said walking to the passenger side of the car.

"Your welcome. Are you all ready to go? I would like to at least get out of California and Nevada, before we have to stop at a motel for the night." Jade slammed her door and buckled up, looking at him do the same.

"I'm ready," Jade said with a huff. She watched Zach turn on the car and pull out into traffic. For as long as she had known Zach, she never once witnessed him drive an actual car, so this was quite a treat to see him drive. It seemed like he was a little bit uneasy driving the big car, but two hours later he had loosened up. They had listened to music for a while, soon after though, music became unbearable and it was turned off.

Finally, Jade had rid herself of the constricting seat belt and took off her shoes, stretching out. She reached to the back seat and grabbed a bag, bringing it to the front.

"What's that?" Zach asked glancing quickly in her direction.

"It's got my stuff in it!" Jade told him.

"I thought all your stuff was in that big suitcase?"

"It is, but I put some things that I could work on in this bag," Jade told him. She stuck her hand inside and pulled out Zach's book along with the glasses he'd bought for her. Zach chuckled lightly when Jade put the glasses on and got comfortable in her seat.