Senior trip

"What are y'all doing for your senior trip" asked Sam. She was a short blonde haired lady with hazel eyes and a deep reassuring smile. She was talking to Zach and myself. Zach is my older brother. He was a short stocky man with short brown hair and blue eyes. It was May 19th, 2020. Three days before graduation. "Our plans are kinda bland to be honest. We just plan on claiming the basement as our own for the week and playing video games before college starts." She chuckled under her breath and gave us an annoyed look "you guys should join me and my friend in this old hunting cabin I found outside of Hanover lake. We explored it. It's completely empty but run down and looks like a mysterious exploration that would be fun to be a part of." "That sounds li...." can I talk to you in private for a minute" Zach interrupted, "We barely know these girls and it's an abandoned cabin. This isn't a good idea" I thought he was being a little too cautious. "We should give it a shot. We are about to start college and how often do we get invited to hangout with girls as beautiful as the two of them. It could be fun and a way to relax before starting the rest of our lives. C'mon man, whatcha say?" I persuasively barked back. "Alright alright but I still think this is a bad idea but only because Sam's friend has been staring me down the whole time. I just don't wanna look like a coward in front of her" "so guys are you in?" Courtney, Sam's friend asked. "Yea we're in. We will get packed up tonight and meet you guys in the morning at the football field. How about 9:30?" I said. I'm not gonna lie I had a pit in my stomach but was not gonna show Sam that I was scared. "That's great" sam remarked "see ya then" Courtney claimed. On our way home Zach was silent. "Come on man. We're seniors. This could be the last chance for awhile to have a little fun." I said. "I know but your not thinking about what could happen. The possibilities. What about bears, cougars, maybe it's someone's land that isn't too friendly." He argued. "Yea your right but what if those things don't happen? What if we have a good time, down a few beers, and get to know these girls better. Who knows maybe they could be our future. How about this. We take the back way home, hit some back roads, and let this little camaro of mine eat!" A smile broke across his face right before he looked at me and said "hell yeah bubba!! You know just how to clear my mind" see me and my brother had the same personality, Same passions, and same sense of humor. We were both car finatics. We were all each other had. Our only differences was our looks. I'm a short, plump boy with long brown hair and a beard you could get lost in. We lost our parents in a car accident when we were young. I was five and Zach was seven. We moved in with our uncle who was never around much and was such a bad alcoholic he didn't even know we were around half the time. We bonded through cars. When our daddy died he left my brother with a beautiful Chevy nova. It wasn't beautiful when he got it but we turned that car around. We spent nights in the shop fixing it and learning the whole process along the way. It was a candy apple red with ice white racing stripes. When my brother got old enough to drive he taught me that speed was a mans escape to a new world. He worked two jobs provided for us and I helped the neighbor Mrs Elwood with yard work putting back money for my own project car. I finally saved enough and bought me a Chevy camaro. It was the most beautiful car in the school parking lot, aside from my brothers of course, me and my brother put all of our blood sweat and tears into that car until we got it just right. It was a clear-coat silver that was so shines you could see your reflection in it. We were driving until we reached deerbrook drive. A long, straight away exactly a quarter mile long. The road our parents got killed on. I looked at my brother at the same time he looked at me and smiled. Simultaneously "let it eat baby" as I floored it and let that 454 big block roar for that entire quarter mile. Half way through he looked at me with excitement in his face and said "let's drive separate cars to pick them up. I'll take courtney and you can take sam. We can get to know them and neither of us will be away from our cars" "sounds like a plan to me Bubba" I said. Once again we looked at each other smiling and screamed simultaneously "135, 140, 145" then the road narrowed before the curb. When we slowed down enough to finally lean up from our seats we pulled in the driveway of our little single wide trailer. "Let's go pack our bags and get it done before we do anything else" Zach said "yes sir" I replied. I've always looked at my older brother as a father figure and always treated him with respect. He is the one man I'm afraid of. We got our bags packed full with clothes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and what not. " lanterns? Why do we need lanterns?" Zach said "we are staying in an abandoned hunting cabin for a week on the edge of a lake. Do you really think we will have electricity?" A little embarrassed I replied with a humorous chuckle "okay okay your right. I didn't think that far ahead. I'm passing senior year with a D average and 36 unexcused absences. I don't think like most people." Laughing Zach replied "alright Bubba we're all packed. You know what time it is." In complete silence our eyes cut to each other and we sprinted to the garage. Most people have a nightly routine of showering and brushing your teeth but our routine starts early. Our cars get baths first. How we got a two car garage in a double wide I don't know. I guess we got lucky to have a father that loved cars as much as us. The trailer got passed down to my moms brother after the accident. My uncle Arthur. He's the drunk that lives with us pretending to raise us. Halfway through waxing and shining up our cars I got a text message. The message read "hey, it's Sam I got your number from the signup sheet for the high school drags coming up in July. I understand you and your brother have won that thing since you could see over a steering wheel!" I replied "yea we get the job done behind the wheel but my brother is the brains behind it. I just put it to the floor and go. So your looking at the sign up sheet for the drags? Do you race?" She replied extremely quick "no, I don't but I love the sport and so does courtney. I'd love to see your cars sometime" I looked at my brother and smiled. "What is it Dylan? You look like your up to something after that text. Who was it?" "It was Sam" I said "she is into racing and cars too. They wanna see our cars but I haven't told them we are driving them tomorrow" his face went flat "don't tell them" "why not I asked" he grinned deeply "our party could get started a little earlier than expected. Ask them to come and they can just leave with us in the morning instead of meeting at the football field" "c'mon man, you think they will stay the night?" I said confused. "Probably we will be staying together all week so why not one more day?" He said. "Your right. I'm gonna text her and ask her." So I started to text Sam back and ask her when I heard a ding. She texted me again. "I just wish we would've met earlier" I replied "well my brother had a good idea. We will be together all week so why not extend it by one day? Go get courtney and come to the house tonight. We can stay in the garage and give you a walkthrough of our cars" nervously I waited. 5, 10, 20 mins have went by and still no text. "I don't understand she left me on read" I said. "It's okay Bubba, maybe she got busy." He replied. " yeah may.... bro there's someone outside. I heard footsteps." I said worried. "Got your pistol?" He asked "of course I do. You taught me to never go without it" I replied. "Get it out. It's probably Uncs dumbass bootlegger trying to steal some more stuff. When we walk outside you turn left and I'll turn right." He said angrily. About that time the door knob started turning and someone bathed in. "BOO!!" They said as Zach smacked my gun towards the ground. "Wish fellas chill, it's just us. Sam and Courtney" sam said. Breathing heavily I replied "damn girl. You almost got shot. Why didn't you text me back?" Laughing she said "we were gonna surprise y'all. I guess we didn't think it through. Sneaking up on a couple of red necks that aren't afraid of shit. So these are the cars all the talk is about?" Chuckling Zach said "uh, yeah. His is the silver mines the red. They get the job done. What do you girls think?" Courtney looked at Zach and said "oh my god, red is my favorite color. It's beautiful" "thank you it's my pride and joy. I've got a lot of time and love into this car but that beautiful camaro over there has the speed. I wouldn't race that car in any car across six counties. That thing is fast" he said. "Yea his has the looks mine has the speed. That's how we built them. Zach is a mastermind behind body work, paint, and fabrication but my motor skills are to die for" I said still trying to calm down from the scare. "Come on we will take you girls for a ride. Hop in with Dylan Sam and Courtney you can come with me." Zach invited. The girls got in the cars and we went for a cruise. Me and Sam were talking since we were finally alone. "So sam, what made you ask me and my brother to come with you guys. We've never met." "Well. Courtney has trouble meeting guys because she's older and has been held back some. Just like Zach. At first I wondered how you guys were two years apart but in the same grade til I talked to some people. Courtney has had her eye on Zach since freshman year but she's passive. She's shy when it comes to new people. When I moved to Newman high in January we started hanging out and she told me about him. Well little did I know his younger brother which happens to be my age is such a cutie too. We made this plan and didn't back down. Now look at me in the passenger seat of the one and only Dylan. Six year champion of the highschool drags. How are you single?" That was a hard question to answer but I just told her the truth. "Well to be honest with you all my passion is in cars as you can tell. I've never really dated anyone. Losing my parents so young and being abused by my uncle I just use the shop as a get away and spend all my free time there. I'm never really out. I'm like Courtney. I'm passive and don't talk much. I just kinda figured that I'd meet someone in college and take it from there." "Look I know I haven't known you long but your a really cool Guy and I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I'm not one to jump into relationships either. I'm scared of heartbreak after the last asshole I trusted but with you it's different. Just being around you it's like our personalities are the same and even that we aren't in a relationship I hope I've found myself a lifetime friend?" She said. " Yea me too. How about we spend as much time this week getting to know each other. Learning about each other and then we will see how it goes. I know how Zach is. Courtney and himself are probably making out in his car right now. I just don't want you to be hurt since I'm not that type of person. I like easing in so I know I'm not getting hurt along with hurting someone else." Our talks got deeper and just kept getting longer until we finally headed back to the house two and a half hours later. I'm the garage before we got out of the car I look at her and said "your a really cool girl I'm honored to have this week with you. The way you made me feel while we were talking I'd love to see if we can make it longer than a week." With a smile she mumbled with red cheeks "absolutely but I want you to know whatever your decision I'm happy to be your friend" we went into the trailer to meet Zach and Courtney. They were eating some steak he threw on the grill before we got home so I grabbed a few steaks from the fridge. "Beer?" I asked everyone. They all accepted and Sam followed me to the back porch "you do it all don't you?" She asked. "What do you mean?" I said confused. "Your respectful, you have a badass car, and you can grill like it's nobody's business" she said under a chuckle as she took a sip of Budweiser. I leaned over and put my arm over her shoulder "now your just being nice" I said laughing as I got up to pull a still frozen steak off the grill that i forgot to turn back on. She started laughing at me and told me she liked her steak rare but not that rare. "You got jokes huh?" I said both laughing at each other. "This is a good time. I hope it's like this all week" she replied. "Yea me too let's eat some steak and get some shuteye so we can get up there tomorrow." I replied. After dinner we went back to mine and Zach's room to find Courtney and Zach knocked out on his bed. "Looks like your bunking with me" I said. She didn't even respond she just blushed and nodded happily. The next morning we grabbed all of our bags, three cases of beer, and our keys then got on the road as soon as we could. It was a two hour drive to the cabin but it felt like thirty minutes. Me and Sam just talked the whole time without a dull moment. We laughed and joked with each other the whole way. Once we arrived we went in to find out where we would be sleeping. When we walked in the place was pretty nice but you could tell it's been empty awhile. "Let's go for a swim" Courtney said. We all agreed and got our bathing suits on. The first day was great we all laughed and had a good time. My favorite part was that night. We had a fire going and beers being passed around with music blaring. Me and Sam we're sitting together on one side of the fire across from Zach and Courtney. It was May so still warm outside but being on the edge of the lake made it kinda chilly. "I'm cold" Sam said as she nudged me. I took off my hoodie and gave it to her. A few minutes go buy and we hear something in the woods behind us. We hear leaves snapping and twigs breaking. "Come here" I said as I pulled sam closer to me and pulled her in tight. I grabbed my gun and so did Zach. It was too dark to see anything. We could hear the footsteps so we know it was bigger. It sound like human footsteps. "What is is?" Courtney asked scared. "I don't know" me and Zach replied. "But it's big" we sat still and quiet for a second just to listen until we heard a strange voice "who's there? Why are you hear?" "We came exploring" yelled Zach. "I'm not gonna hurt you so don't shoot. I'm coming out" said the strange man. He came up to us and sat beside the fire. "This place has been abandoned for years. What are you kids thinking being out here alone?" He claimed in a confused manner. "We are just exploring sir. We are seniors in highschool about to graduate and we thought a week at the lake with a few friends would be fun before we went off to college. So who are you anyway?" I asked "I'm Alvin Weathers. Look children. I'm not gonna hide who I am. I own the place. I had two teenagers myself a boy and a girl. Names of Jordan and Heather. You two look alike. Are you brothers?" He asked me and Zach. "Yes sir" I replied "I stopped coming out here because of my children. You see I used to be an alcoholic so my oldest child heather disowned me and moved out with a man I didn't approve of. I seen your cars. He was a horrid type like the two of you. She moved out when she was 16 and it crushed me. So I was gonna leave this place to my son, Jordan. On his eighteenth birthday he came out here hunting alone and got killed by an accidental misfire. I lost both of my kids and this was both if there favorite place to come. I couldn't bare the heartache of being here so I stopped coming. From my understanding my wife had another son with a man I don't know after she divorced me years ago. His name was Arthur so I never met him. I've tried reaching out and I can't find him." He said. "Wait a minute. You have a step son named Arthur and a daughter named heather?" Zach asked "yes, I'd loved to see my daughter again but I completely lost tough. It's like she fell off the map and I don't know where to find her." He replied. "What was the mans name your daughter left with?" Asked Zach. Looking at me in shock. "I.. I don't really remember his first name. All the drinking has my memory a little foggy but the last name was Bennett I believe. Shannon Bennett. That's it." Zach stood up from his seat and motioned me over to sit beside the man. We shook his hand. "Sir, we know your daughter and stepson. Your daughter heather was our mother. I'm sorry to tell you this but her and our dad died in a car accident years back. We live with Arthur. He's not much to know. He's an old drunk himself. We are your grandchildren." Zach said. "Grandchildren?... but. But. I didn't even get to say goodbye." Alvin said as he dropped his head to his hands and started to weep. "I'm sorry sir if you care anything about it. You have your grandchildren and we will visit whenever you'd like." I said. Sam and Courtney sat in silence and shock of the moment in which they were experiencing. "That would mean the world to me boys" he replied wiping his face. "So what would cheer you up sir? Beer?" Zach offered. "No son. Thank you. I quit drinking when your mother left. I have something better that I have a heart full of intentions to do. You see I was a car fanatic myself. You boys wanna show me around your cars? Introduce me to your girls?" He asked. "Of course sir. I'd be honored." I said. "Okay son. At the end of the drive way take a left and head all the way down that road. I live at the second house on the left. Meet me there in the morning 10:30. I'll be in my garage. It's to deal to see anything right now." He claimed "Yes sir. We will see you then" Zach responded. Alvin left and we went back to listening to music. Sam nudged me with a chuckle and said "I'm meeting the in-laws already huh?" "I guess so and I guess your my girl now according to pops" I laughed. "Can't argue with your elders" she said with a smile on her face. "I agree. You've only known me two days and already going through a lot with me. That must mean something right?" I said as I nudged her and started blushing. "Look Dylan time has no factor when it comes to feelings for someone. I'm just like you I don't rush into things and would never imagine it but I want you. I've had such a great time with you. Wanna just give it a shot?" She asked. "Oh what the hell. It can't hurt. Your a great girl and I've had a good time with you too. Just make me a promise okay?" I said looking into her eyes. "Okay what's the promise?" She asked. "We haven't known each other long so neither of us know what could happen. Promise me that if we don't work there will be no hard feelings and we will always be friends." I asked. "I promise that to you but I have one more thing I want before we go in to go to sleep." She said. "Okay what's that beautiful?" I asked. She just stared into my eyes like she was scared to tell me. Then she kissed me. It was a long kiss and ended with the biggest smile on her face. "I've always wanted a kiss around a fire on the edge of the lake." She said. "I'm glad I could let you have that. I enjoyed it" I replied. We went back into the cabin to find Zach and Courtney cooking. "Woah this place still has power" I asked. "Yea I guess he never disconnected it but hey we can cook" Zach replied. "Alright Bubba be and the missus is off to bed" I said with a smile and a wink to let him know it was something more than friends at this point. We woke up the next morning and headed to Alvin's house to find him in the garage like he said he would be. He was leaned over the hood of a gorgeous fox body mustang working on the carburetor. It was a gloss baby blue color. Sitting next to it was a Buick grand national I couldn't see it very well because the lights on that end of the garage was off and there was a tarp over it but I could see a nice shine black coat on the car. "Hey boys. What do ya think?" he asked when he saw us. "This car is a beauty. Whats under that tarp. I can tell it's a national but damn!" I replied. "That is the car I built in memory of Jordan. They were always his favorite. This one here was your moms car. I was working on building it for her when she left. I never stopped in hopes that she would come back but she didn't. Let's see your rides." He said. "Yes sir. They are parked up by the house." We walked up to the house to look at the cars. "Oh man what gorgeous cars you guys have. Who built them?" He asked. "We did sir. One hundred percent self taught." I replied. "That's impressive. Grab your women and come in the house for some breakfast. I wanna talk to you guys about something." We walked into the house and sat by the table until he had finished cooking. Once he sat down and we all ate he wasted no time. "Fellas. Ik you don't know me and this may be a lot at once but here it is." He said as he slid a envelope across the table. "What's this" I asked. "It's the title to them two beauties out there and the paper work to the cabin and the house. I have cancer son and last week the doctor told me I had six months tops. I want y'all to have it. Do as you please. I heard last night that your graduating so here ya go. Here's you fellas a house with a big garage. You can start families here with your women. The cabin is just as nice as the house. Work together get it cleaned up and there's house number two. One live here one live there. Do with the cars as you please. I'd prefer you keep them in the family but it's your choice now. All I ask is that you let me stay here until my time is up" he said. "Woah. Sir. This is just. Wow. Thank you sir." I said. "I love you boys like my grandchildren. Your the only ones to take it and I trust that you'll do right by it. It's all yours" from that day on we went back to our home town one time and that was for graduation. Me and my brother forgot about college. We opened a garage of our own with the prize money we one that year in highschool drags. The only difference was that our winning car was a baby blue mustang instead of a silver camaro. Courtney and Zach live together on the lake at the hunting cabin and Sam and myself are doing great at our new house. Grandpa Alvin died six weeks after he gave us the houses and cars. Now Sam is eight weeks pregnant and Courtney has a six month old baby boy.