Time Of His Lives

4 [ A ]

Cheat ; [ CHēt ] - Be unfaithful in a relationship .

With his eyes still smarting from sleep , he sat up and looked around . He had momentarily forgotten about the entire road trip so he wondered where he was . Sean snored . " What time is it ? " He wondered aloud and took out his phone to check . Chris muttered something about cupcakes in his sleep and Isaac laid back on the seat with a sigh .

4 a.m.

What had woken him up ? He did not wish to admit to himself that the dreams about his war adventure were what kept him tossing and turning that night . Was this why some soldiers got PTSD ? He scowled to himself and groaned , rubbing his eyes . Something about the whole ordeal made him feel weak . Vulnerable . He did not like the feeling at all . He must have been high as a kite . Yes , that was the most logical explanation . Wait .

Didn't he make an agreement with himself to ignore the whole event ?

He rubbed his eyes over his face stressfully and turned in the back seat . Chris' murmurs turned to what sounded like a chuckle . Sleep was out of the question for him . Once Isaac woke up , there was no going back . Not until some hours later . He went to Instagram to stalk people , cheerleaders from his high school to be specific . He came across Lynn's page and an unnoticed sigh escaped his lips . She was the girl he waved at in the park . A pang of regret struck him . Sure they had a thing going on but he messed it up by cheating on her . She was a good chick , unlike most of the crowd he attracted .

That's in the past , though . He did not have a reputation for being cold for nothing . Moping in the dark at 4:02 a.m. would not change anything about what he did . Instagram was suddenly boring and he found himself switching to YouTube . Maybe a song would help stop the uneasy feeling in his chest . Sean snorted then shot up as though he'd also been having a nightmare . " Dad is coming . " he mumbled sleepily . Isaac sat up again , worried , " What ? " He then saw Sean's closed eyes from the rear view mirror and got at ease . Sean was in between a state of sleep and consciousness . " Wake up ." He patted Sean's arm and his eyes shot open . " What time is it ? " He slurred . " 4:04 . " Isaac replied and Sean got the seat upright . " We need to get going if we want to get to Idaho . " He lightly slapped his cheeks in a bid to kick off the looming sleepiness . " Sure . " Isaac hopped into the front seat and strapped his seat belt .

Sean got the car going and they pulled out of the parking lot they'd parked in .

Stella let out a groan a few hours later and wriggled out of the sleeping bag . Her movements woke Chris up and he helped himself out of the bag too . It was now 8 a.m. . Not long after , they'd hopped to the back seats and were silently staring out their opposite windows . Isaac's stomach growled first as soon as they hit Dayville . " Let's stop over for breakfast . " He poked Sean . " There are snacks . " Sean replied almost immediately . " Snacks aren't satisfying . Food , food , food . " Isaac began to chant and a laughing Stella joined him followed by Chris until all Sean could do was sigh and pray that they didn't take long to eat . He wanted out of Oregon because he was a bit scared that their dad might do something as insane as calling the cops on them for leaving with mum's card .

" Someone check Google maps or something . We'll stop over at a nearby café . " Sean sighed and Isaac laughed in triumph .

xxxxxxxooooooxxxxxxx

" Hello , Dayville Café . " Sean muttered and pulled into the parking lot . " Finally . " Isaac muttered and sighed . Stella shifted in her seat and Chris peered through the windscreen to check out the place . " Looks neat . " He let out a comment and everyone mumbled in agreement . Sean parked and got out first . Isaac opened the door and his phone rang . Mum was calling him . He dismissed the call and set foot outside .

His shoe was untied so he bent to tie it . It was the loud music that made him look up . A curse fell from his lips and he stood , turning to scan his surroundings . " Hey , man . Glad you came . " A guy his age approached him with a fist bump . He stared at the fist weirdly but bumped it nonetheless . " Why do you look lost ? " The guy with the buzzcut laughed awkwardly .

" Because I am . Who are you ? " Isaac frowned at Buzzcut and spun when he heard a car door slam shut behind him . " Is he drunk already ? " Buzzcut asked whoever came from the black sports car behind him . " A bit . Did you forget Jace ? " She approached him with a kiss . He stared at her blankly then directed his gaze to Jace . " Of course not , I was joking . " He drifted off remembering that he did not know the girl's name . " I should have stopped you from finishing that bottle , " she sighed , " I'm Liz . He's Jace . You are Alvin . " He frowned at her , " Don't patronize me , Liz . "

She smiled back at him , " He's back , people . He's back . " Isaac rolled his eyes at that and looked at himself from the side mirror . A foreign face stared back at him . Not as handsome as him , but still , the mug was good-looking . Isaac smiled to himself and turned to kiss Liz again .

If this was another 'trip' , he was going to enjoy it . It looked cool , after all .

His eyes swept over the front yard , strewn with streamers and drunken teens . Cups littered the surrounding and the booming music coming from the house sounded alluring to him . He coolly placed his arm around Liz's shoulders and made his way to the house . Jace gave Liz a questioning look at his sudden change in demeanor and shrugged on getting no feedback . The guy was drunk , let's leave it at that . " Am I late to the party ? " Isaac turned to Jace who shook his head .

Good . That meant that many interesting people were still around and so were some cute girls . He couldn't help it . Pretty girls were his weakness . If he was with one , his mind was always tuned to wondering if he could get another prettier girl .

In his defense , he wasn't who they thought he was so it technically couldn't be called cheating .

A group of guys in varsity jackets waved at him and he gave a salute back . This was good , all he had to do was play the popular guy routine and have fun doing it . That was his life back in high school . and in reality . Another group of girls ran by , giggling and waving at him . He waved back . Liz slapped his chest with a disapproving frown . He shrugged with a fake apologetic look and walked into the house . As soon as they set foot inside , she disappeared into the living room and Isaac was glad that she would not tag around during the entire party . He did not want his flame put out .

" Kesha kept asking for you . " Jace whispered as soon as she left . " Really ? " Isaac smiled in interest . He hoped Kesha was cute . " Yeah . She was over by the pool . You gonna hit that ? " Jace smirked in mischief and Isaac smirked back . It was like some unspoken guy lingo in which they did not need words . " Do I never ? " He whispered back and they chuckled . Isaac almost forgot that everyone here was a stranger . " I'll tell some nerds to tail Liz . Good luck , man . " Jace started to walk away and grabbed a cup from a random guy . " I'm gonna enjoy this . " Isaac muttered under his breath and headed to the dining room .

SONG ; Here I Go Again - Whitesnake