The Boy With The Nose Ring

chapter 11 || the fantastic five

"We're going in that?"

Derek and I had successfully collected Phoebe without so much as a few shed tears from the red-headed girl and Noah running after the car halfway down the street. We had just pulled up to Mariah's mansion when an excited, sandy haired guy was dancing on the lawn. Jason. And behind him was a van three times the size of Derek's car.

"Cool, right? I got it from the garage for our road trip!"

"This is not a road trip, Jason, we're just here for Mariah."

Jason didn't seem to hear us as he continued to stuff bags in the back of the van.

"Um, what're you doing?" I asked.

"I'm coming with you guys!"

Only silenced followed as me and Derek exchanged confused and exasperated glances.

"Hey c'mon guys, I've got blankets and food and a heck load of money and my parents won't care one bit. And you guys have seen the beast we can drive around, what d'ya say?" He looked so excited my heart ached for him.

I grabbed Derek's arm as he whispered, "no chance, have you met that guy? Two minutes with him and I'll be tempted to rip his head off!"

I laughed and looked back at Jason who was thoroughly checking over Mariah, making sure she had everything she required and then proceeding to dance around her in joy. We couldn't just leave him here, could we?

"He is slightly annoying, Derek, but think about it – Jack's going to be angry at Mariah, so who's the first person he's going to go to? Jason. We can't put him in danger like that. And, like he said, he's got a lot of money." I realised how bad that sounded. "And he's a lovely person, c'mon Derek!"

Derek searched my eyes for an answer; finally he came up blank and muttered "fine." under his breath. I immediately pulled him into a hug and he seemed tense in shock, before tightening his arms around me and resting his chin on my head. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I squealed. I felt at home in his arms.

Within five minutes the five of us were spread out in the van; we had decided to swap drivers every three hours. The van was perfect for a 'road trip' (which is what we all seemed to be calling it for lack of better word); there were two seats up front, a large, spacey middle with two benches and a sink, and two seats at the back in front of the large boot carrying all of our belongings. The colour scheme was autumn oranges, reds, and yellows, and to my delight it seemed as homely as a van could be.

I was sat at the back with Jason, Mariah and Phoebe were huddled on a bench in the middle and Derek was up front.

Derek geared up the van, pulling out of the long drive way.

"Alright! Road trip! We're going on a road trip, heck yeah! The... Fantastic Five!" Jason yelled enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air. One by one we turned to look at him, even his sister furrowing her eyebrows.

"Seriously, man?" Derek said, shaking his head. Despite everything I began to laugh, Jason's naive and funny ways providing a pleasant reprieve from the drama of the night. Suddenly we were all grinning, laughing, howling, clutching our stomachs and wiping tears from our eyes.

And so we, five unified teens with the weight of the world on our shoulders, drove on into the night, our laughter drowning out the whispers of the shadows calling our names.

-

It was 5am and we were close to Dover, where Jason had booked us a ticket on the 7am ferry to France. I could not seem to sleep, choosing to watch as we passed unlit houses and drove through sleepy towns. It felt strange, as the moonlight illuminated the passing scenery, to have no home, no real destination, but to only have the open road ahead. I wondered if those people sleeping softly in their warm beds knew how lucky they were. I wondered if I would ever belong somewhere again.