"Wait a sec. Where did my bags go?"
"They're literally right next to you!"
"Where am I sitting?"
"Well, since you're short you should probably go in the back too."
"No! I don't want to sit next to Luke and Zander! I don't have the patience to be listening to their giggling for the next two hours!"
"Oh, well I'm so sorry our affection disgusts you, Milly!"
"Guys, please stop fighting! I can sit back with them if that makes things easier!"
"Wait, I think I need to go back to my house. I forgot my swimsuit."
"It's literally going to be fifty degrees out, Jake!"
"I want to swim in the lake!"
"Can everyone just get in the damn car, please?!"
All eyes turned onto the angered aqua-haired girl who was so desperately pleading for organization and order.
"Jeez, sorry, Hailey," Milly said with an eye roll, offended by the harsh language.
"I'm sorry I snapped," Hailey apologised, yet still holding anger, "But this is literally just the next two hours of our lives! It doesn't matter who sits where! And I really don't want to be pitching our tents in the dark. Plus we still have to stop for dinner along the way."
"Hailey's right, guys," Sean agreed, "Let's just get seated."
"Ugh, fine," Milly scoffed in reluctant agreement, "I'll sit in the back as long as Luke and Zander can agree to cool it with the PDA."
"Stop exaggerating!" Zander yelled, annoyed by the pink-haired girl, "It's not like we're making out right next to you! We don't act that overly affectionate!"
"Oh, really? This isn't overly affectionate?" Milly then proceeded to dazedly tuck her hair behind her ears, and in an over-the-top amplified voice, she simultaneously mocked and cooed, "'You're so cute,' 'You're cute,' 'No, you-"
"Shut up!" Zander shouted, face red, cutting her off, "We don't talk like that!"
Sean then quickly injected himself into the conversation, not wanting to give Milly a chance to reply, "Okay, clearly we can't have Milly and Zander next to one another. What about I sit in the back with Luke and Zander, and in the next row up, Jake takes right window, Hailey takes left window, and Milly sits in the middle?"
In a stammering voice that was slightly flustered from Zander and Milly's conversation, Luke answered, "Um, I'd be okay with that."
Exhaling irritated energy, Zander concurred, "Yeah, that sounds good."
"So everyone is okay with this?" Hailey asked, eager progress may be made.
Whether it was verbal or physical, everyone expressed agreement to the plan.
"Great, let's get in the car," Hailey announced, "My dad, Zander's mom, and Bethany will be out soon, and then we'll start driving."
Everyone then started moving, shuffling toward the car. As Hailey watched, she sighed, reflecting on what led to this moment.
~
Hailey stood at the head of the music club room, and in a clear concise voice, she announced, "Okay, everyone! Really good work today! We're on track for everyone to have all their sheet music memorized by the end of next week!"
"Wait a sec," Jake said, caught off guard, "Sorry, Hails. I know you're the club leader and all, but we still have, like five minutes left."
Hailey slightly sighed at the nickname. She wasn't sure exactly when Jake had started calling her that -- it just seemed to happen naturally and unnoticeably happen. She had actually disliked the nickname "Hails" for most of her life. But for some reason with Jake it just didn't feel like something worth stopping. Bringing herself back on track, Hailey answered, "Actually, thanks for pointing that out, Jake. I have ended rehearsals a tad early because Zander and I have a small announcement. So, you know how we have a three day weekend because Monday's a teacher work day?"
"Wait, we do?!" Milly yelled, clearly not having prior knowledge to this.
"Uh, yeah."
Milly then excitedly pumped her first as she exclaimed, "Yes!"
Hailey chuckled, humored by the guitarist's excitement. "Okay, well now I'm guessing you all know?" The rest of the club murmured in agreement, giving Hailey the signal to continue speaking. "Well, basically, Zander and I's parents rented out this campsite we used to go to a lot, and we're going to be going camping for the whole weekend! We already know Luke is going to be coming with us, but we wanted to open up the invitation to the rest of the club!" Hailey beamed in enthusiasm. She then decided to add on, "Including you, Jake."
"When would we be leaving?" Milly asked, perking her head up.
"We would head out Friday afternoon. Also, we'd be leaving the site on Monday, sometime around noon or so."
"How big is the site?"
"Oh, this is actually kind of the cool thing I forgot to mention," Hailey exclaimed eagerly, "So, technically the whole thing is one site, but it's actually divided into two parts. Our parents and Bethany would be taking one part, and we would get the whole other part to ourselves. They're still only like, a one minute walk away in case somebody gets hurt or something. But as far as the size of our part goes, it's big enough to fit about three nicely sized tents, so people would be sharing. It also has a picnic table, water faucet, a campfire, and some trees to put hammocks on. There will be plenty of room."
"Well, I have to check with my parents and stuff," Sean said, "But I think I should be able to go!"
"Great! Sorry, I know this is kind of short notice," the charcoal-eyed musician briefly apologised.
"You're fine, Hailey!" Milly assured, "I'll probably also be able to go."
Turning her head to the club's singer, Hailey asked, "Jake?"
"Well, I'd love to go!" Jake beamed, "But I definitely need to check with my parents on this. They'll probably want to chat with your guys' parents before sending me off. Just because they've never met them before."
"No, of course! I can give you any phone numbers you need. And if any of you think of any other questions, then please, feel free to text me."
"Sounds good!" Milly acknowledged, holding up a small thumbs-up.
Hailey smiled, excited at the possibilities the weekend held.
~
Snapping back from her memory, Hailey watched Zander place his hand on the car handle, ready to open the door for everyone, but before he could, the sound of three people coming out the house was heard.
"Milly!" an excited young voice called out. Hailey then watched Bethany run across the drive to run up to Milly and hug her. It had been an especially long time since she had seen her, unlike the rest of the club members she was close with. And the two of them always had a small bond.
"Hey there, Bethany!" Milly greeted, scruffing the young girl's hair with affection.
"It's been forever since I've seen you!"
"Hi, Milly," Hailey heard the voice of Zander's mom call, "Sorry about Bethany."
"Are you kidding me? I love this little munchkin."
Hailey then watched as a look of sudden realization spread across the purple-haired woman's face.
"Wait a minute. Milly, what are you doing here?" Zander's mom asked, confused.
"Um, getting ready to go camping," Milly answered, mirroring the woman's confusion.
Zander's mom then turned to herself, looking towards Hailey, "Hailey, I thought you told me that Milly couldn't come."
Hailey explained, "No, on Tuesday I told you it looked like she probably wouldn't be able to come, but then on Wednesday I said that she actually could."
Zander's mom then put her hands to her head, and groaned, "Oh no..."
"Um, if you're worried about not having enough stuff for me or something you don't have to worry about that," Milly attemptedly assured, "We got everything all sorted out material wise."
"No, it's not that. The car only seats eight people. If you're coming that makes us nine."
"Oh..." Milly uttered, realizing how her presence was concerning.
"Hey, I actually have a car we can use back at my place," Sean pointed out. Being the only club member with a long term driving license, he had a little more liberty over some cars, "If someone drives me back there, then I can drive it here, and then-"
"Oh, no, Sean!" Zander's mom exclaimed, "You're fine. I don't want to make you go through that trouble. Plus, our site only allows one car on it. If we want to bring another then we have to pay this ridiculously high parking lot fee, and the parking lot is an over thirty minute walk away from our site. Then it'll be dark by the time we get there, and then we can't pitch our tents, and just- we can't bring a second car."
"So, we just have an extra person?" Luke asked, trying to clarify the situation. The question was more taken on as rhetorical by everyone else, so an uneasy silence filled the air as they were thinking someone would have to leave.
"You know what guys, I can go back home." To Hailey's surprise it was Jake who had volunteered. "You've all known each other far longer, and just, it makes sense for me to not go."
"No, Jake, you're fine!" Zander's mom assured, "You know what? Luke and Zander, you guys don't have a problem with sitting close together? Like really close?"
"I'm sure they don't," Milly said, calling back to her and Zander's previous debate.
"Milly!" Zander yelled, not bothering to answer the question.
Instead, Luke answered, "No, I don't think we do."
"Yeah, I don't care," Zander surely also replied.
"Okay, so, the very back row of seats is all one big connected seat with three seatbelts. Luke and Zander, you two are going to share a seatbelt, and there will be two other people back there next to you."
"Mom, are we sure that's safe?" Zander asked, questioning his mom in her frantic state.
"When I was younger Grandpa would literally let me sit in the trunk of his truck while he drove around. This is fine!"
Hailey's dad then put a hand to his wife's shoulder, trying to calm her down, "Sweetie, take a deep breath. I can tell when you're about to spiral, and this is it."
Listening to her husband, Zander's mom took a deep breath, and after exhaling asked, "Okay, is everyone alright?" Everyone let out claims of agreement. "Luke and Zander, are you okay with sharing a seat? Almost the whole entire drive is out in the country and there will be barely any other cars on the road."
Luke gazed down at his boyfriend he stood near, "Zander?"
"Yeah, I think it'll be fine," Zander concurred.
"Great! Let's get going then!"
Accordingly, everyone walked towards the car, moving themselves inside. As Hailey watched, she reflected, holding that same excitement for the possibilities the weekend held.
~
Thank you for reading the start of this new TMF fanfic! I'm pretty excited about this one ^^ This should overall be a pretty light-hearted fun fanfic :) Unlike the other fanfics I have on here, this one won't be super plot central. It's mostly gonna be the club hanging out and goofing off, but I'm really looking forward to writing that. I'm also really looking forward to actually writing Lander as a couple. I haven't really gotten to do that with my other fanfics (okay, technically they were dating in "We're Fine," but they were fighting the whole time, so...)
Oh yeah, and also, I probably don't need to say this, but don't share seatbelts while driving lol When I asked you guys if you wanted Bethany or not in this story, you all really wanted her, but I also kind of wanted everyone riding in the same car for the next chapter, so this was just me doing that while keeping Bethany in. Be safe :)
But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and stick around to see what happens next ^^