The Sweetest Thing
Chapter Twelve
I cuddled in beside him and found myself wishing that life could really be this good all of the time. Why couldn't Randy and Craig be more like Kyle?
We just laid there, talking and laughing until Kyle's stomach started rumbling.
"I think it's time for the kitchen," he joked.
"And what if I don't want to get up?" I asked, teasingly.
"Then we don't have to," he replied, sounding serious. I looked up at his face and saw that he was indeed being serious.
"You're hungry, why would you stay in bed with me?" I asked, sitting up.
"Because I will do anything for you," Kyle replied, staring at me.
"That is honestly the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me but I really don't want you starving so come on. I'll make you breakfast," I said, getting up from the bed.
Kyle followed me down to the kitchen and I made us some bacon, eggs and toast. After we finished eating we just hung out, watching movies and joking. Kyle didn't stay over for the night but he did pick me up for school the next morning.
I was seriously considering staying at home. I could easily lie and tell everybody that I wasn't feeling well. Nobody would know and I wouldn't have to face the world. But instead I got dressed and headed to school with Kyle.
"Can't you kidnap me over the holidays?" I asked jokingly as Kyle and I made our way into the school.
"I could, but that wouldn't be half as much fun as going on a road trip with your ex boyfriend and your secret lover now would it?" he replied sarcastically as he grinned evilly at me. Kyle was never really excited about the whole road trip idea but agreed to go with, claiming that he couldn't survive the entire summer break without me.
We didn't look for our friends, instead we just hung out in the hallways until the first bell rang. I wanted to put off talking to any one of them for as long as I could. Which didn't turn out to be too long. I was going to ask Kyle if we could go sit on the sports field again at lunch but Olivia spotted me and grabbed a hold of my arm before I could get away.
We sat with the crowd in the cafeteria while Olivia told me all about her plans for the road trip. She wanted me to go clothes shopping with her before we went, I reluctantly agreed, I did want to buy some new clothes too after all.
"I want to go to this place," Craig said, placing a pamphlet in front of me. It was an advertisement for a club. It looked wild and to be honest I wasn't sure if I wanted to go there but not everything was up to me.
"We should go to this camp site my mom told me about," Randy said, joining in the conversation.
That is how it went for the rest of the day. Everybody had something to say and somewhere they wanted to go but we never really decided on anything. I wasn't agreeing on going anywhere until I've checked it out for myself.
Kyle drove me home after school and came in with me.
"I guess we better plan this road trip if we don't want to end up in the middle of nowhere," I said, sitting down at my desk.
"Yes, I seriously don't want to get lost with that bunch," Kyle agreed, sitting down beside me.
I switched on my laptop and we started looking at all the places that were mentioned during the day. We didn't plan on going anywhere specific so I started planning our route and trying to find as many places as possible for us to stop at and do things. I managed to fit in Craig's club and Randy's camping site. I still wasn't happy about it but I guess we couldn't do the same thing every day. Some days we were just going to be on the road anyway since there were long stretches of road in between some of the places.
"Looks good to me," Kyle said, looking over our plans.
"I don't know if good is the right word but it will have to do. We can show it to everybody tomorrow at school and see what they think," I replied, printing out another copy of the map.
Kyle spent the night and drove me to school the next day like always. Olivia, Craig and Randy were waiting for us outside in the parking lot. I sighed as I got out of the car and walked over to them. They all seemed much more excited about the whole idea then me and Kyle did.
I handed each of them a map as well as some pages I printed out about the landmarks that I've marked off on the map.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Olivia squealed as she looked at the map. Altogether we were going to be gone for about two and a half to three weeks.
"Yeah, fun," I mumbled, causing everybody to look at me strangely.
"Oh yea, I wanted to ask you guys if it's ok if Sophia and Aiden comes along? She was so excited when I mentioned it to her that she literally begged me if she could come," Olivia asked, looking at us pleadingly. Sophia is Olivia's younger sister and Aiden is her boyfriend. She seems to be ok but I've never really hung out with her.
"We might have a problem with getting her into the clubs," Craig said, looking directly at Olivia.
"She doesn't look that young if she puts on makeup," Olivia argued, trying to convince us.
"She's only sixteen," Craig pointed out.
"Yeah and I'm seventeen so if they ask for ID's I'm screwed too," Olivia replied.
"If they're coming along, I'm going to invite Oliver," Craig said.
"Emma wants to come as well," Randy said, speaking for the first time. I shook my head and sighed. This was just getting better by the minute. I know both Oliver and Emma but I didn't really like them. Oliver is one of Craig's friends. He used to go to school with us but his family moved away two years ago. Emma is Randy's older sister. She finished school last year and is going to college at the moment. She loves Randy but she hates me and now that I've dumped Randy I doubt that she will ever change her mind.
"Ok, let's just calm down," I said, interrupting their little argument. They all stopped talking and looked at me.
"They can all come but were going to need another car. I think the minivan is going to be a bit small for all of us," I stated.
"I'll bring mine, I don't think I'll survive being stuck in a minivan with all of them anyway," Kyle said, taking me by surprise. It is the first time that he has so blatantly showed his dislike towards my friends.
Everybody looked shocked but nobody said anything, they just looked at him in confusion. Maybe they've never noticed that he doesn't really like any of them.
"Ok, that fine. I'll drive with you and the rest of you should be able to fit into the minivan if we get a trailer to put our luggage in.
"We can use my dad's, he won't mind and it's pretty big. We should be able to fit our tents and everything in there," Randy said as the bell rang.
"Sound good," I replied and then we all headed to our classes. I had no doubt that the conversation was a long way from over but I was happy for the break.
At lunch it was all they talked about. Apparently Craig had already spoken to Oliver and he was ecstatic about coming with us. This really was going to be the worst summer break ever.
I didn't really have time to talk to Kyle during the day but as soon as we got to my house I turned to him, scowling.
"How could you say that?" I demanded.
"What?" he asked, grinning.
"That you won't be able to survive in the minivan with all of them," I stated, knowing that he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"I said it because it's the truth. You know it as well as I do," Kyle answered.
"Yes I do know it but did you have to be so blunt about it?" I asked, irritated.
"Yea actually I did. It's time that they know it and I know that you are thankful that I'm bringing my car." Kyle stated.
"You're right, this is going to be hell," I said, giving in.
We spent the rest of the day doing homework and trying to forget about the road trip. I didn't want to think about it because every time I did I just got more nervous. I had no idea how it was going to play out but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good.
The next few weeks flew by and the road trip was looming in front of me like a big disaster waiting to happen. As the time grew closer everybody was getting more and more excited, everybody except for me and Kyle. Nobody ever mentioned his comment but I could see them looking at him strangely every now and then. I guess the feeling was mutual.
A week before summer break I went shopping with Olivia. She still had no idea what had happened between me and Craig and it was better that way. Craig has tried to get together with me a few times but I wasn't going to let him play me for a fool. I wanted him badly but I wasn't going to let him use me, if he wanted me he had to dump Olivia.
The last day of school before the holiday was on Friday and we were leaving on Monday, giving all of us the whole weekend to pack. That Friday after school we headed over to Kyle's house instead of mine. I was going to help him pack and then he was going to spend the weekend at my house. Like always I was amazed when I walked into his room. The painting of me was hanging on the wall next to his bed. I studied all of his new artwork for about half an hour before I agreed that we could start packing.
He didn't have much that he wanted to take with, just his clothes, shoes, toiletries and of course his sketch pad and pencils. He never went anywhere without them. When we sure that we packed everything that he wanted to take with we headed to my house.
We spent the night watching movies and the next day we packed my stuff. I probably packed way to much clothes but I didn't like the idea of not having a variety to choose from. I made sure to pack my digital camera and my IPod and then we headed to the mall.
We were going to be staying over at a few places and we needed some outdoor equipment. I had some money saved up and my mom and dad gave me some money too. I was surprised when my dad showed up and handed me a stack of bills but I didn't argue. His done little enough for me over the years so I thanked him and took it happily. Kyle had some money saved up as well but I told him to keep it and use it on the trip since I had the money from my dad to get us what we needed.
We bought ourselves a two man tent, a blow up mattress and some new bedding to take with. The tent that we chose weren't too big but that was perfectly fine with me. I didn't want anybody bunking with us. Next we headed to the grocery store and bought us some snacks and sodas before returning back home.
I was really nervous about what was going to happen on the trip but I felt like I had to go, it was my idea after all. Kyle knew how I felt and agreed with me that it wasn't going to be fun. Kyle wasn't nervous about what might happen because he really doesn't care what anybody thinks of him, he just doesn't like anybody that is going with us.
Saturday night and Sunday went by way to fast and soon in was Monday morning. I got up really early and made Kyle and myself some pancakes for breakfast. He was still sleeping when I was done so I woke him and gave them to him in bed.
When we were done eating we took turns using the bathroom and then got dressed. I did a quick scan of my room to make sure that I didn't forget anything and then we started packing our stuff into his car. We put the tent and some of our stuff in the trunk and put the bedding as well as our snacks and bag with toiletries on the back seat. The car was pretty full which was cool. Nobody would be able to drive with us.
We just finished packing the car when the minivan pulled up in my driveway. It was quite big and everybody fit into it easily. I was happy for that fact. Craig was driving it with Olivia sitting next to him in the front seat. I could only imagine what they were talking about in there.
They all jumped out and greeted us before we got into Kyle's car and set off on our road trip. We already filled up his car so we didn't need to stop for gas. Our first stop was a little diner called Gracie's. They supposedly make the best burgers and we should get there around lunch time so it was perfect.
"Ready?" Kyle asked as he turned onto the freeway.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied, smiling nervously.