My alarm wakes me up at five o'clock. I hit the snooze, wanting to go back to sleep, but knew I couldn't. I lie there for a few minutes before forcing myself out of bed and getting changed. I then head to my sister's room, tip toeing past my father's bedroom. I don't hear anything coming from his room, but I knew Sally and I have to be out of here by six. Even if it's Dad's day off today, he is still an early riser.
Sally is already up when I check on her. She struggles to put on her jeans and asks me to help her get the sleeve over the boot cast. I feel my cheeks burn as I help, wondering how she must feel with me walking into her room when she is semi-naked.
Once she was ready, Sally and I tip toe past dad's room slowly, walking down the stairs. I help her into my car, telling her to sit in the driver's seat so I could shift the car into nitro and push onto the street. Thankfully our house was a two car driveway, and I didn't have to worry about moving Dad's vehicle on the street so I could back out mine. Sally steers onto the street while I push the car from the bonnet. As soon as the car is on the street, I help Sally out and helped her into the passenger seat beside me.
As we drive to Julian's, Sally suggests we should stop by McDonald's and get something for breakfast. We go through the drive thru ordering breakfast for everyone. I had no idea what Bethany might like so I got whatever I thought she might want.
Julian is waiting and outside of his apartment when I pull up on the side of the kerb. He climbs into the seat behind Sally, surprised to see her.
"She wanted to come," I explain. "There was nothing I could say to stop her."
"Well, it's nice to have you on this trip, Sally," Julian says patting her shoulder. "Will you be alright with coming along with us?"
"I will be alright, Julian," Sally says.
"Okay, well if you feel like you can't walk, just let us know." He sniffs. "Mmm, what's that smell?"
I grab the paper bag on Sally's lap and hand it to Julian. "Here. We got breakfast for everyone." I reach for the large coffee cup that's label cappuccino from the cup holder in between Sally and me, handing it to him. Coffee was the one thing Julian needed to have in the morning to make sure he is awake, especially if he has been up half of the night studying or staring through a telescope.
He thanks me, taking a sip of his coffee.
I pull away from the kerb and head towards Bethany's home. She was waiting outside on the sidewalk. She kept looking back at the house, where a light is on. Hopefully she had no problems sneaking out.
She jumps into the car as soon as I pull up to the kerb. She tells me to quickly drive, and I do.
"Sorry about that," she says once we are away from her house. "I almost got caught by my mom from sneaking out."
"No need to apologise," I tell her.
Julian holds out the McDonald's bag to Bethany. "Would you like some breakfast? David and Sally brought everyone something."
I smile at him, hoping he wouldn't see me. I couldn't believe how much progress he has made with talking to Bethany. I wonder after we deal with Bigfoot would he have enough confidence to ask her to the prom.
Bethany thanks us. She then acts surprise to see Sally sitting in the passenger seat beside me. "Hey, Sally. I didn't take notice of you sitting there. You're David's sister, right?"
Sally nods. "Yes, and you must be the girl who Jul –"
I clamp my hand on my sister's mouth before she can continue the rest of the sentence. I keep my hand there for a short time before I had to remove my hand so I could use two hands to turn a corner.
"Is everything alright?" Bethany asks.
I quickly come up with an explanation in my head. I couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't give Bethany a hint to what my best friend feels for her. I spot a gas station up ahead and look down at the fuel gauge. There is just a quarter of the tank left. I should fill it up now since we will be driving for six hours. "Yes, everything is fine. I'm just going to pull in here to get gas."
Bethany nods. "Yeah, sure. That's fine. So, Sally, how is your leg?"
I put on my blinker, pulling into the gas station.
"It's okay," my sister replies. "The pain killers help with the pain, especially when I'm walking on it."
Bethany smiles. "That's great."
I stop the car, putting the gear into park and cut the engine. I turn to everyone. "If you want to get any snacks or drinks while I fill up, you can."
Bethany agrees to and gets out of the car, leaving me with my sister and Julian. We sit there in silence for a moment.
"Why did you clamp your hand over my mouth?" my sister asks.
"Sorry. It's just that Julian doesn't want Bethany to know he has a crush on her," I explain.
Sally glances at Julian. "You should tell her." She smiles. "She seems to like you back."
Julian blushes, his mouth opening and closing as he struggles to find the right words. "Y-You really think so?"
Sally nods. "I saw the way she smiled at you when you offered her the paper bag. She likes you, Julian."
Julian smiles cheerfully. He then hops out of the car and heads inside the gas station.
"Do you think he will ever ask her out?" Sally asks me. "I hear you two talked about her all the time."
"I don't know, but hopefully by the time we help with Bigfoot they could get together."
Sally gives me a sneaky smile.
"What are you thinking?" I ask, returning her sneaky smile. I get the feeling I know what she is up to.
"We need to set something up to get them together."
"I agree. What do you have in mind?"
Sally shrugs. "I'm not sure yet. I have to think about it."
I unbuckle my seat belt and then open the door. "Okay, well don't let it interfere with us finding Bigfoot. Love and match making can wait after we find him."
Sally nods. "Okay, bro."
I get out of the car. "Do you need anything inside?"
She shakes her head. "I'm fine, thanks."
I leave my sister and fill my car up with petrol. I then head inside to pay for it. Within five minutes we were back in the car and back on the road, driving towards Interstate Ninety, which will take us right across the Washington state. We keep following the road until we reach Route 395, which will lead us north to Colville National Forest. Since it was a long trip, Bethany, Julian and I agree to take turns of driving whenever we feel a need to have a break.
"So tell me how you met Bigfoot?" Bethany asks us.
Julian explains our story to her that no one really wants to hear. She listens carefully to us, not judging us for what we had seen last Friday night. It made me feel glad that Bethany was here with us. Both she and Sally never questioned Julian or me about what we have seen. They could have, but didn't. I still wished Dad could be on this road trip with us, but he is not.
At the thought of my dad, my sister's phone rings. I take my eyes off the road for a minute and glance at Sally. Our eyes meet, knowing Dad will be the only person who would be calling on her cell right now. Her friend Megan could be calling her also, but I doubt she would be calling around this time between seven o'clock and seven thirty in the morning. In the back seat Julian and Bethany are both silent.
Sally answers the phone as I turn my eyes back to the road. "Hi, Dad."
I can hear Dad speaking on the other end. His words mumble so I can't hear what he is saying exactly, but I know he is raising his voice at my sister. I know that when we both returned home, we are going to be in a lot of trouble, especially me.
"David and I just went to the shops," she says. "I know he is grounded... I don't know how long we are going to be... Dad, I'm telling the truth." Sally turns to me. "David, Dad wants to speak to you."
I curse softly to myself. I wasn't sure how I could speak to him over the phone. Talking on the phone while driving was illegal, and since we are on the interstate, pulling over on the side of the road wasn't going to be easy. But I pull over on the side of the road anyway, putting on my hazard lights.
I take the phone from my sister and place it to my ear. "Hi, Dad."
"Where the hell are you, David?" he demands.
I bite my lip. "I'm nowhere, Dad."
"Don't lie to me, son. And you better not be telling your sister to lie for you."
I glance at my sister, not so sure what to tell my dad. I couldn't argue with him in front of my friends or sister. I knew they could all hear Dad's voice on the other end of the receiver. They may not be able to hear exactly what he is saying unless I put him on speaker. I could get out of this car so I can speak to him privately, but we're wasting valuable time just by stopping here on the side of the road just so I can speak to him. We need to keep moving. Maybe I shouldn't lie to Dad and tell him the truth. He can't stop us now that we are already on the road.
"You're right, Dad," I say. "I am telling Sally to lie for me. We aren't at the shops at all."
"Son, wherever you and Sally are right now, I want you both to return home. You're grounded, remember? You aren't supposed to leave your room."
"Sorry, Dad, but we aren't going to return home just yet. There is something important we need to do."
"I don't care if it is important, David. I want you both home."
"I can't, Dad. We are going to Maze Cave."
Dad goes quiet. Julian taps my shoulder. I turn to him.
"David, talk to him while you're driving," Julian says. "I know it's illegal, but we are going to waste time if you stay here and talk."
I nod and start the car.
"What is that noise, David?" Dad says to me. "Are you in a car? Are you talking on the phone while driving? Why are you heading to Jamaica with your sister?"
I don't answer him straight away. I concentrate pulling back on the road safely. I wait for a few cars to past by and then pull back on the road. In the meantime, Dad is calling my name at the other end of the receiver.
"Yes, I'm in a car," I finally answer. "Yes, I'm talking on the phone while driving. And no, we aren't on our way to Jamaica. There is a cave called Maze in Colville National Forest. We are heading there to rescue Bigfoot."
"Don't play games with me, David. I want you and Sally to return home now."
I shake my head. "No. Not until we find Bigfoot."
I hang up before Dad could say something else, handing it back to my sister.
No one says a word. I couldn't handle the silence so I put on the radio. Even with the radio was on, it still felt quiet. It was like we were afraid of saying anything.
"David," Julian says after a while.
I look at him through the review mirror. "Yeah?"
"Your dad is a cop. What if he gets other patrol cars to keep an eye out for us? They will stop us from going to Maze Cave."
I never thought of that until he mentions it. He is right. Dad could put out an alert to other patrol cars that could be patrolling the interstate.
"I guess it's a risk we will have to take," I answer.
"What about my phone, David?" Sally says. "He could track my phone with GPS."
I nod. "I know. Leave it on. If he follows us, we will lead him to the cave."