"elle! you're going to make your friends late!" her mother called from the kitchen. elle was in her room making hasty last minute additions to her suitcase.
"i'll be right there," she half-yelled. with her two big rollaways and her backpack in tow, she left her house and spotted luke and michael leaning against a ratty mini van, grins on their faces.
"did you bring your entire wardrobe?" luke asked, eyeing her suitcases.
"did you bring your entire life?" michael joked. "there's no way you need that much."
elle glared at the two boys and strode past them as she threw her suitcases, letting the boys handle her things.
"i'll see you in a few weeks, mom." she said, kissing her mother's cheek.
"i love you, honey." her mother whispered. she pulled her daughter in for a hug. "make sure you have fun."
elle eyes luke's figure as a smirk formed on her face. "you know i will."
michael had proposed a trip to the beach for their group of friends after the last day of school. it was a way to unwind from their school troubles and kick back. of course, this beach happened to be a ten hour drive from where they lived. according to michael, the best beach just happened to also be the farthest away. and on top of that, calum's family just happened to own a beach house there.
slinging the straps of the backpack over her shoulders, elle followed the boys to a used mini van.
"shotgun!" michael shouted, running towards the car.
luke and elle followed at a more stately pace. "still can't drive, mikey?" elle shouted at his back.
michael whirled around, only slowing a bit. "at least I haven't crashed a car yet!"
"yes, because being rear-ended by some jackass at a red light was my fault." she deadpanned.
luke smiled down at the girl, wrapping his arm her. "this trip is gonna be great."
elle grinned and pulled him down for a short kiss, she climbed into the mini van, already seeing calum behind the wheel, ashton beside him, and natalia sitting beside a pouting michael in the back.
"so, where are we going again?" michael asked for the umpteenth time.
calum whipped around to glare at him. "i already told, my dad's beach house."
"wait, where?" natalia asked, smirking at michael.
"i thought the point of putting you in the backseat was so you and michael would make out and stop flapping your jaws." calum retorted, rolling his eyes.
michael smirked. "haven't ruled it out."
natalia pushed him away from her.
"so, are we all ready to go?" calum asked, ready to start the long drive.
"wait!" ashton yelled. "wait, one second. i'm expecting someone."
"oooh, did little ashton bring a girlfriend?" luke teased. the rest of the group 'ood' and 'awed'.
a blush crawled up ashton's neck. "she's not my girlfriend yet, but i hope this trip could change that."
"so she's coming with us?" michael asked. "are you and this mystery girl gonna get hot and dirty in the sand?"
"shutup! i think she's coming!" ashton yelled, shrinking in his seat.
"aw, ashton. i've never seen you get so infatuated with a girl. you've always been the playboy of the group." elle said, ruffling the blushing boy's hair.
"she's just so amazi-, oh my god she's here! everyone shutup!"
the group turned to watch a girl strut down the sidewalk, pulling a suitcase behind her with bright, platinum blonde hair bouncing behind her. a pair of huge sunglasses covered her face but elle could already tell she was pretty.
the girl came up to ashton's window, smiling at the blushing boy. she pulled off she sunglasses for two bright green eyes to materialize. "hi ashton."
in response, ashton let out a muffled "hrmpff."
"hi delaney." calum waved from the front seat. "please excuse ashton's behavior right now, he's a little tongue tied."
delaney laughed. "i can see that." she said in a southern accent. "now, i hope no one minds that i'm coming on this little trip. i don't want to impose."
"no!" ashton shouted. "i mean, nope. no one cares. if anything, we're ecstatic you're here. you can sit in the middle row with luke and elle."
she slid open the mini van's door, sitting right beside luke. she held out her hand, eyes dropping to examine his figure before a bright, dazzling smile appeared on her lips. "hi, i'm delaney." she said in her sweet, southern drawl.
"luke." he shook her perfectly manicured hand, slightly glancing at elle.
elle smiled, eyeing delaney before holding out her own hand. "i'm elle."
not only did delaney's sweet southern girl persona turn into something hideous, she glared at elle and flipped her hair, as she turned away from the girl.
elle sat shell-shocked, mouth open wide. she looked to luke to see if he noticed anything but the boy was oblivious. she turned around to see if natalia saw it, and she had. natalia was just as confused as elle as she shrugged her shoulders.
•
michael snored loudly, twitching gently in the seat next to natalia.
"it's been an hour, calum." she drawled.
ashton sighed. "a long hour. are we there yet?"
"you're the damn navigator." calum replied. "you should know."
"that was never agreed upon." ashton protested, turning slightly to see if delaney was listening. instead,
she had headphones in as she watched the passing landscape.
elle rolled her eyes, laughing. "if you're in the passenger seat, you're the navigator. that's just a fact, ashton."
"don't panic," calum said evenly, drawing everyone's attention. "but i'm pretty sure we're lost."
ashton turned around and the three people still awake and without headphones sat upright. "lost?" he asked in a panic. "how can we be lost, we've only been driving for an hour! how can we be-,"
sure enough, the road in front of them was dirt and trickling into nothing.
"what the fuck?" luke said.
"ashton's fault," natalia claimed immediately, slouching once more to let her head hang off the seat and rest her feet beside elle's head.
"make him fix it." luke said, cuddling up to elle's side. she smiled down at him, combing her fingers through luke's curls when she noticed delaney glaring at her. elle rolled her eyes at the girl, putting in her own earbuds.
calum was turning the car around. "ashton, where's the next on-ramp to an interstate?"
"how the fuck should I know?" ashton replied. "we're in the middle of nowhere."
calum pointed to the map on the boy's lap. "that thing. it should tell you where the roads are. you can read a map, can't you?"
ashton didn't say yes.
"you can't even read a map!" calum stressed. "whatever. it's come to this, ask siri."
•
a few hours later, the back of the mini van was full of sleeping teenagers. luke and elle were curled into an impossible-seeming cuddle position in the middle, michael was still snoring against the window with natalia leaning on his shoulder, and delaney was curled into a fetal position, eyes clenched tight.
due primarily to ashton's meddling, they still hadn't managed to get on the highway.
"in point two miles, make a sharp right turn onto north main street." siri said pleasantly from calum's lap.
ashton, hunched defensively over the map, yelled, "no, a left!"
calum turned the car right. "for the last time ashton, siri knows better than you. she can read a map."
"in one mile, take a slight right turn onto I-95 South."
ashton turned the map upside down, looking at it in deep contemplation. "wait, what road are we on?"
"north main street. siri literally just said that." calum grumbled.
"we can't trust her. she's the enemy."
calum nodded. "sure, but she's going to actually get us to the highway. so we can begin our adventure. like we planned. right, guys?"
"everyone else is asleep." ashton was distracted by the map. "it's down to just you and me."
"well, would you look at what i'm doing right now. following a sign for I-95. onto the ramp and," calum drawled, accelerating the car. "we're here. maybe siri isn't so bad."
"you have arrived." siri said, just to be an ass.
ashton pouted in his seat. "yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "shut up."
•
more hours later, luke and elle had switched seats with ashton and calum. both boys were dead asleep with the rest of the teenagers but ashton still seemed to be blushing in his sleep because delaney was beside him.
luke was behind the wheel and he took his eyes off the road to laugh at something elle said. "i swear, i ha-,"
"car!" elle shouted, looking at the road
he swerved just in time to not hit the rear bumper of a silver honda accord. the driver flipped him off as he whizzed by in the lane to the left. luke, the good samaritan, held up a hand in apology.
"don't apologize." elle said. "also, you can go faster than fifty five."
he shook his head. "that's the speed limit."
"so? everyone goes faster than the speed limit, it's a freaking interstate. look, grannies are passing us-," elle pointed and sure enough, a little old lady in a red Lexus whizzed by their left. "it's normal."
"it's illegal."
"it's safer."
finally, luke caved. he reluctantly press down on the accelerator as the needle of the speedometer crept towards the sixty mark.
"lukey," elle said sweetly.
"yeah?"
"dare you to floor it."
luke gaped, appalled. "no way. i'm not gonna do it."
"yes, you are. you're going to get into the left lane and you're going to floor it and you're going to go eighty miles per hour and it's going to be epic." she grinned, sliding a hand over onto his thigh.
"n-no." luke stiffened, looking down at her hand.
"yes. otherwise, you're a weenie."
"no i'm not, elle, and namecalling isn't going to-,"
"I'll tell michael you're a weenie." she started to rub his thigh faster, slowly moving up.
"h-he's called me a weenie twice a week since the second grade."
finally, she grabbed ahold of his dick through his pants. he swerved the car at the sudden contact, eyes running rapidly around the car to make sure no one woke up.
"please," elle said innocently, puckering her bottom lip and making her puppy eyes bigger.
luke looked at her once before he grinned. "fine, i'll do it." he shook his head resignedly and began slowly creeping over to the leftmost lane. "why do I let you talk me into this?"
elle lifted her hand from his thigh to his shoulder and rubbed affectionately. "because you love me. now floor it!"
gulping, luke pressed the accelerator to the ground. the mini van shot forward, the needle on the speedometer creeping to 60, 70, 75 until it finally hit 80.
elle looked up to his face to see him smiling like a lunatic. "this is great!" luke said excitedly. "we're going so fast! who knew breaking the rules could be so much fun?"
"literally everyone else on the planet." elle grinned.
luke rolled his eyes. "shutup, i'm having-, shit another car." he tapped the brakes, bringing the car down to a still respectable speed. she looked, and another car had appeared on the horizon in the adjacent lane, which was the cause of his mini-panic attack.
"you're such a weenie," she said affectionately.
"pass me my pepsi?" luke asked as their car creeped towards the other one on the horizon.
elle nodded. just as she was handing it to him, however, the car in front of them decided to change lanes without using a turn signal or checking his blind spot and luke was forced to slam on his brakes and swerve as to avoid hitting the bastard.
"jesus, mary and josep-,"
"fuckshitdammit-,"
the car came to a sudden halt, the couple breathing hard. elle looked back to see if anyone woke up but their friends were still dead asleep.
"my shirt!" luke glanced down at his previously blue, currently pepsi soaked t-shirt.
elle aggressively flipped off the other driver. "who the fuck just changes lanes like that? son of a bitch." she turned to luke, noticing his shirt. "oh shit. let's get you cleaned up."
"gas station at the next exit," luke sighed. "i hate those bathrooms."
the turned at the exit, pulling into the parking lot of a very run down looking gas station.
"do you really think it's okay to leave them to sleep in the car like that?" luke asked, peering in on his sleeping friends in the mini van. "aren't you not supposed to do that, because of the heat?"
elle tugged on him. "they'll be fine, it's cool. go get cleaned up, i'm gonna buy coffee."
luke sighed, looking down at his soaked shirt before following elle into the gas station. a bored looking older woman with many tattoos flipped through a magazine behind the counter, but other than that, it was deserted. he made a beeline for the restroom, plucking uncomfortably at his shirt.
elle messed around with the coffee machine, fixing herself a nice dark brew. she continued by adding about twenty different creamers. it would probably be disgusting, but hey, caffeine was caffeine.
"elle?" luke shouted from the bathroom.
nearly spilling her scolding coffee, she ran over. "you okay?"
"yeah," he said, sounding anything but. "i just, uh, don't have a clean shirt. can you go grab me one? my duffel is in the trunk, you won't even have to wake the others."
"sure," she nodded even though luke couldn't see her. "of course."
she bolted out the door, earning a dirty glare and a "pay for coffee next time, asswipe." from the women behind the counter. she hauled the trunk open, grabbed one of luke's shirts, and tore back into the gas station. the woman rolled her eyes again.
"i'm back. can you open the door?"
nothing would have actually prepared elle for the sight of a shirtless luke hemmings in a gas station bathroom. it really shouldn't have been hot. but it was.
while she was ogling his bare chest, luke asked shyly, "um, where's my shirt?"
elle didn't hear.
"ellie? shirt?"
she shook her head. "let me just admire the view for a second. giving you a shirt would be like putting a canvas over a painting."
luke self-consciously crossed his arms in front of his chest. "please?"
"sorry," elle said, holding it out, "you're just kind of gorgeous. and sexy. and i just really want to touch you right now."
luke's eyes darkened for just a moment and that was enough. suddenly elle was in the bathroom with him, the door was shut, and his mouth was on her's.
big hands were lifting her up and his hands were still fisting through her hair, mouth hot and insistent on her own. elle, however, took advantage of this wonderful turn of events to run her hands all over the wonderful chest and torso she'd seen exposed just moments earlier.
she would have been happy to fuck luke right there in the gas station bathroom, or at the very least make out with him for a solid hour, but there came banging on the door.
"look, guys, you can't fuck in the bathroom, but if I'm gonna let you, you have to let me watch."
it was the older woman cashier.
elle and luke pulled apart, flushing red and giggling with embarrassment. elle was the one to reply to her. "we're not fucking, keep your pants on."
they listened to the click of her heels as she walked away. "that was humiliating." luke mumbled, burying his face into elle's neck, dropping his hands to her small waist.
elle smiled. "it wasn't so bad."
"at least i'm not wet and sticky anymore." luke shrugged.
elle tried in her hardest to hold in what she wanted to say. but she couldn't hold it back forever. "you could make me wet and sticky." she said, waggling her eyebrows as she dragged one finger up her arm.
the blush on his cheeks spread down his neck and chest. he started to say something but stuttered.
elle grinned, forcibly hauling her mind out of the gutter, with great effort. "let's go."
the cashier woman smirked at them with a downright filthy expression as they walked out, twiddling her fingers. luke flushed again and looked at the ground, but elle smirked right back and ran her hand suggestively down his arm.
when they got outside, though, there was a little bit of mayhem. apparently, their friends had woken up.
ashton was blushing and filling up calum's car with gas as delaney leaned out the window to talk to him. michael and natalia were upside down on the ground beside the minivan while doing handstands and having an intense staring contest. calum was flirting with a pretty little brunette who had driven up while elle and luke were gone.
"what the hell is going on here?" luke bellowed. "i leave you fuckers alone for three minutes-,"
"staring contest-,"
"this is marissa! she-,"
"tank was almost empty-,"
"and i'm winning!"
luke nodded. "great. that didn't make any sense at all. thanks. ok, one at a time?"
"i'm filling up the car with the help of the lovely delaney." ashton said helpfully, winking at the girl.
elle nodded at him. "we gathered."
michael was the next to speak. "natalia challenged me to a staring contest, and clearly she's never going to win."
"i am so!" natalia shouted.
"are not!"
"am too!"
elle clapped her hands. "shh! why are you doing this while doing headstands?"
"increases difficulty." natalia shrugged.
the pretty brunette calum was talking to walked right up to them and stuck out a hand. "hi, i'm marissa foster. you're friends are crazy."
"i like her calum." elle shouted before shaking the girl's hand. "they really are. hi marissa, i'm elle. this is luke."
"welcome to the madhouse." luke said dryly.
calum grinned. "we awoke in the car when natalia accidentally elbowed michael in the stomach and he screamed. marissa just happed to be driving up and we struck up a conversation."
"i live not that far from here." marissa explained. "i was supposed to be getting some drinks for this party we're throwing tonight, but calum here distracted me."
the way they looked at each other made elle smile.
"ha!" michael shouted from beside the car. "i win! suck it, natalia!" he smoothly backflipped off the car and screamed, "i am the master!"
natalia rolled her eyes as she swung backwards into a standing position. "you are?" she asked sarcastically. "everything looks so small from upside down." she wiggled her pinky finger at michael.
"really?" he smirked, moving towards the girl to wrap his arms around her. "you and me both know that's not true." he leaned down to pull her into a deep kiss.
natalia pulled away grinning. "i said nothing."
"we were gone five minutes," luke said weakly. "five minutes."
"oh yeah." natalia hooked her fingers with michael. "where were you? we've had a running bet, you see, because if-,"
elle shook her head. "luke spilled pepsi on his shirt, and had to go change it."
"lies. they banged in the bathroom." ashton laughed, walking towards the group with delaney beside him.
"we didn't bang." elle smirked. "if we did, you would've heard a lot of screaming." she waggled her eyebrows at luke as another crimson blush spread across his face.
elle accidentally looked at delaney as the girl dramatically scoffed at her and rolled her eyes. elle looked to natalia confused, knowing the other girl noticed too. natalia shrugged at her once again but this time she seemed angry.
"wait, did someone say party?" michael asked obliviously.
"yeah, like five minutes ago." elle laughed. "marissa?"
the brunette girl blushed under all the eyes pointed at her. "uh, yeah. my friends are throwing a party tonight on laguna beach tonight. i guess you guys are all invited now."
"the beach house isn't that far from there." calum said to the group before turning back to marissa. "will you be there?"
she grinned. "definitely."
"ok, it's been decided." calum yelled excited. "we're going to the party!"
•
hi!!! so the next few chapters is gonna be the group at this beach house and the hijinks they get into. there's gonna be sex ;) , love and conflict between certain characters. so just a few questions before i go:
should we trust delaney? what's her problem with elle?
;) ;) ;)
see you next time lovelies