A Trip to the Lake

[Ruggahissy]

"Feh. Do you know how many queens King Solomon had? I think I can handle a few. But you'll be the head queen."

Ethan reclined and put his hands behind his head. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and grinned to himself.

"Oh, I think I can get her to open up."

When the car came to a stop he turned to look at the new passenger. She was cute. He shrugged. He supposed she was still worth a try. He was about to say something when yet another person came running up to try and squeeze in the backseat. Ethan was suddenly very thankful that he was sitting shotgun. He grimaced at the thought of trying to pack them into the back.
Nice hair.

Ethan twisted his body again to face the new arrivals in the backseat.

"Sup, man? Get in" he said casually to Cisco with a head nod. He turned to Jessica and a kind smile grew on his face.

"Hi there. I'm Ethan. You must be a friend of Alex's right? It's nice to meet you."

[Ciel†]

"You dyed your hair," Jessica said enthusiastically. She didn't studder. It wasn't as nice as her last hair but it was good that Alex liked change so much.

Cisco came around the bend and Jessica's smile wavered just a bit. She really did not want to be crammed in between two guys. She was nervous sitting close to one guy to begin with! Nothing bad would happen though, she knew. Alex wouldn't allow it. So she just waved to Cisco as he came around the bend. Jessica slid inside of the car, a little cramped what with Cisco finally getting here. She squeezed in though, her eyes darting from left to right. She didn't know anyone else other than Cisco and Alex. It made her a little nervous but she tried not to let it show.

She looked over at Roland, a little intimidated by his size. She still smiled at him but it seemed very forced. "Um, h-hi. I'm Jessica..."

She couldn't manage to say anything. Ethan started talking to her now and she turned her head to look at him. Ethan didn't seem all that bad, but she didn't really respond to him. To her he was a little creepy, just a tad, but nothing Jessica couldn't handle. There was always a kid that was a little creepy in every group. He seemed very comfortable talking with Alex. Perhaps the forward nature of his speaking was what creeped her out. It wasn't like he was a bad guy or anything like that. His glasses were actually pretty darn nice, she had to admit.

She smiled again. "A-A-Um, h-hi. Yes, I'm Alex's friend. Jessica" She nodded, purposefully looking down at the floor. She aimed this at both Roland and Ethan. "Nice to meet you... h-how do you guys know Alex?"

[Little Boy†]

Roland hadn't been grinning when Ethan began to joke about Jessica, begging Alex to put in a good word for him. He was grinning now. Jessica was going to be a hard nut for Ethan to crack if he wanted her to open up, and even if he managed to get that far he severally doubted his chances of getting into Jess' pants. Somehow she didn't strike him as the promiscious type.

As Roland was busy sliding over to give Jessica some more leg room, a strange green haired boy bounded around the corner wearing.. well, it was sort of a shirt. Roland felt his eyebrows rise at the strange getup the kid was dressed in. Sure he was dumb to wear a sweater on such a hot day, no argument there. But he'd rather take a sweater then whatever the wild-eyed kid was wearing, no question, even on a blistering hot day. He assumed that this must be the infamous Cisco.

Well he looks just as fucked up as you'd expect someone named "Cisco" to be called...

He looked back around at Jessica as she asked a question.

"A-A-Um, h-hi. Yes, I'm Alex's friend. Jessica" She nodded. "Nice to meet you... h-how do you guys know Alex?"

He smiled at the girl and gestured towards Alex in the front seat. "Oh, me and Alex? We go back, I used to live in the same area as her, before I moved at least. I still dunno how exactly I put up with her..." He said. He smacked the back of Alex's seat lightly.

"Impatient! I'm impatient! Can we start going 120 down the highway soon Alex?" He said jokingly.

[laZardo†]

Alex was clearly offended by Cisco's question. And since the green-haired freak wasn't particularly in the mood to miss out on his trip by pissing his driver off, he fell quickly into panic mode.

"Oh...there's nothing wrong with your car." Cisco replied with a forced cheeriness to try to mask his fear. It's not a bad machine for a STAINLESS STEEL DEATHTRAP! He was surprised that everyone else seemed to chatter so casually about it, at least until he realized it really was 'just him.' And that period of calm only lasted until he heard Roland.

"Impatient! I'm impatient! Can we start going 120 down the highway soon Alex?" It was probably only a joke, but if the thought of a quick and gruesome death made Cisco tremble, then the thought of a 120-mile-an-hour quick and gruesome death made him shudder. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice in the matter if he'd already decided to take part in the trip.

"Let's...let's just g-go already," he said, slowly squeezing himself into a window seat. "Oh...and...hey guys," he added, apparently forgetting to reintroduce himself.

[Arscapi†]

Alex rolled her eyes at the impatience coming from the backseat. She also decided to ignore Cisco's obvious discomfort as he slid into the car. Whatever! Damn right there is nothing wrong with my car. It purrs like a kitten and is one of only 121,538 EVER made. She smiled at Jessica's compliment and gave her ponytail a little extra flip. Her normally brown hair was dyed a deep auburn at the roots and then graduated down to a strawberry blonde. She was proud of it though the layers weren't as blended as she would have liked. She pushed the seat back to its proper place and slid in.

"Okay, we all ready? Everyone have their seatbelts on and know everyone," she said turning the engine over and pulling away from the curb. "Great! Let's rock!"

She grinned as the music changed she tapped on the steering wheel in time with the drum beat. "I see a little silhouetto of a man. Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?"

[Ruggahissy]

Ethan smiled at the girl and held out a hand. She was nervous, but he wanted to try and calm her down a little. He was smart enough not pull out something cheesy like "I won't bite." Now that he looked at the backseat it seemed that Cisco was also on edge.

God, the back of this car is so tense. We need something to chill these people out.

"Oh, Alex and I? We've known each other for a while. The two of us have hung out since junior high. She's just a peach, isn't she?"

Ethan smirked and leaned back comfortably in his chair. He rolled down the window a few cranks and leaned his elbow out the open window. Ethan closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind.

"Let's...let's just g-go already"

The nervous voice came drifting from the backseat, fighting against the wind. Ethan turned only his head and slanted his eyes as far left as they would go to look at the boy.

"Don't worry. Alex is a bang-up driver. Besides, it's not like she's going to go speeding onto the freeway, get cut off by a guy in front, try to turn rapidly to avoid them and flip the car over."

Ethan turned back around and settled back into his seat.

"We'll be fine, relax. Speaking of relaxing, are we going to be any relaxation aides once we get to the lake?"

[Ciel†]

Jessie nodded. Apparently both Ethan and Roland knew both Alex as long as Jessica had. She didn't really remember either of them. Maybe Roland, but Jessica thought he was in her english class in freshman year. She turned to Cristo.

"W-What about you?" She asked the nervous boy, feeling sorry for him as much as she felt sorry to be sitting next to him.

Alex reminded them about buckling their seatbelts. Jessica looked down, a little embarrassed that she had forgot to put her's on. She quickly took the seatbelt and buckled her seatbelt, hoping that no one noticed that she had forgotten. A terrible habit of hers.

Jessica heard relaxation aides and thought drugs. Was she overreacting? The way that Ethan said "Relaxiation Aids" certainly sounded twisted, and somewhat devious. What else could he have in mind? He certainly couldn't mean board games, no way. Then again Jessica never imagined Alex using drugs, but it wasn't like Jessica spent enough time with her to know this. Jessica shrunk into her seat.

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked meekly. She knew the answer but she felt compelled to make sure.

[Little Boy†]

Roland leaned back in his spot and began to get comfortable as the car speeded along down the street. He felt the cool breeze whip against his face and he sighed with relief, running his hand through his greasy black hair. He adjusted his glasses as he listened to the conversation, waiting for an opportunity to speak his mind.

By the way he was looking, it appeared that Cisco was just as- if not even more nervous- than Jessica. Roland hadn't the faintest idea why. The others didn't appear to be paying that much mind to it, Ethan in particular. He figured it might just be a common occurrence with this kid.

Still wouldn't hurt to ask why, especially since I'm sitting in the back seat with him. Ugh, what if he flipped out mid-drive and started flailing everywhere? Oh man, that'd be hilarious.

Roland leaned forward peering across Jessica to look at the boy. He had the most bizarre hairstyle Roland had ever seen, and he'd seen some bizarre ones.

How do you even get hair like that? It's just... wow. Parental issues much?

"Hey, kid, you alright?" He asked, trying to sound polite.

The boy didn't answer right away, and Roland found his attention shift again as Ethan. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, the boys' comments were beginning to get on his nerves, even the small talk. Maybe it had to do with his cocksure attitude in regards to Jessica earlier.

"Speaking of relaxing, are we going to be any relaxation aides once we get to the lake?"

Roland didn't exactly know what Ethan meant by that, but he was beginning to feel that maybe their definition of "relaxation" wasn't the same thing.

Hey, as long as he doesn't think 'relaxation aides' include dropping some E and trying to water board, I'd probably be game... Ehh, shit, he isn't so bad. Just a bit of a jokester is all. Oh God, relax Roland, this is summer! You haven't got a care in the world, if you let the little things bite at you, you'll never make it outta' high school alive.

"I've brought some rock-climbing gear myself," Roland said. "My Dad was up at this lake a few years back with some of my family. He said there were a couple tough cliffs, real close to the lake. I figured it'd be cool to try some new spots. Anyone wanna join me, they're more than welcome."

[laZardo†]

((Ciel...did you just refer to Cisco as Cristo? HOMG FOREBODING))

"Okay, we all ready? Everyone have their seatbelts on and know everyone...Great! Let's rock!"

The car eased away from the curb and began rolling down the suburban streets. So far, so NOT PAINFULLY DEAD. He held his bag close to him, almost like a child cradling their most precious stuffed toy against the monster under the bed.

"Don't worry. Alex is a bang-up driver. Besides, it's not like she's going to go speeding onto the freeway, get cut off by a guy in front, try to turn rapidly to avoid them and flip the car over."

Cisco gulped, the only visible indicator of his current pattern of thought. He was pretty sure Ethan said that to stoke his fears, because that's exactly what had happened as he imagined that brief moment of utter terror and pain right before death (or permanent full-body paralysis or worse, in a persistent vegetative state which for some reason was eerily appropriate for someone as green as he was) that happened about the time someone's spinal column tore up into the brainstem from a collision like that.

At that moment he was thankful he'd already gone to the bathroom before he left. He could feel his hand shaking even as he squeezed the seat belt into the buckle between his and Jessica's legs.

And speaking of Jessica... "W-What about you?"

"Me? I'm just...hap-p-py to be along for the ride!" he replied, almost psychotically cheerful as he tried to force his fear down.

Not the most appropriate response given his little panic attack, but the first one that came to his head.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" asked Roland. His manners did soothe Cisco just an iota, but the lime-haired kid knew Roland for being quite a stickler for formality. The fact was that he didn't exactly have parental issues...not with his current ones or his biological ones, whom being in a car always seemed to remind him of. Cisco's parents were the sort of lenient type that believed that kids like him weren't always time-bombs to be kept in airtight chambers until the inevitable explosion. With the right guidance, they might even stand a chance at reintegrating back into society. Or at least going out with more of a whimper than a bang.

Not that their guidance wasn't, well, misguided. It took several detentions for him to find a shade for his hair that didn't cause both his parents AND the Principal to go into convulsions.

After some hesitation, Cisco finally answered, "Yeah...I'm fine. I just...don't like being trapped in a car for too long," forcing a kind smile through the fear as he did.

Once they got to the lake, it'd be a nice, wide-open swath of nature for however long it would last to get him ready for the trip back. And at least then, he'd get a lot of time to relax...

[Arscapi†]

Alex pouted as she sat behind the wheel. No one was singing with her. This was like the best song for car rides, instead they were talking about relaxation aides and well she didn't even know exactly what Cisco's problem was. She tuned out most of the conversation, concentrating instead on the rhythm of the song and the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair as she was finally able to pick up some speed. The lake wasn't far; they were in Minnesota, just another 10 minutes down the road.

She pressed down on the clutch, switching gears, demanding more speed from the classic car. She wished she could really open it up. Since the very first time her mom had let her back the car out of the driveway, Alex had been in love with cars. She loved the feeling of control. She sighed; maybe she'd give it one more try. She'd had Ethan going for like a second. Ahh, this was the perfect part.

"Galileo," she sang.

[Ruggahissy]

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked meekly.

Ethan closed his eyes and let the music wash over him. He adjusted his classes and answered Jessica without turning fully back towards her.

"I meant marsh mellows and coco of course. What did you think I meant? Something unsavory? Perish the thought."

Actually, spiked coco sounds like it would be pretty good. I'll have to figure out a time to try it out.

Ethan was surprised by Roland's hobby of rock climbing. The guy seemed like such a wet blanket up until this point, but rock climbing was actually sort of cool. Not something that Ethan would take him up on; it was a bit risky for his blood but he respected it as an activity.

"Rock climbing, hu? Maybe I'll watch a little or something. Don't you need lots of gear for that, though?"

The boy felt himself sink just a little further into his seat when Alex hit the accelerator. It was a great feeling, the best feeling in the world.

"Atta girl, peel it out. This baby likes it rough."

He reached out and gave Alex a friendly punch to the shoulder.

"Galileo, Galileo Figaro!"