Road Trip by Caleb Baker (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📕

The bed that spawned from the couch completely leveled Lauren, sweeping her off her feet and sending her on a long descent, as the bed was on the floor, finally she hit the ground with a loud thud. 

"Sorry about that," John said nonchalantly, after Chris helped Lauren to her feet, and all the laughter died down, "over here is, essentially, the kitchen," he now brought us to the sink, oven and microwave, "I imagine this will come in handy."

"No kidding... This place is amazing!" I said excitedly, while looking up at the ceiling. 

A ladder on the side of the closet we saw before was reaching an unopened latch. It looked like the latch opened a kind of door on the ceiling, which would eventually lead to the roof. 

"And back here..." John said, lifting the purple drape at the back of the van a bit, "this is where the magic happens, this is the bedroom!"

He pulled back the curtain completely and revealed a very large bed, nightstand, lamp and three windows.  The bed was in the shape of a circle, and wasn't high of the ground at all, and the nightstand was placed adjacent to the lamp which stood in the corner of the room, the windows were stationed at all three walls. 

"Oh, my," Emily gasped. 

"This is so cool," Alice breathed. 

"Is there a bathroom anywhere?" I asked over the awes. 

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot," John said slapping his forehead. 

He brought us back out to the middle of the RV and stopped next to the kitchen area. Another closet was set next to it, and John opened it and showed us all the inside. 

"Well obviously, there is a toilet and a sink and mirror," he said waving his hands absentmindedly. 

"No shower..." Lauren whispered to herself, but just audible enough for us all to hear.

"No, there is one," John said reaching for a lever on the side of the toilet. 

Something clanged outside. 

"That was the shower head," he said, peeking his head out of the window he just opened, "a curtain pulls out so no one can see you."

"That's great!" Alice exclaimed, "but, where does all the water come from?"

"Oh, we're gonna have to fill the water tank up when we're on the road," I said putting the latch back to its normal position. 

"So this is it," John said, walking out of the bathroom, and holding out his arms as if to hug. 

"I can't wait any longer," I said, finally letting go of my breath, "we need to leave now!"

"Seconded!" Chris exclaimed, he was now heading towards the cockpit. 

"What makes you think you're driving," Emily said suddenly. 

Chris turned around, his face was showing signs of sarcastic confusion. 

"Because," he said smirking. 

"Fine!" Emily said briskly, "I'll drive next!"

"How about we come up with a schedule," Lauren said smartly. 

"Good idea," I interrupted, "but, we'll come up with one later, let's just get this thing on the road first!"

The town of Pepperell was blurring by right before my eyes. Family owned businesses, separated by large trees, were whizzing away, giving me a sentimental feeling. This would be the last time I this place for a long time, but at least my last memory would be a good one. Leaving this town was easy, considering it wasn't very large, the population was somewhere around five thousand, and we had, as I remember it, two stop lights, both being on the only two roads out of the town. Our van, at the moment, was sitting in front of one, engine raring.  

Chris was a very good driver, but sometimes he drove a little hectic; taking wide turns and speeding up before them. 

"Chris, relax," Emily said from the passenger seat, "take this left."

He followed orders, making sure to take the turn slowly and cautiously. Lauren and I were distributing the groceries that Emily and John had bought to their rightful places, while John and Alice had started putting their clothes away into the closets.

"So what are the sleeping arrangements?" Lauren asked as she leaped over the copious amounts of cantaloupe. 

"I call the bed!" Alice yelled from the bedroom, she was putting away her clothes in the bedroom closet. 

"You can't just call the bed!" John exclaimed, "you don't even have its number."

I laughed and so did Lauren. 

"Look," I said after I caught my breath, and I had successfully placed all the chips into a cupboard according to color, "how about the girls take the bedroom, and the boys take the... well, whatever this is,"

I didn't know what to call where we stood. 

"This is the foyer," John said slowly, his eyes were extremely wide at the moment, "and no! I want the bedroom!"

"Alright," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "as long as it's okay with the girls..."

Lauren and Alice both said "no!" at the same time, Emily came in a little late with hers. 

"Hey Caleb!" Chris called to me from the cockpit, "any idea where we're going?"

"Can you hang on? I'm kind of in the middle of something," I called back, I was now working on the fruits.

"Do you just want me to pull over?" Chris said. 

"No, just keep driving!" I tried to remove five cantaloupes from the same bag at one time, one of them fell out of my arms and landed on my foot,

"OWWW!" "Oh, let me help..." Lauren said sweetly, picking up the fallen fruit, "do we even have a place for all of these?"

"Yes," John said immediately, "we can put them in the bedroom."

"Those are not going in my room!" Alice yelled from behind the purple curtain. 

John's mood had dropped a considerable amount after that comment. After Lauren and I finished with the groceries, I traded places with Emily in the front seat next to Chris. I brought the map that I had lodged in one of the bags that I had stowed onto the RV. This was a map of all the major highways throughout the country, it would have been easier to use my smart phone, but this just felt better, adventurous almost. 

"Dude, that thing's huge," Chris said taking his eyes off the road for a split second. 

From somewhere in the back of the RV I heard John call out, "That's what she said!" 

"I know," I said ignoring John and unfolding the map. 

If placed against the RV's windshield, the map would have blocked it out, making anything out of it impossible to see. 

"I just need to find where we are," I said, taking my finger and tracing the highways. 

"I think we're over here..." Chris said, his head tilted, to look at the part of the map that landed in his lap. 

"Thanks," I replied, flipping the side he had over to me. 

I reached into the pocket of my jeans and took out my black sharpie marker, it was slightly warm. Finding the spot that Chris had indicated, I then drew a small circle over it, marking the spot, that way it would be easier to find again.

"So, where to?" Chris asked, rhythmically tapping on the steering wheel. 

"I remember Em saying she wanted to go to New York first," I said, still looking down at the map, "the best highway to take is coming up in a few miles."

"Alright, keep me updated," Chris said, fiddling with the radio system, "what is this," he then said coming across a peculiar button. 

"I've got no idea," I said, "press it."

He gave me several looks of apprehension, his hand still on the button, until finally, I pressed it. A light next to button flashed red for a second. I pressed the button again, longer this time, and the light remained red for as long as I held the button.  

"What do you think it is?" I asked, what seemed like twice, as my voice sounded throughout the entire van. 

"I think it's like some kind of megaphone," Chris said, pressing the button himself and humming. 

His throaty noise carried through the vehicle, proving his theory. 

"What is going on in here?" Lauren came striding into the cockpit, her arms crossed. 

"We found a PA system," I answered lightly. 

"That's great..." she said, quickly seizing the button, "John get out of my room!" 

From somewhere in the back of the RV came a loud groan of dismay.    

The next couple of miles consisted mainly of Chris and I repeating rude phrases into the PA speaker, which we found on the dashboard. On the third time that Chris had said, "John's mother was a trollop," Emily threw her shoe at us, causing me to laugh so hard I thought I was going to burst. The exit that we had to take would come within the next mile, according to the green signs on the side of the road anyway. I got up from my seat next to Chris, which made him look up. 

"Don't leave me here, all alone," he said sadly. 

"I'm sorry," I began, "but, take the next exit, that's the one we need to go on."

"Alright..." he said in a low tone. 

I walked out of the cockpit, leaving Chris alone. The sun shone through all the windows of the RV, making me squint and raise my hand to shield my eyes. John was sitting on the couch with Emily, while Alice and Lauren sat at the table playing with a deck of cards. 

"Will someone go and keep Chris company," I said, "he's pretty lonely."

"I can't go," Lauren said, her eye on her hand of cards, "I have a great hand," she then clapped her free hand to her mouth. 

"Fold..." Alice said solemnly, "I'll go hang out with Chris."

She got up from her seat, leaving her assorted cards on the table, face up. I saw that it was a very bad hand indeed, that is, if they were playing poker. Alice disappeared behind the curtain of the driver's quarters, her hair giving one last flick. John got up from the couch, stretched, and finally sat back down, this time next to me. Emily followed his example, planting herself next to Lauren. 

"So, what are we playing?" John asked. 

"Poker," Lauren announced, "do you guys want to play?"

"Yeah!" Emily said with more enthusiasm than needed. 

I opted to play, seeing as my only other option was sitting and watching from the couch. 

"Okay," Lauren began, "two's are high, and aces are low."

"Wait! Wait!" John slapped his hand on the table before Lauren could begin dealing out cards. 

"What now, John?" Emily said, slightly smiling.  John looked at Emily with such an expression that even gave me shivers. He stared at her for a mere ten seconds, then turned to Lauren and began to speak. 

"I want to up the anti, just a smidge," his expression had lightened, and his chiseled jaw heartened and relaxed. 

"I'm not getting naked," Emily said flatly. 

Apparently the unspoken altercation between her and John hadn't phased her in the slightest. Ignoring Emily,

John elaborated on his idea, "if we win, then we get the bedroom, if we lose we stay here, in the foyer."

Emily let out an audible gasp, and I highly anticipated Lauren's reaction, however, it was not what I expected. 

"Who's we?" she said. 

"Boys versus girls, as it should be," John replied darkly, and glaring at me from the corner of his eye. 

What ever he meant by that I will never understand. So shaking