"I'm back," Lindsi Weaver called as she hopped into the backseat of the small black Volkswagen beetle that sat outside the local grocery store. She had a handful of small plastic bags dangling in her hands, and a wide smile plastered across her slightly tanned face.
"Did you get the chips?" Brooke Pine, her best friend, questioned from the passengers seat. Yet, instead of giving her an answer, Lindsi dug into one of the bags. The baby blue visor that graced the top of her head shielding her eyes from the soft ray of light that shone through the windshield. "Linds," came the frustrated voice from the front seat, "I asked if you got the chips, I'm so like, starving."
"Than eat," Lindsi giggled, tossing the bag of Doritos toward the front of the car.
Tyler Wilks, a friend and the driver, suddenly twisted around in his seat so that he could see both girls clearly. Brooke sat with her legs drawn up on the seat, the bag of chips cradled between her legs. A pair of pink tinted sunglasses fit over her eyes that merely stared straight ahead. As for Lindsi, she sat cross-legged, digging inside the bag of goodies that she just got from the store. "Are we ready to go, now?" he spat, his blue eyes quickly shifting between both girls.
Turning towards him, Brooke lifted the glasses upward slightly to reveal her equally bright blue eyes, "A little impatient, Tyler? Malibu Shores isn't going anywhere."
"Shut up," he snapped, "I just want to get out of here. You have no idea how much I want to get away from all this...all the people in business suits, all the expectations."
Lindsi laughed, and slapped a can of Dr. Pepper in his hand, "chill."
He sighed, and turned away from both girls. "You just don't understand," he muttered, "you don't live the same life that I do. You don't, well...you don't have the same strangling feeling. The feeling like your drowning and you can feel the water filling in your lungs, the suffocating." He made a half laugh. "It's just like that, that's what this city is doing to me. I just need to get out before I run out of oxygen."
"I guess we have different reasons on why we are going on this trip," Lindsi observed, "You need to breath, Tyler, and me and Brooke need a tan, a little sun, and of course the image of them sun-tanned lifeguards."
The one thing that was extremely different between Tyler and Lindsi was their lifestyles. Lindsi lived for herself, and was generally always bright and giddy. To her, life was something fun and exciting, something that needed to be sucked down to the last second. On the other hand, Tyler lived for everyone else except himself, that tended to bring him down. He saw life as a circus, something he was forced to do.
Tyler set the can of soda aside, before starting up the Volkswagen. It was off toward Malibu Shores...again. Despite all the exits he had pretended to miss, the girls still insisted he stop for treats. After about ten missed exits, he started feeling a little guilty. He reached out a turned up the radio, trying to blur out the sounds of Lindsi digging through bags right behind him.
Pulling out a pack of Twinkies, Lindsi let her head fall back against the seat. She sighed deeply, and let her blue eyes drift shut. It was going to be hers, all hers, all summer. No more annoying lectures from her mother, no curfew, no responsibilities. Just her friends, the sun, the soft sand, and the overwhelming amount of half naked, toned, men. It's all she ever wanted, she could feel freedom sneaking up on her and she loved it.
"I can't believe that Amanda let you take her car," Brooke stated, before shoving a chip into her mouth.
Tyler glanced across the seat. Brooke had one arm draped out the window, her hand was open to catch the wind. Her left foot tapped aimlessly against the dashboard, as if it would make the car go quicker. "She doesn't exactly know," he grinned. Than let his attention fall back on the world as it flashed past the small car.
"WHAT?" Lindsi cried from the backseat, snapping out of her daydream. "You are SO not telling me that you stold this car from your sister."
"Well, I didn't exactly do that either," he informed. A hand ran roughly through his short cut brown hair, making the blond highlights shine brightly in the sunlight.
"Tyler, could you please clarify that?"
"Amanda already had left for the Bahamas with her friends, she won't be back until the end of the summer. So, I told my parents that, well, that Amanda said it was all right," Tyler snickered, "That proves who has the brains in the family."
"It also tells who's going to be killed at the end of August," Brooke pointed out, jumping back into the conversation.
"Not if you two don't tell her," he shot, "we'll be sure to be back before she gets home."
"I can see it now," Lindsi laughed, "Amanda walks into the house and your parents go 'it was so nice of you to let Tyler use your car this summer.' You'd be so dead."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"It would be quite amusing."
"Lindsi Taylor Weaver," he sighed, "You have one corrupted little mind, you know that?"
Both girls laughed. They always have, always will. They became friends a few years back, and ever since then, they've been inseparable. Slightly different, but matched up as being a great pair. Brooke was sweet, yet maybe a little sheltered. Even though she never really was rebellious. She kept her life unpredictable by making quick, unclear decisions every now and then.
Lindsi never really allowed herself to feel all that sheltered or safe. She was always on the edge and very outgoing. The girl that would always go after the guys that were way out of reach, and actually be able to snag them in with her smile and charm. Because of this, normally she was an easy target for heartbreakers.
She had long brown hair that was highlighted with a light tint of blond. Her eyes were a clear water blue and were always shining brightly with her naturally giddy personality. Her one down fall was her shortness, yet that didn't matter much to her, high heels would fix it.
"But that's why you love me," Lindsi stated matter-of-factly before taking a large bite off the end of one of her straw colored Twinkies.
"I don't love you," he replied flatly, keeping his eyes staring intently at the road ahead of him.
"Actually," she cooed from behind, "do you remember the time, it was way back when we were little. We were at the lake, and a bunch of us were messing around on the dock. I some how was pushed in, and you decided to be the one to save me from drowning."
Brooke tilted her head in their direction, "I call that love in my book."
"Don't make things up, Lindsi," Tyler muttered, "that wasn't me. I would of let you drown." Lindsi laughed at his tough man act and then lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug.
"Oh, yeah. Now, I remember the guy that save my life was very good looking. That couldn't have possibly been you."
"Funny," Tyler shot toward the backseat, "Very funny."
*
Lindsi's eyes flipped open, and she sprung forward slightly with a jolt. She didn't know when, or how long she had been sleeping. The sun was going down and the car was filled with just a little light. Rubbing her eyes, Lindsi sat up again and peered out the window at the darkening landscape.
She turned her attention to the front seat to see Tyler still staring ahead intently, his brown hair blowing slightly in the wind that came through the open window. Brooke sat in the passengers seat, her sunglasses yanked up to the top of her head, blond hair cascading down in front of her tired blue eyes. She was singing quietly to a song by the band Weezer.
"Hey, Ty," Lindsi called, her voice was dry and weak, hinted with a wave of tiredness. He didn't turn around, or say anything, just lifted his hand slightly to tell her he acknowledged her presence. "Do you think that, well, do you think we are going to be in Malibu soon?" she sighed, "I'm so sick of just sitting in this car."
"Not til at least mid-afternoon tomorrow," he informed, with a little sigh. It was obvious that he too was longing to be free. To feel the warm water and the sand beneath his feet.
Brooke shifted in her seat and glanced back toward her friend. "The next exit we are going to find a hotel," she explained, "Tyler doesn't want to drive all night."
"Why?" Lindsi whined, "We could be there by morning."
"Do you want to fucking drive, Weaver?" Tyler cried from the front seat, "Do you think that staring at this road is fun? Do you think that I am enjoying lack of eating, sleeping, and dreaming? Christ, Lindsi. I need a break too."
"Fuck off," Lindsi shot, propping her feet up onto the seat as she glared at the back of his head. It wasn't that she didn't care how Tyler was feeling, it was just that she really wanted to be in Malibu. She couldn't wait another day.
"You guys," Brooke sighed, "I thought we were going on this vacation to get away from constant fighting? You two are like me and my brother, bickering all the time when we are in a car together. Lindsi, if we drove all night, you'd be the only one able to enjoy Malibu tomorrow. Me and Tyler would be beat. He'd have driven the whole way and I can't sleep in cars. It's just one more night, and then you'll be in paradise."
Lindsi shifted slightly in her seat, taking her gaze off Tyler and letting it fall on Brooke. She looked exhausted. "I can wait one more day, then," Lindsi informed, pulling her brown locks up into a twist pony to keep it out of her face. She sighed a little, it wasn't that she hadn't thought of how it would be to drive almost 2 days straight, it was just that she was so anxious to get to the beach that she had forgotten. Forgot exactly how cranky Tyler could be without at least ten hours a sleep a day.
"And Ty, if I may ask...can you just be a little more, well a little more understanding," Brooke asked, "You know Lindsi, she's very very impatient."
"Ah, but Brookie. Your just as bad if it comes to hockey games and Jor-" Lindsi started but cut herself short because of the nasty look her friend had shot her. If looks could kill, that's what Brooke would have been going for. She had a little obsession with the goalie on her high school hockey team, his name had been plastered across everything and a picture of him always nearby. Lindsi always teased her about it, but the one thing that kept her from doing it in front of Tyler, was because Brooke wouldn't allow it. It wasn't that she was ashamed that she liked the guy. It was just that she didn't want Tyler to think down about her because she liked a super jock.
"Linds," Brooke hissed through clenched teeth, "Your such a jokester."
"I know," Lindsi giggled, giving her a wink. It was meant to reassured her that she wouldn't let Tyler know about her little infatuation. Brooke let out a deep breath of air, and turned back around in her seat so that she was staring out the windshield. Reaching over and turning up the radio so that she could blur out the thoughts that had crept into her mind. That is the only reason she was on this vacation...she wanted to forget about him.