Realistic or Modern Summertime Serenade

Amber didn't sleep at all that night. It wasn't just her insomnia getting to her, it was more so her excitement. The next morning they would head off on their trip across the country, and she was more than ready. She had packed everything and double checked to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Unable to wait any longer, by the time it was six A.M, Amber got out of bed and took a nice long shower, before changing into a comfortable outfit. Afterwards she went to make a nice breakfast, thinking about their possible adventures that they would have. When she was finally finished, Amber loaded her bags into her car before heading off towards a close friend of her aunt's house. He had let her and her friends renovate an old bus that he owned. It took a lot of work, but the lot of them had managed to clean it up, add a couple of beds, get it livable. She pulled up in the yard of his house, as he had agreed to let her keep her car there, before heading into the bus. Smiling, she put her keys in the ignition and turned the lights of the bus on, loading her stuff in the cargo hold. Amber sat in the drivers seat, pulling out her phone to shoot the group a text. It was about 7 in the morning now.


With that, Amber smiled to herself and pulled out of the yard, and headed into the city towards Louisa's place. When she arrived, she briefly parked the vehicle in the street, knowing there wasn't much of a place for her to stop without getting the attention of the local police. She was tempted to honk the horn, but knew it would wake up the city, so she simply hopped out of the bus and ran over to Louisa's door, knocking on it a little too loudly. Usually Amber wasn't this excited, but for once she was actually hopeful that something good was going to happen.

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Cody woke up at 5 am to finish packing the things he would need for the trip he was going on with his friends. He was to excited and didn't get much sleep the night before. He was still wondering how they had been able to talk their parents into letting them do this trip. Grabbing his backpack and saxophone case he headed downstairs for breakfast. He was making himself some toast when he received the text from Amber. Texting back that he would be outside waiting, he put peanut butter and grape jelly on his toasted and headed outside with his bags and breakfast. Sitting down on the front porch steps he watched the sky lighten as the sun began to rise, turning the skies bright pink and orange.

The ceiling fan was on the kitchen floor. She stood, staring at it blankly, a cigarette in one hand and a suitcase in the other. The bulb was shattered into a million tiny pieces; and its white arms were coated in grey dust. The fan was a dead monster meeting her gaze, it's white body limp on her kitchen floor. The girl assumed it had happened last night. Their house was old and rickety; it wasn't very surprising that it fell. In her eyes, everything was due to fall, at some point or another.

Fauve sat down on one of the wooden chairs. It creaked as her weight pressed into it. She set the suitcase down ever so gently, as to not wake her cousin. A single bulb above the stove gave off it's light, illuminating Fauve's blue eyes. Golden eyeshadow gleamed on her eyelids, paired with faint eyeliner and false eyelashes. Her lips were coated in Honolulu Pink today and glittery highlight shimmered on her cheekbones and nose. Her free hand clasped around her flipphone, which revealed a text message that sent butterflies in her stomach. She raised the cigarette to her lips. Soon, her life would start for real.

She'd be picked up after Cody. Her phone blinked the time at her. It was about 7 a.m. Fauve breathed out smoke, watching it spiral out in front of her. She'd been awake since five. Her makeup was flawless yes gawd, she had eaten an alright breakfast, and everything important was stuffed away in her bag. She was more than ready.

Louisa was late, unsurprisingly. She hadn’t slept in, because she hadn’t been able to sleep much, she was just late. She always needed a good amount of time to get ready for something, so she had gotten up around five thirty, and she had then spent a good hour trying to braid her hair. Braided hair was easier while traveling, and her mother had always braided her hair before they went on vacation, so Louisa figured she knew how it was done. She didn’t though, and she spent way too much time desperately trying to braid her hair into braids that looked somewhat decent. By the time she was finished, the clock was almost seven.

She then ran around the house, trying to make sure that she had packed absolutely everything. Never in her life had she been away on such a trip, and she needed to make sure that she had everything she could possibly need. Because of that she had packed a few things that were a bit unnecessary, like her inflatable lifejacket, but she didn’t want to leave without being as prepared as she could be. In the middle of all her own chaos, she hardly even noticed her phone buzzing in her back pocket. At least she didn’t notice enough to care about why it buzzed.

Just as she stuffed her very last item, a small box of matches, into her already overstuffed bag, she heard a knock on the door. It was louder than usual, and she cursed under her breath, knowing that her brother would most likely wake up. Louisa figured that it was Amber, so she grabbed her bag and went to open the door, hurrying out before her brother got the chance to yell at her. Seconds after she had closed the door behind her, she dropper her bag and pulled her friend into a tight hug. “This is gonna be amazing”, she whispered before letting go. The stress had been replaced with excitement, and a wide smile spread across her face. She picked up her bag again, and started walking towards the van parked in the middle of the street.

Amber was surprised at how quickly Louisa opened the door, and tensed up when she was hugged tightly by her friend. Louisa's smile was infectious, causing Amber to grin slightly. "With amazing friends like you and the crew, there's no doubt that it will be." She smiled, following after her and sweeping her bag out from her hands. She wasn't trying to be rude, in fact she was trying to be nice by helping her get her stuff stored away in the bus. Amber looked at Louisa, proud of their creation. Somehow they had turned an old school bus into a nice living quarters.

"Let's get this show on the road then." She smiled, climbing into the bus and taking a seat behind the wheel. Once she made sure Louisa was situated, Amber shifted into gear and made her way towards Cody's house. She flipped through the radio they had installed in the bus, finding a station that played half decent music and humming along to it. When they pulled up to Cody's place, Amber opened the door to the bus and waved to him, seeing that he was already outside. She waited for him to approach, briefly showing him where to store his luggage before hopping back inside the bus and waiting for him too to get comfortable. Smiling softly, Amber turned back to look at her two friends. "I hope someone's going to bring a keg with them, cause we're gonna have to get this party started somehow." She teased, knowing it was far too early in the morning for a literal party- she was just too excited.

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"I it's a keg of mountain dew, I'll be good" Cody said as he leaned back in his seat, "I need the caffeine, I couldn't sleep that much last night, I was to excited about the trip" Cody looked around the bus, proud of what he and his friends had accomplished. "So whose next on the list of pickups?"

Amber shrugged, "Well whatever works, I guess." She turned back around in her seat and headed towards their next destination. "Fauve should be first, then Trent and last but not least, Sophia." There was a brief pause, "And then we'll be on our way. If you guys want, there's a map back there somewhere, you can work on planning the rest of our stops." The group had started marking the map in the states they wanted to stop at. The group of teens lived in California and had decided to drive through the southern states first, before looping back around through the northern states on their way back. Focusing back on the road, the three drove until finally they made it to Fauve's home. Amber was quick to park the bus and hop out, quickly making her way towards her porch. When she finally saw her friend, Amber's expression broke out into a grin. It had been a long time since she was this excited, and the bubbly, cheerful attitude that Amber emitted- which was a polar opposite of her stoic personality- was proof. Without warning, Amber squeezed Fauve into a hug, reaching out a hand to offer to take her bag. "I seriously can't believe we're all doing this." She smiled, looking up at the girl as her body shook in excitement.
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Fauve stood outside, escaping the dim and tiny kitchen. Dew clung to the morning grass and the fresh air stung at her nostrils. Excitement pulsed through her veins. Her breathes came quickly in her chest; today would be the day things got better. The trip would be the vacation she needed to get away from life, from the stresses of family and money and school. She squealed as the familiar bus pulled into the driveway. It was only a few seconds later that she saw Amber hurry out and rush towards her.

"Hey, girlie," Fauve squealed, followed by excited laughter. She hurried to wrap her friend in a hug. "Me too," she said, her blue eyes wide and wild. The girl handed her bag to Amber's open hand and laughed again. "This is gonna be so fun."
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Amber took the bag happily. "I know. If I get anymore excited I might die." She laughed, headed back towards the cargo hold to put her bag away. Before getting back on the bus, Amber waited for Fauve to get in, bowing theatrically, "After you, M'lady." All of Amber's actions were out of character for her, but she couldn't help it. She had never been this excited in her life. For once, she had hope that her future would be better. Once Fauve got inside, Amber did a quick headcount before buckling up and slamming on the gas. "Now everyone," She began, "Just because I'm driving right now doesn't mean I'm driving the whole way. We're sure as hell taking turns." Amber stuck out her tongue before turning back to look at the road.

The bus skidded to a stop when Amber barely passed Trent's house. At this point, it was a little bit later in the morning, so Amber didn't hesitate to honk the loud bus horn to alert him that they had arrived. Just one more stop and their future would begin.
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Fauve laughed loudly; Amber's excitement was contagious. She had never seen her friend so lively and optimistic. Fauve took a seat next to Cody and eagerly buckled her seatbelt. "Hey guys," she said, giving a small wave to Cody and Louisa. Their bus already felt more like home than anywhere she had lived before. It was eccentric but oddly charming. "I," she said, replying to Amber, "for one, suck at driving". She breathed in, her blue eyes watching the streets pass by outside the window in a blur. "Swalla" by Jason Derulo played quietly in the background and Fauve sung along under her breath. Her eyes were wild and full of excitement. Soon enough, Trent's house came into view. The girl straightened her back, looking avidly for the boy.

Louisa kept quiet, greeting her friends as they filled the car one by one. She could already tell that the van was getting too crowded for her liking, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Driving for long distances had never really been Louisa's thing, but if she was able to stretch and move around, she felt better. She looked around her, wondering how they were supposed to be able to live out of the van. For a while, all of the thoughts that filled her head were negative once, so she took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She knew that starting off a trip with being pessimistic was not a very good idea.

"I can drive", she said, jumping into her friend’s conversation for the first time since getting in the van. She wasn't usually a silent person around her friends, she was just too god damn tried to lead any kind of conversation. The thought of driving the van was a bit frightening, but she felt as though she had to contribute with something. Besides, she found it somewhat calming to drive, and she rarely used her license in the city.

Trent sat in the kitchen and looked around as his mother was cleaning up from breakfast, while talking overly loud to one of her friends about some soap opera that was on last night. He rolled his eyes and diverted his attention to the large bay window where he would have perfect view of the drive way.

Finally he seen the van pull up, "See ya later ma" he said jumping up and grabbing his large duffel bag and walked out of the door, he was beyond excited to get out of here, not having to be bothered by his mother or father, just going and hanging out with some of his closest friends and traveling, what could be better than that.

"Hello hello my fellow humans" He said opening up the back doors to throw his bad on top of the lounge already there, " Who feels like being my van buddy he said closing the back doors and walking around to open the side door to get in.