Summer Lovin'.

‘LA here we come!’ Brendon cried excitedly from his position in the middle of the van, finally putting a stop to the obnoxious singing him and Olivia had been indulging in. Olivia and Spencer echoed his cheers, causing Lola to turn around in her seat, smiling.

‘What’re we going to do when we get there?’ she asked, not-so-subtly steering her gaze away from Ryan and Krystal in the back seat, who everyone had ferociously been ignoring since their make-out session began.

‘That’s if we actually get there,’ Jon replied, smirking at Spencer in the rearview mirror, who blushed slightly and folded his arms, looking out the window.

The faint, groaning noise that was emanating from the engine instilled no kind of confidence in any of the passengers, and the fact that it had been getting increasingly louder and more pathetic for the past two hours made the situation all the more hopeless.

They’d been on the road for no more than a couple of hours, and already the vehicle seemed doomed.

‘Jesus, Spencer, how old is this van?!’ Jon asked, his voice tense as the engine whined loudly.

‘Well…I think it was new in the…eighties?’ Spencer answered hesitantly, cringing as Lola dramatically hit her head against the dashboard and Brendon and Olivia groaned in reply. ‘Look! I’m sorry, ok?’ he continued defensively, and Brendon patted him on the head.

‘It’s ok, Mr Smith. Just know, if any of us die…we’ll never forgive you,’ Brendon’s tone was so serious that Spencer’s face momentarily lost all of its colour, until Brendon started laughing, causing Spencer to retaliate by smacking him in the head.

‘Maybe we should pull over for a bit?’ Olivia suggested tentatively, leaning forward in her seat so she could talk to Jon. ‘Give the engine a break before it…catches fire or something?’

‘You know, that’s not a bad idea, I could do with stretching my legs,’ Lola seconded.

‘Alright, I’ll pull over in a minute,’ he murmured, and they fell silent waiting for Jon to pull over in a dusty lay-by.

The tires crunched against the gravel as the vehicle pulled over. There were no other cars nearby, except for the ones speeding past them on the highway, and the passengers wasted no time in jumping out of the car, chatting happily amongst themselves.

Ryan and Krystal emerged last, both slightly flushed.

‘God, if all of us vote, can we send her home? You know, majority rules…’ Jon asked in frustration, rolling his eyes at Krystal admiring her reflection in the sideview mirror.

Ryan ambled over to the group, who were all mumbling furiously about having Krystal with them.

‘What’s up, guys?’ he asked, putting on his sunglasses and looking at them, confused by the looks of annoyance on their faces. ‘What did I do now?’

‘You did nothing…’ Olivia replied, scowling.

‘Then why are you all looking at me like I’m about to become a murder victim?’

‘They all exchanged glances, deciding how tactful they needed to be, until it suddenly seemed like a bad idea to say anything at all.

‘Nothing,’ they all muttered, waving their hands at him dismissively and moving the conversation along.

They stayed by the side of the road for about fifteen minutes, all psyching themselves up for getting back into the van which seemed ready to give up on them.

‘Maybe it’s best if we stop every couple hours on each trip we make…’ Lola suggested, gazing wistfully at the van.

‘Yeah, that seems like the best way to avoid an explosion,’ Brendon agreed, laughing slightly. ‘Spencer, the blame rests entirely on your shoulders.’

‘Look! I said I was sorry!’ Spencer cried in annoyance for the fifth time that day. Everyone laughed; none of them were genuinely angry with him, it was difficult to be angry with Spencer.

‘Okay…’ Jon started, clapping his hands together and looking around. ‘Who’s driving next?’

Everyone looked around reluctantly, willing someone to speak up. Eventually, Olivia stepped forward, sighing and taking the keys off Jon.

‘I call shotgun!’ Ryan shouted suddenly, grinning at everyone’s surprised and vaguely annoyed faces. ‘What? I would like to be in charge of the music this time round. I’m not letting Brendon loose with the 90s pop again.’

‘Who’s little miss make-up going to sit with then?’ Spencer asked, glancing sideways at Krystal as she rummaged through one of her bags for her mascara.

Ryan shrugged infuriatingly.

‘Maybe this is the perfect opportunity for you to make more of an effort to get to know her,’ he answered nonchalantly, before walking off to get into the passenger’s seat before anyone could shout at him.

Shocked, the rest of the group stared at each other wordlessly, all of them opening and closing their mouths foolishly a couple of times, not quite able to voice their feelings.

‘I’m not sitting next to her!’ Spencer whispered quickly, and everyone else followed suit until it wasn’t obvious who’d been last to decline.

‘Maybe we should just put her in the middle row…by one of the windows. Then no-one’s sitting alone with her?’ Lola suggested, smiling as everyone else nodded.

‘How are we going to decide who- ’ Brendon’s question was cut off as everyone sped towards the van, claiming seats, until the only two left were for Brendon and Krystal. ‘…sits next to Krystal,’ he finished, scowling but climbing into his seat next to Jon.

‘Damn me and my inability to react fast,’ he muttered angrily, glaring at Jon beside him and Lola and Spencer behind him as they laughed.

‘Don’t worry, Bren,’ Lola reassured him. ‘After this, we owe you.’ He thought about that for a second, considering what they might be willing to do to repay the debt.

‘Ok,’ he answered, smiling serenely and turning to face the front of the van, saying nothing as Krystal climbed into the van beside him.

They all sat in silence as Olivia pulled back onto the highway. It was late afternoon, the sun still relatively high in the sky, but losing some of its brightness, making all the passengers suddenly sleepy as the light filtered through the windscreen.

Lola and Spencer both fell asleep in the back seat; Brendon did too, leaning against Jon’s shoulder and snoring lightly. Krystal was texting on her sidekick, and Jon was leaning against the window, his eyes shut, but not quite asleep. Ryan and Olivia sat in the front, conversing quietly.

‘Fuck, Ryan. I’m not letting you sit in the front again if you play the Beatles,’ Jon complained quietly about an hour later, still leaning against the window with his eyes shut.

‘Well, maybe next time you should call ‘shotgun’ before me!’ Ryan retorted, turning up the music slightly.

‘Yeah, ok, then we’ll see what good music is,’ Jon mumbled back.

‘Let me guess…Green Day?’ Ryan replied, laughing quietly.

‘Yeah…’ Jon answered, his voice trailing off as he yawned and finally fell asleep.

Ryan stayed awake, not wanting Olivia to have to battle against her tiredness alone, and they continued talking happily until finally, Los Angeles was in sight.