I'm Amazed That I Got This Far

"Are you sure you have everything?" I asked John one last time, as he zipped up his suitcase.

"Positive." He nodded.

"Your toothbrush?" I questioned, as I plopped down on the bed.

"...Yes." John said, before hurrying over to the bathroom vanity, and grabbing his toothbrush. "Now I have everything."

Kennedy and all his friends planned to go on a "guys only" camping trip this weekend. Once John started to hang out more and more with the guys, they invited him to go with them, since he was now in their little "group". John of course said yes, after talking to me about it, and making sure that I would be okay here alone, and I told him I would be fine. I know I'd be fine, especially since Britton invited me to stay over at her house for the weekend, since her parents said it was okay. I knew John and I couldn't afford another weekend in the motel, and John refused to let me sleep in his car over the weekend, so I accepted the invite.

"Okay." I smiled, as there was a knock on the motel door.

"That's them!" John said as he grabbed my hand. "You have to meet them!"

"Okay. I don't think they're going anywhere." I said, as he pulled me over to the door.

"I know but you gotta meet them. You'll love them." He said, before swinging open the door, to reveal Kennedy and three other guys standing there. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, John." All of the guys said, with smiles on their faces.

"Hi, Kalen." Kennedy waved.

"Hi, Kennedy." I grinned, as I waved back.

"Guys, this is Kalen. Kalen you know Kennedy, that's Garrett, Pat, and Jared."

"You're the girl that TP'd my house!" Garrett smiled, as he pointed at me.

"Yeah, with Britton." Kennedy chuckled.

I laughed slightly and nodded, as Pat looked around at all of us. "So, John, are you ready?"

"Yeah." John nodded, as he pulled his car key out of his pocket and gave it to me. "Here. Do you want my phone?"

"No, it's fine." I said, as I took his car key from him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"We can just call Britton's phone if we need her." Kennedy said, as he looked at John. "Britton has her phone at all times."

"Alright." John said, as he heaved a sigh. "Then, I'm ready."

"Awesome. Nice meeting you, Kalen!" Jared said happily, before hopping in Kennedy's car.

"Nice meeting you guys, too." I smiled, as the rest of the guys climbed back into Kennedy's car.

"I'll call you or something later." John said, as he looked at me.

"You don't have to." I shrugged. "Well, just let me know when you get there."

"Okay." He smiled, before wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Bye, Kay. I'll see you in a few days."

"Okay, John." I said, as I wrapped my arms around his thin waist. "Have fun."

"You too! And be careful." He said, before pressing his lips to mine, and pulling away, a smile on his face. "Bye."

"Bye." I grinned, as we let go of each other.

I went over to John's car and got in, as John tossed his bag into Kennedy's trunk, and slid in the backseat next to Garrett. I started up John's car and waved to the guys, before taking off out of the motel parking lot, and towards Britton's house. She wrote down directions to her house, and I was going to try my best to find her house without getting lost. I still wasn't familiar with all of the roads, but I had to start memorizing them soon, or I would never get used to this place.

After about a half hour, I pulled into the driveway of a medium sized, two-story brick house. I looked down at the paper, before looking at the black numbers on the front of the house, to make sure I was at the right house. Once I was positive that I was at Britton's, I turned off John's car, and got out. I locked everything up, after taking my suitcase out of the back, and I went to the front door.

I knocked a couple times and waited for a few seconds, until the front door opened. A short woman with long, blond hair opened the door. She looked at me and smiled, showing off her white teeth, before moving out of the way, letting me into the house. I slowly stepped inside, and set my suitcase down on the red rug, that was in front of the door.

"You must be Kalen." The woman said happily. "I'm Britton's mom. You can call me Gloria."

"Nice to meet you." I said, with a smile. "And yes, I'm Kalen."

"Britton has said quite a bit about you!" She said, before turning towards the stairs. "Britton! Kalen's here!"

I heard a door from upstairs open, before feet pounded down the stairs, and a smiling Britton hopped off the last step. "Hey, Kalen!"

"Hi." I smiled, as she took my bag from me.

"We can take this into my room." She said, as she started up the stairs.

"Okay. Thanks for letting me stay here." I said politely, as I looked at Gloria.

"You're welcome, dear." Gloria smiled, before I followed Britton up the stairs.

Britton led me down the hall and opened the last door on the right. I walked in behind her and looked around at the many, many pictures, that were hanging on all four of her walls. Her bed was pushed against the wall, in the middle of the room, and her desk was flooded with school papers. A book bag was next to her computer chair, and there were clothes hanging over the back of the chair.

"Sorry, it's a bit messy." Britton apologized, as she pushed all of the papers to one corner of her desk.

"It's fine." I said, with a slight laugh, as she set my suitcase in the corner.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked curiously, as she turned around to look at me. "Are you hungry? Do you want to go out to eat?"

"Whatever's fine with me." I shrugged.

"Okay. We'll go out to eat with Aubree. She's Garrett's girlfriend." She said, as she pulled out her cell phone. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." I nodded.

"You met all the guys, right? Before they left for their little...man get together?" She questioned, as she scrolled through the contacts of her phone.

"Yep." I said, as I sat down on her bed. "They're nice."

"I love them." She sighed, before looking up at me and raising an eyebrow. "Pat didn't go all Rat Boy on you. Did he?"

"He did what?" I said slowly.

"Oh, then I guess not." She shrugged, looking back at her phone. "Nothing. He just does this really weird thing to people."

"Okay?" I chuckled.

Britton smiled, before she started talking to the person on the other end of the phone. "Hey, Aubree! We're going out to dinner. 'We' as in me, you, and my friend, Kalen. She's staying here for the weekend."

I looked down at the carpet and waited patiently, as Britton talked to this Aubree girl on the phone. After a few minutes, Britton hung up the phone, and grabbed her hoodie. I stood up from where I was sitting on Britton's bed, and the two of us walked out of her room. We trotted down the stairs and told her mom where we were going, before going out the front door, and down to her car.

"So, what do you plan to do with no John for a weekend?" Britton smiled, as she started her car.

"I have no idea." I chuckled, as I looked out the window. "I haven't not been around him for, like, years."

"You've never been away from each other?" She said slowly. "Like on family vacations?"

"Not really." I shrugged. "Our families never really went on vacation."

"Damn, that sucks." She said, as she looked out the windshield. "Tell me about your family. I mean, you couldn't have hated them that much."

"I left my house...doesn't that say enough?" I smiled, as I looked over at her.

"Well, I mean...good point." She mumbled. "Still, tell me!"

"I mean, I didn't hate their guts." I stated, sinking back into the soft car seat. "They just didn't like John, and neither did my younger sister...until a little while ago."

"How old is your sister?" Britton asked.

"She's in 7th grade." I replied. "Her name's Kayla."

"Awe. Kalen and Kayla." She chuckled. "That's cute."

"Thanks...I guess?" I smiled.

"Welcome." She giggled. "Tell me about you and John!"

"Like what?" I laughed, as I looked over at her.

"When did you two start dating?! Or just everything!" She said.

"We've known each other for like ever." I sighed. "He's been my best friend since we met, and we just started dating. We haven't even been dating for a week; it's really sad."

"That's not sad. You both were just chicken." She said, shrugging slightly. "Why did you come with him here, anyway?"

"He wanted to come here and he would only go if I came along." I explained. "And he told me how he felt about me, and I couldn't just say no. Ya know?"

"Yeah, I agree." She nodded. "I would go, too! Especially if the guy was my best friend. I'd say yes in a heartbeat."

"Well, I was worried about school and grades and parents and what the consequences would be." I said. "I'm not reckless like John."

Britton laughed. "Well, that isn't a bad thing. Opposites attract, right?"

"Exactly." I chuckled.

John's P.O.V.

"Finally! We're here!" Pat yelled, as he climbed out of the car. "We could've been here a half hour earlier, if Kennedy knew how to drive!"

"I do know how to drive, thank you very much!" Kennedy said, as he stepped out of the car. "That jackass in front of me can't go the speed limit! So, shut up, Kirch!"

"Boys, boys." Jared said, as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Must we act like little girls? I mean, we came on this trip to be away from girls."

"This is true." Garrett said, as he crossed his arms. "All the girls can just go back home."

"That means you, Pat." Kennedy smirked.

"Oh, fuck you." Pat chuckled. "Let's just find somewhere to put our tents."

"Are we all sleeping in one tent?" I asked slowly, as I grabbed my bag from the trunk.

"No, are you kidding?" Garrett chuckled. "We have two. Three people sleep in one, and two sleep in another. Unless, ya know, we leave Pat outside for a bear."

"Ha ha, funny." Pat said, as he grabbed a tent from the trunk. "Help me put this up, Garrett."

"Fine." He mumbled, as he walked over to an open space in the middle of the wood we were in.

"Have you ever been camping before?" Jared asked, as he pulled the other tent out of the trunk.

"Kind of?" I said, as I thought about those nights that I spent in mine and Kalen's spot back home.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" He chuckled, as he walked over to where Garrett and Pat were, so he could set up the other tent.

"I used to leave home for a night or two, and stay in the woods by my house." I told him, as I went over to help him.

"You're just fucking hardcore, aren't you?" Kennedy laughed, as he pulled the sleeping bags out of his car. "Running away, sleeping in the middle of fucking nowhere, quitting school."

"I don't try to be." I chuckled. "It's just-I don't know. I'm just like that."

"And that Kalen girl is with you, because...?" Pat said, as he looked at me.

"Because she's my best friend." I shrugged. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you're, like, homeless." He stated. "No offense, but if I was a girl, I wouldn't be running around with a reckless boy."

"None taken." I smiled, as I started to help Jared. "She just means a lot to me, and I wanted her to come with me."

"So, you totally just dropped school?" Garrett asked curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much." I nodded. "I turned my books into the media center, tossed all of my folders in the trash, and didn't go back."

"Nice!" He said, as piece of the tent smacked him in the face. "Ouch! Pat, I told you to hold that!"

"Sorry!" Pat smirked, as he held the piece back.

"Sorry my ass." He mumbled, as he rubbed the spot on his face where he just got smacked.

"This is going to be a long weekend...just so you know." Kennedy told me, as he came over to me and Jared, to help us put up the tent.

"I already had a feeling that it was going to be." I smiled.

He laughed and nodded, before we all continued to put the tents up.

Kalen's P.O.V.

"Let's try and find Aubree now." Britton said, as we walked into a restaurant, and started to look around the dining area.

"Okay..." I said slowly, not even knowing what this girl looked like.

"Knowing her she'll be towards the back." She stated, leading me towards the back of the dining area.

I followed behind Britton, and once Britton finally found Aubree, we sat down at the table.

"Aubree, this is Kalen. Kalen, this is Aubree!" Britton smiled, as she introduced us.

"Hi." I grinned, as I looked at Aubree.

"Hi, Kalen." Aubree said happily. "Is this the girl Pat was talking about?"

"No. That girl goes to our school." Britton told Aubree. "This is John's girlfriend. I don't think you've met John."

"Tall, skinny, has a mullet?" She asked.

"Yeah. That's him." She chuckled.

"Everyone always knows it's him by his mullet." I stated, with a smile.

Aubree laughed. "It's cute. Even though it's so...many years ago."

"That's true." I nodded, laughing slightly.

"So, you two are from Phoenix?" She asked.

"Yeah." I said, as I leaned back into the chair.

"Nice, nice." She nodded, as a waiter came to our table.

After the three of us ordered our drinks, our waiter walked away, before coming back and taking our order. Once the three of us ordered our food, he walked away yet again, and we all started talking. I got along with Aubree really well, and she was really cool. I didn't think I would meet friends in Tempe. I was sure John would, but I didn't have a feeling that I would. I'm glad I did, though. It was nice to hang out with girls for once, instead of just John.

When the three of us were finished eating our dinner, we split the bill and left a tip, before walking out of the restaurant. Britton and I said bye to Aubree, as she climbed into her car, and took off out of the parking lot. Britton and I went over to her car and got in. Britton turned it on and fiddled with the radio for a few minutes, before pulling out of her parking spot, and taking off towards her house, where we would spend the rest of the night.