Passenger Seat

"Dana, hey Dana wake up," Brian shook me until my eyes slowly opened a crack. The van had stopped moving and though the windows were tinted, I could tell that it was daytime outside.
 
"Where are we?" I asked groggily, stretching out my arms as I sat up a bit. I realized that we were alone. "Where did everyone go…?"
 
Brian smiled and chuckled softly at my confused and drowsy state. "They went inside to get some snacks. I thought you might be hungry too."
 
I looked out the window and realized that we had stopped for gas. Everyone else was inside the mini-mart. "Oh yeah, help me out?" I held my arms out to him, still feeling sluggish and weak from my nap and the heat.
 
"You can be such a little baby, you know that?" he sighed, but reached out to help me nonetheless. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the van and into the hot sun. I still wasn't sure where we were exactly, but wherever it was it was hot as hell. We entered the little store and I was relieved to feel the cool air-conditioner hit my face. Walking through the aisles, I grabbed a bag of SunChips and a big black and white cookie along with a can of Monster for the road. After, I made my way over to the register and placed my things down on the counter for the cashier to ring up.
 
"Wait, I'm adding to this purchase!" Brian popped out from behind, sliding in between me and the register. He dumped his things down next to mine and went to pull out his wallet from his back pocket.
 
"What are you doing?" I tapped him on the shoulder, confused.
 
He simply glanced back at me and replied, "Don't worry, I got this."
 
"But—" I tried to protest, but to no avail.
 
"Hey, you two done?" John came over, his bags in hand and ready to go. "Stephen wants to get back on the road and you know how he'll get if we hit any traffic."
 
I'd never driven with them when they were on tour before, but I imagined that it wasn't pretty. "Yeah we're done here," Brian said, taking his bag from the cashier. I decided to drop the argument for now seeing as the damage had already been done and followed John outside with Brian trailing closely behind me. Josh was now at the wheel and Stephen, on the passenger's side. Once we were all in, Josh pulled out onto the open road. "Here you are," Brian handed over my Monster.
 
"You know I could have paid for it myself," I said quietly and popped the top open. I took a sip, already feeling the energy drink go to work on my tired body. I had a feeling I would be drinking a lot of this stuff before the summer was out.
 
"Yeah I know," he replied with a casual shrug and dug through the plastic bag for more goodies. "Want some red vines?" he pulled out the pack and offered me some. I held out my hand and he dropped a generous amount onto my palm, then claimed the rest for himself. Jess leaned forward in between Josh and Stephen and turned on the radio, flipping through station after station until she found one that pleased her.
 
"I love this song!" I exclaimed and she cranked up the sound. I started singing along and soon Brian joined in, accompanied by John and Jess. Then everyone started belting out the lyrics as if they wrote them themselves. I felt Brian's arm snake around my shoulders and he swayed us side to side to the rhythm of the music. I let my head fall against his shoulder, fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck like the final piece to a puzzle. I could get used to this.
 
***
Well within California’s borders, we were now just minutes outside Anaheim. It was around midday—maybe a little later in the afternoon I wasn’t sure—and although we had the AC cranked, there was a bit of tension heating up amongst the six of us. One could only sit calmly and coolly packed in a van for so long before they started to go a little stir crazy.
 
"John, get your elbow out of my side!" Jess snapped at the guitarist sitting a little too closely beside her. He tried his best to give her some space, but there was very little room for him to go.
 
“Play nice back there kiddies!” Stephen looked over his shoulder with a smirk on his face, receiving glares from both Jess and his brother. Of course Stephen had nothing to complain about. He was sitting like a king on his throne up front where he could stretch his legs out as he pleased. I looked on silently from my spot on the other end of the backseat. Brian was sleeping through it all, his head resting against the window.
 
“So Dee,” Josh called back from the driver’s seat. “Unless you’d like to donate to the Summer Set hotel suite fund, I hope you don’t mind sharing a one room with all of us.”
 
“Cots or no deal!” I called back jokingly. I wasn’t a very high maintenance person. As long as there were four solid walls and a roof over my head, I was a happy girl.
 
Josh snorted in response. “Girl, who do you think you are with your fucking cots? The queen?” he teased. “Nuh-uh you’re getting the floor tonight.”
 
I pouted, slumping down in my seat. “Don’t worry about it babe, you can cuddle up next to me,” John winked at me.
 
“Well oh boy, it’s my lucky day isn’t it?” I replied sarcastically.
 
“That’s the spirit!”
 
I threw my head back against the seat and laughed. I already loved the free atmosphere that came with going on a road trip with your best friends. All my life I’d been confined and limited by strict rules. My parents raised me to be the perfect child with perfect grades and respectable friends. There was no room for parties and reckless fun in their big plans. I just wish they realized that I was nowhere near perfect and that’s just the way it was.
 
Thinking of my parents brought me back to the nervous state I had been in the night before while I was packing and waiting on my getaway car. I wondered if they were awake now and if they’d seen the note I’d left on my desk. I wondered if they were worried or even angry that I’d taken off without so much as a warning. I was abruptly pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Brian waking up. “Hey,” he yawned, stretching out his stiffened limbs as best he could in the small space we had.
 
“Sleep well?” I asked. He shrugged and cracked his neck, making me wince. The sound of Jess and John bickering started up again and he turned to me with inquiring eyes to which I answered with, “Don’t worry about it.”
 
“If you two don’t shut up right now, I swear I am coming back there and one of you is ending up on the side of the road,” Stephen threatened though I couldn’t imagine him doing such a thing. Jess crossed her arms over her chest and turned facing the window, muttering something along the lines of yeah right under her breath while John just rolled his eyes. I cracked a small smile. The two reminded me of my little sisters during long car rides.
 
“We’re just another mile or two away from the hotel. Everyone just hang tight,” Josh said, trying to diffuse the tension. I looked up to the ceiling to thank God that we were almost at the hotel. Soon I could stretch my legs and even run if I wanted. Then we could check into our room and lie down for a bit, getting some much needed rest. And after that, we’d head out to the venue where the real fun would begin.