Love or Lust

“Sitting in a stale van with a bunch of smelly boys for the next two hours...” Hazel stated as she threw her duffle bag into the back of the van. “Is there a God?” Hazel yawned and placed her sunglasses over her eyes. It was an early Monday morning. Seven am to be exact.

“If there is, he sure ain’t wanna be watching us over the next few days” Kennedy spoke.
He was right; the next few days were going to be filled with booze, cigarettes and talk of sex. Being the only girl, she was going to have to adapt.

“I’m already going to hell” Hazel smirked, licking her lips and looking over at John as he leant against the van, a cigarette balance between his lips. He hadn’t spoken to her at all since she kicked him out half-naked onto her front lawn, was she that intimidating?

Probably not.

The door of the van slid open, revealing a hyper-looking Pat, “Mornin’ Sunshine!” Hazel stared at him; she was not a morning person.

“Whose bright idea was it to leave this early?”

Pat laughed and disregarded the question. “Come on, little Miss Ray of sunshine, we got you coffee.”

The frown on Hazel’s was instantly turned upside down when Pat said coffee. Suddenly, she was looking at this road trip at a whole new angle.

“The wrath of Hazel has been silenced by coffee” John threw his cigarette on the ground, putting it out with the sole of his boots.

She was just about to respond with a snide comment, when Halvo rolled down the window from the passenger seat and stuck his head out. “What’s the holdup? We wanna go before we hit traffic!”

There were four rows in the van total: Garrett occupied the first row, Jared in the second, Kennedy and Hazel in the third and John in the last row. Halvo and Pat were seated in the front, listening to the radio faintly.

During the first hour in the van, Hazel was thoroughly entertained by watching Jared and Garrett argue over who was better – Batman or Superman, so far neither was winning. This was starting to get boring quickly. Hazel was wide awake now after finishing off the coffee Pat got her.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket followed by the sweet sound of her Death Cab For Cutie ringtone, indicating she had a message, it was from Tori.

Please tell me the reason we haven’t spoken for the last 3 weeks is because you’ve been too busy shagging some hot Arizona boy?
I want an update asap.
- Tori

“She seems like a good friend”

Hazel felt his warm breath against the back of her neck as he spoke in his sonorous voice. goosebumps rise along the back of her neck, sensing he was closer to her than anticipated. Hazel grinned before turning around to look at him. He was leaning his arm along the top of the seat, his head propped up on his hand as he sleepily looked over her shoulder.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to read over someone’s shoulder?” She responded.

“Ah” he sounded “Touché DeLancey”
Their faces were so close, almost inches apart. He started at her in a perplexed way, his lips slightly parted as though he was studying her.

“I’m starving!” Kennedy was suddenly awake next to her. This caused John to push himself back into his seat, a satisfied look plastered on his face. “Halvo! Get off at the next exit; it’s time for some breakfast”

The only place in close proximity was a McDonalds. After a painful experience in trying to get everyone’s orders, they drove through the drive thru and parked on the far side of the car park. With the van door and passenger side wide open, Garrett and Kennedy perched on the hard cement, they all ate their breakfast, mostly in silence. Hazel watched, a slight frown of disgust on her face, as the guys ferociously devoured their hash browns, bacon and egg muffins and coffee to shove it all down.
It was almost Nine am by the time the white van was back on the road. The sun was now high up in the clear blue, cloudless sky. They were in for a beautiful day. Conversation in the van picked up, everyone more lively from breakfast and coffee. The atmosphere had definitely changed. The music was pumping loudly and everyone was doing their best to dance along. The group were all suddenly hyper as a classic Blink-182 song blasted through the speakers. Pat turned up the sound of All The Small Things, as Kennedy and Hazel began singing along, adding in air-guitar. Even Garrett joined in, while Jared started filming the two behind him. Hazel noticed John was leaning against the window, covering his mouth as he laughed whole-heartedly at his friend and the blonde making fools of themselves.

By the time the van pulled into the road leading to the lake house, the boys were all waiting anxiously to jump out. Finally, Halvo turned into the driveway and put the van into park. Garrett practically jumped out, howling like a wolf.

“Welcome to Casa de Halverson” Halvo announced proudly as everyone piled out of the van, gathering their gear they’d packed for the next few days.

As Hazel stepped on to gravel ground, she took in her beautiful surroundings. The lake shone in the scorching sun above, surrounded by amazing greenery. The house itself was a sight, a vintage looking two-storey cream panelled building, situated to get the perfect view of the country side.
Swinging her duffle bag over her shoulder, she followed the small crowd of rowdy boys into the house. The talk was of room selections, Hazel being the only girl, was going to make it difficult. There were only four rooms, and seven of them. Taking charge, Halvo dictated the arrangements. Kennedy and Jared were taking bedroom one, Pat and Kennedy were sharing bedroom two, Hazel and Garrett were sharing bedroom three, and John having won an intense game of scissors, paper, rock, got the master bedroom all to himself.

“Time to par-taay!” Pat cheered, everyone was decked out in their swimwear, beach towels in hand and ready to kick the small holiday off.