Get Your Kicks

After everyone had piled back into the van, Healey turned the key, and after failing to turn over twice, the van finally began pushing forward. Healey sat up straight at the wheel. Her eyes were very focused on the road, even though it was unlikely that she would hit anything in the middle of the desert.

I sat in the back seat, attempting to digest my food. My stomach growled as my food sloshed around inside it. I brought my hands to my chest. No one gave me any odd glances, so it appeared that the move blocked out the noise.

Next to me, Harry was lying down. Even though he was curled up into a ball, he still took up two seats. Brenna was staring at him, and I made a mental note of that. When she realized I had caught her looking, she quickly whipped her head in the other direction. Red flooded her cheeks and I chuckled to myself.

From the front seat, Ellie looked back at me. “What’s so funny?”

To be honest, Ellie probably didn’t care, but I knew her, and I was certain she wanted the silence to be gone just as much as I did. I gave her a soft wink, and turned Zayn. The boy sat in his seat, leaning back with his legs straight out in front of him.

“So, Zayn,” I asked. I looked up at Ellie and she glared at me. “Do you drink?”

He gave a soft laugh. “Sometimes. Why?”

Smiling, I reached into my bag. “Let’s liven this ride up a little, then!”

I pulled out a half empty bottle of vodka. The clear liquid splashed around inside the bottle, as we went over a bump. Tay shot up from her seat, reaching over and pulling the bottle from my hand.

“Are you insane, Darcy?” Taylor yelled at me, pointing her finger in my face. “Drinking and driving?”

Her yelling startled me, to say the least. I sunk back into my chair, as everyone in the bus looked at her with a shocked expression. Lately, Tay had been a bit more snappy than usual, but this was new for her. Usually her yelling wasn’t paired with a pointing finger.

“I wasn’t going to drive,” I said. My voice was so low it was nearly a mumble.

Taylor sighed, looking up from the bottle, then back at me. She bet her lip, and moved her hand to her hair, before remembering that she’d chopped it off.

“I’m sorry, Darce. I didn’t mean to snap on you.”

Taylor’s glare was replaced with the soft eyes that reminded me of the summer before. At that moment, her guard was let down, and I remembered why she was one of my best friends.

I stepped around Harry, who was miraculously still asleep. Sitting on Tay’s lap, I wrapped my arms around her neck, and she squeezed back.

Pulling away, I smiled at her. “Now you have to let us drink, just so we can get rid of this awkward tension.”

Taylor sighed again, but followed it with a laugh, as she shoved the bottle into my chest.

“Darcy isn’t driving for the rest of the trip,” Taylor shouted, slouching back into her seat. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she was giving that half-smile, half-glare that only Tay’s face could manage to produce.

Everyone’s faces seemed to lighten by ten notches. Just like that, the tension had disappeared. I twisted the top of the bottle, which made a popping noise when it opened. I brought it up to my nose, and cringed at the smell. The taste wouldn’t be any better.

“Who else is having some?” I asked, looking around the room. “Ellie, what about you?”

The blonde scratched the top of her head, turning completely around in the passenger’s seat. Her hair was slightly matted at the side, where she had slept funny, but I was going to point it out. She looked fine even with her hair in a mess.

“I guess I’ll have one,” she said.

I grabbed the small shot glasses from my back and handed one to Ellie, and the other to Zayn. After filling them halfway, the two held the glasses in the air, while I held up the bottle.

“Cheers,” Zayn said, as he pressed the glass to his lips.

My throat burned as the vodka poured down it, and Ellie coughed when she had finished her shot.

“Yeah, I am so done with that,” Ellie said, shaking her head.

After tossing me her glass, she turned back to the road. Zayn looked at me and laughed.

“At least you tried.”

Nodding my head, I sat back in my seat, bringing the bottle to my lips again. I had no idea how a road trip with One Direction could prove to be this boring thus far, but it somehow had. If it continued on this way, there was no doubt I was going to lose my mind. I could not spend 9 hours in a van with these people if they weren’t going to lighten up.

I groaned, making the sound slightly overdramatic. “I’m so bored.”

“What do you expect, Darce? We’re driving.” Healey spoke from the driver’s seat and I hadn’t realized she had been paying attention. Her eyes were glued to the road.

“Harry’s having more fun than we are, and he’s asleep.” I nudged the boy gently, but he didn’t move.

From the other side of the van, Niall spoke. “Do you want to get some food?”

I looked at the boy, my face twisted. “No, we just ate. Like twenty minutes ago. I want to do something fun.”

Niall slouched back in his seat when he realized food wasn’t what I had in mind. I looked around the van for anything to keep us busy, but all I saw were packed bags, and overly depressed looking people. Really, you’d think their car had just broke down in the middle of the desert or something.

After a few moments of silence, Zayn’s head perked up. “Let’s play a game.”