𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐗 // house of wax (2005)

002: the lip balm incident

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CHAPTER TWO OF ??

❝ the campsite ❞

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THIRD-PERSON POV. THE JANUARY OF 2005. LOUISIANA, AMERICA.

THE 156-MILE LONG ROAD TRIP TO BATON ROUGE WAS PROBABLY THE CLOSEST THING TO HELL THAT (NAME) COULD THINK OF RIGHT NOW. Except for schools and the education system. That was a close second as of right now. She was cramped between Nick and Dalton in the backseat of Wade Felton's car, in the middle seat between Nick and Dalton. 

Nick wasn't so bad, he mostly just stayed silent and stared out of the window, keeping himself close to the cool window. Dalton, however, liked to sit with his legs spread out as far as possible, to (Name)'s chagrin. Wade and Carly sat in the front, following behind Blake's blue SUV down the interstate, which was surprisingly empty for the time of night, which was about eight pm.

The car was deathly silent, as it had been for the last hour and a bit. Nobody dared talk to each other, as (Name) grew restless and irritable, slightly hyperactive from not taking her medication that morning. She mentally praised it when Wade turned the volume up on the radio. "Record crowds are expected for college football's biggest game of the year," the guy on the radio said, as (Name) huffed.

She expected this. Wade groaned. "It's gonna be packed tomorrow," Wade said, breaking the unbearably awkward silence in the car. Carly looked over at him and asked a 'Really?', making (Name) roll her eyes. She loved Carly, but sometimes it was like she was void of a personality, like now. 

"Speaking of packed," Dalton piped up, shuffling around on his seat, as (Name) rolled her eyes at him. If she rolled her eyes one more time, she thought, then they'd get stuck in the back of her head forever, "My legs are killing me back here man!".

"Shut up, you've got your legs spread out more than my Aunt Pauline on a Saturday night at the dive bar!" (Name) scoffed, shuddering at the thought of her promiscuous aunt back in their home state of Florida, "She knew many men,".

Nick decided to speak up, still staring out of the window and leaning against the cold glass, for which (Name) envied him. "Don't worry man," Nick spoke up in a monotone voice, "It's not Wade's fault his little Hot Wheels car only fits two,". (Name) covered her mouth, hiding her snicker, as Dalton full-on laughed.

"It's more like a shot-wheels car, isn't it Wade?" Dalton jokingly sneered, laughing, "Wade, what'd you do? Go to the barber's shop and ask for a He-Man haircut or what?". (Name) noticed how Wade rolled his eyes at the comment. 

Dalton began to laugh at his own jokes as if they were the most hilarious things he'd ever heard. (Name) rolled her eyes at his immaturity. "Shut up, Dalton," Nick scoffed, also laughing, as the two began to playfully hit each other until Dalton accidentally hit (Name) on the chest and she slapped him on the back of the head, making him utter an 'ow!'.

There was a bright flashing light ahead, as the road was blocked. (Name) was in disbelief. Really?How convenient, she'd think to herself. The whole thing just screamed horror movie. Paige and Blake's SUV turned down right onto a more remote lane off the interstate, as the sign ahead blocking the road was a flashing arrow gesturing in the lane that Paige and Blake had turned down onto.

A chorus of groans echoed through the car at the change. They continued to follow Paige and Blake's SUV down the dark country lane, which had nobody and no other cars down it. It felt like a page taken out of a textbook horror movie. (Name) thought Wade was immature when he pulled up into the other lane next to Blake's SUV. It was dangerous itself but nobody else was on the road.

If they all died, (Name) planned to kick Wade's ass in the afterlife. "I hope he's not gonna get us lost," Wade spoke up, as Carly scoffed a "yeah right" at Wade's statement. (Name) looked up into the SUV's driver's side window, and what she saw made her jaw drop in shock. How had the others not noticed? It was Blake driving and Paige was bent over that area.

"Aye! Check this shit out!" (Name) laughed, catching Dalton and Nick's attention to the view into Blake's car. Dalton immediately began to film what was happening, as everyone laughed and revelled in shock. Nick leaned forward and beeped the horn in Wade's car several times, catching Paige and Blake's attention, as Blake mischievously smiled. 

"I'm gonna call her," (Name) says, pulling out her flip phone, a pink Motorola Razr and dialling Paige's number. Paige immediately answered the phone, as (Name) laughed, "You are so damn busted! Caught on camera!".

Paige lifted up her lip balm from her and Blake's car. "Lip balm," Paige said over the phone, laughing too, "I dropped my stupid lip balm,". Everyone was looking at (Name) in anticipation of what was going on and what excuse Paige was gonna use. (Name) lowered the phone and looked at them.

"She "dropped her lip balm"," (Name) laughed, as the rest of the car began to laugh too, with Dalton managing to laugh out a 'yeah right you dropped your lip balm!'. (Name) overheard a conversation between Paige and Blake about considering stopping for the night. "Why don't we just camp out? We're close enough, right?".

Paige liked (Name)'s idea. "Yeah, let's just pull over here, come on," Paige said, speaking to both (Name) over the phone and Blake next to her in the car, "We'll wake up early,". (Name) heard Blake agreeing to that idea, "Alright, we're pulling over,".

"Alright," (Name) said, hanging up the call and shoving her phone into the pocket of her hoodie. Blake honked the horn of his SUV and gestured for the others in Wade's car to pull over. As they looked for a clearing in the endless forest to camp out in, Wade spotted an advertisement sign, which read: COME VISIT TRUDY'S WORLD FAMOUS HOUSE OF WAX! in faded blue and orange paint on a sign with chipped white wood, like it'd been there for some time. 

"Hey, Wax Museum," Wade pointed out, as (Name) felt a chill go down her spine and dread bubble in the pit of her stomach. Something about the House of Wax didn't feel right, but she just ignored it. 

"Do you like that kind of stuff, Wade?" Nick said, purposefully trying to get a rise out of Wade. Wade responded with a generic 'Yeah, I don't know. Sometimes, "Yeah, I guess if you like things pretending to be other things...which you obviously do...right sis?".

Carly shot a glare at Nick, who brushed it off like it was nothing. (Name) rolled her eyes at his childishness. Nick Jones was most likely the most immature son of a bitch she'd ever met and had the misfortune of dating. But, he was a solid 8.5/10, not that it mattered.