Make Believe

Twenty Three.

"So we're going to park our van in a forest for a few days?" I frowned as Finn pulled into the camping space.

"Yep, and when we park we can set up the van and I'll show you some of the things I bought from the store earlier." He smiled, steering the vehicle into position.

The van, from the outside, looked like a normal truck with a plain white canvas back section. From the inside, there was a double mattress on the floor in one corner and a single mattress in the other. Our belongings lived in our suitcases.

There was a very basic shower, but no toilet. That meant that we had to park somewhere with public toilets, but that was good because as Ross said: 'That means we don't have to empty out the waste in one of those gross tubes.'

There was a little kitchen, which was only fit to cook toast and possibly cut up an apple. Apart from that, there wasn't much else. As basic and small as it was, we were insanely proud of our new set-up.

Finn had bought some things at a store by the place that he had got the van. He wouldn't let us see what he had got until we reached our resting place for the night. Now we were here, Ross and I were ready to see what he had in his mysterious plastic bags.

"Alright," Finn jumped out of the front of the truck and walked us round into the back. We got in, Ross sitting on his single mattress, me sitting on the double and Finn walking towards the kitchen area. "I've got a few things that will make our evening unfold very nicely."

"Come on, dickhead. Hurry up." I said as he rifled around in the bag.

The first thing he pulled out was a bunch of spray paints. "Lola's going to decorate the outside of the van." He told us. "You can paint whatever you like. As you're an artist, I'm sure you'll make it look awesome, Scribble."

I grinned. "I haven't painted for ages. I can't wait."

"Me neither. And I got marshmallows." Finn grinned. "We're having a campfire."

I cheered. "Fuck yes!"

Finn became more serious. "This one might irritate you, Lola, but it's only so that we can work out your fear together. I got-"

"Condoms!" Ross interrupted.

"No! Don't be gross!" Finn rolled his eyes and put two bottles of whiskey on the counter. "We're getting drunk tonight."

"Hell yeah!" Ross punched the air. "Let's get wasted!"

"Not you, Ross. I suppose you can have a tiny bit, but Lola and I need to work something out." Finn sighed.

I looked at him. "You have to be crazy."

"Hear me out." He sat next to me. "You've had bad experiences with drinking, and I've had bad experiences with drinking. So let's have a good experience in a safe environment."

"Fine. But I'm not getting too drunk." I groaned.

"Why can't I drink?" Ross sighed.

"You can drink," I looked at him. "But you can't get drunk. You're not even sixteen yet."

Ross rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "I'm nearly sixteen."

"The last thing I got was this." Finn pulled a box of blue hair dye out of the bag and looked at me. "I know you're sick of your hair being a natural colour."

I smiled. "Wow, thanks! That's awesome."

"Well, I thought I'd let our road trip start with a bang." Finn stood up and handed me the paints. "It's four thirty now, so you paint the van for a while and Ross and I will get the fire started." 

"You're trusting Ross with the fire?" I frowned.

"The fuck do you mean? I'm a safe, reliable person." Ross flicked his hair.

"The last time I left you alone in town for five minutes you got your shoelaces caught in an automatic door, so we had to cut you free." Finn raised an eyebrow. "So you are definitely not safe and reliable."

"Then why trust me with the fire?" Ross asked.

"Because I'm sensible enough for the both of us."

I burst out laughing. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

"Just fuck off outside and do some scribbling, Scribble." Finn laughed and bit his lip ring.

I did as I was told and got outside into the breeze. I was surrounded by trees, and the van was parked in a clearing with wood chipping as flooring. Birds chirped and the sun shone through tiny gaps in the leaves of trees.

No other tents were pitched, but it was a public camping site. We were lucky that we had some privacy, especially if Finn's drinking idea took off.

I liked the sound of conquering my nervousness surrounding alcohol, but I didn't like the idea of being drunk again. Mostly because I didn't want to do anything stupid with Finn, and I knew that if Finn and I were drunk, we'd let Ross get drunk.

Ross was too young to follow my path.

I looked at the spray paints in front of me. There was a black, a red, a purple, a green and a grey. What could I do with that?

It was then that I realised I had never painted with spray paints, only by painting with a brush. Then I thought about what you see on TV, people who used spray paint had to cover their noses and eyes. Sighing, I decided to cover my face with my shirt and hope that worked.

Then, I got to work.

Half an hour later, my mind had projected everything onto the canvas. I called Ross and Finn over, who had only just started actually trying to make a fire. 

"Holy fuck..." Ross stared at my creation, waking around the van.

I had drawn detailed flowers, stars and houses all over the vehicle, like the scene of a country village at night.

"This is so cool. You're so talented..." Finn chuckled. "We could use that talent to help us with the fire."

"God, you're so incompetent." I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's get some sticks."