Make Believe

Twenty Nine.

I woke up to the feeling of the van bouncing along the road and the sound of the engine's rhythm. Lifting my head, I blinked at the world around me to make sense of what I was seeing. Quite quickly, I gave up and lay back down.

"Lola." A voice croaked. "Lola."

Sitting up and rubbing my eyes, I looked over at the voice. Ross lay in his bed with his eyes half open. "Where's Finn?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"I think he's driving." I yawned. "Or we've been kidnapped and a stranger is driving our car."

"I feel..." Ross looked at me with panic in his eyes. "Sick."

Suddenly, I snapped out of my half-asleep state and leapt up, grabbing a bowl and placing it down in front of Ross in just enough time for him to vomit in it.

Groaning, I picked up some paper and wiped Ross's mouth. "I'm going to have to clean this bowl up before Finn drives over a bump and vomit spills everywhere, aren't I?"

Ross sniffed, looking almost like he was about to cry. I smiled. "Or we could put it in a water balloon and throw it at your brother."

He chuckled then, which gave me time to clean everything up before making him happy. After everything was sanitary again, I sat next to Ross and wrapped him in his blanket. "So, tell me what happened yesterday."

"I don't know." Ross sighed. "I text Lia because I was lonely and I decided to meet her. She brought Mark and we drank a bit. I suppose you know the rest."

"I do." I raised my eyebrows. "You were acting a fool."

Ross frowned. "Is Finn mad at me?"

"Very." I warned him. "He's already almost punched Mark in the face. You might be next in line."

As if on cue, the engine stopped and we could hear the van door slam. I gave Ross a 'be prepared for the worst' look. The doors opened to reveal Finn, who had his long hair mostly covering his face. His eyes had purple smudges under them.

"Hello." He said.

"Hi." Ross squeaked. "I'm sorry, please don't yell at me."

Finn sighed and sat on the edge of the van. "I'm not going to."

Ross took a deep breath, and they kept eye contact for a moment. Finn nodded.

"Where are we?" I asked, changing the subject. "Another part of the forest?"

Finn nodded. "I was bored of that part and I couldn't sleep so we're in the campsite about four miles away. Don't get your hopes up, Mark and Lia followed in Mark's car."

Ross sighed. "Have I ruined the road trip?"

"No. You've just changed how we thought it was going to turn out, but that's okay." I encouraged him. I got a look of disbelief from Finn.

"Thank you." Ross smiled at me. "You're the best friend ever."

"Don't flatter me, it'll go to my head." I joked, standing up and brushing my hair with my hands. "You stay here for a bit, Ross, and I'll go and see Lia."

As I stepped out of the van, I was almost knocked over by Lia. "Hey, babe!" She squealed. "Good morning!"

"Hi, Lia." I smiled. "You seem happy."

 "I need to tell you a secret." She looked over at Finn. "I'm not telling you. It's girl talk."

Finn frowned at her and she shrugged it off, dragging me to a tree quite far away from the van. Once she had checked if we were completely out of earshot, she looked at me. "Don't freak out." Lia instructed. "But Mark and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. I asked him out this morning in the car and he said yes."

My jaw dropped.

"I said don't freak out!" Lia pouted.

"Are  you sure this is a good idea?" I asked.

Lia sighed. "Not really..."