A Very Sprouse Summer

Taking a Break (Chapter 2)

It feels good to get out of the car and stretch out my legs, even if it has only been an hour. Walking in to this rest stop, all the feelings of Summer start to roll over and you get really excited.

"How about we decide what food we want." my dad says looking around the place to see our options.

"Can I get Wendy's? I like the milkshake that comes with the Kid's meal!" Riley responds.

"Sure, I'll get the salad at Wendy's that will be fine for me." Mom adds.

"Okay, I might as well get a burger from there too. [y/n]? Cole? What do you both want?"

"Why not, I'll just stay on line with you and get a burger too." Cole says while looking around the place.

"Well, I don't want to be alone so I'll stay online too and decide what I want." you say. You're pretty hungry but not really into Wendy's this early in the morning.

"You know what, how about we order you a side of oatmeal at the salad bar. I remember you liked that last time" Dad says.

"Yum. Oatmeal." Cole teases.

"Actually that sounds good." you respond looking around. It's starting to get pretty crowded. "Should we get a table while you order food, dad?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. How about you kids get us a table while mom and I pick up the food."

"But Wendy's gives out toys with the kids meal... I wanted to make sure they put in the pink power ranger." Riley wines.

"So we'll get the food with Riley, hun. Cole and [y/n], you two go get us a table." mom says.

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As you start to sit down in a booth by the back of the place near a nice big window letting sun in, you notice you are alone. You look up to see where your brother could possibly be, and hear his voice before seeing him walk over by the cash register.

"I'm getting some napkins, [y/n]!" he yells out.

I'm not going to yell back in public so I just nod. I'm not a quiet person, but I'm certainly not a loud person and  don't really like drawing attention to myself. I'm also not a fan of being by myself in public. I'm just afraid I'll get lost...or worse, kidnapped! But I try not to let my wild imagination get carried away so instead I just decide to take out my phone and check on the weather for the week.

"Boo!" I feel someone grab my shoulders and then purposely sit down the opposite way I look to see who it is.

"COLE!"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!" Cole laughs.

I just stare back at him until I say, "the weather looks good for the week".

"Well it should. The great camp masters know we are coming so they purposely planned a great week of grand weather."

I just laugh back at him while he lays out all the napkins he's collected for us.

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"Okay, let's see what we've got!" dad says while putting down all of the food.

After everyone collects their meal, we actually eat in silence. Not a long silence, since we were all so hungry we gulfed down our food within minutes. There is rarely any silence among the five of us, but I suppose we were all so hungry and tired from the ride up here.

The silence was broken by Riley playing with her pink power ranger toy and making it talk to a french fry on my dad's plate. My dad made it talk back. He is such a great dad. He knows all of his kids so well and what we need at different times. Him and Riley always have that fun relationship with Riley's toys.

"Oh I got a text from Barbara... she said they left about 20 minutes ago and are already sitting in traffic" mom says while reading her phone.

"Why are they sitting in traffic? Traffic was pretty smooth for us" I say.

"Don't jinx it!" Cole's eyes widen while he puts his hand on my back. "Besides, KJ's family is coming from a different direction from us so they are hitting different traffic".

"It'll be fine. It'll take them as long as it takes them." mom says.

"Well, we were going to try to go to the market with them today to buy the food for tonight's BBQ" dad chimes in.

"No, I don't think they'll come in time for that. Barbara said her GPS keeps pushing back their arrival time."

"No! I was looking forward to the BBQ! We would get to eat outside!" Riley draws out her last word.

I really was looking forward to that BBQ. The campground has so much grassy area by the cabins and those nights truly feel endless. I guess my mom noticed I looked bummed so she began to google restaurants in that area.

"Oooh this one looks good!" mom smiles while the screen from her phone glows over her face.

My brother looks over to read my mom's phone too. "Olive Garden? We can eat there anytime."

"Yes, but when was the last time we ate at an Olive Garden?" I smirk at Cole.

"Good point. As long as we can give the BBQ a raincheck, I'm good to eat anywhere as long as there is food".

"Ok, good. So I'll text Barbara back with the details. This will also give us time to check out the cabins when we get to the camp site" mom smiles.