“This ride is going to suck. Really, we stop in Prescott, then straight up to Havasupai? What. The. Hell. What are we supposed to do?”

I only half-listened as Alicia, a snotty little redhead sitting in the back row of the van, complained about pretty much everything. I really didn’t know why I had hopped into her van. A definite misjudgement on my part.

“And we’re going to eat fast food. Yuck. Who wants to hike after eating McDonald’s?” she went on, staring out the window. I sighed loudly and dug around my pack for my iPod.

“You don’t have to eat. Starve for how much anyone else cares.”

Alicia glared at Darius, who simply ignored her in favor of pulling out some headphones. I watched with detached interest in the rearview mirror as he put them on, Alicia huffing and turning to Tina, who looked a little pained.

“What’s the matter with you?” Alicia asked bluntly, crossing her arms.

Tina smiled weakly. “Nervous,” she replied, looking down. I really didn’t know why they were friends, Tina always seemed intimidated by Alicia. A little odd, considering Tina was at least a half-foot taller and obviously stronger.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” a boy who had the misfortune to be named Lucius said, his hazel gaze easy and humorous. “After all, it’s the hike out we have to be worried about.” He ran a hand through his unkempt brown hair, smiling at Tina reassuringly.

“I’m not gonna make it out,” Harriet, in the seat behind me, mumbled, looking out the window mournfully. “They’ll probably have to air vac’ me.” While I didn’t agree, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. Harriet was overweight and had asthma. The hike wouldn’t impossible, but it wouldn’t be easy for her either.

Ginger, next to her, smacked Harriet’s arm. “Don’t talk like that! You’ll make it out just like the rest of us.” She went back to applying makeup. Ginger was a real contrast to Harriet, with her straight blonde hair, blue eyes, and lithe figure, next to Harriet’s curly brown hair, brown eyes, and slumped appearance.

“Don’t know about that,” Gary, sitting in the front seat with me, muttered under his breath. He caught my eye and grinned. “Some of us are gonna die on the way in.”

I offered a small smile back. Gary and I weren’t friends, not really, but he understood me well enough to know that I was having doubts as well. Because my twin brother wasn’t around, Gary was the next best thing and I was sure I’d latch onto him soon enough for some sense of normality, since they were always together.

“Yeah, you’ll be first,” Lucius called to him, “the buzzards are gonna have a blast picking the meat off of your bones.”

I smothered a laugh while Gary rolled his eyes. He was a scrawny kid, with vague muscles. If he died, he’d barely make a good meal for only one buzzard.

“What meat?” Harriet grumbled.

“What about white meat?” Ginger asked absently, snapping her compact mirror shut. Lucius sniggered.

“McNuggets!” he exclaimed.

“Urgh, don’t say that,” Alicia grimaced, her nose wrinkling.

“Hey, like tall, dark, and handsome said, nobody’s forcing you,” Lucius said offhandedly.

Darius smacked the back of his head. “Don’t call me that,” he drawled.

Lucius glared at him, rubbing the spot Darius had hit. “It’s true, though. All the girls think so.” He batted his eyelashes. “Oh, Darius is so cute,” he said in a high-pitched voice, “I hope he looks at me one day! Oh, why don’t you look at me, Darius? I’ll have your babies!”

Darius simply stared at him. “That’s creepy.”

Lucius shrugged. “Hey, say that to the chicks of this year’s summer program.”

“I’ve never said that,” Ginger said defiantly, frowning at Lucius.

“You never had to because you thought it often enough,” Gary put in, untangling his headphones.

Darius sighed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t really don’t care what the girls around here think.”

“Oh, yeah, I heard about your college chick, how is she, by the way?” Lucius asked, grinning.

“Dead.”

“Oh.”

An awkward silence settled over them. I looked at Darius in the rearview and noticed that he looked amused. Frowning, I glanced at Gary and saw that he was turned around and giving Darius an odd look.

Darius sighed again. “She isn’t dead, we broke up last week.”

“Damn it! Why are you so weird?” Lucius exclaimed, glaring at the other boy.

“Because someone needs to contrast your normality,” Gary said cheerfully. He stuck his untangled headphones on before Lucius could retort.

“I think I’m regretting signing up for this trip,” Alicia mumbled.

I smiled at the group from the mirror. None of us were really friends and I wasn’t sure why we had all gotten in the same van, but I knew we were already bonding.

I suppose it was just a matter of whether or not those bonds would last.

Something different that what I usually write. Working on the next chapter and getting ahead. Mwah. I hope you're at least interested in what happens next.