Title: Road Trip - Chapter 1
Author: Alicia Blade
E-mail: Kammi22@sprintmail.com
Hey minna!! As always, thank you infinity to the wonderful people who
wrote me!! I never thought one e-mail could make a person so happy!!
Times that by 40 and… just kidding. But I am in an extremely good
mood!!!! Yay, I love those moods the best!
Okay, I have good news and bad news. Two sets, actually.
Good News #1: My summer is filling up very fast, I have tons of things
to do with my friends, and have rarely gotten bored!
Bad News #1: This takes away from my story writing time… gomen.
Good News #2: I have about 6 wonderful, exciting, romantic, hilarious
fanfics in the works that I am very proud and happy with!
Bad News #2: After the stress of getting a part out every week with
Royal Flush, I've decided to always complete a story prior to posting.
So, depending on when I can get one of my 6 wonderful, exciting,
romantic, hilarious fanfics in the works that I am very proud and happy
with finished, you are stuck with THIS one.
Now, about Road Trip… This story was written for an Earth Science
assignment. The original guidelines: Write a paragraph story where you
travel through 12 states and list the landforms you see there. The
final product: Well, you'll see, but it turned out around 30 pages
typed. I'm telling ya, it is impossible for me to write a page long
story. Can't do it, don't ask. Though I DID get full credit on this…
Anyway, now my warning. This is NOT going to be an all over incredibly
lovey-dovey, shoot 'em up, bang bang, ha ha, that was funny story.
Instead, it's just gonna be… a story. Nothing special about it. I do
hope you'll enjoy it a little, but don't start reading this expecting
my 'usual'.
And lastly, I know that I generally beg people to e-mail me again and
again, but honestly, if you don't feel like writing me to tell me how
dull this story is, I promise I won't be hurt. ^_~ In other words,
write if you're bored and have the time, but don't feel guilty if ya
don't.
VERY VERY VERY important!!! Remember that first-season romance
fanfic archive I was telling you about? Well it's up and running, but
we need fanfics!!! Please visit Lady S's and my site here at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Spa/4410/
And send in any fics you like, or if you have any recommendations of
great fanfics, please tell us the title, author, and where we can find
them. Thanks much!!!
And… on with the story!!!
"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he
also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then,
shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against
us?"
Romans 8:30-31
"I'm bored," Serena said for the fifth time in four minutes. Her
blue eyes were gloomy and her usually bouncy blonde pigtails hung
lifeless at her sides. She twirled a straw around in her fingers,
occasionally sipping at the ice water. "There is nothing to do in
Seattle! Or anywhere around here for that matter."
"Serena, stop complaining!" scolded her blue-haired (natural),
roommate Ami. "You know I can't stand your endless whining. Why don't
you go sightseeing? We've been living here for nearly 3 months and
you've barely gone anywhere!"
"That's not true. I've been to the Space Needle three times, the
Science Center Twice, and Pikeplace Market nearly every weekend. You
just never come along!"
Ami was silent for a minute while she tapped away at the keys on
her laptop computer. "Hey, Serena?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you know that the Space Needle is exactly 605 feet tall and
on a hot day it expands a whole inch?"
Serena groaned, propping her head up on the counter top. "Ami,
you know too much for your own good. Besides, who cares about the Space
Needle? What we need to do is get out. Go see the world! View the
sites, the landmarks, everything! I mean, we both lived in Tokyo for
our whole lives. Let's go see the states!"
"Now?"
"Yeah, of course, now!"
"Oh, I don't know Serena. I have a big test coming up in my
Social Studies class about the landforms and I've only read four
chapters ahead! I'm afraid I might get less than a hundred percent!
Maybe even a 95! Do you know what that could do to my GPA?!"
Serena rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you want to look at it that
way… What would be better for a report on landforms than actually
seeing them? Come on, we'll only be gone for a couple weeks! Be
sporadic for once!"
Ami pursed her lips together in thought. "Well…"
"I'll take that as a yes. Come on, let's go get packed!"
"Ami, where did you put the crackers?"
"What crackers, Serena? I thought you were in charge of packing
the food."
"Yeah, well…" her voice was muffled as her blonde head
disappeared into a large gym bag. Ami glanced at the rearview mirror
to see if she was okay. After a few brief moments, Serena came out
victorious, carrying a box of Chicken in a Biscuit crackers. "Ha! Found
'em!"
Ami smiled briefly and returned her eyes to the road.
"Tho… whar we goin' firth?" Serena managed through a mouthful of
crumbs.
"I thought we'd drive south along the Cascade Mountains until we
reach Oregon. Maybe stop by Mt. St. Helens for a tour. It would be a
great asset to my report, being such a historical landmark."
Serena nodded and pretended she cared. They passed about five
minutes in silence. Finally, Serena spoke up. "Are we almost there?"
Ami rolled her eyes. 'This is going to be a long vacation.'
"Mt. St. Helens was first documented by Europeans in May of 1792
by George Vancouver. However, he didn't name it until October of the
same year. It is a volcanic mountain located in the Cascades and has
erupted numerous times. The earliest recording of its eruptions took
place only a few days after it was named. The most memorable and recent
eruption took place May 18, 1980. The lateral blast covered 230 square
miles, reaching 17 miles northwest of the crater formed. Like all
volcanic mountains, Mt. St. Helens began when molten material reached
Earth's surface through a weak area in its crust. After the material
piled up in layers, a cone shaped structure formed. Mt. St. Helens is
one of the many volcanic mountains located in the United States, such
as the Hawaiian mountain Mauna Loa. Also…"
"Oooooohhh!!!! Ami, look! Isn't it cute?" Ami glanced up from her
laptop to see where Serena was pointing. Down the slope from the
tourist walk stood a female deer and her young fawn, casually munching
on grass and plants. Serena immediately whipped out her camera and
began snapping pictures. "It's so absolutely gorgeous around here. I
can't believe it was ever so destructive. Just look at all the plants
and trees!" Ami sighed in desperation.
"You know, Serena, it wouldn't hurt to learn about this too. The
historical background of this volcano is very important to its tourist
significance."
"Oh, but Ami, the deer are so much cuter! Look at the little
baby!"
"It's called a fawn."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's go look in the gift shop! I wanna
buy a key chain!" Serena grabbed her friend's hand and began dragging
her unwillingly toward the small shop.
"Let's go on the individual carts!"
"Oh, Serena, I don't want to. It would be too much work. Let's
just take the tour, all right? We'd see more that way!"
"Ami…" Serena whined.
"Serena, please? The little carts scare me."
Serena looked at her friend sympathetically, before giving up.
"Oh, fine, we'll take the tour."
The two had finally made it to the southern border of Washington,
and crossed with ease to Oregon. Ami had left the guide of the
mountains and they had been driving happily down the coast when Serena
had squealed loudly in her ear. After ten minutes of continuous
"Please, can we go? Can we go? Please?!!!" Ami had given in and pulled
into the popular coastal attraction. The Oregon coast sand dunes.
"Hello there, I'm Andrew. Can I help you two ladies?" asked a
young man. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes along with a friendly
smile.
"Uh… yes, we were hoping to get a tour of the sand dunes," spoke
up Ami, seeing as Serena had somewhat lost her voice at the moment.
"Are ya sure you wouldn't rather do the individual cars?"
Serena grumbled slightly. "Yes, we're sure," interrupted Ami.
"Alright, then come this way and we'll find you some goggles.
Can't be getting sand in your pretty blue eyes." He started walking
away, the girls following in his tread.
Serena nudged Ami gently with her elbow and whispered, "He's
cute!"
Ami simply rolled her eyes.
~ 1 Hour Later ~
Ami and a shaky Serena emerged from a jeep-shaped vehicle.
"That was so cool!" exclaimed the blonde to Andrew.
Ami smiled and admitted, "It was pretty fun. Do you, by any
chance, know the scientific formation of these sand dunes?"
Andrew stared blankly. "Huh?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure they would be formed by wind erosion. My
theory would be the deposition of sand behind obstacles until it builds
up and forms into these dunes. They must be constantly changing as the
wind erodes them and…"
"That's enough Ami, let's get going!" Serena grabbed her arm and
dragged her back to the car, once looking back to wave at a very
confused Andrew.
"Serena, wake up," whispered Ami, gently nudging Serena's
sleeping form. The blonde girl groaned and rolled away, covering her
ear with her arm and nestling deeper into the covers. Ami tried again.
"Serena, it's time to wake up now." She shook her a bit harder and was
taken completely off guard when an arm came whirling toward her and
smacked her roughly in the head. She screamed and fell backwards,
landing not-too-gracefully on the olive green carpet. She rubbed her
head gingerly and looked up to see Serena staring down at her.
"Ami, what are you doing on the floor?"
She groaned and stood up. "Well, it's about time you woke up. Now
get dressed, I want to make it to southern California before the day's
up."
"Aw… Ami, what time is it?" She looked at the digital clock on
the nightstand. "What?! 7 o'clock?! Ami, what are you thinking? Don't
you know you're supposed to sleep in on vacation?"
"Serena, you're lucky I didn't get you up an hour ago. I would
have liked to be gone by now."
Slowly, Serena rolled out of the small bed and stretched, arching
her back and yawning exaggeratedly. Smacking her lips together a few
times, she stood and groggily chose an outfit for the day. "My back
hurts. These beds are just awful!"
"We're lucky we even found a motel on such short notice. How
would you have liked to sleep in the car?" The only response was a
disapproving groan before Serena disappeared into the small bathroom.
"Hey, Ami, what are those mountains?" asked Serena a few hours
after they had crossed over into California. Ami looked to see where
she was pointing.
"That is the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It is a fault-block
mountain range, similar to the Grand Teton Mountains located in
Wyoming."
"Fault-block? That sounds like something you'd get when you can't
think anymore. Like a writer's block or something…"
"Actually, fault-block mountains are called that because of how
they are formed. A fault is a large crack in rocks where there is
movement. The rocks that these faults separate from other rocks are
tilted, some up, and some down, providing their jagged appearance."
"Yeah, uh-huh, that… that was my second guess."
Ami laughed lightly. "Well, is there anywhere along here you'd
like to go? San Francisco or Los Angeles or something?"
"Ooh, let's go to the beach! I hear California beaches are wicked
cool!"
"The beach it is."
"Yay!"
"This is the life," said Serena, flopping face down onto her
towel.
"Mm-hmm…" Ami replied. Serena turned her head to see Ami hunched
over the small computer. "Hey, Serena, did you know that the Pacific
Ocean is home to…"
"Ami, if you say one more word, the ocean's gonna be home to that
stupid computer too!"
Ami looked up a little startled. "But, I…"
"Ah! Not another word. Now, give me the computer… that's a good
girl." Serena sat the laptop on the opposite side of her and slipped on
her sunglasses. "And now, Ami, I command you to relax! No thinking,
studying, researching…"
"Surfing!" yelled a deep voice a little way down the beach.
"No, surfing is okay… wait a sec… huh?" Serena opened her eyes and
flipped over to her back. Both her and Ami watched a group of people
running toward the water, each carrying a long board under their arms.
The group splashed into the water and climbed onto the surfboards,
waiting patiently for a wave large enough to lift them up.
"It's pretty fun," said a voice from behind Ami and Serena.
"Maybe you guys would like to try it?"
The girls each turned around to see a young man standing behind
them. He had on red trunks, and a sloppy mop of long brown hair covered
his eyes from sight.
"Oh, uh…" Serena stuttered.
"We don't know how," said Ami, always managing to keep her cool.
"Aw, that's okay, it's pretty easy to learn and the waves aren't
that bad today."
Serena glanced out to the sea to see a surfer gliding along an
eight-foot wall of water. She gawked for a minute before turning back
to the stranger. "So you're telling me that's not that bad?"
He laughed a little and scratched his head shyly. "Well, I mean,
like, not really. It's kinda simple after you get the hang of it and
all. Dude, I could teach you in less than an hour if ya want…"
Serena giggled. "Well, I'm sure Ami would love some free lessons…" she
gave her friend an evil grin.
Ami rolled her eyes. "No, I most definitely would not!"
"But you love water! I bet it would be a cinch for you!"
"No! No! No!" She shook her head as if to prove her point. "I am
not going surfing!"
~ 10 minutes later ~
'Famous last words,' thought Ami to herself. 'How do I get
talked into these things? I am so terrified…'
"Okay, now it's really simple. First you want to blah blah blah…"
'This guy is such an idiot! A nice idiot, but an idiot! I hope he
knows what he's talking about. I hope I remember…Uh-oh, maybe I should
be paying attention.'
"You got that?"
"Uh… yeah, sure… hey, what did you say your name was?"
"Dude, I'm Chad." 'A chick actually wanted to know my name!
Totally cool!'
"Oh, uh, right…" 'My life is in the hands of a moron named Chad.
Wonderful. Maybe I should have read that article on water pressure last
week after all…'
~ 20 minutes later ~
Ami emerged from the salt water, her blue hair plastered to her
head, her eyes laughing. She jogged quickly over to where Serena lay on
her towel, calmly sunbathing and sipping at a red drink with a small
yellow umbrella floating on top.
"Hey Serena! You will never believe how much fun that is! Major
rush!"
Serena scrunched her eyebrow and pulled down her dark sunglasses,
peering over the frames to look at her soaked friend. " 'Major rush'?
Ami, you're already starting to sound like Chad!"
Ami gasped and stood up straight, shock written across her face.
"I do not sound like that brain-dead nincompoop!"
Serena cocked an eyebrow. "Huh? But I thought you liked the guy.
He was pretty cute, after all…"
Ami rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Serena, to you every guy is
cute!"
"That's not true!"
"Yeah, right. Look, we should probably go find a hotel before it
gets too late."
"Aw… but I'm having fun… it's so relaxing here!"
"Serena… if it were up to you, we'd never leave. Now we have to
be ready to go bright and early tomorrow morning, so let's go find
somewhere to stay!"
"But Ami…"
"Now!"
"Fine, I get your point!" Serena reluctantly dragged herself to
her feet and wrapped up her towel, lotion, miniature radio, picnic
basket, beach umbrella, change of clothes…
'Did we come here with all this stuff?' Ami wondered.
"I can't believe we got stuck staying in yet another Motel 6!
Tonight, I want a four star hotel with room service! Got it?" Serena
complained, throwing her last bag into the trunk of the car.
"Don't worry, Serena, I'm sure there will be plenty of nice
hotels where we'll be tonight."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, next we're going east to Nevada, and if we don't make too
many stops, should be in Las Vegas by sundown!"
"Las Vegas? Really? Ooh, I always wanted to go there! I'm gonna
check out the slot machines and roulette and…"
"Stop thinking right there. Serena, we're too young to gamble.
You have to be at least 21 years old!"
"What? 21?! Ami, that's no fair! What else are we going to do
there?!"
"Would you stop whining for five minutes? There are plenty of
tourist attractions in Las Vegas. Trust me! Now let's get going!"
"This is the Great Basin," said Ami out of nowhere.
"The what? What is?"
"This place that we're driving through. It's the basin of the
Colorado Plateau."
"Huh?"
Ami sighed. "Basins are the lower land below plateaus, which are
raised flat areas. We might drive through the Colorado Plateau later…"
"That's nice Ami," said Serena, quickly losing interest. "Now, if
you will excuse me, I think I need a nap." With that, Serena closed her
eyes and nestled deeper into the passenger seat.
Ami shook her head. 'Well, I think it's interesting!'
Next time: What will happen in Las Vegas? Will Serena be bored to
death? Will they have to sleep in another horrible motel? Will they
meet any more cute guys? Will Ami fry her brains on too many facts? And
where will they're adventure take them? Probably not any place
interesting, but…
Um… there ya have it. Bye!
Luv and God bless!
<3 Alicia
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