>>> Are We There Yet? -The Bus Ride-

[chloe]

Chloe sighed with relief as she realized that it was only German music she heard. Her eyes followed the owner of the music, and watched as he said something to another person that she couldn't hear. She frowned slightly; he looked vaguely familiar...However, she cracked a small grin as she overheard what the one he was talking to said.

She turned to watch the others, instead of staring out at the sunset. Being on a bus at night just creeped out a little, and feared something like "Jeepers Creepers" would happen. She shuddered, and stretched. Chloe hated being anti-social. It wasn't that she was shy, it was more so that she didn't have anything to say. She wracked her brain again and again, but unless something had her heated, she was no good at starting conversations.

[freddy]

Claire blinked a few times as his voice touched her dream-filled ears. As her eyes came back into focus, she noticed that her head was tilted sideways on someone’s shoulder. She tried not to jump too much as her brain slowly registered the fact that it was Elliot’s shoulder she’d been laying on. Claire forced herself to just play it cool and not turn beet red as she put her head back up.

Now that she was awake again, Claire also came to another realization thanks to Elliot; the bus had stopped. As he said something about Smarties that sounded like a jumble of words to her still lethargic brain, she nodded slowly. “Alright. Let’s go then. I need caffeine.” She really did too; she needed to avoid falling asleep on him like that again. So, she stood slowly, walking behind him as they exited the bus. She noticed many of the Valkyrie students were out and about as well and in the gas station.

“Well, at least this station will get good business today.” Claire mumbled, shuffling along the candy isle and plucking up a Twix bar. Moving over to the drinks refrigerator, she pulled out a Cherry Coke and went to the front to pay for her items. Sure, it wasn’t the healthiest of choices, but it was better than nothing.

She looked up at the bus speakers when they walked on and the driver announced they would be leaving soon. Nice timing. At least they weren’t going to get left behind. Claire made her way back to their seats, sitting in the window seat again and twisting the lid off her Coke. Taking a large drink, she rubbed her eyes and nodded. “Okay. I think I can stay awake for the rest of the trip.” She said with a laugh.[/color]

[Haley Summers]

Inside the bus stop, Haley only ended up getting water. They only have crap at gas stations and she didn't lose weight from eating crap. She was still a bit bigger than the other girls. A size 4. But sometimes, depending on the brand she needed a size six. She bought the water, gave a small laugh as Anne insulted the guy behind the counter. But inside she noted what a bitchy thing that was to do. A few weeks ago she would have been laughing next to her and added to it but now? Haley shook the thought out of her mind. She had to get back into the swing of things.

After buying her drink, she climed back onto the bus and sat back into her own seat. "My god, this it taking so long." She said. "Why couldn't we fly and let the poor kids taking the bus?" She added, leaning against the backrest as more and more students climbed back into the bus. "I mean, really is it our fault they can't afford it?"

She twisted the cap off her Avvion and took a small sip before replacing the cap. She held the bottle in her hands, bending her legs up and restin them on the back of the seat in front of her, making sure the fabric of her shirt wasn't riding up. She slipped her fingers out of the two rings she was wearing and placed the rings in her purse. Condensation on the bottle would make them slip around her hands and she hated that kind of shit. She gave a small yawn, covering it with her left hand and glanced out the window, as the bus driver began to leave.

[Anne Lévesque]

"Yeah, he's probably still living with his parents, in a shack, out in this god-forsaken middle of nowhere city." Anne replied, laughing a little as she bent her legs so her tiny body curled up into the chair and wrapped her blanket around herself. Although, when Haley mentioned that, Anne could only smile to herself. She flew to Las Vegas last year. She then rested her head against the window, glancing at the first star that appeared that night. Star bright, star night - wait.. no, star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I could.. - wait no.. oh fuck it. Get me my cure for Lyon-isis. Anne said, secretly wishing to the single first star, as the second one appeared. Truly, she wasn't a big believer in karma, luck and destiny. But she needed all the help she could get with this terrible charm she had going for Oscar. Therapy.. stars.. the possibilities were endless, truly. Anne smiled as Daphne seemed to have a lot more energy than Anne did. Or maybe it was because now, Anne was comfortable.

"Las Vegas is going to be amazing. I can't wait.." Anne's voice trailed off, as she started getting more tired by the minute. Echoes of the bus driver's announcement bounced around in her head, and were the last things she heard. Well, technically, they all sounded like a blur to her. Her breath was silent as she now fell into a wonderful but awkwardly positioned sleep.

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[xmindfreak]

<sub>Moving his left arm around his stomach and into his leather jacket’s pocket, his awkwardly long fingers clutched a tattered old deck of cards. Playing cards. Standard poker size. Black in color with the suites and numbers in red or white. Pretty boring. Also his lifeline. Opening the box and withdrawing the cards with ease, Blake placed them in his left hand messily, gripped them tightly and flicked it out into a neat fan. Smirking slightly at his snark response, the English magician looked down at his burnt hand and the playing cards. “You see this? It’s called the pressure fan, one of the most artistic fans in the art of magic. Many people prefer to not even bother with it; they say it’s got too much ‘attitude’ and dark history for it. But, you see, once you master this particular fan, everything else comes at an ease. The amazing thing about this fan? It was invented in 1931 by an infamous American magician. Since Americans rarely do anything useful, your response was very American. Tell me, have you ever done anything about those naughty thoughts?”

His accent thickly cutting through his words, softening them, Blake moved into a squatting position. His bi-colored eyes looking into Jason’s own dark ones, he smirked again. Being an ass wouldn’t work with him. No, not in the slightest. Seeing as he was a stubborn ass himself. Or somewhat of one when he wasn’t busy being silent. Or bored. A sly sort of maliciousness shining in his eyes, Blake raised his left eyebrow again. Well, these Americans were amusing with their so-called attitude and toughness. Really, it was quite pathetic.

Looking over his shoulder, eyebrow still raised, he nodded his head towards Chloe, clearly recognizing the fellow Brit. ”See? I can clearly see that the blonde is clearly hot, yet I don’t do the American thing, like you’re doing.” Pushing his long legs into a standing position, Blake turned to look at her, the same sly gleam in his eyes. “Could you come over her for a second?”</sub>

[leslie]

Ben laughed a little as Laura returned with her candy. He chucked a few of the delicious candy coated morsels into his mouth, chewing them before answering. “At least my nick name isn’t based on a candy.” He returned with a light smile. He’d mentioned his obsession of Nerds when they were in the theater a few days before, but she was surprised that she had remembered. “And I like habits. Nothing wrong with a good habit.”

He couldn’t help but smile when the bus driver announced they would be leaving the gas station soon. He was suddenly really excited to get to Vegas. There, he could figure out what the deal was with Laura and Faden, and what Laura actually felt for him. Plus, he was already coming up with a way to get Emilia away from Luke. It was evil, yeah, but it would also work. This was going to be a great weekend.[/color]

[elliotdavis]

He threw his iPod down on the seat and got up, waiting for Claire to do the same. He led the way down the bus aisle, noticing that some people were already making their way back onto the bus. After stepping off the bus, he welcomed the blast of fresh air and the cool breeze. Anything had to be better then the stale air of the cramped bus. He moved through the aisles, picking up a pack of Pringles and some smarties, as well as a bottle of Sprite and made his way to the cashier. His ears perked up as he heard the announcement that they were leaving and he quickly made his way back to the bus.

Sliding in once again beside Claire, he popped the top off of his Pringles and shoved a couple into his mouth. He smirked at her, as she made the staying awake comment. He didn‘t mind, really, and he could have said that but backed down. ”Well, you might need your sleep now ‘cause who knows how much you’ll actually get this weekend,” Elliot tended to rely on a minimal amount of sleep lately and was prepared to hardly get any at all. However, he knew people who needed way more then his four hours a night to survive.

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[Jason Lévesque]

It took Jason a while to recognize the accent the boy had, but after a while he got it. Fucking England. No wonder his mother hated most Brits, they thought they were better than anybody else. Jason glared at the boy as it sounded like an insult at first, while watching the cards, but then realized how amusing it was. For Jason wasn't American. He was Canadian. French Canadian. And not one single ounce of any Lévesque had been American, so really, the boy was insulting nothing. Jason laughed, taking another long sip of his Monster. This would be interesting. He leaned closer to the boy, raising his eyebrows.

"Sorry to disappoint you, mate -" Jason said, teasing the British terms of language. "But I'm Canadian. Although there's a couple Americans surrounding you, whom I sure you can spend the rest of your time bashing. It's a real ice breaker." Jason sneered, as he took another lingering sip of the Monster. He then listened as the bus driver made the announcement that the bus would be leaving soon. Thank god. Not only did this mean closer to Vegas, but farther away from what looked like a horror flick scene. Jason wasn't that much of a modern horror flick watcher, now that he came to think of it, but after hearing so many California kids talk about this movie and that, the information bloomed.

It was then that the Brit-Brat seemed to pick another topic of conversation. Great. For Jason was all up for it when he noticed that there was a blonde involved. Hell, Jason didn't know her name, but had to sadly agree with Brit-Brat. She was gorgeous. He raised an eyebrow at her, examining her a bit, and then turned his head to Brit-Brat. Jason chuckled, rolling his eyes and leaning in his chair.

"Oh yes, the American thing. Eye raping every sexy woman. But tell me, Brit-Brat, what is the Canadian thing to do? Do we just simply have a more obvious way of eye raping women?" Jason inquired, watching as the boy started bringing the blonde over. He could care less. If this guy wanted to show off in front of the blonde, go for it. Shit, Jason's dream was still rattling in his mind, and so many other things. But hey - he always had space for a blonde. Not so much a snarky British magic historian.

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[faden]

Laura smirked, "For information, I like my nickname." She said, titling her head a bit as she cirlced behind his seat, kneeling on hers since she couldn't be in the aisle in everyone's way. And she did, It had a good sentiment to it. Her and Guppie, Aka Chase had grown attached to their nicknames and quite fond of them, even though, Chase would never let her call him Guppie in front of his friends. what a phony, she thought to herself with a smile.

"And who said it was a bad thing." She said with a grin as the bus began moving again. "Heh, imagine, if your nickname was based off of your candy." She commented, her eyes looking down at the box of Nerds in his hand.

Faden glanced over as Laura and Ben talked. He leaned up to glance back at Chase who was thankfully, chatting up some blond, distracted, otherwise Chase would probably come over here and pulled Laura away. Faden could tell she liked Ben. Which was good. Laura spent so much time working and stressing over Stage managing business, attempting to forget all the horrific things that go on at home that she was also pushing out all the good things. Faden was the only person she had let in, other than her brother. Although, Chase's overprotectivness might have contributed a bit to that. Maybe she could let Ben in.

[charlie]

((I'm going to start before the pit stop and end after the bus starts moving again))

Little Miss Charlie Wood had fallen asleep rather quickly on the bus. She slept curled up in the window seat, her head resting on her arms and her arm on the window. The other arm held close the red shall and slip on ballet flats sat on the floor of the bus as her legs curls up onto the seat with her. She always slept very compact. She hadn't slept much the night before for, rather obvious reasons.

As the bus slowed down and pulled into the pit stop. As the bus driver put on the breaks and people began piling out, Charlie gave the smallest yawn and blinked open her eyes. She stood up, slipping her feet back into her shoes. She rolled her eyes as a group of girls passed her by. Lead by Anne L. complaining as per usual. Anne really ticked Charlie off. For some reason, Charlie couldn't stand Anne more than the other shallow bitches around school. She rolled her eyes as Anne complained about the bus stop and the shape it was in, thanking the heaven's when she was finally out of ear shot. Charlie made her way off the bus and watched as kids rushed to buy snacks and drinks and dashed off to the bathroom. Charlie didn't have to go, she wasn't hungry nor was she thirsty but what she did crave was a cigarette.

She went around to the side of the bus that faced the highway. There was a decent amount of traffic but nothing too bad. She took a pack of Marlboro's and pulled one out, quickly watching around for anyone who would care if an underage girl was smoking. She smiled as she lite up and got a few waves from idiot guys driving by. Probably pathetics who were on their way to Vegas for the prostitutes. After a few minutes she put out the stub of a cigarette with her foot and made her way back onto the bus.

Charlie sat back in her old seat and yawned as the bus started moving again. Why did motor vehicles always make her tired. She would talk to some people but the problem was, besides Zoey and Kelsey she really didn't have too many friends. Well Frankie too. She had guys, ones she slept with and thats about it and because of it, most girls in the school didn't like her much. Which is understandable. Guy has a girlfriend but Charlie's turned on she will go for it. Unless, the guy was dating one of her friends. Maybe they were jealous, who knows. So Charlie, until she got to Vegas curled back up in her sleeping position, let The New Pornagrapher's songs fill her head and drifted back into sleep.

((The New Pornographers, If you haven't heard of them are not sexual in their songs, Just so people don't think she's listening to anything perverted.))

[Daphne Hayes]

Daphne watched the remainder of the students files back on the bus. Now, it felt for real. Next stop: Vegas, where everything they could hope to be would come true. She looked back over to Haley and Bridget. “Yeah,” she replied to Haley, “I think this bus is cleaner than that dump,” she looked back at the gas station and shuddered. Note to self: never go there again. “Well, I guess when the tradition first started they couldn’t just hop on the nearest plane. I guess it looked to obvious or something. I’m sure some kids are going to arrive later. But I guess the whole ‘experience’ is what they wanted,” she said to Haley and Bridget. She saw Anne curl up in a ball with her Saab blanket. What did that mean anyway? Whatever. She knew Anne must want to get some rest before they get Mr. Turner to party with them. Daphne on the other hand, wasn’t close to fall asleep, so as the last of the light from the sun disappeared she just leaned back in her chair and decided to look out the window.

She wondered how fast time was traveling. The lights of faraway towns or the ‘in between’ towns were the only lights provided on the bus. Well, that and the occasional book light with the lights above them. Some kids reading, or playing some games. The only sound was the road beneath the bus, and the hushed whispers of half the kids on the bus, with a touch of audible ipod music coming from someone’s headphones. With each town they passed Daphne got a little excited, as if it was the bright lights of Vegas that were approaching, but it was disappointment when there was no announcement of the arrival with their excited bus driver. How much time had passed? A hour? Two hours? Or was it just fifteen minutes? Daphne withdrew her cellphone and opened it, her and Anne’s little space illuminated with a faint blue glow. 9:00 was seen on the screen. A lot of time had passed. Only a half hour more.

[Anne Lévesque]

"Now Anne, you need to let your emotions free. Do you feel it is a good thing you like this boy?"
"No, it's not. Definitely not. He's Oscar." Anne said, sitting on a roulette table with her sixty year old therapist. Why were they there? And why did Oscar actually fog up in letters and under lined appear in front of her. The fog covered her face as she felt she was falling, and landed flat onto her parents plush bed. They were having sex.
"Ew, ew, ew!" Anne tried to scream, but couldn't. Her parents tried to tell her to leave, but she couldn't budge. She then covered her eyes and felt like she was tripping and landed on the floor on a Valkyrie hallway. Amanda Summitt was standing above her, laughing.
"But the necklaces! They're so expensive, and gorgeous!" Anne cried, as she watched Amanda walk away, and Anne soon saw Jason walking over. With weed in hand.
"Come on Anne. Let's hot box before English Lit." Jason said whispering, pulling Anne. She kept screaming, say no. She couldn't go. She couldn't do that anymore. He stopped pulling her, looked at her angrily and walked away. On her knees, Oscar Lyon made his way to the scene.
"Anne, what's wrong?"
"I'm a mess. Please, stay."
"Sorry, I can't. Me and Haley are going out tonight."
"No..no.."
"Bye Anne." Oscar said, walking away in the arm of Haley Summers. Anne screamed in that school hallway, "I like Lyon! I like Oscar Lyon! I like him! No!"....

---

"I like.. Oscar..Lyon.." Anne said in a barely audible whisper from her sleep, so quiet that Daphne would probably be the only person to hear it if anything. Anne kept on sleeping.

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[Daphne Hayes]

Anne started stirring next to her but she really didn’t think anything of it. So she continued to look out the window already plotting what she was going to do when she got there. After all of them running tot heir executive suites she pondered if they really were going to Tangerine tonight or if that was going to be a tomorrow thing. With Anne, she couldn’t be so sure if her ambitions were going for tonight. So, maybe after unpacking in the hotel room they could have some fun with the Vegas boys at the pool, or even go to another club. Because sleeping at this point wouldn’t be possible. They would act like they were high when they got to Las Vegas.

”I...like...Oscar...Lyon.”

Wait...what? Daphne heard the whisper well, audible to only her ears. She looked over to Haley and Bridget, who weren’t even paying attention to her. She looked down at her sleeping friend. Or was she sleeping? “Anne?” she asked, maybe she was just playing a joke. But, Anne’s breathing was slow and even, as if one was sleeping. Did she even hear right? Anne likes Oscar. The sarcastic senior? Daphne looked at Anne than slowly turned to the back of the bus to see Oscar, her friend, in his seat next to a boy. Oscar’s head was lolled up against the headrest of the chair. And the kid next to him was talking to him. So, Daphne didn’t know if a.) Oscar was sleeping, or b.) he was bored to death to whoever was talking to him.

She continued to watch as the kid playfully hit Oscar in the chest, as if it was part of the gesture or conversation, and Oscar jerked, looking disoriented. He caught Daphne’s eyes and smiled. All she could do was smile back and turn back around. No, she didn’t hear right. Anne probably was mumbling about something else. Oscar Lyon? No, maybe it was something that just sounded like Oscar Lyon. Not that Daphne could think of many things to say.

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[leslie]

Ben nodded a little. It was understandable that she liked her nick name. It was also very good that she liked her nick name. At least it wasn’t one that she hated. He’d had a couple of those in his life. They’d gone away with moving, but he still could remember them. “Well, good. Because you know I’m going to have to call you the Habitual Skittle, right?” He was joking around with her. He would probably not call her that, except for maybe once and a while. “I think if they had one of those…It would be rainbow. All of the colors striped onto one tiny bite.” He laughed, taking a drink of his soda and listening to the next bit of what she said.

“Definitely not me.” Ben found that as the bus started moving, he had to hold his hand out to the seat in front of his own to keep from falling off. Swinging his legs around so they were in front of him, he turned to look back at Laura. “And having a nick name based off Nerds would be fantastic. I’m proud to be a nerd. In fact, I should make pins for it.” He laughed, shaking his head a little. Suddenly, he wasn’t sure if Faden and Laura were dating. She seemed to smile a lot of times when she was talking to him. It didn’t quite add up in favor of that hypothesis. So, tentatively, he decided to ask her what he wasn’t sure about doing before.

“Hey, Laura, do you wanna come sit next to me? We only have a while ‘till we get to Vegas.” Quickly, he decided to add in another comment. “I mean…You don’t have to if you don’t want. But us looking over each other’s seats might get a little dangerous…” He laughed. “You never know, the bus could like…get hit or something.”

[Anne Lévesque]

A voice echoed in her head, a voice that sounded like Daphne which caused Anne to slowly wake up. She fluttered her big brown eyes a little, feeling the uncomfortable goop called sleep in the corners of her eyes. The first thing she saw was a speeding highway with an enormous amount of lights in the distance. She was still on the bus. Her back ached a little from the uncomfortable position, as she covered the blanket over herself a little more. Damn wind chill. Damn shorts. She had forgotten about her dream all together, but knew that it must've been something intense, because her head felt like it was just mugged. Rattled and scattered like a misplaced jigsaw puzzle. She rubbed her eyes a little, making sure to avoid any make up, and looked over at Daphne. She had said her name right?

"What time is it?" Anne asked groggily, mustering up her strength to snatch the Tab energy drink. Time to do something to unhealthy, it could make you sick. But yet again, she'd done worse. Her eyes felt heavy, as she opened the condensed can and then took a lingering sip. That was better. She opened her eyes a little wider now, and finally got the mustered strength to go back to her normal position; sitting up straight. She looked over at Daphne, waiting for a response. She hoped she didn't do anything stupid like talking in her sleep or drooling. Wait, Anne never drooled. Didn't believe her? Talk about five years of being smacked and pulled at the mouth with dry fans every time you drool. Then try not believing that. Damn uptight parents.

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