What a Journey

Derrick tossed the last bag into the hatch back and slammed it, a huge grin on his face. "This is gonna be freaking awesome, dude! I can hardly wait to get on the road!"

He shook his bleach-blonde hair and straightened the loose tank top he wore. "Never thought we'd make it out of high school, man. Especially when Mr. Hill handed out that final exam. I swear it was written in German or something!"

"It was a German exam..."

Derrick laughed and punched his buddy's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's all in the past now. Nothing but adventure ahead! My aunt is waiting for us to arrive in Albany next week, so we might as well get a move on. Did you remember to pack the snacks and your tooth brush? I'm not riding in a car with your unbrushed stank breath for a week."

He winked and double checked that his wallet and phone were securely in his pocket, the charger was in the center console, and the keys were in his hand.
 
Kai watched as his friend threw the bags into the back. He was very excited but not nearly as excited as Derrick seemed to be. "Yep, It's gonna be fun" He smiled, checking he had his wallet and phone. When he heard the comment about his breath, his grin got bigger and he laughed "Sorry dude, I forgot my toothbrush. Enjoy my stank breath!" He ran his hand through his dark brown hair. He opened up the door and jumped in, immediately kicking his feet up on the dash. This was going to be fun, just two bros, going on a celebratory road trip.
 
"Good thing I brought gum," Derrick snickered and jumped into the driver's seat. His mother peeked her head out the door and waved.

"You boys drive safe, okay? Call me when you get to your hotel at night when when you get to Judy's house. And remember that you need to wear clean underwear and socks every day, not just when they start to smell-"

Derrick groaned and threw his head back against the head rest. "Yes mom, I know! I'll call you tonight, I promise!" He shoved the key in the ignition, started the engine, and pulled out of the driveway.
 
Kai laughed and made his voice high pitched "You better wear clean undies and socks Derrick, and don't forget to call mommy!" He got out his phone, grabbed the aux cord (imma just assume there's one), and played some music. "I'm the passenger, I get to play the music, sorry I don't make the rules" He grinned at Derrick. He sang along loudly to the music, hoping to annoy Derrick
 
"Oh shut up, Kai. You're just jealous that my mother actually cares." Derrick laughed and slugged Kai in the shoulder, pulling out onto the highway. It was only a few minutes on the highway to reach the freeway and Derrick threw the car into cruise control.

He started singing along to Kai's music, guessing that his buddy was trying to annoy him like he always did. In between songs, Derrick started drumming on the steering wheel and singing off-key.
 
"My mom cares she just doesn't yell about undies and sock in front of my friends" He watched as Derrick drummed on the steering wheel and sang off-key. He was annoying, but he was also Kai's friend, so he dealt with it. He sang off-key also, laughing.
 
"So, what's your plan for after this summer? I think I'm probably going to start at the community college and work at dad's wood shop. I want to move out of town, but I didn't save enough of the money I earned last year..." Derrick pulled a bag of chips from the center console and pulled it open. "What savings I do have left I'm spending on this trip."
 
"Depends. If I end up dating someone then my plans my completely change, but right now I'm just planning on going to the community college. Anything else completely depends"
 
Derrick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, dating someone could certainly change my plans." He felt his palms sweat just a little and he coughed to clear his throat while glancing at his buddy from the corner of his eye.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, the music blasting in the cab. "So what do you think of Sarah? I know she's been after me since junior year, but I'm trying to decide if I should give her a chance or just ghost her since we're done with school. It'd be easy...I dunno bro, I just never found her attractive."
 
"You know my opinion on Sarah. Ghost her. There's much better people you could date" He cleared his throat a bit, wanting to add 'Like me' but that would probably cause a car wreck or something. He can save that thought for later
 
"Yeah," Derrick agreed. "I think she's heading off to the university anyway. I'm sure she'll find some college dude to date."
 
"Exactly, it would be hard to date her after she went off to Uni. Date someone close by who you'll be able to see a lot"
 
"Agreed. Long distance would suck." Derrick spotted a sign for some sort of tourist attraction coming up and he pointed it out. "Hey man, you want to go see what 'attraction' they might have in the middle of butt nowhere, California?"
 
"Sure, why not sounds fun" He grinned. This could be the place. Kai tells Derrick he's gay and has a crush on him, Derrick says the same thing, they kiss, it's adorable, the end. But it's too soon, he should wait a couple days at least.
 
Derrick pulled the car over and parked in a small lot with a couple of other cars. Far off in the distance he could see what looked like a stereotypical barn, red paint and all. A dirt trail led off from the parking area toward the building. "I guess we're going this way. There's only one path, so at least you definitely won't get lost!"

He snickered and gave his buddy another gentle punch to the shoulder, looking out over the desert landscape. It consisted mostly of Joshua trees and rocks, with mountains off in the distance. "I don't think it'll be too long of a detour, really. I hope it's something worth actually seeing! Wouldn't it just suck if we got out there and it's something dumb?"
 
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"Well, let's not just stand here. Let's see what kind of crap they think entertains people in the middle of nowhere." Derrick grabbed a water bottle and tossed his arm around Kai's shoulders.

They started up the dirt path, spotting a couple of lizards and a snake on their way through the dusty landscape. "Too bad I don't have my lizard catcher stick! Lizards are so cool." He shrugged and continued up the trail until they came to a fence.

The fence went all the way around the barn, and inside were metal cows, sheep, horses, and pigs. They seemed to be made of all kinds of scrap metal and old license plates. "Huh, a fancy junk yard basically."
 
He followed Derrick to the barn and examined the cows, sheep, horses, and pigs "I think it's really cool" He grinned
 
"Somebody definitely had too much time on their hands." Derrick laughed and glanced around one more time. "Well, that seems to be all there is to see at this one. Let's get back in the car and get moving. I want to hit San Bernardino by lunch time. There's a taco shop there that my dad took me to last summer that I want to hit up again."

He turned back towards the car and smacked Kai on the butt. "Come on, Kai! Race you back!"
 
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