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“It's time, boys!” Ted entered Carson, Travis, Cooper, and Noah’s house loudly and dramatically. “I’ve got the RV parked up front, and Charlie and Schlatt already in! Get your bags, my boys, because it’s time for the Grand Canyon!”
Travis was the first one out the door, dragging a duffle bag behind him. “I call shotgun!”
“Too late, prick!” Schlatt called from the front seat window.
Cooper followed shortly after, his backpack slung over one shoulder and skateboard in hand. Ted gave him a weird look as he passed. “Where are you gonna skate with that?”
Cooper flipped him off. “I like to be prepared.”
As Noah and Carson left, Noah leaned over to Ted. “He packed two t-shirts, a toothbrush, and one pair of underwear. The rest of that backpack is drugs. We’re prepared, alright.”
Ted laughed and closed the door, waiting for Carson to lock up.
They all piled into the RV with lots of scuffling and yelling. (“move over, asshole! I want the window seat.” “no way! I was here first!”)
Ted started the car and turned around, waggling an aux cord. “Who wants it first? Everyone gets 30 minutes and we rotate.”
Charlie snatched it quickly, grabbing it just before Carson did. “Nice try fucker, but you guys will be hearing Owl City for the next half hour.” He said with a devious grin.
“How many skips do we get?” Cooper yelled from the back. “I’m not listening to Why Can’t We Be Friends if it comes on while Carson has it.”
“One skip! Save it for the right time, or you’ll regret it later.” Schlatt yelled back. “Ted and I planned this the whole drive here.”
Several boys, unfortunately, did regret it. Travis used his on YMCA and couldn’t skip Girls Like You by Maroon 5. Noah immediately skipped death bed (coffee for your head), saying it was overplayed, but was tortured by Giorno’s Theme for the full five minutes. Cooper wisely saved his for that oh-so-annoying Smash Mouth song but suffered through Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha in the process.
When they finally got there, it was pitch black. Ted parked the RV and they all shuffled out and immediately sprinted to the bathroom. Having sufficiently relieved themselves, the boys checked in at a motel, getting two rooms to share. The group loitered in front of the main building.
“Alright, boys.” Schlatt clapped his hands together. “There are two beds in each room. Two people in three beds and one person in the other. Who’s sharing with who, and who gets the single bed?”
Cooper elbowed Travis. “This little shit is a living furnace,” he pointed at Noah. “He’s a dead body while he’s asleep, and Carson takes all the blankets.”
“I do not!” Carson cried in protest.
“What about you?” Charlie asked Cooper.
“Talks in his sleep,” his housemates all said simultaneously.
“I don’t mind sharing a bed with someone,” Charlie said. “Noah, I don’t move that much either, wanna share?”
Noah shrugged. “Works for me.”
Ted slung an arm around Cooper’s shoulder. “Madi always says I wouldn’t wake up if the world was ending, so Cooper I can share with you.”
Cooper nodded. “That’s chill. Just don’t take my blankets,” He gave a pointed stare in Carson’s direction, who smiled back. “And we’ll be fine.”
“Carson, do you want to share? I don’t use blankets half the time anyway.” Travis asked.
“I swear I don’t steal blankets, but yeah we can share, man.” Carson looked at Schlatt. “You get the single bed… you were planning that the whole time, weren’t you? You didn’t say a single thing the whole time!”
Schlatt gave him an evil grin. “You got me…” Everyone groaned.
Despite Schlatts trickery, the boys all were content with the bed-sharing situation, got their bags, and turned in for the night.
The next day, the boys all met in front of the van, bleary-eyed despite having woken up at noon.
“Okay!!” Charlie grinned at the group. “The plan is to drive up to Grand Canyon Village and see the sights there for most of the day, then when it gets dark to go to Bright Angel Point to stargaze.”
Schlatt held up his camera. “I’ve got my little girl camera, I’m ready to go.”
“Everyone has water, right? It would suck if one of us fainted or something.” Ted looked around, making sure they all had full bottles. “By the way, Cooper you’re driving, right? I drove all the way here and I’m tired of it.”
Cooper rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Toss me the keys.”
“This time, I call shotgun!” Travis called before anyone else could. He and Cooper jumped in the front as the rest went through the awkward ordeal of getting in and around each other.
Grand Canyon Village is a beautiful place, with ancient buildings and deep history. However, it’s also crowded as hell, as the boys found out. Hoards of tourists wandered everywhere, taking pictures, littering, and being all-around annoying.
“Fucking hell,” Cooper muttered as he shaded his eyes, looking around at the large crowd.
A stranger turned to him with a smile. “I know, right? I heard it’s always like this. I might skip this and head down to the North Rim, it’s a lot less crowded there.”
“Oh, thanks for the tip.” Cooper turned to Schlatt, who stood next to him taking pictures. “Did you hear what he said? The North Rim is a lot less crowded.”
Snapping one last picture, Schlatt let the camera fall to where it hung around his neck and scratched his chin. “It is closer to where we want to stargaze… I’ll ask Charlie what he thinks.”
Charlie winced when it was pointed out how busy it was. “Yeah… maybe it wasn’t the best idea to come to the most popular place here. I’m chill with going to the North Rim if everyone else is.”
They all agreed relatively quickly that yes, it was too damn crowded to stay, and back in the RV, they went.
As they drove, Noah stroked the arm of his seat. “Y’know, I think I’m gonna miss this van when we have to return it.”
“I should buy it,” Ted joked.
“Lunch Club Van!!!” Cooper yelled from the front with a laugh.
“We could spray paint the whole thing yellow. We’d be a total eyesore, its perfect,” Carson said, smiling.
“I love it. Let’s do it guys, Lunch Club Van time.” Charlie said seriously. He held a serious look until he made eye contact with Travis, who was holding in a laugh, and burst out, everyone else laughing along.
“Hot damn,” Schlatt whistled. “Whoever that stranger was, he gave some good ass advice. This is one hell of a view.”
Travis nodded in agreement. “Last time I came to the Grand Canyon I was a kid, and we didn’t go here. This is amazing!” He ran to the railing and leaned over, pointing at a river far off. “Cooper, come look!”
The boys followed the railing along, stopping to take pictures and gawk. When they got to an especially nice spot, Schlatt decided that it was a perfect place for a photo of all of them. He handed his little girl camera to a tourist, and they got some nice shots of them in front of the setting sun.
Ted checked his watch as they walked away, thanking the tourist. “You guys want to start heading to Angel Point? It should be getting dark pretty soon.” Everyone nodded in agreement and they began the short trek to the van.
They parked the trailer and pulled out blankets Ted and Charlie had brought, climbing on the top. As the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon and the stars appeared, they all marveled at the beautiful sight, lying on their backs. They laid there a long while, watching the moon slowly rise and airplanes pass high above. At one point a shooting star arced across the sky, to which Travis murmured, “make a wish!”
After a while, Carson sat up with a small laugh. Ted sat up as well, asking, “What’s so funny?” As he looked at his friend, he noticed Carson’s eyes were shining.
“It’s just… when we first came here I thought it would feel lonely and hollow, with how big it all is. But now…” He turned to look at the whole group. “I realize, I could never feel alone with you guys next to me, and the stars above.”
“Awww… c’mere, all of you.” Ted said. “Group hug!”
They all awkwardly huddled together, realizing it was hard to have a group hug while currently on the top of a van.
They drove back to the motel in comfortable silence, everyone content with each other’s presence alone. As the boys laid in bed, Travis turned to Carson.
“You know we’ll always be there for you, right buddy?”
Carson’s smile couldn’t be seen in the dark, but he smiled anyway. “Yeah, I do. Thanks, man.”
fin