Chapter Two

"Alright, where the hell are we?" Kyle asked, twisting the map around at all possible angles.

Matt removed his attention from the road and turned to him "Are you telling me that you've got us lost on a completely straight highway?"

"Uh…no…well actually…yeah."

Matthew took the map off Kyle and spread it across the steering wheel.

"I'll kick your ass Kyle, if we're late cause of this"

"I don't think there's any danger of us being late with you driving at this speed. And while I'm on the subject, I know this is like, a REALLY offbeat idea, but how about keeping at least on eye on that big straight asphalt thingy out front there?"

"Yeah, in a minute" Matthew responded.

The three of them were traveling from Miami Airport to their rendezvous with Sara-Jane, Amy and Shane.

Kyle sighed and leaned back in the rear seat again and resumed his attempts to get the camcorder working.

"What the hell….?" Kim had just woken up, to see her brother next to her in the drivers seat reading a map and ignoring the traffic on the highway. "Are we nearly there yet?"

"Well its rather hard to tell, seeing as how Kyle has managed to get us lost"

"We'll not get there at all if you continue driving…or should I say, not driving like that. Here, gimme the map" she said, grabbing off him. Matt was left holding a small wedge of paper.

"Hey! You just detached Puget Sound from the rest of the country! That’s, like, unconstitutional." Matthew said holding the bit of map in the one hand and the remains of his cigarette in the other.

"For the love of god, Matty, would you put at least one hand on the steering wheel?! I thought you said you were gonna quit." Kim said, peering through the smoke at the remains of his cigarette.

"I'll quit for New Years"

"You said that last year too"

"Yeah, but this year its like, the two-thousand-zero-zero-party"

" Whatever. Now lets see…AHAH!" Kim declared triumphantly, still reading the map, "Exit 2, Matty, take Exit 2"

"Shame on you Kyle!" Matthew laughed "You've been outsmarted by a girl"

"The embarrassment and humiliation" Kyle said, pretending to sob.

"EXIT TWOOOO MATTHEW DAMNIT!!!!! MERGE! MERRRRRRGE! YOU'VE FUCKIN' MISSED IT!!!" Kim screamed as they went soaring past the off ramp.

"Breathe deeply, sis, you're getting all wound up" he said quietly, annoying the hell out of her. "You're girlfriend is just a WEE bit neurotic Kyle, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yeah sure, but she's my neurotic little hunnybunny" Kyle said, leaning forward and patting Kims shoulder.

"Thanks for the support babe" she said sarcastically "Uh… Matty? Where in the hell are you going now?" she asked as he swerved onto the next off ramp.

"Where do you think I'm going, we have to exit don't we?"

"Yes but th….."

"Just find that place on the map"

Kim did just that, while muttering something about wishing she was an only-child.

"GOT IT!" Kyle declared gleefully. "I've got the camcorder working again."

He leant forward holding it to his eye. "OK Kim, do the intro."

She turned round to speak at the camera "Hey all you guys! How's Bend? Cold? That’s OK cause we're nice and warm here in sunny Miami! Hehehe. Uh we're on our way to meet up with Amy, Shane and Sara-Jane for lunch then we're gonna go check in at the hotel. We had to split up to go hire the instruments, and now thanks to Kyles lack of map-reading skills and Mattys inability to follow directions…WE'RE GONNA BE FREAKIN' LATE!!!!"

"Uh Kim… you wanna maybe stop shouting at the camera and tell me where to go. And by the way, if you had actually been awake instead of SLEEPING MOST OF THE JOURNEY…."

"For the love of god Matty, keep your eyes on the road!" she turned from the camera and started to give him directions.

Kyle turned the camera so that it was facing him "Well that’s the first installment of our sun-filled vacation video. I'm you're esteemed reporter Kyle Scott….oh and to all our parents we'd just like to say that we've been chewing over what you so kindly told us, JUST AS WE WERE LEAVING FOR THIS TRIP, and our question, which you DIDN'T answer, still stands - WHY IN THE SWEET NAME OF FUCK DO WE HAVE TO MOVE??!!" With that Kyle turned the camera off.

"Your mom's gonna kick your butt for saying that" Kim said, laughing.

"Not before I've kicked hers! I mean CAN you believe those guys? If I'd known that this whole merger thing was gonna lead to this, I wouldn't have agreed to it! I could understand if we were moving to Seattle, but why…"

" Like it was your choice. And anyway bullSHIT you wouldn't have agreed to it! You got loads of money out of it. We all did"

"Well OK maybe I still would've but…"

"Damn right you still would've. Now lets see…take this right Matty…I think."

"Fill me full of confidence why don't ya?" he said swinging the car round the corner. "Now which way?"

"Umm…take the next left then the first right. AHAH! There it is!" Kim declared triumphantly, as their lunch destination came in view. "THERE'S A SPACE MATTY!"

"ALRIGHT!! THERE'S NO NEED TO SHOUT!!

Without braking, Matthew swung the car across the road, sped into the space and slammed on the brakes just as the front wheels mounted the sidewalk. The three of them were thrown forward and the rented drum kit in the trunk banged about all over the place.

"For the love of SANITY Matthew" Kyle said, staggering from the car "Is this whole crap driving thing genetic or something? You can't drive, your sister can't drive, and I dread to think whats gonna happen once you get a proper car"

"I agree that Kim can't drive, but she also didn't give me enough warning to turn"

"Uh guys, are we gonna order here or what? And by the way, I am the only one here who CAN drive"

Kyle and Matt laughed at Kims delusions.

"I think we should wait until the others get here," Kyle said as he sat down at their chosen outdoor table. "I still don't get why we didn't just meet at the hotel"

"Cause the girls organized this, and it would've been to simple to do it that way" Matt got a kick from Kim for that.

Nursing his leg, he glanced around. The café they were seated at was just across the road from a beach. The water looked inviting, particularly as they were all really hot. Matthews attention was then drawn to one of the other tables. There were three people sitting at it. Two of them had their backs to him, one with short hair, the other with what looked like longish hair under a hat, talking to each other. While the third, who had very long hair was at the other side of the table, facing Matthew and giving him a very weird look. He looked familiar, but Matthew couldn't quite place him.

Kim looked at her watch. "Where in the hell are…."

The sound of a car coming up the road and skidding into a space halted Kim's protest half way through. It was Shane, Amy and Sara-Jane. They got out of the car, the two girls cursing Shane's driving, and moved toward the table Kyle, Kim and Matt were sitting at.

Sara-Jane through her arms wide as she approached. "MATTY BABY!!"

Matthew responded by jumping up and holding his arms out also. " ZANY JANEY", he yelled as they ran toward each other. They hugged, then walked to the table and sat down, laughing. Amy and Shane followed and sat down also. Kim looked at Matthew and Sara-Jane and shrunk down in her chair shaking her head.

"I CANNOT believe that you're related to me Matty" Kim said, glancing around to see raised eyebrows looking in their direction from other tables.

Matthew grinned "Oh and of course you and Kyle sitting there practicing the kiss-of-life on each other for the past few minutes ISN'T embarrassing?!"

"You and Sara have just done EXACTLY what our parents do"

Matthew pretended to be offended "How could you? Comparing me to our parents? Sniff"

Once again, Matthews attention was drawn to the next table. The familiar-looking guy was glancing in his direction, grinning. The other two had also turned to look, except they were frowning, as if in disgust. Now that they were looking his way, Matthew could have sworn they were familiar also. Especially the guy with the hat, who also looked rather shocked.