Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (58 page)

               
“Yes, but not in the way that you’re thinking.  He won’t stop teasing me.”

               
Damien sighs. “Tell him I’m going to beat him up if he doesn’t knock it off.”

               
“He already told me you had nothing on him and that he outweighs you by forty
pounds of muscle.” Kayla giggles, looking at Jackson.  He shrugs as if he
agrees with her.

               
Kayla hears incoherent grumbling from Damien before he says, “I’m so happy that
he can point that out.  It’s not always about strength, though.  It’s
also about skill level, and I best him there.”

               
“Seriously,” Kayla exhales.  “You two are ridiculous.”

               
“What is he saying?” Jackson inquires.

               
Kayla answers, “That he has more skill than you.”

               
“Whatever,” Jackson retorts, raising his voice.  “He just wants to protect
his ego!”

               
“There’s no need to protect any ego,” Damien states.  “The truth is the
truth.”

               
Slapping her forehead, Kayla groans. “Again, you two are ridiculous.”

               
“Awww, but that’s what attracts you to me.  Anyway, yes he outweighs me,
but it’s just our body frames.  I may be shorter and leaner than him, but
I am still extremely strong.”

               
“Yes, I know that.” Kayla laughs lightly.  “You don’t need to be
concerned.  I am highly attracted to you and think you’re dead sexy.”

               
Smugly, Damien retorts, “Yes, see, you are a smart girl.”

               
“Oh please,” Kayla moans.  “So what are your plans for today?”

               
“I’m making some homemade chicken soup for Victoria.  It’s her
favorite.  She always wants it when she isn’t feeling well.”

               
“That’s really sweet of you.”

               
Damien sighs. “I have to take care of her.  She’s my little sister, after
all.  Of course, I would
never
do it for Courtney.”  Suddenly,
he yells, “Ow!  I was kidding, Courtney.”

               
“Did she just punch you?” Kayla giggles.

               
“No, pinch. Ow, that hurt!” Damien snaps.  “My older sister has no
quandaries about abusing me, and since she’s a girl, I can’t do anything back!”

               
Kayla laughs.  “I think I’m going to like Courtney.”

               
“Hey! No siding with her!”

               
“I can side with whomever I want.  Someone has to keep you on your toes.”

               
“Grrreeeaaat, awesome.  I think my sister’s going to adore you too. 
Just remember you’re going to be here to see me.”

               
Kayla smiles. “But I’ve never had a sister.  What if we get along so well
I ditch you?”

               
“Hey,” Damien yells.  “Not fair!”

               
Laughing, Kayla says, “I’m just kidding.”

               
“Mmhmm, well, I should get going.  I’ll text you while I cook, but
Victoria wants the soup made for dinner and it takes a while.”

               
“All right, tell her I hope she feels better,” Kayla says.  “We have to
stop in a while to charge the car, so we’re going to eat then.”

               
“Okay,” Damien replies.  “I will talk to you soon, sweetheart.”

               
“Sounds good, stay out of trouble.” 

Damien says, “I will. 
Bye, hon.”

She hangs up the phone and
looks at Jackson.  “I really do hope we stop soon.  I’m starving.”

               
He gives her a perplexed look. “We just stopped.  Why didn’t we get
something to eat?”

               
“I don’t know.  I was talking on the phone.”

               
“You are such a girl!”

               
“Of course I’m a girl.” Kayla laughs.  “But that doesn’t mean anything!”

               
Jackson looks at her.  “Yes, it does.  You make no sense.”

               
“I make perfect sense,” she snaps in return.  “You’re just stupid.”

               
“I’m smarter than you.”

               
Pointing her finger at him, Kayla snips, “Not according to our essay grades.”

               
He stares out the window, smirking.  “I was just teasing.  You were
too preoccupied with your boyfriend to realize that you were hungry.”

               
“He’s not my boyfriend!”

               
“Yes, he is,” Jackson replies.  “Puleeze, what else is he?”

               
Kayla glares at Jackson.  “I am not ready for that yet.  I’m going to
stop seeing him if people don’t stop teasing me about it.”

               
“That’s what it’s going to take?  Damien is your boyfriend.  You’re
going to get married and have lots of baaaaabiieeesss.  You’re going to
love him forever.  I can start singing a song about you guys kissing.”

               
“Shut up.” Kayla laughs.  “Stop calling him my boyfriend.  I’m not
ready for it, all right?”

               
Jackson puts his hands up. “All right, no more boyfriend talk.  What are
you in the mood to eat?”

               
“Tacos.”

               
“Yeah, okay, let’s find a Mexican restaurant,” Jackson sarcastically
groans.  “That’s something pretty frequent.”

               
She gives him a look.  “You asked what I wanted.”

               
“That’s true, but I was thinking more along the lines of fast food or an actual
sit down restaurant.”

               
“Why didn’t you ask that then?” Kayla snaps, trying not to smile.  “I
would rather sit down.  Shouldn’t we charge the car anyway?”

               
With a nod, Jackson says, “Yeah.”

               
“How do we charge it?  Just go up to an outlet and plug it in?” Kayla
asks.

               
“Someone has to let us,” Jackson replies.

               
“And how are we going to convince people to do that?” Kayla asks.  “Do you
think a gas station will just charge your credit card?”

               
Jackson reaches into his back pocket.  “No, I think the restaurant manager
will let us.”

               
“How do you figure that?”

               
He pulls out a stack of one hundred dollar bills.  “We make it worth his
while.”

               
“Where did you get those from?” Kayla exclaims.

               
“Damien had them delivered this morning.  I didn’t want your parents
knowing we were traveling with a few grand in cash.”

               
Bewildered, Kayla says, “Forget charging the car.  Let’s go find a mall.”

               
“Kayla,” Jackson scolds.  “That’s not what the money is for.”

               
“Okay, let me explain something.  Maybe
you
were brought up being
able to shop whenever you wanted for whatever you wanted, but I wasn’t. 
So if I see a wad of cash like that, I want to go clothes shopping.”

               
Looking at her, Jackson says, “You seriously want to go shopping?”

               
“Hell, yeah,” Kayla squeals.  “I mean, what else do you use that much
money for?”

               
“Okay, I’ll make you a deal.  We will use this money for the trip, but I
promise we will go to a mall.  When we get to San Diego, I’ll make Damien
take us shopping.  He’ll buy you whatever you want, and if he doesn’t, I
will.”

               
She shakes her head vigorously.  “I would never let you do that. 
That would be wrong.”

               
“Why?  Damien can buy you stuff, but I can’t?”

               
Kayla mutters, “Everyone is going to think I’m after your guys’ money.”

               
“But you’re not, so who cares?” Jackson argues.

               
Kayla looks at him. “Maybe.”  Her eyes flicker to the right. “Oh!” she
yells, slamming her hands against the dashboard.

               
“What?”

               
“A Mexican restaurant!” Kayla exclaims.  “The next exit.”

               
“Damn it,” Jackson yells, grabbing his chest.  “You scared me!”

               
Giggling, Kayla says, “Don’t be such a girl.”

               
They exit the freeway and arrive at the restaurant.  The manager does let
them charge the car for a mere $400, so Kayla and Jackson take their time
eating and talking.  After they eat, they go for a walk.  Kayla eats
a lot of brownies for dessert. She knows she needs them, but she is starting to
get sick of them.  After a couple more hours, they are back on the road.

               
“That wasn’t so bad,” Kayla declares.  “Now we can drive for another 200
miles.”

               
“Yeah, that will take us to the campground I found.  It won’t cost that
much, and I don’t think they’ll ask for IDs.”

               
“You can always bribe them with money,” Kayla notes.

               
Jackson nods. “Yes, we can.”

               
“Time for some more music,” Kayla states, bending over and pressing play.

               
Come nightfall, Kayla has her window down and she’s staring up at the
sky.  “It’s so nice and beautiful out.”

               
“It is,” Jackson replies.  “Much warmer weather.”

               
“Maybe we won’t need sleeping bags,” Kayla says, looking at the stars.

               
“No, we need the sleeping bags.  It’s the pajamas that we may not need.”

               
She turns and looks at him.  “If I’m covered by a sleeping bag, why does
it matter if I’m naked?”

               
“You won’t be covered with a sleeping bag then,” Jackson mutters underneath his
breath.

               
“I heard that.” Kayla laughs.

               
“Heard what?” Jackson retorts, acting totally confused.  He points to the
left.  “There’s the campground.”

               
Kayla sits up straight in her seat. “We have to act like mature adults.”

               
“You must have some pretty good acting skills,” Jackson says.

               
“Shut up!” Kayla giggles.  “Jerk.”

               
They pull up to a little building and a guy comes out.  “Can I help you?”

               
“We’re here for a campsite.  The name is Blakely,” Jackson replies.

               
The guy looks down at his clipboard.  “’One site for a night.  That’s
forty-two dollars.”

               
Jackson pulls out a hundred and hands it to the guy.  “Keep the change.”

               
The attendant takes the bill and stares at Jackson.  “Hey, how old are you
guys?”

               
“Eighteen,” Jackson says.  “We’re driving to Vegas to get married.”

               
“I’m pregnant with his baby,” Kayla adds.  “We hope it’s a little boy.”

               
Jackson and the guard look at her with bewilderment.  “Okay, I need some
ID, though.”

               
“How about this,” Jackson retorts, handing over two hundred more dollars. 
“Does that work?”

               
“Sure,” the guy replies quickly.  “You’ll be on spot thirty-one. 
It’s straight ahead and to your left.”

               
Smiling, Jackson says, “Thank you,” and drives toward the campsite. 
“Well, bribing worked.”

               
“That it did.” Kayla laughs.  “So have you ever put up a tent before?”

               
He gives her a look.  “Yes, miss smarty pants, I have.  Have you?”

               
“Um, I’ve never gone camping, so no.  I can help, though.”

               
“Mmhmm, we’ll see how far that goes,” Jackson mutters.  “Here we go, site
thirty-one.  Okay, hot stuff, you can get out.”

               
Kayla hops out of the car and looks straight up at the sky.  “It’s
gorgeous.  Just look at it!”

               
Laughing, Jackson opens the trunk.  “How about we put up the tent and then
enjoy the view?”

               
“I want to put on pants,” Kayla says.  “It’s getting cool.”

               
“Are you doing that out here?” Jackson asks.  “Where everyone can see?”

               
“No, weirdo,” Kayla snickers, walking over to him.  “I’ll change in the
car.”

               
A mischievous smile passes over Jackson’s face.  “Oh, so only I can see.”

               
“You already saw my underwear today.” Kayla sighs and grabs pants out of her
bag.  “You only get that view once.”

               
“Where in the world is the fun of a road trip with a girl if I don’t get a free
show along the way?”