It was summer vacation, and Sunny had convinced Thorn to take her and her friends to their vacation house on Cape Cod for two days. Stonemover was driving Deathbringer, Riptide, and Peril.

Glory, of course, knew. She lived with Sunny. Glory texted Clay, Clay texted Starflight, Starflight texted Tsunami, Tsunami texted Riptide, Riptide texted Deathbringer, Deathbringer texted Peril, and soon there were six teenagers with suitcases at the front door. 

They piled up into cars. Deathbringer was in the front seat of Stonemover's car, with Peril and Riptide in back.

Thorn, Coral, Mastermind, and Cattail all refused to let their children sit in the front seat. So Thorn sat up there by herself. 

In the second row of seats, Sunny and Starflight. In the third, Tsunami and Clay. And Glory sprawled across the two seats in the trunk.

They started off playing a game where one person would say an animal, and the next person would say an animal that started with the last letter of the previous animal, and so on. Thorn started. "Snail." Then Sunny. "Leopard" Then Tsunami. "Dog"  Then Clay. "Gorrilla" Then Glory. "Arctic fox" Then Starflight. "Xantus's Hummingbird"

Then Glory decided to have a fight about weather or not that was a real animal. By the time Thorn stepped in, they were an hour into the three-hour drive. They stopped and got food at Shake Shack, and turned on The Princess Bride. When that was over, Sunny was asleep in her seat, humming the Princess Bride theme song, and it was 10:00 at night. Tsunami pulled out an Ipad and started watching Star Wars, Clay was eating all of the leftover food, Starflight was reading a complicated Geography book, and Glory was reading Harry Potter and humming Taylor Swift. She wondered how Deathbringer, Riptide, and Peril's drive was going.

In Stonemover's Car:

"'CAUSE BABY NOW WE GOT BAD BLOOD! AND WE USED TO BE MAD LOVE! SO TAKE A LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Back in Thorn's car, half an hour later:

Clay had fallen asleep. Tsunami was wide awake, and halfway through a Mandalorian episode. Glory was wide awake, and on her second book. Starflight was half-asleep. 

In Stonemover's Car:

"Can I pick this song?" Deathbringer asked. Riptide and Peril nodded. Deathbringer fiddled with some knobs. 

"I stay out to late! Got nothing in my brai-" 

"I HATE THIS SONG!" Peril screeched. Deathbringer laughed and turned on a different song. "You are my fire, the one desired, belive, when I say, I WANT IT THAT WAY! TELL ME WHY! AIN'T NOTHING BUT A HEAAARTAAACH!"

Back in Thorn's car, 11:30 pm.

Starflight was muttering the times tables in his sleep. Tsunami had moved to the back of the car, and they were watching the Mandalorian together and laughing about their many ships. "So, do you ship Dara?" Asked Glory.

Tsunami cocked her head. "You mean Cara Dune and Din Djarin?" she questioned. "Yeah." Said Glory. "YES!" Exclaimed Tsunami. "I also like Fennec and Boba Fett together." "Yeah, that's a good one too." Glory agreed.

"Hey, why aren't we moving?" Asked Tsunami.

"Traffic." Thorn called.

"Flower petals!" exclaimed Glory. Tsunami snorted. "What-"

"Kinkajou's new favorite curse." Glory explained. Kinkajou was Glory's younger sister. 

"Never mind, no more traffic!" Called Thorn cheerfully.

Stonemover's car:

Riptide had falled asleep humming I Want It That Way. Peril was half asleep, and Deathbringer was wide awake, watching star wars. 

Midnight, just arrived, Thorn's Car:

Tsunami turned off star wars. Glory glanced around storing details in her head. She noticed the half-dead hydrangea bushes at the edge of the driveway. When Thorn stopped the car, Glory and Tsunami unbuckled. Glory gently shook Sunny awake. "Sunny. We're here." Sunny's head snapped up, and she fumbled sleepily with her buckle.

Stonemover's car pulled up next to them. From the smaller car, there was a pair of yelps. And Deathbringer laughing. Evidently, Deathbringer had violently woken up Peril and Riptide. They hurried inside, dragging suitcases. Thorn and Stonemover settled in the big bedroom on the second floor. Sunny slept in the top bunk in the Blue Room, the smallest, with Starflight on the bottom. Tsunami and Riptide shared the bed in the Purple Room, with Glory and Deathbringer on seperate matresses on the floor. Peril and Clay shared a bed in the Yellow Room. And that night as they fell asleep, everyone was full of anticipation for the week to come.