Part 3: Next Stop Anywhere

"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls." – Anais Nin.

I massaged the small area between my eyes with exasperation as the men argued like little children. The girlfriends all sat awkwardly together as we waited for them to finally decide on a destination, apparently they didn't plan it out. One of my pet peeves.

  Lloyd had shown me images of the other girls on the trip, with everyone's busy schedule I had rarely been able to get to know them. Though I had met Gwen before when she first met Zane.

  Gwen was an unusual girl with an affinity for peanut butter dipped gummy candy. She currently was opening a new bag of the squishy treats to cover with the spread. Her hair was a very unique colour, a light brown fading into a tone so light it seemed blonde. Gwen paused and took a chunk that had fallen into the peanut butter and licked the mixture off.

I turned my attention to Isla who had joined the argument with vigor, muttering insults under her breath as Kai and Cole bickered and Zane offered unhelpful information.
 
Siena was the final girl, her blonde hair was pulled into a bun and she was helping to sort out the bags that messily lined floor. Trying to stay out of the debate.

  "We should head to Shintaro!" Cole suggested.

"That place is a rumour, Cole." Kai protested, scrolling through websites. "How about we try somewhere real."

"What about Stiix?" Kai showed a picture from his phone.

  Lloyd made a face. "Isn't that where smugglers go?"

  Cole abruptly pushed Kai's device away. "You're going on a trip with your girlfriend and you want to take her to a swamp?"

  Kai shrugged, turning his phone back around.

  "In Kai's defence some swamps have proven to have very beautiful scenery." Zane tried. "But... Stiix isn't one of them."

"I like creepy swamps!" Gwen piped up from where she was dangling a peanut butter covered gummy worm into her mouth.

  "What do you think Reagan?" Lloyd turned to me, his striking green eyes met mine. I smiled and went up beside him, stepping over where Siena was on her hands and knees looking for name tags on which bag is whose.
 
  "I'm good to go wherever. But maybe let's pass on Stiix." I chuckled.

"Maybe we could take a stop at Echo Canyon." I offered as a candidate. "It has a lot of historical value."

  In preparation for this trip I revisited my d obsession with travel and famous landmarks. When your parents travel the world for their job you tend to research where they're going. The Echo Canyon was a favourite of mine.

  "Indeed. The location has a high rating on every travel agency." Zane said. I gave him a curious look.

  "I have access to the internet and files in my programming." Zane explained.

Right. The robot thing.

I gave him an experimental tap. My nail hit metal.

  "Ooh! Turn off your synthetic skin!" Gwen called excitedly. Zane complied, pressing a button. His realistic pale skin tone faded away, pixelated blue light spread over his body as it switched to a metallic sheen.

"That is awesome dude." Isla eyed Zane's new look.

  "I hate to change the subject from one of few things that impress my girlfriend but we still haven't found a destination!" Kai interrupted.

  "That's the beauty of a road trip." Siena piped up. "You can go wherever! We can wing it and see where the wind takes us! Take some time away from planned lifestyle."

  Cole smiled softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  "Okay," Kai put away his phone and buckled in. "So I guess we'll continue west and turn up... anywhere?"

"I don't mind a little mystery." Isla agreed with a smirk. "Maybe we'll turn up somewhere weird. Maybe somewhere with lots of water." She gave her boyfriend the side eye.

  Kai sat up and gave her a glare.

  I sat down beside Lloyd as Zane revved up the engine, turning back onto the highway and heading out of the city.

  "This is so exciting!" Gwen cheered, siting up to grip the back of my seat.

  "How about some music?" Siena suggested, tapping her phone and scrolling through her songs. Suddenly she landed on one.

"This one seems about right." She laughed.

  "What song is it?" Cole twisted from his place in shotgun. He had one the spot after beating Kai at an arm wrestle. I still owe Isla  that ten bucks.

  Siena pressed it, grinning as the music filled the air.

  "Next Stop Anywhere."