Julie's Road Trip



"Brenda and Julie are coming," James said.

Benny could hardly believe his ears. It was too good to be true. They had originally planned the trip as a guys' getaway, but James decided it would be a great opportunity to put the screws to Brenda without having to worry about parental interference. The problem with that was she wasn't too keen on traveling across the great state of Texas with a bunch of boys, so Benny had suggested she bring her pal Julie. He hadn't really expected the idea to stick.

Trying hard to conceal his excitement, Benny casually replied, "Really? Right on. I guess it won't be a sausage fest after all. You sure they're coming?" It would be a cruel joke if they backed out last minute, but James reassured him on that front.

"Yeah, Brenda pitched it to Jules and she was all about it. They're down like James Brown."

The conversation continued for a bit before the two friends hung up, but Benny had checked out. All he could think about was Julie Huerta. She was the most stunning thing he had ever seen. Sunsets and mountains and waterfalls couldn't hold a candle. Neither could any of the girls he had seen on the internet or in the movies; photoshop, liposuction, silicon breasts, facelifts and all. Julie blew them all away.

It wasn't just the way she looked, either. She had them beat in looks alone, sure, but Julie was also smart, witty, kind, down to earth, and had an awesome sense of humor. The way she moved, her cute little girlish voice, everything about her just drove Benny wild, and he would be spending an entire week with her. This was a fucking miracle. He wondered if he'd get to see her in a bikini. They would be camping on the Nueces River, after all, and there would no doubt be swimming at some point. God, he hoped she'd bring a bikini. One of the sexiest things about her was her soft, smooth tummy.

Her stomach was flat, but she was not a skinny girl. There was a healthy amount of meat on her, and although she was very athletic, her muscle definition was hidden beneath her softness. Some guys were critical of that fact, but Benny thought they were crazy. He loved her soft physique.

That night he was too excited to sleep. He did manage to stroke his cock a record thirteen times, however. He figured it was a record he'd likely break after next week.




The day of the trip Benny was like a kid on Christmas, and Mark's old van couldn't get to Julie's house soon enough. Despite James' promise that the girls were in, and despite the fact that Brenda was already in the van, her bags stowed behind the seats, Benny kept telling himself Julie would say she couldn't go when they arrived to pick her up. There was just no way he was going to be sitting next to the hottest chick in the world for the next nine hours as they trekked across the country.

But she did not disappoint, bounding out the front door with a duffle bag over her shoulder, clad in white lowrise jeans and a frayed white denim vest that stopped just short of her waist and parted at the bottom, revealing her adorable belly button, a vertical slit in her soft pudgy flesh that reminded Benny of a coin slot. Her tiny feet were attired in white high tops, and she was as beautiful as ever. The duffle bag put a slight arc in her back so her vest rode high on her perky breasts, revealing several inches of her creamy belly, which couldn't help but catch Benny's eye.

Julie stashed her bag in the back with the rest of their luggage, called out, "What's up, bitches," to James and Mark in the front seats, then climbed into the back, behind Benny and next to Brenda. She gave Brenda a hug and offered a cheerful, "hey you," to Benny.

"Hey Julie, thanks for joining us," Benny answered, trying to sound cool but failing.

"Yeah, well, Brenda said she needed some back up against all you boys, and that's my sister from another mister right there. I couldn't leave her hanging."

Mark chimed in from the driver's seat, "James is the one that should be thanking her. You're not gonna get no ass outta this, Benito."

Brenda rolled her eyes and told Julie, "You see what I have to deal with?"

"How do you know Benny and I aren't gonna shack up?" Julie asked, her eyebrows raised provocatively. Benny's heart stopped dead in his chest.

"Really?" Benny and Mark asked almost in unison.

Julie giggled and pinched Benny's cheek. He almost fainted. "No silly. Not really."

"Dude, that's messed up," Mark told her. "You know the kid has a sick crush on you. Now you at least owe him second base, or flash your titties at him or somethin'. Fucking with him like that."

Benny felt all the blood in his body rush to his head, and stammered, "Nuh. Nah. No I don't. You don't have to flash your titties. I mean, you know, if... Mark, you're such a douche."

Julie was still looking at him with those mesmerizing blue eyes of hers, a playful smile on her soft lips, a lock of rich brown hair dangling over her right brow, and Benny was certain he was going to die. Then she giggled again and said, "I'm sorry, Benny, I was just fucking around, didn't mean to mess with your head," then to Mark, "We gonna get on the road or sit here bullshitting all day?"

"So no titties then?" Mark asked.

"Dude, don't make me kick your fucking ass before we even get out of the driveway," Julie answered, still smiling.

"Alright, alright," Mark conceded. "I tried, Benny." He threw it in reverse and backed onto the street.

Benny was still frozen with embarrassment. How was he supposed to talk to Julie now? Hell, how was he even supposed to look at her? But his dream girl seemed to sense his unease, and she somehow made it all better.

"So, Benny, you ever been fishing before?" she asked disarmingly, as if the previous conversation never took place. After some hesitation Benny met her hypnotic gaze and saw she was completely unconcerned about spending the next seven days with a weird creepy loser who may or may not be obsessed with her. There was nothing in her expressive, lively blue eyes but kindness and good cheer. Benny felt his admiration for her grow even stronger.

"A couple times, yeah," he answered, beginning to relax. Mark and James had started their own conversation in the front seat. "There's nothing to it really, you just put the bait on the hook and throw it in the water. It's more of an excuse to drink beer while telling yourself you're doing something active". Benny added air quotations for the word active, and Julie giggled sweetly.

Brenda smiled and added, "Well, we already got an excuse to drink beer. It's our last summer together. We're gonna get fucked up."

"Bitch, it better not be our last summer together. If you don't stay in touch I will track your ass down and fucking cut you," Julie told her.

"Yeah, okay, maybe, but you know what I mean. It won't be the same, like it is now, with all of us still living at home and stuff. And college changes people."

"It might change your bitch ass, but I'm gonna be a bad ass motherfucker for life," Julie retorted, and her and Brenda both laughed at that. That was how their road trip began, and as the highway peeled away beneath them, Benny was able to loosen up and truly enjoy the company of his companions.

They were three hundred miles down the road and just outside of Sanderson, Texas when they fired up the first blunt.

"Would you let someone shoot you in the stomach for a million dollars?" Julie asked. They had been discussing inflation, and how a million dollars no longer held the same prestige it once did, when Julie decided to pop that one on them.

"Hold the fuck up," Mark announced suddenly. "Before we get into one of those debates... it's time to get lit," He produced a re-rolled Swisher and a Zippo lighter from seemingly thin air, and proceeded to spark up.

"You're lighting that shit while you're driving down the highway?" Julie asked him.

"Girl, I give no fucks," he called back in between drags.

"Yeah, well, just don't kill us," Julie answered. "I have a few more fucks I'd like to give."

Mark just laughed at that and passed the blunt to James. He took his hits and handed it to Benny, who hit it and passed it to Julie. Julie said she didn't smoke, but Brenda egged her on. "Come on, Jules, give it a try. You'll like it."

Julie still balked, but when Mark called out, "Yeah, don't be a pussy, Julie, it's just weed. Cigarettes are more dangerous than that shit," she narrowed her eyes and took a drag. They all watched as she blew out a cloud of smoke, then went back for another puff, but Benny thought he was the only one who noticed the way her lush lips curved as they pursed on the tail end of the blunt, or the way she licked them when she was done, leaving them slightly moist and glistening.

The blunt was passed to Brenda, who happily took her turn, and then it rotated back to Mark. It took them nearly ten minutes to finish the thing off, and then they circled back to Julie's question.

"I'd let someone shoot me in the stomach for a million bucks," Mark boasted.

"Bullshit," Julie told him. "You wouldn't be able to deal with the pain. You'd fucking cry like a bitch."

"Maybe, but I'd still do it. Fuck it. Cry like a bitch but I'd be a rich bitch. Would you do it?"

Julie appeared to consider it for just a second, but then quickly shook her head. "I read somewhere that gunshot wounds to the abdomen are fatal like twenty-something percent of the time. That's like a one in four chance of dying, and a million bucks isn't worth shit if you're dead."

"I'd do it," Brenda said. "I'm an optimist. Seventy-five percent chance of survival, I like those odds."

"You're fucking nuts," Julie said. "What if you had to get on a plane, and there were four planes, and I told you one of them is going to explode in mid-air?" Brenda didn't reply.

"What if it was a billion dollars?" Mark asked.

Julie smiled but still shook her head, and Benny noted the way her hair brushed over her bare shoulders when she did it. "I like being alive too much, I guess. Not worth the risk."

"Hold on, you didn't say what we're being shot with. A twenty-two, a pellet gun, a fucking air soft rifle," James chimed in. "Hell, what if it's an arrow with a target tip. That wouldn't mess you up too bad. But if it's a hollow point or large caliber round, forget about it. Count me out for that shit."

"Man makes a good point," Mark confessed. "A hollow point just goes into your guts and expands, tearing everything to shreds. That shit would fuck you up." Julie grimaced and put a hand over her tummy. "The type of round makes a huge difference."

"And how close is medical attention?" Benny added, trying to capitalize on James' clever line of thought. "Are EMT's standing by? Am I in a hospital when I'm shot?"

"I like where your head is at," Julie said with a beaming smile. Benny was just beginning to feel proud of himself when she added, "It's blocking the sun," and then she burst into laughter, and Benny couldn't help but grin. It was exactly the type of quirky sense of humor he found so endearing in her. "Alright, alright, wise asses, new question," she continued. "Would you agree to go into solitary confinement for ten years for a million dollars? And before everybody starts getting smart, no internet access, no books, no TV, no outside interaction at all, just you in an empty room for ten years."

"Ok, anybody that says yes to that just isn't thinking clearly," Mark told them. "You'd literally have nothing to do but jerk off all day, and that'd get old after a day or two. Then what're you gonna do the other three thousand six hundred and forty-nine days?"

"Look at Mark, with the math skills," Benny said, impressed.

"It's not skill you 'tard, three hundred and sixty-five times ten. All you do is add a fucking zero," Mark told him.

"Except there'd be at least two leap years," Julie said. "Maybe three depending on when you went in. So if you jerked off all day the first day, you'd have at least three thousand six hundred and fifty-one days left." Julie stuck out her tongue, and Benny felt faint with lust. "Who's the wise ass now?"

"Whatever," Mark said, "it's a fucking eternity. It might as well be ten million billion bajillion days. It'd sure as fuck feel like it. You'd go insane."

"I might do it," Brenda said.

"You're outta your mind," Mark told her.

"Okay, five years," Julie said. "I might do five years. When I get out I'd still be twenty-three, and I could just travel the world and have fun. I wouldn't have to work some shit job."

"Nah, you'd be wrecked. Your mind would turn to mush in there," Mark protested. "Have you read The Jaunt?"

"The who?" Julie asked.

"The Jaunt," Mark repeated.

"The fuck is that?" Brenda asked.

"It's a story by Stephen King. People figure out how to teleport but there's a catch - the trip is instantaneous for your body, but for your mind it seems to take forever. So they have to put you to sleep before you do it, but this kid thinks it'd be cool to experience eternity, so he doesn't inhale the sleeping gas and just pretends he's asleep. He comes out the other side a raving lunatic and claws his eyes out."

"Whoa, fucking spoiler alert, dickhead," James cried out.

"Bitch, you weren't gonna read the fucking story. Shut the fuck up," Mark said, before continuing, "The point is, you spend too much time in your own head, you fucking lose it."

Julie looked thoughtful. "I wonder if people go crazy in Heaven. I mean it's basically just your consciousness for eternity, right?"

"Dude, don't get me started on Heaven. It's such a crock of shit," Mark said. "There's no fucking way. Imagine the thing you love the most. Imagine doing that shit a zillion fucking times and a zillion more times, would you still like doing it? And that wouldn't even be the beginning. I mean forever is fucking forever. Besides, you don't get to do the shit you like the most according to the Bible. You can't flick your bean or play Grand Theft Auto or watch fucking Game of Thrones. All you fucking do is praise God. If there's a Heaven everybody's going fucking insane with boredom, believe me."

"But what if we don't see time the same way we do when we die?" Julie asked.

"Bullshit cop out. Time is part of our universe, part of our stream of consciousness. If we didn't perceive time, we wouldn't be who we are, so if there's some other plane of existence where time doesn't matter or exist, and somehow our life force or some shit crosses over, whatever ends up inhabiting that place, it's not us."

"I'm not saying it doesn't exist, just that it's different when you're dead. Like maybe you don't notice it passing? Or you experience all moments at once?"

"Not sure what the fuck that even means, but that doesn't sound like time to me, and you're still changing a fundamental part of our conscious thought, so again, whatever is experiencing this Heaven bullshit, it's not us."

Julie looked concerned. "Well, if there's no Heaven, that's just another reason not to get shot in the stomach," she said, and something about the way she glanced at her tummy and pressed her hands against it right then just drove Benny mad.

"I don't think you'd go to Heaven anyway if you die gambling with your life, trying to win a million dollars," Brenda told her.

"What if you have a family member with cancer, and you're giving the million dollars to them for medical bills? Or you're donating it to charity?" Julie asked her.

"Well, okay, maybe," Brenda conceded, "but who the fuck would do that?"

Julie cackled. "Well not you, obviously, you evil bitch. But seriously, that's like a totally new question. Let's say there is no Heaven, but you're able to save the world by sacrificing your life. Like Bruce Willis in Armageddon. Would you do it?"

"Well, if you don't, you die anyway, right? I mean if you don't save the world, and the world ends, either way you're fucked. Might as well die saving everyone," Benny pointed out.

"Fuck. Alright, well let's say you can end world hunger and create lasting peace on Earth, but you hafta die."

"I would," Benny said, not sure if he really would but he figured it was the answer Julie would want to hear.

"Would you?" Julie asked.

"How selfish would you have to be not to? Every time someone died of starvation or fighting, it would be your fault. They'd be dead because you're alive. Imagine the guilt." Benny pled his case.

"Yeah, but you'd be alive. What's worse, living with constant guilt or not living at all? Like what good is world peace if as far as you're concerned there is no world? You sacrifice yourself and there's nothing left for you. How do you reconcile that?"

Benny shrugged. "So you wouldn't do it?"

"I'm not saying that," Julie answered, "It'd just be hard. I'd like to think I would, cuz I'd be a terrible person if I didn't, but it wouldn't be that easy. Like it's more than just doing the math. What if we changed the math, though? What if it was three people you had never met on the other side of the world, but if you gave up your life you would save theirs. Would you do it?"

"Jesus, Julie, why are you so philosophical and shit all of a sudden?" Mark butted in.

Julie laughed. "I'm fucking high, asshole. Remember that blunt you passed around and told me to hit?"

"Yeah, bitch, I hit that shit every damn day but it doesn't turn me into a morbid fucking wanna-be Socrates."

"Well maybe I'm just more intellectual than you."

"Fucking buzz kill is what you are. All this talk about dying," Mark retorted.

"You're the one that started talking about death," Julie said, "talking about how there's no Heaven."

"Bullshit," James told her, "you brought that shit up, remember? Asking if you can go insane in Heaven. I was just answering your fucked up question."

Julie's beautiful cheeks flushed red and she was at a loss for words. Benny didn't think he had ever seen her flustered before, but it was a good look for her. It brought so much color to her face. "Yeah, well, maybe I did," she finally managed. "I'm just trying to keep the conversation interesting. Fucking dick."

"I got a fucking dick for you," Mark told her.

"Bring it back here and I'll chop it off and you can find out if there's a fucking Heaven, puto!" Julie seemed to have regained her cool, however, because although her words were vitriolic, her perfect lips hinted at a smile and her usual joviality had returned to her voice. When James began to laugh they were all able to join in.

Seeing the buildings sprawled on the horizon, Benny decided it was time for a new topic and asked, "What town is that we're coming up on?"

"Sanderson," Mark told them. "If anybody's gotta take a piss, this'll be the time. I gotta stop for gas."

"Yes, mother," Julie answered.

"Damn, Julie, you came on this trip just to break my fucking balls, didn't you?"

Julie met Mark's gaze in the rear view mirror and blew him a kiss, then giggled sweetly.

Benny wanted to melt when she puckered her lips, and his heart sang out when she laughed, her shocking blue eyes dancing with merriment. "Julie's a fucking savage," he said awkwardly. He thought it would be a witty comment, but it fell flat and he was the only one who laughed. He looked to Julie for approval, but she looked back with bemusement, then she giggled out of pity and tussled his hair.

"Oh, Benny," she sighed.

"Well, I can't wait," Brenda said unabashedly. "I've been holding it since Van Horn, and I feel like I'm about to burst."

"Whoa, TMI," James said.

"Oh shut the fuck up, asshole," Brenda said, not without affection. "It's not like you didn't know I piss. It's basic biology and shit."

"Yeah, well, I didn't need that mental image."

"Then don't picture it."

"Too late, I've already imagined you taking a whizz. Next time you try to seduce me all I'll be able to think about is a bunch of urine spraying out of your vagina."

Julie and Brenda both laughed at that, before Brenda finally told him, "Urine doesn't come out of my vagina, doofus. And don't say TMI. It's not my fault if you don't understand the female anatomy."

"Yeah, whatever, your pee-hole then," James said, smiling good-naturedly, "and I understand enough about the female anatomy to make you scream, mamacita."

"James!" Brenda cried, blushing brightly.

"Yeah, that's what she said," Benny joked, and laughed alone again.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Mark asked.

"I mean that's what James makes her scream," Benny clarified, and floundering, he tried to save the joke by mocking Brenda and screaming, "James!"

"Dude, just fucking stop," Mark said, but at least he was chuckling now.

Brenda punched Benny in the arm, and Julie suddenly broke into an uncontrollable bout of laughter for no apparent reason. Benny wanted to believe she was laughing at his joke, but he could see that she was high as a kite and going on a trip. Either way it warmed his heart to see her so giddy. "What's so funny?" he asked, but she was laughing too hard to reply. It was infectious, and soon Brenda and Benny joined in.

"I think they've lost their minds back there," James told Mark, and that just made the three of them laugh even harder. They were still laughing when they entered Sanderson's city limits.

It was little more than a wide space in the road. They had traveled nearly halfway through town in the space of about fifty seconds when they came to what may well have been the only gas station in a sixty mile radius, with a sign that proudly announced the cheapest gas in town. Except they were missing the "g", so when Julie, who had stopped laughing long enough to regain the power of speech, read it aloud, she read, "The cheapest ass in town. No wonder you wanted to stop here, Mark, now you can finally get laid." This sent her into another fit of laughter, and again Brenda and Benny joined her.

"I don't know what you motherfuckers are laughing at. Everybody knows you and Benny are the only virgins in this van," Mark retorted, before getting out to pump gas.

Julie didn't appear the least bit affected by Mark's scathing retort, but she was a virgin by choice. Every guy in school had practically thrown themselves at her, and she somehow stayed single. Benny just didn't seem to have much to offer the fairer sex, but he still appreciated being lumped in with Julie. It was nice to think they might somehow lose their virginity together, no matter how far fetched that idea might be.

Brenda climbed over Julie and staggered from the van, clutching herself. "Oooo, you're gonna make me piss my pants, Julie, you bitch," she complained, laughing like a loon. With that she headed for the convenience store.

James hopped from the passenger seat and said something about needing a drink, leaving Benny and Julie alone in the van. "You don't need to piss?" Benny asked.

Julie's laughter was tapering off to a few sporadic giggles, and she shook her head.

"Yeah, me neither. I got an iron bladder," Benny said.

Julie raised her eyebrows. "What about rust?"

Benny was puzzled for a moment, then he understood. "Uh, yeah, I have to drink a quart of oil once a month." Julie guffawed loudly at that, much to Benny's delight.

"Nice."

"So is it true? You're really a virgin?"

"Yup," Julie said, unflinching.

"Why? I mean, do you think you won't like sex?"

"I dunno, I guess it's just too much drama, you know? Like who needs it. And there's the religious thing, but now Mark's got me questioning that. Why are you a virgin?"

It stung a little that she didn't even have to ask if he really was one, and he wondered if she was just trolling him. It should have been obvious why he was a virgin. He gestured to himself and gave her a look that said, really?[i]

"What? You're not bad looking. You're telling me you can't get anyone to shack up with you?"

"Julie, I know you're a really nice person, but come on. Be real. I'm short, I'm chubby, my nose is too big, my teeth are crooked, and I have no game."

"See, that's your problem."

"Yeah, that's my problem."

"No, silly, I mean you're too insecure. Insecurity is unattractive. All that other shit only matters if you think it matters."

"Yeah, whatever. That's easy for you to say. You're perfect. I mean look at you." Benny realized he was making Julie uncomfortable, so he retreated a little. "Sorry, it's just, you know, it's different for you. You don't know what it's like."

"Maybe," Julie smiled and squeezed Benny's shoulder, "but try not to be so hard on yourself. Besides, being a virgin isn't so bad. Who needs sex, anyway? We got our hands." She winked and giggled, and Benny's cock nearly exploded.

"Yeah, we do," he said awkwardly.

"Aha, so you admit you jack off! Who do you spank it to?"

Benny's tongue went dead in his throat, all the blood rushed to his head, and he had never been so terrified. What was he supposed to say to that? At least ninety-nine percent of his fantasies involved Julie, and he couldn't remember the last time he had masturbated to anyone other than the spectacularly beautiful bubbly brunette sitting across from him.

He was still trying to come up with a name when Julie cackled gleefully and slapped her thigh. "Relax, I'm fucking with you, Benny." Cracking up, she said, "Holy shit, you should have seen your face. You went red as a tomato."

Benny laughed nervously. "Fuck you. That was fucked up."

When Julie was able to get her laughter under control, she looked genuinely contrite. "Aww, I'm sorry. That was pretty fucked up," she conceded.

"What was pretty fucked up?" Brenda asked, returning to her seat.

"I was asking Benny who he thinks about when he chokes his chicken."

"Why is that fucked up?"

"Because he thinks about Julie, dumbass." It was Mark now, climbing into the drivers' seat.

"God damn it, Mark, what the fuck?" Benny complained.

"What? It's true. No sense denying it. The truth will set you free," Mark said sanctimoniously.

"What about you?" Julie asked Mark. "Who do you think about?"

"I'm like a fucking monk," Mark answered. "I'm clean. When I'm not getting laid, that is."

"The truth will set you free, my ass," Julie sneered.

"And you?" Mark asked. "Who's your muse, Miss Perfect?"

Julie smiled and blushed a little before replying, "A lady never tells."

"Get the fuck outta here with that shit. You ain't no fuckin' lady," Mark called back.

"Alright you bitches, who wants a beer?" James had now returned, and he held up a case of Bud Light.

"My man," Mark said, and offered James a fist bump before accepting a brew.

When James turned and tossed a can into the back seats, Julie snatched it from the air with surprising deftness, then handed it to Brenda and raised her hand to call for another. She caught the second with equal ease, and popped the top and took a swig.

"Julie, you're the coolest," Benny said, before turning to James and accepting a beer of his own.

"Julie?" James asked, feigning offense. "What the fuck, I'm the one who brought you the beer!"

Benny laughed. "Alright, you're pretty cool too."

"You just don't have a pair of knockers," Mark told him.

"Whatever. Julie's tits aren't even that big," Benny blurted out, immediately regretting it.

"Oooohhh, burn!" Mark shouted.

Julie, to her credit, was completely unfazed. "I thought you said I was perfect," she quipped, a half smile on her lips and an eyebrow raised.

"You are," Benny blabbed. "I mean, you're well proportioned." And you have an amazing ass, he nearly finished, but he bit his tongue.

"Good save," Julie said with a giggle.

"Benny, you just need to stop talking," Mark advised. He put the van in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. "And we're off," he called, and raised his beer in a toast.

"To being young, dumb, and full of cum," James added, and raised his own beverage.

"To being well proportioned," Julie said.

"To beer and weed," Benny toasted.

"To lifelong friendships," Brenda finished.

They sipped their beers in relative silence for a few minutes, and once they were well outside of town, Mark cranked up the volume on the radio as Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb started to play. "It's time for round two," he called out, and he produced another blunt like a magician. They resumed their previous rotation, only this time no one needed to coax Julie into taking her turn. Each of them smoked without speaking, enraptured by the unique sounds of what many consider to be rock's greatest artists.

The blunt was over halfway gone and had returned to Mark's possession when the song ended. He was fiddling with his phone, looking for more music to maintain the ambience while holding the burning Swisher with his other hand. He held the wheel steady with an elbow, and just saw the dead buck in the road before running right over the top of it. Both his phone and the blunt went flying as Mark struggled to correct the fishtail they were suddenly in and regain control of his van. After a bad moment, where it seemed they were about to roll, he succeeded.

"Goddammit!" Julie shouted. "You almost killed us, you fucking asshole!"

"There was a motherfucking deer in the road," Mark said defensively.

"Dude, the blunt," James cried.

Brenda burst into laughter. "I nearly shit myself and James is up there worried about the blunt," she said.

"Fucking priorities," James told them.

"Pull the fuck over before you go looking for that shit, please," Julie insisted.

"Aye aye, captain," Mark agreed.

As the van slowed and moved onto the shoulder, Benny spared a glance at his crotch to make sure he hadn't wet himself. His heart rate was through the roof, and it was all he could do to keep his composure. He wasn't even entirely confident he hadn't screamed like a little girl when they went over the animal carcass.

Julie chortled and asked, "You worried that iron bladder failed you?"

Benny looked at her like she was a wizard, and found himself speechless. How did she know that's why I looked down? he wondered.

"Relax," she said. "We all probably pissed our pants a little bit."

"Speak for yourself," James told her. "I'm chillin. Just wanna get back to hitting that blunt."

"Yeah, right, you're such a badass," Julie said sarcastically.

The van had rolled to a stop, and James was focused on finding the smoke. "There," he told Mark, pointing. Mark reached between the seat and the side panel and after a brief struggle came back up with their stogie. He gave it a quick puff before handing it to James.

"Alright," Mark told them, "now we can resume our fantastic voyage," and he piloted the van back onto the highway.

It wasn't until 3:30 in the afternoon, a little over two hours after hitting the deer, that the engine died. They were about thirty miles from Camp Wood and their intended destination, on a sparsely traveled Ranch to Market road.

"What are you doing? Why are you stopping?" James asked.

"I'm not. We're fucking breaking down," Mark answered.

"Are you serious?" Benny asked, his heart sinking.

"Shut the fuck up. Don't even play with that shit," Julie added.

"I'm not playing, I'm dead fucking serious."

"Unbelievable, we're like forty-five minutes from the camp grounds," Julie complained.

"We were forty-five minutes from the camp grounds," Benny corrected. "Who knows when we'll get there now," he said miserably. This was it. He had been so sure something would go wrong. He had known there was no way he would be able to spend a week with Julie. They would go home early - no camping or swimming in bikinis or drinking all night.

"What're we gonna do?" Brenda asked.

"Does anybody got a cell signal?" Mark asked.

"Jules and I left our phones at home," Brenda said.

"Yeah, we didn't want any distractions," Julie confirmed.

"Same," James told them.

Benny had brought his phone, because he wanted to snap a bunch of pictures of Julie, but when he pulled it from his pocket and looked at it he saw zero bars. "I got nothing," he said.

Mark glanced at his own phone, then asked, "Does anybody know anything about fixing cars?"

"Do I look like a fuckng mechanic to you?" Brenda responded. They all exchanged looks after that, but nobody offered any help.

"Well, I guess we're walking back to Del Rio," Mark decided.

"We my ass," Brenda said. "It's your van, and this is probably because you ran over that fucking deer when you weren't paying attention. You walk your ass back. We'll wait here with the beer."

"Babe, we might not find anybody to come work on it today," James said.

"You want me to walk forty miles down the road, because this asshole doesn't know how to drive?" Brenda asked.

"Relax," Mark said. "It's just until we get a signal, or we might even hitch a ride."

"What happens when you get a signal? Who the fuck are you gonna call? And if you think I'm getting in some stranger's car, you're crazy," Brenda said.

Mark looked at James, and James only shrugged. "Let her stay with the van. My .357 is loaded and under my seat, and she knows how to shoot. Besides, somebody should stay and make sure we don't get jacked anyway."

"Alright, fine, stay here and get fucked up," Mark conceded. He looked at Julie and Benny and asked, "You two love birds coming?"

Julie looked at Brenda apologetically and said, "I'm sorry sweetie, but I'm not down to sit in a van on the side of the road with a bunch of empty beer cans, a bag of weed, and a loaded pistol. If a trooper drives by that's a felony waiting to happen."

"Don't worry, gorgeous. I'll be fine," Brenda assured her.

"Wudduya say then, love bird?" Julie asked Benny with a smirk.

Benny knew it was sarcasm, but he felt a tingle when Julie called him 'love bird'. "Let's do it."

Julie and Benny climbed out and stretched for the first time in hours. First Julie pressed her palms against the small of her back and leaned backwards, then she held her hands high above her head, doing wonderful things with her white denim vest. Her breasts expanded and thrust forward, the fabric rising up and exposing the entirety of her of soft white belly, which was now pulled taut, stretching out her vertical slit of a navel. Benny couldn't help but stare, and he didn't even care that Julie caught him.

Mark and James vacated the front seats and evidently felt compelled to take at least a cursory glance under the hood. "Well?" Julie asked when they were done.

"It definitely looks like there's an engine in there," Mark said with a shrug, and Julie giggled at that. Benny found himself in love with her ability to laugh at their misfortune, her good cheer remaining stubbornly resilient.

Mark gave the key one last turn, and they could hear the engine cranking but never catching and running. Julie commented that, "It's a good sign. It means the battery and the starter are working, at least, so it's probably not electrical."

*continued in next post*[/i]