Just a few days later, we're all sitting around a lunch table, planning our short holiday. All seven of us, sitting with our lunch from the nearby cafe, of which I always struggled remembering. I had no idea of what was coming my way during the summer.

"So, who wants to come along in my car?" I'd recently passed both my theory and practical within a week, without telling my friends or my parents. Well, Electra sorta found out when I'd accidentally left a letter in my home mailbox - yes, my father likes using it - and had found it, but surprisingly, my parents had bought me a small Mazda instead. A fairly used Mazda RX-8, in crimson red with, surprisingly, matt black rims on the wheels. I was expecting a smaller car to be honest, but this just straight up surprised me.

The Mazda was a lot of fun, but I took lots of care with it. Even though I liked going fast, I did do all speed limits that I'd seen or remembered for my favourite routes. Although, I did manage to save a scheduled time a year or so from now to try a racetrack event in said car. That'll be fun! ...Well, I hope so!

Today was the last day of this term, and we were all going in our cars to a country campsite, away from the city and school. Not a lot of people were out this Thursday, as we were finishing up on the packing. I'm glad that one of my friends had a pickup for the weekend, but I was in charge of bringing the essentials that we'll be living off, so I had my fairly hyper... Well, constantly hyper friend Electra decide what we'll need for this trip.

"Be careful Rhyan," Spoke Athena, my mother. "I hope you get there safely." Her caring voice getting me to smile.

"I'll be careful, mum," I responded, turning to look at my parents as I packed the essentials that Electra and I had bought together. "Don't you worry too much while I'm gone."

"We will still worry about you, son," Responded my father, Tallius. "We hope you'll be safe on this small trip." In all honesty, I could tell they were worried and nervous that I was. This was a big step for me. I'm very nervous, as this is the first time I've ever done something impulsive before. It gave me a tickling sensation on my back. I turn back around to find that Electra was filling one of her suitcases just with food. The candy kind, alongside all the other types.

At least she's already packed her clothes. Well, hopefully that is. I laugh at the fact that she's attempting to close it with all the food lodged in it. My parents and her laugh as well at the funny sight. We shouldn't have made her laugh, as right as she laughs, the suitcase cover flings open, spilling most of the packed food onto the floor once again. That's the third time she's done that this morning. Eventually, with the help from my mother and I, we were able to pack most of the food into her suitcase.

And not a moment too soon, as the others decided to show up right as we were finishing. I was surprised when I found out how light it was. Outside, there was my car, with my suitcase full of my essentials and Electra's, full of hers. Because my car has small space, we all agreed to use Aurora's fully enclosed pickup. Technically, it's her brothers, but this was a week long trip, it being the start of my first summer with friends.

After having a satnav installed into my car, after buying it myself of course, I decide to take the lead for the first part of the trip. At first, Aurora thought we could all go and visit a campsite, but after taking a good look at my car, we eventually decided on a small lodge area.

So we ended up finding a place that's not too muddy that I couldn't drive, however not too local to be a simple hotel, or motel. [[There is a difference!]] However, if we were to get there on time, we would have to leave now. Alas to annoy us even more, a storm is brewing right as they pull up.

"Hey, Y'all!" Aurora says after opening her window. "We're set ov'r h'ere. Lead the way, Rhyan!"

"We're on it already!" Electra says, exaggerating her arm movements towards the luggage going into my car.

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"Just give me a second," I spoke, packing a small notepad and a map into my backpack. "There, that's all done."

After giving my parents a hug, we set off on our trip, only to end up taking a detour. Sonya had managed to persuade her father to let her join us, so we had to visit the school parking zone, adding moretime to our journey.

"Thanks guys," Spoke Sonya, walking over from the now driving off black sedan. "I'm glad I can finally get a holiday! Even with my new friends!"

We all perform a big-ish group hug, but only for a few seconds before we head into the mall for our food storage.

"Well I'll be!" Spoke Aurora, who had noticed her older brother, Jordan, alongside the rest of us, in the food aisles of the closest food store. I took a quick notice of the place - it was M&S. I watched her storm off, dragging Shaun with her.

Afterwards, we were outside when Sonya mentioned something.

"Hey guys," She'd said, pointing discretely over to the school entrance. "Who's that? I've not seen her around our town before."

"Well duh," piped up Electra, pulling a comedic 'duh' face. "She's the new girl at school. Remember how I was busy giving a tour of the school?" We all nodded, whilst I looked a bit surprised. That earned me a cheerful giggle from her. "Well, her name is... Uh, I can't exactly remember her name though. Melonie, or Merrilie or something similar." She shrugged, before coming over and sitting by me at the place we'd stopped at for lunch. We had no idea that dark, thick clouds had rolled in overhead, until we heard a soft rumble from above, thinking it was just a small cloud passing over.

After our lunch, at a quickly and pleasingly served restaurant called 'The Bermuda Fry-angle', we set off right as a very close, thunderous boom echoes overhead. The storm was really close by, and by that, I mean that it immediately went from a soft drizzle, to a windy and mildly strong downpour just as we stepped into our vehicles.

The sky gradually got darker and gloomier as we drive off into the forest, so we had to put our lights on as the winds picked up more strongly and the rain lashed down more heavily, making the rising, twisting and winding roads a lot more dangerous.

Everglades Forest was such a mystery to most of the town, as there are rumours that people go missing once they walk into the forest during the 7th and 13th moons of the year. Strangely however, the mysteries stopped when all at once, five years ago, all the lost travellers miraculously appeared from the haunted trail still in their hiking gear.

Unfortunately, this thought lost my concentration for only a split second, but that was enough to make the lead car, my car, suddenly slide around a sharp bend in the road, narrowly missing the vast drop down the edge of the hill.

I had almost gained control, when a lumbering lorry slowly came the other way. Immediately, for about half a second, I found my car perform a one-eighty, facing my other friends, with Electra beside me screaming from fright. I hadn't realised we were both doing it until just now.

My car, luckily, spun around several times and careened off the road into a safe clearing, mainly for couples to park and admire the view in the beautiful summer evenings, but in this case, not so much.

I manage to sense a tingle, as if lightning was about to strike nearby. I was so focused on saving my car that I hadn't noticed Electra had managed to bail rather quickly, as I tried to bring it to a stop. Up above however, an impossibly loud boom shakes the ground as Aurora's car pulls into the car park safely.

But within the time for my car to come to a stop, impacting strongly against a lamppost and the railing, I watch in fight or flight mode as time slows down and a huge, thick bolt of ... well ... thick, rainbow coloured lightning zaps down through the air and enters my car through the roof, hitting me. I scream in pain, but yet no pain, over the noise of everything.

Electra was now sitting under a black umbrella with Aurora, screaming her head off as the bolt of lightning struck my car, making the roof explode into a few fragments and setting it on fire.

Electra stopped screaming after a few minutes, sobbing worse than any of the others at their loss of a dear friend. Me.

"He-he, he wa-was," cried Electra into Aurora's shoulder that she had turned her face into, sobbing between gasps heavily and sadly as she was lead over to Aurora's pickup. "th-th-th-the, cl-cl-closest thi-thing, I ha-had, tuh-to a, br-bru-brother, tha-that I-I, NH-NEV-NEVER HA-HA-HA-HAD!!!"

It was just minutes later that they'd realised how much shock they were in for watching the boy they all loved the most, die before his first ever, spur-of-the-moment, impulse attempt to hang out with his friends on a holiday of their own.

But there is only one problem... A really, really big problem...

.... I was no longer in the car by the time it blew up.