Chapter in the Notes/credits and up here Scratch picture is the "cover" That's Venus! :D First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/811362488/ Previous~https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/909351228/ Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1003234514/ Chapter 29 I woke up suddenly, knocking my head into Colleen’s, who had fallen asleep, her head resting on mine. She blinked a couple of times, then poked out her tongue, going cross-eyed trying to look at it. “Oww, I think I bit my tongue!” She complained. “I think you dented my head.” I pointed out. We both laughed. But mine died down quickly as I remembered the dream I had. “Venus? What’s wrong?” Colleen asked. I sighed. “I had a dream. Rachel was there… and well, now we have some research to do.” I explained the vision and the different animals in my dream. Castor made me jump by interrupting, “So now we have to find out whose animal symbols those were.” Colleen bit her lip, looking like she was refraining a sarcastic reply. She nodded instead, then turned to me and rolled her eyes. Clueless, She mouthed. I held in a giggle, but it turned into a snort. Colleen lost it and we started laughing again. Castor looked clueless. “What’s so funny?” He asked. “Nothing.” I shook my head. “Mac? When will we stop for the night?” Mac shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought you were in charge of that.” “Oh.” I pinched myself to calm down. “Maybe we can just… find the next hotel? Does anyone have a map?” Everyone shook their heads. I panicked. “How do we know we’re even heading in the right direction?” Was the map my fault? I suppose I overlooked that detail… some leader. Mac replied, “The sun. California’s to the west, so we’re following the sun.” “Oh.” I said again, face getting red. “I guess we’ll just stop when we can?” Mac nodded, and that was that. Embarrassing for sure, but at least we had a semi-plan. I leaned back in the car seat, turning to Colleen. “I’m bored. What do you want to do?” I asked. “Uh… I don’t know.” She said, I sighed. “Aren’t you a theater kid? Improv and stuff?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s not improv. That’s a hobby, something I do not have.” I smirked. “Theater is a hobby, silly.” “No, it’s a skill. And a fine art.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s the same thing.” “Nope.” She said, “I win.” “Fine… but I’m still bored.” Colleen sighed. “Okay, um… we could listen to music?” “Is that your way of saying you're done talking?” “Pretty much, yeah.” She grinned. I laughed. “Castor, can we get some music on?” I asked. “Sure. What kind?” “Taylor Swift.” Colleen said, almost hyperventilating. Castor rolled his eyes. “Sure, why not?” Castor leaned back in the passenger seat, closing his eyes, Colleen was singing along to the songs, showing off her amazing vocals. “Wow. I had no idea you could sing like that, Colleen.” I complimented her. She shook her head. “Like what? Crap?” “No. Like a professional. Better than Taylor Swift herself.” I said, nudging her shoulder with mine. “Well…thanks. Even If I don’t believe you.” We settled back into our seats, falling asleep. The car came to a stop, making me wake up. Luckily, my head was clear of bloodied swans and battle. I looked out the window at a dessert-like little town, the morning just exploring the sky. We were parked somewhere called “Kermit Inn” Which I assumed was a small, cheap location. Castor and Mac got out of the car, and I shook Colleen awake. We both got out after the boys. “So…” I said, “How are we going to get rooms without looking super suspicious?” No one had an answer. “Venus, how confident are you in your charmspeak?” Mac asked. I cringed. Last time, my charm speak had failed, and we ended up with the centaur, excuse me, donkey, police force. “I can try. But, what should the story be?” I asked. “It has to be realistic for it to work.” “Well…” Colleen said, “You and Castor can pass as brother and sister. And Mac and I can be your cousins?” I smiled. “That might work!” Mac nodded in agreement. Castor did too, but hesitantly. Colleen laughed. “It’s just a story, Castor. All of us know it’s not true.” “Alright. Let’s do it.” Castor said, leading the way in. A sleepy looking, middle aged man was sitting at the front counter, staring into space. He jumped when the front door slammed closed. They should get that fixed. “Hello, sir!” I said, trying to sound bright and happy. “We’re here to get two rooms.” He narrowed his eyes. “How old are you two girls?” He eyed Mac and Castor. I giggled. “Oh, this is my brother,” I pointed to Castor, “And my cousins, Celia and Mathew.” “And what might you be doing out and about at 5:00 in the morning?” He asked.
“Early bird gets the worm!” I said, chipper. “We’ll be out hiking later and wanted to make sure we had rooms in advance.” He nodded. “Parents?” “Not here. It’s our first trip without them! It’ll be so exciting!” I smiled brightly. “I’m afraid that’s against the law. You need someone eighteen years of age.” He rested his head back down. “Well, sir, you see, my cousin, Mathew, he’s eighteen.” I smiled again. “Identification?” He asked, holding out his hand. I felt a stab of panic. “Oh. I’ll go get it from the car. Be right back!” I practically skipped out of the check-in. Ugh! I slapped my forehead. Identification. Mac was 16. Not 18. So… driver's license! I searched the front seat, grabbing Mac’s wallet. I walked back inside, feeling confident. I opened the wallet, and pulled out his license. “Here you are sir!” He read it, and raised an eyebrow. “Says he got this a couple months ago.” I nodded. “Right. He didn’t want to get on the road for a while. Accident. That’s when he got his scar.” The man nodded. “Alright. I’ll get you some rooms.” He handed us some keys. We walked back out, sighing in relief. “Nice job, Venus!” Colleen said. “Maybe you should get into theater.” “Do I really look eighteen?” Mac asked. Castor patted him on the back, and led him to their room. Colleen and I walked to ours. I opened the door and gasped. For a motel, this was really nice. There were 2 beds, a clean bathroom, and a TV. I sighed and flopped myself onto the bed, which was so comfortable after two days of driving. Colleen sat down next to me, stretching her arms. “This is so much better than a police car. I think the back seats were made to be uncomfortable.” “Maybe,” I replied, “Usually they host bad guy bottoms.” Colleen laughed. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, content to just sit for a while. “I’m going for the shower,” Colleen said. “You know, we don’t have extra clothes. And we’ve only got like, 70 dollars now.” I said. She groaned. “Want to go shopping?” I asked. “We’ll only use 30 dollars.” I said, trying to get her to agree. “Fine…But they’ll probably get mad.” She pointed out. “Yeah, well, they don’t mind staying in the same outfit for two days. I certainly do.” “Alright then!” Colleen said, pulling on shoes. “I’m ready.” I grabbed a bag, slipped on my shoes and we walked out the door to borrow the car. (We would learn to drive on the way…)
