I was surprised we hadn't lost our voices yet with how loud we were singing along to the music blasting on the car speakers.

Ally had the best taste in music by far, followed by Faizah, then Serena, and then me. Apparently, my music was sad and depressing, which was ironic because I had never once been depressed in my life. But if I ever was I knew I wouldn't need to go to therapy, not with my kind of friends, they would be therapy enough.

After an hour on the road, we settled on playing the music in the background. We all had our windows down, relishing the cool breeze as it cooled down our hot bodies.

"So how did you find this destination this time?" I asked Faizah, sticking my head back in the car.

"Actually, Ally recommended it," she told me.

"Ally recommended a destination and you actually agreed to it?" Serena asked, surprised. "We're not going to lose our lives on this trip, are we?"

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad," Ally said.

"Last time you recommended a destination, we got food poisoning and almost got kidnapped," Serena recalled.

"That was not my fault," Ally argued. "Plus, despite that, at least we got to go zip-lining."

"The cord looked about ready to snap," Serena stated.

"But it didn't."

"My life was still on the line."

I chuckled, "literally."

Serena huffed a laugh, "shut up, Zara."

"If it makes you feel any better," Faizah began. "I thoroughly researched the place this time. And also, we got a massive discount because the destination is owned by the relatives of one of her friends."

"Relatives of which friend?" I asked.

"Jonah," Ally said casually.

"Ah, your boyfriend," Serena hummed.

"He's not my boyfriend," Ally stated, but her blush said otherwise.

"You've only met him in person once, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, when he came to the city," she told us.

"And he met your expectations?"

"Oh yeah, he's hot."

"But, is he a nice person?"

Ally looked back at me, "I mean, he's hot."

"That's it?"

Ally sighed, "you see, this is why you're single, Zara. If you look for a good guy you're going to die lonely, good guys only exist in movies and books."

Faizah dramatically cleared her throat.

"Okay, I guess they aren't all bad," Ally conceded. "You can find yourself a nice guy. He'll just be ugly."

"Harriet's not ugly!" Faizah stated.

"No, Harriet's not ugly in your eyes," Ally corrected.

Faizah shot her a glare before smacking her arm.

"Hey!" Ally exclaimed, laughing. "Eyes on the road."

In terms of relationships, Ally was the least diligent when it came to picking guys. With her delicate yet beautiful figure and wild personality, she was a guy magnet, but she always seemed to end up with the bastards. Her longest relationship lasted three months, and her shortest lasted less than a week.

Faizah, however, was more conservative and cautious. She only considered diving into a relationship if she's known the guy for at least six months, which was why she had never gotten her heart broken, unlike Ally who had cried over far too many guys to count. Faizah and Harriet had been together for three years and counting.

Serena also attracted many guys' attention, but she didn't do anything more than just flirt. She had had a boyfriend of five years until he cheated on her, and after that, she found it hard to open herself up again.

I, on the other hand, had never been in a single relationship, and after seeing what Serena's prick of an ex did to her, I wasn't too fond of entering one.

"Anyway, Zara," Ally continued. "You're 23 and you've never had a boyfriend, let alone had your first kiss."

"I have had my first kiss, actually," I reminded her.

Faizah laughed softly, "I hope you're not talking about the kiss you had in 3rd grade."

"A kiss is a kiss."

"Don't you think that's kind of sad?" Ally asked.

"Not at all, actually," I replied.

"Well, I do. I find it very, very sad," Ally contradicted. "And it wouldn't even be hard for you to find a boyfriend, you're pretty enough."

"I'm sorry, pretty enough?" Serena scoffed. "Come on, Ally, Zara is the definition of beauty. Tall, dark and beautiful, aka, irresistible." I smiled at the way she hyped me up, but that was before she added, "she's just so awkward around guys. That's what's sad. "

"Yeah, she's pretty awkward around guys," Kaizah chimed in.

"Not to mention she's picky," Serena added.

"Hello? I'm right here," I announced. "And I am not picky."

"You've friend-zoned every guy who has shown interest in you."

"That's because..." I paused, thinking of an appropriate enough response.

"Look, you're failing to find words," Ally teased. "Just admit it, you're picky."

"When exactly did this turn into a criticize-Zara-session?" I questioned.

"We're just saying," Serena said.

"Yeah, we don't want you to die lonely," Ally added.

"I'm not lonely, I have you weirdos."

"Aw, I'm touched," Ally placed a hand on her chest.

"Now face the front," I told her. "We're done talking about my love life."

Ally snorted, "what love life?"

Faizah and Serena both broke out laughing and Ally smiled at me. "Sorry, I had to," she said before facing the front.

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't stop my lips from curving into a grin. I stuck my head out the window again, but the wind wasn't doing anything to cool me down now. I groaned, "why is it so hot?"

"Should we go to the back?" Serena asked.

"We're already at the back."

"I mean the back, back. As in where the suitcases are, smartass." She leaned forward and addressed Faizah, "Stop the car quick, Zara and I are going to the back."

"Just go through that small window thingy," Ally suggested, then reconsidered. "Okay, you might not be able to but Zara can."

"Excuse me?" I asked. "I'm way too thick for that."

A short silence suddenly filled the car before they all burst out laughing. I only blinked at them. I meant it as a joke but I didn't think they would laugh that hard. It was no secret that I was the slimmest, but I was still surprised when tears of mirth started forming in their eyes from how hard they were laughing.

"It's not that funny," I said, and despite myself, I laughed.

Faizah had to pull off to the side of the road to catch her breath, resting her head against the steering wheel.

"How did you manage to say that with a straight face," Ally asked, amused.

"Gosh," Faizah said, wiping a tear. "Please don't make jokes like that when I'm driving."

"It wasn't meant to make you laugh that hard," I muttered.

Serena exhaled, catching her breath, "anyway, let's go to the back now, it's far too hot in here."

"Hold on," Faizah said before opening a compartment and handing us a bottle of sunscreen. "There's a lot of sun, so you'll need it."

"We don't have to—" Serena began.

"You do," Faizah interjected.

With a sigh, Serena obeyed, applying sunscreen on her exposed skin—knowing that Faizah wouldn't let it go—before handing it to me. Ally held her hand back to take the sunscreen when I was done but Faizah dropped her hand.

"You don't need it," Faizah told Ally.

"But I'm paler than the both of them," Ally reasoned.

"You're not going to the back. You can't leave me to keep myself company," Faizah said.

"But it's hot," Ally complained.

"Then we can suffer together," Faizah smiled and then looked back at us. "Go on then."

Serena and I hopped out of the car only to jump into the back of the pickup, stepping on the wheel to boost us up. Once we were up, we held onto the mounting rack rail to support us before Faizah took off. The breeze was so much better out here, as was the view. The large buildings and structures of the city were slowly replaced by large hills and rock formations. I tightened my cap around my head to stop it from flying off while Serena tied up her hair to stop it from flying across her face.

"This is so nice!" Serena shouted above the wind.

"You don't have to shout," I told her. "I would be able to hear you perfectly fine if you spoke normally."

"What was that!" She shouted louder and I couldn't help my laugh. "I'm hungry now though," Serena said "Aren't you hungry?" She didn't wait for my answer before she stuck her head through the small window connecting us to the front, "we should make a snack stop."

"I know," I heard Faizah answer. "We also need fuel."

"How long till the nearest gas station?"

"About 15 minutes."

Serena nodded before standing. She turned around to face the back when a slight gasp escaped her lips and she turned and faced the front again.

"Look back," she instructed, and I did, but I didn't gasp as she had. She had always been a car person and, following behind us was a red convertible. It was nice, I guessed.

"Wow, it's very... red?"

"Not the car!" she chided, turning around to look back again. "The people in the car."

"Quit staring."

"Hurry up and look before they turn onto another road or something," she urged, glancing back again.

"No."

"Zara they're so freakin' hot, just look," she insisted. "Your eyes will thank you."

"I hate when people stare at me from the backs of cars," I told her. "I'm not going to do the same thing."

"Just look at them so we can talk about how good-looking they are."

I only sighed, "how did you become my best friend?"

"So you'll look?"

"Will you shut up if I do?"

"Promise," Serena smiled sweetly.

"Fine," I agreed and with a deep sigh, I turned and glimpsed back at the guys in the convertible following behind us.

I guessed they were good-looking. The driver had peachy skin and short blond hair while the passenger...

Oh wow.

Okay, from what I could see, the passenger was extremely attractive. Attractive enough that I didn't just glimpse at them and look away like I had planned to do. I honestly couldn't help but stare. The passenger had beautiful brown skin and everything about his face was just so right. His thick brows and sharp jawline made him seem intimidating, but his dark shaggy curly hair and the way his lips curved into a smile at whatever the driver said communicated otherwise.

"So?" Serena asked from beside me. "What do you think?"

"Yeah," I said, still mesmerised by the passenger. "They're attractive."

"Attractive?! Zara those guys are hot!" Serena declared a little too loud.

They must have heard us because the next thing I knew, the passenger's eyes flickered from the landscape and landed on us instead. On me. My breath caught and I whipped around, cringing as I faced the front. I felt my body grow stiff and the discomfort kept growing. I knew I was probably being paranoid but I could feel their eyes on our backs, but I wasn't going to look back to check because, thanks to Serena's declaration, they would probably knew we were checking them out.

"Did I say that too loud?" Serena asked, and I slowly turned my head to face her, shooting her a glare. "Do you think they heard me?"

"Of course, they heard you!" Ally shouted from inside the car. "I even heard you announce that they were hot."

"Whoops," was all Serena said.

"Take a picture would you, I want to see," Ally requested.

"No," I exclaimed. "Don't do that."

"Please," Ally begged.

"I'll be slick about it," Serena said before taking out her phone.

If they caught her they were going to think we were psycho stalkers, so I did the one thing I could think of. I fully opened the mini window connecting to the front before sticking my legs through to slide to the front, but Serena caught my arms before I made it halfway.

"You can't just leave?" Serena stated.

"If you're taking a picture, I'm leaving," I said, trying to fiddle through but she didn't let me go. I groaned, "Faizah, can you stop the car?"

"No, don't!" Ally exclaimed. "They'll overtake and I want to see."

"They're not even that hot!" I shouted, then immediately froze, praying the wind drowned out my voice so the guys behind us didn't hear my declaration.

Serena used that as an opportunity to pull me back out then shut the small window and sat in front of it, blocking passage.

She laughed, "I wasn't actually going to take a picture, you know."

I only glared at her and, knowing it was too dangerous to try to move her out of the way so I could squeeze to the front, I decided to lie down against the panel. I could no longer see the guys in the convertible and they couldn't see me, so I was content again. I would remain like this without looking back. They would eventually turn into a separate road.

Serena came and lay down beside me.

"So," she began. "Which one's cuter?"

****

It didn't take long for us to reach the gas station and when I sat up I was pleased to see that the red convertible was nowhere in sight, it must have overtaken us a while back. I hopped out and Serena followed suit.

"Junk food and drinks?" I checked with Faizah and Ally before grabbing Serena's purse from the seat.

"Do you even have to ask?" Ally said.

"Add some water too," Faizah advised, exiting the car to fill the tank.

"Got it," I said with a salute before catching up to Serena.

"Seriously, you grabbed my purse?"

"Did I?" I gasped dramatically. "Oh man, that was an accident."

Serena huffed a laugh but snatched her purse from me as we entered the store. We both grabbed individual baskets before splitting up. As usual, I went to the snacks section while Serena went to the drinks section. I filled the basket with varieties of snacks, from chocolates to sweets to anything that looked sweet and unhealthy. Whenever a road trip lasted longer than an hour, the procedure was to stuff ourselves with junk food to keep our energy up. It was like a tradition of ours at this point.

Once the basket was relatively full, I made my way to the till, waiting for Serena.

"Ah, so because you're not paying you bought the whole section?" Serena questioned, placing her basket on the till.

"Oh please, it's not that much."

"Shall I go grab your card then?" She asked.

"Go ahead," I shrugged then exhaled. "It'll probably decline anyway."

Serena snorted, "you and your broke ass."

"Oh please, I bet you're afraid yours might decline."

Serena shot me a look that confirmed my suspicions but still placed the items on the counter and the cashier started scanning them through. It probably wasn't going to decline, but Serena and I were currently in the habit of not checking our bank balance. We always either had more money than we thought or less than we thought. And after paying for this trip, I had no idea how much money I had left. The cost was a bit pricy, but it was an all-inclusive trip so it was worth it.

Once all the soft drinks were scanned and the cashier took the basket of snacks, I remembered Faizah's request for water.

"One second," I told Serena before going to the fridges.

I didn't know how many bottles of water Faizah wanted, but considering the hot weather and the fact that we still had a good two hours left on the road, I decided to take as many bottles as my arms could carry. Poor Serena's credit card was going to weep today.

I kicked the fridge shut once my hands were piled with bottles but I barely made it one step before a bottle toppled down. Then another. Than another. In hindsight, it probably would have been wiser to use a basket rather than my arms. I decided I'd come back for the three bottles on the floor after leaving the ones I had at the till.

"Forgot about these," I said, dumping the bottles of water onto the till, but before I could go back and pick up the others someone placed exactly three bottles of water onto the counter before me.

"You dropped these," the stranger said, and when I turned around to say thank you, I stopped short.

It was the hot convertible passenger.