"Beautiful girl? Hey, wake up."

Kelsey smiled and rolled over, reaching out expectantly. She opened her eyes when she touched nothing but empty space. The bed wasn't even warm, which meant that Jack had been awake for more than a few minutes.

She opened her eyes and got her second surprise.

It was pitch dark.

She saw Jack, or the shape of him, rather, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her in the light from the security lights outside.

"What time is it?" she asked in confusion.

"About four in the morning," Jack answered, smoothing her hair out of her face.

"What? Is something wrong?" she asked, knowing as the words came out of her mouth that the answer would be negative. His voice was relaxed, and she could tell he was smiling.

He shook his head. "I have a surprise for you. You need to get up and pack a few things, okay? We're taking a road trip, just me and you. You're being shanghaied."

"Jack, really?" Kelsey nearly squealed. Yesterday, they'd spent nearly the entire swim practice talking about how Kelsey had never experienced either a road trip or or "been shanghaied"; she didn't even know what it was. Jack explained how, when he was in high school, he'd helped his brother's girlfriend shanghai him from his room to take him out to breakfast on his birthday, and how it was a common thing for teammates to do to each other as a prank.

"Really?" he'd asked her, shocked. "That's criminal. No red-blooded American teen should grow up without getting shanghaied at least once, or going on a road trip, Kelsey, that's just all kinds of wrong."

"I'm sorry, I was in Europe during my formative years," Kelsey replied.

"And they didn't take road trips there?" Jack asked. "I'd think Europe ideal for long car trips, just teenagers, singing and eating garbage the whole way."

"I guess I was just working," Kelsey had said, and to Jack she sounded more than a little wistful.

"Yes," he said now, leaning over to kiss her nose as she lay in bed. "And you're lucky, because usually being shanghaied involves being awakened in a really violent and scary way, which I would never do to you, because I love you so much. So come on, get that gorgeous behind out of the sack and pack, we have a long drive ahead of us, okay?"

"Okay!" she answered, throwing the covers back. He'd already gotten her pull bag out of the closet. "Do I have time for a five minute shower?" she asked.

"Yeah, just hustle, we have to hit the store on our way out of town and stock up on crap to eat and drink on the drive," he told her, swatting briskly at her fanny as she ran for the bathroom.

"I'm hustling, I'm hustling," she assured him, laughing with joy. She turned on the nozzle and stepped in. "Why don't you just pack for me?" she called. "You know where we're going and everything, you know?" She quickly lathered her hair as Jack began putting things in her bag. By the time she got out, he'd filled her bag neatly with underwear, bras, socks, pajamas, pants, shorts, and T-shirts.

"You should do the rest," he said. "Maybe a few sweaters?"

"Sweaters?" she repeated. "Jack, it's July. Where are we driving, Canada?"

"It's a surprise," he said, grinning. "But trust me, you should pack a sweater or sweatshirt or something, okay?"

She nodded. "Anything dressy? Are we going out?"

Jack considered. "Maybe once? I don't know. If you want to pay, I suppose. I mean, I won't be able to afford it, but you're a bazillionaire, so possibly?"

"Jack!" Kelsey nearly wailed. "I can't possibly pack if I don't know where we're going. I mean, I've never gone anywhere without knowing where I'm going. And I've never gone anywhere with only one bag, like, in my life!"

"That's the point." Jack pointed at his duffel, which was sitting by the door. "That's all I'm taking, missy thing. It goes against the principles of being shanghaied and taking a road trip to get all packed like that. It's supposed to be a totally fly by the seat of your pants kind of thing." He looked at his watch. "You'd better hurry, we're leaving in three minutes."

Kelsey leapt up as if she'd been poked with a pin.

"Okay, okay! Don't leave without me, please!" And she scurried, as Jack sat on the bed and watched her, smiling.

She tossed in her cosmetics back and zipped her case closed. "Ready!" she announced.

"With a minute to spare," Jack noted. "Impressive."

He chivalrously picked up both bags and carried them to his car.

"So, I wanted to do this all me, but I have to ask," he said, turning to Kelsey. "Your car would be so much more fun to road trip in--"

"You want to take mine?" she asked. "Which one?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked, eyes wide. "The Jag, of course."

"Okay," Kelsey said amiably. "Let's take mine, then."

"Awesome!" Jack said, nearly sprinting for her garage.

Kelsey, laughing, followed him.

"You can drive a stick, right?" she teased. "Because I don't know where we're going, you see."

"I grew up in California, missy thing," he said. "With three older brothers, too. Of course I can drive a stick."

So they loaded up the bags in the back and got in.

"We can put the top down later, after it warms up a bit, yeah?" Jack asked.

"Sounds good," Kelsey answered.

"Okay, you ready?" he asked as the Doobie Brothers voices filled the car.

Yes! Yes yes yes!" Kelsey shouted, lunging over to kiss Jack.

Let's go, then!" Jack shouted out the window the the deserted street.

They hit a coffee shop for breakfast, and a grocery store for snacks and drinks, and got on their way, well and truly, as the sky was just starting to lighten to the east. Jack resolutely kept mum about their destination, leaving it to Kelsey to guess.

"One thing I will say is that we're taking the long way," Jack said by way of a clue. "We could go straight there and it would only take about five or six hours, but we're taking the scenic route, and we'll probably be on the road for most of the day, okay?"

Kelsey just nodded, taking a huge bite of her breakfast burrito. Jack smiled, watching her eat.

"What" she asked.

"I heard Ray and JJ both ask if you'd gained weight," Jack remarked. He kept his voice neutral, because he knew that girls could get weird about comments like this.

"No, what you heard was Ray saying I was looking 'heavy', and JJ asking if I was 'doing okay', which is JJ code for getting porky," Kelsey replied, taking another huge bite of her burrito. She shrugged. "I may have gained a couple pounds, but it's all new muscle from all the swimming I'm doing, you know? Who gives a shit?"

"Who gives a shit, indeed?" Jack repeated. "I know I don't. You look outstanding, if I may say so," he said, smiling over at her.

"You may, sir," Kelsey responded, putting the last bite of her burrito in her mouth.

"Are we going to Lake Arrowhead?" she asked, looking around.

"Please. Lake Arrowhead's in the opposite direction," Jack said, making a face at her.

"That's what I thought, but my sense of direction isn't always the strongest, so I was willing to believe I was wrong," Kelsey said.

"Yosemite?" she guessed next.

"Oh, good guess, and closer, but no," Jack replied. "We should go there, though, thanks for suggesting it."

They took an onramp and merged on to the northbound PCH, highway one. The ocean loomed, huge and dark, to their left, as they began winding north toward Malibu and all points north.

"Monterey?" Kelsey tried.

"Nope," Jack answered smugly. "But really really close now."

Kelsey's knowledge of geography was weak, and her awareness of what was north of Yosemite and Monterey was foggy at best. She knew Oregon was up there, and Washington state, and Canada, like she'd said, but of course they weren't going all the way to Canada.

"It's a place you've never been before," Jack offered. "Though, with all the traveling you've done, I find that so hard to believe."

Jack fiddled with the music, and Steve Perry's beautiful voice filled the car.

"When the lights, go down, in the city
And the sun shines on the bay
I want to be there in my city
Ooh, ooh"

Jack sang along with Steve, and Kelsey joined in on Journey's beautiful ballad. Jack smiled over at her, and it suddenly hit Kelsey, the direction of the car, the song, Jack's clue--

"SAN FRANCISCO!" she shouted, nearly taking Jack's ear off. "Jack, Jack," she was bouncing up and down in the car in the UCSM sweatshirt of Jack's that she'd commandeered a few weeks ago, "oh my fucking god, Jack, are we going to San Francisco?" She had spots of excitement in her cheeks, and her gray eyes were sparkling with joy.

"We are, we are," he responded, delighted with her response.

"Jack, I've never been there!" she said, shaking his arm.

"I know, goofball, you told me, that's why I chose it," Jack said, staring at her. "Didn't you hear me say that?"

She just shook her head, continuing to smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. Look, Jack, Jack, pull over up there at that vista point thing, okay?"

"What?" he asked.

"Right there, where people pull over to take pictures and stuff? Can you pull over for a sec, please?" she implored.

It was nearly full daylight now, and the sun was glinting off the ocean to their left, sending long rays of light across their field of vision. It was going to be a glorious day. Jack pulled into the spot, which was deserted at daybreak on a Tuesday.

They got out and stood, looking out at the grand Pacific Ocean. They could hear the gulls over head, calling as they circled high above them, and a flock of pelicans, looking strangely off balance, flew by, huge beaks hanging in front as they passed. They could smell the salty smell of the ocean on the wind that was blowing all around them.

Kelsey put her arms around Jack, loving knowing that his arms would come around her. They did, almost immediately, warm and comforting, around the narrowest part of her waist, and across her back, to cup her shoulder with his hand, so he could bury his nose in her neck.

"Jack, I'm so happy," she whispered, not knowing if he could hear her.

"Me too, beautiful girl, me too," he whispered, kissing her neck softly.

She carded her fingers through his hair, pulling her head back so she could kiss his mouth. "No one's ever done as much for me in my entire life than you've done for me in the last few months, honest," she said.

"I believe you," he said, nodding a little. "And I think that's terrible, just awful. You deserve so much more, so much more--" He pulled her wind swept hair away from her face so he could see her clearly.

He tilted his face so he could kiss her again, and she kissed him back, hard, as if she could somehow let him know with the pressure of her lips, with their heat, and the warmth of her tongue, and quickness of her breath, how much he meant to her.

He held her head steady with his strong hand and returned her kiss with just as much passion, opening her mouth with his over and over, bending her back slightly with the force of it. His other hand stole under the front of the sweatshirt to cup her breast, so he could feel the nipple swell and harden against his thumb.

They finally came apart on the windy cliff, in the sunny, early California morning, to smile at each other, full of youth and love and life.

"Ready to get back on the road?" Jack asked.

Kelsey nodded, Jack nodded back, and together they headed back to the car, after first taking a selfie with the sun on their faces and the blue ocean at their backs.