Going Camping - Chapter 1

Why? Why? And yet another WHY? Did I ever agree to this? Don´t I ever learn? Then on the other hand do I have much of a choice?


Nope!

Anyway here I am, fifteen years old, in the prime of my maleness, stuck in a small vehicle riding somewhere in the Norwegian mountains. I´m on my way to a camping trip where I am going to sleep with my 4 "brothers" in a tent together with about one million mosquitos and ants. For 5 days without electricity!


Life couldn´t suck more, could it?


And the answer to the 20,000 dollar question is: Yes it can. Especially if your name is Nickolas Gene Carter!


I have a tendency to always pick the shortest straw and now I am seated in the middle of the car. You know, the place that has NO space whatsoever for any part of your body and the place where no one wants to sit. This, together with a car that feels like 100 degrees and a curvy road up and down these high mountain roads and deep valleys were making this trip very memorable. In a miserable sort of way.


Hey, you wanna trade places with me? Nah, didn´t think so either.


"Why do I always have to sit here. In the bad spot?" I whined as I shifted in the seat, trying to find room to place my legs.


"Be thankful that it isn´t the wet spot you´re sitting in," AJ, my buddy next to me said with a grin before he turned back watching the scenery with an uninterested look.


There was laughter in the car, esecially from the front where they were sitting much more comfortably than I was.


"Ha, ha, ha," I murmured, not in a mood to be joked with. Instead I continued a bit louder, "You always get the best seats while I, who have the longest legs, is stuck here not having any room to breathe or anything." Okay I was being a bit overdramatic with my words, but that was neccessary because otherwise they wouldn´t give me the slightest attention. Not that they did that anyway.


After the silence or should I call it ignorance continued for a while I felt obligated to tell them what I felt over this whole situation. In other words I wanted to go home. But that was not what I said, nooo how stupid do you think I am? Instead I told them in a whiny voice that this was a bad idea and that I wanted to get off at the next stop. This resulted in an unpleased grunt from the driver's section. But no vocal comments.


They ignored me on purpose!


Howie was the only one that wasn´t ignoring me, mainly because he was sound asleep, with his mouth open. Glaring at him I had to steer clear of a desperate urge to stick something in his mouth. Like a cd album or a mushed up banana or even better Brian’s dirty socks! I know the sock part is gross and I stopped my thoughts here even if it was tempting. There would be too much commotion.


This was something I did from time to time, especially when I was bored out of my skull. Like I was now. It usually cracked me up when sweet D' choked on whatever I had put in his mouth. Okay, I know that was a mean act, but if you saw the faces that Howie makes when he is in such situation you would laugh too. And that is a promise!


Glaring at my other side I saw that Alexander James McLean was watching me with a grin on his lips. He knew what I was up to and was daring me with his looks to see if I would do it or not. I shook my head and he instantly turned away from me, staring out instead. AJ didn´t think I was much fun if I didn´t screw up or something or make a prank and when he thought I was too boring or annoying he usually looked away, ignoring me.


To my surprise he said, "I think that Kaos is right."


What? Did I hear what I heard? That AJ acknowledged that I was right?


Thank you God, that I didn´t chew on a gum or I would have swallowed the gum down my throat. Choking to death and then we would have had to stop the car. And Kevin would have gone mad beacuse we would have missed our schedule and the management would have yelled at him and he would have been kicked out of the band. But then there would be no band since I would be dead and ..yeah you see what chain reaction it would be. Or what a screwed up imagination I have.


"Huh?" I wasn´t the only one that was surprised in the car.


Ignoring my stupid look he said, frustration evident in his voice, "Yeah, who came up with such a fucked up idea?"


To this I have only one thing to say: The management at Jive records together with that sweaty Lou Pearlman, notice the very high sarcasm in my voice when I mention Mr. Pearlman. Kevin who was always the designated leader as well as in charge of this expedition thought that it had something to do with that stupid motivational course that the management had been to in Hawaii.


When they had told us this "bright" idea, they said that we needed time off and was going to get to go on a small trip. There had been joy in the group, until we found out where we were going. Don´t take me wrong I LOVE Europe but somehow camping in Norway didn´t sound too exciting at all.


I´ll bet that they wanted to test our survival skills. The plan on this trip is that we are suppose to go canoeing in the small rivers and then stop in the wilderness to rest and sleep in tents. I shudder when I think about this. I mean how would I survive without my Nintendo for 5 days?


"Look," Brian said pointing out to a high mountain, "There is lots of snow." He sounded a bit excited. I wasn´t.


"Yes Brian," Kevin informed him like he was a kid, "We are actually at a pretty high altitude and the snow never melts away here."


Never melts away? I hope I don’t have to hike up there. After listening with much uninterest, I might add, to them talking about the beautiful surroundings I decided to make them known that I was sitting here, still in great discomfort.


"When are we going to stop?" I whined, fidgeting restlessly. "Accidently" I happen to kick AJ in his leg and instantly I was rewarded with a slap on my head.


"Ouch," I moaned, glaring at my him. "Why did you have to do that?" I said accusingly as I rubbed my sore spot.


"Because you always whine, Kaos." AJ said with distaste before ignoring me again.


"I do not!" Now I felt offended. "I just wanted to know when we are going to stop and.."


"Nick!" Kevin, the driver for this trip, interrupted with an authoritive voice. "We haven´t been on the road for less than an hour and already you are complaining and want to stop." He glared at me in the review mirror.


"Yes Nick, why?" Brian asked as he turned on the air conditioner a step further. Somehow the air managed to pass us and it was getting hotter by the minute. He on the other hand had the best seat in the car, mainly because it is a unwritten rule that whom ever Kevin choose to sit up front gets to sit there. This time it was Brian, mainly because he was experiencing a tension headache and Kevin was way too concerned for his health to place him beside me. This was another reason why AJ was pissed on this bright and shining Thursday in the beginning of July.


"Because there’s no space here and it´s hot and..and I have to pee," I blurted out, realizing in the same moment that this was indeed true.


A deep and annoyed sigh was heard coming from Kevin, "Man Nick, why didn´t you go before we left?" He made no attempt to stop the car.


“Because I didn´t need to then,” I whined, shifting once more.


“Well we can´t stop here, have you seen how high up we are and that there is no fence on the roadsides?"


That was NOT a wise suggestion to do since Brian gets something really frightened look in his eyes and he starts to coldsweat, holding the door handle in a death grip. As you might know heights are Brian’s worst fear and he goes absolutely crazy whenever he has to be at a higher altitude than standing on a chair!


Somehow that information hadn´t passed my buddy and now he was ready to turn back to Oslo, where we flew in from the states.


Deathly white he mumbled, closing his eyes, "We..we will fall." There was shuddering in his voice and I could see Kevin, who deeply regretted his choice of words, patting his cousin on his arm.


"No Brian, we will do just fine..see we are not THAT close to the road." He pointed with a finger and then said in a whispering tone, "I just said so because I didn´t want to stop for Nicky. He can wait a while."


Wait? It was clear that he didn´t know the Carter bladder! I felt upset. So Kevin decided that I wasn´t worth stopping for? Is that friendship or what.


I opened my mouth to object to this cruelness that I was a victim of when I felt AJ grab my arm. Looking at him I saw that he was shaking his head, silently mouthing, "Don´t!"

It was clear that Bone wanted to keep the peace torch a bit longer than just for an hour. With a shrug I decided to get back at my older brother later and instead opted to rest for a while. After all this was going to be a long trip!

Going Camping - Chapter 2

"Kevin?"


"Mhm," I can tell by his tone that he isn´t paying me much attention.


"When are we going to stop?" My voice is a bit whiny, I know but what do you expect after sitting still for 2 hours. Okay, we have made a stop. A pit stop since my bladder called for desperate attention after a while and when I treatened to mess the carseat Kevin actually stopped. There's something magical with those words since he whenever the issue of littering, or messing up something when it comes to things or cars he complies. However if someone is choking me to death or is jabbing a knife through my gut he would NOT stop!


"Nick, we stopped a half an hour ago," he sighs. "You have to wait!"


"My ass hurts and I have no room for my legs," I complain as I shift on the seat. I am still stuck here, in between AJ and Howie. But now it is reversed roles, AJ is the one asleep and Howie is up.


"Though luck," Kevin sneers, "If we stop every twenty minutes for you it will take until next week before we are at our camping ground."


I sigh and retreat back into my shell again. I am sooo bored. Brian is playing with the radio and isn´t talking much. I think that he is actually pretty scared since he is not looking out of the window at all. The sweatdrops on his upperlip reveals that he isn´t too found of the situation at all.


Howie is patting on my shoulder, saying that everything will be ok. Howie always does that, tries to comfort you whenever you feel down. It feels good, but also get a bit annoying since he always tries to look at things from the bright side. Especially if you one day feel like being really moody and sulk, feeling sorry to your self.


Looking in my backpack I search for something to do and rumaging through all sorts of stuff I found the wanted item. My Gameboy!


With a wide smile that reach my ears I pick it up and start playing Super Mario. You didn´t think that I would go almost a full week without getting to play one game, did you? I´m not that crazy, besides I would have faked an appendicitis if it had come to that. And the management would have kissed their "getting together-weekend" in the ass!


You see Nick Carter never leaves home without anything playable. And I am NOT talking about myself, even if AJ suggested that we could have real made bonding inside the tent. Like boys do. Gag me, I think I am about to hurl!


"Nick what are you doing?" Kevin asks after a while. A bit irritated that he has an annoying habit to checking me up I don´t answer the question. Instead I continue with the blipping since I am reaching high scores and have no intention to quit.


"He´s playing," Howie informs Kevin, I glare at him. Why does D' always have to be such a tattle tale? Ignoring my "eye" he says, like HE knows what he is talking about, "Hey watch that one..the money bag..go and grab it!" Howie is giving ME suggestions? What is this? Have hell freezed over or what?


"I know," I say as I swiftly press the button and grab the money bag. More points rolls in. This is a pro you know.


"He is playing?" Kevin asks as the words have sank through into his thick head. "Not gameboy huh?" His voice have a shreeking tone, like in one of desperation. What is the matter with this dude?


I don´t have to wait too long until I get the answer!


"Yes he is playing gameboy." Thank you Howie for clearing that one out.


"You really think that's so smart?" Brian asks as he look over my shoulder. Since when did B'rok take notice of such a thing, besides what does he wants me to do? Die of boredom listening sitting here in the back? I really don't think he should object since he is living like a king upfront. He isn´t the one that has to look at Howie constantly fixing his hair, oh give it up we are in the middle of nowhere and no one cares what you look like. Áll we meet here are bears and wolves and...


SHIT, we are really going into the wilderness! I wanna get off now. Yet I act macho, "Why?"


"Because you get carsick," Kevin spits, ruining my thoughts.


"I´m NOT, besides that was when I was younger," I say refering back to last month when they had to stop the car so I could get off.


"Yeah right, like a month would make any difference," Brian sneers and I can tell that he doesn´t want to end up standing beside me on the roadside again. The prospect of doing so doesn´t sound so tempting.


OKAY, OKAY I know I DO suffer from motion sickness. Yet that is NOT something I am about to confess since I am winning many points right now and I wouldn´t stop even if a hurricane were to sweep us off the road and down the mountain. At least I would die like a winner. In Super Mario!


"Mhm.." I pay no further attention to what the two cousins have to say, but I make out the words car..sick..game..To that I laugh out loud. When have Nick Carter ever getting sick from playing?


So I continue with the blipping, after all finally I have something to do and my conclusion is that they are just jealous beacuse I keep getting high scores. Especially Brian since he always wants to win everything.


Less than an hour later I know that they are NOT jelous and that I should have listened to my older brothers and now I regret it dearly.


"It´s soooo hoooot, turn up the air conditioning," I moan as I feel like I am about to roast in this stuffy and warm car. My stomach is churning widely and I feel the effects from staring into a computer game way too much. A burp escapes and it´s not a good one, believe me.


"I have turned it up all that I can," Brian says from the front.


"Well it´s not good enough," I whine as I pull my T-shirt up to cool off my stomach. It doesn´t help much and instead there is a queasy feeling in the back of my throat and I close my eyes. If I dont get off this rocky road I am going to hurl. Big time!


"You okay?" Howie asks with a worried expression on his face. He looks like he is afraid that I will decorate his new shirt and he inches away from me towards the window.


NO! Do I look OK? "I need fresh air," I whine as I start to roll down the window and then lean over AJ in the process. I "accidently" happend to hit him in his groin when I lean over, but there is an emergency at stake and I don´t think that AJ would appreciate to be puked upon, which is the case if I don´t breathe something else besides Howie's aftershave and AJ´s smoke filled clothes.


Damage to the manhood be damned!


"OUUCHHH!...Watch it!" AJ growls a bit disoriented as I more or less fall over him. Not answering I stuck my head out and take long deep breaths.


"What are you doing?" Howie asks a bit surprised since I am still leaning out, now my tongue hangs out too and I bet that I look like a freakin' dog. Speaking about dogs, I really miss my dogs back home. Whenever or maybe IF I ever get back from this helltrip I am going to spend some serious time with them. I doubt that after sleeping in a tent with these geeks I will EVER wanna meet them again.


I can´t answer since doing that wouldn´t be so wise. AJ however has woken up from his beauty sleep. Which has done nothing to him if you want to know my opinion and he is really pissed over that he is having my ass in his face. "Get the fuck off me Carter!" he barks and shoves a fist into my gut.


I moan. Shit, that hurt and wasn´t a very bright thing to do. Swallowing hard I try to stiffen the urge to gag since the prospect of letting my lunch go dont seem so tempting at all. Especially NOT since the wind is blowing into my face and we are going top speed. I hold on for dear life!


Suddenly in my misery I start to giggle. I know it is a nervous giggle but I come to think off that this most look pretty strange to anyone passing our car. Yet they can be grateful that it is my head that is placed in this position and not my ass! Like someother person has done, after a particulary wet promotion party. Lets say; Everybody that wanted got the see a place where the sun don´t shine!


Bone is usually rather nice, but when someone invades his space you better watch out. He hates it when I hang on his shoulder or when I give him one of my bear hugs..actually he doesn´t hate it for real. But to Bone that is a lowgrade cool factor and he thinks it´s nerdy.


"Nick what's wrong?" Now Howie is leaning all over me too and I feel claustrophobic, or maybe it is homophobic since I am not use to someone laying on me like this. AJ doesn´t seem too excited either and he is doing his best to get us off him. This results in legs and arms flailing all over the place and words being said that are not meant for human ears.


"What are you all doing back there?" Kevin growls.


"This fatass is crushing me," AJ yells as he tries to get me off him. I am in a too miserable state to sneer something back and since I had to put my head back inside again. You know sticking your head out dont work for a longer period of time, especially not when it is downhill! This means that the nausea is back. Full attack and I dont know how long I can make it. Now it isn´t a question about if, it is more a question of when I have to get off this moving vehicle.


Ignoring that comment Brian turns to me, "Why are YOU leaning on AJ?" Jeeze how slow in thoughts can Brian be? I´ll guess that the situation he is in can count for some of his aloofiness.


"I feel sick," I murmur weakly, "stop the car!" Kevin doesn´t listen, then when does he ever listen to me? and he keeps driving on. Okay, I think miserably, don´t say that I didn´t warn him.


Brian who is looking over at his shoulder over at me most have sensed that something is wrong,possibly that I look like a chipmunk, suddenly yells to Kevin, "STOP the car. NOW! I think Nick is going to be sick!" Yesssss, finally..


Suddenly there is action. Kevin always listen to his cousin and hearing the tone of desperation he slams on the breaks and the car fishtails to a stop, a bit too close to the deep steep drop off if you might ask me. Then he rushes outside and drags me out with AJ´s help, and the two of them hoist me towards the roadside where I lean over and empty myself down into the steep. It is all happening within matter of seconds and right on time I might add.


Don´t say that Kevin can´t act fast when he wants too.

Going Camping - Chapter 3

" Nick what did I tell you?" Kevin argued with me, " I told you that you couldn´t play with the Game boy and that you would end up sick, didn´t I?" If I have to listen to one more " I told you so" I will jump out off this cliff, I surely will. Also it is not fair to hit a man when he is down on his knees.


" Kev, lay off him," Brian says tiredly, as he lay an arm around my shoulders," Come on Frack, you think you feel well enough to go back into the car?" His voice is soft.


Even if my whole body is screaming NOOO CAR, and I don´t ever again wanna set a foot in one, I still oblige and taking a small advantage of the situation I lean on him,mumbling weakly, " I..I..ca..can..tr..try."


He looks at me, with compassion, " I know.But it was a stupid thing to play when you know that you end up carsick."


Yeah I know. Believe me, I know. Giving him my hurt puppy dog expression I try to get out off another scolding. It´s enough that Kevin have yelled at me most of the time, I don´t need Brian doing the same. Frankly I don´t think I can stomach it since my gut is still churning wildly.


"How is he doing?" Howie asks as he is coming to see if I need anything. He hands me a tissue, " Here you go." Being a bit upset that my "brothers" have an tendency to talk over my head I glare at it, before I accept the gift.


Brian is the one that is answering since I´m too busy making myself presentable, " Better I think, right Frack?"


" Mhm.." There is no need to open my mouth and push it any further so I nod instead. Being a true ham it feels good to get so much attention. Even Bone shows me an nursing side.


" Man, you finally stopped hurling?" AJ grins." I think I spotted some breastmilk in there." Yuck, this man really knows how to be gross.


" Ewww AJ didn´t have to say that," Howie comments and it looks like he is about to join me.


Shrugging Aj hands me a water bottle, " Thought you might need this," he hands me it and I take a swig.It feels good when the cool liquid runs through my parched lips and I´m slowly coming back to life.


" If Nick is done we better get going or we won´t come to the camping ground before midnight." It´s El Capitain that is making this sour comment. I´ll guess that he is starting to get fed up with "babysitting" me. OK Kevin is generally a pretty nice guy and he has a really warm heart, it´s just that when something screws up the schedule, like say me, he gets nervous and then he gets agitated and upset and in the end yells at me. That is just like Kevin is and I still love him for it!


Brian gives his cousin a hard look before he turns back to me, " Listen Frack, I trade places with you," he opens the cardoor to the front, " You sit here."


As I obey him, YUP I can obey orders too..especially if they are to my favor, I give him one of my most grateful smiles. By the looks my days in a cramped up space is finally over..at least for this time. As I have closed my eyes and leant my head back against the headrest I feel someone nudging at my arm. Opening one eye I notice that it is Kev staring at me.


" Here," he says and hands me a black plastic bag, you know the ones that you have when you pick up doggy poo.


A bit surprise I accept it, "What is that for?"


" In case you get sick again," there is a sigh and then he says tiredly, " Don´t think I am going to stop again."


I glare at him. So much for being concerned. As I am about to sneer something back he gives me a smile and says, " Just kidding..if you feel sick just let me know and I stop." Patting me on my head he continue, " The bag is in case you won´t make it."


I shudder. Heaven forbid.


After making his speech he starts the car and I am on my way again. This time it is much more comfortable and I can´t help but grin when I here the argument in the back where they are complaining that there are too little space for the legs.


Sometimes sickeness pays off!


*************************************************


" Kevin!" I am the only one up since everybody in the backseat have fallen asleep and I feel lonley. I might just as well try to get into an conversation with my older brother. That is not easy since Kev is usually rather hard to get into life.


No comment. Silence. It´s clear that he isn´t as hot as I am on the idea of talking.


" Keeev..Kevy." I really wants his attention and calling him Kevy usually does the trick. He hates that nickname about as much as I do with Nicky. And that is quite a bit.


" Yes, what is it? You feel sick or something?"


" No."


" Then shut up for a while will you," he sneers.


Ouch, no need to be so touchy. I stare at him as he is looking at the road, instensivly. A bit hurt I mutter, " You don´t have to sound so pissed at me."


"Ok," his tone is a bit softer now, " Kaos, what do you want?"


" How much further are we going to go?" I ask tiredly. This is starting to get really tiredsome and all I wanna do is get out of this vehicle and stretch my legs and grab a bit to eat. Yes I know, it´s strange but whenever I have been sick I often get incredible hungry when I feel better again.


" I don´t know," he sighs, no doubt tired of hearing me ask the same question every ten minutes.


" But how long did they say the drive would take?" I whine since I cant understand that we have driven for close to six hours now and according to the map we are not even close to the camping ground yet. It will be midnight before we reach there.


The speed limit is very low and since there are so many mountains there is the effect that if we round one mountain it takes roughly half an hour before we have crossed it to the other side. This and the fact that we have two canoes on the roof results in that we cant go very fast at all, beside the roads are very curvy and we are driving pretty high up. Sometimes I am more than gratefukl that Brian is asleep in the backseat since he would pass out from fear if he saw what roads we are crossing. Especially when we met that lorry and almost was thrown off the road. Even Kevin, who is usually very calm in all situation looked like he was about to faint and that is NOT good since he is the driver!


Hearing me ask that question Kev is ready to blow a fuse. I can tell that by that telltale sign that his vein is throbbing on the side of his neck.


" Would you stop asking me THAT all the time!" he barks and I jerk. Kevin usually dont raise his voice in the way he did just now.


" Sorry, " I mutter and then stare out of the window. This is my way to show that I feel hurt and sad. I usually withdrawn and get quiet. It´s a great way to plant guilt into someone. Works like a charm. And I wait until Kevin will crawl back to the cross.


" Eh.." there are regrets in his voice, " EH..actually I didn´t mean to be so harsh." He says as he nudges my arm, " You´re ok?"


I shrug. I am still not ready to forgive him and I wanna play this guilt game a bit longer.


" Listen," he sighs, "I´m maybe acting a bit hard but you know it is a long drive and I really wanna get there before it is late." he looks at me, " You sure that you´re ok?" There are doubt in his eyes.


" Yeah,"


" Ok then...and the answer to your question is that we have atleast 5 more hours to go before we are at our starting point."


I moan. There are NO chance whatsoever that I can be seated, jerking around in this stuffed up car that long.My legs itch and I feel the desperate need to stand up and walk around. Or jump out off the cliff. Whatever comes first!


" I know Kaos." He frowns, " I am tired too, but you have to tough it out."


I sigh and close my eyes. Time for a nap again.

Going Camping - Chapter 4

"Are we there yet?" I whined, for about the hundreth time that hour. The glare I received from Kevin said that he wanted me to drop dead. He wasn´t alone. I had barely regained from the venom filled eye my older brother gave me when three unison voices could be heard from the back.

"SHUT UP!"

Apparently the rest of my brothers wanted to see me dead too, or even worse kick me out off the car. I sulked. Nothing could be said to change the feeling I had deep inside. Kevin thought I was nothing but an annoying brat when all I wanted to do was to have a small talk with him. Ask him some simple and common questions. Ok I might had been a bit off when I asked him why he never shaved his armpits and why he always locked himself in the bathroom late at night.

But who else could I ask those questions too? The other guys were way too busy tending to their own stuff.

AJ had been reading in a magazine all the way when he wasn´t busy listening to some groovy music in his earphones. When I had tried earlier on to talk to him he had ignored me like I was air and then I had turned my hopes to Brian only to find out that he was way too busy in trying to find out how high up we were and what would happen if we were to drive off the road. In my darkest moment I felt an evil urge to reveal the truth. The only thing that would await us was Death. Yet I refrained to do so since Bri was always pretty cool with me and he was my best friend. Howie, who had taken the middle seat, was the only one that could have paid any attention to what I was feeling and how bored I had been the whole trip, if he hadn´t been too engrossed in reading that book of his. That left me to only one person: Kevin.

With a deep sigh, after all it sucks to be so unwanted, I decided to take the situation in my own hands and for myself find out where we were and how long it would be before we would reach our designated camp. Grabbing the map from the seat I folded it out in front of me and started my search in finding the place where we were going too. It wasn´t all that simple since every name looked about the same and there were mostly mountains and rivers.

"Glama? Is that even a name?"

"Huh?" Kevin who was fiddling with the radio didn´t ever bother to turn his head at my direction instead he muttered, "Why are you asking that?"

"Because it says so here." I pointed at the map. "It´s spelled Glama with two strange dots over it. Weird" I shook my head "Is that the place that we´re going to?"

"No. Never heard of it." A deep sigh could be heard. "God Nick were do you get all thse stupid que.." He stopped suddenly, turning his attention towards me. "Where did you get that?" His finger was pointing rudely at me.

"From the back-seat. Why?" Man is this something to be worked up for? I couldn´t believe my ears.

"Because that is Brian's job!" he shouted as he grabbed the map from me tossing it back to Bri. A few scolding words followed towards my best friend and soon the map was in the back in my friend's hands again.

I felt puzzled. How can something so small cause something so big? I might add that Kevin had designated Brian to be the map reader for this trip, he and only he had the great honor to find out where we were going. This was probably due to that Kev and Bri were cousins, and he wanted someone of his own blood to handle such a delicate task. There was no way he would have trusted anyone else. Howie, or Sweet ', was out of the question since IF he EVER messed up, there was not one chance that Kevin would even raise his voice to him. As a matter of fact; Kevin have NEVER yelled at him! Strange huh? Me and AJ that's another story. He says that I am illiterate, or something like that, and we would end up in the Arctic pole! Yeah..like you can drive there! The reason for not trusting AJ I don´t know. But I´m sure he has his reasons.

I sighed.

This trip was starting to get long and boring and all I wanted was to get to that place so we could put up the tent before it would turn too dark outside. Glancing at the clock I noticed that we had been in the car for more than seven hours so it was no wonder that I was fed up with it all.

"Are we not there yet?" This time it wasn´t me who was asking the never ending question and I waited for Kevin to blow at the person who uttered that like he´d done with me before. To my big and annoying surprise I heard how my big brother answered Howie in a nice tone.

"I don´t know. But I don´t think it´s going to be that long. Think you can manage?"

I about dropped dead! If that had been me he would have yelled so loud that the hair of my skull as well as the rest of the guys owuld have blown off. Now he was just being sickly nice. I looked at him in disgust.

"Good," AJ muttered from his side of the seat. "I gotta take a leak."

Waiting for at least a tiny bit of a complaint I glanced at Kevin who said calmly and patiently, "I'll stop at the next gas station. Ok?"

"'K."

< Just in that very moment my stomach made a loud growl. Hunger was starting to remind me about being all empty, you know after the latest incident, I was craving for food. After biting my fingernails for a while, hey what else could I do? I took the courage to ask Kevin if we could stop at a diner or some other place. You know like where they had pizza.. Just as I was about to open my mouth, Brian felled the comment.

"I´m hungry. When are we stopping to eat?"

Waiting for good ol' Kev to blow a fuse I shrugged away in case he would spit in his anger. But nothing like that came. Instead he answered his cousin very friendly that he was hungry too and that we would soon stop to get some food. I stared with an open mouth. Could this be really happening? Kevin nice while driving a car? With us in the back-seat?

Could someone please pinch me and tell me if I´m dreaming?

Seeing that neither of my bro´s were treated badly I took my chance. The hunger pains in my stomach too hard to ignore. On top of everything I had to take a bathroom break too since God knows how long it would be until we would be back to civilization. I was also dying to stretch my legs. With that in mind I opened my mouth to ask when we would stop the next time even if part of me told me not to do so. The result could be too explosive.

"Kevin?"

Nothing.

"Kevin? Kev?"

Grunt.

"Kev are you listening?" This time I asked a bit louder in case he didn´t hear what I was saying.

"E..uh..yes?" A strangled reply like he was mustering all the strength he had not to blow me off.

"I wanna ask you something."

"Ok." He was gaining even more will power to stay calm..

In the corner of my eye I noticed AJ´s amused _expression as if he was waiting for something to come. Brian on the other hand shook his head in an attempt to warn me and Howie just looked at me like he was thinking, "Oh my what is he going to ask now?"

Ignoring this I took the courage to ask, the in my mind simple and innocent question, "When are we going to stop?"

I don´t know if it was in my tone, the words I said, or the fact that it was me that was saying them cause he didn´t answer nearly as nice as he´d done to the others. Instead the explosion, which would have made a nuclear blast pale in comparison, came!

"Nick how many times have I told you and..yadda yadda yadda." I stopped listening when he was going over and over again how immature and annoying and hyperactive I was and how I was getting on his nerves. He didn´t even stop when Brian screamed that we were going to drive off the deep slope if he didn´t turn his attention back to the road. Howie did his best to calm Kevin while AJ was watching the scene play up in front of him with a huge grin on his face.

It was bad I´ll tell you that

Pissed as well as hurt I turned my attention back to the road. There was no way I was going to argue with that old grouch if he was going to treat me like bird poop. If he wanted to bash me, fine, but I wasn´t going to sit and take it like I was some kind of criminal. In my book I had done nothing wrong, besides asking him one or two or maybe hundred questions, and I couldn´t for my life figure out why I was on the top of Mr. Richardson's hate list.

Just when I thought I was left to fight the justice on my own I felt a hand squeezing my shoulder. "Don´t let him get to you." Brian whispered. "He´s just being a grouch."

I nodded. B was right. Kevin could be really bitchy at times and it felt good that someone else besides me was on my side. Feeling renewed strength I decided that the next opportunity I had I would tell Kevin that I didn´t appreciate him nagging at me when I hadn´t done something wrong. That is if he didn´t punch me out first!

Going Camping - Chapter 5

Eight hours had passed since we started this whole trip and still we hadn’t reached our destination. Miserable I was starting to wonder if we would ever reach that place and that this was just another excuse for the management to get us out of their hair for a lengthy period of time. Looking outside I had seen nothing but mountains and even more mountains. At first I was pretty excited looking at those snowy hills and even AJ showed some sort of interest but after a while, lets say a couple of minutes I was getting seriously bored. And so was he.

Kevin, our documentary man, had been filming all the time despite Brian's protest that it would be nothing to watch. I think that part of his cousins objection came from the fact that Kevin was driving and filming at the same time! The way things were going I was looking forward to a three hour long tape of mountains and one or two streams. Could there be anything more boring than that? The only good part was that one point when Kevin had to concentrate really good at his driving, we were on a very curvy road, and AJ and Howie decided to play talk show hosts while filming. This was mainly to get Brian off his mind about those deep steeps that we passed all the time. It worked and soon he was joining in as Donald Duck.

After both me and AJ had whined for a lengthy period of time we made a rest stop. Not a second too early. It was a short one where Kevin took charge, telling us that we had five minutes to pee, poop and eat! I felt like I had died and come to the army. Unfortunately I missed eating and therefore my stomach was now growling from hunger. No one took pity over my situation even though the others were taking so long at the rest stop. Instead they were all waiting for me in the car and eating was out of the question. Since I was feeling way better I got to crawl back into the backseat, only to find my place in the middle again. This time however I was told NOT to play Game boy under ANY circumstances. Kevin stated firmly that he did NOT want a repeat performance of that last incident.

I snorted.

Like I was some kind of kid that would make the same mistake again? I felt more than misunderstood. Ok I might have to add that I had run out of batteries already but that was not something I was going to reveal to the fella's. No way!

Weird growling, gurgling sounds kept coming from my gut. I wasn’t the only one that was on the verge of passing out from starvation and for the last hour there had been nothing but complaints. That and gurgling sounds coming from all of our stomachs, Kevin included. I swear that the way we were sounding we could have started an orchestra. The Belly boys.

“Please Kev can’t we stop to eat now.” My voice was so weak that I had a hard time getting the words across my lips. With shaking hands I gestured that I needed the food right now and added to make an effect that a boy like me, a growing teen, needed nutriment at least every other half an hour consisting of chips, candy and soda. To this Kevin told me to stop whining and that he would stop as soon as we came to a town.

Moaning I told him that there was no way I could wait and that I would die in the process. His only response was "Good". Bastard. No pity was shown over how bad I felt. Just when I was about to start another whining round Brian called out, (he was back sitting upfront again) “A gas station! With a diner. A restaurant! Finally.”

Too weak to do anything but nod I leaned my head back to the headrest. It was weird. First I had been so hungry that I was ready to eat a bear but now when the food was in sight I felt almost full. That could have to do with the way I had spent my trip. Sulking. Looking out of the window. Dreaming, longing to be back at home again. Back with mom and dad, Aar, my sis and of course my friends. Since it was summer back home too they would be all on vacation and we would have gone out with the boat or went fishing or something. Thinking about it made me homesick and I had to bit back a tear. After all I was fifteen, not a baby and shouldn’t be the one crying for stuff like that.

"Hey Nick. You all right?" I felt a hand on my shoulder and turning to my side I was met with Kevin’s concerned eyes. "Everything’s ok?"

"Ye..Yeah." I nodded. "Why wouldn’t it be?"

"Just wondering. You were spacing out and when I told you that we had stopped you didn’t listen." Kevin went silence for a few seconds. "You’re not mad at me blowing up at you earlier, are you?"

I shook my head, biting my lip. "No."

"You sure?" There was doubt in his eyes.

"Yes!" And even if I were, which I WAS by the way, I wouldn’t tell my brother that. That would be like admitting that I was easily hurt, which I was, as well as saying that I got upset when he blew me off, which I did too. It’s kind of complicated but sometimes it was better to try and act cool instead of being a wimp.

"Ok..Well let’s get going then." He smiled briefly at me as he stepped outside. Like a dog on a leash I followed his trail. It was afternoon still it was warm outside and the sun hadn’t even started to go down yet. Looking at my watch I found it was 7.15 am. No wonder that I was weak and starved and wanted nothing more then to sit down and bawl.

"You are coming?" He nodded towards the small diner.

"Yeah..Sure." With those words I tagged along.

The restaurant was small and dusk. The interior decoration old style. It was some kind of joint, filled full with people, mostly families and low budget tourists. Since my legs were almost shaking from not eating for so long I walked towards the window and sat down on a hard wooden chair, waiting for Kevin and Howie to take charge of the food situation. Normally I would have stood in line but today I was too weak to do anything but sit and frankly I didn’t care what they would order since I was so hungry that I could eat just about anything.

"Come on Nick," Brian said, standing there in the line. "It’s time to order."

"You do it."

"Come on Nick..?" he urged back.

"No. I’m too weak" To state my point I laid my head on the table. Like a drama queen. "I’m dying from starvation."

Brian laughed. "I know. We’re all hungry Nick. But you have to come over. There is so much to order from and I don’t know what you want."

“I don’t care.” More drama. I laid an arm over my eyes just to show how miserable I was feeling right now. “Just get me something. Anything. Just get me food.” My voice faltered as it was being strenuous enough to talk.

“Awww.” There was false concern in Brian’s voice as he chuckled. “All right I’ll order you something then.”

Nodding I closed my eyes and I must have dosed off a couple of minutes since the next thing I knew I felt a hot breath next to my skin and a voice whispered hoarsely, “Wakeeee Wakeee Niiiiccckkkyyyy. Iiiittt´sss foooooooood tiiiimmmeeee.”

Opening my eyes I found myself staring into AJ´s grinning face. He was so close that I could see his fillings in his teeth. “Urrgghh.” He smelled like dog breath! I jerked back so fast that I lost my balance and from that everything happened in a matters of seconds. The chair fell backwards and suddenly I found myself lying on the wooden floor. Arms and legs flailing in the process. God did I feel stupid.

"Ouuuccchhhhh." That one hurt!

There was a loud laugh in the restaurant and my face colour became fire truck red instantly. People, families, tourists with cameras around their neck were all staring at me. Laughing and pointing like I was some kind of freak. I even think that one or two of them were taking pictures of me. Oh boy! The white American boy sitting on his ass in the restaurant. I bet that would be something for the family photo album.

The guys did nothing to help me out either and their comments were not the nicest.

“Way to go Kaos.” AJ snickered, clapping his hands in approval very amused over my embarrassing situation. Glaring up at him I noticed that he was grinning as wide as that cartoon character Garfield does when he has caught a bird in his mouth. “Wow dude that was some kind of fall!”

I opened my mouth to reply back when I heard Brian’s voice next to me. Standing there with a tray in his hands he giggled. “What are you doing?” As to add more to my wounded situation, I had hurt my ass in the process, he made some comment about how funny I looked and that had AJ laughing even louder.

Thank you bro´ I owe you one!

Pissed I looked up at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I sneered back as I was rubbing my sore butt which I hurt on the stupid ass floor. None of the guys did any attempt to help me up which had me even angrier that I was in the beginning. Sitting up I did my best to stand but that wasn’t the easiest to do since there were chairs, tables and legs, other people’s legs, all over the place.

Suddenly a booming voice could be heard from the back. “Kaos what the hell are you doing on the floor?” So NOWhe noticed that I was on the floor?Ass!

“It wasn’t my fault,” I whined in defense. “It was Ajees. I was just sitting there minding my own business when..”

But Kevin wasn’t too perceptive at that point of time. “I don’t care whose fault it was,” he hissed. ”Nick get up from the floor. NOW! And stop acting like a baby!”

Hurt that none of them were showing me the least bit of compassion I tried to stand up only to notice that my “war wounds” as I like to call them were much bigger than I first thought. “Ouch!” Sinking down on the floor again I kept rubbing my sore butt. “I’m hurt,” I whined, hoping to trigger some sort of concern. Nothing of that sort happened instead they felled comments about my wounds.

“Nick get up from the floor. It’s dirty.” Brian commented as the laughs had died down. Taking a large bite of his hamburger he said, “Come on I got you one too.”

“Yeah sit down on the chair and eat Nick!” AJ patted on an empty chair beside him. My chair!

Ignoring the wonderful smell of food that wafted my way, as well as the offer for a seat, I remained seated on the floor. Holding my arms around my knees and feeling sorry for myself. I didn’t care if people around me thought that I was acting like a baby since I didn’t know them and would probably never see them again.

“I don’t want any.” I heard myself saying. That couldn’t be more wrong and I knew I was acting immature, being moody and all. But none of them had done anything to help me, instead they had all laughed at me, felling nasty comments like I was invisible. Then they started eating, ignoring me, which made me feel even more pissed. Even the people in the restaurant paid me no attention. This made me feel even more unwanted than before.

“Nick! What are you doing on the floor?” Howie asked, coming back from the bathroom.

“I fell. It was AJ´s fault.” I muttered.

I could hear Howie say something to the rest of the guys only to be met back with some snide comments that I was acting like a baby. Ok he was right but the hunger, the long trip and the embarrassing situations made me think that it didn’t matter. They thought I was acting like an ass anyways. So why not be a real one too?

“You hurt yourself?” he asked as he reached out his hand for me to grab.

Finally ONE person who took the least bit of pity on me. Nodding I mumbled, “Mmmm.” I reached out to grab his hand. It wasn’t for nothing that Howie´s nickname was “Sweet D!”

“Awwww.” He said. “Where?”

Ignoring that last question I made a point in NOT telling anyone where my "war wounds" were situated at. Since Howie had been so kind to drag me on my feet I did however give him an appreciating smile. Very small, hardly detectable but it was there so the guys would see that if someone was nice to me I would be nice back. You know to state my point. B had been right. The floor was very dirty and I started to regret that I had sat on it. Flicking off a french-fry from my jeans I scrunched my nose up in disgust. In the back I could hear some comments being made about that American boy that fell flat on his ass and ignoring that I did my best to sit down on the chair. Only to wince seconds later as my butt made contact with the hard wood.

"You ok?"

"Yeah." I bit my lip hard so no strong words would come out since it hurt like a bitch.

"Where did you hurt yourself?" There it was again. That question that I wanted to avoid of all costs. Looking at Howie´s side I noticed that his brown eyes were filled with concern and decided to tell a white lie.

“In my back.”

AJ grinned. “No Kaos you did not.” Turning to Howie he laughed. “It’s his ass. He hurt his freaking ASS!”

Mad over being made fun of again I snarled, “I did not!”

“You did to.”

“Did not!”

“Too.”

And like that it went on until Kevin barked for us to stop.

I stopped immediately and instead concentrated on the task that I’m getting pretty good at nowadays. Sulking and being moody. I made an art of ignoring every comment, even the nice ones, as well as the hamburger and fries that was put in front of me on the table. Inside me the hunger were eating my stomach.

"I thought you said you were hungry." Brian said in surprised as he slurped on his coke.

I shook my head and ignored the hamburger by sheer willpower. It was laying there so close to me and would have been so easy to eat if only I hadn’t been cursed with the stubborn Carter gene.

“If you not going to eat those I’ll eat them.” AJ offered and was there with his hand to grab my hamburger. At that point I was so close to giving in, since no one takes food from a starving animal, but I steeled myself. To my relief I could hear Howie saying that it was mine. Thank you D, you’re the best.

“Ok.” AJ withdraw his hand quickly. “I just didn’t want it to go to waste if Kaos were not going to eat it,” he muttered more to himself then to anyone.

Yeah right Bone tell me another one.

“You have to eat.” Howie stated as he shoved his fork into his mouth. Glancing down on his plate I saw that he was eating some kind of green pancakes and I scrunched my nose up. Probably something out of the local cuisine since D always tried out new stuff all the time. That however looked nasty.

“Here Nick you can have these.”

AJ most have felt bad for something he said because he shoved some soggy fries at my direction. No doubt in an attempt to call a truce. Ignoring the gesture I stared blankly ahead. If he thought that a gross looking fry was going to save our friendship he better rethink it. Twice. “I said I don’t want any.” I know it was being childish but there was no way I was going to give in now. In the corner of my eye I could see him shrugging at me and then taking the fries back.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Brian’s.

“You’re not going to eat anything? Didn’t you say that you were dying from starvation recently?" The Kentuckian frowned.

I was and I am.

“You sure you don’t want this?” AJ was back pointing at my hamburger.

Bastard now he was about to steel my food again. Despite the hunger pains that was about to rip my body apart I shook my head, only to wait for another reaction.

"Jay that is Nick's and he is going to eat it." Howie said firmly.

Thank you D! At that moment I wanted to hug my pal since he was the only one understanding how I was really feeling.

“Why? Why don’t you want it?” Brian pressed on. “What’s the matter with you today? Why are you so moody?” His blue eyes looked at me with concern.

Jeese get out of my hair will ya!

At that point it would have been so easy to give in. To admit that I was actually dying of starvation but that would have been at the cost of the guys winning and loosing my pride was not something I was willing to do. I must also admit that in a weird way I liked when the guys were nagging at me, asking me questions about why I wasn’t eating and stuff. I know it’s immature but in a strange way it’s also comforting. Like they care about me you know.

“I’m not moody.” I snarled back.

“Yes you are.” Brian nodded, still holding his hand on my shoulder. “Something happened?”

By now I wanted to laugh. Something happened? Yeah you could say that! My whole life happened. I was stuck in some foreign country that had only mountains and curvy roads so hungry that I could eat my own shoe if it was offered to me. I did my best to ignore the food in front of me only to make a point. On top of everything I had already made a fool out of myself, being the dink I was. So yeah I guess you can say that something happened. "No."

“Leave him alone.” Kevin muttered in between his bites. “He’s just being difficult.”

To my dismay Brian actually listened and the comforting hand that had been on my shoulder was taken away. I glared at Kevin. ‘Thank you so much for destroying my only chance at some kind of compassion in this group. Brian had a heart and now you spoiled it,' I thought darkly.

"He’s probably tired." Howie said. "We all are."

"Yeah and when are we going to reach that destination?" AJ whined as he chewed on his french-fries. "Will it be long?"

"I don’t know." Kevin sighed.

Brian was the only one that hadn’t stopped paying attention to me. "Nick I know you’re tired buddy. But you got to eat some or you.."

"Won’t be getting any more food today," Kevin filled in, throwing the hamburger in font of my eyes. "Now eat and stop being such a kid!"

I don’t know if it was the fact that my stomach was growling so loud that they didn’t need the jukebox playing to get music or the fact that Kevin said that I wouldn’t be getting anymore food since the stubbornness suddenly gave away. Instead I dug into the hamburger like I had never seen food before and wolfed it down without a second thought.

“Dude take it easy.”

“Yeah Nick you'll get a stomach ache if you eat like that. Slow down.” Howie could be like such a mom.

What? First they were nagging at me to eat and now they wanted me to stop? Were they never satisfied? Paying no attention to their warnings I ate like I had never ate before and soon both my hamburger, fries and soda was gone as well as AJ´s soggy fries and for the first time that day I felt full. Full to the bursting point.

Going Camping - Chapter 6

"Wake up Nick." A voice said softly, shaking my arm. Still in the land of sleep I mumbled that they should leave me alone. Ok it was not in such nice words but not as nice as I told before.

"Come on." Another shake. This time a bit harder. Confused over that someone was talking to me I opened my eyes only to see Brian's blues looking down at me. A smile toyed at his lips. "Hey there. Those were some nice words you called me."

Duh what did you expect? After all you were the one that woke me up! In the middle of the night!! I blinked several times, trying to clear the fog out of my head, when it dawned upon me that we were not driving any longer. "Why did we stop?"

"Because we ´re here!."

"Where is here? Where are we?" I felt confused. It was like all the brain cells had suddenly disappeared from me.

"At our destination." He laughed. ”I don’t remember the name but it’s kind of like the Norwegian wilderness."

"Aha." Brian had some strange explanations at times. Looking out through the window I noticed that it was still rather light outside, which was weird since it had to be midnight by now. Pulling Nike jacket closer to my body I sank back into my seat. Too tired to do anything but just sit, yawn and hope that I could spend the night in the warm and comforting car instead of having to go out into the cold night. Closing my eyes I hoped to get another shut eye but Brian had other thoughts on his mind.

"Come on," he urged, pulling me on my arm.

"Don’t!" If there was one thing I hated it was when someone pulled me at my arm, wanting me to go somewhere where I didn’t want to go. Shrugging I pulled my arm back, folding both my arms in a stubborn gesture.

Brian chuckled. "Man Nick you’re really hard to wake up sometimes. You know that?" When I said nothing in response he reasoned "I know that you’re tired. I’m tired too but you’re only making it worse with refusing to get up. So come on now let’s get out and help the others. They have already started with setting up the tent.

I sighed. Brian was right. I was tired and since I had dosed on and off for most of the time ever since we left that restaurant it would take lots to drag me out of the car. Correction it would take a Kevin to drag me out of the car!

"Nick what the hell is you doing? Kevin's voice boomed. "You have to help AJ to set up the tent. That’s your task." The words were firm and even if I groaned in response he did not budge as I tried my "But Kevin I’m tired."

"So am I, but that’s no excuse."

"But it’s so cold.." I started only to get yelled at seconds later.

"NICK get out NOW!"

Man I swear that if we will not make it in the music business and Kevin ever is unemployed he would fit in the army. He has just the right approach for it. The shouts and the hardness.

"Get your ass moving." Brian said, suddenly very inspired by his older cousin to kick my ass. He opened the car door wide enough for me to get out. I felt annoyed. Here I was thrown out into the cold wilderness with nothing but a thin jeans jacket for defence. I shivered from the cold that hit me in my face. But it turned out to be more that hit me..

"Shit!!" I yelled as millions of mosquitoes were attacking me. Yelling and stomping I tried to scare them away but it didn’t work very well and instead they flew after me. This resulted in even more yelling and Brian got the laugh for the day, or should I say night since it was pretty late.

"What is it?" he asked as I tried desperately to wave the bugs away.

"It’s those fucking bugs!" I yelled annoyed as more and more seemed to gather around me.

"Nick!" Kevin shouted suddenly.

"What? It’s these damned.."

"Nick don’t cuss."

Neither Kevin nor Brian liked it when I swore and they often let me know that it didn’t suit me to sound like that. AJ however didn’t care about that and when I had asked Brian why they were never on his case he’d said that it was no use. AJ was AJ. When I had responded, very pissed I might add, that it was unfair and that he could get away with just about everything, even if he was just two years older than me, Brian had shrugged his shoulders and then changed the subject. To this day this was something that nagged me like a tear in my side. That AJ could get away with it all."

Ignoring that last comment I walked over to Howie, who was busy unpacking all of the things we brought with us, and then said with a yawn, "Hi D!"

"Hi Nick..So you decided to get up now?" He smiled while taking out bag after bag from the car. God it looked like we were going to stay for months. Note: It was NOT my luggage since I only brought with me my backpack which had everything I needed. A pair of clean jeans, shorts, four pair of boxers (yup I like to be clean underneath even if I can look like a slob on the outside), three tees, trunks and a pair of socks. Oh yeah I almost forgot mom packed me a sweatshirt too in case it would get cold.

The luggage that Howie was unpacking was mostly his own as well as AJ. You might think that they were heading to a fashion show instead of going canoeing with all the stuff they packed.

"You want me to help you D?" I heard myself say and being the nice guy I am I actually volunteered to help out even if all I wanted at that time was crawl into the tent and go to sleep. Deep inside I also hoped that he would say "No it’s all right", but I knew the answer before it was being said.

"Yes Nick. That would be great." Before I had a chance to react he loaded several bags and stuff on me like I was some freaking pack mule. The only thing that was visible was my head; everything else was covered with luggage. Ok I might be exaggerating just a LITTLE bit but you get my point. Mentally I cursed myself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he would want help. Since I was this pretty nice and polite guy I mentioned before, I carried the luggage towards our destination by the lake.

We had decided to spend the first night here only to go downstream with the canoe tomorrow and then set a camp further down. "Where is Bone?" I asked as I balanced the bags and with slow careful steps walked towards the direction that Howie pointed to.

"Over there. He’s setting up the tent."

"Ok." I never knew that AJ could be such a boy scout. He sure had many hidden talents. Wonder what would be next? A go-go dancer?

I had to walk a bit until I saw the sight of Bone walking around near the shore, putting up tent pins. "Yo!" It was best to announce my arrival, especially since I hoped he would help me with the luggage. To my dismay nothing like that happened and instead my good friend waved at me. Not a hello wave no it was more like he was waving like a moron. Shouting things at me."

"Idiot." I muttered walking away. I couldn’t understand what he was saying anyway and I had a tough time walking as it was and now AJ had to act like a lunatic. Annoyed over my friend’s strange behaviour I contemplated why he wouldn’t come up to me or even better help me out with this luggage, especially since most of it was his anyway.

"Niiickkkk waaaaiiittttt!!!!"

The scream was loud and I was just about to ask what he meant when I suddenly knew what he had been trying to say to me. "Oh crap!" Something hard connected with my foot and before I had a chance to react I flew like an airplane pilot across the grass only to land on my stomach. Ouuuccchhhhh!!Man that hurt even more then the fall I had earlier on at the restaurant. Bags as well as stuff flew over the grass, scattering all over the place like a battlefield.

On top of everything had the wind knocked out of me, but that was not the worst. As I was starting to regain my breath I noticed a searing pain in my leg. Or more likely my ankle.

'Fine. This is really fine.' I thought sullenly. ‘Now I had a broken leg too.'

AJ came running to me. "What happened? Are you all right?" When he saw that I was still alive, bruised but breathing he continue, "Didn’t you see that fallen tree? I tried to warn you but you kept walking all the time." Strangely there was more concern then irritation in his tone.

The pain in my ankle made tears well up in my eyes. So that was what had happened. I had tripped on a tree! No wonder I got my wind knocked out of me.

"You got hurt?" Hunching down beside me AJ did his best to try to access how severe my injuries were. When I had sat up straighter and was rubbing my left ankle with a hand he said, "Dude that was some fall you took." Shaking his head he mumbled, "You’re really accident prone do you know that Kaos?"

I nodded. If I knew? What kind of stupid question was that? Of course I did. I was the one that had battle scars all over my body. The one that had to stitch my forehead twice, broke my arm while riding a bike and had a concussion no less than four times in my life. Top that if you can and oh those are just the times that I broke something. The times where I cut myself or fell from a bike are not included.

The pain got worse and moaning I told him that it hurt badly and I thought I had broken it. That ´s how bad it was for the time being.

AJ's eyes whitened when he realised what might have happened. "You sure?" A frown was etched on his forehead.

I didn’t have a chance to answer since the rest of the guys came over to me. Running. "What happened? You hurt Nicky?" Kevin asked as he was instantly by my side. To my deep and utter surprise, he bent down next to me and I could see on his facial expression that he was pretty worried. "

"Nick tripped on a fallen tree." AJ explained with a sigh. "He hurt his ankle and he thinks he broke it too."

"He did?" With a frown Kevin tried to access just how much truth lay in that comment and he pressed with his hand on my ankle. "Does that hurt?" he asked I bit my lip from crying out loud. "Apparently it does," he muttered as he pressed another spot. At that time it really showed that he had spent lots of time with his dad who run a sports camp for teenagers. He had inherited his dad's way of dealing with problems. Realistic and disciplined with an anal touch.

During this painful examination both Howie and Brian choose to show up. Both shocked to see their little brother lying in the grass, crying in pain. Before they had a chance to ask the inevitable question what happened to their Frack AJ explained the situation. Kevin was busy asking me all these annoying questions about where it hurt and how much and all that and I had a tough time answering them. Once the examination was over Kevin felled his statement.

"I think I have an idea how bad it is." His tone sounded like the day of doom and for a moment I feared the worse.

"How bad?" Part of me wanted to hear the verdict, part did not. What if I was right? That the ankle was broken. Then what would happen? Would I have to go to a hospital? Despite my fear of going to all kinds of doctors a hope lit up. If I had broken my ankle would I then be able to go on this hellish trip into mosquito land? The answer would be NO. Smiling, despite the pain in my ankle, things suddenly didn’t look so hopeless anymore. Broken leg meant to go back and that was something I think I could live without.

Kevin looked at me with a serious face. "It’s so bad that you might have to.."

"Might have to what?" I cut in, trying to make my voice less shaky. Fearing the worst.

"I think you have to cut it off. With a chain saw!" Kevin laughed loudly at his own stupid joke and so did the others. Especially AJ who was laughing so much that he was shooting the gum that he was chewing on out of his mouth. Gross!

"What?" At first I got mad because they were laughing at my pain but then I realised that he was only joking around. After all I had discovered that it wasn’t as bad as I had first thought. Maybe I had overreacted, just a little at least. No broken bones could be felt and the pain had toned down too after the first shocking reaction.

"Calm down Nick," Kevin smiled at my reaction. "I’m just kidding with you. Seriously. " He added in a gentle tone, "I don’t think you broke it and instead it looks like you might have sprained your ankle a little. All you need is a good nights rests and then I think you’ll be as good as new again tomorrow." He patted me on my head like I was some kind of dog or a kid which was even worse.

"Well thank you doctor Kevin." Despite my irritation for my older brother I couldn’t help but feel satisfied too. He could be a pain in the ass, giving me hell for everything, but despite that he is always there when I needed him. As a matter of fact they all are and I love them for it.

"Think you can try and stand?" AJ asked when it was for certain that I would survive this ordeal without much harm being done to myself. Like it or not.

Nodding I tried to stand only to feel Howie's arm as a support around my waist. Gently he helped me to stand and then guided me over to the same fallen tree that had lead to this misery minutes ago. "Here Nicky," he said as he helped me to sit. "Sit here and try and relax and we’ll take care of everything."

Nodding, still in shock and a bit of pain I did as my brothers told me and sat down on the tree. With that everyone but Brian went over to start setting up tent so we could get to sleep anytime tonight.

Brian sat down next to me. "You’re cold?"

"A little." I confessed as a shiver ran down my spine.

"You want to borrow this?" Brian asked as he handed me his sports jacket.

"No," I shook my head. "It’s ok." It really was. I wasn’t cold as in outside cold, it was more as in cold from the ordeal I had been through and it was getting better as the time passed.

"Don’t be stupid Frack," Brian said, putting the jacket over my shoulder anyway. "It’s cold and you’re hurt and I don’t need it." Before I could object he had went away to the others. Grateful for the help that my friend shoved me I sat there watching them work on setting up our camp. Even though it had to be night, or even worse early dawn it still wasn’t dark outside. Howie told me that it had to do with the midnight sun and in the summertime it was nearly light 24/7!

Watching the scenery I thought that maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. It was actually pretty neat the way the sun shone on the lake and if I hadn’t been so tired I might have actually enjoyed the Norwegian nature, even if I was not going to tell the guys that.

I must have dosed off when someone nudged at my arm. "Nick it’s time to go." It was Howie. He held out a helping hand which I took.

"Ok." I mumbled as in slow-motion, since by that time I was so chilled that my teeth did chatter. My butt felt also very sore from sitting down for so long and the bruise on my left butt cheek, you know the restaurant incident, didn’t help. As I stood up, my ankle throbbing with pain, I started to wonder why I hadn’t gone back to sit in the car. That would have been a smart idea to do since then maybe I wouldn’t feel like a Popsicle. Everybody had been so busy to get the tent up that the thought hadn’t really crossed anyone’s mind and to tell you the truth it hadn’t crossed my mind either.

"You ok?" Howie asked when he once again held my waist for support.

"Yeah." I linked in silence beside my brother and it felt like a bliss when I could finally crawl into the tent and then later into the sleeping bag. There was no strength what so ever to get up and get undressed and I didn’t even bother to brush my teeth. Sleep was all I had in mind and sleep I would do. My first day on this trip had been much too exhausting and I was dead tired to my bones. Neither of us was talking very much and after a short goodnight we all fell asleep.

Going Camping - Chapter 7

It was noon and the sun was high up in the sky when I decided to open my baby blues. What woke me up was not the heat, even if it was close to two hundred degrees in the tent, no it was the fact that it was all silent which was rather unusual being five guys between 15 and 24! Howie was the worst snorer in the group and he was the one that could keep us awake all night. AJ had a habit of doing that too but then it was different sounds that could be heard. I won’t get into more details since its early morning and I want to keep the little I have left in my stomach since yesterday. Crawling out of my sleeping bag I felt very surprised that none of the guys had woke me up and that they all let me sleep in late. Thinking that they were probably concerned over how bad things went for me yesterday as well as giving me a chance to catch up with my sleep I peered out through the opening. Only to find that nobody was out there waiting for me. In other words I was all alone.

"Halloo!" I yelled like some kind of fool but I felt it was best to make my voice heard in case they had decided to go the nearby bushes for an adventure. Why they would do something like that in a group beats me but then I don´t always know what the fella's are up to. For being in the northern part of the world the sun was actually pretty hot; either that or sleeping in a sleeping bag next to four other guys left me sweaty and icky. Comfortably someone had dropped a piece of paper outside the tent and picking it up I wiped my face with it. "Strange," I muttered as I rolled it into a ball and tossed it in the trash bag. Kevin was never one for leaving litter lying around so this was out of his character. Speaking of him, where was that guy anyway?

The fact that no one had blown my face about that I had overslept startled me more than the guys were missing. Shouting their names I expected, hoped, that they would jump out of the bushes as if they were playing soldiers or Indians and then scare me to death with a tomahawk shout. But nothing like that happened. Instead the place stayed unnaturally silent with only one or two birds singing from a tree nearby. This was getting weirder by the second.

Walking, or should I say limping, I noticed that the canoes were still at the shore. This made me think that they couldn´t have gone too far, could they? A disturbing thought popped suddenly up in my mind. What if something happened last night? Something bad! Like if someone came and kidnapped them, an axe murderer or what if some old bear had used them for a midnight snack? The hair rose on my head from fright as I thought more and more about it.

I did my best to try to reason with myself, which is the best way to get the right answer by the way, and then decided that something like that would be pretty farfetched because if a bear were supposed to eat them why had he spared me? AJ´s words popped suddenly up in my mind. "Because you´re full of shit, Kaos! That´s why." He was some dude to have an explanation for everything. Doing my best to press back the panic I felt well up inside me I dismissed the bear explanation mainly because someone that would actually use the guys for a dinner would not get by without instant puking. Especially when they felt Howie's hair products and AJ´s smoky breath.

But where did the guys go then?

I must have looked pretty pitiful walking around there on the shore in a foreign country using a large branch as a stick at the same time as I was pondering what to do about the upcoming situation. A brilliant thought crossed my mind. If the guys were still here the car had to be where we left it. With that in mind I set my steps, ok hobbled or limped is more what it was, towards the direction where we parked the small Toyota. My ankle still throbbed from the painful encounter I had with the tree and the sun was making me sweat something awful. I could laugh myself lucky that it wasn´t the Grand Canyon that we had to pass through or even worse the Nevada desert. My pace quickened and hope lit in my eyes as I was about to see the vision of the white car driving up at me. Only to minutes later be faced with my worst nightmare.

There was no car and I was alone.

The guys had left me!!!

The panic that I had done my best to suppress came crashing against me like a hurricane and tears flooded my eyes and then run like a river down my cheeks. . This was NOT something I had expected. Ok I knew that I could be a pain in the ass for them and that they had told me in threats several times that they would leave me somewhere someday if I didn´t stop acting so childish all the time. To that I had laughed loud and clear, sometimes even in their faces, and never in my wildest imagination had I thought that they would make reality of it. Dump me and then leave me alone in Norway! If this wasn't a nightmare than what was?

Pinching my arm I tried to decide if I was still asleep but when my legs suddenly felt like overcooked spaghetti and I was dizzy from it all I realised that it was true. They didn´t want me anymore. I was nothing but a nuisance. Sinking down on the ground I had never felt so small before. What would I do now? Looking at the mountains and at the curvy road ahead of me I decided that walking would be out of the question for now. My ankle hurt too much besides I was pretty sure that if I had to walk that road I would end up motion sick that was how curvy it was. Holding my head in my hands I tried to think of something else. Some other smart solution to the problem I´d encountered.

Once I was done crying and sobbing anger took over me. I cussed and swore to my so called friends that they were nothing but bastards and I didn´t want to see them ever again. Not that I would ever think I would anyways. The ways things were looking like now I would either starve to death or get bored to death before someone found me. Which was worse I had a hard time to decide.

I have no idea how long I sat there pondering when a new feeling made itself known in my stomach. This time it wasn´t so much the feeling of being lonely, no it was more a growling feeling of hunger. Hoping that they at least had some decency to leave me with some breadcrumbs I hobbled back to my camp. To my sheer and utter surprise I noticed that all the food bags were left as well as the guys personal belongings. Great now I could play E worst dressed whenever I got bored. I´m sure that both Howie and AJ had something in their bags that would fit.

Ok this was starting to get more creepy. If they had left me why was the stuff still there and why hadn´t they left me a note or anything? That theory about the axe murderer kidnapping them didn’t sound so far off any longer. And it scared me shitless.

Sitting down I pulled out a loaf of white bread, ham and cream cheese and then made myself breakfast. Taking one large drink of coke I started to feel a bit better when the cool liquid ran through my parched lips. This was not what I had expected about this whole trip but maybe going camping wasn´t so bad after all. It could be worse. The sun was shining, birds singing, I had all the food I wanted and best of all I had no one to nag about that I was slobbering with the cheese. Now I could chew with my mouth opened as much as I wanted and I could fart and say dirty words and no one would care. Still I didn´t feel happy.

It was way too lonely and I really missed the guys. Maybe just maybe they would regret themselves for leaving their little brother behind and then they would send out a search squad that would come and get me. That was if they weren´t kidnapped, then such a thing would be too hard to do. Even I knew such a thing. In a wierd sense I hoped for the murder explanation since then it would mean that they hadn´t gotten sick and tired of me and then left me for that reason. I hoped I meant more to them than that.

A guy can always hope can´t he?

After spending my time staring out on the lake for a while, watching some seabirds I was getting rather bored with camping and wildlife. My thoughts kept drifting off to what I could have done to piss the guys off so bad that they left me. Ok I had lots of stuff on my conscious that I had to confess but none had to be so bad that you would ditch someone you said you cared for. At least that is the impression I got from the guys from time to time. I knew I had bugged Kevin yesterday but Kev is pretty good at handling me so that couldn´t be it. In my mind I searched through different events that could have caught such a reaction.

At one time I had tied Kevin´s shoestrings together when he was supposed to stand up from an interview, why he hadn´t seen it coming I had no idea but I think it had something to do with the fact that the interviewer had big breasts and a low cut dress. He was flirting around with her and had no idea what an evil prank he was about to be a victim of. The rest of the guys knew and they all cheered me on, not Howie because he was at home ill at that time which was good since he was the only one that would have stopped me. Although at this time I wished he did because then Kevin wouldn´t have gotten so mad at me. Ok now I am rambling but here is what happened. When Kevin was about to stand up he tripped and fell, flat on his face you might think..Nope he fell flat in the arms or should I say bosom of the interviewer head down into the crack. That gave us all a good laugh and I think that Brian laughed so much that he nearly wet his pants.

I giggled at the memory.

I hadn´t been too nice with AJ either, come to think of it. There was one time when he had thrown out one of my favourite plush animals out of the window claiming that it stank and that I was too old for that kind of stuff and in revenge I put itching powder in his clothes before a show. I´ll tell you that I had never seen AJ dance so wild on a show before. Maybe it should have Brian that had gotten it since he dances like a robot.

Speaking about Brian. It wasn´t my fault that he got in the trouble that he did. I had glued some glue on the toilet seat so AJ would get back from that time when he burned my favourite comic book and was about to call for him to check something out. My plan was to push him on the seat, pants and all of course and then he would get stuck on the glue but somehow the plan backfired when Brian suddenly burst in. How would I know that my main man suddenly got a sudden urge and had to use the premises? It was bad I tell you since we had to call the hotel clerk to help us get something that could get rid of the glue from the toilet seat and Brian´s ass but come to think about it, it was all worth it!

I laughed out loud at the memory only to scare off a few crows that had decided to see if I had left any breadcrumbs for them. The answer was negative.

And then Howie what had I done with him? Or more likely what hadn´t I done with him? Since D is the guy that takes most care of himself, health wise and beauty wise, he is most fun to tease. One time I put mustard in his shampoo then another I put ketchup in his sun lotion. That is just a few of the things that I had done with him and I actually think they are pretty innocent.

I was the prankster in the group. Had been from day one but clearly couldn´t all that lead to my friends leaving me..Could it? Nah I didn’t think so either. It had to be something else.

When a loaf of bread, ham, one package of cream cheese ( I happened to love that kind; plain and nothing in it) as well as two cans of coke and a small bag of chips and cheetos were gone I felt finally full in my stomach. It wasn´t exactly what you might call a healthy breakfast but then I had no one to be on my hair about it so I might as well enjoy the freedom while I could. Digging through my backpack I found my loving Game boy as well as some of my games. Just when I was about to start using the game I remembered something terrible. Something that had me even more upset then the guys leaving me..Ok almost at least.

I had run out of batteries.

"Damn!" I know that I´m not allowed to swear but then who cares? It´s not like Kevin can be on my case about it anyway and all that could hear me were the seagulls and I really don´t think that they can rattle to Kevin or the management or even worse my mom. But then what would I know. They could be informants just like they used the pigeons in the Second World War, I think. I was about to throw my Game boy to Kingdom come, after all it´s pretty useless without batteries, when Howie´s face appeared in front of my cornea like an frightening vision. Not a pleasant sight I´ll tell you, especially not on a full stomach. The reason for this vision was that Howie, Sweet D, is the one person I know that always carries everything with him. Always. With that in mind I dug through his bag only to find thousands of different things that be useful on a camping trip, or more likely on a trip downtown LA. There was all stuff you could never imagine existed. Here is some of the stuff I found; Penknife - Ok could come in handy if I was going to defend myself to that bear I had so vividly thought about.

Hair dye - If I wanted to turn my hair a darker shade, more likely black, but why I would do that is beyond my comprehension.

A cloth brush - Come on D why would you need something like that on a trip like this? I mean it´s not like we're going off to meet Cindy Crawford, besides I heard Richard Gere have already put his claves into her so sorry dude you´re a bit late. Note; I am grinning widely at this.

Ten pair of Backstreet boxers. All grey - Ok Howie they look good but ten pairs? It´s not we´re going to be stuck out here forever. Is it?

Digging further I come up with all sorts of different things. It´s like Sweet D has brought along his whole medical kit and there are pills that I had no idea that existed. Ex Lax?? Why would you need something like that on a camping trip??? That was if you were not as anal as Kevin could be.

I groaned. No batteries!

"Shit..Damn..fuck!" The words were not nice. But what do you think? A guy in need is one evil son of a bitch, a guy without a Game boy is even worse. "Come on. Come on.." I urged, digging further into his bag, closing my eyes in a prayer and then. Just then my fingers connected with a well-known package.

Batteries. "Thank you I´m saved." I whispered as I picked up the wanted package kissing it in the process. My boring time had ended and now I knew what to do until either the rescue team or even betterthe guys had decided that they missed their Frack and came back for me.

Going Camping - Chapter 8

Does Norway have earth Quake?

I know that’s a stupid question but I’ll tell you that it was perfectly relevant for the situation I was in for. My whole world rocked so hard these days and the motions I felt could be nothing but an earthquake either that or the cheese I ate before had gone bad and was coming out to hunt me. I will go for the first option since the only other thing that can move me like this was Howie´s snoring and that was totally out of the question since the guys had dumped me so rudely this morning.

The fact that I was laying down on the ground, using my own jacket as a pillow, made it even more clear that it had to be an earthquake that was shaking this part of the world. An eight on the Richter scale no doubt! Half asleep I did my best to wake up. It was hard since my eyelids were heavy as lead and all I wanted to do was to go back, sinking into oblivion since being awake reminded me too much that the guys had left me and I was on this camping trip all alone.

There it was again, the shaking!

This time my shoulder, my whole body shook and it made me feel like a fourth of July celebrator that had a bit too much to drink. Dizzy as hell. On top of everything my mouth was even drier than the Sahara desert and I desperately longed for something to drink. Despite the rocking I opened my eyes, only to stare into a pair of brown ones that could only belong to one person.

AJ!

My mouth dropped to my chin when I saw my main man staring down at me, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Was I dreaming? Was I dead? Was this a nightmare? The view of my big brother is not the most pleasant thing that you could encounter. It usually involved both pain and torture and I held my breath as I waited for something to happen. Like a cold bucket of water over my head. The bucket trick I had been a victim of one time too many and it’s not nice one I’ll tell you. Especially not when you are snoring away, wait that was not me who snored it was Howie, oh well I was drawing z´s when I was hit with freezing cold water. In my face! It wasn’t too bad I just hoped that he could have the courtesy to bring out the ice before deciding to baptise me.

"YO Kaos, You awake?" AJ yelled, shaking my shoulder. Hard.

Blinking slowly I tried to clear out the new situation I was in for. When I had fallen asleep after playing the Game boy for what seemed like hours I was certain that no one would ever come for me and I would have to live my life like that dude Robinson Crusoe. Boy was I wrong.

They had come back for me!

They still loved me!

When it dawned upon me that it was AJ and not one of my dreams I jumped to my feet. Never in my life, I think, had I been this happy to see my big bro. One big hug where I nearly squished my man AJ shoved me away, rudely. "What´s the matter with you dude? Have you gone crazy?" I knew I was interfering with his cool attitude, yet I didn’t care. Instead I continued to hug him, bawling on his shoulder like a big oversized baby. This had my friend frowning in disgust.

"AJ I really missed you." I piped up.

"Missed me?" Judging by his disgusted _expression it was like I had asked him to marry me. The reaction he showed was mixed. First he hugged me tighter then he pushed me away only to hug me again and finally push me away again. This time it was with concern. "Are you all right dude? You're acting pretty weird. Did the sun get to you?"

"No." I shook my head, not wanting to let go of my friend. "I never thought I would see you again but you came back for me!"

The words must have sent more fuel into the already pressed situation as AJ called out for Kevin a bit further away. "Hey Kev you got to come and see. I think something is seriously weird with Nicky. He’s acting really strange."

"It’s Nick we’re talking about. He’s always strange. Nothing new there."

Well thank you for that one Kevin. I looked up with a glare.

"Yeah well he is strange even for being him." AJ said as he shrugged away from my bear hug. I sat down on the ground again, Kevin by my side.

"Ok what is it then?" he asked, doing his best not to show his un interest in my situation. When I didn’t answer at first, I mean I had really no obligations to do so since I was not the one that had been left behind. Kevin asked me in a gentle tone, "What’s wrong Nick? Is it your ankle? It’s not getting any better?"

"No, It´s not that." I shook my head widely. Why were they acting so strange? First they dumped me and then when they finally came back for me they act like nothing was wrong. I watched them in suspicion. What if they weren’t my brothers? What if this was some copy of them and the real ones were abducted. Can you tell that X-files are my favourite show on TV?"

""What is it then?" Kevin had a worried expression on his face.

"His head!" AJ filled in. "The one he has hair on." The bastard had the nerve to laugh at me and so did Kevin.

Ha ha ha funny funny. I glared at them. Getting snide comments from the guys was not something I could deal with right now. Instead I decided to play Garbo and went silent again as I pondered my own situation. Didn’t they have any sort of humanity in those bodies of theirs? I mean come on first he ditched me and now he is trying to play the good guy. I so wanted to tell him what I felt about it all but instead I kept my mouth shut. They were the ones that had to take the first step to bring up the subject. Not me!

Frowning Kevin felt my forehead. "Nope you’re not warm." He was talking to himself as he was doing his best to access how I was really feeling. "So it can’t be heat exhaustion. You took something for the pain? Like aspirin or Tylenol?" The inquiring questions went on.

"Nope." I did not but at this time it didn’t sound too bad. What was wrong with this dude? Here he had left me and now he was acting like I was the crazy or the sick one. I could never understand these guys. Something in my eyes must have told Kevin that not everything was as peachy as I tried to make it. Either that or the fact that I did use nothing but short words like No and Nope.

"Then what is it Nick? A deep sigh. It was rather clear that Kevin was sick and tired of babysitting me and I started to wonder when he would say that this was a bad idea, pack his things in the car and then move back to Oslo and the management. I, Bri and Bone had made a bet about that. B said that it would not happen. Kevin never admitted a defeat and he would rather suffer than he would go back. AJ thought it would happen day 3 and I was guessing on day two. If things continue like this I would be the winner, something I looked forward to very much.

"Something happened while we were gone?" Kevin pressed on, the words cutting through my thoughts.

I snorted. What kind of act was this? Something happened? You tell me Kevin! You were the one that left me and now comes back and acts like I was the one that left you. It didn’t make much sense but does it ever when I try to think straight being in a pressed situation. I opened my mouth to answer when Brian interrupted me.

"Is he alright?"

Good old Frick came to see how I was doing. Why they were all so concerned about my health all of the sudden when they hours ago had left me to rot in the Norwegian wilderness really beat me. I’m sure they have their reasons.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah I think he is." Way to go bro, answer for me. "Are you Nick?" He was talking in a slower tone that he used before which would say something since his talk is sometimes so boring that you have to hold your eyes open with toothpicks or you'll fall asleep.

No I’m not! "Yes!" I talked in short sentences, words mainly, because I had nothing more to say and it also marked that I was upset about something, that was if the guys could read me right, which they usually can. Now I waited for that to happen. Waited for them to explain their absence.

"Ok what is up with you?" AJ had enough. But then I had news for him. I had enough too.

"What is the matter with ME?" My voice was shrill, much lighter then I intended it to be. "I’m not the one that dumped me. That left me out here with nothing but a piece of bread and some water to die, to rot in the wilderness!" Ok I might be exaggerating a bit but sometimes it’s better to do that so the person that is listening gets that I’m really upset and understands the seriousness of the situation.

"Leaving you? Dumping you? What are you talking about Kaos?" AJ didn’t follow me, which was no big surprise but neither did Kevin or Brian. Where Howie was I had no idea.

"I woke up and noticed that you had left with the car and that I was all alone. " I added quietly "And then I thought you had dumped me." Ok there went my cool posture that I was doing my best to muster since tears pooled in my eyes.

Brian was the first to grab the situation. "Oh you mean that you thought we left you?" His tone was shrill too, just like mine.

"Yes..Didn´t you?" I sounded defensive.

He shook his head but Kevin cut him short. "Didn’t you see the note we left you Nick?"

A note? Nope. I shook my head. "You didn’t leave me a note." I was mad.

"Yes we did." This time it was Howie coming back from wherever he went. "You were sound asleep when we left and since you were so beat the last day we thought that we would let you sleep instead. Therefore we left you a message."

"A message?" I sounded like a parrot.

"Yes a message." Kevin sounded like one too. Ok come on guys lets start a zoo. "I wrote on a piece of paper that I left here on the chair." He pointed to the tent chair.

"You didn’t see it?"

AJ broke the silence with a laugh. "Oh yeah Kaos saw it. Look at his forehead!" Rudely he pointed at me and at that moment I would have knocked him over if it wasn’t for the comment Brian felled.

" Frack why do you have ink on your face?"

"Ink? I don’t have ink on my fa.....I have ink on my face?" My face whitened when it dawned upon me. . Ink. A message. A paper. (My memory was coming back in short sequences.)On the ground, under the tent chair. So that was what it was. That paper that I had used to wipe my face with! Nervously I licked my lips. How would I say to them that I had been all worried for nothing and that I was the cause for all of this?

"Nick?" The guys were waiting for an answer.

"Eh..uh."

How was I going to explain all this without sounding like a fool? I could not and therefore I told the guys about it anyways. What did I have to loose? It turned out that I had much more to gain since they all hugged me and reassured me that they wouldn’t leave me here to rot. AJ however filled in that the thought had crossed his mind but then he got a slap from Kevin to shut up and for once he actually did.

Man it felt so good to be pampered like this and I was enjoying every second of it. We had talked so much about me that I had forgot to ask why they had left me in the first place.

"Why did you leave me? Where did you go?"

AJ, as most of the time, was the first to speak up. "Kevin forgot to buy toilet paper." He grinned widely. "And D had to use it! See we only dumped you since Howie had to dump." He joked on.

"Hey that rhymes I can make a song out of it "Nick got dumped 'cause D gotta dump." Brian went on, drumming on his knees and sounding with his mouth in a hip hop kind of way. We all laughed, Howie red like a lobster but he thought it was funny too. D was never hard to please.

So THAT was where they had gone! To get toilet paper! Ok that might be for a good cause, I have to admit that, but it didn’t account for them leaving me so rudely, did it? I felt stupid. Here I had been so concerned for my brother’s well being that I even thought about the option that an axe murderer or even worse a bear had grabbed them or even worse that they had left ME and it turned out to be nothing but a bunch of crap. Literally.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed even if I felt relieved too. Adding more guilt I asked "Why did you all have to leave? Couldn’t just one go? Or the rest stay or all but one go and that person stay? My tone was whiny but what did you expected after all I had been through.I could see on the others faces that I wasn’t making much sense in the way I talked but then have they ever thought that? And can I help that when I get excited or in this case worked up over something I tend to talk fast and shrill and the words just pop out of my mouth, sometimes without any real connection to each other or making very little sense. Howie once told me that I had a habit of making everything difficult in life. Like he’s the one to talk since he uses at least five hair products in the shower!´

Kevin burst into my thoughts again; he had a nasty habit to do such things. ”We had to get some other stuff too, besides you were not alone for long and if you had looked at that paper you would have known where we left and that we would be back soon." >p> Just like Kev to rub it in.

"Yeah Frack and guess what we found?" Brian smiled widely.

I shrugged. Too tired to play a game. "Pink toilet paper?" I’ll bet Howie was happy for that one.

"No." Brian laughed at my comment. "We found a pizza place!"

Well good for you. I stared blankly at him. So what did that have to do with anything? Did he seriously think that I would be in a better mood if he told me that they had eaten at a pizza place? Especially when he knew what my favourite food was?

Determined to get me smiling again Brian went on. "We brought you a present."

That got my attention. It always does since I love presents. Things were starting to get a little more interesting, still I played out like I could care less. It’s childish, I know but after what they had done to me I had to do something to get back at them and what can beat a guilt trip?

"So?"

"We got you this," he held out the white box he’d been hiding behind his back. "Voila! Here you go. Enjoy your meal." He laughed at my surprised expression. It was a pizza box and that could only mean one thing. The Guys bought me a pizza. I stare at them. Did they really think that something like this would have me forgetting what they did to me? They were right though and gratefully I accepted the offer.

"Thanks Guys." Moved to my tears, ok maybe that was a bit too much, but anyway I opened the box up only to smell the delicious sent of a large pizza with extra cheese, ham and mushrooms waft up at me. At that very second it was all forgotten. Here I had thought that they all left me because they were sick and tired of me and now they were coming back with a pizza. Talk about having caring brothers. I smiled back at them. "Thanks for everything."

"No prob dude!" AJ slapped me on my back so hard that it felt like the fillings in my teeth were coming out. What don’t we do for our little bro´?" He grinned back at me.

I nodded. It felt good to be cared for.

After munching on the pizza for a while Brian opened his mouth. He was the only one sitting next to me since the others had left to do other stuff. "Frack there is one thing I have to ask you." He talked in that tone that told me that there was something serious on his mind.

"Oh yeah?" I mumbled, still chewing on my pizza, grease dripping on my chin. "Go ahead shoot!"

"Were you really afraid that I had left you?"

I stopped eating. "Sort of." Sometimes it was better not to talk too much besides I was busy eating the pizza."

Why?" The question was short but the tone said it all. Brian was concerned over my well being.

I shrugged. So much like Brian to ask all these hard questions. How would I know how my mind works? "I don’t know." Ok I did but that was not something I would tell him.

"Yes you do." Brian knew me way too well. "What’s eatin' you Frack?"

"Nothing's eating me..I´m the one eating. A pizza!" I tried to be funny. Smiling. It was a lame joke, I know, and making a stupid grin I tried to get Brian to stop asking so many annoying questions. I’d never been one to talk emotions.

It didn’t work which I didn’t think either! "That’s not funny Nick." Brian looked serious. "You know what I mean. Did we do something that made you think that we would leave you?"

At once I didn’t feel so hungry anymore. Putting down my slice on the pizza box I mumbled, "Because you guys told me before that if I didn’t stop acting so childish and whining so much that they would leave me." I draw back my breath. "And then I thought this was it. You left me. Ditched me because you didn’t like me anymore. Like I had done one prank too many."

Guilt, guilt this was the best tool there was to get someone feeling bad.

A loud gasp could be heard. "You think that Nick!" He shook his head furiously. "NO! We would never do such a thing!" He looked seriously hurt. "Why would we ditch you? I mean you are our little brother and we love you. Don’t you know that by now?"

Yes I did, sort of, still I tested my bearings. "Even if I can be a pain in the butt sometimes? You know playing pranks on you and all?"

He laughed, hugging me in that way that only Brian can do. "Yes even then Nick." There were a pause while Brian was searching for something more to say. "Frack you don’t have to be afraid that we will leave you that will never happen."

The words sounded like music to my ears.

"I don’t?" Playing on guilt had always lead to a nice result.>p> "No. Oh Nicky. We would never leave you, you know that don’t you?" He looked at me, concern in his eyes.

Do I? I wasn’t so sure about that one but it felt so good, the hugs that Brian was giving to me. I’m quite a huggable guy and need one or two hugs a day to get through. I know it sounds stupid but that is just the way I am! He stroked my hair away from my forehead and it felt really comforting. I relaxed some more. "Promise?"

"Yes." He smiled reassuringly at me. "That’s a promise."

Suddenly everything felt much better. Satisfied that my brothers were back and that they loved me despite what a pain I could be I hugged back. Maybe this would not turn out to be such a bad trip after all.

Going Camping - Chapter 9 The rest of our first day on the Camping trip went on slowly. Kevin had wanted us to go downstream with the canoes but somehow Brian managed to talk him into us staying another night. How? I had no idea but I had eavesdropped from the inside of the tent since I had gone in there for a short nap after dinner. All the commotion that the day had brought on had given me a headache. I heard how he told Kevin that I had a pretty rough day and that it was better if I took it easy. Good old Frick sticking once again up for his Frack! Brian also went on and said that it was pretty late and that it was better we left tomorrow since it would be dark before we arrived at our camp and that could be dangerous since it could be a heavy stream. To my sheer and utter surprise Kevin had agreed and told his cousin that we would leave early in the morning instead. Very early he emphasized on the word very. I groaned but I guess you can’t get everything can you? I think that part of why he decided to push the canoeing back was that he was still pretty beat after the long journey. As a matter of fact we were all rather beat and needed all the rest we could get. Management had a habit of running us hard back home and we’d been touring non stop for several months so we could certainly use some free time, even if Camping in Norway was not what we had in mind. After that little nap I felt refreshed as Howie would call it and went out to join the others. Me and Bone were sitting and talking about this and that, more specific gi..Nah just kidding video games. I was a bit surprised that he showed so much interest in that issue but didn’t press on since I guess he was just as bored as I was and wanted to kill some time. "Last into the water is a chicken!" Brian yelled as he challenged me to jump into the sea. Me, never being one not to take up a challenge no matter the odds, jumped up from the rock I was sitting on and took after my friend running or maybe I should say more likely limping and hobbling in a mixed combination. I was determined to win this race. What I didn’t count on, as usual, was at first that B never took up a challenge if he wasn’t set to win especially something like this since he had tried out for track in high school and was a good runner. The other thing was that my ankle hurt like a bitch...pardon the expression but I tell you running with a sprained ankle isn’t one of the smartest things you can do. AJ cheered me on. "Come on Nick. Go faster. Go faster. Rok will win!" I don’t know what it is with someone urging you to do something but whenever the guys challenge me into something I feel like I have to do what they say and win too. This has lead me to many stupid games such as who ate the most hotdogs, note I did not, but I got the worst stomach ache if that counts. Two, who can run the fastest to who can belch the loudest, where I have been the champion many times and I think that even D is impressed even if he is mostly disgusted with my bad habits. We also compete in other things such as who can get hit with a spoon in the head without cussing out loud and many other stupid and mature..Yeah right, games. You know being on the road can be pretty boring and competing against each other is another way to make the time go. Oh I almost forgot. We often compete in sports and then usually the winner is the Kentucky cousins. Howie is the one that never plays but AJ can do a game or two if he feels like it. Bone is not bad at sports he just isn’t interested. Howie on the other hand...sucks! The fact that I was winning for once made me run faster even tough it felt like I couldn’t run another step. Howie and Kevin yelled something for me but I didn’t listen. I was in the lead! Turning my head around I saw that Brian had stopped which is pretty unnatural for being him, but then I thought nothing of it since I was so close at winning. With a loud victory shout I threw myself into the water only to fly up again like I’d been shot out of a canon. "Ohhhhhhh Sshhhhhhiiiiiiitttttttt!!!!" I yelled. Man it was freezing. It had to be below zero! From the shore I could see the others laughing, even Brian who stood in the sea only with water to his knees. Bastards! They had tricked me into jumping into the sea. Such nice friends huh? "It’s coooold!!!" I desperately tried to get back to the shore again. My legs were numb from the coldness and I was shivering like crazy. "Way to go Kaos!" AJ laughed at me. Ignoring him I tried to get out as fast as I could but it wasn’t easy since the water was so cold that I swear I’d stopped breathing for a moment. This was the worst I ever felt before, if you don’t count that time when the guys, I think it was AJ and B that time, had me rolling in snow out on the hotel balcony when we were in Sweden last time. They said it was good for my upcoming sex life. Which one I might ask? And also as a note it was NOT good for any kind of sex life or life for that matter. The reason why I know this is because that little bugger shrank so fast that I almost became a girl after that incident.. Howie told them to stop doing that to me since I could go into identity crises. I so wanted to ask him if that was what happened to him but I kept my mouth shut since D actually showed me some compassion and got me inside again. But that was then, today he showed no mercy. "What do you expect Nicky?" "Howie shook his head and pointed like a school professor to a mountain far away. "It’s that snow that has melted from that mountain and then mixed itself with the water down here. So of course it’s going to be cold," he lectured. I glared at him before turning to Brian who just stood there with a sad expression in his eyes. "Why did you do this? I thought you were my friend!" I was going for the guilt trip again. The look Brian gave me made my heart ache. B can be kind of bad to me at times, you know teasing and stuff, but whatever he does I always forgive him for it. He is a very kind person at heart even if he sometimes can be lead away by like AJ. He is my best friend and it doesn’t matter that he likes teasing me and sometimes is the one behind some of the pranks I pull. You know he is that person that I would take a bullet for if it came to that even if I wonder at times if he would do the same for me?" "I’m sorry Frack," he said standing there, looking mostly lost and ashamed. ˜Yeah right! ˜ I thought miserable. It’s a bit too late to be that since I’m standing here clattering my teeth away already as well as turning blue from exposure. " "I just wanted to see your reaction." Brian smiled palely which only served that I felt ready to blow a fuse. "My react..reaction?" I yelled. "What’s so fun with that? You get off by wanting me to see me dead or what?" I know I can be such a drama queen, I told you before didn´t I? Brian didn’t have time to answer since Howie cut in to our conversation like he always does when he can tell a fighting is nearby. "Calm down Nick no harm was being done and get up now or you’ll freeze to death!" I snorted. Like you’d care, beside wasn´t that what you all was aiming for? "Of course you had to go and take it without even knowing what you were in for." Kevin scowled at me standing there on the shore. He gave Brian a towel,”Here make sure that Nick gets this." Brian nodded and then started to walk up to me. This was the worst he could do. You don’t insult a Carter or make fun of them and then act like nothing has happened or show that you are nice to them. Nope no way, not without consequences. Usually this applied to everyone but Brian only today it was changed terms. I was so pissed at him for leading me into jumping into the water. Ok I wouldn’t agree that it had mainly been my doing since I was the one that had the urge to compete. That was however not something I was going to say. Ignoring the towel a devious plan crept up into my mind and as Brian came closer to me I took a hold of his leg and Splash we both fell into the water. Brian’s first reaction was shock. Then he yelled at me in not so nice words, not cuss words but close enough, and then at last he started to laugh. There were so many reactions that I was all confused. Then we splashed water onto each other and as we kept swimming into the sea we noticed that it wasn’t THAT cold and therefore we stayed on much to Kevin’s disgust. "What are you two doing?" he yelled angrily. "Get up now or you’re going to catch pneumonia." Not caring what daddy Kevin was telling us, then do we ever? we started a water fight. Brian pressed my head under the ice cold water for a few seconds. When I came up to the surface again I was sputtering like crazy and did my best to get a grab at him to sink him down too, but I did not succeed. Even if B is so much shorter than me he is pretty strong. Despite the discomfort the water was giving us, have you ever had frozen nuts? We were having a fun time. The guys however did not! Kevin and now Howie were yelling to us to get up or we would get sick. AJ only laughed at us and called us crazy. I know that staying in was a very immature thing to do but I blame it on the cold water since I’ve heard that if you swim in water that's below zero your body gets into shock and you can also freeze your brain. I think that is what we had done. Got frostbite on our brains. After a while this was starting to get pretty boring, and cold, and also I think that my dick had fallen off that was how small it was by now. Catching a look at my main man I noticed that Brian looked like a girl too and then we decided to call it quits. AJ and also Howie had been laughing at us playing around in the water but after a while they got tired of it. Especially Jay whose attention span seems to get tired so easily. I was shivering so bad that there was no end to me when I came up from the ice pound. My legs had no feelings and when it felt like my hair was one giant ice tap I decided that maybe this hadn’t been one of my smarter moves. Brian on the other hand was just as cold as me. It didn’t help that the sun was rather warm and I was dying to get a dry towel to wipe my blue body with. The towel Kev so kindly had fetched for me was as wet as we were since Brian the klutz dropped it in the ocean when he fell in. Ok I might have had something to do with it but there is no use in telling everything is there? My vision of the rest of the guys standing there ready to towel us up was nothing but pure imagination. Kevin no doubt pissed over our little stunt was nowhere to be seen. AJ just laughed. Looking at each other, me and Bri made a run for the tent. "Itsss..I´mmmm so..so..co..coo..ccooolddd." I shivered while desperately trying to get some warmth into my stiff body. Crawling into the sleeping bag I shivered so much that I was sure that my fillings would clapper out of my teeth. Brian was cold too. "Yeah what do you expect dumbasses." AJ said as he too crawled in with us. He was sitting their telling us about how pissed Kevin and Howie were and how they had decided to show us no pity. I snorted. Like they would ever do that anyways? AJ also called us a bunch of loonies for jumping into the water. I snorted again since that was all I could do. Talking was too strenuous and I needed all my energy to get some heat. Not a big surprise there that "Mr I’m afraid, I get sick and I hate water" had felled that comment.. AJ is not a big fan of water and neither is Howie. They get seasick if they as much as set there foot in a boat so how this canoe trip would end I can only speculate. Messy. Urgh! AJ is the worst coward when it comes to taking a swim in the ocean. Next to D that is who is an even worse, but the difference is that Howie is mostly afraid that he would mess up his hair if it got wet. AJ is more afraid that it would mess up something else, if you get my point. After what felt like a decade we were finally getting some warmth into our bodies. The sleeping bags had done wonders as well as the fun talk we had made inside the tent. Me, Brian and AJ talked about all kinds of things and B told us how a fish bit him on his toe. . Ok it doesn’t sound very funny at all when I tell it but I can assure you that B has a knack in turning everything into one big joke. I might be the prankster in the group but Brian is the natural. Even Kevin can laugh at his comments. "Dinner time!" Howie yelled, sticking his face inside the tent. After eating one delicious meal of chilli con carne, Cowboy grub, I was so full that I could burst. You have no idea how hungry one gets when they have been taken a swim in water as cold as Antarctica!! I also think that the guys felt a bit bad for me since they didn’t once press on for me to do the dishes. It could have something to do with my hands which were still so numb for being exposed too long and if I was to hold a plate I would drop it and we all know how Kevin and Howie feels about littering so therefore I think they ruled me out for this one! If the day had been rocky the evening was as calm as could be. AJ, being the romantic person in the group, yup you hear right Jay is the most romantic of all of us, had made a fire and we spent the evening sitting there talking about this and that. It ended up past midnight before we hit the sack but I didn’t care. It felt so good being brothers again even if they never ceased to make fun of their little brother, alias me!

If anyone is reading irt would be fun with some reviews what you think of the story :)