“Who the fuck has heard of Geelong? May as well have taken us to Woop Woop,” whines Tyler, burying his woes (and his face) into a still-steaming meat pie.
“I’ll give your ass a Woop Woop if you don’t shut up,” Lexus scowls, taking a rare look up from her oh-so precious itinerary list. “— aaand that was strike three, No more aux for the rest of the road trip.”
“Take it easy, sis,” Alec smirks, leaning back. “We know Tyler can’t survive without his Kendrick and Kanye. Do you want this to work or not?”
“Often feels like I’m the only one trying to make it work,” Lexus says, staring passive-aggressively into her eggs benedict’s soul.
“I suggested the escape room!” Isadora pipes in quickly.
“Yes! This is why we fucking love Izzy!” Lexus says, grabbing Isadora and shaking her. “She helps plan and doesn’t— ” She shoots Tyler a death glare. “ —invite PARTNERS to our sibling reunion trip!”
Sasha, freshly back from the toilet, reveals herself from behind. “Wait, I thought I was invited…”
Lexus cringes as she explains “No… babes, you’re good… but it was a family thing.”
Tears well in Sasha’s eyes as she offers an unconvincing excuse to leave again. “I think I left something in the bathroom.” With that she repeatedly dispenses her hand sanitiser to cope and hurries off.
Tyler gets up to retrieve her, but turns to his older sister first. “Hey — reminds me — on my way to Sasha's the other day I actually hit a Lexus! Just sad it wasn’t you.”
Lexus groaned and buried her face in her hands. As bad as that interaction was, it didn't scratch the surface of how bad the fights once got. Between all of them. And she could feel the old tensions resurfacing. Her entire life, people had told her how having four siblings sounded awesome and ‘you must always have someone to talk to’, but for the last two years, they had NOT talked. Today marked their first day together since their split. Since five became four.
As the eldest sibling, Lexus always felt boxed in as the responsible one, the pseudo-mum, the underappreciated organiser. It was her who hunted down the contacts (circumnavigating the blocks), started the group chat and organised the road trip in the first place. Yet the only thanks she remembered getting so far was from a convenience store clerk for picking up a fallen Kitkat bar. It would take a miracle for this trip not to end in disaster again.
****
As usual, Isadora is in no mood to talk. Sidelined on the couch with Sasha and Tyler, she leans her head on the window of their rented RV and tries to survive their ‘subtle’ flirting. Sighing, she looks out and thinks about her fat little lizard that she wasn’t allowed to take on the trip. But then something else grabs her attention; a cute guy sign spinning for a roadside burger diner. Without thinking, she places a longing hand on the window.
“Wow, did anyone see the sign spinner? Didn’t know that was still a thing,” Lexus says, driving.
“Izzy diiid!” Sasha teased, lightly tapping Isadora with her foot.
Tyler joins in with an overly loud, “Hey, you know what? I think we all could go for burgers now!”
Lexus grins eagerly through the rear-view mirror. “You liked him?”
“N-no… I — ” Isadora held her hands up but her face flushes too pink for anyone to buy and so the RV was already halfway spinning around before she could complete her shitty lie.
Parking the RV, the five make their way over.
“Hey guys!” The sign spinner grins. “Welcome to Gazza’s Goodies Diner. Hungry? Thirsty?”
“Well, one of us is thirsty,” Tyler says, putting his hands on Isadora’s shoulders, obviously trying not to burst out laughing. “Any recommendations? ‘Cause we have a recommendation: right. Here.” He pats her and winks badly.
Lexus punches Tyler hard and they wrestle. The sign spinner can’t help but squeeze out a confused laugh at the commotion. Isadora, starstruck at his bouncing hair, finally speaks up.
“Hi! Isadora! But you can call me Izzy. Sorry about my family, we’re a bit crazy.”
“Monty,” he smiles warmly. “And I’m getting the ever so slight impression you like me, right?”
“Maybe.”
“Well then, here is maybe my number.” He takes her phone and jots it down.
Isadora looks back and squeaks. “E— excuse me, I need to…”
She doesn’t even finish before zooming into the diner where a muffled happy squeal could be heard.
For the siblings it’s high fives all around, and even Sasha is clapping. “Petros Gang! Petros Gang!”
As Isadora bit down into her burger a few minutes later; she thought that might’ve been the best burger in the world ‘cause where she lost one fat lizard, she found another.
****
The sun was setting at their destination; the Twelve Apostles. The five quietly watches at the cliff edge with Alec clutching the urn.
“This was Phoebe’s favourite spot,” Alec explains to Sasha, eyes misty. “Our middle sibling, she was sixteen when she left us… that’s Izzy’s age. She was my best friend.”
Sasha looks down, sanitising her hands to calm herself. She’s unsure what to say and honestly feels awkward just being there. “I’m so sorry for your loss, I can’t imagine— ”
“It’s okay.” Alec manages a small smile as he pops open the lid. “She wouldn’t like us wallowing anyway, she’d want us to get out. Bond. For me, I need to find my own way without her.” He spreads some ashes and passes it down the line.
“I mean, I’m perfect,” Tyler chuckles before noticing no one else is “...but if I had to change, I guess I could try being more considerate or whatever.” He mutters quickly and passes the urn.
“I need… Monty!” Isadora says with a stupid grin, pouring her share out.
“And I need to be more okay when things don’t go my way,” Lexus admits, pouring out more. She stops as a realisation dawns on her. “Sasha… you should pour some too.”
“Oh no, no!” She puts her hands out. “I couldn’t, I’m not— ”
“I want you to.” Lexus hands her the urn. “If Tyler trusts you, then so do I. Sorry I made you feel excluded.”
Sasha smiles as she takes the urn. “Aw, Lexus, this is too— ”
It instantly slips out of her overly sanitised hands and freefalls off the cliff. Everyone watches in silent horror as the urn slowly descends until it loudly shatters against the rocks below.
Sasha very fearfully looks up at the siblings with wide eyes, scared to be the next thing dropped off the edge. She opens her mouth to explain but no sounds come out. It’s so quiet they can hear the grass waving. Then Alec laughs.
“This is exactly Phoebe’s sense of humour! Dark shit!” He laughs as he walks over and hugs Sasha. “Thanks for giving Pheebs a proper send off. She’d have liked you!”
The tension fades away to better vibes as Sasha joins in with the laughter, not caring to sanitise her hands for once.
An hour later, the five warm themselves by a legally dubious campfire, drinking and catching up on their lives. Tyler begins a drunk toast “—and to think we ever stopped talking. We need to do this more, a lot more! And we all oughta be grateful that we’re still here, still alive… and for Lexus!” He lifts his drink to her, meeting her eyes. “Thanks for organising it all. Best big sister everyone!”
She touches her heart sarcastically, but secretly loves it. “Oh my god, Tyler, you have emotional intelligence?”
Some time later, the night finishes and everyone is winding down in their own tents. Lexus comes outside for air and finds Alec sitting alone, staring at the moon. She sits beside him. “Hey, Alec, I’m confused. I thought that wasn’t Phoebe’s sense of humour at all?”
“No, obviously not. I just didn’t want Sasha to feel bad.”
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