The Trip - By Martin Visby

The Trip

We had been planning this for weeks, and now the day had finally arrived. We had all done our research; we had made up our minds, and wanted to go through with this. I had found a supplier that I trusted and the others trusted me. Alex’s parents had a cabin out in woods, and we had been given permission to use it for the weekend. It was the perfect place for our trip. No one else would be nearby, no one would be able to interfere and ruin the trip. This was all our first time, so we didn’t know what was going to happen. You hear the craziest stories from people who was tried it, and we all wanted to experience something similar. I was a bit scared of things maybe getting out of control. It was just going to be the five of us; Alex, Rachel, Cody, Laura and me. We all had our own things we wanted to do while tripping. Cody wanted me and him to play Guilty Gear, our favorite fighting game against each other. Alex and I wanted us all to watch two different movies. I had picked out my favorite animated movie. Alex had chosen a horror movie, which Laura was not happy with, but she would try to sit through it. Laura wanted us all to listen to some music, which she thought would be perfect for our trip. Lastly Rachel wanted some alone time with Alex, which none of us was interested in knowing exactly what she had planned with him. Cody and I was driving to the cabin together. Alex, Rachel and Laura was already there. Alex was probably already trying to get the girls drunk, even though I told him before we left that it would just ruin it if we got drunk beforehand.  Cody and I was talking about how we had both been practicing for our match today. Cody was so excited for the match, a lot more than me I think. He was so sure that he would beat me this time. He was trying to intimidate me, by saying he had gotten really good at a new character. He went on about his assured victory for a while, and then he suddenly started talking about something new; “So… You and Laura…” “What about us?” I replied casually, not trying to sound surprised. “Have you planned anything for you and her to do together?”  “What do you mean?” I tried to play dumb, even though I knew exactly what he was on about. “What the fuck do you mean what I mean?” Cody knew that I was playing dumb, we both knew each other well.  I looked out the window next me. “No, I haven’t planned anything, and I don’t know if this is the best time ask her either”. “Why? This is the perfect time to ask her” He quickly looked over at me, then put his focus back on his driving.  “I don’t know dude, with all the stuff that’s been going on recently in her family. I think she is going through a lot at the moment.” It went quiet for a few seconds. Then he replied; “Maybe you’re right, but I still think you should try. At the very least, tell her how you feel before you leave for Europe. You only got like a month before you leave, right?” He looked back at me again, waiting for me to respond. “Yeah…” I sighed. “You are not regretting going abroad now, are you?” “You wouldn’t shut up about all the shit you wanted to do and see, while there” A few more seconds passed till I replied; “No, I’m not regretting, I’m just starting to realize how long it’s going to be, till I see you guys again.” I quickly looked over at Cody and then went back to staring out the window next to me. “D’awww, I know it’s going to be tough without me bro. But don’t worry, Europe has internet right? I’ll call you over skype from time to time”. Cody jokingly placed his hand on my lap, and started to stroke it.  We finally arrived at the cabin. We greeted the others, and started to unpack our things. Alex had already taken out the alcohol, and had started to drink a bit. Luckily, it was just him Rachel, who been drinking it.  After we had unpacked our things and everything was set up, we all sat down. I took out the small plastic bag so everyone could see it. The blotters was rainbow colored and had different cartoon characters on them. We all looked at each other, then Rachel spoke up; “What the fuck! Are they supposed to look like that?!” I replied to her. “It depends who made them, but they usually have some weird shit on”.  “I think they look kinda cute” said Laura. Alex opened the plastic bag, and gave us one each. “Y’all ready?” Alex asked. We all looked at each other again. I looked specifically at Laura. She looked slightly concerned. I was about to tell Laura she didn’t have to do it, if she didn’t want to, but before I got the chance Alex had already put his on his tongue. Rachel quickly followed, then Cody, then Laura, and then me. It was silent for a moment. Then Rachel broke the silence, “Well?” “Now we wait” I said.  We sat down and started talking about stuff that had been happening at school, until Cody suddenly started acting strange. Not even a second passed until Alex started acting weird as well, and then, I started to feel weird. Everything felt as it was happening in slow motion. Everything looked so detailed. I looked at Laura’s face, and looked at every detail on her complexion. She noticed I was staring at her, and started to stare at me. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. “How do you feel?” she asked. “Amazing”. I replied then started to look around the room. I looked at a plant and then stared at one of its leafs, and it looked so beautiful. Everything was so sharp and complex. After a while, we had all calmed down a bit, and Cody was desperate for me and him to play Guilty Gear. It felt so weird playing while tripping, but it was so awesome. The characters looked even better than usual; everything was so crisp and clear. The music was even more amazing, and it was the best experience I had ever had while playing a video game. Cody won the first match, but I quickly brought it back and won the two games afterwards. Laura was sitting in the back cheering. I could see she was having a great time as well.  After about half an hour of Guilty Gear Laura wanted us all to listen to some of the music she had brought with her. It was some ambient psychedelic music, and the music was perfect for the situation. We laid down and relaxed. It felt like I could just lie here forever and not ever worry about anything. I felt completely at peace. It was starting to get dark, and Alex wanted us to watch the movies now. We watched my favorite animated movie first; “Spirited Away”. The movie felt like the perfect choice. I noticed so many more things while tripping that I hadn’t noticed before, and I had already seen this movie a great deal of times, but this was the most enjoyment I had ever had watching it. Laura and Cody loved it as well. Alex seemed to like it, but Rachel was more obsessed with Alex, and constantly took his focus away from the movie.  Now Alex wanted us to see his horror movie. Laura almost backed out, but he managed to talk her into watching it. As the movie started to get real intense Laura couldn’t handle it anymore and wanted to go outside, but she was uncomfortable going out alone now. I got up, walked over to her, and asked if she wanted to go outside with me for a while.  I found a good spot for us sit outside. We sat down right next to each other. The night sky was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The sky was clear, the moon looked huge, and you could see all the stars glitter. I looked at Laura. She was smiling while still gazing up at the sky. It looked like she even more amazed by it than I was, which made me smile as well. I decided now would be the time to talk about it. “How is it going with you and your mom?” I asked while looking at Laura, then turned my head back up at the sky. Laura was quiet for a while and then she replied. “Better”. She doesn’t have her hissy fits anymore. But she still accidently mentions him, which used to make her mad, but instead she seems to make her sad now.” Laura looked over at me and I looked at her. Then she turned her head back to the sky. “What about you?” I asked. It felt like she didn’t hear what I had asked, but I wasn’t going to make her feel annoyed, so I didn’t ask again.  After a good while, she replied. “I think we both just need time. The more time passes, the less I feel reminded of him”.  She then asked “What about you, you are leaving soon right? Aren’t you so excited“. It took me a while now to answer her this time. “I am. But I still can’t stop thinking about how awesome it could be if you were there as well. I know how much you were looking forward to going abroad as well” She looked at me. She looked slightly sad now. “I’m sorry, but my mom needs me more than ever now. I’ll come visit you in the holidays though” I smiled at her then replied, “I would love that. I’ll plan the perfect sightseeing tour for you, when you arrive”.   “I can’t wait to see you walking around as my personal guide,” she said then giggled. We both looked at each other. Then she moved closer to me, and I moved closer to her. I leaned in to kiss her. We kissed and then smiled. She tilted her head, so it was resting on my shoulder. I tilted mine so it was gently resting on her head. We both looked at the sky. This day has been the best day of my life. I will never forget this trip.