Blissful Paradise

The Road Ahead by Max Millan

Few days after the graduation, Matt and I were back at the campus in my pickup truck to meet up with Shawn. We packed tents and sleeping bags just in case we had to stop at one of the camping ground. Matt brought a personal tent this time. The plan was just to drive until we find a place that interest us and probably stay for a day. Not long while, we saw Shawn's car from the horizon as it cut through slowly rising vapor caused by the heat of the midday summer sun. I mentioned that we need to find a safe place for me to park my pickup in the meantime. It's not the best in the world but it would be a pain if something happen to it. Matt suggested going to the gym, he would be able to talk to the guard to let us use the parking lot. Once that was taken cared of, we were off.

Our journey to nowhere begun with a quick trip to the football stadium. Matt's college life was flashing before him. The only thing he thought he knew. Matt and I looked back at the stadium as it disappeared from the distance. He rubbed his eyes to hide the drop of tear that was forming at the edge. That would be the last time Matt would see the stadium for a long time.

"Everyone ready?" Shawn said.

"Yeah," I said from the passenger seat.

"Yeah," Matt said from the back seat.

"It's time to say goodbye, Matt," Shawn said without realizing how frightening it was for Matt to leave the campus behind.

"So Matt, what are you gonna buy with your first paycheck?" I said trying to break the mood.

"Don't know," he replied.

"Big screen TV," Shawn suggested. "You can't beat a big screen TV," he added.

"Yeah, get one of those that you can even see the pimples of someone's face," I said.

"Eeeewwwww, that's gross," Shawn replied.

"You guys sounded like you want the TV and not me," Matt said.

"Hey now, you're not gonna invite us to your place?" I said.

"I don't know. You guys are college kids. I know what you guys do." He's finally starting to lighten up.

"Ouch!" Shawn said. "Old man" was his comeback.

We crossed the state line by night fall. The first order of the business was to find a rest area with a place to eat. A seemingly busy and well lit rest area was on our sight after a few more hours of driving. It had a small shopping mall and several choice of fastfood restaurants. The parking lot was lined with big rig trucks for weary long haulers. Cars darted in and out of the place even late at night. Once inside the the mall, we settled for a burger joint.

"Do you think we can sleep in the parking lot?" Matt asked.

"I think so," I said. "It's a rest area. We can just move the car down the parking lot," I added.

"Where is Shawn?" he asked.

"He said he is going to the restroom."

Just after I replied Shawn came back, and he was smiling.

"What up?" I asked.

"Funny thing happened in the restroom. There was this big guy who stood right next to me by the urinal. I think he was checking me out." Shawn is a big guy too relatively speaking but he looked more athletic. He probably meant big guy as in fat and heavy. "He kept looking down my direction," he continued.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing. But after I finished peeing, the dude said that he has a very comfy bed in his truck if I need a place to sleep."

"Ha-ha, you just got cruised," I said.

"Funny Joe"

"He wanted you to screw him. . . . or him screwing you," I said then Matt joined in with him making the oral sex gesture.

"Oh I got an idea if we ever run out of money," Matt interjected.

"What?" Shawn asked.

"We can pimp you out," Matt replied.

"Fuck you."

"I wonder how much should we charge."

"25 bucks for BJ, 50 bucks all the way," I said.

"Screw you two. You should at least charge higher than that," Shawn said riding along with the joke.

"This is a stud your looking at," he added.

"OK, OK, will stud you out," Matt cut him off.

"And pick a decent looking client too." Shawn knew he was beat.

We moved the car to a corner out of the traffic, so we can at least get some sleep. Before the day break, a quick trip to the mall for some breakfast and we were again on the road. Matt had taken the wheel. And Shawn was trying to get extra rest in the backseat. We were driving along a stretch of highway with nothing but trees. I look at the GPS and there won't be any sign of civilization for the next five hours.

"How's Shawn?" Matt asked.

I looked behind to find Shawn sleeping in a very uncomfortable position.

"How can he even sleep that way?' I said.

"He can do that," Matt replied. "He must have learned that from the many bus ride we had," he added.

"I wish I can do that."

"You better. I heard you guys will even sleep on the the ground."

"I know. I already had a taste of it last summer."

"How was it?"

"Nothing really new to me. The only difference is that you sleep without a tent."

"That's cool."

"But look at him. At least you have some leg room when sleeping on the ground," I said still wondering how Shawn could manage to sleep like a contortionist in a circus.

"I envy him. He can even sleep while sitting,"Matt said.

I reclined my seat to catch some more sleep too.

"What the hell? You're not going to keep me company?' Matt protested to my plan of taking a nap.

"Just a quick nap, I promise. You can wake me up if you get bored." I said.

I was able to catch some more sleep. I didn't know how long we were driving but Matt woke me up after a few hours had passed. Apparently he and Shawn decided to take a detour to a road that lead us to a small town. Much smaller than the one where we grew up. You can count the number of buildings in what they call downtown. But the diner where we were parked had the same familiar look as the one we have in our town. We felt at home.

"What brought you guys here in our little town?" the nice old waitress asked us.

"We were just passing through," Matt replied.

"You seemed to be out of the way."

"That's our plan. We are not really going nowhere,"

"That sounds dangerous. You might get into trouble."

"We will try to stay from trouble," I interjected.

"Well if you boys are staying in town tonight, we're going to have our country dance tonight. Visitors are welcome."

We looked at each other. Matt and I were not new to that kind of event but Shawn being a little bit of a city boy might not be as welcoming to the idea of mingling with country folks, but he was down with it.

"We're going to check it out," I told the lady.

We had our meal and later scouted where the event was going to be. It wasn't hard to find. The place was decorated outside with a sign that said "Annual Country Dance."

"Better get your dancing boots on," Matt said.

"I have my boots, suckers," I said. It's a choice of apparel that only comes out when needs arise not including the county fair where one has to wear a pair like a uniform. I thought that if you were not really a cowboy don't wear one that often. Only wear it during proper occasions and a country dance was definitely one of them.

We scouted a good place to park our car and changed to a more acceptable attire. The place was already packed when we got there. We walked in feeling under-dressed for the event with people in their full cowboy regalia. We saw the old lady serving alcohol for the night.

"It's good for you to join us," she greeted us when she saw us coming her way. "Five dollars for the cup, honey. You can go at the back if you need some food."

We surveyed the place. It looked the whole town was there. The young kids also dressed where staying in one corner watching the older folks dance. Then in another corner were the teenage boys already practicing their moves on giggling girls. Outside at the back was busy too. They had an open barbecue pit manned by a middle age black guy doling out burgers and bratwursts. It cost two dollars and fifty cents if you want one. That's where we spotted some folks around our age. We introduced ourselves, and they were friendly. We stood out not only because of our unfamiliar face but also how we dressed. I was wearing boots and blue jeans but without the belt buckle and stetson hat to round the look we might as well came in there wearing flip-flops. We were instantly popular with the girls who were probably just curious to see boys not from their town. We were getting the kick out of it specially Shawn who was now trying to make his move on one of the girls.

The group of younger crowd made it inside and took over the place. Like a choreographed movie sequence, a line dance formation was immediately form without saying a word. Matt and I were proficient but each town has their own flavor that we need to learn quickly. The live eight man band was playing songs one after the other. Matt and I were now having a ball with two lovely ladies who stuck with us. With two young girls out of the menu that means there were few natives who weren't happy. And Shawn who wasn't really used to this kind of dancing was nowhere in sight. We took a break went to the old lady again. She was so happy to see us having fun. We were having so much fun that we weren't aware that a gang of young fellows was now forming at the back ready to run us out.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Shawn rushing from the front entrance.

"We need to go," Shawn said.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked.

He pointed at the girl being drag by one of the young man inside. We got the clue. We said goodbye to the old lady and made a dash to our car. By the time we were pulling out of the area, we saw a group of angry fellows at the front looking for us.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Dude, I was making out with this girl and it was getting hot and heavy when her boyfriend caught us," Shawn said.

"What did you do?" I asked again.

"Nothing, the girl did most of the talking that what we were doing was nothing or whatever that means. Well the guy came up to me, but when he figured that I was taller and bigger than him. He threatened to tell his buddies and dragged the girl with him."

Shawn must have floored the car that we could no longer see the light from the town when he finished his story. When the danger passed, we caught a glimpse of where we at. In our mad rush to get out of the place we ended driving further in that we were now on an unpaved road in the middle of nowhere. The GPS wasn't helping us. It was displaying one big patch of green area. We were not willing to turn back because they might be waiting for us. After driving a little further, we spotted a house then what looked like an empty barn. We parked the car in front of the barn.

"Dude, this looked one of those movies where a guy with a chainsaw just suddenly shows up," Shawn said.

"Or maybe a machete," I replied.

We took out our sleeping bag and a torch light. But Matt was hesitant to stay the night inside the barn.

"I'm staying in the car," Matt said.

"You scared?" I asked.

"I'm not. We might be caught trespassing or something. If we go in there."

"You're just scared. Admit it."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not."

"Yes."

"No."

He won the argument though. Shawn and I decided to stay in the car too. Since it's my turn driving tomorrow I get the backseat to myself.

Morning came, and we were woke up by knocks on our window. I thought for a moment that the guys from the dance followed us. It was the sheriff.

Shawn rolled down the window.

"What are you boys doing out here?" the sheriff said in his stern voice.

"Sorry officer. We were driving and we must have made a wrong turn and got lost," Shawn replied.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a road trip, sir. Our buddy here just finished college," Shawn replied pointing at Matt.

"I hate to break your slumber party but old man Frank was complaining about your car being in his property."

"No problem officer, but if you could tell us how to get to the main road that would be a great help."

"OK, you can follow me and I'll show you the way out."

We were so happy how friendly the officer was that he didn't give us any trouble just to make himself look powerful in this desolate town. We followed him for about thirty minutes then he stopped by a junction and got out of his patrol car.

"You boys can follow this road. Just go straight and you will eventually hit the interstate. Also take left first if you need to fill up your tank. You won't see another gasoline station for four hours if you take right."

"Thank you officer."

I took over the driving duty from Shawn. Matt moved to the back seat behind the passenger seat then lay down on his sleeping bag. It was hilarious when he couldn't seem to figure out the best position. I told him to just lay down like it's a small couch which he did. We took the officer's suggestion of turning left first to fill up and bought some food that we could eat along the way.

The highway was another long stretch of nothing but pine trees. The drive was fairly smooth that Matt was able to fall asleep. I adjusted the rear view mirror to check on him. He was dozing off with his shorts unbuttoned and his hand inside his shorts.

"Matt's sleeping like a baby," I said.

"He is a prima donna when we're on the road," Shawn said.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, he won't share his bed even when accommodation was scarce."

"So how many of you have to share the room?"

"If it's a planned overnight stay, we got to have our own bed. If it's not, we just took whatever a motel can give us then we had to share the bed. Some slept on the floor."

"And you let him get away with it?"

"Everyone liked him, so we just went along with it. He only listens to Coach Fox."

"Surprisingly he is a very good roommate. Mostly clean, and even did my laundry several times. Although he was annoyingly demanding when he dislocated his shoulder."

"Ha-ha," Shawn replied. "So he told me that you two have special roommate agreement."

"He told you that."

"Ha-ha. He said he was just looking after you being a chronic wanker."

"He said that. Remind me to kill him when he wakes up."

"I'm down with it if you are," Shawn said.

"Cool," I said.

"How does it go?" he asked.

"Nothing really special. Just pretend it's a casual thing," I said.

"So you don't tease each other?"

"No, we don't particularly talk about it. Amazingly we were able to keep a straight face and carry on a regular conversation for the most part when we stumbled upon each with our pants down."

"Oh OK. Sounds cool."

"Recliner had seen lot's of it. . . We do it in the open."

"You mean you can look?"

"Well, I really don't hide it when I do it."

"The only time we talked about it is when he did it. He tells me mostly as a warning about the room smell."

"I heard he has a special talent."

"Very special. You'll be envious," I said.

"That he can repopulate Earth by himself," he said laughing.

I looked through the rear view mirror, and Matt was probably just half asleep because he caught our conversation. He gave me the finger then placed his sleeping bag between his legs.

Civilization at last. We saw a shopping mall, and we were so elated. A nice place to stretch our legs, and our guts need some emptying. On our way to the food court we saw a visitor's center under one of the escalators. Matt suggested checking it out to see if there were any featured camping grounds. There were quite a few. We called the campgrounds looking for some openings. The third one we called had available camping sites. It was farther down the way about two to three hours from where we at which was fine with us. We could make it before nightfall. A trip to Sears for fishing rods and extra camping supplies and were on our way. It's been a while since we drunk just to get drunk. This would be good time to have some beer until we're wasted.

We arrived at the campground and one of the staff showed our spot. He pointed where the shower heads were just in case we need to take a shower to remove the lake smell. The place had a pretty rudimentary setup unlike the one that we went to back home. This one was privately owned. The only good thing was that our spot was by the lake and there were already a stack of firewood for the bonfire. With no folding chairs in the trunk of the car, we pitched out tent closer to the bonfire so we could sit on it. We sat by the fire, drunk our beer, and talked about some of the things we did. Some we already knew, we're just reminiscing, but their football away games was a little of a mystery to me. Matt really didn't say anything much about it.

"Hey Matt, do you remember when we tried to sneak in a stripper before the game?," Shawn said.

"That was crazy. Who hired her anyways?" Matt asked.

"Reed said one of the trainers did. He thought it would help raise our testosterone level or something."

"Well, I knew it backfired big time."

"Yeah, the newbies weren't able to hold themselves."

"Coach Fox found out about it, and he was furious," Shawn said.

"I was already gone when that happened. How come he blamed the upper class men?"

"Two of the seniors hooked up with the stripper outside the motel. That's why Jack and Craig were sidelined for two games."

"Are you sure you to didn't participate in any shenanigans during your away games?" I interjected.

They looked at each other then just laugh.

"What was that?" I said.

"Nothing." Matt replied.

"You guys are no fun."

"We hired a hooker once," Shawn said.

"You had a threesome?" I asked curiously.

"No. Me, Shawn and Reed took turns. We rented the next room to avoid getting noticed." Matt added.

"Fuckin' horn dogs," I said. I wonder what other crazy thing they could afford to do being from families with means.

We were now almost done with our third six pack and the humidity wasn't helping. We were sweating like crazy. Shawn suggested to continue drinking in the lake. Without any warning he took his clothes off and run to the lake naked. Matt followed him also naked. I grabbed one of the six packs and joined them skinny dipping.

"Water feels good," Shawn said.

"Don't wiggle too much. Something might bite your wiener mistaking it for a worm," I said.

"Are you saying I have small dick?" Shawn complained.

"I don't mean that. Something might bite your dick if you keep wiggling."

He did stop and followed my advice as if it's really going to happen, but he somehow started playing with himself.

"What are you doing?" Matt said to Shawn.

"Oh shit, it's not getting hard. Something is wrong."

"Why are you trying?"

"So no damn fish will try to bite it."

"Are you drunk and stupid now?" I said. "Nothing's going to bite you, idiot."

I searched for a good spot to sit down closer to the bank. Both of them followed and sat down in the water. Good thing the bank was sandy so it didn't feel too slimy on our naked behinds. The water helped to cool us down. The fire from the bonfire was enough to see the silhouette of our bodies. I laid down to cool the rest of my body while the two of them continued talking about football.

We stared at the other bonfires and wondered what the other people were doing. Maybe some of them were skinny dipping too or maybe having some outdoor tryst similar to those you see on porn movies. We joked that someone might be filming a porno as we speak.

"Would you do a porno?" Shawn asked.

"It's tempting, but I'll pass," Matt said.

"Even if they pay you good?"

"No."

"Why not?" Shawn insisted.

"Dude, if you do it. Your video will be out there for eternity," I replied.

"I would," Shawn said.

"It will be odd watching you," I said.

"Jeez, it's just a movie."

"Still. We sort of know you."

"Fine. Just don't watch my movies then."

"Ha-ha. Did we hurt your feelings?" Matt butted in.

After finishing our beer, we decided to call it a night. Matt looked for a torch light and made our way to the open shower with nothing on. We scrubbed away the lake smell from our bodies then we stood by the bonfire to dry ourselves. We finally had a good look of each other and like any competitive young guys we just had to have body parts comparison from our biceps down to our calves. Comparing our packages was implied. Shawn was also cut, but ours have the same profile. Matt, on the other hand, was a shower. Shawn's body was almost the same size as Matt although he looked wider because he was shorter than Matt. While Matt's and my stomach were flat and tight, Shawn was sporting a little bit of roundness. He also has some body hair on his chest which tapers to form a trail that meets his trimmed pubic area. He shaved his balls like I did. His thighs and legs were also slightly hairier.

When the comparison was over, we put our clothes back on. It looked Shawn also liked going commando. I was the only one wearing an underwear.

We decided to stay for a full day tomorrow to get some rest. The ground might not be the best bed, but it beat sleeping inside the car plus the campground rate was so much cheaper than hotel.

Shawn was already inside his tent when I put the fire out.

It's been days since I last jerked off, and I'd been itching to unload even just a quick one. I was already getting into the rhythm when my phone vibrated.

"You jacking off?" The text message from Matt said.

"Yeah :) :) :)" I replied.

"I am too :)"

"LOL, don't give me any ideas," I said.

No more text. I thought he was done.

"Bud, I'm coming in." He was outside opening my tent.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Stop pushing the idea," he said which puzzled me a little but once he closed the flap of my tent his out of his shorts in no time.

"I brought some lube," he said.

The tent was a little cramped for two people, so we were almost snuggling but he had to lay on his back with his knees wide open. I was on my side facing him because he was occupying most of the tent. We both knew what had to happen. We wrapped our hand to each others waiting cocks and just went with the flow. We both tried to muffle our groans when the sensation became intense. We were both sweating hard because of the humidity and my sweat was dripping on him, but we both didn't care as we matched our strokes. When I picked up the pace, he also did. When I slowed down, he also did. Then the undeniable urge to release came.

"Bud, please don't stop. I'm gonna cum," he whispered to me.

His legs stiffened and his juice began to shoot out. I used his preferred stroking technique when he was cumming to get a better control where his load lands. He was still breathing heavy when he started encouraging me to do the same. I never before intentionally shot on him, but by the way he was stroking me he was expecting it. My load ended on his side. We lay there motionless catching our breathe.

"I wonder if Shawn knew what was going on," I said.

"He's very likely asleep. He always does even when he is drunk," Matt said. "Alcohol knocks him out."

I made the mandatory inspection of his load verifying every place where they landed. We did good. Most of it landed in the middle of his body creating trails that run from his chest down to his navel. He was just smiling while I was looking at his blue shirt proud of what he just did.

"Hey bud, would you mind if I ask for seconds?" Matt whispered to my ear.

"No problem, bud."

A few minutes after Matt added more of his knuckle babies to his already stained shirt, the bastard didn't want to move, and it would be hard to get some sleep inside the cramped tent. I said I'm going to his tent which prompted him to finally get up and go back to his tent.

The next morning, Shawn and I were already preparing the fishing poles when Matt came out of his tent.

We looked at him and started laughing.

"Hey there tiger, had too much fun last night?" Shawn teased him

That's when he realized that he was still wearing his shirt from last night. He just looked at it, shrugged his shoulders then took it off and threw it inside my tent. I gave him a face. My silent protest was ignored, and he just got up and walked to where we at to see what we were doing. We stayed in the campground until it was about four o'clock late in the afternoon trying to catch some fish and occasionally dipping in the lake to cool off.

For the next few days, we were looking for usual tourist destinations to take some pictures for our families who were probably worried sick about us. We looked for the best place to eat out to try out local specialties as much as we could. The search for food gave our trip a little bit of a purpose in some sense. The trip was punctuated by visit to local watering holes to mix up with the local.

In one of the rest areas, we found a brochure for a bungee jumping nature tour. It took a lot of convincing for Matt to agree with it. The big guy was so afraid of height that he must had passed out when he took the jump. He was not moving when they were reeling him in. His poor display of bravado after his jump to show that he wasn't afraid was the highlight of the whole thing.

Our trip was starting to take a toll on us. We needed a good comfortable rest and some laundry had to be done. We spotted a motel offering a thirty five dollar a night rate. The motel looked like a hooked up place we joked, but the rate was so cheap so it was hard to pass. The thought of the bed sheets not been changed for weeks did not deter us. Any other bed would feel good at the moment. There were two rigs parked outside. Two or three cars were visible pulling in. We were not the only ones taking advantage of the cheap rate. Hauling our dirty clothes through the walkway we bumped into three other young guys. They had the same familiar hairstyle as me, it's not hard to tell that they were in the service. We exchanged some niceties, and they invited us to join them at the bar next to the motel. We said will check it out once we get settled. My legs were hurting and feeling numb, so I immediately went into the shower to run some hot water over it. It felt so good. When I got out of the shower, they had already separated their dirty clothes from the clean ones.

I joked about the stench in the room, "whose corpse is that smell coming from?"

Both of them took a sniffed of their dirty pile. Not Matt's. Not Shawn's.

"Oh lord, Joe. Is there a dead rat in your shoes?" Matt said.

"No, it ain't mine," I protested.

Shawn went and grabbed my shoes with my dirty socks stuffed in them. "Joe, this is just wrong," he said grimacing at the smell assaulting his nostrils.

Matt went in the shower to freshen up. I went ahead and separated my clothes. It looked like we only have one full load of laundry between the three of us. We decided to do them together and worry about figuring out which ones belong to whom later.

Together with Matt, I went downstairs to look for the laundramat while Shawn took his turn in the shower to freshen up. The washing machine and dryer were located outside close to where we parked our car. I sat on the trunk of the car waiting for the wash cycle to finish. We were going to the bar once our clothes were ready for the dryer. I looked around and the back parking lot was empty except our car then I looked up and saw that our room was the only one lit. Intriguing for a hook up motel, I was expecting it to be a little busier.

"What you looking at?" I heard Matt said from behind.

"Nothing, just wondering how come this place looked empty," I said.

"Maybe people just come and go. Hookers don't stay and keep you company, you know," he said.

"True, they probably need to get another client," I chuckled.

"How long you set the machine? "

"Forty five minutes."

He sent Shawn a text message that it would take that long. Shawn wanted to chill inside and would come down once we were ready to go.

"How are you holding up?" I asked. "Still afraid getting out of college?"

"Not really afraid now. Just wondering about things that I'm going to miss."

"Dude, you are going to do a lot more later in your life to worry about that."

"I know. Just sucks. You're gonna go places but I will be stuck in our town."

"You don't like our town?"

"Not that. I just don't want to spend my whole life knowing only one place."

"Can you look for a job somewhere then?"

"I could try but that's like starting over again."

"When you first got into college, you didn't know anybody but somehow you managed."

"True."

"You'll be fine. You're the one to complain. I'm the one who might be sent to dangerous places."

"No fair," Matt complained when he realized that his concerns might just be bunch of nonsense.

"Hey now, just because I'm gonna be a soldier that doesn't mean it's OK for me to die."

That somehow gave him a little of perspective in life. There are problems but not all of them are significant compare to many other things in life.

"How long before it's ready?" he asked.

"Go ahead and look," I said.

"It says 32 minutes."

"Damn, waiting feels like forever."

"I know, right?" he said walking back to the car. He leaned on the trunk right next to me to my left. The light was turned on in one of the rooms which made me hummed a porno soundtrack.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Hush, I just wanna see if you are getting turned on by what could be happening in that room."

"We're in the open Matt."

"That didn't stop you in the library."

"Don't tell me. You want me to do it here?" I protested but not really making a move to stop him from taking my dick out of my shorts through the slit of my boxer.

"See, you have a boner," he said pointing at my hardon.

"Jeez, what do you think is gonna happen when you play with it like that?"

My complaints fell on deaf ears as he continued stroking me.

"Matt, you're gonna get us caught."

"Concentrate on it then."

I had no choice but to let him have his fun. I did the same thing to him many times before, so I had to put up also.

"Shawn might be coming down now," I warned him.

Matt turned around to check and missed few strokes.

"Don't stop now. I'm getting close. Grip it a little tighter."

I got down from the trunk to avoid staining my shorts.

"Go faster now." That's when I finally spewed my load on the parking lot. I saw at least three that shot out and more oozed out. Matt squeezed the few drops from the head of my cock then he flicked his hand to get rid of those that ended up on his hand.

"Wow, bud. That's more than your usual," he said.

"Thanks," I just said.

As I came down from my orgasm we heard Shawn shouting, "it's done."

Matt met him by the washing machine to give me ample time to compose myself. I joined up with them after I safely tucked mine away.

"Put them in the dryer then let' go to the bar," I suggested.

We went into the bar. It's fairly small and a little too dark inside. The wood paneling gave it a very outdated look. Looking around the place, it might have been there since the sixties. On one of the corners close to the door on the opposite end of the bar was a jukebox that's connected to the Internet. In the middle were tables and chairs for sitting that were still unoccupied. The bar area that spanned the whole length of the building was populated by motley of characters. A young couple, a middle-aged couple gambling, three older folks who were already drunk and a little loud, two guys who probably brought the two rigs still wearing their shipping uniform, and the lone pool table was occupied by the three young guys who we bumped into by the walkway.

One of them saw us walking in and signaled us to join them.

"What's sup?" one of the guys greeted.

"Not much," Shawn replied.

"I'm Tom. That's Dom and that's Sawyer."

Shawn introduced us, and they asked if we want to shoot some pool.

"Sure," I said. They weren't really that good although they talked as if they were.

They happened to be driving back to their post from a long trip. They were in the service, Marine Corps as I suspected. Dom and Sawyer were privates and Tom's their sergeant. Although by the sound of how the two privates talk to Tom, they were probably good buddies. They were about two to three years older than us. Matt was very eager to tell them that I would be an officer pretty soon. That sort of took them a back a little.

I assured them that "I still have a year to go."

"Nice, it would be funny if I happen to serve under you," Dom said.

"Well, there's big chance it might happened," Tom said.

"You can ignore him if he turned out to be an asshole of an officer," Matt interjected.

"No can't do," Sawyer replied.

"Better remember these guys. They might ended up saving your ass," Matt told me.

"So what brought to this forsaken town?" Tom asked.

"Just driving by. We're sort of on a road trip to nowhere," Shawn said.

"Road trip to nowhere?"

"Yeah, just driving to where ever."

Tom not really knowing what say about it just said "that's crazy."

"A little, but it's been fun," I said.

"Where are you going now?"

"Heading back now. Just taking a different route down south."

"You guys seemed lost too?" I asked.

"We went out west for some cash – a nice weekend job," Tom said.

Looking like they were kids just out of college, I had to ask "how long you guys been in the service?"

"This is my second tour. Dom and Sawyer's first tour," Tom replied.

"Any of you staying longer?" I was quite curious since I'm going to be a career officer. The service would be my life.

"I'm done after this," Tom said. "This is how far I willing to go."

Dom and Sawyer said the same thing that they were probably just going to finish their second tour of duty, and they're also done. Unfortunately, the service is no longer something that you can make a career out of for many younger soldiers. Being a grunt is not the most desirable thing plus you can no longer really raise a family and send your kids to college with just the salary of a private. Time has changed. Many find active duty at best as a stepping stone to something better, or at worst a way to make some money for the meantime. But what ever the reason maybe, they are still serving the country.

We continued playing pool 'til closing. They were irritated a little because no one was able to take me out of the table.

"After hours in our room. You guys are welcome," Tom said.

"Sure, we'll be there," I said.

We went back to the motel and picked up our laundry. We tossed the pile on the bed and quickly sorted through it. There was no problem with the undies because I was the only that wear one among us. Then Matt's infamous shirt showed up.

"You have that in there?" Shawn said pretending his disgust.

"So?" Matt replied.

"We need to run this laundry in another wash cycle," Shawn replied.

Matt just gave him the finger. Once the laundry was sorted out, we went down the hall for the after hours. They were hanging out outside the room when we arrived at their room.

"Plenty of beer inside and Vodka. Help yourselves," Tom said.

After a quick trip inside to fetch some cans of beer, we joined them outside. There's hardly any other occupants, so the place was very quiet and very still. The only thing that you could hear was the sound of passing cars on the interstate that was close by.

"Look?" Dom said. "There they're at again."

"Oh yeah," Tom confirming what Dom was saying.

"What are you guys talking about?" Matt asked.

"Those two truck drivers. They've been spying on us," Tom replied.

I laughed. "They're probably cruising you," I said.

"Well, they're not getting this," Dom said while tapping his ass.

"Why do you think they want your ass? They probably want your dick," Shawn said.

"Says the expert," Matt cut him off.

"Who's the expert?" Tom asked.

We both pointed at Shawn.

"What the fuck?" he said giving us the finger.

"Elaborate," Tom said.

"In the first rest area where we stopped for the night, he got a very interesting proposition from a trucker," I said.

"Really?"

"The trucker was very direct though. He said the guy was looking at his dick while he was peeing then invited him to his rig," I continued.

Everyone started laughing. Poor Shawn all he could do was to give us double middle fingers.

"We're planning to pimp . . . err . . . stud him out if we ever run out of money," Matt said adding more injury to Shawn's ego.

By three o'clock the alcohol begun to show its power. The two privates were daring each other to streak through the walkway.

"Bet you can't do it," Dom said to Sawyer.

Sawyer took off his clothes run across the walkway.

"How about you? Too shy?" Sawyer said to Dom when he came back which just prompted the other to do the same. Sawyer was a smooth tall and athletic looking while Dom was my height but wide built. He sported some hair on his body, tanned and carrying some fat. He still looked good even if his midsection need a little work.

"Hey Joe, show some camaraderie," Shawn said to me.

"What do you mean?' I said.

"You'll be joining these guys pretty soon. Better get into the program," Shawn was trying to get back to me for telling the rest area story.

"We won't be serving under a shy officer," Sawyer said.

I went inside the room and took off my clothes. But instead of running I walked, so anyone who might be looking could see.

"Show off," Matt said when I came back.

The sergeant joined us in our nakedness who was slightly ripped with well developed pecs and noticeable six pack when he flexed. You could discern the muscles on his body. Shawn and Matt remained fully clothe to whole night. I think they knew that what was happening that night was not theirs; it was mine. Probably not the streaking part, but you get the idea.

The four of us stood outside facing the parking lot. If people were to pull in, they would not miss us even if the walkway was dimly lit by two twinkling light bulbs twenty yards apart.

"Those two truckers probably just had an instant orgasm right about now," Shawn said.

Laughter filled the air.

We streaked outside for about an hour or so. Good thing no one called the police on us. I would have like to stay longer but my body was beginning to shutdown. I told Matt and Shawn that I was turning in for the night. It was almost noon when I woke up with a terrible headache. Shawn slept on the floor between the two beds. Matt was in the other bed. We needed to stay longer because of last night. No one wanted to be on the road with a hangover. Tom, Dom and Sawyer already left.

Matt was doing the driving duty again. We let Shawn take the backseat again, so he could get some more sleep after sleeping on the floor.

"Why did he sleep on the floor?" I asked.

"Don't know. He just took some pillows and went to the floor," he said.

"I heard you're a prima donna."

"Whaaattt?"

"Shawn told me that you don't like sharing bed even when there's not enough for the team."

"What? I never said that to anyone."

"Why the heck they think that?"

"I don't know."

Maybe he really didn't mean to. It must be something that he did because I didn't think he has any hang up with close body contact. That's what he was doing for the most part of his life.

"Are you still afraid of living in the real world?"

"I'm not that apprehensive about it anymore."

"Cool. So are you going to buy that big screen TV?"

"Maybe."

He must had realized that the people he knew would never disappear unless he let them to and that life circumstances just evolved to something new. There were many other challenges out there.

I also realized at that time that life was really not snapshots of the best parts. You don't live in just a single portion of your life even if it was the most exciting and most memorable moment of it. If you dwell too much on it, you are bound to get stuck. And getting stuck is even worse than leaving behind many things you cherish. At least to me, that is.

On our journey back home, we agreed on just doing some sight seeing. I had to go to Virginia and Shawn had to get back to the campus for his summer classes and football camp. We couldn't afford to get stuck somewhere. The only special stop in our itinerary was Reed's house. Reed was now living with his fiance in another state by the southern coast. He was complaining to Shawn on how hard it was to find a job. I was not particularly sure about what Reed majored in, so I had no idea why he was having such trouble plus he was only few weeks out of college to really start complaining about it. Maybe he's not able to find a job posting that look for what he majored in.

Three days had passed from the time we left the motel. We probably visited every known tourist attractions along the way. Our folks were now complaining about the number of photos we were sending them. We made it to Reed's apartment and he was already outside when we pulled in and was happy to see us.

"What's up?" Reed greeted us.

"Whazzzzz up!" Shawn replied and gave Reed a bear hug.

"What corners of the world have you guys have been to?" Reed asked.

"Hell and back," I said.

"C'mon in," Reed said inviting us to their apartment.

We went into his one bedroom apartment and was greeted by his girlfriend. She said that food was ready whenever we are. Their apartment was still sparsely furnished. A couch and a recliner with a small coffee table completed the living room. Some pictures were hanging on the wall. There was one with Matt and some other people. Shawn was elated to see a picture of Reed and him inscribed with "Buds Forever!!!" It must be from the last championship because they were holding a trophy together high up in the air.

The apartment felt too cramped for five people, so we went outside their patio after eating our dinner to drink some beer. Reed and Shawn sat down while Matt and I stood leaning on the rail. It's not hard to tell that something was bugging Reed because his initial excitement of seeing us was gone by now. He was just sitting there waiting for any conversation from us. He would follow the conversation and occasionally nodded or say "oh yeah." When Shawn started asking about him, that's when we figured out what was going on.

"How's the job search going?" Shawn asked.

Reed looked down and said, "not good."

"How come?"

"I'm not sure. I already sent my resume to all the middle and high schools around here."

"No opening or something."

"Something like that. I haven't heard from most of them."

"Are you applying in some other places?"

"Yeah, I'm even using one of those placement agencies. Still no call even for an interview."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He looked up and turned around to see what her girlfriend was doing.

"She's been paying for everything up to this point. This just sucks."

Shawn was having trouble finding something to cheer him up. Matt suggested that we go to the bar close the hotel where we were staying. I could tell that Reed wanted to balk out of the idea.

Matt said, "it's or treat. What you say Shawn?"

"Yeah, your drink is on us," Shawn said in agreement.

He went back into the apartment asking his girlfriend's permission for Reed to go with us.

In the car, Shawn was teasing him.

"Reed, you two looked like an old married couple."

"Why did you say that?"

"You need permission from your old lady when you wanna do something."

"Fuck you. I can do whatever the hell I wanna do."

"I dare you say that in front her."

"I better not," Reed conceded.

We all laughed when he said that without even giving a second thought. We parked by the hotel. Matt and I proceeded to walk to the bar while Shawn and Reed were still discussing something.

"Is it really hard to find a job these days?" I asked Matt.

"I hope it's just the area," he answered.

"Have you sent your resumes yet?"

"Not really, I have a job waiting for me. Remember?"

"I know but still it's good to see what else is out there."

"Hhhmmmm, I honestly have not given this eventuality any thought."

"Doink!"

We found a table that could sit four people. The waitress saw us and immediately asked for what's our poison of choice for the tonight. We settled from some beer.

"Make sure to visit us," I said.

"I will. I promise," he said. "Don't worry I will still bug you on Friday nights," he said with a giggle.

"So you did plan that shit?"

"Why? Am I annoying that much."

"No but you are interrupting a good thing."

"Well, I never told you to stop whatever you're doing."

"Or I could have just shut off my phone," I said.

"Well that's no fun," he said.

Shawn and Reed made their way to our table. Reed seemed to be in a high spirit now.

"Listen to this," Shawn said. "I told Reed if he still can't a job, he can setup a webcam in their bedroom and have people pay to view it," he added.

"Jeez, you and your porn obsession," Matt said.

"You're even trying to talk Reed into it," I added.

"Hey now, it's just a suggestion," Shawn said defensively.

"Says the porn star wannabe," Matt replied.

"Who are you calling wannabe? Porn is my backup plan."

"There we go again. No we won't be watching you," I said.

"So it's OK for you guys to pimp me out, but it's not OK for me to be a porn star."

"What?" Reed interjected in a long drawn out way.

Then Matt and I automatically told the rest area story. Shawn was giving us the double middle finger again. The night went like forever. Next school year the gang would be much much smaller as some of us made the initial journey to the next stage of our lives.

We told Reed to keep in touch and said our goodbyes.

Back in the hotel, Matt took one of the bed. I kind of get the idea why his teammates thought that he didn't like sharing bed. He slumped in the middle of the bed with his limbs spread all over and slept like that. They just probably didn't try to bother him. I offered Shawn half of the other bed.

Another one long drive and we were back in our home state. We stopped by one of the big cities in the southern part of the state. Shawn grew up in one of the other big cities up north, so stopping by didn't not peak his interest. Matt and I, on the other hand, were a little excited to be in one. We avoided big big cities during our road trip for the most part thinking that accommodations would be quite expensive and sleeping in our car within a city was not an option. It's not a common experience for us being from a small town. We were still about five or six hours away from the campus, so we were able to convince Shawn to stay for the night. We scouted available hotels close to downtown. We found one but it was a pricey hotel. We asked for the cheapest room available then checked in to freshen up for the night. The room had only a king size bed. Well, Matt would be sleeping on the floor, or he had to share the bed with us because I was surely not going to sleep on the floor.

Downtown was very busy. A lot of people walking outside jumping from bar to another. There were street performers. There's a jazz instrument ensemble by a fountain in the middle of a plaza. The next plaza was occupied by acoustic band singing their original songs and selling their CDs. In one of the busy sidewalk there was a magician doing card tricks with some passers by. Several caricature artists lined one of the sidewalk. With really had no plan in mind we decided to just follow the crowd. Where ever a large group of people congregate, we went there. I noticed that there was not really anything special going on inside those bar just people drinking and chatting and crowding up the place. There were live bands on some of them but that's all. As it turned out, it was like a wave. Some people will leave a bar when it became too crowded then move to the next one less crowded. The other people from the previous bar started showing up crowding the new place then it went on and on. We probably spent more time walking than drinking that night. It was nice following the crowd but it wasn't really helping us getting our buzz, so we decided to just go to a store and bought some beer and took them to our room. The room was a probably the best looking hotel room I've ever been. It even had a balcony a good place to sip our beer. Matt and I where enamored by the city lights that you could even see up to the horizon. The towering buildings was a nice change of scenery. Watching the people walking down the streets was starting to grow old on me. I went inside the room and turned on the TV. I think Matt and Shawn sensed what I was looking for.

"Joe, don't waste our money on shitty hotel porn." I heard Shawn from the balcony.

I didn't answer and kept one switching channels and found two adult channels.

"Which channel is good?" I asked them.

"They're both terrible," Matt replied.

They knew the number of channels, so they might have done it before. I ignored them and just picked one.

I set my beer by the night stand and went under the sheet. I could hear them muttering from the balcony.

"I think he's gonna whack off."

"I bet."

I saw Matt looking at me then did a fake masturbation gesture. I showed him my shorts.

"He's going to be your roommate. Better get used to it," I heard Matt telling Shawn.

They stayed in the balcony drinking beer while I lay in the bed playing with myself under the sheet.

A third through the movie, I realized why they said it's shitty. "Is this how this movie going to be?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Matt replied.

"This is like a downgrade."

"I told you but you won't believe me," Shawn said.

"Shoot! Can you hand me another beer?" I asked.

"Here. Catch," Shawn said lobbing a can of beer.

"Is there like a special channel that I don't know?" I asked.

"I don't know," Matt replied.

"Check if there is another that looks like a cable box." Shawn replied.

I heard some more muttering from them. "Some hotels have those special box for renting movies. More expensive though."

"There is an extra one," I said.

"There is?" Shawn said. "You will need a credit card, I think," he added.

"That's a bummer," I said.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Matt said.

So I was stuck watching a soft core porn for the night. Matt and Shawn came it halfway through the movie and check what I was watching.

"Move," Matt said.

He took his spot in the middle of the bed then Shawn joined us.

"What you guys doing?" I asked.

"Better not waste the movie," Shawn said I could see that he was trying to get out of his shorts. Matt was doing the same thing.

"No one gets any ideas," Shawn said.

We were now butt naked under the sheet stroking to the porn determined to leave our DNA in the hotel room.

Matt didn't care that we were there too. He parted his legs. I felt his leg go underneath mine. But the other side was trickier.

"Hey, stay in your own ZIP code," I heard Shawn said.

They had a leg fight. I think Shawn lost because he raised his knees after it was over. Once everything was settled. We continued watching the movie. I felt Matt giving my thigh a good squeeze. He must be feeling good.

"Matt, the cleaning lady will be mad at us tomorrow," Shawn joked.

"Why?" Matt asked.

"You'll be soaking 'em bed sheet."

"Oh well, that can't be helped."

"Have you guys talked about the roommate agreement?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I down with it," Shawn said.

"Make sure to at least clean my recliners once in a while," Matt said.

"Will do," I replied.

"I'll loan the mini-fridge too if guys need it."

"That's cool," I said.

"Never kick me out of the squad again."

"Will not"

"Reed and I will be joining your group," Shawn said.

"Nice," Matt said. "Who will be the squad leader?" he continued.

"What the hell?" I said in protest. I'd been the squad leader from the start.

"Just kidding."

"Joe likes his Friday nights," Matt said but he didn't mention anything about what we did during Monday night football which we hardly partaked in anyways for the last two school years ever since the group joined us, or the fact that we've been exchanging strokes when we felt like it.

"He told me," Shawn said. "And also the 'give me 30'. I bumped it to 'give me 1' though."

"Shawn make sure he doesn't go out drinking like crazy again."

"I will."

Matt must be really ready to move on with his life. He was saying those things as if he was handing his role to Shawn.

The movie was over and it really didn't do it for us. Shawn got up and fetched the remaining cans of beer. We stopped what we were doing and drunk the last few beers and chatted some more then we drifted to sleep. The night was broken by moans. The effect of the alcohol was wearing out which made it easier. First it was Shawn. Then minutes later it was Matt's turn. I waited until all the sound died down to have my own release. I was getting close when Matt offered his hand – he must have woken up – then I finished off using his hand. We woke about nine in the morning. Shawn and I just had to see what kind of mess Matt was leaving behind. A few laughs then we had our quick shower, so we could take advantage of the complimentary breakfast. This was the final leg of our journey going back to the campus.

Shawn was driving and I was riding shotgun. Matt was still behind arranging the trunk.

"C'mon Matt. Let's go," I shouted from the passenger seat then I heard the trunk latch closing. I waited and no Matt was making his way to the backseat.

I called for him again but I wasn't able to finish because when I looked back he was standing there with his bag on shoulder and his other stuff were right by his feet.

"Matt, what are you doing?" I shouted at him in confusion. Shawn also figured out that something's amiss. He looked back and also saw Matt just standing there.

"What is he doing?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know," I answered as I was getting out of the car.

"I'm staying" Matt said.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm staying."

"I heard you but what do you mean you're staying. You know you can't do that. You'll get me in so much trouble." I pleaded.

But his mind was set.

"I'm staying."

"Why are you staying?"

"You know that if I go back I will never be able to leave."

"What about your job?"

"I'll find one here."

"Matt, you're scaring me."

"Joe, I don't want to get stuck."

Many things started running through head. Was it my fault? Did I mistakenly gave him the idea when I said that I was joining the marines to see world.

"But you can still see places even when you're working back home."

"That's not it, Joe. If I don't to this now. I will forever live my life up to this point in my head. That's what I meant when I said I don't want to get stuck."

I never imagined that he would be willing to just leave everything in the open. Even I couldn't do what he was going to do.

"OK, but promise me that you will not do anything stupid."

"I promise."

"What I am going to tell your parents?"

"Don't worry about that. I will call them."

There was no helping it. We're going back without him.

"Are you sure you will be fine?"

"I will be."

"Matt, what are you doing? . . . .You have my phone number if you need anything."

I was about to walk back to the car when I felt my fist clenched. "Hey Matt! One more thing," I said as my fist landed on his stomach. I didn't know if I was angry or scared for him, but I punched him so hard that he was on his knees to the point of throwing up.

I could see the shock on Shawn's face who was standing by the drive side watching us.

"Why did you do that for?" Shawn asked.

"He deserved it," I said.

I felt so terrible watching him in pain trying to get back his breathing.

"If you're gonna be this dramatic, you should have at least chosen one of the cities by the coast. So I'll know that you can at least spend your unemployed life watching girls in bikinis."

When I saw that he was trying to laugh through the pain, I entered the car. Shawn was still standing looking at Matt.

"Shawn let's go."

"Are you sure he's gonna be OK?"

"He will be fine."

By the time Shawn started the car, Matt was already standing up. Then we drove away leaving Matt behind.

"So dramatic," I said.

"Is he gonna be fine though?" Shawn kept asking.

"As long as he has his wallet with him. He should be."

I learned that he must have planned part of it. His parents all along thought that he had a job prospect in the city and that he was staying to check on it.

It was almost the end of my training Virginia when he finally sent me a text message.

"How come you didn't check on me? Asshole." The message said.

"Giving me the scare. Idiot" I replied back.

"Are you still mad?"

"I was never mad. So what up?"

"I finally got a job."

"How long it took you?"

"About two months."

"What did you do before?"

"Flipped burgers."

"LOL"

"I bought a widescreen TV."

"Cool."

"Actually, my sisters did. I can't afford it."

"I live downtown. If you guys want to visit."

"Will do."

Things turned out good for him. He found a job as an account representative with a local bank.