The van that your oldest friend had rented was large and roomy, fitting you comfortably between your two closest friends. It was a black van with a large, open area in the back that held the suitcases of everyone and their mother, it seemed. There were only seven people going on this trip but for whatever reason, everyone’s bags packed into the space implied that a few of you may have brought more than necessary.
The van had been set up so the back area was cleared for the suitcases and bags. In the next row were three seats, where you happened to be sitting in the middle of your two closest friends. In the next row, the center aisle was cleared up but to the left and right were two more occupied seats. The front of the van had the drivers seat and passengers seat with the same center aisle that was between them.
Being stuck in the center of everyone for the car ride wasn’t really too bad like you had originally thought. The seats were wide enough to make it comfortable and comfortable enough to the two people who surrounded you. You joked with them the entire ride, pushing against them unnecessarily hard during turns and stealing snacks that had been passed around the van.
You smiled at the thought and ran a hand across your head, feeling the wind from the open windows and the skylight ruffle through your clothes. It was refreshing, but the air pushing at your face made it a little hard to breathe, so you leaned away from the center where you were sitting, closer to one of your friends shoulders than you intended. They noticed what you were doing and closed their window, smiling at you. The other windows around the van proceeded to close individually, until your ears finally popped from the air being stabilized around you. The silence in the car was almost deafening but it felt good for the few seconds to not have the rushing wind pounding at your head.
To be honest, the sudden silence almost made you drowsy, as if the sound of the wind had been keeping you awake for the past few...ten, maybe twenty minutes? Time always seemed to get lost on these car rides. You wished to lie your head down, but...where? Leaning your head back would be much too uncomfortable, and leaning against your friends...maybe, but maybe that would make them uncomfortable, too. You were at a loss.
Your thoughts of where to sleep were interrupted by a nudge from the friend who first closed their window for you. “Yo.”
You smirked at them and turned your head to give them a side eye. “I’m sleepy,” you said.
“I can tell. You need to stay awake; it’s part of the car ride-rules,” They said, reaching over to poke your friends head who was on your left. “Right, bud?”
Your friend on the left mumbled but you saw a small smile on their lips. “Leave me out of this, man. I’ve already took like four naps.”
“See?” you said, nudging your friend back to his spot. They pursed their lips and furrowed their eyebrows together, making you laugh. “When are we gonna get there? I’m tired and I can’t put my head anywhere,” You yelled up to the front, hoping someone would respond. Someone shouted at you to quit whining, but not being able to tell who, you laughed and slumped in your seat, letting out a long and audible sigh.
“Alright, you’re beginning to get on my nerves,” The friend on your left said, giving your side a poke. You flinched and slumped further down into your seat, a loud giggle leaving your lips as you reached for their hands to defend yourself.
“Hehey! Keep your stupid fingers to yourself!” You said, gripping onto their hand and holding it in place. They smiled at you with a feeble attempt to shake off your hand, but you held on.
Seeing what was happening to you, the other friend next to you smirked. “No, they’re right. You’re like a kid right now. So impatient!” They gave your side a squeeze, making your body shoot back into the center of the seat with even more giggles escaping your lips.
“Noho no no no, we are not doing this.” You said fervently. Your left hand was gripping the fingers of the friend to your left and your right hand was gripping the hand of your right. They seemed to have sworn a silent pact between each other because you saw their eyes lock and look down at you in your seat. Something in your fight or flight said to move, but where could you go with the seat belt keeping you where you are?
Within half a second, both of your sides shot up with a feeling like electricity, making you jolt forward into your seat, but the seat belt locked and you were forced back to where you were. Your two friends next to you enthusiastically went to work squeezing your sides, poking your stomach, scratching your ribs, anywhere that they could get with your squirming. You erupted into loud laughter, pushing your arms against your sides but anywhere you put your arms left somewhere else open, somewhere else to tickle and pinch, somewhere else that your friends got their hands on.
“NOHOHO NAHAHAHAHA PLEASE WAHAIT WAIHAIHAIHAIT!” You shouted, but your cries fell on deaf ears. Your body pushed forward and back but the seat belt only kept you more and more in your seat each time, locking closer to your seat every time you fell back. It was working against you and by the time your arms were getting tired of fighting, the seat belt had you fully pinned against the seat. Your eyes squeezed shut and you did your best with weak arms to fight against the onslaught of tickles, but it seemed to do little to nothing.
The friend on your left, seemingly getting a little more mischievous, pulled your arm out from your defensive position and gripped your elbow, pushing it above your head and dipping their fingers into the crease of your armpit. You let out a little involuntary scream and fell deeper into your laughter.
After a few minutes, the friend on your left pulled their fingers away and following suit, so did your friend on your right. Your arms stopped mid fight but still held them up in case of anything else. Your eyebrows were knit tightly together and after a bit, you finally opened your eyes to realize that everyone except the driver was staring at you. Your friend in the passenger seat, watching you pant, asked if you needed water but you choked and said that you were fine, a few after-giggles still coming out. The two friends in the center-of-the-van seats watched you and teased your two ticklers about being mean.
“You both suck, you know that?” One of them said with a smile.
The friend on your right chuckled and threw up their hands. “Just making light of a situation.”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” The center row friend said. “I mean you suck at tickling.”
Your ears perked up and you tensed.
“What are you talking about? Giggles over here can state otherwise.”
“I mean you completely forgot to get the knees!”
The center row seemed to get a kick out of your semi-suffering because you were attacked once more with new purpose, your knees, ribs, stomach, sides, neck, armpits, anywhere they could get. Kicking did little to nothing so the only thing you could do at this point was flinch, laugh, and laugh, and laugh...
With the music playing loudly over your laughing, the driver payed steady attention to the road, your laughter drowned out in the sound.
This was gonna be one hell of a car ride.