Teen-Adulthood 101

Chapter Thirteen

When Friday rolled around, we were all at Jana's packing up the cars. Luckily, school was canceled because of a last minute meeting and we didn't have to worry about missing classes. So here we are, putting our stuff together at 9 a.m. after breakfast. Joni was on our good side again after apologizing to us for her outburst and was glad that we were still going for the weekend, but the girls and I were just being civil with her. Kayla was hesitant to go home, but we were holding her hand and told her it would be okay. Jana had taught her self-defense moves and how to stand up for herself, but she was still nervous. Amanda is coming with us, with her mom's permission, so she, Rain, and I could study together. So, we were all set to go in a few minutes.

"Okay," Ryan said, kissing Jana, "we are all packed and ready to go."

Hearing that, we piled in the cars and took off: Jake, Amanda, Kyle, Kayla, and I rode with Jana and Ryan; Rain rode with Logan; Joni and Alden drove in their car, while the Hunters took theirs.

With Ryan behind the wheel, Jana played her Lacuna Coil CD and we all sang along, to the guys' amusement.

We continued busting the guys' eardrums for two hours until we stopped in Newton for gas, when Jana took over and the guys entertained us by singing to Avenged Sevenfold.

After four hours of car karaoke, talking and alternating drivers, we arrived in Gulfport and stopped at IHOP for lunch.

"I cannot believe you girls ordered pancakes topped with bananas, strawberries, chocolate chips, and whipped cream." Joni scoffed. "That's something a child would eat."

"Well, we are teenagers," I replied, taking a bite, "and adults are eating it, also."

"Well, I'll just stick with a steak sandwich with fries. That is an adult meal!"

"And very unhealthy," Jana replied. "We played it smart getting the 'kid stuff' because it has great nutritional benefits than a breaded steak sandwich and fries."

"Whatever, princess," Joni retorted, taking a bite of her sandwich.

We continued eating and talking for another thirty minutes, then went to Joni and Alden's place in a trailer park right outside of town.

"It's a nice place." Amanda replied, looking at the beaten single wide. "How many rooms does it have?"

"Two bedrooms and two bathrooms," Joni answered as we were going inside. "The master bedroom is mine and Alden's, while the other room belongs to Kayla and Matt until they get their trailer."

Hearing that, Kayla shrugged slightly and Jana and I held her hand.

"So, where do we sleep at?" Ryan asked, putting his arms around Jana.

Alden took us to the living room. "We have a hide-a-bed in both couches. A couple of y'all can sleep there and the rest can sleep on the floor or something."

"Fine by me." Amanda replied, grabbing her backpack and turning to Rain and me. "Y'all want to do some homework?"

We both nodded and headed to the couch when we heard a car pull up.

"That must be Matt." Kayla said, grabbing her stuff. "You want to do it in my room? I have some stuff to catch up on, myself."

"That's cool." Rain answered. "Let's go."

We entered Kayla's room right before Matt entered the house and buckled down on our lessons.

"Nice room, Kayla." I said, noticing the MMA posters on the wall.