Road Trip [#Wattys2015]

Chapter 16

Maia and I were sitting at a bench outside the karaoke club waiting for Jackson. He had told us -well not us, Maia. He was still mad at me- that he would meet us there.

Maia and I were not speaking while we waited but it was not an awkward silence it was an exhausted silence. Like I'm tired to speak, you're tired to speak so let's just sit and look at the distance. And that's what we did until Jackson appeared in the distance and I stood up from the bench. Maia didn't feel like giving him standing ovation because she wasn't the one who had to apologize.

"Hey." I start and he nods. Not a happy nod, an I'm clearly pissed with you nod. "I'm sorry." I told him but he kept not responding. "I really wanted to tell you about your father but I wanted to wait until the road trip was over. And I'm sorry I acted like him." Jackson was not replying after that which created a very uncomfortable tension between the three of us.

"George is Tom's grandfather!" Maia broke the tension. She said it with the same excitement a geeky kid would call out a noisy kid in front of a teacher.

"What?" Jackson finally spoke. I wished people's reactions were something more creative than 'what'.

"Yeah, and he has been keeping in touch with his mother since he was thirteen." She kept going. Jackson was in disbelief.

"Yeah right Maia. Is he also a vampire?"

"Don't be stupid, then Tom would be a vampire too."

"Right cause that's the stupid part." I cut in not missing the chance to laugh at Maia and Jackson turned to me again.

"Is it true? Not that you're a vampire the other part." He clarified.

"Yeah." I said and Maia smirked in the back. "Told you!"

"Wow that's... great?" Jackson was not sure how to take this.

"Yes it is." I reassured him. He didn't know the rest, that was the good part.

"Cool man, um and about the whole acting like my dad thing. Don't worry about it we're cool." He smiled. And I smiled too again, because my life was getting better. Actually, my life was just starting.

We sat there and talked for a while, just the three of us like how we did at their house. We made fun of Maia because of the TV shows she liked and then she made fun of us because of our inability to solve a math equation and then we decided to take a walk and then get Grandpa George and leave.

"Um, guys? Before we leave here can I just do one last thing?" Jackson said as we got up and looked behind us. The karaoke bar. We walked in, Jackson was the first through the door. "Hey, the Wander Wall guy!" The DJ greeted him and a lot of the people that were there yesterday turned to us. They remembered him by the last song of his set. The girl who was on the stage remembered him too so when she finished her song she literally jumped of the stage for him to get up.

Jackson did Jealous by Nick Jonas, something with the word baby girl in it over ten times by some RnB singer who spelled his name with a Z instead of an S and closed with wander wall again because people really liked it.

"What are you gonna do about this?" Maia asked him when he joined us of stage.

"What do you mean?" Jackson acted like it was no big deal.

"You have to do something! You could post covers on YouTube." Maia offered.

"No people who listen to covers on YouTube are lame. I'm thinking you go straight to a record label." I argued sarcastically.

"What are you guys even talking about? I don't wanna be a singer!"

"What do you wanna be? A pilot? Like dad?" Maia raised her eyebrows at him. Being like his dad was not a solution for him anymore.

"No. But that doesn't mean I wanna be a singer. There are other good professions like cooking, being a layer, teaching, shit like that."

"Shit like that aren't for you, Jackson." I said still kind of giggling about the idea of Jackson being a teacher.

"Well, neither is singing. Do you know how hard it is to have a career in something like that?" He had a point but still, a talent like he's couldn't be wasted just because he's a wuss.

"That is insane!" Maia seemed like she was getting ready to give a big motivational speech, which she did. "You cannot let your fears control you, this is the only thing you enjoy doing so do it! We will all support you and you'll also make more money than us and do less work." That caused a laugh reaction, but we all knew pop-stars were not about doing little work. "What person in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to follow their dream?" Maia continued.

"I haven't even had that opportunity yet." Jackson sounded defeated but still fighting back.

"You will, you just gotta work for it." Jackson nodded and Maia seemed satisfied with herself. Even though she was the smallest she could always manage to boss us around.

"You're right." Jackson said at last, to both of us. With that we started walking back to the hotel to get our stuff, my grandpa and leave. "What person in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to follow their dream?" Maia had said. Jackson did not have that opportunity yet but I did. And I was turning it down because I was afraid. At last, I was the wuss not Jackson and grandpa George had described my exact dream job and I was about to refuse taking it.

The last few hours I was trying to convince myself that the sitting in my house e-mailing articles to him was just as interesting, but when again would I have the chance to travel the world and report what I see? And who is that guy that is about to choose a routine over his dream, because he is not me.

When we got to the hotel I stayed in the reception for a while to have the awkward conversation with Sidney about canceling our date.

"See we have decided to leave early so I'm not going to make it to our date."

"Oh, it's okay I totally understand." She said smiling. Wow that was easy, in fact I don't think I've ever had a human interaction as easy as that was. I guess that's just what growing up feels like.

I walked up to grandpa George's room after that to tell him that we're ready to go. He had no luggage with him so all he had to do was grab his coat and was immediately out the door.

"Also," I started. "I though about the job you offered about traveling around the world and interviewing kids for other schools."

"And?"

"I'll take it."