Road Trip [#Wattys2015]

Chapter 18

The next day I woke up early, around 11 a.m., and decided to drop by the Everson house and take them out for a coffee. Maia opened the door, she was still in her pajamas and all the lights in the house were closed. The only light shining in the living room was the light of the TV so I'm guessing she was only up so she could catch up on the Vampire Diaries episode she had missed while on the road trip.

She let me in and I was not surprised to find I was right. She didn't know where Jackson was so I stayed and watched the rest of the episode with her while we waited for him. The plot was hard to catch up with and there were way more stake-murders than romance.

"Isn't this like Twilight?" I asked in surprise and slight disgust after the third death if that episode as I thought that TV show was just a rip off of those books.

"No, this is nothing like Twilight. People actually die here." She looked like she also wanted to say something else but then the handsome dark-headed vampire appeared on the screen and she lost her trail of thought. I found myself surprised at the end of the episode, because despite the lame title and cheesy love triangle it was actually a pretty good show. Of course I was not going to admit that to Maia.

We stayed there talking for a couple of seconds and then Jackson showed up.

"Oh, hey Tom." He greeted me. He had that 'I just got a hot date' kind of smile, or for his case 'I just got the special edition of a comic book'.

"Where were you?" Maia yelled at a low voice in order to not wake their parents up. "And what were you doing up so early?"

"Maia it's almost noon." He tried to calm her.

"Yeah but it's vacation time, so in vacation time it's almost dawn." I argued and Maia nodded.

"Well okay this might sound surprising but I auditioned for a choir." He revealed and Maia said "What?" at the same time I said "And?"

"I got in!" He burst with joy and both me and Maia run up to him to congratulate him. We finally go out for that coffee a few moments later and as soon as we've sat down they start telling me about what happened last night with their parents.

"So when we walked in the house our dad was not there." Maia started, "so we thought it was good chance to discuss it with mom and see if she knows anything."

"Yeah so at first when we brought up dad she was acting really weird so we figured she knew." Continued Jackson. "And we let her know that we know too and then she started crying telling us that she's sorry that she couldn't have a healthy relationship with dad and that they really tried for us but they can't do it." Maia was sucking on her straw and looking at the table trying not to cry. I reached out and grabbed her hand under the table. She was comforted by that but not entirely.

"So are they gonna get divorced now?" I asked Jackson and he nodded.

"Yeah I think so."

"The awkward part..." Maia started "was when our dad came back and we had to act like we didn't know where he was." Jackson patted his sister in the back and I figured it was the worst time possible to tell them I was moving, but still I had to.

I started with explaining to them about that project and how it was going to go down. They seemed to kind of understand were this was getting at but still not making the connection. "...so long story short, I'm moving out after Easter break."

"What?" Jackson gasps in surprise. Maia reacts differently by narrowing her eyes at me and squeezing my hand really hard under the table.

"Look you guys, we'll keep in touch I promise!" I said as I finally broke away from Maia's physical assault at my fingers.

"Yeah, people always say that when they move out. But it never happens." Maia tears up again and I know she's thinking of her ex best friends and the way things ended with them.

"That's true Maia, but we're not like other people." I argue. "And I'll manage to be here for the things that matter like your birthdays or any other holyday. Jackson's first concert with the choir." I looked to him and he smiled again like in the morning. I don't think he had yet realized that there was going to be a first concert.

"Promise?" He asked hopeful.

"Promise." I replied and Maia raised het little finger up for a pinky swear. Jackson joined us and I almost teared up because it hit me that this might be one of the last times we lock fingers.

No, I told myself, this is not one of the last times. People lose contact when they move away but we're not like other people.