Epilogue
Jay and Elizabeth stood together in front of the publishing house holding hands.
"And what do you say to them?"
"Christopher Paolini was nineteen when he published Eragon"
"And?"
"The Outsiders was published when S.E Hinton was eighteen"
"So?"
"Will you take a look at mine too..?"
"Oh come on Parker. You have to be confident! You have to show them how much they'd want you!"
But it didn't seem like any of Elizabeth's coaching was going through in his head. Jay felt it. He felt that this was the watershed in his life, the turning point, the sea change, and he was just one step away from it-he didn't have the guts to take that one step. Once he stepped through the doors of the publishing house, his manuscript might just be shredded into pieces, or by some real luck (which he didn't feel like he had any) get read by an editor. But Jay felt that although he could fool couple of his friends to make them think they like him and his stories, he didn't feel like he could fake it to a pro. Let's be serious, the possibility that he could he published must probably be less than one. But did he want to gamble? Gamble with his talents? He wasn't so sure.
But maybe what they wanted to sell was not his stories. Maybe they wanted to sell the fact that Jay was still a high school student writing fantasy stories. No, he didn't do any drugs, and no he didn't have any tragic past, he was just young and foolish, but they could package him up as a 'hotshot genius'. Because all stories about brilliant, productive teens sell.
Yet Jay didn't want to count on that. He wanted to get acknowledged by his own abilities, which sounds very naive of him to say. People, authors, way older than him with much more experience were still struggling to make it. What chance did he have against them?
"You think too much," Elizabeth said, as she pinched his cheeks. "And you're sort of shaking."
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Jay said. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"You think that me running away into a car was a great idea then? I faced heck loads of trouble, fought with the sister I had barely spoken to previously, then fought with my parents who didn't care for me, and kissed you. But I did everything without regrets, and I'm driving my life my way again. Look Jay, I don't know much about life, or literature, or publishing anything in general, but I like your stories, I like you, and I sure as hell know that you're going to regret for the rest of your life for not stepping through those doors right now. Then if you believe me, we're going in now." Elizabeth grabbed Jay's hand and pulled him towards her side. Jay almost tripped from the force, but quickly joined Elizabeth.
This was how Elizabeth was. Making now or never choices, and knowing what time to enter or leave. He remembered the countless times he had watched her back, leaving him behind. And he now held her hand in relief that she chooses to bring him with her. So with Elizabeth, Jay left his previous state of mental breakdown, and entered the doorways to his dream.
