stars ; j.s.

1

J A C O B

I was woken up at an unreasonable time for an unreasonable excuse. 5:00 a.m. was not a time that I had seen in years, so when I was awoken by my mother, I was completely miserable.

"Jacob, wake up we have to go," My mom whispered to my sleeping body. I responded with a frustrated groan.

She sighed loudly and pulled the blankets off of me. "Your grandparents are expecting you to be at their house at 10. You can sleep in the car,"

"Why do I even have to go?" I complained.

"Because you haven't seen them in almost three years, Jacob. Your father and I have decided that this will be good for you as well. It'll give you a little time to be out of the spotlight and keep you humble. It's only for the summer and then you'll be back by the time you have to go back to tutoring,"

I figured I didn't have a valid argument against her, not to mention I was way too tired to argue. So, I got up, threw on a pair of sweatpants, and walked groggily to my mom's car. Instantly, I was asleep upon sitting down.

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Five hours and a lot of sleep later, my car door was opened and I jerked awake. In front of me was my grandmother.

"There's our little Jacob! Not so little anymore, are you? It's so good to see you again." She threw her arms around me in a tight hug and I was immediately engulfed by the smell of her potent perfume. I looked around and realized that other than dirt roads, there was nothing around us. No telephone poles, no fancy cars roaming the streets, nothing. Suddenly, I wanted to turn back around and go home.

"I'm not staying here." I blurted.

Both my parents and grandparents stared at me like I was I crazy. I felt a bit guilty after saying it, considering my parents drove all this way and my grandparents were so excited to see me. But, there was no way I was spending the next three months here.

My grandfather approached me with a hand on my shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a second, champ?"

Reluctantly, I followed him to the porch and managed to shake out of his grip in the process. He groaned as he sat down as if it pained him. I sat down beside him.

"Listen here, Hollywood. I know you're used to your glamorous life. You kids these days can't even last a second without your Tweeter, or whatever the damn thing's called. This is where you grew up. You used to come and visit your old man every summer and you had a blast. Maybe your grandma and I aren't a couple of celebrities, but we're your family. Don't forget that."

And I started to feel more and more guilty. Maybe they were right. Maybe I could really benefit from this. So, I said goodbye to my parents and watched them drive away.

Here I was, stuck five hours away from home in a small town for a whole three months. What have I gotten myself into?