Reasons Why (Jeremy Shada Fan Fiction)

Chapter 7: Ice Cream Part 2

I never would have thought having ice cream would be so interesting. Especially when you go with someone you barely know. Maybe this was the perfect thing for me to do before I take the next step. It did seem like I was rushing things. But I just want to find a girl I can relate to and can look past my celebrity status to see who I really am. We had both finished our ice cream, but that didn’t mean we left the stand. “So, what’s your favorite thing about living here?” I ask.

“Well,” Taylor pauses for a moment before answering. “maybe the lack of humidity.”

“Why? I mean I guess that’s a good plus, there are other things though. You didn’t move here for the lack of humidity.”

“Okay,” she giggles lightly. I could tell at first that she was trying to play hard to get, but now that we’ve been talking for a bit she’s gotten comfortable with me. “Living near the beach and a bustling city is nice.”

“City girl? I’m more of a city guy myself.”

“Well, when you live in Philly…” She trails off, not needing to finish the sentence. I was enjoying every bit of this. It was hard for me to meet people sometimes. Taylor is one of the few people I’ve met in the past few years that can really see my true self. Maybe that’s why I want us to be more. Finding a pretty girl that respects you is hard to find in this city. “Question for you, have you ever done any long car trips?”

“Oh, gosh. Yes and they were terrible.” Even just thinking about the one my family did brings memories of absolute insanity.

“Really? My family drove across the country. Nothing could be worse than that.”

“Cross country? You didn’t fly when you moved?”

“My parents thought doing some sight-seeing would make it worth it. Hey! Answer my question first.”

“Sorry.” I laugh a little. She also has found a way to make me laugh very easily. Something I love in a girl, a good sense of humor. “So my parents thought a few years ago that it would be cool to take a trip to the Four Corners. I was thirteen and I rode in the back of the car. You could think that sitting away from my brothers and sister that I would have a bit of peace.” She nods. “But of course that is never the case.”

“Tell me about it.” Taylor says, a little bit of dread edging into her voice.

“We left at around five a.m. so for a bit it was quiet. But once Lucy and Zack had enough energy, ugh, they would not shut up. They would talk really loud. Then they would fight really loud and it was enough to be heard a car over." She smiles and shakes her head. "I don’t even need to finish this do I?”

“You spent the whole trip miserable and your parents got really annoyed so they decided that travelling by car was no longer going to be something you do?” She finishes.

“Exactly.” She shakes her head slowly and gives me a sad smile.

“Try going across the country sometime, then we’ll talk.”

“Did your parents rent a car for it?”

“Yeah.” I nod and look around. There weren’t that many people here. Click. I jump and turn in the direction of the noise.

“What was that? It sounded like a camera.” Taylor says, a nervous tone sliding in.

“That’s what I thought it sounded like too.” I locate the noise source. A man was down on one knee and holding a woman’s hand. “Huh, it looks like a proposal. There’s a bunch of people standing around them. I see a few cameras.”