In My Dreams

"Fried chicken with mashed potatoes"

Jamie and Brooke enter the broken motel room with the accompanying smell of cat vomit.

"Wow... well at least I know that Quebec has better motels than Ottawa." Brooke comments with a light chuckle.

"I'm a little tired. So I'm going to sleep." Jamie says while holding back a yawn and climbing onto the wide queen sized bed.

Brooke looks at Jamie with sheer disappointment, declaring "No. Come on, we haven't talked to each other in a long time."

Jamie look back with confusion, "we are talking right now. Aren't we?"

"Not just blah blah talking, but real talk. The juicy stuff, the important stuff." Brooke replies putting emphasis on all the words as she climbs on the bed.

"Okay, okay. Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Jamie asks.

"Anything that's on your mind."

"I'm kinda hungry. Oh, how about some chicken nuggets! Oh, chicken and mashed potatoes!" Jamie says with excitement.

Brooke looks mad, but then softens the expression, "okay fine, some nuggets. But real talk. Anything in your mind?"

Jamie's expression changes, and she drops the phone onto the bed saying, "well you know that my parents want me to become a dentist right- "

"Yeah, and"

"Well, I want to become a lawyer. But my parents have stopped talking to me unless it was dentist or school related stuff. They won't even listen about want I want to achieve in life". Jamie ends, with a frustrated and exhausted tone.

"I'm sorry about that."

"I know. Like it's easy for you. You want to become a writer, and you go to a university with a great language arts department." Jamie sighs and takes a breath, "there's this amazing program in British Columbia for law students. It's this full scholarship for an essay and other qualifications. I got the essay and all the requirements ready, but when my parents found out, they said that they would not support me in any way, so I rescinded the application."  Jamie ends with a helpless look.

"You could've told me about the scholarship. I could have helped you." Brooke says, "but it's okay. Are you sure you don't want to send your application?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't wanna disappoint my parents. They gave up so much for me, moving to Canada and immigrating here, it wasn't easy." Jamie stops, and thinks, "enough about my sob story. How is your dad?" Jamie asks carefully.

"He is okay. He gets out in June, so I get to see him during the summer." Brooke says happily.

Jamie looks at Brooke worryingly, "Just be careful okay, I know that he is your dad but he was in jail and you only found out about him two years ago."

"I know, that I only found out about him while he was in jail, but a good dad in jail is better than a bad stepdad who deserves to be in jail."

"Okay, just be careful." Jamie says with a slight chuckle.

"So how did you end up in a motel in Montreal?" Jamie asks intuitively.

"I don't remember"

Jamie raises her eyebrow and looks at Brooke confusingly, "you don't remember?"

"Well what I can remember is that I was dancing in the club, then a cute guy starts flirting with me. The next thing I know we're club hopping all the way to Montreal." Brooke explains.

"Just be careful okay, I don't want you to get kidnapped by some weirdo or have someone put something in your drink." Jamie says with a stern, but consoling tone.

Brooke smiles for a slight second but then takes a deep breath as her eyes start to well with tears.

"What's wrong? Did I say something?" Jamie asks, afraid she had said something wrong.

"No. You didn't say anything wrong", Brooke says, assuring Jamie. "It's just that my mom was always gone, my stepdad was a jerk, and my biological father is in prison. So I never had anybody look out for me." Brooke says, sniffling. "It is a new experience for me" she says, sobbing tears of joy.

"I will always be here for you Brooke. Even when you are six hours away, you don't have to worry" Jamie says softly and sweetly as she sits up.

Brooke wipes the tears off of her face and picks up the phone, saying "now let's get those chicken nuggets!"

"And fried chicken with mashed potatoes!" Jamie yells, reminding Brooke.