"Are you sure you have everything?" My mom asks my brother and I for the hundredth time.
"Yes, mom. Don't worry." Daniel, my older brother, replies placing his bags in the back of our truck.
"I'm your mom, it's my job to worry." She leads me back into the house. "Kya, honey are you sure you want to go?"
"Mom, I've told you a million times. I want to go. There's no way I could pass up an opportunity like this. I'll be okay as long as Danny is there." I take a seat at our breakfast bar as my mom tidies up the kitchen one last time.
"Okay." She raises her hands in surrender. "I'm just making sure. I can't just come pick y'all up if you wanna come home. Your dad and I have already had to take three days off of work just to get you two down there."
"We know, mom. You've only said it about 20 times a day for the past three weeks." Daniel joins in, sitting down next to me.
She sighs. "Alright, y'all ready to go?" She scans the kitchen over again.
"Yes ma'am." We chorus back.
"Then let's go!" She smiles, ushering us out of the door and into our cramped truck. My dad is already in the driver's seat fiddling with the GPS when I take my seat behind him. My brother piles into the car after me, taking his seat behind moms seat.
"Where on God's green earth is your mother?" Dad mutters, not looking up from what he's doing.
"She's right behind us." I reply. As if on cue, mom hops into her seat as soon as I finish my sentence, holding a camera in her hands.
"Alright! Squeeze in!" She holds up the camera and my brother and I groan, but comply. The flash blinds me momentarily, and my mother clutches the camera to her chest. "My prodigies are off to camp!" She cries. My brother and I roll our eyes at each other. This isn't the first time she's broken down over my brother and I going to camp. Sure, we are going to be gone for five months-but you think she'd be happy to get some time without us. As my mom begins to cry over us leaving for the third time already this morning, I plug in my music and drown her out. Focusing on the music—the emotions in the singers voice, the bass line, harmonies, drum beat, and analyzing the lyrics— I stare out the window and watch as the trees blur past my window. Were leaving our small home in Texarkana, Texas and heading to the Collaborative Camp of the Performing Arts in Knoxville Tennessee. The drive takes roughly 10 and a half hours not including stops or traffic, which is why I'm surprised my parents let us go. I guess it helped that we both won a scholarship to come for a summer, but we still don't know why they let us go. I know one thing though; I am not excited for the ten hours stuck in a car with my family.
—|-/—
About an hour into the drive, my mother put in her CD and started singing. Were going on hour six now and she's been singing since. Let me tell you, I definitely know where I DIDN'T get my musical talent. Even my headphones at full blast can't block out her screeches as she tries to hit the higher notes. My father looks like he's about to jump out of the moving car just to get away from the noise. I look to my brother, only to see him, headphones on and snoring quite obnoxiously. I envy him, regardless of the very uncomfortable position his neck seems to be in. I cant even sleep soundly in normal circumstances, let alone in the car with our mother wailing away.
"How much longer?" I ask, pulling out my headphones. My mother stops singing just as I hoped and checks the GPS.
"It's about four more hours to Knoxville, but were probably gonna stop for supper soon, and then again in Nashville for the night."
"We'll do the last three hours from Nashville to Knoxville tomorrow morning." My dad chimes in.
"Are we staying with Aunt Cassie?"
"Yeah, she's excited to see you two." My mom adds, looking back at us.
"Yay! I'm excited to see her too. How much longer until we stop for supper?"
"I think it's about two more exits." My dad meets my eyes in the mirror and smiles.
"Okay." I plug my headphones back in as my mom starts screeching again. I've gotten bored from staring out the window by now. That's the thing about American Express Way's; they all look the same unless you're in the heart of a city or in Florida. Down there it all looks like a jungle. I sigh, wanting to be out of the car and at the camp already. I can't even practice or compose because my instruments are in the back and my family is here. I'm very secretive about what I write. They don't need to know what goes on in my head. They don't deserve to know me that well.
Pulling out my laptop, I decide to fiddle around with some of the compositions on there. Scrolling through the folders of pre-recorded chord progressions, melodies, and drum beats, I stumble upon a song I started a while ago. I click on it and let my unfinished composition fill my ears, hoping that an idea will strike and it will soon become a song.
—|-/—
"Ky, you've gotta get up." My brothers voice cuts through the darkness.
"Hmm?" I mumble, confused. I didn't realize I fell asleep. The last thing I remember was getting back on the expressway after we stopped for supper.
"Were at Aunt Cassie's. You've gotta get up, weirdo." He repeats, nudging me annoyingly until I open my eyes. When I do so, I'm blinded by the light in the car when my parents open their doors. The high pitched squeals of my mom and Aunt Cassie instantly wake me up.
"Oh my gosh, I missed yall so much!" My aunt cries as Danny climbs out of the car. "Good Lord, look how much you've grown! You're a man now, Daniel. The last time I saw you, you were knee high to a grasshopper!" She exclaims. His voice is so loud I can hear her perfectly fine, even from inside the truck. "Wheres my little Kya?" I hear and take that as my cue. I stumble down out of the truck and out into the sticky, summer heat.
"Hey, Aunt Cass." I mumble, still trying to wake up. She instantly pulls me into her signature, bone crushing hugs.
"I missed you, sweetie."
"I missed you too." I pull away from the hug and head into the house I know like the back of my hand, causing laughter to erupt from my family.
"She's tired." My mom tells her sister as they follow me into the house.
"She still have—"
"Night Terrors? Yeah."
"I can hear you." I grumble from my spot facedown on the couch. They instantly shut up as if its some big secret.
"You look exhausted, Kya." My aunt says, moving my feet and sitting down on the couch.
"Is it that obvious?" I sarcastically shoot towards her.
"You wanna go upstairs? You're in Mikes old room." Without saying a thing I trudge up the stairs and directly into the room I always sleep in. I plop down on the bed, not bothering to change, and fall right asleep.
—|-/—
YOU ARE READING
Forest
Fanfiction🎶"Down in the Forest, We'll sing a chorus" 🎶 ••••••• Music has always been a big part of Kya's life. For as long as she can remember, music has been the only thing she's interested in. When Kya is given a complete scholarship to an elite perform...
