A/N: I finally finished typing the first chapter of my ADJL fan-fiction! I really hope you guys enjoy this, if you do, feel free to leave a review. More chapters will be coming soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own American Dragon Jake Long. If I did this Trixie/Jake ship would be real and I wouldn't be sitting here writing a fanfic about it.
*this chapter has been updated! please enjoy!*
Chapter One
Jake sighed as he sifted through clothes on the floor of his messy room, he had been looking for his favorite red hoodie for about 20 minutes.
"You know it's time to clean your room when you start losing stuff you wear every single day." He let out an irritated groan as he looked through the clothes scattered around his cluttered floor. His style hadn't changed much since he was 14, his wardrobe mostly consisting of dark-colored shirts and jeans, and of course, the red hoodie that eluded him.
He pushed the clothes around with his feet making a path to his door and stepped out of his room. He looked at the clock on the wall as he jogged down the stairs.
"How is it almost six o'clock already?" he asked himself while simultaneously sending a text to Spud saying he's on the way.
It was summer break and, unfortunately, most of Jake's summer had been spent on his duties as the American Dragon. Once school started back, Jake knew he would have way more on his plate, so he talked to his grandfather and was able to convince him to talk to the dragon council about letting him have the rest of summer break off so he would finally get to spend time with his friends. Tonight they all planned to hang out at the carnival that had been in town for a couple of weeks. He walked into the kitchen where he found his parents dancing together and laughing.
"Well someone hit the wine bottle a little early tonight," the teen jested. His mother clicked her tongue as his father released her and made his way over to the coat closet, pulling two jackets out.
"Actually, Jakeroo, your mother and I decided to go Salsa dancing tonight. We were just practicing a few moves," Jonathan stated as he held up Susan's jacket, allowing her to slip her slender arms into it. "I need to make sure she can keep up with me you know." He gave her a peck on the cheek before putting on his own jacket. "I'll be back in a flash honey, nature calls." He danced his way toward the bathroom, making up a song about what a great night they were going to have, causing Susan to giggle.
"Anyway," Jake started. "Ma, have you seen my red hoodie? I can't find it anywhere and I'm late."
"You're going out tonight?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Yea I'm meeting Rose, Trix, and Spud at the carnival. So have you seen it?"
"The carnival huh?" She asked, ignoring his question. She quickly glanced over to the table where her younger child, Haley, was sitting. She had been studying for weeks preparing for the entrance exam at Fillmore Prep Academy, a new private school that was opening up in Albany, and currently, she was nose deep in an AP English book. "Is uh.. anybody else going?" Her eyes darted toward Haley and then back at Jake. He caught on to her signal but acted as if he hadn't.
"Yeah well it is a carnival so I'm sure there's gonna be lots of people going." He fought the urge to laugh as his mother's eyes narrowed at him.
"Jake," she spoke carefully as if she was talking to a toddler. "I meant is anyone else going with you?" This time she tilted her head towards the young girl as she stared at Jake and mouthed 'Haley' over and over.
"Don't worry mom," came her daughter's voice. She spoke without taking her eyes off of her book. "There's no way I'd waste valuable study time by going to a carnival."
"What's wrong with the carnival Haley Hoo?" Jonathan asked as he came back into the room. "You loved when we went to Coney Island."
"First of all, Dad, I was like 4 years old, second, we spent most of the time at the beach, and lastly, that's so not the same thing. Traveling carnivals are in a class all on their own," she tore her eyes away from her book and looked at her older brother as she spoke. "They come into town and set up a couple dozen rides, which by the way are totally not tested for safety, and then they allow the patrons to choose between dropping a thousand feet to their deaths or spend hundreds of dollars, either by trying to win supremely underwhelming prizes or buying deep-fried diabetes on a stick," she said sarcastically.
"Okay, now come on, that's not true," Jake interjected. "They don't make you choose, we usually do all of that stuff."
Haley scoffed and returned her gaze to her book.
"Not to mention that they're always in much smaller locations congested with people spreading all types of diseases to each other. Then after 2 weeks, they pack everything up and disappear before anyone has a chance to sue them. Yea, I think I'll be just fine missing the carnival," she said before raising her eyes slightly to Jake with a sly look and then added, mocking sweetness, "I mean, you know, have a good time."
Jake pressed his lips together and slowly nodded.
"Can't argue with that, almost makes me not wanna go," he said with a smirk.
"Your jacket is in the laundry room," Susan said as she crossed her arms in front of her.
"Thanks, ma. Y'all have fun at your dance thing." He turned to go.
"Oh, we will." His father replied.
"Jake I really think you should-" Susan began but was cut off by Jake as he put a finger to his lips.
"I don't think we should keep talking while Haley is studying." he loudly whispered. "You know I would never come in between someone and their education." He gave her a wink and jetted up the stairs.
The dryer just finished its cycle as he stepped into the laundry room. He opened it up and sure enough, pulled out his hoodie.
"Fresh out the dryer, score." He slipped it over his head, careful not to mess up his hair, and turned to leave. He nearly fell back when he saw his mother standing right in front of him. He let out a small yelp and brought his hand up to his chest to calm his rapidly beating heart.
"God ma what the hell? You could have given me a heart attack you know."
Susan stood there with her arms folded tightly.
"Jacob Luke Long, what in the world was that about downstairs?" she asked. He tilted his head giving her a questioning look.
"I don't know what you mean. What'd I do?"
Susan let out an exasperated sigh and took a step towards her son.
"You're really telling me that you would go off to have fun with your friends, and leave your little sister here all by herself?"
Jake gave his mother a blank stare, still not understanding what the big deal was. Although Haley had only just turned 11, she proved herself to be much more responsible than many kids her age, and for the past couple weeks had been staying at home by herself more often.
"It's not like it's the first time she stayed home alone ma, and I ain't gonna be gone that long, just 'til around 12."
Just then Susan's expression went from irritated to almost sad. She wrung her hands together as she tried to put her thoughts into words.
"Jake, it's just that... have you noticed anything... different about Haley?"
"Do you mean lately or are we talking since the day she was born?" Jake asked with a laugh that was cut short by the glare he received from his mother. "I mean, uh, no of course not, she's perfect."
She ignored his sarcastic tone and continued.
"What I'm trying to say is she isn't exactly like other kids. While they're out playing or hanging out with their friends, she's studying all the time. And on top of school, she has so many other responsibilities." She counted on her fingers as she spoke. "She has ballet, music classes, gymnastics, girl scouts, and training with Sun Park every single week."
"But momma, it's Haley," Jake laughed. "That's not really different for her. She's always had a lot going on."
"And that's the problem, she has too much going on for an 11-year-old girl. I want her to do something fun for a change like having a sleepover, going to a movie, or going to the carnival. Things that girls her age like to do."
"Yea, well, Haley hasn't exactly 'acted her age' since she was about 4 years old. What can you do she likes studying and schoolwork, she always has."
"I just I don't want her growing up thinking that's all there is to life," Susan sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "You see, when I was a little girl, your grandfather pushed me way too hard to succeed in school. He barely let me do anything other than eat, sleep, and study. Don't get me wrong, I love my father, but it always made me feel like maybe he pushed me so much to do well in school to make up for... other things I couldn't do," she said, eluding to the fact that she was born without dragon abilities. "As I got older, he was much more easy-going, but by then I already had that mentality that I always had to do better and that my best was never good enough. I don't ever want Haley feeling that way and I really don't want her to have to wait until she's about to graduate high school to realize that you really only get one childhood and that hers is gone forever."
"Damn, I didn't know you went through all that. But you're nothing like that Ma, you've been great. You never made her do any of that stuff, she chose it. You never forced us to do anything."
"I know I was much more easygoing with you, but once Haley was born, I don't know it's like I started this whole cycle all over again without even realizing it. I'm the one who got her into the gifted program way back in kindergarten. I'm the one who convinced her to take ballet and piano classes and art. Now she wants to go away to an even more advanced school where they have double the workload and if she gets in-" she shook her head and couldn't help but give a quick smile of pride. "When she gets in, all she's going to do is work, work, work. I just want her to at least have some fun before then. And I know she would have fun spending some time with her 'big bro' once in a while." Her statement caused Jake to laugh out loud.
"Haley. Have fun with me? That's a good one."
"I mean it, Jake. You know yesterday, her friend Tasha called to see if she wanted to play, she said she couldn't because she had 'other plans'," his mother said with exaggerated air quotes. "Do you know what her other plans were? She sat in her room by herself and recited all of the chemical elements of the periodic table in alphabetical order and then by atomic number. Forward and backward. I just think that maybe spending a little time with you would help her loosen up a bit, learn to have a little more fun."
A sly smile spread across her son's face.
"You're saying you want Haley to be like me?"
"No!" she replied quickly, internally shuddering at the thought. She changed her tone as the smile dropped from Jake's face.
"What I mean is, I believe that there is a healthy medium between working yourself to death and doing... whatever it is that you do. You saw how much fun she had at her party and you put that all together. I know you can think of some ways to get her to have fun better than your father and I can."
The mention of Haley's party made his heart skip a beat. He quickly shook it off and looked up to the ceiling and then back at his mother, preparing to explain to her that he didn't want to be bothered with bringing along his sister who was so much younger than him. Susan held up a hand and shook her head.
"I'm not going to force you to bring her along. But please honey, just think about it." She gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and kissed him on the cheek before walking out of the room.
Jake thought about what she said for a moment. A hint of guilt came over him for not wanting to bring his sister along but he quickly shook it off when his phone vibrated and a text from his girlfriend popped up.
Rose: Are you on your way? I can't wait to see you!
He sent her a quick reply, letting her know he would be there soon and made his way downstairs. He grabbed his wallet and peeked over at his younger sister who had begun reading a different book now. He walked behind her and read over her shoulder, one thing that he knew irritated her.
"May I help you?" she asked flatly.
"Nah I just wanted to see what you're... wait what are you reading?" He took the book out of her hands, ignoring her objections, and read a portion from the page she was on. "'from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to'... what? What is this? What class is this for?"
The little girl crossed her arms in front of her chest with a huff.
"It's not for any class, now give it back," she said as she reached for the book that he held just out of her reach.
"So you're reading this for fun?" He looked down at his little sister with a stunned expression on his face.
"I know this may be hard for you to comprehend, but some people actually do read for fun," Haley said as a pair of light purple wings appeared on her back and she floated off the ground, snatching the book away from her brother.
"Haley, that book is not..." Jake looked from his sister to the front door, then back at her, and sighed. "Go get your jacket."
"Why?" she asked as her feet touched the ground and her wings disappeared. "Where are we going?" Jake once again confiscated the book from her.
"To have some real fun," he said as he tossed the book over his shoulder into the trash can.
oOoOoOo
The sounds and smells of the carnival hit Jake instantly as he walked up to the ticket booth. It triggered memories of a simpler time when he was a child before he knew of his dragon heritage and before he had so much responsibility. He looked over at his little sister, although she looked a little uncomfortable, he could see her eyes glowing as she looked at all of the lights and rides all around them.
"I don't know if this is a good idea," she said as she tore her gaze away from the park. "I really have to study hard for that entrance exam. Maybe I should just go home." She then felt a tug as her big brother pulled her ponytail, another one of her pet peeves, and guided her into the gates.
"Chill Hales, you have plenty of time for that. You're gonna have fun tonight, I promise." After getting a text from Spud telling him where they were, Jake and Haley headed toward the teacups ride.
"What's up my people!" The group turned around towards Jake, all simultaneously yelling to greet him and started walking over. Rose was the first to get to him, the blonde girl ran up to her boyfriend, jumping into his arms.
"Jake! I'm so glad you made it," she said as she buried her face in his neck. He smiled from ear to ear as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Jake duuuude." One of his best friends, Spud, walked over and grabbed his hand pulling him into a hug. "That teacup ride is like on crack or something, you gotta get on it."
"Leave it to this boy to get excited about a ride made for children." Trixie shook her head as she came over, hand in hand with Kyle Wilkins, who nodded to Jake as a greeting. The sight of him made Jake feel nauseous. The two boys had just recently gotten into a pretty bad fight and it was still awkward trying to be civil with him. He ignored the tightening sensation in his stomach and opened his arms for his other best friend to walk into and hugged her tight.
"Hey, Mama Trix. How's my girl doing?"
"I'm fine. The real question is: how are you?" she asked as she pulled away. "We haven't seen you in almost a week, where have you been?"
"Well, he's a busy guy," Rose stated as she slipped in between the two of them and held onto her boyfriend's arm. "You should know that by now."
Her actions made Jake feel a little awkward. Rose always had the tendency to get extra clingy anytime he was around another girl, especially Trixie for some reason. But lately she had been doing it more often and it was almost as if she didn't want him around Trixie at all. If they hugged, talked, or even looked at one another in a way she didn't like, she would become almost possessive. To Jake this was an annoyance, he wanted her to trust him and he didn't like the feeling of being controlled. But he ignored her insecurity and chalked it up to her being upset that he'd been so busy the last couple weeks. He slipped his hand into hers and smiled at his friend, silently apologizing.
"Haley! This is a surprise. I'm glad you got to come," Trixie said, turning her attention to the little girl. Haley smiled as she was pulled into a hug.
"Hi, Trixie. It's nice seeing you," she replied.
Spud smiled down at her, he didn't have any siblings himself, so he always saw Haley as the baby sister he never had.
"I'm glad you're here too," he said. "Now I don't have to be a fourth wheel anymore."
"Uh, Spud don't you mean a third wheel?" Trixie asked. He scratched his chin and shrugged.
"Hey, third wheel, fourth wheel, potato, tomata right?" Spud took his beanie off and got down on one knee, taking the little girl's hand. "Haley Long, would you please grant me the privilege of accompanying me on the Dragon Slayer ride?" She looked over in the direction he was pointing. There was a very menacing, although very unrealistic, looking dragon with smoke flaring out of its nostrils, and behind it stood the roller coaster track that seemed to reach the sky. She watched in terror as passengers of the ride screamed while dropping a hundred feet straight down.
"I don't know, are you sure it's safe?" she asked. He scrunched his eyebrows together and thought about it.
"Actually I don't know. But isn't that part of the fun?" Before she could protest, he took off towards the ride and was instantly followed by the other teenagers as they all went to get in line. The little girl took one more look at the rollercoaster and reluctantly followed behind them.
oOoOoOo
The rest of the night went on pretty well, and soon Haley didn't need much convincing to get on rides. In fact, after a while, it seemed that she was actually enjoying herself.
But she did manage to stay away from any more rollercoasters after the first one. Jake couldn't help but smile when he heard her say she would try some of the scarier rides next time.
"Next time huh?" he said as he put an arm around her shoulders. "Am I imagining things or is Haley Kay Long actually having fun with her brother?"
She rolled her eyes and pushed his arm off of her.
"I didn't say that," she huffed. But she couldn't hide the smile that made its way across her face.
"So I guess it's just me and Kyle going on Slingshot then," Spud stated. "Unless you changed your mind Trixie..."
"Boy, you must have lost your mind if you think I'm going on that ride. Nah, I'm gonna hang back with Jake and Haley," she said.
"Of course you will," Kyle flatly stated as he looked over at her.
There was a silent tension between them for a moment before Spud spoke up again.
"Alright then, a no from Trixie. How about you Rose? You wanna come with?" He turned around when there was no response, expecting to see the blonde standing behind him, but she wasn't there. "Where did she go?"
Jake looked around and instantly caught sight of her talking to a tall, light skinned girl with long brown hair that was pulled into a braid.
"Oh, she ran into Courtney Williams. Awesome," Jake mumbled sarcastically. Courtney was Rose's best friend since middle school who she had been staying with over the summer and she was not a fan of Jake. "You think maybe she's talking about how amazing I am?" Jake asked jokingly, earning a scoff from Kyle.
He turned to face the other boy who quickly looked away, patting Spud on the shoulder.
"Come on man let's go before the line gets too long." They ran off in the direction of the ride and the remaining three plopped down on a nearby bench.
Across from them, they had a perfect view of the high striker game, they watched as several men went up to it, trying to make the bell ring at the top. Each one tried and failed, and the man running the game was not very nice about it as he spoke loudly into his megaphone. The three of them had been hearing him degrade every person that failed the game, which was pretty much everyone.
"Oh too bad," the gruff voice stated. "Maybe you'll have better luck over on the merry-go-round. Just remember, you have to be this tall to ride okay?" he said with a snicker to a man that was about a foot shorter than him. The man's head hung a bit as a woman stepped up and held his arm, pulling him away.
"That guy is such a jerk," Trixie said. "Me and Spud were here a few days ago and he actually made a little boy cry."
"Why is he doing that to people?" Haley asked.
Jake leaned his elbows on his knees as he watched the vendor continue belittling the man even as he walked away.
"Well, usually, vendors at games like that will throw in an occasional insult, just to get people irritated enough to want to prove him wrong and play. But this guy, he seems to be having a little too much fun with the insulting part."
"He was so mean to that guy," the 11-year-old said as she watched the shorter man walk to the other side of the park. "I bet he wouldn't like it if someone embarrassed him like that."
Jake sighed and turned his attention back to the man who, with a mean spirited laugh, turned to the crowd of passersby and brought the megaphone to his lips.
"Well, everyone, looks like we still haven't found anyone man enough to beat THE HIGH STRIKER! Step right up! Show your strength! In the game that truly separates the men from the boys!"
Just then, an idea popped into Jake's head.
"You guys wanna have some fun?" he asked before strutting up to the game, the girls following close behind him, and handed over the money to play. The big gutted man with a cigar between his teeth took one look at Jake and laughed out loud.
"Look kid, let me save you some time and money," he said with a sneer, continuing to speak through the megaphone. "I've had guys three times your size try this game and fail. So if you want to impress your girlfriend here," he nodded his head towards Trixie. "I suggest you go and play the Lucky Ducky game. Because this right here is for the adults." He held his hand out to Jake to give him his 5 dollars back.
"How about we make it interesting then? This thing is what, 12 feet tall? If you can get that puck to go up higher than Haley can, I'll give you five bucks for every inch it goes. But if she gets it to go higher than you, you have to pay her five for every inch she gets. Feel me?" The man looked Trixie up and down, thinking that was who Jake was referring to, and smiled brightly thinking that this was about to be the easiest bet he ever made.
"Sounds like a good deal." He set down the megaphone and picked up the mallet, stepping in front of the game. At this point, a bit of a crowd was forming and Jake smiled, glad there was an audience for what was about to happen. The vendor hiked his pants up and pulled the mallet back as far as he could before swinging it down with all his strength. Even Jake had to admit he was a little impressed that he was able to make the puck go up pretty far before it slid back down. Breathlessly the heavyset man stepped away, happy with what he did. "A foot and a half, that's... 90 bucks if I'm not mistaken. Hope you have enough money in your purse," he said with a yellowed grin. He handed the mallet over to Trixie. "Here you go, princess. Careful not to ruin your manicure huh?"
"Oh, I won't. Because I ain't Haley." Trixie said as she handed the large hammer over. When he saw that the four-foot-six girl with a pink bow in her hair was who he was really up against, he nearly dropped to the floor with laughter. He put his hands on his protruding belly and leaned back as he cackled.
"Tell you what," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "If she beats me, I'll give you double the money and every prize on the wall."
Haley took no offense to this, she liked being underestimated as it pushed her to do even better. She walked up to the tower and put on a show of trying to lift the mallet over her head as if it was too heavy for her. She gave a look to her brother who smiled as he saw the scaly purple skin of her hands appear, unseen by the crowd that was now much bigger than before, and she swung the mallet with ease, down onto the lever.
The laughter immediately stopped as the puck flew to the top, not only ringing the bell, but it broke through the top of the machine and continued it's ascent to the sky, before coming back down with a crash through a car window. The crowd cheered, thinking it was all part of an act, and the vendor stood there with his jaw dropped letting his cigar fall out of his mouth. Jake gently patted him on the back which made the man jump back in fear.
"On second thought, maybe you should keep that paper. Looks like you need to invest in a new hustle my man."
The trio walked over to take a couple prizes each, then, leaving him to weep over his broken game, went to one of the many trucks to get something to eat. Not long after they sat down, they were met by Spud and Rose.
"Oh. My. GOSH, this has been the best night ever!" Haley squealed as she took another bite of her corndog. "I can't wait to tell mom and dad!" Jake smiled at his baby sister, glad to see how much fun she was having. "Can we go on the tilt-a-wheel again?"
"That might not be the best idea lil mama. Fair food and fast rides ain't a good combo, especially corn dogs." Trixie cringed at the memory of how she learned that lesson and looked pointedly at Jake.
"Come on Trix, that was four years ago, let it go already," Jake said with a smirk.
"All I have to say is, my favorite panda sweater," she stated.
"Oh my god, that was priceless!" Spud howled as he doubled over in laughter, clutching his sides. Trixie threw an ice cube at him which only made him laugh harder.
"Ladies and gentlemen," came a voice from the speakers above their heads. "The time is now 11:15 and the park will be closing in 45 minutes. Also whoever is the owner of a silver Toyota, your alarm is going off."
"Aw, man," Haley whined. "We practically just got here."
"We been here for like 5 hours Haley," Jake said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Still..." she pouted as she rolled the last bite of her corndog around in a puddle of mustard that was on her plate.
"Well, I say no carnival experience is complete without having a funnel cake," Spud said, hopping up from the table.
"A funnel cake? What's that?" Haley asked, causing Spud's jaw to drop.
"What's a-? Jake, she's never had a funnel cake," he said incredulously.
"She's never been to the carnival, bro," Jake chuckled.
"Still no excuse. Let's go right now, this is an emergency!" Spud led the way to find a funnel cake stand, Haley close behind him.
Kyle finally made his way over to the group just as Trixie was about to text him.
"There you are, where did you disappear to?" she asked as she took his hand.
"Damn I can't be gone for 2 minutes without you bugging me," he mumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear, and roughly snatched his hand out of hers.
Trixie took a step back, surprised at the shift in his mood and Jake instinctively stood up.
Although Kyle was a pretty big guy, standing 6'3 to Jake's 5'11, Jake could handle him if he needed to.
Kyle looked over at him and shook his head, turning back to Trixie.
"Sorry, baby. C'mon." He reached out and gently took her hand as the pair followed Haley and Spud to the funnel cake stand.
Jake started to follow after them when he felt Rose tug on the sleeve of his hoodie.
"Jake, can we talk for a minute?" she asked. He looked over to see them walking off and sat back down.
"Sure, is everything okay?"
"Yea I'm fine. It's just..." She began to pick at the lint on her sweater. "You know, the second week of my visit is already about to be over and we didn't really get to spend much time together."
"Yea I know, I'm sorry about that. But look I already talked to G, and if everything works out as planned, I'll be free these last 2 weeks that you're here."
"That would be great. I just wish we didn't have to be apart again for the whole school year. And I don't even know if I'll be able to visit again for summer break next year."
"I know, it sucks, but we can video chat every day and even if you can't come next year, I can come visit you and even before then we'll see each other at graduation. You're still coming for the ceremony right?"
"Of course I am, I wouldn't miss it." Her eyes shifted downward as she spoke. "But... then what happens after that?"
"What do you mean?" Jake could tell something was really bothering her. He put his hand on top of hers and gave it a light squeeze. "What's on your mind?"
Rose took a deep breath and looked into his eyes.
"I just mean after graduation we'll be able to be together for what a week? Then I'll go back to China, you'll be here and we're back to the long-distance thing. How long is that really gonna work until you get sick of not having a girlfriend here with you and your feelings for me start to change."
Rose shifted in her seat awkwardly as she reached a hand up to twirl around the necklace she wore. It was the necklace Jake had given her over a year ago when they first got back together. He felt a slight tinge of guilt when he saw that. It had been a long time since he'd gotten her a present or really done anything to show her how he felt about her.
He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently.
"Listen, Rose, my feelings for you ain't gonna change no matter what. Distance isn't a problem we can always do something about that."
"We can?" She gave him that smile that was always able to melt his heart.
"Of course we can. I could come visit you any time you want. After all, I can kind of fly," he said with a chuckle. He noticed that her smile started to falter a bit.
"Well, that would be nice, but, there was kind of something else I was thinking about." She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear before she spoke. " I was wondering, instead of just visiting, what do you think about coming to Hong Kong with me... to stay?"
"Say what?" Jake's eyebrows drew together in confusion.
"I just thought that after graduation, since I'll be here for your ceremony anyway, you could just come back with me after. My parents already adore you so I know they wouldn't mind."
"Uh, Rose." Jake tried to cut in but she was getting more excited and wouldn't let him get a word in.
"We could get our own apartment, maybe even a house! I'm pretty sure my mom would help us get one. She's doing really great in the real estate business and your family could come to visit us anytime. Oh, and they have amazing colleges there you would love-"
"Rose, baby! You know why I can't do that, you can't be serious."
The light in her eyes started to fade. Jake hated to upset her, but there was no way he could move to another country. He was, after all, the American Dragon.
"I know, I really didn't want to bring this up now, but I don't know when we'll get the chance to talk in private again," she said, hinting to the fact that they haven't really had a moment alone since she'd been here.
As if on cue, Spud's laugh filled the air and they looked up to see the rest of their group coming back towards them.
"Rose, I just don't understand how you can ask me to make a decision like this," Jake said as he pushed a hand through his hair.
She sighed and turned her attention back to her boyfriend.
"Jake, I know. I know that this is a lot to ask and I promise I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. Just, please can we talk more about this later?" She put a hand on his cheek causing him to look at her.
The way her eyes glossed over as she looked at him, he could tell this was really important to her. He exhaled quietly and nodded.
"Alright, we'll talk bout it later."
Just like that the twinkle was back in her eyes. The others dropped down into the chairs that were surrounding the table and began to dig into their food as another announcement came over the loudspeaker.
"The park will be closing in 40 minutes. Thank you all for coming and please get home safe."
oOoOoOo
As Jake said goodbye to Rose, she reminded him that they needed to continue their conversation later on, as if he needed to be reminded. She then hopped in her car and drove off in the direction of Courtney's house.
"You guys ready to go home?" he asked as he approached his little sister who sighed and shrugged her shoulders in reply. Jake laughed, surprised. "So I guess the carnival wasn't as bad as you thought it was gonna be huh?" He tugged on her ponytail causing her to instantly smack his hand away but she couldn't hide the big smile that decorated her face. Jake was about to follow behind them when he realized there was one person missing in their group. "Yo Spud, where's Trix? Didn't y'all walk here together?"
"She said that she's gonna ride home with Kyle," Spud yelled back as he continued walking. Haley sped up her walk to keep up with him and began rambling in excitement about all the fun she had.
Jake started to catch up with them when he faintly heard Trixie's voice. He stopped for a moment and looked behind him. He instinctively clenched and unclenched his fists when he saw that she and Kyle were arguing. He tried to hear what was going on, but with so many people around, he could barely make out what was being said. Spud and Haley continued walking, too wrapped up in their conversation to notice. He took a quick look around him then, satisfied that he wouldn't be seen, he whispered to himself. "Ear of the dragon."
In seconds, his right ear was replaced by the fiery red scales of his dragon ear, enabling him to hear the entire conversation.
"I don't get what your problem is," she said. "You're getting mad at me for no good reason."
"Just forget it alright? Everything's fine," Kyle retorted. "You just go ahead and walk home with your boyfriend like you wanted to in the first place."
"You're really gonna try and flip this on me? The only reason I said I wasn't gonna ride home with you is because of the way you've been acting with me tonight. And let's not forget the fact that you just gave your number to some random girl! So don't try to make it like this is about me."
"I told you, I know her from school she's a friend."
"A friend who was putting her hands all over you til I showed up. Do you have any idea how disrespectful that is to me?" Trixie's voice shook in anger as she spoke.
"Disrespectful?" Kyle leaned back against his car and crossed his arms. "And it's not disrespectful the way that fool is with you?"
"What are you even talking about?"
Kyle raised an eyebrow at her as if he expected her to already know the answer. He sighed and shook his head when she replied with silence.
"Nothing. I'm not talking about anything." He turned and opened his car door, ready to leave.
"I can't believe you're acting like this." She quickly stepped forward and pushed the door closed again. "You need to use your big boy words and talk to me about what's wrong instead of lashing out or leaving every time!"
Kyle quickly turned to her, pointing a finger in her face.
"And you need to back the hell away from me right now," he snapped. "And don't you ever talk to me like that again, you hear me?"
Jake tensed up, ready to go jump in if the other boy were to take even one step closer to his friend. Kyle looked in the direction of Jake, as if he could feel his glare burning a hole into him, and let his hand fall to his side before turning to get in his car.
"Looks like someone's waiting for you," he said with a scoff. Trixie turned her head to see Jake who quickly looked away. She sighed and turned back to Kyle who slid into the driver's seat and started the car.
"Kyle, I don't understand. You always do this, you get mad and instead of talking about it, you run away or you do things to make me get mad back. Why can't you just tell me what's wrong?"
Kyle rarely spoke, which, at first, seemed charming to Trixie since she was practically the only one he willingly talked to. But, when he turned his silence onto her, like he was now, all it did was infuriate her. She fumed as he ignored her and turned on the radio.
"You know what? Forget it." She turned away in a huff as Kyle peeled out of the parking lot. Jake quickly bent down, pretending to tie his shoe, when he saw her heading his way.
"Jake," Trixie said once she was in earshot of him. He sat up straight, pretending to be surprised.
"Trixie, hey, I didn't know you were still here."
She just stared at him, a smirk forming on her lips.
"So you weren't just spying on me right now?" She reached up and tugged his ear, which was still in dragon form. He nervously chuckled and his ear returned to normal.
"Spying is such an ugly word," he said. She snorted and leaned against him, he then put an arm around her, pulling her close.
The two of them started walking to catch up with Spud and Haley. They walked without a word for a while, Jake turned his attention to his little sister as she bounced around going over and over every detail of the night with Spud, who mirrored her energy.
"Haley finally has another kid to talk to." He looked over at Trixie, watching as she picked at her blue nail polish. He gently shook her shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. "You two got into it pretty bad huh?" he asked, letting his arm fall off of her shoulder.
She groaned and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Don't even get me started on that boy," she sighed. "He's practically mute all night long and then one of the few times he speaks, it's to some random chick who shows up out of nowhere and asks for his number. But of course, when I call him out on it he gonna say, 'She's just a friend, you can have guy friends but I can't have any female friends?' as if it's the same thing! Such a typical guy move."
Jake clutched his chest and gasped, mocking offense.
"Hey, watch it, I happen to be 'a typical guy' too and I don't do stuff like that," he said as he playfully nudged her.
"Also I, am a typical guy and this typical guy would like to say, goodbye," Spud said as he pulled both of his friends into a bear hug. He let them know that he would meet up with them on the game later before turning to Haley. "I bid you ado, Madame Haley." With a flourish, he took a bow. "It truly was an honor to be your date for the evening."
Haley returned the gesture and curtsied to him. Then, with a kick in his step, he crossed the street and headed down the road to his house.
"That boy is anything but typical," Trixie said with a smile. She sighed a bit sadly as they made it to her house. "Well, it's been real. I'll see y'all tomorrow."
"You getting on the game later?" Jake asked.
"Nah, not really in the mood tonight." She gave them both a quick hug goodbye before walking up the stoop to her front door.
"Yo, Trix," Jake called after her.
She turned around just in time to see an object flying towards her. She quickly caught it with both hands and looked down to see a little stuffed panda bear. She looked at her friend, smiling.
"Does that make-up for the sweater incident?"
She laughed lightly and nodded.
"Just about. G'night Jakey, g'night Haley."
Jake waited until her front door was closed before continuing the walk home. His little sister yawned and tugged on his sleeve.
"Jake, my feet hurt," she whined. He stopped walking, kneeled down in front of her, and let the young girl to climb onto his back. In the few minutes it took to get home, Haley had fallen fast asleep.
Jake laid her down in her bed, while she still held onto the stuffed unicorn she won, and took her shoes off for her before pulling the colorful blanket over her small frame. She could drive him crazy sometimes, but Jake loved his little sister to death. Seeing her have fun tonight was the best moment he'd had in a while. He leaned down to kiss her forehead before heading to his own room.
He dropped down on his bed and sighed as thoughts of his conversation with Rose entered his mind.
She was right about one thing, the long-distance had been hard on him. He did miss having her close by and being able to see her whenever he's free, instead of having to plan specific days they could spend time together.
But, if he were to leave, all the responsibilities of the American Dragon would go to Haley. She was much stronger than she looked, but he knew for a fact that she wasn't anywhere near ready for all that responsibility. His mom was right, she had way more on her plate than any 11-year-old should. He could never leave her with this to deal with on top of everything else.
Besides, he wasn't ready to give up being the "AmDrag" just yet. He finally felt like he had mastered his powers and he had just started taking on more responsibilities. Also, his grandfather was really proud of him and all the progress he had made. Jake knew that he would blow a fuse if he ever found out he was even thinking about moving away after all their hard work and training.
He knew there was no way he could leave, but how could he make Rose understand that?