After another few days of driving and stopping here and there for food, a little shopping, and relaxation, Jude found herself just entering Texas. Jude looked at the map with a frustrated expression and finally tossed it down onto the passenger seat and pulled over to what appeared to be an old farm. The farm was that barn house red in those traditional farm like movie ways. Jude got out of her car and walked right up to the man who was just getting off his lawn mower.

"Ow meh I elp ya lil' laday?" said the farmer lifting his hat slightly in acknowledgement and chewing on a piece of wheat.

"Um, I'm not from around here. Do you think you could point me in the direction of Amarillo?" Jude asked putting her hand over her eyes to shield out the sun.

"Hahaha, Amarillo! Why, das da smalles town round' these here pahts! Was' en Amarillo!?" exclaimed the farmer.

"Oh, I'm just trying to stay away from too big of any cities,"

"Hahaha, 'Could ya poin' meh en da direcshun uf Amarillo?' The farmer mocked Jude with great enthusiasm and giddiness.

"Heh, yeah, that's what I asked. Do you happen to know what direction it's in?"

"Jus' keep followin' dis 'ere road down souf an' you'll spawt et ow' righ' 'way," said the farmer with a chuckle and a wide toothless smile.

"Uh, yes, thanks a lot," Jude said with a weary yet thankful smile.

"'Could ya poin' meh en da direcshun uf Amarillo? Hahaha, da' wun's goin' en mah blawg!!" the farmer laughed all the way back to his lawn mower

Jude quickly got back into her car and drove away. "Creepiest guy ever."

So, I pretty much just had the oddest encounter with an American EVER. It was this farmer dude, and he was laughing because I wanted to go to Amarillo. Ok, I know, not the best place in Texas to wanna go to, but hey, I don't exactly want everything that I'm doing in the tabloids now, do I? But seriously, is there something funny about a teenage girl wanting directions? I'm not really sure what it is exactly I'm looking for. Now that I'm still driving, and that I'm already almost to California, I feel like I've wasted a bunch of gas, but then again, when I think back on it, it gave me the time I needed to allow all this to sink in. I mean, I'm definitely in a more, steady state to deal with whatever is in store for me in California, not to mention, I've finally come to terms with the whole Tommy ordeal. I mean, now that I had my chance to practically be in a position that could possibly be just as similar to Tommy's, I understand why he had to leave so suddenly. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do miss him a lot and am still slightly angry for not returning any of my 126 phone calls I made that night, but I have this new understanding of him.

The usual routine was exactly what Jude had done in Texas. She stopped at a local inn for the night, spent about an hour of the day buying a gift for everyone, and then sleeping the night away until the early hours of the morning. Just as the sun began to shine it's rays over the horizon, Jude checked out of the inn and was now on her way to her next destination; Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tommy was sitting on a park bench, watching his little sister play in the sandbox with all the other toddlers. He had been in Montana for only a little over a month, but he had already decided that soon he would have to return to Toronto. The only problem was, he wasn't sure if Alicia would be ok with leaving the states. He continued to watch her when a young woman took a seat next to him on the bench.

"Which one's yours?" she asked sincerely.

"Oh, I'm not a father. The one with the dark brown curly hair, she's my little sister," Tommy nodded towards Alicia who was shoveling sand out of a hole.

"Your parents are bi-racial? You look completely French to me," the women said leaning back.

"We're adopted. And I don't think our race has anything to do with it," Tommy said slightly pointedly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Mine is the one with the Bob the Builder shirt. I swear, ever since that show came out there's no way to pull him away from anything that's related to dirt," the woman and Tommy both chuckled and smiled at the comment.

"Alicia loves the Disney princesses, or heroines for that matter. I didn't even know about Alicia until a month ago," Tommy looked down for a moment and then to the woman for the first time. She was an attractive woman. Nothing special, but she was attractive.

"Was she just recently adopted?"

"About two years ago. I was out of town and I guess my mom didn't know a way to contact me. Anyways, it was nice talking to you-"

"Rachel, and you-"

"Tommy. Alicia and I gotta get going, but it was nice to meet you," Tommy said shaking her hand as Alicia noticed Tommy getting up and quickly grabbed her toys and ran towards him.

Tommy took hold of Alicia's hand and together they walked off back towards their home. Tommy couldn't help but stay in deep thought. There were so many things clouding his mind. The grief of his mother's death, the responsibility of his new found little sister, and now the trouble with Jude which he couldn't help but blame himself for.

"Tommy?" Alicia looked up at her big brother in wonder.

"Yes Ally?" Tommy had given her that nickname just days before.

"Well, are we going to stay here forever or go back to that one place? That place where you came from," Ally said; waiting for his answer.

"Toronto? That depends," Tommy and Ally stopped walking for a moment and he knelt down so that he was face to face with the little girl, "Do you want to go to Toronto?"

Ally looked around for a moment. She may have been only four years old, but she was trying to remember if there would be anything keeping her in Montana. What was there left for the little girl? Just an empty home that held memories of a mother she never really had. Ally looked at Tommy, with a conclusion in her eyes.

"Is there parks with swings and play places in Tor-ON-to?" Ally asked, hope evident in her voice.

"Yes, there are many parks," Tommy said with a grin. Ally happily nodded yes, and Tommy hugged the little girl and the two walked home.

Sadie was sitting at her desk, taking messages and sending calls every where. Jamie approached her desk, something he now had done more often than before.

"You're a very determined dork, Andrews,"

"You know what happened, just tell me already Princess Prim and Proper,"

"For the 67th time since Jude left, no!" Sadie slammed the planner shut, grabbed her purse and started to walk away.

"Look! You've known me since Jude was just starting to crawl. I've basically been part of your family since then," Jamie ran in front of her, "You know that me and Jude have been best friends since forever. Why can't I know why she left?"

"Because I don't know who she wants to know, yet," Sadie snapped back. "If it were my choice, I'd have told you already,"

"Just, let me know if she's ok," Jamie's eyes filled with desperation at the thought of Jude in any other condition.

"She's fine. She calls every now and then to let us know she's alright," Sadie did her traditional eye roll.

"So she's not where she wants to be yet?" Jamie asked, slightly confused.

"No, she'll be there by the end of the week,"

"Is she answering her phone now?"

"Only if she feels like talking. Usually she just calls us to remind us she's alive and breathing. You can try to call her, but I'm not sure if she'll answer or not," Sadie added. "Can I go to lunch now?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks a lot Sadie,"

"No problem geekface,"

Jude was sitting outside at a table of a fast food restaurant, just eating her hamburger and french fries.

Not nearly as good as the food in Pennsylvania...and the sun is so freakin' bright out here!!!

Jude finished up, grabbed her garbage and threw it away and was yet again on her way again. Jude had done all the thinking she could possibly do on a cross country trip. Now, she was no longer dreading going to California, but anxious because she was so sick of driving.

Ok, there should seriously be licenses for impulsive thinkers. And if there was, which there should be, I shouldn't even be able to take the test because my impulsive thinking has gotten me so sick of driving that I'm debating once I'm done with whatever I have to deal with in California, I'm going to fly the car back instead of driving. But I've gotta say, all this driving has done me some good. It got me thinkin straight, so now I can go to California not expecting anything and not hoping for anything too. Also, I know I'll be able to go back home and make the best of things there, hopefully try and put this past my family and go on living with this new truth.

Several hours later, Jude arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona. When she had arrived, there was a little bit of snow fall, and Jude couldn't help but smile at it. She parked the car on the side of the road and got out and watched the small snow flakes fall onto her hand.

ACTUAL SNOW IN ARIZONA!!!! WHO THE HELL HAS HEARD OF THIS!?!?!?! I FOR FRIKKIN SURE HAVEN'T!!!!!

Jude laughed at this and grabbed her video camera and started to record this.

"Alright, guys, we have some shocking news. This is snow, and would you all like to know where I'm reporting this wonderful news from? Ohio? Pennsylvania? HELL NO! I'm in ARI-FRIKKIN-ZONA!!!" Jude went on filming a little more and rambling with it until she noticed the battery was about to die and signed off. Jude looked up at the sky for a little bit longer, took in a deep breath, and then got back into her car and started back on her way to California.

I'm almost there, I'm only about 9 hours away from the place I was actually born. Only nine hours away from all that's left of my birth mother...

Jude drove right through Flagstaff, and through Sedona, but still taking a little time out of the drive to admire the bright red mountains. As she continued to drive, she stopped in Phoenix, just to buy a few supplies, some gum, snacks, water bottles, tooth paste, and some other necessities. As Jude continued to drive, she realized the huge weather difference between Phoenix and Flagstaff, and noticed that while it snowed in Flagstaff, Jude could live with a small sweater in Phoenix.

Just as Jude was pulling out into the road, her phone started to ring. She let it ring until she was going straight before she had finally decided to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Harrison! You've got some nerve making me wait this long," Jamie said sitting in the rehearsal space.

"Jamie?"

"Who else would be calling right now? Where are you?"

"Phoenix, AZ. How are things in Toronto?" Jude said pulling into the freeway as she drove down the 51 and headed towards California.

"I've gotta say Harrison, you've really got some people around here worried about you. I even got a call from Kat. For a pint size girl she really knows how to make someone feel bad for not keepin' tabs on you,"

"Heh, so Kat still does worry. How did she even find out I was gone?"

"Well, she noticed you weren't in Physics failing the tests so, I think that was a sign,"

"Hah, thanks, you really know how to make a girl feel great Jamester," Jude said, holding the steering wheel with her right hand and the phone with her left.

"Well you know me, the girls can't stay away from my dashing looks and unresistable charm," Jamie added, a small temporary silence followed and Jamie spoke again. "So, are you driving or what?"

"Yep, about five in a half hours away from California," Jude responded.

"Would it be too much if I asked why exactly you're heading to California?"

"Sadie didn't tell you?"

"No! I told her she should've just told me instead of keeping me in the dark mildly dying!"

"Haha, that's Sades for ya. Well, I guess I should start explainin then..."

If you put aside the fact that Jamie screamed like a girl, almost fainted, and was quiet for a couple minutes, resulting in me hanging up, only for him to call back and say "I'm not done being quiet!" and then concluding his train of silence, Jamie took the news very well. Ok that's a stretched out lie. He was almost worse than me, and I'm the adopted one! But that's Jamie, even though he's not experiencing it first hand, he knows exactly how to mirror my emotions of the situation.

Jamie and Jude got off the phone and Jude kept her eyes on the road. By now, Jude was watching the sun beginning to set, and couldn't remember when she had seen such a beautiful sunset. She was halfway there to California, and Jude couldn't remember the last time she had felt so nervous. Her first ever performance in front of the entire school, nope, first performance on Instant Star, nope, her last and victory performance on Instant Star, not even close.

"Don't know what I was looking for when I went home, I found me alone
And sometimes I need someone to say, "You'll be all right. What's on your mind?"
But the water's shallow here and I am full of fear, and empty handed after two long years…"

The song playing perfectly mirrored how Jude was feeling. The last two years had been great, but she had lost all that she should have been able to keep as sentimental memories. Tommy came and went, her first album tanked, and even though her second album was on top of the charts, she felt empty without having her producer there to celebrate with.

What am I expecting to find when I get there? Am I looking for answers to everything? Am I subconsciously searching for the mother that I know won't be there to welcome me in with open arms? What is it that I want when I actually reach my 'house'?

Hours had passed with these thoughts clouding Jude's mind as she realized she was now in Anaheim, only about 45 minutes away from Long Beach. Jude was so close to where everything started that she almost felt like she could taste it. She flew passed the road signs, the white lines, and the many cars that were around her, she hadn't realized it until she was seeing the city limit sign.

Welcome to Long Beach

Please Enjoy Your Stay!!

She was home.

Back where everything started. Jude couldn't believe that she had really made it all this way. There was something about that moment where Jude just felt the need to pull over and sit for a moment. She needed to think of what was going to happen next.

Okay, so it turns out I'm now actually in Long Beach. But, what do I do now? I know that I gotta head to my house, and sort out all that stuff, but….then what? Should I stay there for a few days or what? Oh man, there's just so much that could happen once I get there. It could completely deserted with just everything everywhere, or someone could actually be there waiting for me. I really hope it's the latter, it would be just way too weird being surrounded by my 'mother's' stuff and not know what to do with it.