Crossroad Puzzles
Avery: Well I don't really have anything to say so, I guess I'll just take this as an opportunity to thank you for reviewing. Enjoy the next chapter.
"What are you doing here?" Moxie asked, but it sounded more like a demand then a question
"Following my future husband on a journey across America" Jackie replied, as if that were the most normal sentence in the world
I had a feeling that Kick expected this from Jackie, seeing as she was constantly stalking him, he was probably used to her creepiness by now. Then I noticed something, my suitcase was not in the car. If my suitcase was not in the car then where was it?
"Jackie" I said sternly "Do you know what happened to my suitcase?"
Jackie looked like she had just seen a ghost, and I mentally face palmed myself
"Um, it's in your garage" Jackie said guiltily "I needed some more room"
"That suitcase had all my clothes in it" I yelled in rage "what am I supposed to wear?"
I stepped forward in rage, Fiona and Ronaldo grabbed my arms and pulled me back. Oh Jackie you are so lucky Fiona and Ronaldo held me back or I would have played patty cake with your face. I didn't have any clothes, although since I didn't see a new suitcase I guessed that Jackie didn't have any clothes either.
"You could borrow my clothes" Moxie told me
I thought about this for a moment, I couldn't just wear the same clothes for eight days straight, that's just gross. Moxie might be my only clothing option unless I spent all the trip money on a new wardrobe, which would have been a poor choice. We were the same height and weight so her clothes would fit me perfectly, but her style just, isn't me. Short shorts, low-cut tops, vibrant colours, bright patterns, on her it looks great. I can't wear clothes like that without feeling self-conscious. I could never fit into Fiona or Christina's skinny little outfits that I couldn't breathe in. I looked at Moxie, who knew very well that I would never think of putting her clothes on my body, but my choice was wear Moxie's clothes or smell like a homeless person. I picked her clothes.
"Alright" I replied
Now to move on to the bigger problem, Jackie. What were we going to do with her? She couldn't just drive all the way to Seattle and back with us, could she?
"Is there anything we can say to make you get on the next train back to Mellowbrook?" Mouth said rudely, earning a hard elbow in the chest courtesy of his sister
"Oh, I'm not going home" Jackie sighed dreamily "My mom thinks that I'm in Youngstown, New York with my aunt Jennifer"
I think Jackie's mom knows that Jackie is a psycho path but refuses to believe it, or she doesn't have enough money to hire a therapist. Either way if Jackie's mom had done something to make her daughter just a smidge less insane then she probably wouldn't be following Kick around like a loud and insane lost puppy. But what were we supposed to do about her now? We decided that we'd discuss the problem over lunch. The diner was nice, old-looking and fifties style, there were many posters of singers like Elvis Presley, a lit up jukebox in the corner loudly blaring "Johnny B. Goode", and a clock shaped like a black acoustic guitar hung on the wall. The waitresses wore big puffy poodle skirts and white blouses, adding to the diner's theme of living in the early 1950's.
"So what are we going to do about you Jacklyn?" Moxie spat out her full name like it was a curse
"Well Mariana" Jackie spat back, sour venom stinging her voice "I suggest you let me stay and drive all the way to Seattle"
"Not happening" I said before I could stop myself
Everyone looked at me and didn't say anything for a moment. I looked at Ronaldo for a moment and I knew, before he even opened his mouth, what he was about to say.
"But we can't just leave her here Kendall, how would she get home?" Ronaldo asked "She doesn't have enough money for a train ticket and hitchhiking is dangerous"
I knew he was right, he always was. But he knew I wasn't going to put up with Jackie for the next three thousand miles. He knew me better than anyone, but I think it was because of the fact we broke up that he knew so much about me. I guess some people are just better off as friends.
"Jackie is there any way that we can drive you to New York?" I asked, slightly annoyed
"You can but I'm not staying" Jackie replied
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I should have known that Jackie would never leave us alone, but a small part of me wondered what would drive her to go to New York and stay? Suddenly I had an idea.
"Jackie when was the last time you saw your aunt?" I asked
Jackie paused for a moment, she looked as though she was trying to rack her brain for an answer. Jackie opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Suddenly a small tear formed in her eye and she quickly wiped it away, pretending it was never there.
"My cousin's funeral, about eight years ago" Jackie explained "Rachael was her only daughter and my only female cousin, I haven't spoken to Aunt Jennifer or my cousin Ralph in years"
"If you don't mind me asking what happened to her?" Fiona asked sympathetically
"She was tied up and beaten to death by a group of girls shortly after she came out of the closet" Jackie explained, hot tears slowly formed in her eyes "She was fourteen"
I was shocked by what I was hearing, Jackie had experienced a terrible loss at a young age all because of some idiots who refused to accept a girl's homosexuality. Seeing Jackie like this, actually learning something about her, made me feel like she was almost normal. It was like she was not the Jackie Wackerman who spent the last seven years stalking Kick like a bloodhound, but the Jackie inside, the Jackie I had never seen. As she wiped a tear from her eye I glanced at Kick, who was looking at Jackie with sympathy, I suddenly felt envious of the way he was looking at her. I almost felt the urge to remind him that this was the girl who watched him sleep every night for seven years.
"Do you want to see your aunt and cousin?" Mouth asked
"Yes, I want too" Jackie replied, nodding her head quickly
"Then it's settled" Kick said "We're going to Youngstown, New York"
Everyone was smiling, except for me. Honestly I felt sorry for Jackie but I was a bit jealous that Kick was paying so much attention to her, it's the eighth grade class president election all over again. We got our bill and the waitress gave us complementary crossword puzzles that were entitled "Crossroad Puzzles" I guess they were out of mints.
()()()
"I think number nine across is eradication" Ronaldo said, looking at the crossword puzzle in Fiona's lap
"You think?" She asked
He smiled and nodded "An eleven letter word for elimination"
"Elimination is already eleven letters" Kick pointed out
"I didn't know you could count" I joked, he threw me a stern look before putting his eyes back on the highway
"Ronaldo is right" Fiona said after she filled in the blank "Number ten down, twelve letters, meaning freedom"
There was a long moment of silence, the only noise was the radio, playing Moxie's play list on low volume. I began to think of words that meant freedom. Liberty? Salvation? Too short. Determination? Sovereignty? Nonconformity? Three years of Mrs. Collins, the strictest teacher in school, and her equally hard English classes and I can't even figure out a simple crossword puzzle. So many words that meant freedom, and I only needed one. Kick mumbled something, I almost didn't catch what he said, all I heard was "the fourth." The fourth? As in of July? Independence day? But what did that- Wait. I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-E. Twelve letters, meaning freedom.
"Your right" I whispered to him
He looked at me, confused, then smiled "Independence" he said before turning his eyes back to the highway.
Fiona looked at him, then wrote down the word in the blank space. She smiled.
"It's right" She said triumphantly
()()()
We pulled off the highway around dinner time and got two rooms at the first motel we came across, one room for the boys and one room for the girls. We dropped off our suitcases and walked around Concord, looking for a restaurant.
"I'm kind of surprised you didn't figure it out" Kick whispered to me
"I'm kind of surprised you did" I told him, because honestly, I was.
He gave me a little smile, one that I haven't seen since we were kids. One that made me melt every time. Wait, what am I saying? I'm not dating Ronaldo anymore so it wouldn't be wrong to say I think another boy's smile is nice, so then why does it feel so wrong? But it also feels right at the same time. I know this might be confusing, but that's what these feelings are, confusing. I wonder what he's thinking, probably about his stunts, and not about me. His mom told him he couldn't bring his bike or skateboard on this trip, but if I know Kick he probably smuggled something.
"How did you figure it out?" I asked him
Kick smiled "I thought of you"
"Me?" I asked in confusion, while trying to stop the blood from rushing to my cheeks
"Yeah," Kick replied "You have a lot of independence"
"Not really" I told him
"You are, you just need to find it" He said with a reassuring smile
"Hey lovebirds, hurry up!" Moxie screamed from ahead of us.
I hadn't even noticed that we had fallen behind. We ran to catch up, our friends laughing at us.
"What were you talking about?" I heard Gunther ask Kick
Kick smiled and replied "Independence"
()()()
Moxie's Play list #2
"I wanna be forever Youngstown" or "Busting out of Independence" or "Gunther ate all of the travel snacks -_-"
Runnin Down A Dream by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Take It Easy by Eagles
Road Trippin' by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Beautiful Day by U2
Paradise City by Guns N' Roses
Drive My Car by The Beatles
Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles
Highway To Hell by AC/DC
Back Against the Wall by Cage The Elephant
Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley
Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship
21 Guns by Green Day
Independence by The Band Perry
Moxie's side notes: So many places have New in their name, I will legitimately give twenty dollars to whoever can name them all
Fiona's side notes: New Zealand, New Holland, New South Wales, New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Newtown, Newcastle, New Britain, New Plymouth, New England, New Mexico, New Orleans, Newport News, Newport, New Bern, New Bedford, New Norcia, Newark, New Athens, New Sweden, New Oxford, New Westminster, New London! YOU OWE ME TWENTY DOLLARS!
Moxie's side notes:…-_-
Avery: Okay, I don't know if some of those "new-" places actually exist cuz I got those off of a Q&A website when I should have probably looked in an atlas but I can't find one -_- Also I'm probably going to add new POV's and have other characters make play lists, because everyone's musical style is different. That's all for now, Avery out!