I didn't even last a day.

Chapter 1

Jonah

       I could feel my mother's presence behind me as I shoved clothes into my suitcase, though I didn't bother say the first word. I didn't want to talk to her or Dad at all, so she was going to have to talk first. I wasn't going to reply, though.

       Finally, Mom sighed. "Jonah, you can't be mad at me and your dad about this."

       I told myself I wasn't going to talk to her, and I was keeping that promise.

       "Fine, don't talk," Mom said. "Just listen. I know you're not happy about all of this, but you have to think about him. He lost both of his parents, Jonah. We couldn't just abandon him."

       They didn't have to abandon him. I was sure there were a lot of other people out there who would foster him, and not just my parents who had never fostered anyone in their entire life.

       Sure, I did sound a bit selfish, but I had been an only child for seventeen years. A teenager suddenly living with us was going to take some getting used to, especially someone like him.

       "I just don't get it," Mom said. "You normally welcome every single person in your life, and you try to look at positive features of everyone. What's so different?"

       I finally decided to actually talk to Mom, just so she could leave me alone.

       "How about the fact that you're forcing him to come on the road trip with us?" I asked as I turned around to face her. "Linnea, Ezra, Madison, and I had this planned for months, and suddenly our plans our ruined by someone else being thrown into the mix. He doesn't even want to go."

       "It will be good for the two of you," Mom said. "Maybe you'll actually get along for once. You never know how long he'll be staying with us for, so you two should at least try to put your differences aside."

       "Not going to happen," I said, turning back to my suitcase to finish packing. "Can you leave me alone now? The others should be here in ten minutes and I'm not done packing yet."

       I thought Mom was going to stay and continue talking to me, but she didn't. I heard her walk out of my bedroom, so I went back to packing. Once I was finished, I brought my suitcase, backpack, and guitar case out of my bedroom and to the living room while I waited for my three friends to show up.

       When there was a knock on the door, I got up from the chair I was sitting at and opened it. "Ready to hit the road?" Ezra asked.

       "Of course," I said, grabbing my belongings.

       "Jonah," Dad said. "Are you forgetting something?"

       "Oh, right," I said. "My keys, thanks." I grabbed them off the hook by the door. "See you at the end of summer, wonderful parents."

       Dad sighed. "That wasn't what I meant."

       "Well, I don't know what else you're talking about," I said. "I've got my luggage, my wallet, my phone, my guitar, now my keys."

       "I meant someone," Dad said.

       "Oh. Him."

       Dad shook his head before heading towards the stairs. "Reed?! They're ready to leave!"

       I didn't even wait for him to come down the stairs before I brought my luggage outside and to my minivan. Linnea, Ezra, and Madison brought over their luggage and I started placing the suitcases in the backseat.

       Ezra and Madison got into the minivan while I waited for Reed to finally come outside with his luggage. He placed his suitcase in the back before I closed the door. "You know I'm not happy about this either, right?" he asked.

       "Good, then we're on the same page," I said.

       Reed didn't say anything else before he got into the minivan and headed into the very backseat. I closed the side door and was going to head to the driver's seat, but Linnea caught my arm. "Jonah," she said. "I know sharing your parents came all of a sudden, but you can at least give Reed a chance. None of this is his fault."

       "That doesn't mean I have to like him," I said. "And clearly, it's mutual between us, so not happening."

       "Tu es trop ennuyant," Linnea said with a sigh.

       "Hey, that's not fair," I said. "You know I can't speak French."

       "Oh? What a shame," Linnea said.

       "Come on, don't be mad at me," I said. "What would you do if your mom or dad suddenly decided to foster someone?"

       "I would try to get along with them," Linnea said. "Like I said, it's not Reed's fault he's getting fostered. You should really give him a chance."

       "And like I said, it's mutual between us," I said. "I don't like him, he doesn't like me. It's bad enough that my parents are forcing him to come onto the road trip with us."

       "Then get along, for the rest of our sake," Linnea said. "Ezra, Madison, and I won't want to listen to you arguing all the time."

       "Oh, you won't have to worry about that," I said. "He rarely talks. He normally has his headphones on. Now, we should really be heading out before Ezra and Madison get mad. But first, I'm going to say bye to my parents."

       "Fine, whatever," Linnea said before heading into the passenger seat.

       I walked back inside my house. "We're leaving now."

       "Okay," Mom said. "Have fun and be safe. And please, just..."

       "Try to get along with Reed?" I asked. "Again, not happening."

       "Jonah..."

       "What?" I asked. "I'll make sure he's safe as well and make sure he eats, but other than that, I'm probably not going to talk to him."

       "And here we were, thinking the road trip will work for you two," Mom said before giving me a hug. "Please, stay safe. Text me or your father at least once per day, and call us once a week."

       "I will," I said.

       After giving my dad a hug, I left the house and got into the driver's seat. "Finally," Ezra said. "We thought we were never going to leave."

       "Sorry," I said as I started up the van. "At least we are now on our way. First stop, a drive-through. I'm starving."

       Everyone else agreed that they were hungry, except for Reed. He didn't say anything.

       We just went to the nearest drive-through, which ended up being a Wendy's. Ezra and Madison told me their orders, and I looked at Linnea's for hers, but she didn't say. Instead, she mouthed, "Ask him."

       I sighed and turned around to face the backseat. "You hungry, Reed?"

       "I'm good," Reed said before putting his headphones on to listen to music.

       Linnea told me her order and I repeated it back to the drive-through attendant before saying mine. After paying for the food and receiving the drinks, I had to pull into a parking stall to wait for the rest of the food.

       "You know, you're acting like it's the end of the world just to talk to him," Linnea said in a quiet voice so only I could hear here. Not that we could have any problem with the others eavesdropping. Ezra and Madison were in their own conversation, and Reed was listening to music.

       "Maybe it is," I said.

       "You're unbelievable," Linnea said. "I've never seen you this stubborn before."

       "We clash," I said. "Our personalities don't mix. Like I've already said twice, I don't like him and he doesn't like me. I don't have to like everyone. And like I've told my parents, on this trip I'll make sure he's safe and make sure he eats. That's it."

       "Really?" Linnea asked. "Because you weren't even going to ask him if he was hungry until I told you too."

       "I forgot," I said.

       "Right. Please just... try to get along with him."

       "Alright, fine, I'll try," I said. "But I'm not making any promises."

       "Jonah, it's not like I'm asking you two to become best friends," Linnea said. "Just to try getting along."

       "I know, and like I said, I'll try," I said. "Only because you're asking."

       "That's better than nothing," Linnea said, smiling softly before leaning over and giving me a quick kiss.

       I still wasn't making any promises. I could try, but I knew that Reed and I definitely weren't going to get along.

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Lol oops. Looks like the first chapter came sooner than I expected. Don't blame me, though. Blame Jonah and Reed. I created these characters a long time ago and I was starting to miss them, especially because of a movie I watched. The first time I watched it in the threatres, I was like to one of the characters, "Whoa, he would make a perfect Reed."

And then the movie is on Netflix so I watched it like three times in a week. MY BAD.

But these characters were created so long ago that I ended up using all of the original cast for other stories. My actors for Malachi and Aviva were Jonah and Linnea, Zander was Reed, Landon was Ezra,  and one of my characters from Riverside was Madison. Lyric is the only one that I was able to use her original cast for. cx

ANYWAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE BOOK. I've got a lot of stuff planned woo. And warning: Reed has the sass. Beware of the sass.