Chapter 3

Jonah

       We were very close to reaching the first stop of the road trip, and I couldn't wait. Mainly because I couldn't handle being in the minivan any longer with Ezra complaining that he was hungry, and he already ate all the food he stoked up on at the gas station.

       We ended up coming across some beautiful scenery, so I pulled over to the side of the road so we could get some fresh air, and so Linnea could take some pictures since she was into photography.

       Linnea, Ezra, Madison, and I got out of the minivan and before Ezra could close the door, Linnea asked Reed if he wanted to come outside, but he didn't want to so she closed the door.

       I looked out at the scenery in front of us, seeing a bunch of beautiful green trees surrounding a lake. I was tempted to go down to the lake, but we weren't going to stay out long since we really wanted to reach the town we were going to be staying at for two days.

       "I really can't wait to get to Meadowcliff," Madison said. "I've been wanting to go there for a long time."

       "Me too," I said. "I just hope Reed doesn't ruin it for us."

       Linnea sighed. "Jonah..."

       "What?" I asked. "We've had this road trip planned for months and he just gets thrown into it."

       "Yeah," Ezra agreed. "It was just supposed to be the four of us, not the five of us. What if us four want to go somewhere, but he doesn't?"

      "Then he stays back at the motel, or goes somewhere on his own," Linnea said. "Just because he's on the road trip with us, it doesn't mean he has to do everything with us."

       "She has a point," Madison said.

       "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't at least make him feel included," Linnea said.

       "And there goes the point," Madison said. At least Ezra and Madison were on my side with all of this.

       "I don't get it," Linnea said. "He seems like a nice guy, but you aren't even giving him a chance. Besides, it's not like it was his idea to join the road trip. He doesn't want to be here, so the least we can do is make things bearable for him."

       "He technically didn't have to come," Ezra said. "He could have insisted that he stayed back, but he didn't."

       "Well, he did try," I said. "But my parents wouldn't let him. That still doesn't make things better about him being on here. Like I told my parents, I'll keep him safe and make sure he eats but other than that, he doesn't exist."

       "You three are unbelievable," Linnea said. "Fine, don't try. But just so you know, I'm going to try getting along with him. He has been through a lot, so that's the least I can do."

       I sighed as Linnea headed back into the minivan. She just didn't get it. Reed and I didn't get along. We tried, but we just couldn't get along no matter what. 

       Besides, I doubt Reed would be staying with us for a long time. It wouldn't be long before he would be with another family, and honestly I couldn't wait to get him out of my life.

       "We should start heading on the road again," Madison said. "I bet you anything Ezra's still hungry, so we should get to Meadowcliff as soon as we can."

       "Well, you're right there," Ezra said. "It's not my fault I barely ate anything today."

       Madison raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? What about the burger and fries from Wendy's? What about the two bags of chips, the bag of candy, and three chocolate bars?"

       "What about it?" Ezra asked. "I'm still hungry."

       "Then let's go," Madison said.

       The three of us got back into the minivan, and I started it up. Before heading back onto the road, I looked over at Linnea, who was clearly trying to avoid looking in my direction. "I'm sorry," I said.

       "It's not me you should be apologizing to," Linnea said.

       I didn't say anything else as I pulled onto the road and continued driving to Meadowcliff; our very first destination. Meadowcliff was a small town north from the city we lived in, though it was a great place to spend the summer. It was close to the ocean and had an amazing beach, and all sorts of places to visit. 

       Ezra, Madison, and I had wanted to go there together for years, but our parents wouldn't let us go there alone until we were old enough to get our license, which was last year. We were going to go, but my family ended up going to Montreal for the summer instead.

       And I wouldn't have traded that for the world, because that was where I ended up meeting the most amazing girl in the world.

       Ezra start complaining that he was hungry, so I drowned out his voice by turning on the radio and turning up the volume quite loud. It definitely helped that I loved this song.

       "Jonah!" Reed called loudly so he could be heard over the music. "Can you turn it down?!"

       "Sorry, no can do!" I called back. "I don't want to listen to Ezra's whiny voice!"

       "Then can you at least change the song?!"

       "No way! I love this song! If you don't like it, don't listen to it! You've been listening to your own music this whole time!"

       "Yeah, but your music is so loud I can't even hear mine! Please, can you change the song?! I can't listen to it!"

       "I'm the driver! I get to choose the music!"

       Apparently not, because Linnea reached over and ended up changing the station. I was about to protest, but she just glared at me, so I had no choice but to listen to this song. 

       We finally reached Meadowcliff and the first place I went to was the motel for us to check into. I told Ezra, Madison, and Reed to start getting the luggage out while Linnea and I went to go pay for the rooms.

       Before heading to the front counter, I pulled Linnea off to the side. "Why did you change the song?" I asked. "The driver gets to choose. And quite frankly, I liked that song."

       "Yeah, I know," Linnea said. "Jonah, as a musical prodigy, you know how much of an impact music can have on people, right?"

       "Of course," I said.

       "And how certain songs can trigger memories," Linnea said. "Either from listening to that song when a certain event happened in the past, or the lyrics reminding you of the past."

       "What are you getting at?" I asked.

       "Reed didn't say he didn't like the song," Linnea said. "He said he can't listen to it. Obviously it was triggering some kind of negative memory for him, so I didn't want to make things worse. I want to make this trip easy for him because right now, he feels like three out of the four people with him hate his guts."

       "That's not true," I said.

       "Isn't it?" Linnea asked before heading over to the front counter to check into the motel.

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Yes Linnea my queen. Stand up for my baby. (even though jonah is also my baby)(jonah's being a butt right now though)

I'm really loving this book right now. Like I said before, I had these characters for years, and I was starting to miss them so I'm writing this story. And I'll start editing the prequel to this so I can post it soon. (jonah is a lot nicer in that lol)(but my baby reed isn't in it so im sad)

Fun fact: I created Reed to be the main character of a sequel for Jonah's book, and he was originally going to be Jonah and Linnea's son but I was like Nah, I still want Jonah and Linnea to be teens. Thus, Reed being fostered by Jonah's parents.