Journey by Jay T. (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📖

parents come in. They want me to get out of the city and go to a more…conserved area, but my life is in the city.
Ed, my older brother comes to visit sometimes. He wasn’t thrilled about my departure, but he was happy that I was happy. Ed was going into the NFL, but he was also going to law school to do something practical after he retired from football.
“Mae! What are you doing sitting on your bum?” Kasey MacLean, a close friend I met through Travis asks.
“Thinking about things.”
“Well, this is your party after all. You need to get up and have some fun.” She and I now have matching hair colors since mine is now blonde with golden streaks. Kasey loves that we have the same hair color and the fact that she is now the main photographer for Sandra. I get pulled to my feet and Kasey starts to dance with the other people.
“Kasey, you are too…” I trail off.
“SHUT UP AND DANCE!” I smile and start to swing my hips to the beat. All the other girls start to dance with us while the adults start to leave. I see my family heading towards the door and I start to feel bad. They were flying home tomorrow morning. I leave the big group of dancing crazies and meet my family at the door.
They tell me that they are all proud of me and what I’m accomplishing, and they tell me to check my bank account in the morning. I smile and know that they had given me some money for ‘graduating’. Some isn’t that much but just enough so that I could buy myself a new wardrobe and makeup. I smile and thank them for coming. They tell me that they would call me when they got back home. I watch them leave and I can feel myself hit a peaceful state of mind.
I’ve never felt this content in my life.
Things were going well for me, but not for long, I expected. The ‘transformation stage’ is done. Apparently, the third stage was a painful one. I laughed and thought that it wouldn’t be that painful. That stage is one that comes after several months of the second stage. I can’t wait for these stages to be over. Things changed, and I did too. The things that I want and the things I want to do are changing, and I need to figure out what I’m going to do when I complete the three stages. I need to fit that into my plans too.
“Mae, what are you doing?” Jason Cather asks. I met him during a photo shoot with Trevor. Jason is now an intern at Sandra’s office.
“I just feel bad that I didn’t get to spend much time with my family.” I smile at him. He’s been around me a lot lately. Trevor thinks that he likes me, but I don’t want a relationship.
“Well, Trevor was looking for you.” I thank him and follow him inside.
“Mae Penelope Sharpe! We have been dancing without you this whole time! Come and have some fun!” Trevor has obviously gotten drunk, and I laugh. From the corner of my eye, I see a glint from the promise ring Darren gave to me. I’ve never taken it off because I think back to the old times when there was one person that I wanted and needed to please, but I thank him when I realized that he wasn’t it anymore. I sigh and look at the people around me. Sometimes I wish that I had never met him, but other times I thank him for the life he offered to me. The people here are my families who I can never let go of.
The party ended two hours later, and I need to drive Trevor to his apartment. He lives far away from me but he also lets me crash at his place when I stay late. Thankful that he keeps some of my things there, I change him and brush his teeth, like I do every time we go clubbing. Trevor is the wild type who counts on me as his designated driver. I on the other hand don’t get drunk due to my high tolerance level, and because of the fact that I am still underage. This was routine for us now, every time we went out at least.
Laying him down on the bed and tucking him in, I grab the spare clothes I have and shower. I brush my teeth and towel dry my hair and go lay down in the living room. I try and fall asleep to the TV but there are so many thoughts in my head that I decide to go outside to take a walk. It was about two in the morning so it wasn’t that crazy outside, but still busy as always. Central park was about four blocks from Trevor’s apartment, and I sit at a random bench. I keep thinking about things. The thoughts that flood my mind are questions with ‘what if’ in them.
What if I had stayed in Sharpston?
What if I never ran away? Would I be dead?
What if I never went to that party with Darren?
What if…
What if…
After an hour I decide to go back to Trevor’s apartment. I use the spare key he gave to me and I sleep on the couch.
Girl's Night

“Mae! Wake up! We’re going to be late to the shoot!” Trevor tries to make toast and pour orange juice. I groan, regretting my decision to walk around last night. “Mae, I am the one with the hangover. Be quiet and go brush your teeth.” I sit up and look around, and then I silently drag myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth. We leave after I finish the toast and juice.
“Trevor, you should stop drinking the nights before a shoot.” I joke quietly.
“Mae, you should stop talking. It sounds like you’re screaming.” He smiles and pats my hand.
“Well, just wait until Kasey starts.” Kasey was one who liked to yell. Although she was an amazing photographer, she needed to work on the very loud commands.
“She got drunk before I did. She will not yell today, I promise.”
“You never know.” I shrug. When we arrive, I find that we are doing a casual winter theme. It was freezing outside so I was happy about the clothing choices. They were all long and warm, except for the jeans and leggings. Though they were long, I was still cold. The photo shoot was in an alley that was set up to look like little shops and boutiques. Thank goodness we only had to act like a happy couple walking back and forth, keeping each other warm. The only down side to the shoot was that since we were in an alley, we had to change outside in little booths they set up for us. Even though there were heaters, we were still freezing. I could see that the staff got to wear thicker jackets than the ones that Sandra made, and I was happy that they were, but I just wanted to be warm.
Trevor was right about his promises. He always kept them. That meant that Kasey was extremely hung over and decided to give us a break today. The shots that she got were perfect the first hour and every single person just wanted to stop and go inside to a warm area, so the shoot ended an hour early. Trevor drove me back to my apartment with Kasey and dropped us off. We decided to just stay there and watch movies.
“Mae, can you find some very large and warm blankets in this magical apartment of yours?” Kasey asks hanging up her jacket on my coat rack.
“Just find some sweat pants in my closet and sit in my bed. That’ll warm you up while I turn on the heater.” I say walking into the kitchen and get the Rocky Road ice cream out. Kasey and I had many lazy girl days. Today it was at my apartment, and I knew we would be watching chick flicks and I bought Kasey’s favorite ice cream. We always spend hours in my bed or her bed just watching TV or movies or on our laptops. This is what I liked, and Kasey and I got along very well. Kasey also lived a block away from me, which I realized when she had a house party a month after I met her.
“Mae, you need to stop shopping!” She calls from my closet. “It’s like a mall in here!” She grabs a pair of gray sweat pants, and hops underneath my large comforter that was super warm. “Ah, this is the life. I never want to get out of this cloud bed of yours. It’s just too warm.” She says. I laugh and change into sweats, and bring the ice cream. “You bought Rocky Road, right?”
“Yes, your royal highness.” I mock.
“Hey, I’m just asking an innocent question.”
“Yeah, but last time you chewed me out for getting plain chocolate.”
“Well, now you know that I do not enjoy ‘regular’ chocolate.” I laugh at her air quotations, and then I feel the heater come on. “Oh, my goodness, I seriously think I want to sleep over.”
“Go ahead. This is a large king sized bed. Plus you are probably too lazy to walk back home, especially after the ice cream and popcorn, and let’s not forget the hot chocolate.” I say.
“Damn you, tummy. I will hate you forever.” She says, pointing to her stomach. I laugh and start to put in the movie. We watch several movies, ate all the food and then it was suddenly night time. I laugh as Kasey called some of our friends Annabelle, Eve, Sammy, and Macy for us to go clubbing.
“I guess it’s a girl’s night.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be fun. On the plus side, there is no shoot tomorrow!” I laugh as she sings. I walk over to Kasey’s apartment with all my things to get ready and she turns on the heat to her cold empty apartment. Since she moved in, she hasn’t stayed home a lot. She told me it meant that we could make a gigantic mess, and she’d be fine. I laugh as we dance around in our curlers and sing in our underwear. Life was good.
“Mae! You’re wearing you silver dress with black tights right? I think we have the same dress, but I have it in red.”
“Then we could be twins, except that red looks better with black lace tights.” I smile as she takes a picture of me trying to put on my tights while I’m still in my panties and bra.
“Whoo! Work it girl!” She laughs as she snaps some more pictures, but this time with me in the back posing while she smiles or makes silly faces. We’re both still not dressed and I nag