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

person, how would you feel in I stayed here to?” His eyes stare into mine, and he gives me a quick peck, walks over to the window, and climbs down. It’s only two stories, and I’m sure no one will see him, after all, I do have a window that faces an alley way.
I leave and tell the front desk that there will be someone coming to live with me. I tell them to get an extra key to the room. I exit the hotel and walk around the busy city for a while. I wait for a call from one of the places I applied to, and I turn on my phone to wait for it. I see over one hundred messages and missed calls. I’ve only been gone two days, and I’m hounded with calls. I delete every call, and call back some of the stores that I applied to. I got a job at the little café, and the boutique. Together, they both pay very well, and they both gave me two days before I start to work.
I spot a nearby café, and order a cappuccino. There is a seat near the window, and the entrance, and I sit and think. For a while I just try to not think about my parents. They might be distant, but they are not the type to notice that their youngest child had gone missing. They most likely got the whole town to go look for me; after all, I was the town’s child. Lia and Chance are probably not caring where I was, but they would pretend like they were. Oh how I wish I could see what every one of them were doing. The pressure I felt behind the bleachers was back. I finish my coffee and head off to somewhere where no one could see or hear me. I do not know the city very well, but I try my best to hurry. There was a dark isolated area where I saw that people would avoid, and I figured that that was my best option.
“Hello? Are you there?” I call out.
“Mae, I thank you for the good job. You left right away. I am here to respond to your thoughts. You can see those people that you think about anytime. You cannot contact them in any way, and like you’ve been doing, do not reply if they send you messages, or if they call you.” The familiar voice answers.
“How do I see them?” I ask in a small curious voice.
“Close your eyes and recall the last time you were with them, anytime you were with them, and the image of them should be able to come up in your mind, and you can follow them. This is only meant so that you can see that they are not near you or when you feel lonely; not if you are bored. You could also see what the new people in your life are like. This also serves as a character reader. It hides nothing from you.” The voice says.
I feel the pressure off of my body, and I close my eyes and look for my parents. The last time I was with them was at the airport before I left for Georgia. Then I see them. They are at dad’s office, and mom is crying. Dad is holding her, and they are on the phone.
“Ed, did your sister contact you?” My father asks in a hopeful voice.
“Alright, can you call us if she does?” He says again after the reply on the other end.
“Be safe, son.” Then he hangs up. “No one knows where she is. Her car is at a bus station, and that is all anyone knows. She didn’t use any of the credit cards that we gave to her. None of her friends know where she is, Josephine says that she isn’t there. Where could she be?” My dad strokes my mother’s hair, and she starts to sob.
I can’t watch anymore, so I look for Chance. The last time I was with him was when I met him after I got back. He shows up with Lia. Lia and Chance are talking quietly. He holds her close and he tries to relax her.
“Lia, it’s not our fault. It’s not like she knew that we were together. Maybe she didn’t want to be here or maybe she got kidnapped.” He says.
I don’t even listen to her response. Does he really not care where I am, as long as I don’t find out about them? Why did I even bother looking for them? I sigh and leave the deserted area. I walk towards Central Park and sit at a bench. Looking around, this city was so beautiful. Then I see a man walking towards me. He stops and he looks at me for a bit. I start to get up and see that he wants to stop me. For some reason, he looks very rich, and he looks like he is very much into high fashion.
“Excuse me, Miss!” He reaches out and grabs my arm.
“Yes? Did you want something?” I ask.
“Actually, I was wondering if you were already modeling for a company already, if you are, sorry if I bothered you.” He looks at my face even more.
“No, I’m not even a model. I- well, this is embarrassing, but I ran away from home a few days ago, and I just got a couple of jobs for a café and a boutique. I really don’t want to be found by anyone in my town.” I tell him. He looks curious for a bit, but brushes that off.
“Well, could you consider taking my card and contacting me? I mean, we could change your name, and they probably would think you were someone else. I really hope for you to consider coming to take a few test shots. You are absolutely beautiful, and I’m surprised you haven’t started modeling yet. Here, my name is David Scott.” He hands me a card with a modeling company.
“I’m Mae Sharpe, nice you meet you, David.” I shake his hand and he walks away. Modeling? I didn’t even consider that. That could be better than working two jobs that I wouldn’t have time for. I could also find a better place to live with Darren. I thought that I should consider this for a bit before calling.
I took a walk through the park, and many people stared. I don’t like that attention, so I sat down again, and I wanted to see what Darren was doing. I thought about last night and a smile appeared in my lips. Then Darren appears and he is walking to a food court with a friends. He has a bright smile on his face and they are talking about something.
“Rachel breaking up with me and my parents throwing me out are some of the best things that has happened to me, guys. I met a girl while trying to find a place to sleep. She’s amazing. I know I just met her and everything, but, God, you should see her. She is absolutely beautiful.” He says. They look at him as if he’s crazy.
“Darren, are you in love?” The girl across asks.
“Maybe. I cannot stop thinking about her.” He says with a smirk on his face.
“Dude, you are so lucky.” A male beside his says.
I stop listening, and smile. Maybe I wasn’t his rebound. Can it hurt this much to smile?pt>
New Life

I wanted to go shopping for new clothes, since I didn’t take a lot of mine with me. Walking around and shopping really seemed to clear my mind. For some reason, many people my age were in the shops as well. I wanted to talk to a few people, though I am that shy type, and I don’t talk to many people often. There were many helpful people while I was looking around, and it seemed as if I already belonged in this big city.
It was about 4:30 when I decided to return to the hotel. When I got to the room, I found that Darren was in there. He looks up and smiles at me as I smile at him. I put the shopping bags down, and take a seat next to him on the couch.
“Hello there, handsome.” I say as his arms pull me in for a hug.
“I have a key now. I didn’t know if you were serious, but you left a key.” He looks down at me.
“Well, after all, you are a roommate, and you need a key to get in. What kind of roommate would I be if I didn’t even give you a key?” I stand up and go over to put my new clothes away. “Guess what? I was sitting at a park today, and there was a man staring at me and he offered me a modeling job.” I tell Darren excitedly.
“That’s great! But do you want to? I mean that by modeling, you could get in touch with your family. They might try to contact you.” He looked at me worriedly.
“I’ll be fine. If they try to contact me, I will just have to ignore it.” I reassured him by resting my hand on his thigh. He grabbed my hand, held it, and smiled at me. I return the smile and say, “Plus, I’ll have you as my bodyguard right?”
He smiles and gives me a kiss. “How did this even happen? My one electric kiss turned into something I cannot give up on, after that one night.” His eyes wandered on my body until it stopped and lingered on my lips. I subconsciously bite it and look away embarrassed. Darren takes his hand and turns my head towards his. I give him a peck and get up. He stares at me while I find my new phone and call David.
“Hello, David Scott’s office. This is Lena speaking. How may I help you?” The receptionist answers.
“Hi, I’m Mae Sharpe, David gave me his card.” I say, suddenly very nervous.
“Ah, I understand, one second.” I wait for a few seconds and the line connects again. “Hello, this is David.”
“David, this is Mae, we met in the park.” I say.
“Oh, you called! Have you thought about my offer?” He sounded very excited.
“Yes, that’s the reason I called. I thought about it, and decided to try this out.” I look at Darren who is taking a nap on the bed.
“That’s great! Thank you for accepting this difficult decision. I understand that you ran away from home, and you have no money or anything, but worry no further. I will make you into a star. We will also keep this a secret.” David exclaims.
“Thank you so much, David.” We hung up after setting up an appointment for a head shot photo testing.
I get into bed, and hug Darren, ready to start this new life.

The next day, I wandered around, and tried to