+inspiration+
Ashley sat, huddled against her door, listening to her diskman.
Jennifer sat writing, poem after poem until finally she came to a writer’s block. Her eyes trailed to the window, listening to her loud music, desperately searching for inspiration. Over her music, she heard her parents arguing over directions. She tuned both, the argument and the music out as she searched the streets for her inspiration.
A white ’97 dodge neon drove along side them. Jennifer noticed a boy about her age searching for the same inspiration. She could see it in his deep brown eyes. At least they looked brown. When his eyes met Jennifer’s, he looked away immediately. Jennifer continued to watch, his eyes eventually meeting hers again.
She had found her inspiration.
Lonely eyes,
Lost in mine.
All this space,
No meaning of time.
Searching to be inspired,
My head, my heart,
Oh so tired.
But I found where to start…
Suddenly, the car jerked some, and Jennifer’s dad began cursing something about teenage drivers. Jennifer turned off her headset.
”Cal, why don’t we go to a hotel for the night, then pick up in the morning?”
“Alright, alright,” he agreed.
They pulled into the Holiday Inn. Jennifer packed up her few things into her backpack.
Once her father parked the car, Jennifer got out, her bookbag over her right shoulder. The family all took their shoulder bags. They could always come out for a change of clothes, if needed.
Calvin and Marissa, Jennifer’s parents, walked to the front counter, Ashley trailing behind.
Jenn sat down on a ledge, pulling out her notebook which was filled with poetry. Loose papers all stuffed in it Jennifer opened to a clean page.
Before she knew what had happened, all of her material was on the floor. “Yo!” Jennifer exclaimed. “Can you watch where you’re going?” Jenn yelled after the person who clipped her with their luggage.
The figure turned around, bent down and began to help. “Crap, sorry.”
“Yea, whatever,” Jennifer muttered. Her yes met his face as she realized he was the boy from the car. But he looked more familiar than that.
“Sorry…” he trailed, noticing Jennifer’s hostility. “So, uh, where’re you from?
“Why you wanna know?” Jennifer eyed him.
The boy put his arms up in defeat. “Just making conversation.”
“Virginia,” Jennifer muttered.
“What?”
“That’s where I’m from. Virginia.”
“Oh…” he trailed. “I’m from Oklahoma. Here on business. What’s your name?”
“Jennifer. Here on project ‘Make Jennifer’s Summer Suck’.”
The boy laughed some. “Zac here. You’re pretty funny, Jenn.”
“Jennifer,” she corrected him. “And I’m being serious. I hate road trips. I usually just write anyway.”
“Really?” Zac’s eyes lit up some. “What do you write?”
“Poetry, stories, anything that sparks the interest.”
“Cool.”
“What kind of business could you possibly be on here?”
“Wha?”
“You said you were here on business…”
“Oh! Yea…music stuff.”
“Business,” Jennifer shook her head. “You’re all of what? Twelve?”
“Fourteen, thank you!” Zac stood up for himself. “For your information, me and my two older brothers are in a band!”
Jennifer smiled some. She got just what she wanted to know without asking for it.
Zac stopped complaining. She had a pretty smile…but wait. What was she smiling at? “What’s so funny?”
“You know, you just told a stranger practically your life story? You’re Zac from Oklahoma, fourteen, in a band with your brothers and you’re here on business. Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Yea, well, Miss Jennifer from Virginia that writes stories and poetry, how old are you?”
Jenn blushed some. She had been outsmarted by a guy. Sad.
Jennifer eyed him before answering. “Fourteen, thank you.”
“I don’t know what you’re thanking me for, Jenn,” he quickly caught his mistake, as well as a death glance from her. “Jennifer.”
Jennifer ignored his words. Her sights set on her family. When did they become so disfunctional? She gave a sigh and looked at him. “What kind of band are you and your brothers in?” Zac looked at her as if she were crazy. “You’ve never heard of Hanson?”
Jennifer looked at him. “What type of music?”
“Pop rockish.”
Jennifer shook her head. “I really don’t listen to too much of that. I’m more of a ska/alternative girl…You have the CD on you?”
“Um…I might. You wanna listen? It’s like, three years old.”
“Sure, I guess. Give it to me and I’ll take it up to my room and listen. What room are you in?”
“Two twelve.”
“Aight. I’m in two thirty-one. I’ll bring it to you when I’m done or whatever.”
Zac nodded. “Okay.”
Jennifer looked to her family and saw they were heading up. “Well, I have to go…”
“Okay, bye, Jennifer.”
“Bye, Zachary.”
Jennifer plopped down on the bottom bunk of the bed. Not too bad. It was kind of stiff. Jennifer looked around at the colorful furniture and curtains in the room. It was definitely a little kid’s type of room.
She reached over to her CD player and popped it open. She took out Zachary’s CD and placed it in her CD player. Jennifer listened as her fingers ran over the pictures, covering the lyrics sheet.
The first song played through. It was okay. Definitely pop. The lyrics were awesome though. They had great symbolism. She loved the whole picket fence thing. Definitely something she could relate to an aspect of her life.
Then the second song started. It sounded quite familiar. The first verse played through as she tried to place the song. Then, the chorus sounded.
“Shit!” Jennifer cursed, hitting the stop button on her CD player. She stared ahead of herself in disbelief. “I’ve made friends with the damned MMMBop boy!”
Meanwhile…
“Yo, Zac,” Tay walked to his and his brother’s bunk.
“Yea?”
“Who was the chick you were with downstairs?”
“Some girl I ran into…” Zac spoke nonchalantly.
“Dude, you hit the jackpot. What was her name?”
“Jennifer.”
“Wow. I’d try to pursue that one if I were you.”
“She had a major attitude though.”
“Dude, that’s luck! You want a sassy chick. Do you seriously want a babe that’ll yes you to death?”
Zachary thought for a moment. “No…”
“Well, then, go for it.”
Zac nodded. “Okay.” He got up. “I’m gonna go for a walk.”
“Aight.”
Zachary walked outside of the hotel room. He headed down some doors to Jennifer’s room. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
The door opened some, the chain lock still fastened. Jennifer peeked out the door.
“Hey,” Zac spoke.
“Hey…” Jennifer replied. She closed the door, took off the lock and opened the door. “What’s going on?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk around the place.”
“Uhm…not really. Sorry.”
“Oh, okay.”
“By the way, I have your CD.”
“Okay.”
Jennifer took his CD off the dresser. “Sorry…It’s just not my speed.”
“Hey, whatever. It’s not really mine either.”
“Yea. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”
“Hey, okay. Later.”
And with that, Jennifer closed the door and let Zachary walk out of her life. Forever.
The End.
