I'm Amazed That I Got This Far

The next morning, I opened my eyes, and looked over at the clock. 11:32 AM. I sighed to myself and looked over at a sleeping John, who was wrapped up in the blankets, leaving barely any for me to cover myself up with. I smiled and rolled my eyes, before sliding out of bed, and going over to my suitcase. I opened it up and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top to wear today. I shut my suitcase, after grabbing other things I needed, and headed into the bathroom, so I could shower.

I went into the small bathroom and shut the door behind me. I set my clothes on the vanity, refusing to let my clothes lay on the nasty floor. I put a towel on the floor, so I could step on it after I got out of the shower, and I turned on the water. I let it heat up, before stripping down, and stepping in. I washed my hair and body quickly, and once I was done doing everything I needed to do, I turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel and dried myself off, before throwing on my clothes.

After I hung up the towels and picked up my dirty clothes, I walked out of the bathroom, to see John laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He looked over at me and sat up, before smiling.

"Good morning." He said, a smile still present on his face.

"Morning." I smiled.

"I got donuts from the guy at the front desk." He said, as he pointed over to the small table, where four donuts sat. "I just got two for both of us, just in case. And water because I know you don't like Orange Juice."

"Thanks." I said, with a slight laugh.

"You're welcome." He said, as he stood up, and went over to the table, before picking up the donuts and handing two to me.

"So, what are we doing today?" I asked John, as we sat down on the bed next to each other, and started to eat our breakfast.

"I don't know." He said, with a slight frown, as he rested his head against the wall. "This is our last day at the motel; we have to be out by tonight."

"So, we're going back to your car?" I said.

He shook his head. "No. We're staying here again."

"We can't just blow money on a motel, John." I sighed. "We don't have enough to stay here for a long time."

"No, I know." He shrugged. "Maybe we can make some money today."

"Doing what?" I wondered.

"Pole dancing? I don't know." He said.

"Wow. How about no." I smiled.

"Just a suggestion." He smirked. "I'd share a pole with you."

"You're so nasty." I chuckled.

He laughed and shook his head. "Am not."

"I know what you could do." I said, as I looked over at him.

"You as in...just me?" He said slowly.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Since you're the one that refuses to sleep in a car."

"And what's that?" He asked.

"You can play guitar and sing on the street and make money." I said.

"That's a good idea!" He said. "But watch no one give me anything!"

"They might." I shrugged.

"I'll dress like a homeless person in cut-off shorts and no shoes." He smiled. "Yeah!"

"Uhm...whatever you want?" I giggled.

"Okay! I'll go get ready!" He said, as he shoved the last part of his donut in his mouth. "Be right back."

"Okay..." I sighed, as I set my second donut on the end table.

"Are you gonna eat that?" John asked, as he pointed to it.

"Have at it, fatty." I smiled.

"Awesome." He grinned, as he picked it up and took a bite. "I am not fat. I'm pleasantly plump."

"You wish." I joked.

"Psh, whatever." He smirked, before opening his suitcase and pulling out some cut off shorts and a tank top.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, as I stood up. I grabbed my tooth brush and toothpaste out of my suitcase and went into the bathroom, to brush my teeth, while John changed. When I was done brushing my teeth, I walked out of the bathroom, to see John wearing his tank top and cut-off shorts with no shoes. I rolled my eyes and tossed my tooth brush and toothpaste into my suitcase.

"How do I look?" John asked, as he put his hands on his hips.

"Homeless." I chuckled.

"Good." He said happily. "I need to brush my teeth and then we can go."

"Alright." I nodded.

He grabbed his tooth brush and toothpaste, before stepping into the bathroom. I grabbed my make up and applied a little eyeliner and mascara, while using the tiny mirror that I packed in my suitcase to make sure it looked okay. When I was done, I tossed everything back into my suitcase and sat on the bed, until John came out of the bathroom ready to go. I stood up and grabbed the motel key, before John grabbed his acoustic, and we walked out of our room.

"So, where are we going to go?" I asked John, as I locked our room door.

"I don't know." He sighed. "We'll go somewhere in the city or something."

"Okay." I nodded, before sliding the key into my pocket.

John laced his fingers with mine before pressing his lips against mine. "You didn't give me a good morning kiss."

"Like you care." I smiled.

"I do, actually." He nodded. "I was very hurt when you didn't kiss me!"

"Whatever, John." I chuckled, before I started walking. "Come on."

"Fine." He sighed, as he started to walk. "Are you going out with Britton later?"

"Yeah, I talked to her on your phone yesterday...remember?" I said.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if you made any plans." He said, pretending to have an attitude. "Gosh."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Okay, sorry!"

"It's okay." He grinned, as we crossed the street.

Once John found a place where he wanted to sit and play, we both sat down on the hot concrete, as the Tempe sun was shining right in our faces. I put my sunglasses on and John pushed his up on this forehead, as he set his acoustic in his lap. He opened the case and set it in front of us, before he looked at me.

"Do I have to sing?" He asked.

"Yes." I nodded.

"In front of all these people?"

"Yes, John."

"Why? You know I don't like to do that!"

"You want to stay at the motel another night. Right?" I shrugged.

"Well, we're not going to make enough for another night, smartie." He stated.

"Of course we're not; you can play more tomorrow to pay for the rest of it." I smiled.

He scoffed. "I see how it is. You think you can control me."

"Because I can." I sighed.

"You can't." He said, as he shook his head.

"Can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't!"

"Just play, John!" I said.

"Fine!" He said, before he started to play his guitar.

I rested my head against the building and let out a sigh, as he continued to play the intro to Into Your Arms. When he started to sing, people on the street looked over at him, and some girls smiled, before saying something to their friends that they were walking with. A few people from across the street stood there and just watched him play a song, before talking to their friend about it, and then coming across the street.

A guy walked past and tossed two dollars into John's guitar case, and John smiled as a thanks, since he was still singing. After John played a few songs, two little girls came over and tossed some money into John's guitar case, and he smiled at them, as they ran off. I looked over at John and he looked at me, before I gave him a thumbs up. He grinned and gave me a quick thumbs up with his right hand, before he continued to play.

After a few hours of sitting in the blistering heat with John, he was finally done playing all of the songs he knew. I wiped the little bit of perspiration off of my forehead and looked over at John. He wiped his forehead off with his tank top, that he ended up taking off, and set it in his lap, as he set his guitar back in the case. He stood up and reached out his hands, before I took them, and he pulled me up. He picked up his guitar case, after making sure it was shut, and we started back towards the motel.

"Did you see how many people gave us money?!" John smiled.

"They liked you!" I said, with a smile, as I wrapped my arm around John's right arm.

"I was so happy. It made me really excited." He chuckled. "I'm so doing that tomorrow."

"Why don't you just go ask someone at a bar to play?" I asked.

"Because that's a lot of people..." He said. "And there may be drunk girls, which I have had bad experiences with."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Whatever. So, what now?"

"We're going to go back to the motel, count the money, go get a couple more nights at the motel, and we can get some ice cream or something?" He suggested, as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"That sounds good." I nodded.

"Good." He grinned.

Once John and I got back to our motel room, I unlocked the door, and we walked inside. John set his guitar case on the bed and opened it, as I went over to the end table, where his phone was.

"John, it says you have a voicemail." I said, as I looked at John's phone.

"From who?" He asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged, as I tossed his phone to him. "Find out."

John called his voicemail and put his four number passcode in, before putting his phone on speaker, and setting it on the bed. Both of us sat on his bed and listened to the message.

"First unheard message: John Cornelius, who do you think you are?! You need to come home. I don't know where you and Kalen are, but you are coming home. Your father and I want to talk to you. Call us back."

"Uhm, how about no, Mom." John said, as he deleted the message. "They call days later. Wow, okay."

"Maybe you should call them, John." I shrugged.

"Kalen, I don't want to go home." He stated, as he looked at me.

"You can just talk to them about it." I told him.

"Are you trying to tell me you want to go home?" He asked. "Kalen, you said you wanted to be here."

"I do want to be here, John." I sighed. "I just think you should talk to your parents."

"Then you talk to your parents." He said, as he handed me his phone. "And then I'll talk to mine."

"Mine don't want to talk to me." I said, as I pushed his phone away.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because they fucking disconnected my phone!" I said, as I threw my arms up.

"Then I'm not talking to mine." He said, as he tossed his phone back onto the end table. "Let's just count this money and go get something to eat."

"Okay." I sighed, as I crossed my legs.

John took his guitar out of the case and set it next to him, before he pulled out the bills and I picked the change out. John separated the many one dollar bills from the very few five dollar bills, and I sorted out the change, since I had nothing else to do. There was a few pieces of folded up paper, that John had in a different pile, and I looked at it.

"What are those papers?" I asked.

"I don't know." John shrugged, as he unfolded one. "Some girl wants me to call her...?"

"Wow." I smiled.

"And so does this girl...and this guy wants me to follow him on Twitter." He said. "How about no."

I rolled my eyes as John tossed the papers into the small garbage can that was next to the bed, and sighed. "So, want to go get another couple nights here and go get some ice cream?"

"Sure." I nodded.

John and I stood up, from where we were sitting on the bed, and walked out of our motel room. After I locked the door, John and I walked to the building where the man at the front desk was. John pulled out his wallet as we approached him, and he looked at us.

"Can we get two additional nights?" John asked the guy.

"Yeah." The man nodded. "That'll be another $120."

John handed the guy the money and he took it. "Are you two on vacation...? Or a honeymoon?"

"We, uhm...it's a long story." John said slowly. "But no, we're not on a honeymoon...we're only 18."

"Then how come you two aren't in school?" He asked curiously.

"We dropped out..." He trailed off. "It's just a really long story."

"Well, good luck getting jobs, kids." He said. "I dropped out of school myself and look where I am; working the front desk of a crap motel."

"It's better than nothing." John shrugged.

The man smiled and nodded. "You have your room for two more days."

"Thanks." He smiled, as he grabbed my hand.

"No problem." He said, before John and I walked out of the building.

We started down the street together and walked around, until we found an ice cream parlor. The two of us went inside and to the counter, before we ordered what we wanted. John paid, after the girl at the register gave us the total, and we waited for our ice cream. When it was finished, John and I took our cones over to a booth, before sitting next to each other.

"Is Kennedy picking you up?" I asked, as I looked at John.

"I think we're doing what we did yesterday." John replied, before taking a lick of his chocolate cone. "Kennedy and Britton are going to drive Kennedy's car, him and I are going to take mine, and you and Britton are going to take Kennedy's."

"Oh, okay." I nodded.

"Did you and Britton plan what you guys were going to do?" He questioned.

"Not yet." I sighed.

"What'd you two do yesterday?"

"TP'd Garrett's house." I replied.

"Who's Garrett?" He asked slowly.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "He knew Britton, though."

"Hm. Well then." He smiled. "And how was that?"

"It was fun." I chuckled. "He knew we were TP-ing it and he was just like whatever."

He laughed and shook his head. "It's better than getting the cops called on you."

"That's true." I giggled. "Are you excited for your super giant mandate?"

"It's not a mandate!" John laughed. "We're having an origy."

"Ew." I smiled. "That's...attractive."

"I know, right? I'm excited." He joked.

"Oh, I bet you are." I chuckled.

"I am." He nodded, with a grin.

I rolled my eyes and laughed to myself, before John and I continued to talk. When we were both done with our ice cream cones, we left the parlor and started back down the street, since it was almost time for Kennedy and Britton to meet us at the motel. John wrapped his arm around me tightly and pulled me closer to him, before I wrapped my arm around his waist.

"I wonder if we'd be together if we were still at home." John said, as he looked down at me.

"I don't know." I said. "Maybe not."

"Why?" He asked.

"You only told me because you wanted me to come here with you." I shrugged. "And maybe if we didn't go, you wouldn't have the balls to say anything."

"So, you're saying I'm a puss?" He chuckled.

"That's right." I giggled.

"I am not a puss! I'm just shy when it comes to having feelings for someone!" He laughed. "Well, unless it's you because I've known you for like, 70 years."

"Seventy years...right." I smiled, as we approached our motel room.

"Well, okay, not that many." John said, as he unlocked the door.

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice call, as a car turned off.

I looked behind me to see Britton and Kennedy getting out of Kennedy's car. I smiled and waved, and John did the same.

"Are you ready to go, John?" Kennedy asked, as he handed Britton his car keys.

"Yeah." John nodded. "Let me just grab my cell phone, so I can give it to Kalen."

"Alright." He nodded, as he went over to John's car. "Hi, Kalen."

"Hi." I smiled.

"Ready to have some fun?" Britton giggled, as she came over to me.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"I can't say it around...him." She said, as she looked at Kennedy, who rolled his eyes. "What's wrong, boo?"

"You have been saying that you can't tell me since yesterday!" Kennedy said. "And I haven't even asked!"

"I'm just torturing you." She shrugged.

"As long as it isn't destructive or my car doesn't get totaled or towed I'll be okay." He nodded.

"Oh, whatever." She sighed, as John came out of the motel room, and locked the door.

"Here." He said, as he handed me his cell phone and the motel room key. "You might need these."

"Okay." I said, as I took them from him. "We'll probably be back before you anyway."

"Alright. Be careful." He said, before pulling me into a hug. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Alright." I smiled.

"Bye." He grinned, before kissing me.

"Bye." I said, once we pulled away.

"Bye, Kenny!" Britton smiled, before blowing her boyfriend a kiss.

"Bye, babe." Kennedy said, as he pretended to catch the kiss.

"You're supposed to blow one back, dumbass!" She said.

"Oh, sorry!" He smiled, before blowing her a kiss.

"That's better." She giggled. "Let's go, Kalen."

"Okay." I said, as I climbed into the car.

Britton climbed in the driver's seat, and we waved to John and Kennedy, before taking off.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Britton.

"We're going to TP Kennedy's house." She shrugged. "Isn't TP-ing just so much fun?!"

"How do you have so much toilet paper?!" I laughed.

"I told Kennedy to buy some so we could TP Pat's house, but we're doing his instead." She grinned. "Kenny's parents aren't home anyway; they're out of town."

"Okay." I sighed.

Once Britton and I got to Kennedy's house, we got out of the car, and started to TP his house and yard. The two of us talked and got to know each other some more, and I found out that she had the same friends as Kennedy, and they were the ones that were going out with John, and Garrett was one of them.

"Ready to leave?" Britton asked, after Kennedy's front yard was littered with toilet paper. "That's all I have in the trunk."

"Sure." I smiled.

She nodded and laughed, before we both climbed back into the car. Britton started it up and pulled out of Kennedy's driveway, before taking off towards the motel. When Britton pulled into the motel parking lot, we got out of the car, and went into mine and John's room. I changed into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt, before laying down on the bed. Britton grabbed the TV remote and flipped on the TV, after hitting the remote against her palm a few times.

"Fucking dumbass bitch TV." She mumbled.

"Yeah, it sucks." I smiled.

"I can tell!" She said. "Criminal Minds is on! Can we watch this?!"

"Yeah, sure." I chuckled. "Go for it."

"Awesome!" She grinned, as she rested her back against the wall, from where she sat next to me on the bed.

I watched Criminal Minds with Britton for a while, before my eyelids started to feel heavy. I glanced over at the clock to see it was almost midnight, and John was still gone. I laid on my stomach and sighed, before I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to hearing a door open. I opened my eyes and looked towards the bathroom door, to see John coming out, with a pair of shorts on and no shirt. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Hi. Sorry I woke you."

"It's okay." I said, my voice groggy, as I looked at the clock. "Did you just get here? It's almost two in the morning?"

"Yeah." He nodded, as he turned off the light, and got into the bed.

"What'd you guys do?" I asked, as John wrapped his arm around my tightly.

"We ate dinner and went back to Garrett's house." He replied, before yawning. "We just hung out and played video games and stuff."

"Oh." I sighed.

"Go to sleep." He said, before kissing me. "Goodnight, Kay."

"Goodnight, John."