Uncharted Territory

Reagan

“Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, everybody!!!”

My eyes flew open as Kennedy came into my room blaring the LMFAO song and singing.

“What the heck, Kennedy? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” I grumbled.

“Come one Rae, it’s your birthday. I figured this was the perfect song to wake up to,” Kennedy said before handing me a small glass. “Here, drink this.”

I looked at the drink in my hand and then up at Kennedy in disbelief. “It’s only 9 o’clock in the morning and you’re already giving me a shot?”

“Hey, you only turn 21 once. Now get dressed because we’re going to IHOP for your birthday breakfast.”

“You are way too excited for this.”

Kennedy pretended to be offended. “This is the first birthday of yours in while that I’ve been able to celebrate with you. We’re going to do it big.”

I laughed at my brother. Right before he was about to walk through the door I stopped him. “Hey Ken? Thanks.”

“No problem. Anything for you, Rae. Now hurry up!” Kennedy smiled.

I rolled my eyes but got up and hopped into the shower before quickly getting dressed. I knew if I didn’t hurry Kennedy would start to nag me. He could be a tad impatient, especially when he had a plan he was excited about.

Kennedy and I sat in IHOP eating our breakfast and just talking. We talked about how school was going for me and how The Maine was going. Even though we lived together, I rarely got to sit down and just talk to my brother so I really enjoyed this.

“So have mom and dad called to wish you a happy birthday?” Kennedy asked.

“Are you serious, Ken? Mom and dad hate me.”

“They don’t hate you; you’re their only daughter.”

“Fine, they hate that I decided not to follow the plans they wanted for me,” I sighed.

“Hey, they don’t know what they’re missing out on, Rae. You are honestly amazing. I know
this is selfish of me to say but I’m glad you quit Harvard and transferred to ASU. I’m not sure what made you leave Harvard but you’re here with me now and that’s all that matters.”

“Thanks Kenny,” I smiled. “I’m glad too.”

“Well I have to run and use the restroom real quick. Be right back,” Kennedy said while standing up.

I sat and waited for Kennedy but he was gone for a while and I was beginning to wonder what was taking so long.

Suddenly all five guys from The Maine walked into the dining area of IHOP and began singing happy birthday to me. Everyone stopped eating and turned to stare at me which caused my face to turn bright red. As soon as the guys were finished singing everyone eating in IHOP began clapping.

“I hate you guys.” I mumbled as the guys all sat down and laughed.

“But we love you, Reagan!” Pat said.

“Don’t blame Pat, Garrett, or me,” Jared said. “It was all Kennedy and John’s idea.”

I glared at the two boys.

“It was mostly John’s.” Kennedy said.

John laughed. “I’ll take credit for this. It was awesome.”

“Well you guys owe me. Where are my presents?” I joked.

“Come to my room tonight and I’ll give you your present then.” Garrett winked at me.

Kennedy quickly sent Garrett a glare and punched him in the arm. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my sister?”

“You let Joel date her,” Garrett pouted.

“I trust Joel more than I trust you,” Kennedy joked.

Garrett stuck his tongue out and Kennedy before turning to me. “Okay, here’s your real present from me.”

I opened up the present that was obviously wrapped by a boy and saw Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie.

“Thanks Gare,” I smiled.

“No problem. I remembered you said you had every Death Cab cd but this one and that’s a crime because Transatlanticism is the best.”

“This is from Tim and me.” Pat said as he handed me a card.

I opened the card to find a Forever 21 gift card inside.

“Tim and I were going to get you a shirt or something,” Pat started. “But we’re bad at picking out clothes since we don’t have a sister so we figured a gift card was safer.”

I laughed. “Well this is perfect.”

“This is from me and Tessa,” Jared said, mentioning his girlfriend whom I’d met a few times.

Inside the bag Jared had handed me was a shirt that I figured Tessa had picked out, a book called How to Survive being a Ginger, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“Very classy,” I joked.

“Tessa picked out the shirt but I thought that was too boring. I bought you the book because we gingers have to stick together and then the Jack is to put into your Diet Coke because we all know about your Diet Coke obsession,” Jared laughed.

I thanked Garrett, Pat, and Jared once more before turning to Kennedy and John. “Okay boys, their presents were pretty awesome so yours better be just as awesome.”

“Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you can act like the world revolves around you,” Kennedy joked.

“Actually it does. John said he likes birthdays because it’s the one day where people treat you like you’re the shit,” I smirked.

Kennedy turned to John. “Thanks for corrupting my sister.”

“Hey, don’t blame me.” John joked.

“Well here’s your present, you spoiled brat.” Kennedy laughed as he handed me my gift.

“I’ve been eyeing this leather jacket forever!” I exclaimed after I opened the gift.

“I know,” Kennedy rolled his eyes. “Every time we passed it in the mall you’d just sit and stare at it.”

I rolled my eyes back at my brother and then looked at John. “Well that leaves you. Were we saving the best for last?”

“Duh,” John laughed as he stood up.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Actually, it’s the both of us; not just me. You haven’t been to the zoo yet and the Phoenix Zoo is awesome so I’m taking you there.”

“Are you serious? Thanks John.” I smiled.

All of us stood up and went to the cash registrar to pay for our food. After that the rest of the guys headed back to their homes while I climbed into John’s car to go to the zoo.

“There’s another present back there for you,” John said, motioning towards the back seat as we drove down the highway.

I leaned back and grabbed the wrapped, rectangular package. I opened it and saw The Truth about Forever.

“Now, before you say anything, open the front cover,” John said and I did as I was told.

I opened the cover of the book and there at the bottom was a not that read “To Reagan. Happy Birthday. From, Sarah Dessen.”

I gasped. “How did you get this?”

John smirked, “I have connections. So do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it. She’s my favorite author and she signed my book plus wished me a happy birthday. Thanks John.” I said.

“I’m glad you like it. I was kind of worried you wouldn’t,” John admitted.

We had pulled into our parking space at the zoo by this time and got out of the car. I quickly grabbed John into a hug before we made our way across the parking lot towards the entrance.

“I’m going to have to start getting you gifts more often,” John joked and I rolled my eyes.

We walked into the zoo and were about halfway through the jungle exhibit when John asked, “So are you up for a round of honesty today?”

“Of course. Maybe today will be the day I finally win.”

“Doubt it. We both know I am going to win.”

I shook my head. “You sir, are delusion. So, if your house was burning and you could only save one thing what would it be?”

“Is my family safe or are they still in the burning house?” John questioned.

“They’re safe. I wouldn’t make you pick only one family member. That’s cruel.”

“That’s easy then. I’d save my guitar,” John quickly responded.

“Why?”

“It has some of my best memories for me. I wrote my very first songs on it and I still use it to this day.”

I smiled. “I like when you talk about music. Your eyes light up and everyone can see how passionate you are about it.”

“It really is my passion. I honestly have no clue what I’d be doing if I didn’t have The Maine,” John said and then asked me my question. “Are you going to change your last name to Brock like Kennedy did?”

I contemplated for a few seconds before shaking my head. “I don’t think so. Kennedy changed his name because he felt as if he needed a new beginning. Moving out here was enough for me. Plus I plan on getting married someday so I don’t really want to have three different last names throughout my lifetime. People will think I’m schizophrenic or something.”

“Are you going to marry Joel? I mean have you thought about marriage?”

I slightly chuckled at John’s question. “I have no clue if I’m going to marry Joel or not. I like our relationship and how we are right now but we’re both still young and have only been dating for six months. I’ve thought about marriage in general but I haven’t thought about who specifically I’m going to marry. What about you…have you thought about marriage and Grace?”

John sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I mean now that Grace and I are back together everyone kind of expects we’re going to get married. It makes sense though. We dated all throughout high school and we’re dating again now.”

I nodded as a weird feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach. I decided I needed to change the subject. “It’s your turn to ask a question since I just asked the last one.”

John and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo. We then began the drive back to my house because the boys of course wanted to take me out to a bar tonight.

When we got back to my house I noticed all the lights were out and Kennedy’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

“That’s weird. I thought Kennedy was supposed to be here so he could drive me to the bar for our get-together there,” I said as I got out of John’s car.

John began following me up to my door. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you…Kennedy had to run and do something so I’m going to take you to the bar once you’re ready.”

“Ok. Well, let me just run up and change real quick then we can go.”

John nodded and I went to my bedroom to throw on my dress that I was going to wear tonight. I slipped my heels on and then threw on the leather jacket Kennedy had given me earlier that morning.

I walked back out to the living room and saw John sitting there watching TV.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” I said.

John turned off the TV and began to stand up. “Ok let’s…wow Reagan you look…”

I began to become worried. “What? Do I look bad or something?”

John quickly shook his head. “No, no. You look good. I mean you look good every day but tonight you look amazing. Kennedy’s going to have to play the big brother role and make sure creeps don’t hit on you.”

I immediately began blushing. “Thanks John.”

John began driving towards the bar as I checked my phone for the hundredth time that day. I inadvertently sighed when I saw I still didn’t have any missed calls or text messages.

“What’s wrong, Rae? It’s your birthday. You shouldn’t be sad.”

“Oh, it’s nothing really. I just figured Joel would have called by now since it’s my birthday. I’m sure he’s busy doing band stuff though.”

John looked over at me. “I’m sure he’ll call or something. Joel knows how amazing you are and how lucky he is to have you. He wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.”

“Thanks John,” I smiled.

The two of us got out of the car and headed towards the bar.

“I think the guys and Grace are over there,” John said motioning over to a table in the corner.

We began to walk over there and I instantly became confused. There were five guys over there which made no sense since John was with me.

“Who’s the other guy?” I asked.

John shrugged. “Oh…uh…probably just Halvo or something.”

We finally reached the table and I realized it wasn’t Halvo sitting there.

“Joel?!” I gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Joel quickly stood up and wrapped me in a hug. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. Are you surprised?”

I smiled. “Of course! I thought you were doing band stuff.”

“I am but I couldn’t miss your 21st birthday. I wanted to come back and surprise you so John helped me plan it.”

I hugged Joel once again and buried my face in his neck. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Rae.”

The rest of the evening I mostly hung out with Joel. He had to go back to California in the morning so I wanted to spend as much with him as I could. I did leave him for a couple seconds though so I could thank John.

John was at the bar waiting on his and Grace’s drinks when I approached him.

“Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for everything you did for me today. You took me to the zoo, got me a signed book from my favorite author, and then helped my boyfriend surprise me,” I said before giving John his second hug of the day.

John hugged me back and said, “Of course Rae. I’d do anything just to make you happy.”