Smoke and Mirrors.

I smiled to myself in victory. I had gotten Jacoby's phone number. Maybe now I could get some answers, and possibly, some closure.

I dialed the number, and it went straight to voice mail.

"Hey, this is Jacoby. You know what to do." beeep.

I sat still in silence for a second, remembering that voice. I realized I was breathing heavily into the phone. "Shit," I muttered under my breath before I left the voice mail.

"Uh, hey, Jacoby. This is Ava, Ava Taylor. I'm sure you remember me, but if you don't, that's you know, fine too. Your uh, your mom and you and your brothers were our neighbors. My mom was Victoria Taylor. Like I said, it's okay if you don't remember me."

I hung up my phone. My heartbeat was racing and my palms were sweaty. I felt like such a dumb-ass.

"Ava, you stupid ass," I muttered to myself, "he probably thinks you're some stalker bitch," and I wouldn't blame him really. If someone I knew from ten years ago called me out of the blue, I'd be pretty freaked out as well.

I sighed and placed my phone in the passenger seat and began the long drive home.



I stopped at a Sonic to grab a bite to eat. I was sitting there, munching on my tater tots when my phone lit up.

I grabbed it and saw it was Jacoby’s number. My heart caught in my throat.

I was scared to press the answer button, but I knew if I didn't I might never get to speak to him again.

“H-hello?” I answered.

“Uh, hey, Ava?”
Hearing his voice made me putty in my seat. I pushed away the little carton of tater tots and cleared my throat.

"Hey Jacoby, how have you been?" I asked nervously.

"I've been," he paused for a second, "fine. How did you get my number?"

"I went to visit your mom, and she gave it to me," I lied.

"Ah, okay, so how have things been with you?" He asked.

“They've been fine. I live in Hollywood now,”

“Oh really, that’s great. Doing what?”

“I do makeup for low-grade movies,” I replied, laughing at how silly it sounded, but it was true.

“Oh really? Cool. We should hire you for our next music video,”

I laughed at what he said, but deep inside, I was freaking out. It had been ten years since I’d even spoke to him, and he was acting as if the time had never passed.

“Uh, sure, if you guys want,” I stammered.

“Yeah, I’ll check with the guys to make sure it’s alright. Is this a number I can reach you at all times?”

“Yep, it sure is!”

“Cool, talk to you later Ava,”

“Bye.” I muttered as he hung up.

I was waiting for my heart to settle down, it felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest. I had survived my first conversation with Jacoby Shaddix in ten years, I should be pretty damn proud of myself.



I was happy when I finished the drive and was pulling into my front yard. Matthew was on the porch and Max was sitting on the steps. It made me smile, I had the greatest roommate and the cutest dog in the world here at home.

I parked my car and stepped out, waiting for Max to come along and stampede me with his big body.

“How did it go?” Matt called from the porch, he had a hand on Max’s fur, making him immobile.

“Fine,” I replied, “his mom gave me his number and I called him!”

“Oh really?” Matt asked, shielding his eyes from the sunlight.

“Yep!” I called back, grabbing my purse, “we chatted for a bit, and I told him about my job and he said if his band agrees to it, I can do the makeup for their next music video,”

“Awesome!” Matt yelled, grabbing Max’s collar and dragging him back inside the house. I locked my car and went inside, I knew I needed to get started on dinner.



Thirty minutes later, I had whipped up a dinner for champions. Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and Matt was out grilling steaks on the grill. The house smelled heavenly and Max was begging me for some food.

“You’ll get the scraps baby,” I told him, reaching down to scratch him behind his ear.

I felt my phone vibrate in my jean’s pocket. I set the bowl of macaroni and cheese down and looked at the text I had received.

Ava, it’s J. You’re hired.