Again, But Better(114)

I keep keeping busy. Busy at Packed! Busy traveling. Busy writing. Busy blogging. Busy sending out job applications. Busy. Busy. Busy.

The physical magazine edition of Packed! For Travel! with my article is released the second week of April. It was one thing seeing the article on their website, but it’s a whole other rush to see it printed in the magazine on page nineteen of their spread! I take five copies from the office. Back at the flat, I use my digital camera to snap pictures of the article and attach them in an email to my parents.





25. Twice as Hard, Half as Liked




Re: Pictures of published piece!!

________________________________________________

Sal Primaveri <[email protected]>  4/13/11

to Shane




Shane,


I don’t know what you think one article is going to lead to. You’ve betrayed our trust, and there will be consequences. Don’t expect to come home and for all to be forgotten. You crossed a line when you flippantly misled us for months on end. We love you, but we cannot support this kind of behavior. I hope you can understand. You live under my roof, on my dime, and while that is the case, you will follow my rules.


Love,

Dad



* * *



I gulp another swig of my drink and set it down on the bar in front of me.

“Babe, that’s amazing!” I exclaim. Babe’s cowokers just connected her with the Disney college program in Florida that she’s been itching to get involved with. Last time, I didn’t get to celebrate with her when it happened.

“Thanks! I can’t believe it! Ahh!” She throws her hands up near her face. “How’s your job hunt going?”

I sigh. “I haven’t heard back from any of the places I’ve applied to.”

“There’s still time!” she insists.

“Not really, we’re done in a little over a week. If I don’t find a job—” I stop short and take a breath. “If I don’t find a job, things are going to be really bad when I get back to New York, and then I don’t know what’s going to happen with school,” I ramble. If I don’t get a job, and that button doesn’t work, I don’t know what comes next for me.

“Shane, stop working yourself up!” Babe interrupts. “You’re going to figure this out! Come on, we should be celebrating. You have a published article in a real-life, physical, you-can-frame-it-and-hold-it magazine that people read all the time! That’s huge!” She whips it out of her purse and waves around the copy I gave her.

“That’s still in your purse?” I shoot her a small smile. “Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t found a job.”

“A magical Harry Potter book spoke to you, Shane—” she chides, grinning over her glass of Guinness.

“I regret telling you about that—”

“Don’t give up now!” She punches her fist to the sky with a laugh.

“I still haven’t found anyone to go to Edinburgh with this weekend.” Babe can’t come because she’s got a Disney DVD release party thing to go to with her coworkers.

“Well, you should go anyway,” she says.

I shoot her an exasperated look.

“I’m serious! I think you should go yourself. It’ll be a journey of self-discovery. Do a tour or something. It’s good to travel alone. I’ve always wanted to do it. Heck, I’m going to after this!”

I snort at the déjà vu. “Go by myself?”

“Yeah.”

“Travel alone in a foreign country?”

“Why not?” She grins.

I chuckle sardonically. “Because if I’m alone with my thoughts for too long, I’m going to end up dwelling on Pilot drama.”

“Maybe you should.” She shrugs. “It’s part of the moving-on process. You have to deal with your feelings. What do you think I was doing all that time after Paris with the Disney movies in our room? Dealing with feelings.”

I drop my gaze to the table thoughtfully before yanking out Horcrux Ten. “Okay, but if I’m doing this, I’m uploading a pre-travel post to the blog so people know to call the authorities if I never return.”

Babe giggles. “Feel free to use my computer!”





26. The Fear of Falling Apart



April 15, 2011 (take two)

Mom and Dad,

I know I’ve created a rift. Whether or not you’ve been aware, it’s been forming for a while. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I get home, but this time, I won’t stop trying to close it. There might be times where I need a break, and I retreat for a while, but I’ll always try again. I need to live my own life, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you in it.

XO,

Shane





* * *



I catch the 3:40 p.m. train to Edinburgh.

The gray cityscape outside my window softens into an endless span of sheep and greenery. I pen down two new chapters of my work-in-progress as the sun falls away.

The moon hangs full and bright in the sky when I finally wander up to my bed-and-breakfast. It’s 9:00 p.m. and I’m starving, so I drop my stuff in the room and meander down the road until I find a cozy old-fashioned-looking pub. I take a seat at the bar with my copy of Prisoner of Azkaban and order a burger. There’s a handful of other people here chatting and enjoying a drink under the warm yellow lighting. It’s nice. I open my book and fall in with Harry.