ᴛᴏᴏ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ » ᴢᴀᴄʜ ʜᴇʀʀᴏɴ

Chapter Two

October 14, 2017

The house was empty when Maeve arrived home.
   
She climbed the staircase to her room, pulling her phone out of her backpack to call Jess. Her Fridays were usually spent at the theater, but having the interview after school combined with the fact that she'd already worked all week, John forced her to take the night to herself.
   
Jess answered the call as Maeve sat on the edge of her bed.
   
"Hey, Marge," she said, kicking off her shoes.
   
"Okay," Jess said, obviously unamused, "I know we've been best friends for eleven years now, but I still don't think you're entitled to call me that—"
   
"Oh, I disagree—"
   
"One, it's not not even my first name and two, my middle name is Margaret, not Marge."
   
Maeve snickered as she pointed out, "Yeah, but you hate Margaret, too."

Jess let out a sigh.
   
"How many times do we have to talk about this until it's not funny to you anymore?"
   
Maeve laughed.
   
"Can you come over?" she asked once she recovered, leaning back. "Or I can come over to yours if you don't want to drive."

"Nah, I'll come to you. I need to get away from Grey or I'm going to lose my mind."
Maeve hummed in response.

"Alright, I'll be over in ten," Jess said, the phone catching sounds of her movement. Then suddenly, her tone halting, "Wait, do you have cookie dough?"
   
"No, J, we—no wait, you—ate it all last time you were here."
   
Jess laughed loudly, like that was some kind of accomplishment.

"Then I'll be over in twenty." She hung up.

***

"So, you know Corbyn," Maeve started, settling against her headboard. Jess flopped down lazily on the bed in front of her, dark hair falling in front of her face.
   
"Corbyn as in, hot dang, I wish you didn't already have a gorgeous girlfriend, Corbyn?"
   
Maeve shoved at Jess's side with a socked foot.
   
"Yes, that Corbyn."
   
Grinning, Jess dug around in the plastic bag she brought over from the store, looking up at Maeve when she had the package of pull-apart cookie dough in her hands.
   
"What about him?"
   
Maeve shrugged.
   
"He called last night after my shift, just to check in before the interview."
   
Jess nodded, sticking a square of cookie dough in her mouth as she sat up.
   
"Well," she said once she'd finished the mouthful, "that was nice of him. But enough small talk, Mae. I know you're dying to talk about the interview, and on top of that I can tell something's bothering you."

Beneath her playful and teasing nature, Jess had a kind and selfless heart, always there for her, always understanding, always listening.    

"Well," Maeve breathed out, "at first David asked me a bunch of questions about my skill level, experience, knowledge of lights, mics, the soundboard. Everything. It was going great, it was a normal interview, and then, like he'd made the decision without a second thought, he was talking about the tour. He said that even though I'm younger than he would've expected to hire, I have what it takes to fill the position and...  he said the job's mine if I want it."

Jess's eyebrows raised, an understanding smile pulling at her lips. Maeve glanced away, out the window, running a hand through her hair absentmindedly.
   
"Now... I have to decide if this is the road I want to take."
   
The room was silent for awhile.
   
"Jess, if I choose this... I'll be gone for five months, plus the shows in the summer once we return, then Asia after that, and then, if I prove myself worth keeping and decide to continue, the tours to come. I'll have to transfer to online schooling this winter break, I'll have to drop out of work at Wintergrove, I won't be around—"
   
The look on Jess's face stopped her, the emotion in her brown eyes speaking a thousand words.
   
Maeve shifted her gaze to her lap, swallowing.
   
"This is crazy... it's crazy, right? For me, a seventeen year old, to leave Fairfax, where I've lived and worked my entire life, for a tour across the country and then the world with five teenage pop sensations, I mean...."
   
Jess allowed her to think for a moment before scooting closer to her, their knees bumping together.
   
"Look, Mae. I know you're worried about this decision. Honestly, this is the biggest opportunity you've ever received, but the reality is that if you don't do this, you may not get a chance like it again. You're right, it is crazy, but it's yours. If you want it."
   
Maeve met her eyes. 
   
"I know you're worried about me, about everything you'll be leaving behind, and the truth is, a lot is going to change. But I know you. You've been dreaming about doing tech work for the rest of your life since we were like, twelve, and you've got the talent. I will support you wholeheartedly no matter what. And Corbyn, you know, the guy you consider to be one of your closest friends whom you've kept in touch over the years with even though he lives on the other side of the country? He'll be there with you."
   
Jess smiled, just a little.

"You've got the opportunity, Mae. You've got the support. Now you just have to say yes."