Cardboard Hearts

#2: A restless spirit

[In which a girl tries follow her dreams and makes all the wrong decisions: the story of Jessica Barton]

~From the Traveling Journal of~
Jess Barton
Mexico

Today is our last day in Mexico, and I still can't believe we're even here! I begged and begged Mommy to take us for my 10th birthday, and she finally agreed! She even bought me this notebook to write about all my adventures in.

We're sitting in the airport right now, waiting for our plane to come. It's super boring so I decided to write in here. The trip was amazing, we got to visit the Teotihuacan Pyramids (I had to look at Mommy's travel brochure to figure out how to spell that), a zoo, and at least 3 different art museums that Dad dragged us into. He's a total art and history nut, and it drives Mommy crazy. I didn't like any of the food we ate, though; Dad says I'm just a picky eater. There may be something wrong with me.

If there is something wrong with you, it's not that.

I can't wait until our next trip. Mommy says that maybe during spring break, once Melissa's born, we can go to the Caribbean. I don't want a sister at all (I would have to share all my toys, and little kids are gross) but I guess if it means we can travel again, it's okay.

Mommy says we have to go on the plane now. Until spring break!

~From the Traveling Journal of~
Jess Barton
The Cayman Islands

Technically we're on Grand Cayman Island, because there's three different islands.

Three things I learned about the Cayman Islands: cars drive on the other side of the road, chickens are absolutely everywhere, and if a bathroom with a wooden door sits in the sun all day, every day, it will get warped and you might shut the door a little too hard, and then what do you know, you're stuck in a hot, stinky bathroom for half an hour while your food gets cold and when your mom comes to see what's wrong the lady who has been sitting outside listening to you bang on the door for the last 15 minutes says "yeah, she might be stuck in there," and when you finally escape, the restaurant feels so bad they pay for all your food. Then you find out that if you'd pulled the door in while turning the lock, you could've gotten out immediately. In other words, I've learned a lot.

What I haven't learned is how to not hate my little sister, Queen Melissa. Yeah, hate is a strong word and whatever, but it's hard not to be irritated when little miss Melissa gets sick over spring break and apparently it's not a family trip if your sister can't come, try not to be so mean, Jessie, so we have to wait until winter break to go snorkeling. Then Dad got fired from
his job at the bank (there was an accident in the lobby that he was blamed for, please don't ask) and Mommy didn't think it would be smart to take a weeklong vacation with only one paycheck coming in. So here we are; it's been over a year since I've left the city, and Melissa is way more annoying now.

I can tell she's older. Look at our little girl, all grown up and hating her life. Isn't she adorable?

Other than the whole locked-in-a-bathroom thing, though, the trip was pretty nice. I got to see a ton of supercool fish and even some turtles, which was awesome. Then we went out on a weird boat that I can't remember the name of and I held an actual stingray. It was amazing.

Mommy said we'll probably have to wait a long time before our next trip because she has to take care of Melissa. If I don't write in this again until I'm 18, blame the little brat.

~From the Traveling Journal of~
Jess Barton
London

London is amazing.

Me and Mom walked around the city for hours after we got here, shopping and looking around and just having fun. I think it's the longest amount of time I've spent with just Mom- no Melissa- for 3 years.

Yeah, it's been that long since our last trip. It drove me insane, but Dad said we had to save money, and Mom said we should wait until Melissa is older to go on another vacation so she can remember it better. I think that's pretty stupid- I mean, come on, she's five, she won't remember this trip anyway- but at least we're here, right?

Dad told me if I can get my grades up by the end of the year, maybe we'll go somewhere over summer break. I don't think that's fair, since I'm not the smartest kid in class and he knows it. I've only gotten one A so far this year, and that was on a multiple choice test. (I guessed on every question, in case you were wondering.)

I've decided to start describing my life a little bit more in this journal, since lots of people will want to read it once I'm famous. So, hello world. I'm 13 years old and someday I'm going to be an actress.

I probably sound stupid or childish.

Yeah, kid, you definitely do.

But I am a really good liar, I can cry on command (it took years of practice) and drama is the only class I'm actually good at. I think I have a shot here.

Other things about me: I have long reddish hair that I really hate, I'm the tallest person in my grade, and I have literally no fashion sense or love life. (Shhh. No one's supposed to know about that.) I think every teenager took some sort of class on How To Not Be A Weirdo and somehow I missed out on it. Oh well.

The only thing I actually enjoy is traveling. Don't ask why, because I'm not about to get all deep and philosophical (word of the week) here. I mean, come on, it's a traveling journal. Plus, if I do get famous someday and the girls from my school see this, they will laugh super hard.

Well, that's the description of my very boring life. Dad is dragging us all to another museum, so I think I'll stop writing now.

~•~
A/N:
I'm trying to write each story a little differently, so I hope that part turned out okay. If you liked it, please consider voting or commenting.
Thanks for reading.