37 Road Trip

Justin was relieved that Sam had been brought up in a natural way because he knew that Emily thought they were a couple and it would be REALLY awkward explaining that to his parents if she said something in front of them. Come to think of it…how was he going to explain bringing a girl home to his parents, anyway? Sam was the only one who even knew about Emily's existence.

This was a horrible idea. But it was too late to turn back now; they were almost halfway to San Francisco.

"Tell me more about your family," Emily requested. "I don't want to embarrass myself once I'm there by not knowing who's who."

"Well, you already know Sam. She's a junior in high school and heavily involved in her school's drama department. She mostly does crew, but she's been in the ensemble before. She likes teasing people, especially me, but she's really loyal.

"Lily is eleven and spends most of her time in the pool. She's actually pretty good at it; she's won a few medals at nationwide junior swim meets already. She's trying to shoot for the Olympics once she's sixteen and I wouldn't be surprised if she made it.

"Kaitlyn is the baby at nine and she's kind of obsessed with horses even though she's never ridden one in her life. And then there's me. The younger generation of my family is pretty diverse," he said sheepishly. His cousins were far more interesting than he would ever be.

"They sound fun," she said with a smile.

"A little too fun, sometimes," he said dryly. "I used to hate it when they came to visit because I couldn't relate to any of them. Cookie really helped us bond and we've been closer since then. Sam even took it upon herself to be my life coach despite the fact that I've never wanted one."

That made her laugh. She could totally see the bossy blonde girl giving tons of unsolicited advice to her older cousin.

"And your parents?"

"My aunt Rhonda is my mom's sister. Her husband died of cancer when Kaitlyn was really little so her family is always with us on holidays and vacations.

"My mom's name is Bethany and when those two get together it's like they're gossiping teenagers again, often forgetting they have children. I played babysitter a lot when they visited but it wasn't so bad once I had the Great Cousin Ambassador, Cookie, to keep them entertained.

"They're both nurses, though Rhonda is in pediatrics and my mom is an ER nurse so they never run out of things to talk about. My dad, Jacob, is a doctor. He and my mom met when he was doing his residency because they worked at the same hospital."

"So you come from an extroverted medical family and ended up being a computer-obsessed introvert," Emily mused.

"Honestly, I don't know where I came from. If I wasn't the spitting image of my dad when he was a kid I'd suspect I was adopted." Justin smiled fondly, thinking about how he didn't really fit into his family but his parents loved and supported him anyway. He was really lucky in that way. "But all joking aside, they've always been supportive of my love of computers even though they didn't understand what on earth I was talking about most of the time."

"It's like you're speaking another language when you go all computery," she admitted.

"Technically, different types of programming are referred to as languages."

"Of course they are," Emily laughed, hitting her head with the heel of her hand as if she had missed something obvious. "Have you always wanted to go into computers?"

"When I was in elementary school I wanted to be an astronaut…until I realized how much physical training they have to go through. I couldn't even last five minutes in dodgeball. There was no way. Then I wanted to build a robot army to take over the world…but obviously that didn't happen either."

Justin's idea of a robot army had hit in 6th grade when people started making fun of him for being a nerd and his only friends were in robotics club. His initial hope was to use his army to punish the bullies but he got over it pretty quick.

He wasn't a petty person. He wouldn't even have brought it up but he said dumb stuff like that as RoboCat and Emily usually liked it so…

His plan was rewarded with some adorable giggles. "You wanted to achieve world domination in elementary school? I had no idea you were so ambitious."

"Ambition isn't really my strong suit. That idea must have used it all up."

Emily sighed. "People have misconceptions about ambition. They think if you don't aim for the top that you're destined to fail but not everyone wants to be at the top, you know? There isn't room for everyone at the top anyway.

"I knew a guy in high school whose ambition was to be a telephone pole technician because he'd only have to work during daylight hours and it pays well right out of high school. Other people made fun of him for not wanting to go to college but according to that guy's Friendbook he recently bought a house while the rest of our classmates are still in school with ever growing school loans. He may have actually been more ambitious than those high achievers."

Justin's eyes narrowed. This had to have something to do with her dad pushing his own aspirations off on his kids. "I think you're right. There's nothing wrong with going for what you want as long as you're able to pay your bills."

Sadness reflected in her eyes. "My dad doesn't even think I'll be able to do that. You know what he told me when I said I wanted to go into television? That I'd be working in a grocery store and living in a crappy apartment for the rest of my life."

"What a jerk," he muttered.

Emily's eyes widened, as if she only just realized what she had said. "Oh! I didn't mean to complain, I mean, we hardly know each other. I'm sorry!"

She was right. All that time carpooling and they did hardly know each other, at least in person. Justin was determined to change that. He was going to let her know him for real this time.

"Don't apologize. I like listening to you talk."

Her cheeks turned pink. "You…like listening to me talk?"

Oh no, had he creeped her out? "I, I mean that you're interesting to talk to! So I like hearing what you have to say, no matter what it's about," he finished lamely, thinking he had probably just shot himself in the foot.

"No one's ever told me that before," Emily said softly. "Usually, people don't really care what I have to say."

He looked at her in surprise. "Really? That's dumb."

"People tend to shut me down because I'm too passionate about things," she confessed. "They think it's annoying."

Justin had noticed how her eyes lit up when she was excited about things. It was one of the things he had loved about her from early on. Her zest for life was what brought light to his own dull existence. Why would people not like that about her?

"I mean it. They're idiots. The world needs passionate people to make things interesting. How boring would the world be if everyone was like me?"

She cocked her head, confused. "Like you?"

"Quiet, boring, and unexcitable."

"I can't dispute quiet, but I don't think you're boring," Emily said firmly.

He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "You say people call you annoying? Everyone calls me boring. Just because people say something doesn't make it true, does it?"

She smiled. "Alright, you win. You're really not boring though. There's a lot more to you than meets the eye."

More to him than meets the eye…does that mean that she had started to see him for more than what he portrays on the surface? Or was she suspicious of him? He couldn't detect any suspicion but reading people wasn't his thing. He would have to talk to Sam and get her take on this weekend, provided he didn't die of mortification before the holiday ended.

"You really think so?"

Emily nodded. "You're a lot funnier than I originally thought you were. Where have you been hiding your sense of humor?"

Online. "Under my bed," he deadpanned.

"Huh, all I have under my bed is empty suitcases and probably a lost earring or two," she retorted before grinning.

This was the sort of back-and-forth they had online. Sam was right. He really did need to be himself in front of her. Maybe this would work.