Chapter 22: College Life

***London: Friday, 2:36 P.M. | Jason***

It had been two months since I'd seen Tamia in person, and about a month since we'd had a real conversation. It was happening. All of the shows and all of the new business ventures my brothers and I were taking on... it was getting in the way of my friendship with Tamia. Don't get me wrong— I was happy that we were getting into so many new things while we were touring, but it's a lot. Our tour was going to be over soon, but we were still going to be busy. First off, we were working on a new album (which we'd been working on before the tour started), and there were now talks of a TV show.

My brothers and I were in the middle of an afternoon rehearsal when my phone buzzed. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was Tamia. We'd been texting back and forth for the last few weeks except for the last few days. I was so eager to read her message that I'd actually forgotten that I was in rehearsal.

"Hey Jay, what's up man?" asked Raymond.

"Yeah, why'd you stop?" Caiden asked.

"Sorry guys," I said, "It's Tamia."

"You can talk to her tonight," said Caiden. "We need to get this right for tomorrow night's show."

"One more run-through," I said, "and then we're calling it a night."

Of course I wanted to make sure that we were ready for our show, but I also didn't want Tamia to think that I was ignoring her. As much as I hated to admit it, it was really hard balancing a "social life" with my music career. I'd never even wanted to do that before... until now.




***Atlanta: Monday, 7:13 A.M. | Tamia***

Today was my first official day of college. I texted Morrissa and Vie and found out that Vie's first day was going to be on Wednesday, and Morrissa wasn't starting until next week but she'd moved in early. I still haven't heard back from Jason. *Maybe I'm bothering him? I mean, technically he's working.*

I rolled over out of my bed. My first class was at nine, and I didn't want to be late. I quietly got up and went into the bathroom, which was right next to my room. I'd already met my two roommates: Camala and Alex McAllister. I'm actually glad that they didn't move in until my family left, because I now had a male roommate. The school doesn't usually mix dorms like this, but since Camala and Alex are cousins and there weren't any rooms left, he was now our third roommate.

Both Camala and Alex were really friendly, and get this: they're both huge fans of The Draper Brothers! At first, I was hesitant to tell them that I actually knew the band, but after we started talking about our lives, I let them know that I'd gone to school with Jason and Caiden.

We all decided to eat breakfast together in the campus cafeteria, and that's where I met their girlfriends.

"Tamia, this is my girlfriend, Maya," Camala said.

"And this is my baby, Brianna," Alex said.

"Nice to meet you both," I said.

"Is she the one who knows them?" Brianna whispered to Alex.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Yep," Alex replied.

"We have sooo many questions!" Maya squealed.

We talked for a little while and I told them what it was like to be friends with The Draper Brothers. I even told them that Jason and I were really good friends, despite the fact that we haven't really talked in a while.

"You two would make an awesome couple!" Alex exclaimed.

"But isn't he dating Christine Joseph?" Camala asked.

"Who?" I asked, without thinking.

"She's an actress," said Maya.

*Oh no, was Jason really dating another actress?* I mean we never said that we'd date other people... but we also never said that we wouldn't.

"Maybe he's not," Camala said quickly. "It's just a picture that was posted on his social media accounts. It could just be for publicity."

Camala and Alex knew that Jason and I haven't talked much since he's been on tour. I never told them that we wanted to be more than friends, but I guess they could tell by the way I talked about him... and by the way I got upset thinking he's dating someone else...





***London: Monday, 12:45 P.M. | Jason***

I rolled over in my bed. For a moment I was confused, but then I remembered where I was. This usually happens— me waking up and forgetting where I am while we're on tour. I looked at my phone. Tamia hadn't texted me back. It was Monday afternoon where I was, but I was sure it was morning back on the U.S. East Coast.

I opened up my messages and went back to hers to see if she even saw it, and then *I saw it*.

"Ugh, I never hit 'send'!" I growled.

"You okay man?" Caiden asked, walking into my room.

"What's wrong?" Raymond asked, following him. "Oh, did he see the Instagram post?"

"What Instagram post?" I asked.

"Remember after the concert when we were posing with Christine and those other girls?" Caiden asked.

"Oh yeah," I said, putting my head in my hands. It was also of me kissing Christine on the cheek.

"Yeah, you said it was good for publicity," Raymond said.

"So I posted it online," Caiden interrupted.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Relax man," Raymond said calmly. "Tamia knows that we do things like that just to get people talking. Especially since we're about to release a new album."

"Hey, did she ever text you back?" Caiden asked.

"I never hit the send button!" I growled again. "Now she's gonna think that I'm ghosting her!"

"Calm down," said Raymond. "You know Tamia better than that. We all do."

"Text her now," Caiden said. "Better yet, call her."

"I think she's in class now," I replied. "Or maybe she's still asleep— I don't know what time it is in Atlanta right now!"

Raymond sat down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Text her anyway," he said. "Don't worry, this tour will be over soon and then you can see her in person."

Raymond was right. All of this phone tagging would be over soon, and I would be able to see Tamia in person again. But for now, I would have to focus on my career while she focuses on **college life**.