this is a good story. you should read it.

let me tell you a story (about a man named Jed...)

once upon a time I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. on March 8th, 2014 in order to finish a short story. the story was called, quite simply, "jackson and june." (no capital letters were used in this story cause it was late and the words came way too fast).

jackson and june is the story of a boy and girl who spend the summer together in a small town called Camden. jackson is funny, sweet, kind, polite, everything you would expect a perfect boy to be. june is sweet, pretty, and likes coffee, books and wildflowers. in the end, you find out that june is mute, but for the entire story, all you know is that they swim and read books and have a jolly good time together.

this short story is different from anything I've ever written because there's so much that isn't told. I never really describe the characters physical features, or tell you anything about their backgrounds; and at the end of the story, you are left wondering what ever happens to them. but oddly, its the best one I've ever written.

ANYWAY...on to my original story....

last night, I was at Chick-fil-a  my home away from home, with Jessie, Holly and Abby, (sister and two best friends). Holly stepped up to the counter to place her order and I stood to her left, at a different register. when the guy at Holly's register spoke to her, I thought to myself, "oh my gosh, he has jackson's voice! that's how I hear it in my head!" so I looked over at this guy and blinked several times because he LOOKED just like jackson, and as he took Holly's order, he WAS jackson. his mannerisms, the grin, everything. it was him.

at this point I'm like 'whoa! so crazy that he looks and talks like him!' and then I placed my order (#5 eight count with a large cherry coke, in case you wondered) and as the girl made my cherry coke, I looked over at the guy and happened to see his name tag for the first time...

the end.

just kidding. his name was jackson. at this point, my whole world flipped upside down. I legit freaked out on the inside and took my cherry coke and food. I walked over to Holly, Abby and Jessie and just said, "that dude is Jackson! from jackson and june! it's him!!!" they (all having read the story) turned and looked at him (subtly of course) and were like "omg it totally is!"

basically my mind was completely blown. and it still is. a dude I thought I had completely made up is now working at the Chick-fil-a in my town. it's scary. my sister who is infinitely braver than me had the guts to go up to the counter and ask Jackson for his picture because, (as she told him after he was like "ummm whyyyyyy?")," my sister wrote a story about a guy and you are the guy. name, looks, everything. you are him!"

through much peer pressure they made me talk to him, because "this might never happen again! you HAVE to talk to him!!" and I went to the counter to "get a refill" and managed to say "so are you new here?" and he said "I am new here" (insert Jackson's adorable grin here) and I said, "I thought so. I'm in here a lot and I usually notice new people" (insert one more grin). then I thanked him for my refill and he said "my pleasure" with one more grin for good measure.

I was so done with everything at this point. I'm pretty sure I was lame to be with after that, because my mind was so boggled that I literally just kept saying "what the heck? he's real! oh my gosh!!" over and over again. sorry Abby, Holly and Jessie.

anyway. that is the story of how, on June 27th, I met one of my story characters in a chick-fil-a in Beaufort, South Carolina. still not exactly sure how the heck it happened, but it did and even though it's really freaky, it's pretty darn cool.

and sorry random chick-fil-a dude named jackson for probably freaking you out by taking your picture and asking you questions and being weird. thanks for being cool about it!

happy weekend friends!