Ailana’s Journal—2026-08-03 (and Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was busy, but I think I got a lot done.

After meeting with Meredith in New York City, I thought we had a good connection and solid plans for moving forward with the book. After this weekend, I feel a whole lot better about it.

I’ll try to work on it this week and share a little more from Chapter 1 at some point.

Today, I’ll be doing my usual article work. I’m working through some of the Route 66 stops we made. I’ll be doing that for a while!

Tonight is Emily’s sleepover with Jenna and Brooks. Jasmine, Kaylee, and Jasmine’s friend Sofia will be aboard with them, but I honestly believe the girls would be fine alone. I don’t actually think I’m being naive. They behave really well and have good intentions.

Of course, I wouldn’t drop them off at the marina and wish them well. Having the adults present makes sense in case something comes up unexpectedly.

That’s it for now, I suppose. I’ll check in again later, so see you then.

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MIDDAY CHECK by Ailana Geven Keller

Let me see if I can find something interesting to share from my notes… Hmm…

Don’t get your hopes up…

Based on Route 66’s historical 2,448-mile length, if you laid Oreo cookies edge to edge along the entire route, it would take approximately 88.6 million cookies.

When Route 66 was established in 1926, it stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. That works out to 155,105,280 inches.

I’ll let you look up the diameter of an Oreo.

So, here you are, thinking you’d get something meaningful for my midday post… And what do you get?

Oreo nonsense.

I’ll close this chapter with a mention of today’s plan. Jason and I are going to spend a few hours later getting some images for the stock photo catalog. (He and Geoni have decided that it is “the” catalog, not his or hers, and they are merging their separate collections as time permits.)

After that, we’ll hit Denny’s and then come back home. I’ll check in and let you know what’s going on. See you then.

SLEEPOVER by Emily Amos

Exclusive Patreon Version

This is really happening! Tonight means more to me than I think I’ll fully grasp for days, but here I am with Brooks and Jenna, and we have all night to just hang out and be friends.

Jasmine is officially in charge, but she brought backup! Kaylee came because Tuesday is pretty slow for First Call—Jenna and I won’t even work tomorrow. Jasmine also brought a friend of hers who runs Clay and Sasha’s swimwear factory—her name is Sofia, and she seems really nice, too.

We let the boyfriends—Kel, Mateo, and Gabe—carry our bags aboard and hang out long enough for them to get jealous. We all had Subway for dinner, and then the boys left.

Jenna, Brooks, and I have been friends all summer. Jenna and I are new here, but Brooks grew up here. I think this is what it’s like to have friends.

That’s one of the things I’ll be processing. By the time I was in middle school, I knew that making friends in foster care would just mean being sad the next time I moved, so I quit trying.

“I know what you mean,” Jenna said.

She told me how many times she moved as her dad received different assignments in the Coast Guard. She has actually moved more often than I have, but she was with her family.

“I knew I’d have to say goodbye eventually,” she said. “I guess I held back a little, but I always had people to hang out with.”

I told them I just gave up and kept to myself.

After that, Jenna got a little quiet as she talked about her mother passing away. That happened when Jenna was seven.

“It was just Dad and me all these years, you know. But now…”

Jenna got excited as she talked about Olivia, the woman that’s dating her dad, even though they won’t admit it. “She has been great. I can talk to her about things like you’d talk to your mom.”

“Like, what kind of things?” Brooks asked.

“Embarrassing stuff that I’ve never wanted to talk to other girls about.”

Brooks pressed her. “I respect that, but… like one example?”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Dumb stuff anyone should have known.”

Brooks looked at me, but I just shrugged.

“Oh my gosh! Okay… so… this is so dumb. I’ve always hated my period because the tape on my pad would get stuck in my hair. I tried trimming… This year I started using a hair-remover cream, but then it itches when it grows back. Olivia pointed out that all I needed to do was get different panties that were big enough… to cover the whole pad.”

“So you tried wearing a pad in your cute panties?” Brooks asked.

“Yeah… I mean, nothing special. Just bikini briefs or something. I can’t believe I told you that! And I can’t believe I never figured it out on my own.”

I told her I had that problem, too, for a while. “But once I started buying panties from the thrift store… They’re like granny panties… Problem solved! That was just at the beginning of ninth.”

“You got underwear at the thrift store?” Brooks asked.

“They came new in packs of five. They’d last through a few washes before the seams started coming apart.”

“Olivia took me to get… like, granny panties,” Jenna replied. “I swear she’s easy to talk to. I don’t know if it’s like my real mom… I was just seven, so I guess I was listening more than telling. But I feel like I can talk to Olivia like she’s a mom.”

Brooks understood. I didn’t—but now I have Ailana, so I see what Jenna means.

“I have Ailana now. If Olivia is anything like her, you’re lucky.”

I guess things got a little serious then.

Brooks shook her head and looked at me. “You told us about having to sleep away from your apartment… You had it tough.”

“When did you decide to run away?” Jenna asked.

“The spring after the court made me move back. I went back at the beginning of ninth grade. I started dreaming of living with my sister. Then, in the fall of tenth grade, I started planning.”

“It worked out,” Brooks said.

“I had to change the plan at the last minute and move things up a few days. But… it worked out.”

We talked about my custody hearing, and they wanted to know if I was worried.

“Well, they won’t make me go back. My mother tried to sell me to the highest bidder or something. There’s no reason they wouldn’t let me stay with Ailana.”

“Any news on your mom?” Jenna asked.

I shook my head. “Micah says whoever set up the deal to sell me probably wasn’t happy. He guesses she’s hiding out if the broker didn’t catch her. I don’t know. And I’m not lying when I say I don’t care.”

“You’ve told us you didn’t care before,” Brooks replied. “I can’t imagine it. Any of it… You’re strong.”

“You still keep your backpack ready, though,” Jenna replied. “Do you take it everywhere?”

I looked over at my backpack. Ailana had helped me think about what to keep in it. She never told me not to carry it.

I ended up answering a different question. “I don’t think I need to be ready to hide out in a storeroom anymore. I just like the idea of having a few things…”

Brooks understood. “You’re used to being ready. Even though you don’t need to be, you like the feeling of being able to make it on your own a little.”

“Yeah…”

“Well,” Jenna replied, “I, for one, am very happy you are here. I know it’s just been a few months, but I think I’m old enough now to know that this… we three… we have a good friendship going.”

Those are probably the most serious things we've talked about so far. We’ve also talked about our boyfriends—but I mentioned that once! You get it, right?

We’ve got snacks planned, and a movie picked out that we probably won’t watch.

Brooks says this is how sleepovers go.

GIRL TALK by Jasmine Banks

When Emily asked me to be the adult for her sleepover on Savannah’s Charm, I asked her if I could bring a friend. She laughed and said of course.

I ended up bringing two.

This was the first time Sofia and Kaylee have met. They hit it off immediately.

We were supposed to be supervising the teens. They’ve hardly moved, much less done anything that needed supervising. A few times, we wished we knew what was so funny, but Kaylee was probably right.

“It’s probably one of those things you have to be part of to think it’s funny.”

I honestly feel closer to Emily than the time I’ve known her would suggest. I connect with her foster care background, having passed through it myself.

I think I connect with Kaylee and Sofia because of our similar financial backgrounds. I’m not saying I’m rich now, and Kaylee sure isn’t, either. Sofia has a good job at the plant, but all of us know about growing up watching pennies.

We actually talked about that some. Sofia brought up Ryan, the man she’s dating.

“He’s got enough money that he doesn’t have to work. I’d never ask how much… no more so than I’d ask you what you got in your bank account.”

“But he works at Walmart, right?” I said.

She nodded and Kaylee said, “Well, money isn’t everything. But not having money sure makes that claim tough to prove.”

I told them how Clay is paying for my nursing school. “He gives money to scholarship programs. He just wanted to give it directly to me.”

“That’s amazing,” Sofia replied. “How rich is he?”

“I don’t know exactly,” I said. “I heard him say to Josh, ‘Well, maybe if I stop buying boats, one day my kids will have money like the Ryan family does.’”

Sofia caught on. “So, you’re around a lot of wealthy people?”

Kaylee answered for me. “But you wouldn’t necessarily know it. They’re just as regular as anybody else and just as happy, too.”

“Money don’t make you happy,” I said.

Kaylee looked at me like an idea hit her. “Hey, next time we get a modeling job, you should get Sofia in on it. Money don’t make you sad, either.”

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

I’m checking in to say good night to you. It’s been a great day. A lot has been done, and now it’s time to call it a night.

Jason and I have the condo to ourselves. Emily texted a little while ago to let me know she’s having fun. Then she added a little extra.

“Try not to break anything chasing Jason around the condo. And if you go into my room, don’t tell me!”

It’s clear that she’s comfortable as part of the family now!

I can assure you nothing will get broken tonight. And we definitely won’t be going into her room.

I need to think of a comeback for that one. Maybe I’ll go into her room and just ruffle up all her covers, but not say anything about it. Would that be funny? I don’t know.

I’ve gone on longer than I intended, so I’ll wrap up now.

May a welcome change in your routine leave you rested, renewed, and ready for whatever tomorrow brings.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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