Mandy and I walk down the staircase, through the foyer, and into the family room. When we enter the room, everyone is in the same spot as they were before. The only thing different now, is that they aren't smiling or listening to any music. Everyone is just talking. But even though they aren't smiling, they are still content.
"Hey, everyone," Mandy says.
There is a chorus of heys and hellos.
"Everyone feeling better now?" Kevin Jonas Sr. asks (me in particular).
"Yeah, I'm fine now," I tell him. "Mandy and I had a good talk."
"We're not going to discuss all of this now," Mandy adds. "I'll explain everything later on."
Everyone nods, as Mandy and I sit on the couches with everyone else. Denise leaves the room a few minutes after we sit. We all chat for a while about random stuff.
"Dinner will be ready in about five minutes," Denise announces, coming out of the kitchen. "So, if you could all seat yourselves around the dinner table and get ready, that would be great!"
"Here, mom, I'll come help you bring out the food," Nick says, and follows her into the kitchen.
Everybody else, including myself, goes to the table and sits down in their seats. Extra seats were also added, and the table was extended so that everybody could fit in and eat at the same table.
We sit so that Joe and Kevin are on one side of the table; Mandy, Frankie, and myself are on the opposite side; Kevin Sr. is at the head of the table; and my father is at the other head of the table. Joe and Kevin reserved a spot for Nick beside them, and Denise would be sitting beside Kevin Sr. once they both got back from the kitchen.
NICK'S POV:
I just had to get away and be by myself for a moment or two...or at least only with my mom. And I know what you're thinking; I could have gone out of the room when Ellie and Mandy left, right? Wrong. That would look strange, and everyone would probably question me when I got back.
I think it's best if I just stay in here for a while...even though my mom is the type of mom who asks a lot of questions, and always likes to know how you're feeling.
"What's wrong, Nick J?" She asks. (Yes, she usually calls me Nick J!)
"Nothing's really wrong, ma..." I tell her, untruthfully.
"Oh, come on! You don't think I'm going to believe that, do you?"
I sigh, and say nothing else.
"You'd think I would know my own son!" She laughs.
"Yeah, you're right," I sigh again.
"So what is it, sweetie?" She asks me, and puts a hold on carving the roast.
"...Do you think that Ellie feels like it's my fault about the whole tape thing?"
She waits for a few seconds, then replies, matter-of-factly, "I don't think Ellie thinks anything's your fault."
She then goes back to carving the roast.
"Are you sure, though? Is she okay with it now?" I ask.
"She's perfectly fine, hun. She said she had a good talk with Mandy about it. You heard what they told us, right?"
"But...what if she's secretly mad at me?!" I furrow my brow.
She gives off a quiet laugh, "Sweetie, now you're just searching for excuses! Don't try to make it your fault! I don't think that's what you would want..." She sets the knife down on the table. "But if you're that concerned about the whole matter, then why don't you just talk to her?"
ELLIE'S POV:
Our dinner was full of happiness and a lot of chatter. It was mostly our parents talking, but the kids added in a point or two now and then. It was the largest dinner I've been to in a long time. There were nine of us: the four Jonas children, the two Jonas parents, Mandy, my father and myself. But mainly, it was just like we were all one big family. That's how I always felt about Mandy and the Jonases when we were closer. It used to feel like we were all very distantly related since we always got along so well...like we were third cousins or something!
After dinner has come to an end, I sit and watch the television while Joe does the dishes.
A few minutes pass, and I hear something break in the kitchen.
"Well that's not good, is it?" I hear Joe ask himself.
I smile and laugh quietly to myself.
Nick comes over, shortly after, and sits beside me on the couch. I get kind of nervous, considering what happened before dinner. He immediately begins appologizing profusely.
"Ellie, I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't know that the tape would make you so upset," he says sincerely. He turns so that he's facing me. "And even though it wasn't my fault, I still feel that I'm the one to blame for it all. It's a weird feeling, and I don't know why I feel that way, but I just do. I can't really explain it, but I just want you to know that I'm really sorry about what happened."
I turn to face him as well.
"I know," I say, looking straight in his face. "And I'm sorry for the way I reacted when I heard the song playing."
"Well, you must have had a good reason for it," he bends his head down, trying to continue to look in my eyes while my head is lowered. I continue to stare at my hands in my lap.
"Yeah, I guess I did," I look up again. "But still; it was a silly reason...and like I said, I shouldn't have responded that way. It was impolite and insensible of me to do."
"You really have a wide vocabulary, don't you?" He laughs, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I do," I give him a little smile, but then look back down at my hands again.
A few moments pass of mere silence. All I can hear are the clinking of Joe's dishes, and Nick's unsteady breaths. I can't help but wonder to myself why he's the one with the unsteady breaths, and I'm the calm one. In my opinion it should be the opposite. But it's not, and I'm actually...okay with it all... Life is weird that way sometimes - and by life I mean emotions.
"It was because of your mother, wasn't it?" He says bluntly, cringing and biting his bottom lip. He lowers his head immediately. I can tell that he's waiting for the worst to come out of me.
"Actually, yes. It was," I explain the whole matter to him. I explain to him, word for word, everything that I had previously informed Mandy about... Not my favourite moment ever.
"I'm so sorry...I never knew..." Nick says at a loss of words, after I have finished explaining everything to him. "I never would have brought this up if I had known..."
"It's okay, Nick! It really is..." I rub my hand on his upper arm to comfort him. "Besides, I'm over it now. I've already talked to Mandy about this; you know that. I just have to take some time to think about this, and then I'll most likely begin singing again, just like I used to!"
"I hope so," he looks up at me again, and gives me a heart-warming smile. He gives great smiles. "You were an amazing singer. I want to see how much you've progressed from the last time I saw you... That was even one of the main reasons I was so excited to come back to New Jersey."
"Aww, thanks so much, Nick!" I beam at him. "Now I'm sure my life will become so much better...and it's all gonna be because of you Jonas boys."
We wrap our arms around each other, and reside in the embrace for what seems like a very lengthy amount of time.
*
"So the Jonases were over yesterday, and -" I'm cut off.
"Ha, that's funny!"
"What's so funny?"
"You said the Jonases...as in the Jonas Brothers," Erin laughs. She's been over at my house, just hanging out, for about a half an hour already. It's about 11:30am.
"Yeah!" I smile widely and nod excitedly. "You've heard of them?!"
Her eyes get extremely wide; she says nothing.
"Umm...Erin?"
"ARE YOU JOKING?! OF COURSE I'VE HEARD OF THEM!" She screams. I laugh at her.
"That's really cool!" I'm still laughing. "Anyways, as I was saying... I was hanging out with them yester-"
"AHHHH!" She screams elatedly.
"What is it?"
"You were hanging out with them yesterday?!" She asks, imitating me.
"Yes! Of course! I just told you that!"
"Well, technically you just said that they had the same last name as the Jonas Brothers... But you didn't say they were the actual Jonas Brothers!"
"Oh, well I thought you'd caught on to that," I tell her, honestly.
"No! I didn't!" She laughs. "That's AMAZING, Ellie!"
"What?" I ask her. "That I was hanging out with them yesterday?"
"Yeah!" She looks like she's blown away by the thought of it. "And for the fact that you seem so calm over it! You're all: yeah, yesterday I hung out with the freaking JONAS BROTHERS!"
"No, actually the end part was you..." I pretend to act smart, but show her that I'm just joking with my smile.
While laughing, she rolls her eyes and fake-punches me in the arm...her face is turning slightly red as well.
"Umm..." I suddenly get a brain wave, and I think it over for a moment or two. "Erin?"
"Mmmhmm?" She smiles impatiently - her mouth is pursed with anxiousness.
"Do you know how close the Jonas Brothers are to us right now?"
"Are they back in Jersey?!" Her smile gets bigger and she shows her nice, straight teeth.
"They're six houses away, Erin!"
"AHHH! OH MY GOSH ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" She stands up, off the couch.
"Yes!" I still can't stop smiling...or laughing.
She screams again, and does a little dance around the coffee table to show her excitement.
"So you actually met them and hung out with them?" She asks, while walking to the Jonas household.
Yes...we're finally walking to the Jonas' house, after 450 hours of waiting for her to find the 'perfect' clothes, and watching her put on her makeup 10 different times... Just kidding; she did all of that stuff very hurriedly, since she couldn't wait to meet them!
"Yeah, I didn't think they were that famous!" I laugh to myself. "We all used to be pretty good friends, but just mainly at church."
"Darn! I knew there was another reason why I should've gone to church!" She smacks her forehead lightly.
I laugh at her slightly, but still wish in my mind that she actually had gone to church. But still, I think she's funny, and she's a good friend, so I don't mind much. After all, it's her life, and they're her decisions.
"Ahhh! I'm so excited!" She squeals, and tugs on my arm. I laugh again.
"Yeah! I bet you are!" I smile. I'm happy for her; I really am. After all, it's not every day someone gets to meet their favourite band, is it!
"Which one is it?" She asks as we near their house.
"This next one coming up," I tell her as we turn, and start walking up the driveway.
I look over at Erin. She's breathing deeply and rapidly. She looks like she's gone into some sort of shock.
"So this is actually the Jonas Brothers' house..." She says to herself, breathlessly.
"It is!" I squeal just like she did before.
"Why are you so happy?!" She laughs nervously.
"I'm excited for you, ya know!" I put my arm around her, and lead her up to the front steps...
...I lied. I'm actually really excited to see the boys again, myself, because they're totally awesome!
"Alright, do you want to knock?" I ask, as we stand in front of the door.
"NO!" Her eyes get wide again.
"Why not?!"
"I'm too scared, okay?!" She laughs, and lets me step in front of her.
I knock four times on the large oak door, and wait for a few seconds. Kevin Sr. appears in the doorway.
"Papa Jonas!" Erin whispers quietly, but excitedly to me. I giggle.
"Oh, hello, Ellie!" He smiles. "Have you come to see the boys again?"
"Hi, sir!" I smile back. "And yeah, are they here? I've brought a friend; this is Erin."
"Yes, they're here. Nice to meet you, Erin!"
"Nice to meet you too, sir!" I can tell that her heart is racing a mile a minute with nervousness. They shake hands.
"They'll be right here," he informs us. "Why don't you step inside for a moment?"
"Alright," Erin squeaks. Mr. Jonas just laughs.
"JOSEPH!" He yells up the stairs. "YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE TO SEE YOU!" He then exits the room.
"I HAVE FRIENDS?!" Joe screams as he runs down the stairs, being chased by Nick.
As Joe reaches the bottom of the staircase, Nick jumps on his back from the fifth-last stair, and starts giving him a noogie. Nick looks up to see Erin and I standing there, blushes, and gets off of Joe's back.
"Hey, what's up, girls?" He says, awkwardly, and laughs at himself.
"Hey!" Both Erin and I smile at him, and laugh.
"Hey!" Joe chimes in. "You chickas like my new shirt?"
"Word almighty..." I say, staring at his t-shirt. I decide to reply honestly. "Well...it certainly can't get any oranger..."
"Yeah, I'd say that would get you noticed!" Erin laughs. I can tell that she is still a bit nervous.
"Thanks!" He smiles widely. I'm guessing he took those statements as compliments. I laugh, and shake my head at his stupidity.
"By the way, guys, this is Erin," I introduce her.
"What's up, Erin? I'm Nick," he shakes her hand.
"And I'm the definition of cool," Joe puts a supposed-to-be-sexy look on his face.
"Right-o!" I laugh; so does Erin.
"And that weird guy over there?" Joe motions over towards Kevin (Jr.) who is just entering the room. "Just call him Geek Chique, and that'll be fine with all of us, kay?"
Kevin looks over with a weirded-out and bewildered look on his face, then decides to come over.
"Hey, Ellie!" He gives me a hug like an older brother would. "It's great to see you again so soon."
"Hi, Kev! This is Erin."
"Hey, Erin; nice to meet you!"
"Yeah! You too!"
We decide to go into the family room, soon after. We sit on the couches, and just randomly talk for a while. Erin informs me (by whispering) that she's had her eye on Joe from the moment she started liking the band.
"So..." I say, after a chorus of laughing at Joe's jokes. "Do you guys wanna go see a flick or something?"
"Flick?" Joe asks. "What are you like 30 or something?"
"Oh, yeah! Actually I'm 32!" I say, jokingly.
"Nice, and I'm 87," Kevin says sarcastically, and rolls his eyes.
"...Ew..." Nick says with a disgusted look on his face. "I just imagined an 87-year-old Kevin..."
We all laugh again.
"Anyways, I'll call Lauren to see if she wants to come, if that's alright with you guys?" I propose. "She's closest to your age, out of all my friends, Kev."
"Sounds good!" Everyone agrees.
prev chapter
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Subscribe
Flag Writing
