Chapter 10: Go and Get 'er, Bro

A Chapter by Jen Marks

Exciting chapter. I personally love the switching between POVs in this chapter, since you get to see both sides of the story. There are also a couple of videos that go along with the story perfectly. (Be cool -- be interactive!!) <3

"Mandy always laughs when I act stupid, I am unaware that I'm a nuisance," I pick up my ringing phone. Yup, I'm such a nerd that I set Mandy's ringtone to Mandy by the Jonas Brothers!
"Hey, Manders.""Hey, Ellie! Answer this: would you go to a Jonas Brothers concert with me tomorrow at the Six Flags in Jackson?!" She asks, all very quickly.
"Wow...that's so sudden...and it's such short notice...umm...I don't know if I could," I respond slowly.
"Ellie, your dad's going to be there tomorrow, too. Of course you could come!" Mandy laughs.
"I know...but I mean...I don't know if I could handle it," I answer honestly.
"What wouldn't you be able to handle about it?" I can hear the true confusion in her voice.
"How they have changed and matured so much...how they are getting more and more famous each day...how they wrote a song about me..." I drift off.
"They're amazing, Ellie! And besides, you'll finally get to hear the song...!" She says the end bit in a sing-song voice.
"I guess I'm going to have to go in the end, anyways," I sigh, smiling. "You're way too convincing for your own good!"
"YAY!" She cheers, happily, on the other end.

NICK'S POV:

Joe enters the basement, interrupting my conversation with Kevin. I'm really surprised that he's even awake at this hour; 8:00am is usually way too early for him!
"What's up, Joe?" Asks Kevin.
"Mandy called me back last night, and said that all systems are go with our big plan," Joe tells us in a spy-like tone...but all the while sounding a little bit let-down.
"Thank goodness!" Kevin pats my back in a brotherly way.
"Finally!" I smile extra-wide, ignoring Joe's tone. "I really hope this works out...I've waited long enough!"
"Uhm...yeah, it'll probably work then..." Joe says, in a tone that implies he doesn't think it will work.
"What do you mean probably?" I ask him, somewhat offended. "You said the plan was genius!"
"I know, but I still...don't know..."
"You're really starting to confus-"
"I'm just saying...don't get your hopes up. I'm not sure if this plan was the greatest," he admits. "Ellie might not want to talk to you for a while, since you didn't talk to her for a long time. Girls are like that."
"Joe, you're the one who wanted to do this in the first place! You should've previously thought this through!" I ~~yell~~ say to him, loudly.
Joe lets out a long sigh, "Ahh! Forget what I said, then! ...Man, since I'm so aggravated right now, I guess I'll go and do something I've wanted to do for a very long time!" Joe walks up the stairs. I hear the front door shut behind him."I'm really confused," I run my fingers through my hair.
"Let's go and see what he's up to," Kevin starts up the stairs. I follow him, cooling off.
We walk out the front door to see Joe sitting behind a table in the driveway, facing the road. He has at least four large paper bags beside him, as well as one on top of the table.
"What the...?" I whisper to myself. It looks like Kevin is thinking the same thing.
We walk around, in front of Joe. He has a big sign hanging off of the front of the table. It reads: "Leaf blower sold separately."
"Joseph, what are in the bags?" Kevin asks in a father-whining-to-son sort of way.
"Leaves," he still doesn't look at us, and continues staring at the road in front of him. His face doesn't change.
"But how'd you get so many leaves?" I ask. "It's summer!"
"Saved 'em."
"Joe, that's insane!" I burst out.
"Well..." Kevin begins, turning to me. "I guess we should just LEAF him be..."
Joe and I both look at Kevin and shake our heads. Then Joe turns his head to continue staring at the road, while I resume going back inside.
"No?" Kevin asks. "Didn't like that joke?"
I don't turn around. Kevin shrugs, and follows me back into the house.
"You know, we're going to have to get him back on our side as soon as possible," Kevin tells me once we get inside. "We have a concert this afternoon, after all."
"It's Joe!" I roll my eyes, letting out a little chuckle at the same time. "Of course he'll come around by then!"
"Hopefully..." Kevin stares at the wall, in hope for something else to say to me. "...All we need is someone else who's against coming to our concerts..."

ELLIE'S POV:

"So how long did it take you to get ready?" Mandy tests me while she's driving us to the Jonas Brothers concert in Jackson. I decided to drag along Erin too...actually she kind of dragged me... Nonetheless, the three of us are all in Mandy's car, with Mandy driving, waiting to reach the location of the concert."Hmm...let's see; it took about one and a half hours, I think," I tell her. "And that's just a guesstimation!"
"So is it Kevin or Joe that you're trying to impress?" She asks, smirking.
"What?! None of them! Why would you ask that? You know they're like brothers to me!""Because you said you didn't like Nick, so I figured it was one of his brothers...and I knew it couldn't be Frankie, because he's obviously way too young, and -"
"I get what you're saying, Mandy, but it's not like that!"
"Well, you're trying to impress someone, aren't you?" She persists. Even though I'm not looking at her, I can still hear the smirk in her voice.
"Of course not," I reply, all a bit too quickly. "I just wanted to look...respectable...and nice... You know, it's my first time to one of their concerts...and...the way a woman dresses shows the way she treats the world..."
"Mmhmm..." Erin butts in, in a funny way.
"Ferserious."
"Ferserious?" She asks.
"Ferserious!" I confirm.
"Alright," Mandy sighs, still smiling, and then she begins to rant: "Well, all I'm saying is that if Nick saw you right now, he'd definitely be extremely attracted to you...and would definitely continue to be that attracted to you from now on...which would be even more than usual..."
"More than usual? ...What?"
"Let's change the subject: how 'bout them Nets?" Mandy rushes in a panicky voice.
"I don't like basketba-"
"Good! 'Cause we don't need to talk about it anymore! We're here!"

NICK'S POV:

Throughout this entire time, we've been getting ready to head out to our concert (the one that we have in Jackson tonight), and Joe still hasn't said a single word to me. I look over at him gathering all of his equipment, and sorting it all in his storage cases. He seems perfectly fine. I decide to apologize to him for...whatever I did. I walk over to him, cautiously.
"Look, Joe," I start off. "I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, or -"
"Don't worry about it, bro," he cuts me off, kindly. "I guess I was just kind of...worried about you. You've never seemed to like a girl this much before..."
"I know. And thanks...but there's just something special about Elise that makes me want to get to know her all over again... I can't explain it, and I know she hasn't changed as much as I have, but I feel like if I waste this chance I have with her again, I might not have another chance...ever," I explain. "I waited too long to get a move on it before we became famous, and now that we are famous, and back in our old town, I feel like it's something I have to do... Right now, it's not just a want or a wish...but a need."
Joe says nothing, but hugs me. He continues to hug me, and he doesn't let go.
"Go and get 'er, bro," Joe punches my arm jokingly as he releases me from his hug. He pushes me towards the door. I ~~walk~~ run towards the waiting bus outside, and Joe follows behind me.

ELLIE'S POV:

I know at first I was very iffy on even coming to this concert...but now that I'm actually standing here, waiting for my three Jonas boys to walk out on stage, I'm in a complete state of excited anticipation! Mandy has gone backstage to talk to them, leaving Erin and me waiting on our own. I look around, aimlessly, waiting for the concert to start. My eyes end up landing on an extremely familiar-looking girl around my age. My jaw drops; my pulse rises with dread.
"I bet that's Bree...doesn't that look like Bree?" I whisper, panicking, and nudging Erin.
"That definitely looks like Bree...I bet that's Bree," she responds in the same tone as mine.
"Just don't say anything too loud. She'll hear our voices. Remember? Her hearing is insanely -"
"ERIN?! ELLIE?!" Bridget turns around and spots us.
"Ohmygoodness..." I roll my eyes while cringing.
"What are you girlies doing here?! I never knew you liked the Jonas Brothers!" She giggles, bopping up and down. I'm starting to feel a little sea-sick.
"Um...well, I'm sort of a new fan...and Erin has liked them for a while now," I tell her.
"Wow! That's so cool! We can be, like, Jonas buddies!" She goes off into her little day-dream world.
At least now I know what Mandy meant by 'fan-girl.'
"Umm...I dunno...I'm actually the sort of fan that likes the members, but not the music. I hardly know any of their songs," I tell Bree honestly, without revealing too much. If she found out that I really knew the Jonas Brothers, and was friends with them, she'd probably never stop bugging me!
"So you know everything about them, but you don't know their music?!" She asks, very confused.
"Exactly."
"Well what fun is that?"
"It's a LOT of fun for her, trust me!" Erin squeals. "Did you know -"
I cut her off by nudging her in her side, and finish her would-be sentence, "- that I know how the band started? ...And also, I know pretty much everything else about them?"
"Wow...that's so cool..." Bree stares at me like I'm the president of the United States. "You're lucky to be so smart."
"Uh, thanks."
"I gotta go now, though. The concert's gonna start in, like, two minutes!" She cheers happily, bouncing up and down once again. She begins to walk towards the stage, but then turns around to face us once again, when she is a good three meters away. "BYE!"
Erin and I wave, unenthusiastically, faking smiles.
"That was so close, Erin!" I let out a deep breath, relieved that she left. "If Bridget ever found out that I was friends with the Jonas Brothers, she would -"
A few passing girls run towards us with wide eyes. They must have heard me say I knew them.
"Uh, I'm joking...I just wanted to see your reactions..." I lie. I talk too loudly for my own good sometimes.
"GOTCHA!" Erin gives them thumbs up as they roll their eyes and leave.
"Anyways!" I continue, a lot more quietly than before, but not so quiet that she can't hear me. It's beginning to get quite loud around here. "If she found out, she would freak, and probably stalk me for the rest of my teenage years!"
"I would tell you to calm down...but you're right!" Erin laughs, as Mandy comes up beside us.
"Come on, let's push our way to the front row!" Mandy says, excitedly. She grabs mine and Erin's arms, and leads our way through the mobs of anticipating girls. We manage to make our way up to the fifth row, but it is near impossible to get any closer than that.

From where I am, I can see John Taylor, the boys' guitarist. He used to play guitar for all of the church performances, so I know him from there. If I'm getting so excited from seeing John, then I can't even imagine how I am going to feel when Nick, Joe and Kevin come out!
"ELLIE!" Erin yells. I can barely hear her over all of the chatter and screaming.
"SORRY, WHAT?" I yell back, jumping out of my thoughts.
"MANDY ASKED IF YOU WANTED TO GET CLOSER! DO YOU?"
"YES!!" I nod violently, smiling immensely.
"ALRIGHT..." Erin links her right arm with mine, and puts her other arm around Mandy's shoulders. "MANDY WANTS TO GET THROUGH, SO EITHER Y'ALL MOVE, OR I'LL MOVE YOU MYSELF!"
I can't help but burst out laughing at what Erin screamed to all of the girls. I begin to laugh even harder as everyone actually does make way for the three of us to come through! Erin drags us along to stand in the second row, because, well first is just too...close.

Seconds later, every single girl in the crowd screams at the top of their lungs as the three Jonas Brothers walk out on stage, playing their twist on Kim Wilde's song, Kids in America. The instrumentals and vocals for Kids of the Future come blasting out of the amplifiers surrounding the stage. Throughout the beginning half of the song, it seems like Kevin is looking for someone... He then lays eyes on me, and gives a little wave whilst strumming the rhythm on his guitar. Moments later, he runs over to Nick, still while playing his guitar, and very discreetly tells him something in his ear. I'm guessing that something was that I'm in the crowd, seeing as Nick scans my area with his eyes, then also smiles widely, and gives me a wave when he sees me. I beam up at him and wave back.

I cheer louder than I expected as Kevin and Nick go on sort of a jumping spree, and then as the band strikes the last note of the song. Immediately after, they begin to play one of the only songs I know that's by them... Mandy!
They look so confident, and they have such chemistry with each other up there! ...Amazing...
I watch in awe as the Kevin, Nick and Joe perform on the stage in front of me with so much energy. I can't stop thinking: this is what they do for a living, and they love it! They really are blessed.

After they have played through a few more songs on their set list, I realize that am really starting to love this! It has been one of my most memorable days so far for this year! I can't really remember the names of many songs they played, but I know that the last two were called SOS and Goodnight and Goodbye. The end of the last song was simply amazing; all three of the boys went to center stage together, and did a little dance. I love them!

As Joseph continues to talk to the crowd through his mic, Nick and Kevin both go to the opposite sides of the stage, and grab their acoustic guitars.
Mandy nudges me, "Ellie...this is your song..."