Yet Another Jonas

-Shelby’s POV-

Later that day, I find myself waking up in Joe’s room again, wrapped in a warm blanket.

I feel so confused… I know that I will always be hurt in that one spot of my heart he used to occupy, and I don’t know how long it will take for me to feel better. I have these weird mood swings now… it’s awful!

I read the clock- nine am. I turn over onto my stomach and lay the right side of my face on the pillow. In the corner, I see Nick asleep in a chair. His mouth is hanging open slightly and his eye lids are droopy. He looked absolutely adorable.

A soft smile stretches across my face, and I can’t help but giggle.

Reacting as if a loud bell had just gone off, he jumps up from the chair and yells, “What happened!?”

“Nothing,” I say, startled; I suddenly become angry, for no reason at all. “I can’t giggle and be happy without someone calling the cops around here!?”

His eyes widen.

“Whoa,” He whispers. “Chill- I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

I soften up.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and I can feel myself begin to cry. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

Why am I crying?

He looks at me, and I know he’s trying not to look at me like I was an alien from outer space. While he was walking over to me, I feel myself begin to tense up and curl myself into a little ball.

He sits next to me and lays a hand on my shoulder, comforting me.

“Shh,” He says sweetly. “I know you’re going through a lot right now; it’s ok.”

I nod and sit up; he puts a soft hand on my forehead and pushes a stray hair out of my face. He folds me into his body with his arms. For the first time in a long time… I feel… safe.

-Kevin’s POV-

I wake up to the fresh smell of coffee. Jumping out of bed, I nearly trip over a stray book that had fallen from my desk. I push it aside and walk downstairs.

When in the kitchen, I find a sweet sight.

Nick is pouring Shelby a fresh cup of coffee, and she is actually smiling shyly. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Good morning,” I smile, and sit down next to Shelby.

“Good morning,” She replies quietly, and Nick pushes her cup of coffee towards her.

“Good morning,” Nick smiles brightly. “Coffee?”

“Yes please,” I say, and he pours me a cup and pushes it towards me.

Joe then happily walks into the kitchen.

“I smell coffee,” he practically sings.

“Yes,” Nick says sarcastically. “Very good Joe; and that, my friends, has been today’s episode of Joe identifies stuff.”

“Pour me a cup?” He asks.

“You can handle it yourself.” Nick says, and takes his cup and sits down on the other side of Shelby. Her face lights up and she smiles just a little bit more.

Allie and Nia then walk into the kitchen as Joe is pouring his coffee.

Nia turns a bright shade of pink and Joe turns around, flashes her a smile, and greets her good morning.

Allie sits down next to me. We look at Nick and Shelby who are shyly talking about… I’m not too sure what they’re talking about. Then, we both look at Joe and Nia who are practically flirting with each other. Finally, we look at each other.

“It’s so obvious they like each other,” Allie explains.

“I know, I just don’t understand why they don’t just go out.” I say, and Shelby must’ve heard me because she turns around and looks at me with sad, glistening eyes.

“Maybe you should almost get raped and then tell me when you’ll start to trust another human being again,” She says, hurt. Tears form at the brims of her eyes and she gets up, walking away while wiping her tears.

Nick follows her, but is sure to add in a “Nice going” before he exits the kitchen.

I follow his lead up the stairs.

-Allie’s POV-

“Well that was…” Nia says, unable to finish her sentence.

“Agreed,” Joe says, flabbergasted.

“What?” I ask, confused. “I don’t understand whatever language you both clearly understand.”

“It’s called English, Allie,” Joe explains.

“Nice!” Nia says, and they high-five each other.

Wow…

-Nick’s POV-

“Shelby?” I ask, knocking on the door.

“Go away!” She demands. “Please…”

“Kevin is here to apologize,” I say, taking note of the fact that he was standing right there behind me.

“How can I trust you?” She asks, upset. “How do I know you’re just not saying that to get into the room?

I feel a pang of hurt and I begin to understand how serious the matter really was. I mean, I know rape is a very serious matter in the first place, but you just don’t really understand the emotional rollercoaster people are put on just from watching the Channel 4 Nightly News. Having to deal with it and be with a person who has been though it is life altering.

“Because I am truly here,” Kevin adds.

“Come in,” Shelby mutters, but just loud enough for us to be able to hear her through the door.

Thank God…

-Kevin’s POV-

I walk into the room to see and curled-up-in-the-fetal-position Shelby. Tears are streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry,” I say, as I begin to sit down.

“I’m sorry I over reacted,” She said.

“It’s ok- you’re right. I can't be one to judge you on something that I have never been through.” I say.

“Thank you,” She smiles.

We sit in silence for a few moments.

It’s so hard… so hard just to think that she wasn’t the only person in the world who has been violated. There were girls younger and older than her who had gone through the same thing and maybe even worse. I look at this girl, and I see someone strong, someone who is talking to us and trusting our good judgment while living in the house of total strangers because she truly had nowhere to go.