Look Me in the Eyes, and Promise Me Friendship

“So you’re gone again
And I’m here alone
But I think ill be alright
Ill sit upon my throne
Ill look through your window
Till I’m sure your home
You’re out with your dream
And I’m here and I want to scream
But promise me next time
You will be here for a while
That you won’t go further than a mile
Without me”

She recited, and he was speechless. He finally blurted something out.

“I promise,” those words persuaded Aubrey that Joe really did care about her.

“How about this?” he said and she got really confused.

“I know I’m gone again
And your there alone
But remember my spirit is there with you
It will keep you safe
And let you know what to do
This is only half of a dream
Please don’t scream cause
Ill be home soon and
I promise ill be home for a while
Within that mile and more
I will always be with you”

He rewrote the poem for himself speaking to Aubrey. It was true.

“That was great Joe. I’m speechless,” she grinned. Joe couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there. He was able to hear it in her words.

“I’m glad I was able to make you smile,” he confessed and smiled himself.

“So am I,” Aubrey added hinting that she loved smiling when it was because of him. Whenever it came to Joe, Aubrey never had a problem smiling, even when she was in the worst situation. Joe always did or said something to make her smile somehow.

After hours of talking, they finally decided that it was time to say their goodbyes. Joe was of course on the road so he had the hours to talk, and the cell phone that Joe bought Aubrey was free to talk on after 7 o’clock when Nick had first called her.

“I will miss you Joseph Adam,” she said sadly and he was quiet for a second but then decided to reply.

“I will miss you too Aubrey Amery,” these words were true. Aubrey didn’t have to say it first for him to say it to her though, it just happened that way.

Minutes later Aubrey climbed down from her “throne” and cautiously walked to her house. Her father wasn’t home and this she was glad of. She was really hoping that he was locked up somewhere and he can’t get out for the life of it. She didn’t want to call the police station right away because she wanted to give it at least another day.

From pain and suffering
Being scared and trembling
One love is not here to hold her
As his voice is not here to sing
She hopes one fear may not return
Then all the happiness and freedom she will earn
So please help this boulder off her shoulder

This poem was the last thoughts she had before falling asleep, feeling at least a little safe for once, but still unsure. Yet another poem of Joe, he is the one love that she has. He’s not there, not able to sing to her. His voice relaxes her, and makes her fall asleep. Joe sings Aubrey to sleep all the time when she decides to sleep in her tree house.

Tomorrow is coming. Another day; another restless, boring, Joeless day at school and she is not looking forward to it at all. She’s not looking forward to coming across Raelynn in the hallway and getting jealous and angry at the same time.

Oh how Aubrey wishes that she was the one that could call Joe her boyfriend; she envied Raelynn because of it. She also hated Raelynn because of how she saw her treating Joe. She knew what was going on. Raelynn was only with him because he was famous and it made her popular.

She remembered something that had happened last week.

===================<|><|><|><|><|><|><|><|><|>========

Raelynn and her preppy friends were walking down the hallway in Aubrey’s direction. They were walking right toward her but didn’t even see that she was there. They were all talking to one another about one subject; Joe. It wasn’t good talk either, it was bad talk. It was stuff that Aubrey had already suspected, but didn’t want to be so sure of because she didn’t want it to hurt Joe.

“I’m glad he’s gone. He completely weighs me down and I can never do what I want when he’s here. I’m only with him because it makes me look good. He gets me whatever I want and have you noticed how popular he’s gotten me,” Raelynn was completely lying about everything. She’s the one that weighs Joe down and Joe doesn’t have any time at all to do other things when he’s home because she doesn’t give him his space. She always wants to be around him when he’s here.

“Well what more could you want? You are dating the most popular guy at school. Isn’t that enough?” one of her friend’s spoke up and didn’t make the conversation any better.

“I want to go out and party and drink and make out with other guys and when he’s here, I can’t do that. It’s exciting to do it when he’s not here though, because he will never find out.”

This girl is pretty bad and she was being such a witch. Aubrey knew she didn’t like her. She doesn’t deserve Joe and now he is going to wind up getting hurt because of her stupidness. An end has to be put to this. But how will it be done?

“Yeah, I saw you with Jason last night. How did that go?” another of her friends said and awaited a reply excitedly. Raelynn didn’t give an answer, she just smiled wide and laughed quietly meaning ‘Great’. Raelynn finally spotted Aubrey and you could see this worried look spread upon her face. She was hoping that she hadn’t heard anything but Aubrey heard everything.

“Aubrey, its so nice to see you!” Raelynn pulled Aubrey into a fake hug trying to hide everything. She was so phony; everything about her was phony. Aubrey didn’t fall for it. She pulled away from the hug that Raelynn tried to give her, didn’t say one word and walked away.

===================<|><|><|><|><|><|><|><|><|>========***

It was morning time and Aubrey was awakened from her undisturbed deep sleep by a small knock at her window. She slowly got out of bed and very carefully looked through her plain eggshell white blinds.

She started to tremble, but then she realized that it was just Joe’s little brother Frankie. He motioned for Aubrey to meet her outside and Aubrey did as she was asked. While crossing through the living room she was extra careful because she still didn’t know if her abusive father was home.

Aubrey met the 5 year old little boy out on the back porch and she noticed that Frankie was holding a fragile box firmly in his hands.

“Hi Frankie, Sweetheart!” she said excited and pulled the little boy down with her onto a lawn chair. “What’s all that? A package?” Aubrey asked him curiously, but a little nosy too trying to look into the box. It really confused her because she didn’t know what it could have been and why Frankie would have brought it over. Frankie just giggled as Aubrey tickled his sides.

“This is all for you. Joe sent it home,” he said in-between laughs. It got Aubrey all excited.

She pulled a familiar piece of fabric out of the box and her eyes lit up.

“His shirt!” she screeched. It was his favorite shirt, and he wanted Aubrey to hold onto it for a memory. She held it up to her nose carefully and smelled it. “And it smells like him too!” she smiled and planted the smell into her head. She kissed Frankie on the side of the head, and he automatically wiped away the cooties.

“A notebook?” Aubrey questioned pulling out a blue notebook.

“They said that you like to write a lot Bree Bree,” he picked up Nick's nickname for me. It was the cutest thing.

She finally realized what it meant. Since she is always completing notebooks, he was being thoughtful and bought her a brand new one in one of her favorite colors. She started to tear up when she pulled the last thing out of the box.

“I miss you,” she talked to the photograph of the guys that was neatly placed into a frame. This was the first picture that Aubrey has ever had of the guys and she will treasure it as long as she lives. The picture was meant to be placed into the tree house and it explained it in the letter that he wrote her.

“Don't worry Bree Bree, They will be back soon,” little Frankie said. “Don't cry.”

Aubrey Amery Adele,
It’s hard being away from you for long periods of time like this. I wish I could be by your side every minute of my life because you mean so much to me. You are my best friend and not one thing or person can change it one bit. I have sent you my favorite shirt, a notebook for your poetry, in your favorite color I might add, and a picture of me and the three other Joni so you won’t forget what we look like. That picture goes in the tree house because that’s where you spend all of your time, and because of other reason’s too. You know what I’m talking about but I’m definitely not getting into it. I will see you really soon.
Love,
Joseph Adam Jonas

Aubrey could practically hear Joe’s voice speaking to her.

Frankie heard his mother calling for him from the back door and he knew that he had to leave. Aubrey gave Frankie a great big bear hug for bringing the stuff over to her and Frankie was on his way home.

“Tell your mommy and daddy I said hi!” Aubrey yelled to him and Frankie turned around quickly and responded to Aubrey’s request.

“Okay, I will!” he shouted back to her and then continued on home.

The first thing she did after Frankie arrived home was run to the tree house with the stuff Joe sent her and she climbed up in it as fast as she could. She didn’t walk, she ran and she didn’t just mosey on up, she practically climbed up it like a monkey would have. She was excited. She wanted to leave everything in the tree house for memories and Joe was right. She does spend all of her time up there.

“Joe, what would I ever have done without you?” she talked to the picture and set it up on top of the large stack of finished notebooks. She hung the shirt up on a nail that was hammered into the wood and she was satisfied with how everything was looking. She sat down, leaning on the side of the tree house and she opened her new composition notebook. As she opened it up from the corner of her eye she saw some writing on the inside of the cover.

“I miss you so much! I love you! - Joe.” she read and started to tear up. He actually felt that way. She had no feeling anymore of him just saying it last night because she said it first. He really felt that way, and he wanted her to know. This notebook is one that she does not want to lose.

She picked up a pencil and she started to write. What she always did and what she was best at. Joe always said that she would become famous some day for her poetry and she will never, ever run out of material to put out there for an audience. She has enough poems for many books that could be put out a few a year for several years. She hasn’t really thought about it much though because she doesn’t think that she really has a chance. With everything that she has been going though, she couldn’t possibly have the opportunity any time soon.

A heart is broken
A smile is turned upside down for a while
It will take some time to re-mend
But come to my window
Anytime you please
I will be fine
I will be okay
I will not cry
At least ill try
Make me smile
Make me laugh
Make me happy for a while
It’s never a problem
For you anyway

Although her last wasn’t her best, it still had meaning. It refers back to her mother and father and her broken smile. She wants Joe to be able to come to her window like Frankie did this morning. As long as Joe is there, she is fine, she is okay, and she won’t cry unless she is really hurt. He always knew how to make her smile, laugh and be happy as seen in the past. Because she already had her notebook open she decided to jot her poem down that she thought of the night before, before she forgot any of it.

From pain and suffering
Being scared and trembling
One love is not here to hold her
As his voice is not here to sing
She hopes one fear may not return
Then all the happiness and freedom she will earn
So please help this boulder off her shoulder

After doing so, Aubrey had to get back downstairs because she had to get ready for school. She was running a little late so she had to rush around to be able to make it to school on time.