From GuitarGuy92 to xoJadeBabyxo

From: xoJadeBabyxo@USC.com
To: GuitarGuy92@USC.com
Sent: 18 February 2009 8:43 p.m.
Subject: Hey there stranger…

…haven’t talked to you in a while. How are you doing? Anything new?

~JadeBaby

From: GuitarGuy92@USC.com
To: xoJadeBabyxo@USC.com
Sent: 19 February 2009 6:58 p.m.
Subject: Re: Hey there stranger…

I know. It has been a few days. Nothing new on my part really. Just busy with school and extra curricular activities. Trying to keep my grades from slipping before the semester is over. How about you? What’s new with you?

-GuitarGuy

A few minutes after sending that message, Nick’s computer signaled he had an instant message. He smiled to himself when he saw it was JadeBaby. Opening the message, he allowed his eyes to read over it quickly.

xoJadeBabyxo: nothing really new. Same as you, I’ve been hounded with homework this past week

xoJadeBabyxo: finally finished that project that was assigned three weeks ago :)

GuitarGuy92: guess that means you won’t have to see that partner of yours you disliked so much ;)

xoJadeBabyxo: lol yea, he turned out to be different than what I expected

GuitarGuy92: gasp

GuitarGuy92: so are you guys friends now?

xoJadeBabyxo: I guess you can say that

xoJadeBabyxo: how about your partner?

Nick could feel his lips twitch in a smile when Allegra’s face appeared in his mind. Her sharp, entrancing, blue eyes. Her long, luscious, wavy, black hair. Her rosy pink cheeks. Her bright white smile. Her tender laugh. Her charming personality. It was safe to say that since his bought of sickness a week ago, things between them had changed. When they met up on Sunday afternoon to work on the last part of their project, he had instantly noticed the change. She had greeted him with a smile and hadn’t given him any attitude all afternoon. She was much more open with him and he had even been able to get her to laugh. It was as if she had let down whatever wall she had created and allowed him to see the real her. The caring, bubbly, side of her.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it.

So he was beyond glad that they were now somewhat friends.

GuitarGuy92: I told you I’d crack her down ;)

xoJadeBabyxo: that you did :P

GuitarGuy92: so, any plans for this weekend?

xoJadeBabyxo: my friends and I are going to the basketball game

Nick felt his heart rate immediately speed up. After all the months of talking to JadeBaby they were going to be in the same room as each other. The mere thought of it had his palms sweating. He quickly wiped them on his pants and typed in a message.

GuitarGuy92: I never would have taken you as a sports fanatic

xoJadeBabyxo: I’m really not. Just getting into the hype of it. I’m sure the entire skool is gonna be there

GuitarGuy92: you’re probably right ;)

That notion had his heart beating frantically in his chest.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

And JadeBaby had been right. When the Varsity team exited the locker rooms to warm up, the gymnasium was already full to its maximum capacity. The bleachers that wrapped around the entire gym were abuzz with bodies, chatting animatedly over the music the team used to warm up to. Jogging over to the sidelines, Nick took off his warm-ups, grabbed a ball and dribbled it down the court, taking a shot from the three point line. It went straight through the hoop and fell into the hands of one of his team mates. He tossed it towards him and Nick caught it, taking another effortless shot. This pattern continued for a few more minutes until their coach called them over, allowing their opponents to take the court for their warm ups.

As he sat on the bench, he allowed his eyes to scan the crowd. The mass area in navy blue and white told him that that’s where the majority of the school had sat. He couldn’t help but think back to the conversation he had had with JadeBaby the previous day. She was somewhere out there and he didn’t even know who she was. Too bad the entire gymnasium was overflowing with people. He’d never be able to find her here without knowing what she looked like, even if he tried.

As these thoughts were running through his head, he caught sight of a familiar head of wavy black hair sitting in the very front of the bleachers along with all the other hard core basketball fans. He smiled to himself as he got up and jogged to the opposite side of the court.

“Hey Allegra,” he said as he stopped in front of her.

Allegra, who had been having a discussion with the kid sitting behind her—who Nick recognized to be Aaron Pierce—turned to look at the person who had just addressed her. When she saw it was Nick, her usual bright smile pulled at her lips, revealing her straight white teeth. “Hey Nick,” she chirped cheerily.

“I didn’t know you were coming to the game,” he said, quirking his eyebrows at her.

She let out a tiny scoff. “Are you kidding me? Kenny would have killed me if I didn’t come to the big final game,” she said with a smile. At the mention of her best friend’s name, Nick felt his face drop a bit. She had told him on more than one occasion that she and Kenny were just friends—Kenny himself had also said it—but there was a part of Nick that thought otherwise. He could clearly see that she was wearing one of Kenny’s old jerseys. Did friends of the opposite sex even wear each other’s clothes? But no matter how many times he was reassured that they were just friends, Nick was always left wondering why he even cared in the first place. He and Allegra were just friends…sort of.

“Yea, I bet he would have,” Nick said after a beat of silence that lasted too long.

“I can’t believe there are so many people here,” Allegra continued, her sharp blue eyes peering over the crowd. “It must be pretty nerve wracking,” she added, her eyes landing back on his.

Charlie, who had silently been watching the two interact, joined their conversation. “Are you kidding Legs? Nick Jonas doesn’t get nervous playing basketball. He’s like a pro.”

Nick chuckled. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of so many people before. I’m a little nervous.” He whispered the last part, allowing only the two girls in front of him to hear. This was the first time the team had made it to State’s since he was on the team, so he was a bit nervous about the outcome of the game.

“Aww, that’s endearing,” Charlie said in good nature.

Nick chuckled again while Allegra rolled her eyes at Charlie. “I’m sure you guys will be fine,” she said to Nick, placing her hand on his forearm in a reassuring manner. She felt his muscles instantly tense under her touch and stared at him with knitted eyebrows.

“Uh-oh, bitch alert,” Charlie said.

Nick and Allegra both turned and saw Dawn headed their way—a less than happy look on her face. Allegra instantly removed her hand from Nick’s arm and settled them in her lap right as Dawn reached them.

“Well what do we have here?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “You again. Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my boyfriend?” she inquired, glaring at Allegra.

Nick let out an annoyed sigh. “Dawn, can we not get into this right now?” he asked in a sharp voice.

“I just don’t understand who she thinks she is being all over you like this,” Dawn countered.

“Dawn,” Nick said, raising his voice. “Just stop it okay.” Dawn’s scowl turned into a glare as she narrowed her eyes at Allegra. She glanced at Nick again and saw that he looked less than amused so she didn’t say anything else. With another huff, she turned on her heels—the skirt of her cheerleading uniform twirling with her—and stormed off towards the rest of the cheerleaders. They were across the gym, but Allegra could see Dawn’s mouth moving rapidly as she probably recounted what just happened to her friends. She knew she was right when the other cheerleaders turned towards them, their eyes sending daggers her way.

“Sorry about that,” Nick said with a sigh when he saw what Allegra was looking at. “She has a major jealousy problem,” he said shaking his head, as if the notion was inconceivable to him.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” Allegra replied in a small voice. “Looks like your opponents are finishing up their warm up. You should probably go, the game will start soon.”

Nick glanced over his shoulder and saw that their coach was in deed trying to round up his players. He was currently waving Nick over to the huddle. Nick turned back and looked at Allegra. “Wish me luck,” he said, smiling at her before turning to jog to his team.

“You won’t need it,” Allegra called after him. He turned around, jogging backwards, smiled at her, then turned back around and jogged up to the huddle of navy blue and white.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

Nothing was crazier than a Pacific Palisades Royals Celebration. The basketball team had just won the semifinals and is now on its way to the Final Championship. Now, I don’t know much about sports, but I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing. Especially with all the celebrating that’s going on. A ton of the underclassmen were whooping around campus in celebration while the rest of us upperclassmen had hoped in our cars and driven down to Derfs. The place was packed way beyond the point of a fire hazard, but I don’t think anyone seemed to care.

I had been sure not to get cornered into sitting with the socies like last time. Instead I convinced Kenny to sit with us. Unluckily for us, the socies decided they were going to commander the booth behind us, dragging over another table and a few chairs to make enough room for all of them. I hadn’t paid too much attention to it, too lost in the hype of the night.

It wasn’t until the place cleared out a bit and I was able to hear their discussion that my mood took a turn.

“I mean honestly, does she own a mirror? How can she walk out of her room dressed like that?” I heard the distinctive snooty voice that belonged to Brianna Datesman say behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the socies glancing at the group of people sitting at the table next to our booths, snickering amongst themselves. They were all the really artsy kids. It was unusual for them to be at Derfs—they usually hung out at a small café near school—but they probably were just as into the hype of the game as the rest of the school. And now the socies were ridiculing them for the way they were dressed. I heard someone else make another snide remark and blatantly turned to look at the people sitting behind us. Nick was amongst them. While he wasn’t necessarily joining them in the teasing, he wasn’t doing anything to stop it.

He caught my gaze and smiled softly at me. I felt my stomach churn in displeasure and stood from my seat. “Whoa, are you alright Legs?” Kenny asked. We had just been having a pleasant conversation when I randomly stood up—I could see why he would be worried.

Without breaking Nick’s gaze, I replied, “I’m fine. I just need to get away from here.” I shook my head at Nick when he glanced curiously at me, then turned and headed towards the exit of the restaurant. I was halfway to my car when my phone started ringing in my pocket. I glanced at the caller ID and smiled softly to myself.

“Hey Charlie,” I said when I picked up.

“Legs are you okay? What happened? Why did you run out of here like that?” she asked rapidly.

I let out a sigh as I continued walking. “It was nothing Charlie. I just—I had to get away from there. I couldn’t take listening to the socies keep talking about—”

“Allegra come on,” Charlie interrupted. “How many times have I told you not to take what they say personally?”

“I know, I know. It shouldn’t bother me so much but it does! I just—I—”

I heard Charlie sigh through the line. “Yea, I know,” she said. “Listen, are you gonna be okay getting home? I don’t want you driving if you’re too agitated,” she said in a serious tone.

“No, no, I’m fine. Honestly. Will you be okay though? I feel bad just leaving you there,” I said, suddenly realizing that I had driven Charlie to the post-game celebration.

“Yea don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll just catch a ride with one of the guys. But you text me as soon as you get in okay?”

“Alright. Love ya girly,” I said, finally reaching my car. Charlie returned the same sentiment before I hung up. As I was unlocking the car, I heard someone creep up behind me, then stop directly behind me. I quickly turned around, the scream I was about to let out dying in my throat when I saw who my companion was. “What do you want?” I asked sharply.

“Are you alright? Why’d you run out of there like that?”

“I’m fine,” I replied curtly, turning back around to open my car door. When I did, I quickly threw my purse in the passenger seat and got in. Before I could close my door, Nick clasped on to it tightly.

“What the hell’s with the attitude?” he questioned.

“Nick, let go of my door,” I said, trying to stay calm. I wasn’t exactly happy with him and he was just making things worse.

“What did I do? Why are you mad at me?”

I let out a scoff. “You are unbelievable do you know that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, I thought you were different. But I guess I was wrong. It’s like, every time I change my mind about you, you go and do something that just makes me realize who you really are,” I continued to rant, completely having given up on getting him to let go of my door.

“Do you care to explain to me what the hell you’re talking about?” he asked, clearly growing irritated.

“Back at Derfs. You and friends were making fun of the artsy group. Just because they’re different than you guys doesn’t mean you have a right to make fun of them. Who do you people think you are?” I asked, gripping tightly onto my steering wheel to rein in the sudden anger that was over taking me.

“I wasn’t making fun of anybody,” Nick defended.

“Yea but you weren’t doing anything to stop your friends from doing it either!! And that’s just as bad Nick.” My statement must have gotten to him, because he let go of my door and stared at me in shock. Taking the opportunity, I slammed it shut and turned my car on. Giving him one last glance, I peeled out of my spot and left him standing there, staring after me until my headlights disappeared in the night.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

Nick stood on the curb of the street for about two minutes after Allegra left before turning around and walking back to Derfs. Since he met Allegra he knew that she didn’t like him or his friends. He had worked hard to get her to change her mind about him—going as far as letting a bit of the real him show. And he thought that he had made progress, but this obviously set him back again. He couldn’t understand why Allegra always seemed to get worked up when his friends made a negative remark about someone else. He never bothered to understand it before because he himself was never actually part of the teasing. But what she had just said to him made him see her perspective. He may not have agreed with what his friends were doing—which his why he himself never teased anybody—but he never did anything to put a stop to what his friends were doing.

Allegra was right. He was just as bad as them.

“Babe, are you okay?” he looked up and saw that Dawn was staring at him with her version of worry. He had sat back down at their booth without saying a word to anyone and they hadn’t said anything to him either until now.

“Yea, yea I’m fine,” he replied. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the people in the booth in front of him getting up. It was Allegra’s group of friends. Seeing them brought his thoughts back to her.

“Ugh, what is that bitch staring at?” Dawn’s voice broke through his thoughts.

He glanced at Dawn and saw that she was glaring right back at Charlie. Charlie gave him the stink eye when his eyes landed on her then turned to walk out of the restaurant with the rest of her friends.

“I can’t believe Kenny hangs out with those people. Honestly, he is so much better than that. He’s hot, he’s a senior, and can have pretty much any girl at our school, yet he always hangs out with that freak. What’s her name…Allegra is it? Who the hell name’s their kid that?”

Every word that came out of Dawn’s mouth made Nick even angrier—to the point where he snapped. “Dawn can you stop being such a bitch!” he blurted.

He saw all of his friends gape at him, their mouths hanging wide open.

“What did you just say to me?” Dawn asked, just as surprised as everyone else.

“I told you to stop being a bitch. It’s really annoying,” Nick reiterated.

“What crawled up your ass?” Dawn bit back as she crossed her arms defiantly.

“I’m just sick and tired of hearing you talking so much crap about people. You’re far from perfect, so you have no room to make fun of others. It’s not a very attractive quality,” Nick sneered, getting up from his seat.

He saw Dawn get up and follow him out to his car. “Where do you think you’re going, Nick? You can’t just say something like that to me and just walk away!” Dawn yelled.

“That’s funny, because I thought I just did,” he said in faux thought.

“Nick, what’s gotten into you?” Dawn asked in a softer tone. Nick knew better than to fall for her innocent act.

“I’m just tired of this Dawn,” he replied.

“Tired of what? Just tell me what to do and I’ll fix it,” she pleaded.

Nick shook his head at her. “No you won’t Dawn. You will always be a bitch. And I just don’t want to be around your negative attitude anymore.”

Dawn gasped at his words. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“Yea, I guess I am.”

Dawn’s face turned into a scowl. “I bet it’s because of that Allegra girl. Do you like her? Is that what this is about?” she spat at him.

Nick’s temper flared back up. “No. It has nothing to do with her. This is about you and you being a bitch all the time. I told you, I don’t want to be around that anymore. I’m done. We’re done Dawn.” With that, Nick climbed into his car.

“Nick, don’t do this to me,” Dawn said, her hands grasping at his door through the open window.

“Dawn, don’t make this harder on yourself. Just let go,” Nick said with a sigh.

She shook he head stubbornly. “No! Nick, you and I are perfect for each other. You can’t break up with me. You just can’t! People will think—”

“I give a rat’s ass what people will think. Now let go of my door. We’re done,” he said in a firmer voice.

Stubborn as only she can be, Dawn let go of her hold in his door and said, “Fine, if that’s the way you want it. Just don’t come crawling back to me when you realize the mistake you’ve made.”

Nick put his car in gear and glanced back at her. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” He heard a soft sob break through her lips as he pulled away from his spot and drove back to school, leaving his ex-girlfriend to break down on the street.