From GuitarGuy92 to xoJadeBabyxo

I didn’t talk to Nick at all after the night of the game. Even though I had started to regret how harsh my words had been before I even got back to school, my argument with him had me pretty upset. I had been so set on thinking that he was different than my first impression of him, but it was obvious that he wasn’t. And it had me upset because I honestly thought that he was nicer than that. It hurt to think that all those times he was sweet and caring around me were all for show. I had been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and he had taken advantage of that. And if there was one thing I couldn’t stand was having people betray my trust.

That had happened on Friday. It was now Wednesday. Nick had made an attempt to talk to me once but I never gave him a chance to. On Monday morning, during our Western Literature class, I saw him approach me at the end of class to try to talk to me. I was able to avoid him and since then, I’ve been doing just that. I timed everything out so that I was arriving just before class started (the one’s I had with him anyway) and leaving as soon as we were dismissed, never giving him a window of opportunity to corner me into talking to him.

On Tuesday, the day we were scheduled to give our presentation on our tale in English, I did the majority of the talking. Nick introduced his friends that had rehearsed our re-written skit and they acted it out. I didn’t even look at him throughout the entire thing. The only reason I had started to talk to Nick Jonas was for this project and now that it was done and we had gotten an ‘A’ on it, I would never have to speak to him again.

Aside from avoiding Nick, I preoccupied the rest of my time with my studies, the shelter, and yearbook. I had been doing a good job at avoiding him, but that all changed on Wednesday.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

“Allegra, I just don’t get this whatsoever. Do I have to do it? Can’t we just talk and catch up?”

For about the fourth time in the past thirty minutes, I closed the book I was reading and turned to the eighth grader sitting next to me. “Maggie, I’ve explained it three times already, what don’t you get? It’s just a simple equation,” I tried to reason.

“For you maybe. You’ve already taken Algebra. And besides, you know I hate math,” she continued to complain.

“Maggie, you know you have to do well on this test. And you know the material really well. You just have to apply yourself.”

She let out a huff in frustration. “Can you please just explain it to me one more time,” she begged. She was giving me her best puppy dog look—her wide brown eyes pleading with my more reluctant blue ones.

I tucked a lock of my jet black hair behind my ear and let out a sigh in surrender, throwing my book aside. “Okay, I’ll explain it one more time,” I stated, moving closer to her. “Okay, so you have to solve for x. Since you have the variable on both sides, you just move like terms to the same side and solve. So here, you subtract 2x from the left side and add it to the right. The x is now by itself, so you can solve the equation,” I explained.

Maggie stared at the equation in front of her and blinked once. “Really? That’s it?” she asked.

I let out a tiny giggle. “Yea Mags, I’ve explained it to you three times already. What’s going on in that head of yours that you’re not getting this?” I asked, playfully tousling her chestnut brown locks.

“Well,” she started, setting her pencil down.

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “I see what you’re doing. You almost had me going for a second. Get back to your practice problems. You need to pass this test.” She jutted her bottom lip out at me but reluctantly went back to doing her assignment.

I laughed at her failed attempt and picked my book up again. It was only a few minutes before my friend Erin plopped down next to me.

“Please tell me you’re reading The Kite Runner,” she asked in a breathless tone.

I glanced up at her. “It’s nice to see you too Erin,” I stated sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at my sarcasm and raised her eyebrows at me expectantly. I shook my head and tilted the cover of my book so she could read the title. “Sorry to disappoint,” I added when her shoulders fell in disappointment.

“It’s okay. I was just hoping you’d be able to tell me what happens in it. I have to have it read by Friday and I’m not even half way done,” she said with a pout as she glanced down at the paperback in her hands.

I giggled slightly at her. “Maybe if you stopped “studying” with Aaron, you’d actually get some assignments done on time,” I told her good naturedly. She gasped at my words and smacked me playfully with her book.

“That is not why I haven’t finished it yet. It’s just hard to concentrate on reading when we have such beautiful days like this,” she retorted.

“Uh huh. Sure it is,” I said, laughing some more. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Maggie was paying more attention to our conversation than the problems in front of her. I raised an eyebrow at her and she let out a huff, returning to her algebra.

“So how about you? How are you doing? I feel like I haven’t talked to you since Friday night. What have you been up to this week?” she asked.

I gazed back down at my own book. “Yea, I’ve just been sort of busy with school work and yearbook and stuff,” I said softly.

“Doesn’t mean you have to hide from the world,” she said playfully nudging me with her elbow.

“Not the world, just certain people,” I mumbled.

Erin heard me and gave me an expectant look. “Does this have anything to do with why you left Derfs early on Friday?” she questioned, her eyebrows rising into her hairline.

“Yea, about that. I just couldn’t stand listening to the socialites. They were just being too full of themselves for my liking,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. It was no secret to any of my close friends that the socialites were the one group of people I couldn’t tolerate.

“Yea, well what else is new?” she said in a humorous voice. “Although I have to admit, I think what happened to Dawn was kind of hilarious,” she added with a giggle.

“What happened to her?” I asked, my curiosity peaked.

“You haven’t heard?!?” she asked as she gaped at me.

“No. Heard what?”

A deviant smile formed on her lips as she leaned closer to me, motioning for me to lean in the rest of the way. “Nick Jonas broke up with her!” she whispered in my ear with a giddy tone in her voice.

Nick Jonas did what now?!?

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

“Well why do you think he did it?” Maggie asked me for the umpteenth time.

“I don’t know Maggie,” I replied. “Now get back to your assignment.”

“I heard you two have been hanging out a lot lately. Do you think he likes you instead of her and that that’s why he dumped her?” she continued to probe, excited about her theory.

“I highly doubt that’s the reason he broke up with her. Besides, we’re just friends…sort of,” I replied, growing flustered.

There’s no way that’s the reason Nick broke up with Dawn. Right?

“I don’t see how you can be just friends with Nick Jonas. He’s totally hot. If only I were a few years older…” she trailed off.

“Magdalena Rosario!” I exclaimed, gaping at what she was insinuating.

“What?!? It’s true,” she replied with a look of innocence in her eyes.

I shook my head at her. She truly was too much sometimes. “Can you please get back to your assignment? We’ve been out here for an hour already. You should be done by now,” I said, switching the topic of discussion.

She shook her head at me and turned back to the last few problems she had left. I opened my book again and continued to read—or tried to at least. My thoughts kept drifting off to what Erin had told me. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Why would Nick break up with Dawn? Did it have anything to do with me? They had been the perfect couple after all—until I came into the picture…

“That must be a pretty fascinating book,” a deep masculine voice said, taping the page I had been staring mindlessly at for the better portion of five minutes.

I glanced to my right and saw Nick sitting on the blanket next to me. My eyes widened in surprise before returning to their natural state. I had been doing so well at the whole avoiding him thing and he managed to corner me when my thoughts were consumed by him. The last time I had been this close to him, I had said some pretty nasty things—but now I had been enlightened with new information and, like always, I didn’t know how I was supposed to act around him.

“It is,” I replied in a small voice, closing my book softly.

“Listen Allegra, I think we need to talk,” he said, leaning closer to me. Maggie gasped from beside me. Nick and I both turned to look at her to find that she was staring at Nick with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open, practically drooling at the sight of him. “In private?” Nick added as a second thought.

I bit down on my lower lip and glanced back at him. I gave him a small nod before standing up and walking a few steps away from Maggie’s hearing range, Nick following behind me. I turned around to face him and crossed my arms across my chest, waiting for him to say what he needed to say.

“Is that your sister?” he asked, motioning over his shoulder to where Maggie was sitting watching us with curiosity and interest.

“Sort of,” I replied. Nick’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion at my statement. “I’m part of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters club. Students volunteer to be older siblings to the younger kids who are only children. Maggie’s been my little sis for two years now, so, sort of,” I explained with a shrug.

Nick nodded his head in understanding and shoved his hands into the pockets of his form fitting jeans. His chocolate brown eyes peered into my bright blue ones with a softer look than he had been wearing when he sat next to me—a look I couldn’t quite place.

“So, uh, listen, I just—I wanted to apologize about Friday night. I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said softly.

I was a bit surprised that he was apologizing to me, but nodded my head in acceptance after he stared expectantly at me for several seconds. “I guess I should apologize as well. I said some pretty harsh things. I didn’t really mean them,” I added.

“No, it’s totally cool. You were right,” he said.

I felt my lips part slightly in surprise. Did he just admit that I was right?

Nick gauged my reaction and shoved his right hand through his unruly curls. “Look, I know that it’s not right to make fun of other people, which is why I personally don’t do it. But you were right; I should have stood up to my friends about them doing it. And I want you to know that I did,” he said, shoving his hands back in his pocket.

“You did?” I asked, my voice coming out in a squeak.

He nodded his head. “Yea, on Friday. When I went back to Derfs. I told Dawn that she didn’t have a right to make fun of others and that I didn’t want to be around her negative attitude,” he said, averting his gaze from mine.

“So you really did break up with her?” I whispered.

Nick gazed right into my eyes and nodded his head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He cocked his head to the side, his eyes clouding with confusion. “What for?” he questioned. “It wasn’t your fault.”

I shook my head, our eyes still not breaking contact. “I don’t know. You two were together for a while. You must be upset about breaking up with someone you were with for so long,” I explained.

Nick’s lips pursed into a straight line before he shook his head. “No, I’m pretty much over it,” he stated with a confident nod.

“Oh.” The word came out in a breathless sigh.

After that, we stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, neither of us looking at the other. When I finally let my eyes focus on his face, I found that his were trained on me. “Uh, there was something else I wanted to ask you,” he said, looking away from me again.

“What is it?”

“Uhm, w-would you be w-willing to go out to dinner with me this w-weekend?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and not daring to look me in the eye.

And with those words my heart beat accelerated.

Wait a minute, why is my heart accelerating?

“Uh, I-I-I don’t know if that’s s-s-such a great idea,” I replied, looking down at my feet.

“Just as friends,” he blurted. “To celebrate that ‘A’ we got on our project?”

I hesitated with my answer, not looking into his eyes. I opened my mouth to answer then closed it again. This happened twice before I heard Maggie yell, “Just say yes already!!” I looked over to where I left her to see her sitting at the edge of the blanket with an exasperated look on her face.

Nick was chuckling lightly when I turned back around and met his gaze. “Sure, as friends,” I finally replied.

His lips lifted into a genuine smile, his teeth just barely showing. “Great. Friday night, I’ll pick you up from your dorm at 7:00,” he said.

“It’s a date,” Maggie yelled at him for me.

I rolled my eyes at her while Nick laughed it off. “I’ll see ya then,” I said with a soft smile.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

By the time Friday night rolled around, I had managed to make myself a bundle of nerves. Maggie had talked my ear off about “going on a date” with Nick and it was only a matter of time before word got out. I had spent all of Wednesday night trying to convince Charlie that Nick and I were not going on a date, but that we were going out to celebrate getting an ‘A’ on our project.

She didn’t buy it.

She, along with everyone else, was making this night such a big deal that I managed to psych myself out about it. Now I really was getting first date nerves—and that was the most absurd thing I had ever heard of!

“Allegra, stop pacing already, you’re going to start sweating, and then you’re make-up will start to run and then you’ll be all gross for your date with Nick,” Charlie said from where she watched me on her bed.

“It is not a date!” I exclaimed. “We’re just friends,” I added with a huff. “Okay, so what do you think about this one?” I asked, holding up the top my fingers had landed on while I ransacked my closet.

“Uh huh, if it’s not a date then why are you worrying about what you’re gonna wear and pacing around like a mad woman?” Charlie asked with a smug smile.

I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m worrying about what to wear because I worry about what to wear all the time. And I’m pacing because all this date talk is making me nervous,” I answered. “Now can you please help me decide on an outfit already? Nick will be here in twenty minutes and I still have to fix my hair!”

Charlie let out a sigh and walked over to me. She rummaged through my closet, pulling out a few items and thrusting them into my hands. “Here, go change into this,” she said.

I glanced down at the clothing in my hands and smiled at her. “Thank You,” I said before walking into our bathroom. Five minutes later, I walked out in the patterned dress and brown ankle wrap pumps she had given me. I added a gold medallion necklace to the look.

“I knew it! That looks so good on you Legs,” Charlie gushed at me when I walked back into our room.

“Thanks. What should I do with my hair though?” I asked after taking a glance at the clock and realizing I had fifteen minutes left.

“Sit,” Charlie demanded. I did as I was told and perched myself on the edge of her bed. She already had her straightener plugged into the wall, heating it up as she pumped some straightening serum into her hands. She ran it through my long black hair before attacking it with her straightener. Ten minutes later, my naturally wavy black hair was pin straight, my bangs held back by a few bobby pins. “Okay, now you’re ready. Girl, you look hot! You’re gonna knock his socks off.”

I giggled slightly at her and gave her a quizzical look. “Who uses phrases like that any more?” I questioned in a teasing manner.

Charlie shrugged and said, “I do. Now listen to me, are you sure this isn’t a date?”

I sighed and nodded my head. “Positive. We’re just two friends, going out to eat dinner. That’s it,” I replied.

She let out a breath and nodded her head once before pulling me into a hug. “Okay, well, have fun tonight Legs. But don’t stay out too late,” she warned, pointing a threatening finger in my direction.

I laughed once more and said, “I won’t.” Adding one last touch up to my make up and spraying on a bit of my Refuge perfume from Charlotte Russe, I grabbed my small brown clutch and exited my room.

As soon as I exited my dorm building, I saw Nick leaning against the hood of his Mustang with his arms crossed. His lips lifted in a smile when he saw me approaching. “Hey, uhm, I wasn’t sure if I should have gone up to your room and let you know I was here cuz I never got your number but uh, I just decided to wait here,” he said, getting off his hood.

“Oh, I hope you haven’t been waiting for a long time,” I said, feeling bad.

“Not too long,” he replied, the smile still on his face. His eyes swept over my body before landing back on mine. “You look great,” he said as if it were a fact.

I felt my cheeks warm up as I averted my gaze. “Thanks,” I said shyly. I then looked him over. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a plain white t-shirt with his black leather jacket over it, and a pair of black Chucks on, giving him a bad boy look. “You look good too,” I said.

His smile stretched out even more. “Thanks.” He cleared his throat and motioned behind him. “I guess we should get going then.”

I nodded my head once, smiling at him. He walked in front of me and opened the passenger door for me, jogging to the other side and getting into the driver’s seat.

“So tell me, are you ever going to give me your number?” he asked after we had been driving for a few minutes in silence.

I turned to glance at him and raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I think you already have it,” I admitted.

He glanced quickly at me before turning back to the road. “How is that possible? You refused to give it to me whenever I asked you for it.”

“Well, that day that you were sick, I called Kenny and asked him to give me your number so that I could call you and see where you were because you had stood me up to work on our project. I called your phone, you just didn’t answer. So I’m pretty sure it’s in your call history,” I replied.

“Hmm,” he said. When we reached a stop sign, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me, pressing his foot back on the gas pedal. “Either way, could you give me your number?” I glanced at him then back down at his phone with a small smile on my lips. It took me several frustrated tries, but I finally managed to figure out how his BlackBerry Storm works and added my number. “Thanks,” he said once I handed it back to him.

“You’re welcome,” I replied. At that point, I turned and glanced out the window. I noticed we were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and decided to enjoy the view. The sun was almost finished setting and I let out a sigh at the glorious sight.

“Are you okay?” Nick asked.

I turned to look at him and nodded, smiling softly at him. “Yea, I’m fine. Just admiring the view,” I replied.

“You really like sunsets huh?” he asked. I knitted my eyebrows together, wondering how he could possibly know that. He must have read my expression because he said, “Remember the day I saw you down at the beach, taking pictures of the sunset?” I nodded my head, remembering that day clearly—it was the day I told him not to bother trying to change my mind about him.

“Yea, I think it’s the most glorious sight ever,” I answered in a wistful tone, turning back to the view outside my window—mostly so he wouldn’t see me blushing. I still felt uneasy when I thought about how rude I was to him at first.

The car ride was silent for a few more minutes before something occurred to me. “Where are we going anyways?” I asked.

Nick’s lips twitched but he refrained from smiling. “Tell me something, where does your family originate from?”

I thought the question was rather random, but I answered anyways. “England, I think.”

His lips stretched into a full smile. “Well, my family is Italian, and we go all out for celebrations. So it was only proper that I take you to an Italian restaurant if we wanted to do this celebration thing right.”

I giggled softly at his reasoning. “Whatever you say, Nick.” With that, I turned to look out my window again, enjoying the silent car ride.

It was kind of weird to tell you the truth. If you would have told me a month ago that I would be sitting in Nick Jonas’ car on my way to have dinner with him, I would have checked you into a mental institute out of pure concern. But here I was. I had managed to look past his popularity and the personality I thought he had and gotten to see a different side to him—I side I never would have believed existed. And the only reason I agreed to go to this little outing was because I was secretly giving him yet another chance. By standing up to his friends, he had proven to me that he could be different than them and I believed that there was more to Nick Jonas than met the eye. Behind those brooding brown eyes was a boy with a potentially sweet heart, and I had decided that I was going to bring it out so that he could be that way around others—not just me.

After a few minutes, we got off the highway and after a few more turns we pulled up to the parking lot of an Italian restaurant. “Casa Mancini?” I asked as Nick put the car in park.

“Yea, have you ever been here before?” he asked as he removed his seat belt.

“No, I haven’t,” I replied, doing the same as he. I moved to open my door but Nick stopped me, saying he’d get it. He jogged around the front of his car and opened my door for me. “Thanks,” I said with a small blush. I hadn’t ever had a guy open a car door for me before.

“No problem,” he answered. We walked side by side into the restaurant. It was a lively place with Italian music playing in the background—an undertone to the lively chatter of the customers.

“Nicholas, bello il mio ragazzo, how are you? It’s been a while, no?” an elderly lady said to him.

“Si, it has been,” Nick replied.

“E chi è questa bella ragazza?” she asked, turning to look at me.

“This is my friend Allegra,” Nick replied. I smiled at the lady and waved at her.

“Si occupa più piacevole la vostra fidanzata altri.” The lady smiled at me and winked at Nick. His cheeks grew extremely red, making me wonder what the lady was saying to him. “Here, follow me to your table,” she said with a giant smile on her face. We followed her to a back booth where she left us with our menus and a wink.

“Sorry about her,” Nick said once she was out of ear shot.

“It’s okay, I had no idea what she was saying anyways,” I told him. “But apparently you did. I never knew you speak Italian.”

“Yea, my nonna, my grandmother, she tried teaching me and my brothers. They never had patience to learn but I learned enough for conversation,” he replied.

“That’s so cool, what was she saying back there?” I asked.

His cheeks grew red again. “You really don’t want to know,” he replied, looking down at the table.

“Aww, come on, tell me,” I probed.

He let out a sigh and looked back at me. “Alright. Well, at first she called me her handsome boy, then she asked me who this pretty girl was, and then she,” he paused and looked away again before continuing, “she said that you look nicer than my other girlfriend,” he finished in a rapid breath.

I managed to catch the end of his sentence and felt my face grow red. “Oh,” I whispered.

“Yea, like I said, you didn’t want to know,” he said with an uncomfortable laugh. Right then a young girl no older than fourteen walked up to our table.

“What can I get you guys to drink?” she asked, dully. She looked up at us and lit up with a smile when she saw Nick. “Hey Nick! It’s been a while,” she said.

“Hey Aida,” Nick said, getting up to hug her. “Have you grown since the last time I was here?” he asked, ruffling her dark curly hair.

“A little,” she replied with a blush. “Uhm, are you guys ready to order your drinks?” she asked as Nick sat back down.

“Diet Dr. Pepper for me,” Nick said, turning to look at me.

“I’ll have an iced tea,” I told her.

“’Kay, I’ll be right back with those,” she said, turning to go back into the kitchen.

“So, I take it you come here often?” I said to Nick.

“Oh, Mama Mancini grew up with my nonna back in Italy. They’re like sisters, so her family is like my second family. Aida is her granddaughter and we sort of grew up together before my family moved to Beverly Hills,” he replied. “I come here whenever I start to miss my nonna,” he added.

“That’s nice,” I said, a pang out homesickness suddenly hitting me.

“Hey, are you okay?” Nick asked his tone concerned.

“Huh? Oh, yea. I was just thinking of my grandmother, that’s all,” I told him. Not wanting to start a conversation about my own family, I changed the topic quickly. “So, congrats on your win yesterday. Kenny was telling me all about it.”

“Oh, yea, thanks. Did you not go to the game?”

“No, I couldn’t. It was away and I had some homework to do. But I heard it was intense.”

“It was. We were losing for pretty much the entire game. None of us thought we were going to win, but the guys really pulled through the last quarter.”

I smiled at how elated he looked talking about basketball. It reminded me of Kenny whenever he would try to explain the game to me. They both really loved the sport.

Right then Aida came back with our drinks. “Are you guys ready to order?”

I looked down at the menu sitting in front of me. I had been so absorbed in my conversation with Nick that I forgot to look at it. Nick seemed to have done the same because he smiled up at Aida and said, “Could you give us a few more minutes?”

“Sure,” she replied, bounding off to take other people’s orders.

I opened my menu and started to glance at it. The silence between us was interrupted by the sound of my phone beeping from my clutch. I pulled it out and saw that someone had left me a voicemail. I checked to see who the last person that called me was and knitted my eyebrows in confusion when I saw who it was.

“Uhm, you don’t mind if I check this message do you?” I asked him. He shook his head no and went back to looking at his menu. I dialed my voicemail, plugged in my password and waited for the message. By the time I heard the end of the message, I could feel all the blood drain from my face, and the tears start to well in my eyes.