From GuitarGuy92 to xoJadeBabyxo

Confused. That was the only word Nick could use to explain how Allegra made him feel. He thought that he had made some progress with her in the week it’s been since they were assigned that English project. But Dawn’s comment that weekend had set him back. Allegra was back to being cold and distant from him. Aside from the outburst she had down at the beach two days ago, she hadn’t really been mean per say—but it was pretty obvious to him that she would rather just finish the project so that she didn’t have to speak to him again.

He had different plans however. She had presented him with the ultimate challenge and there was no turning back now. He was going to get her to change her opinion of him.

The beep from his computer brought him out of his thoughts. JadeBaby had just sent him an IM.

xoJadeBabyxo: hey. it has been a while.

He smiled to himself. Instead of working on the French composition he had been assigned earlier that day, he had decided to send JadeBaby an e-mail. It had been a few days since they last spoke and he was missing their conversations. Then he got sidetracked by thinking about Allegra. Luckily JadeBaby had signed on.

GuitarGuy92: indeed. what’s new?

xoJadeBabyxo: nothing really. Just finished my homework and was checking my e-mail

xoJadeBabyxo: hbu? Anything new in your life?

GuitarGuy92: not really. Currently am procrastinating on my french hw

xoJadeBabyxo: tsk tsk. I should probably let you get back to that then

GuitarGuy92: no wait!

GuitarGuy92: we haven’t talked in days

GuitarGuy92: don’t go yet

xoJadeBabyxo: fine

xoJadeBabyxo: but if you get a bad grade on that assignment, I don’t wanna hear about it :P

GuitarGuy92: deal

GuitarGuy92: so, how is that project of yours going?

GuitarGuy92: have you killed your partner yet?

xoJadeBabyxo: *sigh* no. he’s still alive

GuitarGuy92: lol you don’t sound too happy about that

xoJadeBabyxo: no, it’s not that. It’s just…complicated

GuitarGuy92: what is?

xoJadeBabyxo: idk. I thought I didn’t like him, but he’s turning out to be…not what I expected

GuitarGuy92: do you like him?

xoJadeBabyxo: GOD NO!!

xoJadeBabyxo: I just meant that he has the potential to be something I didn’t think he was capable of being

xoJadeBabyxo: does that make any sense?

GuitarGuy92: no

GuitarGuy92: but I’ve long stopped trying to figure out the female mind

A few minutes passed by before he got anything else from her.

xoJadeBabyxo: how are things with your partner going?

GuitarGuy92: ehh

xoJadeBabyxo: ehh?

GuitarGuy92: I’m wearing her down. She’ll crack eventually

xoJadeBabyxo: lol alright you have fun with that

xoJadeBabyxo: I’m going to dinner. You mister, should finish your french hw

GuitarGuy92:do I have to :(

xoJadeBabyxo: lol YES!

xoJadeBabyxo: I’ll ttyl

GuitarGuy92: *sigh* fine. L8r

Once he saw that JadeBaby had signed off, Nick unwillingly turned back to the French composition that would take him all night to finish. Unfortunately for him, it took him twice as long to finish because his mind kept drifting back to Allegra. By the end of the night, he had successfully finished his homework, and had devised a plan on how he was going to get closer to Allegra.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

“Alright boys, lets call it a day,” Coach Davis said, blowing his whistle. All the boys on the varsity basketball team gathered around their coach as he gave them a pep talk about their upcoming championship game the following weekend. They were then dismissed from practice. Nick jogged over to the side of the court and grabbed his gym bag, jogging towards the exit.

“Hey Ferrier, wait up,” he called after his senior team mate.

Kenny stopped and waited for Nick to catch up to him. “What’s up Jonas?” he asked in a slightly pissed tone.

“Why are you being so pissy with me lately,” Nick asked, not even bothering to beat around the bush.

“Do I need to remind you what went down on Friday night at Derfs?” Kenny questioned.

“Look dude, I already apologized to Allegra for Dawn’s comment. And either way, that’s between me and her. I don’t understand why you have to be so stand-offish,” Nick replied.

“Allegra’s a really good friend of mine. And I don’t like seeing her upset,” Kenny countered as both boys exited the athletic building.

“Look man, I don’t wanna argue with you about this,” Nick stated, changing the subject.

“Well then what do you want?”

“I want to prove to Allegra that I’m not the jerk she’s convinced I am. And I need your help doing that.”

Kenny scoffed and stopped to look at Nick. “If you want me to talk you up around her, don’t even waste your breath asking.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “That’s not what I was going to ask,” he countered. Kenny raised his eyebrows at him, challenging him. “I just want you to tell me a bit more about her. So that I can touch base with her and find out if we have anything in common.”

Kenny chuckled to himself and shook his head at Nick. “Dude, if it’s one thing I’ve learned about her in the years we’ve been friends is that she’s the most reserved person ever. If she wanted you to know anything about her, then she’d tell you. I’m not going to break her trust and go blabbing her business to people. I know better.”

Nick’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Kenny’s face then went blank—as if he had said too much. “Sorry dude, you’re on your own.” With that, he jogged away from Nick, leaving him behind—more curious about his partner than before.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

“Alright kiddies that’s it for today. Remember your Canterbury projects are due in less than two weeks,” Mrs. Hoff said as she dismissed our first period class.

I quickly gathered my things, eager to get to my next class. I joined my friend Erica at the door and we walked together out of the building. Our small talk was interrupted by the sound of Nick’s voice. My breath hitched in my throat as I stopped and turned to look at him.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” he asked once he caught up to us.

I glanced at Erica and she seemed to catch on. “I’ll catch ya later girl.” With a tiny smile and wave to Nick, she turned around and walked to her next class.

I turned nervously back to Nick. I had been so confused since I left him behind at the beach on Saturday. Part of me wanted to just be myself and allow myself to be nice to him, but a slightly stronger part warned me not to do that. I regretted being so rude to him that night before I even made it back to my dorm, but I couldn’t take my words back. I hadn’t spoken to him at all, scared of what his reaction would be to what happened. But we had a project to finish and I was going to have to speak to him eventually.

“What’s up?” I asked after a few seconds of silence. He was staring intently at me and it was making me uncomfortable.

“Nothing really. How have you been?”

I blinked several times, staring at him, shocked. He’s actually making small talk? “U-uh I’ve been g-good,” I stuttered. I could feel my cheeks heating up a bit. Why am I reacting like this? This is Nick Jonas!

“So listen, sorry we couldn’t meet up yesterday—I had basketball practice. But, uh, when did you want to meet up to finish the last part of the project?” he asked. I thought about my answer for a second and I guess he took my silence in a different way because he added, “I’m free today.”

I bit my lip in thought and shook my head. “Today’s not good for me,” I replied.

“Why not?” he questioned, his voice genuinely sounding curious.

“Do you mind if we walk and talk at the same time? I don’t want to be late to my next class,” I replied, avoiding his question and turning to walk in the general direction of the history building.

“Sure,” he replied, gesturing for me to start walking. “So, what are you doing later today?” he asked again.

I bit my lip again and considered whether I should answer his question truthfully. In the end I decided it wouldn’t kill anybody so I told him. “I have a previous engagement.”

“Like a date?” he questioned.

I knew my cheeks were definitely flaming at his question. The crazy part about it…I had no idea why!

I shook my head and said, “I volunteer at a homeless shelter down in Santa Monica on Tuesdays.”

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him stop briefly before he continued walking alongside me. “Really?” he asked, his voice clearly surprised. I nodded my head. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Uhm, thanks?”

“Can I come?”

This time it was my turn to stop. “W-wh-what?” I stuttered.

“Can I come down to the shelter with you today?” he reiterated as he retracted his steps.

“Why?” I asked, tilting my head to look at him. His face held no signs of jest. He actually wanted to come?

He shrugged and looked straight ahead. “I think that’s pretty cool. I was banking on us working on the project today, so I don’t have anything to do this evening. So why not?”

He looked back down at me, waiting for my response. He actually wants to come. To a homeless shelter. And spend his evening with me. This must be a joke. After analyzing him for a bit longer, I let out a defeated sigh and nodded my head slightly. “If you want to,” I added.

“I do,” he replied, his voice laced with sincerity. “What time are you leaving? Where should I meet you?”

“U-uh, I’m leaving at five. From my dorm,” I answered.

“What dorm building are you in?”

“Seton Hall,” I replied, still not really comprehending that I was making plans to hang out with Nick Jonas. And it had nothing to do with the project we were assigned.

“Cool. I’ll meet you there at five. See you later Allegra.” With that, he walked away. I continued to walk, dumbfounded, to my Psychology class.

What just happened?

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Nick for the tenth time since he had met me outside my dorm building.

He chuckled again and said, “Yes. Now stop asking me because I’m not changing my mind.”

I bit my lip as I opened the door to the shelter. “Allegra, how are you sweetie?” Mrs. Patterson, the founder of the shelter, asked me as I stepped inside and into the small front space.

“I’m good Mrs. P,” I replied, pulling back from the hug she had embraced me in.

“And who is this fine young gentleman?” she questioned, raising her eyebrows at me.

“This is…” I hesitated for a second, not knowing how to introduce Nick. He wasn’t exactly my friend, so I couldn’t introduce him that way. I could always say he was a classmate, but I knew Mrs. P would probably think I was being modest about what Nick was to me. So I settled for finishing with, “…Nick.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nick said, sticking his hand out and shaking Mrs. P’s firmly.

“Nick decided he wanted to come down and help out today,” I added.

“Isn’t that nice of you,” Mrs. P asked, beaming up at Nick. “Well Allegra, I was just about to go out and buy a few last minute ingredients for dinner tonight. Chris is in the back,” she said. With that, she jetted out of the door.

“So, uh, what do you do around here?” Nick asked as he looked around.

“Well, the place is open for anyone to come in,” I started. “Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are some of the nicest people. They have dozens of rooms with bunk beds for people to crash. They serve them a full meal everyday. They even help some of the adults find jobs,” I finished as we approached the kitchen. “But I like to help out with the kids. Keep them entertained for a while.”

“Ohh,” was all Nick said.

I didn’t have time to ponder what that was supposed to mean, because as soon as I walked into the kitchen, something flew into my legs, attaching itself there. When I looked down, I saw a little girl named Cassie hugging the life out of my legs. “Hey Cassie,” I said, rubbing her back.

“Legra, I haven’t seen you in forever. Why didn’t you come see me?” she questioned, looking up at me with her big, wide, blue eyes.

“I did come, Case, but you and your daddy weren’t here when I came,” I replied, bending down to be at her level. This just gave her access to my neck, so she threw her bony arms around my neck and squeezed me with all her might.

“I miss you,” she said.

“Aww, I missed you too sweetie,” I cooed.

Right then, Mr. Patterson walked over to us, rubbing his hands on a dish cloth. “Hi Allegra. Good to see you.”

“Hey Mr. P,” I said smiling at him. “How are you?”

“Good. Trying to keep this munchkin away from my stove,” he said, looking at Cassie.

“Did she try helping you cook again?” I asked, letting out a sigh and glancing over at Cassie.

She had been staring googly-eyed at Nick until she heard us talking about her. “But I wasn’t doing anything bad,” she pouted, thinking we had been reprimanding her.

“Case, what did we talk about? You know it’s not safe for you to be in here when Mr. P is cooking,” I told her softly. She huffed softly and turned back to look at Nick. I had completely forgotten about him, but he was watching the scene before him with an amused smirk on his face. “Jeez, where are my manners? Mr. P, this is Nick,” I introduced.

As Mr. P and Nick shook hands, I felt Cassie tugging on my hand. I bent down to her level and she whispered, “Legra is Nick your boyfriend?”

I practically choked on my own spit, knowing that Cassie’s “whisper” had been heard by everyone else. I shook my head profusely, hoping that no one called me out on my flaming cheeks. Cassie’s grin widened as she turned back to Nick. With a grin pulling at his lips, he bent down to her level. “Hey cutie. What’s your name?” he asked.

“Cassie,” she replied, grinning broadly at him. That girl is shameless. She’s five and flirting with Nick!

“Well, hey Cassie. I’m Nick,” he said, sticking his hand out to shake hers.

Instead, she threw her arms around his neck as well and said, “I know.” He patted her back awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He sent me a pleading look and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Case, I think Nick needs to breathe,” I said, pulling her back. She let go of her hold on his neck, only to wrap her tiny hands around one of his fingers and drag him out of the kitchen, talking a mile a minute. I giggled to myself before turning back to Mr. P. “Need any help?” I asked.

“No thanks. Why don’t you go into the play room? We have some new kids who could really use the warming affects of you smile.” I laughed at his compliment before leaving to find the kids room. When I got there, the first thing I saw was Nick sitting in a tiny wooden chair with Cassie sitting in his lap, talking his ear off. I was expecting him to look uncomfortable at being surrounded by a dozen homeless children, but he was smiling and laughing at something Cassie was telling him. The sight tugged at my heart in a funny way.

As soon as my full body came into view, Tommy, another regular at the shelter came bounding towards me. “Hey Legra,” he said, batting his eyelashes at me.

“Hey Tommy,” I said, scooping him up and hugging him tight. Tommy was four years old and had been at the shelter for almost four months now. He and his mom were regulars here, leaving every other week because his mom said she had a prospective job lined up, but it never worked out and they would always be back here. They were like permanent residents at the shelter. When they first got here, Tommy had been so skinny and frail that I had to leave the room so that I wouldn’t scare the kids with my tears. I felt so bad for him after Mrs. P told me his story and decided to take him under my wing. He was such a sweet kid, it was impossible not to be enamored with him. “How you doing big guy?” I questioned, setting him on my right hip.

“Good,” he chirped. “I played wit Tim and we played pirates but he found the gold and no give me none so I drawed a picture,” he said, his green eyes shining with excitement.

“Really? A picture! Can I see?” I asked excitedly.

He nodded his head enthusiastically and squirmed out of my hold. He took my hand in his and led me to the drawing corner. “Aww, is this you with Spot?” I asked. Spot was the shelter pet. He was a two year old Dalmatian and all the kids loved him.

“Mhm. He lick my face,” Tommy added with a giggle.

“Yea, he likes to do that a lot doesn’t he. I bet it tickled,” I said, poking Tommy’s nose. He giggled as he nodded his head in response. I couldn’t help but laugh at his infectious giggle.

In the middle of my moment with Tommy, Cassie came bounding over, dragging Nick with her. “Legra is it story time yet?” she asked.

Tommy’s eyes brightened. “Story time!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands excitedly.

I smiled brightly at them and said, “I guess its story time.” Cassie and Tommy bounded off to gather all the kids around the reading carpet. I stared adoringly at them. I was such a sucker for kids. And knowing that these kids’ lives weren’t as good as mine made me want to give them as much attention as possible.

As I watched Cassie coax a few of the new kids into joining story time, I got the feeling that someone was watching me and realized that it was probably Nick. When I looked at him, he was looking at me with a look I couldn’t place. It was as if he was analyzing me, but he was smiling softly at me. I looked away quickly and cleared my throat. “Uhm, do you want to read today?” I asked, stuttering twice through the question.

“Sure,” he replied with a simple smile. He walked over to the carpet and pulled up a chair. I let out a shaky breath before walking over to the group that had gathered.

“Okay, why don’t we let one of the new kids pick today’s story?” I asked. I glanced at a little girl I hadn’t seen before and walked over to her. “What’s your name sweetie?” I asked her.
“Cynthia,” she whispered bashfully.

“That’s cute. Do you want to go pick a story for Nick to read?” I asked her. She nodded her head softly before going over to the small collection of children’s books on the wall and picking the first one she saw. She came back and handed it to Nick before going to sit down in her spot. She seemed to be uncomfortable, so I sat next to her and opened my arms, silently asking if she wanted to sit in my lap. She crawled over to me and situated herself in a comfortable position. I wrapped my arms loosely around her small frame and stared up at Nick. He was looking at me with that look again, but realized that everyone was waiting for him to start.

I allowed my thoughts to drift as he read about a very hungry caterpillar. When I agreed to let Nick come along, I had expected him to be turned off by the gruff appearance of the shelter. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson ran this place out of the kindness of their hearts, so it wasn’t like it was a ritzy place. But it gave people a place to sleep at night and a warm meal. Knowing that Nick probably lived in a giant mansion, I expected him to go through the motions of being here. But he really surprised me. Not once had I seen him make a disgusted face at what he saw. And he was bringing a smile to these kids’ faces.

A part of the dislike I held for him slowly chipped away, leaving me more confused about how I should act around him. The Nick Jonas that pranced around campus, picking on people would never actually be here, reading a story to homeless kids. No, that Nick Jonas would be sitting at Derfs, playing foosball with his buddies or making out with his queen bee girlfriend.

So who was the real Nick Jonas?

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

It was almost 9:30 when Nick and I got back to campus. I parked in my parking spot outside of my dorm and got out of my car, Nick doing the same. After story time, we played a bit more with the kids before heading into the kitchen to help Mr. P set up the dinner buffet. Then we helped serve dinner. After that, Nick talked a bit with Mr. and Mrs. P while I did my nightly routine—going around and asking any of the adults if they needed anything, telling some of the kids a bed time story, and tucking Tommy in. The drive back to school was quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

It wasn’t until we reached the entrance of my dorm building that I realized that Nick had walked me from my car. We both stopped in front of the door and turned towards each other. I was still confused as to how I should act around him, and he didn’t seem any better off.

“Uh, thanks for letting me come today,” he said in a soft voice.

I nodded my head and in an equally as soft voice replied, “Thank you for offering to come.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“No really. You did good. All the kids loved you,” I added. I don’t think he understood the difference he made in their lives by spending a few hours with them.

A tiny smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “They were really cute. I loved hanging out with them.”

I cocked my head and stared at him in thought. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but I never would have pegged you as the type of guy that’s good with kids.”

He chuckled softly. “I have an eight year old brother. I’m a pro at handling kids,” he said. Thankfully he wasn’t offended by my comment.

I, however, didn’t know how to respond to that. I stood there, nodding like an idiot, trying not to look into his eyes. I knew the second I did that I would convince myself he wasn’t a bad guy and let my wall crumble. And I couldn’t let that happen.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow?”

“Yea,” I said letting out a small breath, thankful that he was taking the initiative to leave.

“Goodnight Allegra.”

“Goodnight Nick.” With a small smile and a wave, he turned around and walked down the walk towards his dorm.