Because of a Song

Getting up the next morning was hard. Getting myself to school was another issue altogether. It took all I had in me to not just stay in bed and mope all day long until my mom would eventually yell at me and force me to go to school the next day so she wouldn’t have to put up with me for another day. I contemplated my choices, a) go to school and face ridicule for the whole situation, or b) stay home and have my mom yell at me all day. I sighed and sat up in my bed, deciding that going to school would probably be the best option.

Although I was somewhat popular at school, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that after Joe broke up with me, I wouldn’t be so popular anymore. It wasn’t the fact that Joe was my (ex)boyfriend. In fact, no one knew exactly who my (ex)boyfriend is was. All they knew was that he wasn’t from around our town, that his name was Joe, and that we’d been going out for three years. The only person who knew the real truth (besides my family) was my best friend, Natalie. With her medium-length chestnut brown hair and golden-brown eyes, she wasn’t exactly anything far from ordinary, yet she was still as gorgeous as ever. Sometimes, and I hate this about myself, I envy her for her looks. On a regular day, she has at least 4 guys smile or wink at her. She naturally giggles, being the girl she is, but doesn’t really pay much attention to it afterwards. She was the first one to know about Joe and I, so I figured it would only be fair to tell her about the breakup first.

When I walked into the tall school building, I quickly scanned the area and spotted Natalie standing over by the vending machines, currently purchasing what looked to be a candy bar. Upon further inspection, I found that it was, in fact, a Hershey’s candy bar. “Natalie, why do you always insist on skipping breakfast and then buying chocolate at school? You know that’s not good for you,” I reasoned.

She just rolled her eyes at me. “Seriously, Lauren? What do you expect me to eat? Bran flakes and flax pancakes? You know what the food choices are at my house. I’ve got the health-nut mother and the allergic-to-everything-under-the-sun father.”

“It’s called toast and juice, Nat. You put the bread in the toaster, and when it pops up you eat it. It only takes, like, 5 minutes out of your ‘precious’ sleep time.”

Natalie stuck her tongue out at me. “Well, sorry for wanting to sleep in, Miss I-get-up-10-minutes-early-because-I-can’t-wait-for-the-day-to-start. WOW, that’s a long name,” She laughed and looked up at me. “So, besides scrutinizing me for my breakfast choices, what’s up?”

“Well,” I started, suddenly feeling embarrassed and looking down, “JoeandIbrokeup,” I said in a hurry, hoping Natalie wouldn’t hear it.

Too late. “YOU WHAT?!” she screamed.

“Geez, Nat! Scream a little louder, will you? I don’t think the pigs at the McFarland’s farm heard you!”

“Oh, Lauren. You’re so silly. The McFarland’s keep their pigs in their barn, and the barn doors are always closed, therefore the pigs obviously didn’t hear me,” she stated, somehow managing to keep a straight face in the process.

I tried, but couldn’t do the same. A grin suddenly spread across my face like a wildfire burning a forest. A suppressed giggle escaped my pouty pink lips. “But, yes. We did break up.” I then proceeded to tell her the whole story. About how Joe said that he wasn’t ready for a serious relationship, then all of a sudden got a new girlfriend. About how I overreacted at first, but then apologized. About the things he said to me and how much they hurt me. About--everything. Everything that I was feeling, thinking, just--everything. “Besides,” I concluded, “I’m better off without him. I think those obsessive fan-girls finally got to his head. But what hurts me the most is that he’s right. Why did we spend three whole years together? I guess it’s just three years I’ll never get back, huh?”

“Yep. But I’m here! And I’ll always be here, Laur. Please know that. I love you to death, babe. And I bet your mom said this already, but I never ever would have thought Joe to be like this. All the stories you told me, all the good times, all down the drain in one whole week? Just like that? It’s hard to believe.” She reached around my shoulders and hugged me. I thanked her, telling her that the gesture really meant a lot. She smiled and said, “You’re welcome. Just remember, he may be acting like an asshole right now, but there were also good times, you know? Somewhere inside of him that utterly sweet guy is still there. I know it.”

I sighed, a flashback of when we first met coming back to me.

I tapped my foot, waiting patiently for the line to move up. I glanced around, noticing that there were thousands of people strolling around in the fairgrounds, and crowds of people waiting to get in. It was the weekend of the annual Fun Fest in Tennessee. An estimated 135,000 people were supposed to be here, myself included. There were hundreds of booths set up, ranging from games to food to arts and crafts. The fairground was the largest in all of the state, therefore being the reason the festival was held there. Natalie had called me 30 minutes prior to me leaving for the fairgrounds, cancelling our plans to go together because she had a piano recital to go to. I was sad, but I decided that going without her wouldn’t be too big of an ordeal, and I told my parents that I still wanted to go. So I told Natalie good luck and off we went.

The day went by pretty fast, a blur of eating funnel cakes and making cookies and masks to wear for special occasions, preferably Halloween. I was feeling bored, so I told my parents I was going to walk over to the shooting game booth. I sat down in a cushioned seat and smiled up at the booth operator. “One game, please,” I said, handing the girl a dollar.

“Sure thing,” she replied and continued to tell me how to play the game.

After the game was over and I was about to leave, I heard a voice behind me. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing sitting at the game booth alone?”

I turned around and squinted my eyes from the sun, noticing a somewhat tall guy who looked around my age, 15, staring back at me. He had black hair, and, from what I could tell, brown eyes. He was smiling at me, his white teeth gleaming.

I laughed at his cheesy pick up line, then replied, “I don’t know. What’s a cute guy like you doing standing there and using a tacky pick up line on a girl?”

He laughed a melodious laugh and sat down in the seat next to mine. “I don’t know either. But it worked didn’t it?” He smiled at me, making my cheeks warm.

“Yeah, it did,” I replied.

“I bet I can beat you at this game. I’m the master!” He gave me a cheeky grin, and I laughed.

“You’re on.” I got out two dollar bills and handed them to the girl.

But the mysterious boy, who I realized I did not know the name of, gave me a look and turned to the girl. “No, I’ll pay,” he said and grabbed my money from the girl and handing it back to me before placing two of his own dollar bills in the girl’s hand.

I sighed. “Alright. Let’s go, buddy boy!” The girl started the game and I aimed my gun at the target and shot, hitting the middle perfectly. “Yeah! That’s right!” I yelled.

“Whatever,” the boy scoffed.

I looked over at him and saw that his score was 120. I looked up at mine. 130. Dang! I thought. I’ve got to get farther ahead! I put myself into high gear and hit the target multiple times. I got into it and before I knew it, the buzzer was going off, signaling the end of the game. My scoreboard read 410. His read 390. I glanced over at him. “And that, my friend, is how it’s done,” I said, smiling in defeat.

“Alright, alright,” he stated. “You won fair and square. Congrats,” he said, holding out his hand.

I shook it, feeling the vibrations flow through my body when we touched.

“Hey, I’ve got to go, but promise me this: you’ll come to the stage at 4:00. Alright?”

His smile was what got me. It was too flawless for me to not want to go. “Alright,” I agreed.

“I’ll see you then,” he said.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Wait!” he called.

I turned around. “Yeah?” I called.

“Your name. What’s your name?”

I laughed. “It’s Lauren.”

He just smiled at me.

I waited until 3:50 and then headed over towards the stage, where all the music was being played. I searched around for the mysterious stranger and realized that, again, I had forgotten to get his name. I silently cursed myself for forgetting and continued searching. He was nowhere in sight. Before I had the chance to walk away to search farther away from the stage, the announcer came on. “Ladies and gentleman, our next guests come to us from New Jersey. Please welcome, the Jonas Brothers!”

The Jonas Brothers? Who are they? Suddenly the came out on stage. They were definitely brothers, that’s for sure. The oldest spoke first. “Hey, I’m Kevin and thank you all for coming out here today. We really appreciate it.”

The youngest stepped up next. “Hi, I’m Nick, and it’s truly a pleasure to be playing for you guys. I hope you enjoy our music.”

Then the middle one stepped forward. It was him. The guy who I played the shooting game with. I felt my mouth fall open. No wonder he wasn’t out here in the audience. He was up there! On the stage! “Hey, I’m Joe. I hope you guys are having a wonderful time here. I know I am,” he said, smiling that now infamous smile. “This first song is dedicated to a girl who I just met today who I can’t get off my mind. Lauren? This one’s for you.” I smiled, unbelieving of what was happening. I just continued staring up at the boy Joe. Joe. Joe. Oh, how I suddenly loved that name.

They come and go but they don't know
That you are my beautiful

I try to come closer with you
But they all say we won't make it through

But I'll be there forever
You will see that it's better
All our hopes and our dreams will come true
I will not disappoint you
I'll be right there for you 'til the end
The end of time
Please be mine

I'm in and out of love with you
Trying to find if it's really true
oh no no no no
How can I prove my love
If they all think I'm not good enough

But I'll be there forever
You will see that it's better
All our hopes and our dreams will come true
I will not disappoint you
I will be right there for you 'til the end
The end of time
Please be mine

I can't stop the rain from falling
Can't stop my heart from calling you
It's calling you
I can't stop the rain from falling
Can't stop my heart from calling you
It's calling you
I can't stop the rain from falling
Can't stop my heart from calling you
It's calling you

But I'll be there forever
You will see that it's better
All our hopes and our dreams will come true
I will not disappoint you
I will be right there for you 'til the end
The end of time
Please be mine

When the song was over, Joe spoke into the microphone. “THANK YOU GUYS! If you liked the song, feel free to check out our album, which is coming out August 8th.” Joe and his brothers walked off the stage and all the people around me were screaming.

I walked out of the crowd and over to where Joe was drinking out of a bottle of water. “That was--amazing,” I said.

He turned to me. “Thanks. It’s true what I said, you know. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I felt myself blush. “Well, ditto,” I laughed.

“I know it’s kind of soon, but can I have your number?” he asked shyly.

“Definitely,” I replied and wrote down my number on a piece of paper that was lying on the table next to the water jug. “Here,” I said, and handed him the piece of paper.

“Thanks,” he replied while smiling at me. “I’ll call you.”

And he did.