A Messed-Up Heart

Betsy and I sat around using the webcam all weekend to talk. When it came time for the live chat, both Betsy and I sat around on our computers set up to watch the live chat as well as hold a conversation of our own at the same time. Of course, when five o’clock came and the boys were not on, I turned to my sister, who I knew was with the boys. “Betsy, what’s going on over there? Why are the boys not on yet?” I asked my younger sister.

“I’m not sure,” Betsy said. “I’ll go find out.” She left the room for a minute to go chat with the boys. “They’re having trouble getting on. It’s not going to start for another half-hour.”

“With the millions of girls on here trying to get on to talk with the boys, I think that’s quite understandable. Us becoming friends with the boys after their last live chat set a whole new precedent. No one ever expected that something like that would ever happen. I don’t even think that the boys realized that it was going to happen. See, that must be the reason that every girl in the world is trying to get on; they all want their chance to do what we did by becoming friends with the Jonas Brothers. I guess I’ll jut have to wait for my chance to the boys for the first time since I got out of my coma earlier this month.”

“That’s why the chat is going on,” Betsy said. “They want their fans to see them. It just so happens that you’re one of them at the moment. So, how is everything going over there?”

“Very boring,” I replied.

“Why, because Mom and Dad aren’t there with you?” Betsy asked. “Well, I guess I can understand that logic since you’re legally not allowed to drive anywhere for the next six months. The rule about that always was that you had to seizure-free for six months in order to drive. That makes sense I suppose. You can’t drive right now because of the fact that you had a seizure a mere eighteen days ago. Therefore, you can’t really do anything so long as Mom and Dad plan on staying out on their Caribbean cruise until Valentine’s Day.”

“So you see my dilemma,” I said.

“Yeah,” Betsy replied. “I get what you’re saying. So, what’s going on out there? Have you spoken with any of our relatives since you’ve been back out there in Pennsylvania?”

I thought back on the past week, racking my brain for any memory of what my younger sister had asked me about to give her an answer. My mind soon wandered to the conversation that I had with our aunt a little earlier on in the week. “Aunt Charlene called a few days ago.”

“And what did she want?” Betsy asked.

“Oh, she wants us to come see Stefanie off as she heads out to Taiwan to be an artist-in-residence over there. As we haven’t seen them since Easter, I think that we should go. In fact, we haven’t even seen any of our family members—Mom and Dad aside—since last Easter,” I reminded Betsy. “We definitely need to go over there to see them.”

Betsy laughed. “All except Stephen, Erika, and Luis, remember? The last time we saw them was in late August when we stopped by in order to say goodbye to them before we headed out to California. While you and Kevin were out at Dorney Park, Joe, Nick, and I were with Steve, Erika, and Luis. Then you guys came, we all said goodbye, and flew out to California for awhile. You know, you’re right; we should definitely go see them.”

“Well, here’s the million-dollar question: how are we supposed to get over there, particularly after my seizure nearly three weeks ago?” I asked. “I sure as hell can’t think of anything.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Betsy said. “Now, hold on. I’m going to go see what the boys are doing and whether or not they getting ready to give the live chat yet.” She left momentarily to finding out what was going on. “They need two minutes. The boys are almost ready to get on. And, Nick wants to know one thing before they start the live chat starts: he wants to know if there’s anything that he can do in order to help us with our problem. Nick knows of the situation we’re in because of Allison and Zora; he’s willing to do anything he can in order to make up for what each of his elder brothers have done.”

I laughed. “Good old Saint Nick.”

“What is he, Santa Claus?” Bets asked.

“You know, he might as well be,” I explained. “He’s the only one that has been willing to help us through everything that has happened. Kevin and Joe are always off dealing with their own life right now, not to mention the fact that we’re also the boys’ exes.”

After I said that, the boys appeared on-screen to begin the live chat. Throughout the chat, Betsy and I made commentary about what was going on, particularly when the boys were asked who they wanted to win the Super Bowl. When the answer given was the Arizona Cardinals, I was the one to start with the commentary since I happened to be the one watching the Eagles play-off game. And, what was worse was the fact that they were losing. The boys’ answer only reaffirmed the fact that Allison and Zora had complete control over the boys. Otherwise, they might have said the Eagles, knowing that I was an Eagles fan. But, what caught my attention about all of this was the fact that the play-off game from today was a match-up of the game on Thanksgiving, the very day that Joe broke up with Betsy. Could that response have been payback for what happened between my younger sister and Joe? It was possible, but I couldn’t really be sure of any of that.

When the chat ended, I turned my attention to Betsy. I was quite upset with the boys at the moment, particularly since the Eagles lost. Sure it wasn’t the boys’ fault, but all three of them knew how big an Eagles fan I was. Hell, I was superstitious about them. Nick especially knew about that. He and I sat around watching the Eagles/Cowboys game the day before his birthday, a game I was quite upset with at the time since Dallas won. Pretty soon, I found that Nick had walked in to see what Betsy was up to. He had walked straight into the camera’s view. “Hey, Manda, everything going okay out there?” Nick asked.

“I’m just upset over the fact that all of this is happening,” I explained. “As time passes, I know that I’m losing Kevin and it bothers me. To a certain extent, Kevin knows that I’m still in love with him. But, so does Allison. It’s just getting harder and harder to deal with that.”

“Yeah, I feel that way too,” Betsy said.

“Did you notice that the play-off game today was the same match-up as the one on Thanksgiving? When it was mentioned that the boys wanted Arizona to win, it could have signified the end of Jetsy’s era and the true beginning of Jora,” I explained to my younger sister.

“Like he’s over me?” Betsy asked.

“He may,” I said.

“But…”

“I know, Betsy,” I interjected, holding up a hand to stop her. I then turned to face Nick in order to speak with him. “Nick, I need you to watch over my younger sister. Betsy is still in love with Joe; I know she is. You must remember that I went through the exact same thing a few months ago before having to fly back out here to Pennsylvania for awhile. Hell, I’m still dealing with the same problem because of Allison’s constant interference in my life. So, please watch over her for the time being. Make sure that Betsy is okay before you guys decide that you’re going to leave with Joe and Kevin for any reason.”

Nick nodded. “Sure. Anything else?”

“Yeah, make sure that she flies out here later on in the week. We’re going to see our cousin before she leaves for Taiwan. Neither of us ever got the chance to say goodbye to her the last time and we’d like to do so now, before she leaves the country for three months."

“I’ll see what I can do,” Nick said.

“Thanks,” I said. I closed the webcam window and sat down on the couch. As time passed, things were getting worse between us and the elder two Jonas boys. Allison’s and Zora’s influence over the boys could be felt. And, it was only a matter of time until Nick and everyone else was turned against us. I couldn’t let that happen; I couldn’t let Allison and Zora get their way, getting me and Betsy out of the Jonas Brothers’ lives.