World I Never Knew

Angela awoke with a start, gasping for air. She had had a nightmare about the day’s events. Looking to her left she saw the moon shining bright. She turned her attention to the foot of the bed where Joe sat, asleep in the chair. She gave a slight smile and pushed the covers off.

“Joe.” She whispered as she walked towards him. He stirred slightly but continued to sleep. “Joseph.”

“Mmm…” he groaned. She gently sat on his lap and stroked the hair out of his eyes. He yawned and slowly opened his eyes.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hey. You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a bad dream… a recap of the day.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Aw babe,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her forehead. “It’s alright now. I’ll get this straightened out in the interview later today.”

“I know you will.” She said with a sigh. “It’s just… really hard to get out of my mind. I hope I’ll be able to get used to it.”

“You shouldn’t get used to that kind of behavior though. That was ridiculous. You’ll just have to ignore that and start focusing on the nicer people.”

“Are there nicer people?”

“Of course they are. Not everyone is rude.” He said, poking her nose. She smiled and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Together they watched the moon and soon both fell asleep, Joe cradling Angela in his arms.

****

The next day, Joe, Kevin, and Nick traveled with Rob and their father to the radio station for their interview with Ryan Seacrest. Angela sat in the living room of the Jonas home with Denise, the only sound being the radio. Angela twisted her fingers nervously, waiting for Joe’s soothing voice to come through the speakers.

“Welcome back to the Top 20 Countdown. I’m Ryan Seacrest and here in the studio I have the Jonas Brothers; Kevin, Joe, and Nick. Good Morning boys, how are you?”

“Fine Ryan. Thanks.” Kevin said.

“So, let’s get to it…”

“Actually, Ryan.” Joe said, clearing his throat. “I already know you’re going to ask about this because everyone is curious so I just want to get this out straight right now before we continue with the interview. If that’s ok…”

“Of course. Go ahead, Joe.” Ryan said, sounding confused.

“Okay. Well, I know most of you have seen the tabloids hitting the newsstands. Most of these tabloids have a picture of a red-haired young woman shopping with my mother and sister-in-law. Her name is Angela Matthews. The reason why her face may look “weird” to all of you is because she suffered severe burns almost six years ago from a terrible fire. They cover the entire left half of her body.

“This is Angela’s first weekend out in the “real world”. When I met her she was a shut-in and had not had face-to-face contact for five years. When I was “missing” I was in Vermont. My car had broken down and my cell phone had died and the snow was falling rapidly. Angela’s house was my shelter, she was kind enough to let me stay with her. While I was there, Angela and I fell in love. That is why she is here now. I am publicly announcing that Angela Matthews is my girlfriend.”

“I’d just like to add that our entire family is very thankful to Angela for allowing Joe to stay with her and since she came back with Joe she has become part of our family.” Kevin added.

Angela looked up at Denise, tears falling down her face. Denise smiled at her as they continued to listen to the radio. They heard Ryan clear his throat and get ready to speak.

“Well… that was a little more than I was expecting.” He said. “That certainly does answer a lot of questions I had lined up.”

“There’s one more thing,” Nick said. “We’re going to be hosting a special charity concert in February. All proceeds will go to the local hospitals burn units. Our special guests at the concert will be the burn victims.”

“Did you know about this?” Angela asked Denise.

“I had no idea.” Denise said as the phone rang.

She stood up to answer it as Angela’s attention was drawn from the radio. She heard Denise muttering in the background but nothing else. She couldn’t help but wonder what Nick was talking about. It sounded like a wonderful idea but… she knew she’d have to be at this event. It would probably be the first public event she’d be at with Joe. That is, unless something was going on before that she didn’t know about.

“Angela,” Denise called from the kitchen.

“Yes?”

“Could you come here for a moment?” she asked and Angela rose from the couch. She entered the kitchen to see Denise sitting on one of the stools at the counter. Angela walked over and leaned her elbows on the countertop across from Denise.

“Who was that?”

“That was my husband. He pulled Nick aside during a break to ask what that was all about. No one knew about this idea Angela. Nick came up with it on the spot. Even Kevin and Joe were surprised but they showed no signs and went along smoothly. Angela… they’re doing this for you.” she said, whispering the last part.

****

“Mom! We’re home!” Nick called, closing the door behind his father and brothers. Angela heard and rushed down the stairs.

“Hey Ang,” Joe said with a smile, opening his arms wide. She rushed past him, a look of determination on her face, and wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck as he was trying to remove his hat.

“Whoa,” Nick said, stumbling backwards a little, his hands in the air, unsure as what to do. “What’s this for?”

“For the concert idea on the spot…” Angela mumbled into his shoulder, her arms still tight around his neck. He laughed shortly and wrapped his arms around her small frame. “Thank you.” she whispered.

“You’re welcome. Meeting you… has inspired me. It’s changed me. I have a new perspective on things. Some things that seemed so… dull, imperfect, or ugly at first glance are really very beautiful under the surface once you take the time to actually look at them.”

“Yeah… they really are.” Joe added, coming over and wrapping his arms around Angela’s waist.

“So when is this concert?” she asked, looking at the three brothers.

“We’re thinking Valentine’s Day.” Kevin answered. “We want you to do something there.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Write a speech. Talk about your experience.” Joe said.

“They’ll love it. They’ll love you.” Nick said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Okay… I’ll do my best.” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Awesome. Come on… I’m starving.” Joe said, leading her into the kitchen, placing a kiss on the top of her head on the way.