American Girl: Can't I Just Be Chloe?

While everyone else was busy congratulating Betsy and Teddy on the birth of their son, I could only think about what Frankie said to Betsy. People change and promises are broken. That was a quote from Take a Breath, one of the songs the brothers only released on the special Bonus Jonas edition of their Jonas Brothers album. Why would he say that? Why would Frankie quote that song? And, why would he cut off all contact with me?

Tears were streaming nonstop as I thought about what Frankie told Betsy. Frankie didn’t want to be my friend anymore when the only reason that I hated Victoria was because I was in love with him. He would never understand that. All Frankie seemed to care about right now was Icky Vicky. I sighed and remembered a few years ago when Frankie and I made the promise to never get jealous of each other dating and always remaining friends.

Frankie and I had been friends for only a couple months. And, as of right now, I was sitting next to Frankie at Amanda’s funeral. Though I hadn’t really met Amanda, it still made sense for me to go pay my respects. Amanda was at the private concert I attended that caused me to first become friends with Frankie. So, I was going to be here to pay my respects and help Frankie get through this. I may be five months younger than him, but I was going to help him get over the fact that one of his brother’s loves was no longer of this world. Plus, I wanted to talk to him about something while we were here. It was something that was bugging me and I needed to talk to Frankie about this in order to allay my fear.

While Frankie’s brothers got up and began playing Eternity, I turned to face Frankie. “Hey, Tank, do you think Kevin is ever going to get over the fact that Amanda died and move on?”

Frankie shrugged. “Probably not. Amanda died on Kevin’s birthday while giving birth to his kids. So, Kevin may never be able to get over her death. But, if he did, I’m sure that Betsy would be upset about it since it was his sister that he married. Betsy is only sixteen at the moment and I heard them talking about Betsy’s being in Kevin’s custody until she’s eighteen because everyone in her family died; both her parents and now Amanda is gone.”

I then remembered something that Frankie mentioned to me a few weeks ago. It was when I first became friends with him that I was told about this. “And, isn’t Amanda’s ghost watching over all of them?” I asked in a whisper so that no one but Frankie could hear what I said. I was the only one who knew that he knew the Weimar girls’ secret and he was the only one who knew that I knew what was going on. So, we had to keep all of this quiet.

“Yeah, why?” he asked.

“Well, wouldn’t Amanda be jealous that she was gone, out of Kevin’s life and he moved on with his life? I’m sure she would,” I said, still whispering to my best friend about this.

“It’s possible. I really couldn’t say,” Frankie said. “We’ll just have to see what’s going to happen. Kevin just loved Amanda too much. They were meant to be. No one ever expected that she was going to die giving birth to Jason.” We each looked over at Betsy—crying as the brothers performed—who was holding Jason. It just wasn’t right for all of this to happen.

“You know, I wonder what would happen when each of us become old enough to date and get significant others,” I said. “Would we get jealous? And, would we even remain friends during whatever relationship we each pursue?” This had been bugging me for awhile and I wanted to figure all of this out. I needed to know what was going to happen.

“Not sure,” Frankie said.

“Well, I think we should promise each other that, no matter what, we’ll never get jealous of each other dating and that we’ll always be best friends. I know that I definitely don’t want to lose your friendship. Despite the fact that we’ve only been friends for a short period of time, I don’t want to lose it. Just because my mother was the only reason that you and I even met and became friends doesn’t mean that our friendship will have to end. We should always remain friends…no matter what happens later on in our lives,” I said.

Frankie nodded. “Okay.”

I could not believe that Frankie had changed so much that it caused that promise to be broken. There was absolutely no way in hell that I wanted to lose Frankie as a friend. Of course, he refused to even entertain the possibility that Victoria was lying to him. That never made any sense to me, particularly after the promise we made seven years ago at Amanda’s funeral. I know Frankie remembered that promise; it was the only reason he brought it up in front of Betsy. She was the only one that really knew of that promise since Frankie’s brothers were busy performing Eternity and Lovebug while we made the promise. That had to be why Frankie quoted Take a Breath; it was to remind Betsy of the promise he and I made seven years ago at her sister’s funeral. Either that, or Frankie knew that I was hiding out in the hospital room listening in on the conversation that he and Betsy were having. I didn’t exactly go back into the waiting room with Kevin. Therefore, Frankie could have assumed that I was in the hospital room while they were talking.

While I was going over all of this in my head, I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up and saw Nick standing there. “Chloe, what’s with you? You’re even more upset now that you were on October 17th when you discovered that Frankie had himself a girlfriend.”

Now was probably as good a time as any to tell him, Joe, and Kevin of the promise Frankie and I made seven years ago, a promise that was now broken because Frankie didn’t seem to understand how much I was in love with him. I sighed heavily and made arrangements so that I could tell all three of the Jonas Brothers what was going on and why I was so upset about what happened in Betsy’s hospital room. “Nick, go get your older brothers. If you want to know what’s going on, I think it best if all three of you hear it.”

“Okay,” Nick said uncertainly.

Despite the uncertainty I heard in his voice, Nick left to go get his brothers in order for me to tell them exactly what was going on that made me so upset. As he did so, I knew that Nick and Kevin were going to start lecturing me the moment they found out about all of this about how I should have told Frankie what was going on the moment I realized that I had fallen in love with him. Maybe I should have done as they asked me to do. The fact was that I would never know what might have happened. I will never know what might have happened if I told Frankie how much I loved him when I first realized it two years ago. Consequently, Victoria—the Video Girl—would probably never have been introduced to the Jonas family and I’d be dating Frankie right now. There would have been no need for the promise we made seven years ago because we wouldn’t have needed to be jealous.

Soon Nick, Joe, and Kevin returned to figure out what was going on. So, I recounted—going into excruciating detail—what was going on: what Frankie told Betsy and the promise that he was referring to. The guys’ jaws dropped when they heard my story. Nick was the first to speak after hearing my long, upsetting story. “You two made that promise at Manda’s funeral? Why didn’t anyone know about any of this?” he asked me.

“Because,” I shrugged, letting out a heavy sigh in the process. “I really never felt the need to tell you guys about any of this. Only Betsy knew about the promise Frankie and I made seven years ago at her sister’s funeral and that’s only because she was sitting right next to us when we made that promise. Otherwise, no one would have known what was going on. But, anyway, as I told you before, Frankie told Betsy in her hospital room that he no longer wished to be my friend anymore, quoting Take a Breath in the process. I swear, I wanted to go out there and confront him about what was said—using some very colorful language that I will not speak right now—in an attempt to find out if this was Victoria’s doing. And, if it turns out to be Icky Vicky who did this to me, I’m going to need your help to fix all of this, to prove to Frankie once and for all that Victoria is nothing more that a Video Girl. You three have got to help me with all of this. I’ve already got Betsy and her cousins helping me, but I need you three as well. You’re his brothers and you have to try to convince him that Victoria is nothing more than a Video Girl and that he has become another victim of the Video Girl Syndrome. He won’t listen to me.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”

“No!” I yelled, knowing that Kevin was only trying to get out of seeing Amanda’s cousins by talking to Frankie. Well, I was not about to let that happen. I was going to make sure that he saw the both of them. Kevin could not continue to avoid Amanda’s cousin merely because they reminded him so much of his dead wife. Plus, the fact was that their plan was probably the only thing that would work; Betsy’s cousins had a plan that might work and I was going to find out if their plan was viable enough to make Frankie jealous.

“Why not?” Kevin asked.

“Because,” I said, knowingly, “I plan on bringing Betsy’s cousins out here to help with this. If we don’t do that, Frankie could get suspicious of what we’re doing. I’m pretty sure that he barely met Zoe while she was here; he was kind of busy with Victoria. And, since her brother was out in South Carolina during the wedding, there’s no way that Frankie will ever suspect that we’re planning something to reveal the truth about what’s going on to him.”

“What do you need us for then?” Joe asked.

“Simple, dear Joe. I need the Jonas Brothers to perform Video Girl for me. We’re going to set up a function that Victoria is invited to where you guys play Video Girl and make Frankie realize what he did. Then, in order to annoy him and throw his quote of your song right back in his face, I’m going to make him jealous. Franklin Nathaniel Jonas is going to learn that I’m in love with him, but not from my mouth. He must realize it on his own. I was going to tell him what was going on three weeks ago, but your youngest brother introduced me to his girlfriend and I chickened out. After what he’s put me through, I am not about to tell him the truth; I won’t. So, you boys better make sure that the Bonus Jonas is made aware of all this because I sure as hell won’t tell him,” I said, storming off.

Since my best friend was not in the mood to see me, ever again, I was getting out of there. Frankie didn’t care about me anymore. All he cared about was the band and Icky Vicky. Ultimately, I was going to do everything in my power to try and help Frankie realize the truth. The difficult part, you ask? Simple. I’m not speaking to him. If he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, I’m not going to speak to him; he’s getting the silent treatment from me. Victoria was causing me to lose my best friend; she was causing the life I knew to shatter. Eventually, I knew Frankie’s soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend was going to try and contact my mother in order to get me to spend time with her rather than Frankie. All she wanted was fame, fortune, and Frankie all to herself. I was not about to stand for that though; I refused to let Victoria ruin the life I had created for myself when my mother became the Senator of California and flew out to Washington, D.C. for her work.

Little did Victoria know that all of that was going to backfire. My mother was going to remain in the nation’s capital, even during the holidays. I was sure of that. Dad and I both know not to expect Mom to be home for the holidays. We know. Betsy, Teddy, and the Jonas family know. Victoria doesn’t though. Hell, Victoria probably doesn’t even know what my last name is. She isn’t even going to bother getting to know me…merely because I happen to be—or was—Frankie’s best friend. Therefore, there is absolutely no way in hell that Victoria is going to be able to pull my mother away from her life to spend time with me and ultimately keep me away from Frankie so that she could have him to herself.