American Girl: Can't I Just Be Chloe?

On the 4th, I did not go over to see the Jonas family, but on the 5th I did. I decided to go out and see Kevin. Not only did I intend on wishing him and the triplets a happy birthday, but I also wanted to find out from Betsy whether her cousins intended on coming out here to California. I hoped they were because then I could put my plan into action. In order for my plan to work, I was going to need Betsy’s cousins to help me bring Frankie to the realization that I was in love with him. So, no matter what Frankie wanted, I had to go over there to see the others. It wasn’t like I had ceased being friends with all of the others, just Frankie. If I’ve said once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I’m just as close to Nick as I am to Frankie. Therefore, Frankie can’t exactly tell me that I can’t see him ever again because I’m still friends with his older brothers; Frankie must realize that and understand that he’s not going to be able to get rid of me that easily, as easily as he thinks.

I walked over to the Jonas/Geiger camp and knocked on the door. Fortunately, for my sake, it was not Frankie that opened the door; it was Joe. When he saw me, he warned me of something that I obviously needed to know. “Chloe, I thought that you weren’t to come near Frankie. He’s here. You know that. We always get together on birthday, particularly Kevin’s and the triplets’. November 5th holds a special meaning to this family because Panda died giving birth to Jason. So, if you’re going to be here, you’ll have to be extremely careful about running into Frankie. He’ll flip if he sees that you’re here to see us.”

“Is Icky Vicky here?”

Joe shrugged and let me come into his brother’s house. “I haven’t seen her, but she might. Frankie could have brought her here. I don’t know. According to what Lizard told me, Frankie and Victoria showed up yesterday and the triplets took an immediate dislike to her. All three don’t like her, but Madison hates her the most. Just before Frankie left, young Maddie warned her youngest uncle that she did not want Victoria to be here. I don’t know if he listened, but, if he did, you will have to thank Madison for what she did.”

“Okay,” I said. I glanced over at Kevanda’s only daughter, knowing that I would have to thank her if she was able to convince Frankie that Victoria should not be here. I then left Joe—who went to see how Kyra was doing—and went to find Betsy, hoping that she had returned from the hospital already along with baby Greg. I’m not really sure if they were; no one mentioned a time to me. So, I would have to walk around and find out. I sighed and began looking to see if I could find Betsy. I couldn’t and assumed that Betsy and Greg had not gotten back from the hospital quite yet. That meant that Teddy was probably on his way over to go get her and that Kevin and the triplets technically had the house to themselves for a little bit longer; the only ones here seemed to be me and the Jonas family.

Nick was the next Jonas to approach me; I would have taken either him or Kevin, not wanting Frankie to see me since I refused to speak to him after everything he was putting me through. “Couldn’t stay away from the Jonas family, huh?” he asked when he saw me.

I shrugged. “You guys are still my friends. The only one I’m really angry with is Frankie. Everyone else I can stand. So, I came to wish the triplets and Kevin a happy birthday. I’ve done so every year and I’m not about to stop now, after Frankie refuses to be friends with me. Frankie just doesn’t seem to understand the truth; I won’t say it in case Frankie should walk over here, but you know what it is. And, you know how much I’ve tortured myself in contemplating to tell him; for two years, you and Kevin pestered me constantly about telling Frankie of this secret. I never could and lost him as a result of that. Now, he’s not in the mood to see me; I don’t think he ever will. But, you and your older brothers are.”

“So, you’re gambling here and ultimately counting on the fact that Frankie isn’t going to realize that you’re here to wish Kevin and his kids a happy birthday?” Nick asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“Then you have a problem,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Frankie knows you’re here. Turn around a take a look. You’ll soon see that Frankie is just behind you. And, from the looks of it, he seems extremely pissed that you’re here.”

I rolled my eyes and turned around. Sure enough, there Frankie was, looking pissed. I knew that I was in trouble for being here. Through the conversation I heard between him and Betsy, I knew perfectly well that Frankie was not in the mood to see me. He quoted Take a Breath two days ago, claiming that Victoria changed him, that this Video Girl forced him to change and break his promise to me. Great! Now I’m going to have to keep quiet and prove to Frankie that I’m not about to speak to him after all that he’s put me through since bringing Victoria home with him three weeks ago. Okay, Chloe, here goes. Here’s your chance to prove to Frankie that you will stay true to your word.

Frankie came over, his hands on his hips. “Chloe! Didn’t Betsy tell you that I don’t want to see you ever again? I thought I made it clear that People change and promises are broken. You and I are no longer friends anymore. So, why the hell are you even here?” he asked.

I’m sure that Frankie was expecting me to answer him. Well, boy was he in for a surprise. I am not about to break my silence when he refuses to listen to me about all of this. That boy broke my heart. It’s in pieces, shattered forever. I know for a fact that no one will be able to mend it. Not that anyone will know though. Frankie doesn’t exactly know that he did this to me. He’s been oblivious to the truth ever since his second niece was born. So, I turned my nose up at him and walked away, not caring what he was about to do.

As I left, I could hear Nick talking to Frankie. “Why’d you do that, Frankie? Didn’t Joe tell you that Chloe has refused to speak to you? And, you can’t exactly tell her to stay away from us. Mom and Dad love her. Everyone does. Just because you no longer want to be friends with her doesn’t mean that we can’t. Plus, even the kids like hanging out with her.”

“Whatever!” Frankie said.

Once I heard that, I left and went to find Kevin. He was the only Jonas I hadn’t found. The thing was that he was the one I needed to find since he was the one that I came over here for. I walked out to the backyard and suddenly found Kevin. He was sitting in a chair, his head in his hands. Remembering what day today was, I went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Kevin, I know you’re upset over the fact that Amanda hasn’t been around in seven years, but you can’t keep sulking over it every birthday you have. Amanda gave you three beautiful children to remind you of her and her memory lives on in them. And, she never wished for you to sulk on your birthday over her death. I know she wouldn’t want that to happen, no matter how much she meant to you.”

“How would you know that?” he asked.

Since I couldn’t exactly tell Kevin how I knew that without revealing Frankie’s secret knowledge of Betsy being able to see ghosts, I kept quiet. No matter how angry I am at Frankie, I am not about to spill his secret. I sighed. “No reason, Kevin. Now, why don’t you come inside and spend time with your kids on their birthday? If their mother isn’t here to help them celebrate, their father at least should be. And, Betsy should be back soon along with their cousin,” I said, my hand still resting on Kevin’s shoulder at the moment.

“I’ll be in shortly,” he said.

“Okay,” I shrugged. I went back inside only to find Garrett and Jason arguing. That sight really wasn’t a huge surprise; Garret and Madison are always picking fights with Jason. They really do seem to hate him. It is as if they know that Jason was the reason that Amanda died. It’s possible since they’re triplets. I pulled Garrett off of Jason and eyed him. “Do I have to tell your father what you’ve been doing to your brother?” I asked.

“Dad isn’t going to be able to do anything though,” Jason complained. “He always seems to spend our birthday away from us. It was seven years ago today, the very same day that Aunt Lizzie told us our mother died. She showed us a picture of the tombstone last year when Dad refused to let us go with her, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Nick to where she’s buried and we understood why Dad doesn’t like being around us. That’s why we don’t really bother him that much on our birthday; we usually ask Aunt Lizzie for things on our birthday. If anything, you should try telling her what Garrett is doing to me.”

“That isn’t going to work!” Garrett retorted.

“Why not?” Jason asked.

“Because Aunt Lizzie still isn’t back home. Uncle Teddy left twenty minutes ago and still hasn’t come back. So, Aunt Lizzie and Greg can’t have gotten back yet. Too bad, Jason. I guess you’re just going to have to deal with me torturing you some more,” Garrett said.

“No he won’t,” I said. “Everyone else may be busy, but I’m not. Garrett, you’re not allowed to keep doing this to Jason. He doesn’t deserve it and you know it. And, I will tell Betsy what you’ve been doing. You’re not going to go unpunished for torturing your brother like that.”

“We’ll see,” Garrett grumbled.

“Yes, we will,” I said.

Tedsy and Greg got back fifteen minutes later and, just as I warned Garrett, I went to tell Betsy what her nephew had been doing. Garrett was not about to get away with bullying his younger brother. “Hey, Betsy,” I said when she came in, “I think you need to go have a little talk to your nephew. He’s pestering his younger brother and I really don’t think that Jason appreciates that very much. You’re going to have to deal with that since Kevin is kind of busy at that moment, upset over Amanda not being here with you guys anymore.”

Betsy nodded and shot a look at her nephew. “I’ll take care of it. And, the thing is,” she said, handing Greg over to Teddy and walking over to her nephew, “Garrett knows better. He’s done this at least twice already. This time though Madison wasn’t helping him.” She turned to Garrett. “So, why’d you do it this time, Garrett? What’s your problem with Jason?”

“What do you care, Aunt Lizzie?” Garrett asked. “You’re okay with what happened. I don’t see how since she was your sister. You should be more upset over all of this than Dad.”

“Oh, that’s why,” Betsy knew.

I knew what Garrett was talking about as well. Hell, it was obvious. Garrett was upset over Amanda’s death. Seven was supposed to be a lucky number, but I suppose it was Garrett’s time to be upset over Amanda’s death. Madison, I remember, went through that two years ago and she was over it. Garrett was now going through that. Jason, I suspected, was probably going to deal with it on his own throughout his life. The fact was that everyone knew that. Betsy and Joe were more known for saying that since they were closer to Jason. So, everyone was expecting see Jason deal with his mother’s death for far longer than Garret or Madison ever had to. Jason had more time to bond with his mother than any of them and was closest to her. Nothing was ever going to change the fact that Amanda would always be a part of who he was and that he was going to miss her as much as Kevin did.

While I was thinking about all of this, thoughts of my own mother began to seep in as well. Memories of when my mother was actually around during my life. It made me think of how much I needed my mother back out here in California. Mom spent so much of her time working that I don’t even think she knows me anymore. She’s a workaholic and everyone knows it. The only thing I really have to look forward to is the fact that my mother’s term could possibly end on Tuesday. That’s Election Day and my mother is up for re-election this year. So, I may get my mother back in my life if she should lose the election. Not that I believe she is going to. Mom has done a lot in getting bills passed and I am sure that people will vote for her to remain in office. As for Betsy, Teddy, and the Jonas family—excluding Frankie since he isn’t exactly of voting age—I wasn’t sure whether they’d be voting for my mom. They know how much I miss having her around, but they’re also aware of how much good she’s done over the years, things to help California. So, I don’t know whether I really am going to see my mother anytime soon. I can’t be sure.

Things were not going to be easy for me if it turned out that my mother was going to get another term in office. After all, things were only going to get more complicated for me as time passed because of Frankie. It was only a matter of time. Victoria was going to kick it up a notch and come up with a surefire way to keep me away from Frankie. The moment she realized that Frankie was making contact with me, despite her wishes—and Frankie’s—she was going to try to drive me away from him. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew she would. I sighed and went to find Nick or Joe, hoping that they might know if Victoria was going to try and do something to get Frankie out of here. I found Nick. “Hey, Nick,” I asked, “do you know whether Victoria is going to try and pull Frankie away from the party? I may not be speaking to him, but I do want him to be around, which he might not if Victoria should have her way in me not being near him anymore.”

Nick shrugged. “You know, I really don’t know. Victoria does want her away and will probably stop at nothing in order to get it. I know she’s not coming over because of Madison, but I’m sure that Frankie will be expecting a phone call that will pull him out of here.”

As if on cue, I heard Frankie’s phone ring. I rolled my eyes as I saw that and knew exactly what I had to do right now. “I’m getting out of here,” I told Nick. “Inform the others of this, Betsy especially. She’s been helping me come up with a way to deal with all of this and I never did get the chance to ask her if her cousins would be coming out here to California to help us convince Frankie how much of a Video Girl Victoria really is.”

“Okay,” Nick nodded. “I will.”

“Thanks,” I said, leaving the Jonas/Geiger home. I really wish I could have stayed, but things really were getting harder for me to handle. Frankie disappears all the time to spend time with Victoria, he broke a promise to me, and ultimately broke my heart. I knew that I was going to get over Frankie; he was dating Video Girl and, right now, there was really nothing that I could do about it, no matter how much I didn’t like her.

When I walked into my house, it wasn’t two minutes before I heard my father call my name. “Chloe! I need you to get in here. There’s something that you need to hear about.”

“What for?” I asked.

“Just come in here,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and headed over to where my father was, knowing that he was going to force me to come in there no matter what. It was better for me to just come. When I come in, my jaw dropped. It was evitable because I did not expect to see my mother standing in front of me. “Mom, what in the world are you doing here?” I asked her.