American Girl: Can't I Just Be Chloe?

The moment I saw Frankie kissing that blonde, I could already feel the tears forming. I was not about to let them fall though; there was no way in hell that I was going to let my best friend see me crying over the loss I had suffered. Since he didn’t know of my crush on him, Frankie would never know what I was sulking over. Everyone is right: Dad, Zoe, Betsy, and the brothers. They all told me that waiting would only cause me heartache. Well, they were right. I just lost my chance at dating my best friend and have to see him making-out with this blonde bimbo. That is not how I wanted to spend my day. I sighed and cleared my throat to make it known to Frankie that I was here, awaiting him to talk to me.

Frankie pulled away from his girlfriend and looked over at me. It was a wonder that my best friend even noticed me because he seemed much too busy and much too content sucking the face off this bimbo. “Hey, Chloe. I wondered when you were going to come out here. Since you’re my best friend, I wanted you to be the first one to meet my new girlfriend, Victoria.”

“Hi,” I said unenthusiastically. How could I be happy for Frankie when I wanted to be his girlfriend? And, Victoria? Why the hell would he ever want to date this bimbo? All she probably wanted to date him for was the fame. That made me sick. All Victoria would be was a Video Girl. I sighed and began questioning my best friend and what was going on, particularly how the two of them met. “So, Tank, how did you and Victoria meet?” I asked him, already suspecting that I knew what was going on and how my best friend met this bitch.

“Video shoot,” he said.

My jaw dropped when I heard this. She really was a Video Girl. I remember listening to the Jonas Brothers song all those years ago when it first came out and wondered if Frankie would ever have to deal with that. Apparently, he would because Victoria was here. “That’s nice,” I said. With that, I left Frankie and Victoria in the backyard and went inside. I went in and slumped down into a chair, letting the tears stream.

“What’s wrong?” Betsy asked.

“Video Girl,” I said through tears.

“Video Girl?” she asked.

I nodded. “I waited too long. My best friend has a girlfriend, someone he met while doing a video shoot. All I can think of is the Jonas Brothers song. I’m afraid of what might happen if Frankie should date her. At least, if I dated him, I wouldn’t be a Video Girl due to my status as his best friend. Now, can you go get Frankie’s brothers; I need to talk to them about what I discovered about my best friend’s love life and the girl he’s dating.”

“Sure,” she said.

While I waited for Betsy to return with Kevin, Joe, and Nick, Zoe came over to talk to me for awhile. “Does Frankie have a girlfriend?” she asked. “Is that why you weren’t able to tell him? You couldn’t have told Frankie what was going on in that short amount of time. That means that something must have happened to keep you from telling your best friend the truth about how you feel. Is Frankie really supposed to go on in life without knowing how you feel about him? That just doesn’t seem right. Hell, if I knew him better, I would tell him. I don’t though. As for my cousin and Frankie’s brothers, they can’t exactly tell Frankie what’s been going on for the past two years. You need to be the one to do that, Chloe. I may be twelve, but I know that you need to tell your best friend the truth in order for all of this to work out. When you saw Frankie’s girlfriend though, you chickened out and came back in here to avoid your best friend for the time being.”

“I know. But, I just can’t do it,” I replied.

“Why not?” Nick asked.

“Because he’s my best friend. I can’t bring myself to ruin his life because I want that to happen. He’s my best friend and I love him. And, no matter how much I don’t like his girlfriend, I’m willing to get along with her. I’m just going to have to deal with the fact that Frankie and I can never be,” I said, letting out an extremely heavy sigh. “But, I can tell you that I am afraid for Frankie and what that Video Girl bitch will do to him. When I first realized that they met on a video shoot, my immediate thought was Video Girl. I guess I hang out with you guys so much that all the Jonas Brothers songs are on the brain.”

“I did the same thing,” Kyra said, coming over.

“So did Amanda and me,” Betsy said.

“The curse of the Jonas boys,” I muttered.

“Curse?” Joe asked. “Who said we were a curse on your lives?” He kissed Kyra and turned to me, Zoe, and Betsy to ask what was going on. “Chloe, Zoe, Lizard, what are you guys talking about? We’re not a curse on your lives. We’re more like a blessing, particularly with Kiwi. I helped her escape her cruel, heartless step-mother and her half-siblings.”

Kyra laughed. “Joe, they’re talking about the fact that they seem to find connections to your songs in their lives. Ever since we each entered your lives, that’s all we’re been able to do: connect Jonas Brothers songs to our lives. For Betsy, it’s Can’t Have You. For Amanda, it was Lovebug. For me, it’s Gotta Find You. For Selena, it’s Inseparable. And, for Chloe, it’s Just Friends and Video Girl because of Frankie’s girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Joe said.

Betsy suddenly turned to Kevin. “Hey, Kevin, did you write a song for my sister? I asked you to do it and I am determined to see that happen. It’s been nearly seven years since her death and you still haven’t been able to get over it. Nor have you been able to write a song about it until now. So, can I see the song that you were supposed to have written by now?”

I smiled. I guess it was probably a good thing that I saw the song. He was able to write a very moving song about Amanda, one that proved that Kevin lost his true love nearly seven years ago. “Show her the song, Kevin. It’s about her sister anyway.” I didn’t mention that Kevin had tested the song out on Amanda’s mandolin. That was something that Kevin would have to tell Betsy. He probably wouldn’t since Betsy would only force him to play Lovebug then. “Go Kevin. Go get the song and your guitar. I think you should play the song for her. Betsy deserves to hear this. You know she does. No one has heard this song but you. Betsy should be the first to hear it. The fact that it’s her sister that the song was written about makes her the most important person to hear the song. That’s why I never asked you to play the song. I only looked over the lyrics you wrote for her.”

“So, he did write the song?” Betsy asked.

“Of course,” I replied.

“Good,” she said. “Now, Kevin. I do need to hear the song. It’s for my sister. I need to hear how you feel about my sister. So, get your guitar and play the song you wrote for me.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

As Kevin went to get the song and his guitar, Nick and Joe turned their attention to me and my problem. Nick seemed the most sympathetic about everything that happened. He is the most sensitive. I glanced over at Zoe. “Why, Zoe? Why did you force me to tell Frankie the truth? I was going to tell him today, but I couldn’t do it when I saw Victoria.”

“That’s her name?” Joe asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

He laughed. “Icky Vicky.”

Kyra and Betsy turned to him. “Joe!”

On the inside, I was laughing. Joe just made me feel a lot better. Just knowing that I could make fun of Frankie’s girlfriend when I wasn’t around her made me smile and happy for at least a moment. Frankie had no clue what he had done to me when he introduced Icky Vicky to me. He broke my heart. It tortured me to know that I wasn’t able to date the boy I fell in love with two years ago. Right now, I really needed my mother. I needed her to be here to help me through this. I knew she wouldn’t though. Once again, my mother was off in our nation’s capital trying to get some of her bills passed. She didn’t seem to care about me or what I was faced with. No, I had to turn to my father or friends for boy troubles. “Betsy, Kyra, I really wouldn’t yell at Joe for that. He made me laugh with that. And, as I’m sure you both know, I’m not the only one who will hate her. Denise will too.”

Nick nodded. “Video Girl, yeah.”

“Right. Now, do you think that there’s anyway for you guys to convince Frankie that Icky Vicky is only using him for the fame? If I tell Frankie, he’ll only assume that I’m jealous, which I am. Of course, he doesn’t exactly know that. Everyone knows but him. Icky Vicky will probably realize the truth as well and try to keep Frankie away from me,” I said.

“Video Girl would have to be played,” Zoe said, knowingly.

“Like you could do it though,” Selena said, coming over.

“What makes you say that?” Nick asked his wife.

“There’s no way that Frankie will listen to anything you guy have to say, particularly about relationship. Frankie isn’t like you three who went to each other for girl advice. The three of you also had an influence regarding who you each dated. Unfortunately, that’s just not so with Frankie’s; he’s thirteen years younger than Kevin, eleven years younger than Joe, and eight years younger than you, Nick. He didn’t really like girls until you guys were each married. Well, Joe and Nick at least. Kevin was widowed by that point because Amanda was gone,” Selena said. “He was and still is raising the Kevanda kids along with his sister-in-law.” Selena looked over at Betsy. “None of you really have any say in whatever relationship Frankie decides to pursue. If it’s a Video Girl, then so be it. And besides, I was in your Burning Up video eight years ago. That technically makes me a Video Girl as I’m sure you all should have remembered.”

“You’re different though,” Nick said. “You were at least famous before that song’s video premiered. Therefore, you are the one person that that song does not apply too. And, anyway, we’ve put Kiri and Beth into some of our videos. Beth in particularly. She’s been in every video in some way since Lovebug. She was in the ballroom scene. So was Manda. Actually, that’s the only video that we put Manda in since that happened to be her favorite song.”

Selena shrugged. “So, in order to not be considered a Video Girl, we had to have known you guys before we were asked to be in each of the videos, right?” she asked Nick.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“That’s why Victoria is Video Girl!” I exclaimed angrily. “I don’t exactly know why she’s dating Frankie, but I do know this: I will only be nice to that bimbo because of Frankie. He’s my best friend and I don’t think he would appreciate it very much if I despised his choice in girlfriend. Though you guys know how much I do, Frankie never will because he is too busy with Victoria to even notice how much I am in love with him.”

“Well, obviously,” Kevin said as he came in along with an acoustic guitar in hand. I knew he wouldn’t bring the mandolin. Apparently, I was the only one he would tell about the mandolin being taken out of its hiding spot, knowing that I wouldn’t tell anyone about what was going on. “Now, Betsy, since you’re being so persistent about all of this, it seems that I must play this for you. I really didn’t want to do this quite yet, but you brought it up. The song I wrote for your sister, by the way, is called A Mandolin’s Heart.”

Betsy laughed. “I suppose it figures.”

As Kevin played the song for all of us, particularly Betsy, I wondered whether Frankie truly did love Victoria. Maybe he did. The fact was that I couldn’t be sure of anything. Unless I asked Frankie what was going on, I was never going to find out what was going on with my best friend, particularly in his love life. Ugh! Here comes Frankie and the bimbo, I thought as they walked in. Kevin was still playing A Mandolin’s Heart for Betsy and I knew that Victoria would try to get in the video for this song, which I knew that Betsy would insist to be the lead single off their next album. There was no way that Betsy would let it go onto the album without it being a single and video put out. Of course, there was no way in hell that Victoria was going to be in this video; I wouldn’t allow it.

The song ended and, once Kevin put the guitar down, Betsy hugged Kevin. “That was beautiful, Kevin.” Then, she lowered her voice to a whisper so that no one could hear. I think everyone did…everyone but Victoria. She seemed a little too busy talking about herself to care about what Betsy was telling Kevin. “Amanda’s here and she loved the song.”

“That’s what Chloe told me,” Kevin said.

“Well, she’s right,” Betsy whispered. “Amanda is here. She’s been watching over us since the day she died. You, of all people, should know that, Kevin. There was really only one day in which she left you to see what Teddy and I were doing on our honeymoon.”

“Where is Teddy?” Kevin asked.

“Talking to your parents,” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

“I’ve been living with you guys since I was fifteen, remember? Teddy is only trying to get a sense of the type of person that I am when I’m not around him. Weird and random like Joe is my guess as to what they’ll say. They’ve lived with me for eight years. He’d ask you, but you and my sister’s kids will be living along with us because of my promise to you,” Betsy reminded him. “I swore that I was not going to leave you to raise Garrett, Madison, and Jason on your own; I agreed to help raise them at my sister’s behest.”

Kevin nodded. “I appreciate that, Betsy. That’s why you need to be in the video with me. I’ve already spoken to my brothers and they think that I need to sing this song on my own, for her. And, they already said that it has to be our first single off the new album. Ultimately, I need you in the video. It’s just going to be you and me in that video; Joe and Nick agreed to sit out for that video because of what this song means to me,” Kevin said.

“Can I be in that video?” Victoria asked, obviously not knowing what was going on or why only Betsy would be asked to help with this song. She knew nothing of the Jonas Brothers’ past, despite dating Frankie for his fame and to push her own career as well. I wish Frankie would have clued her in about this. My best friend, of course, wasn’t going to do that. He was too distracted by the blonde bimbo clinging tightly onto his arm. Victoria was still talking about all of this. “I’d absolutely love to be in a Jonas Brothers video.”

“No!” I yelled angrily. “You cannot be in that video, Victoria. You know why? It’s because you know nothing about the Jonas Brothers. I do though; I grew up with them…well, Frankie. I know that the song Kevin just played was written for his dead wife. Betsy is her younger sister, his sister-in-law. That’s the only reason Kevin asked the favor of her, because of who the song was written for. He never intended on casting a Video Girl to play Amanda. Pictures. That’s how Amanda will appear in the video alongside her sister and husband. Not you! So, don’t even try asking because I won’t let it happen.” Tears were forming in my eyes and I knew I had to hold them back or risk Victoria realizing that I was in love with my best friend. She especially couldn’t know what was going on. I turned to the others. “Bye guys. I’m going to get going. My dad would probably like to see right now and talk to me about what my mother’s doing right now.”

Everyone but Frankie turned to me. “Bye.”

Realizing that my best friend seemed more content with his blonde bimbo Video Girl girlfriend, Icky Vicky, I left without saying goodbye to my best friend. As I walked away, the tears began streaming down my face. It was tear-streaked when I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder and got turned around to see Frankie. “What the hell, Chloe? You don’t normally do that. What’s happened to you since Betsy’s wedding?” he asked.

The tears were still falling as I yelled at my best friend for being so oblivious to what was right in front of him for two long years. “You have no idea, Tank! And, the fact is that you will never know. You will never know…” I stormed off and headed home, still talking though, despite Frankie being unable to hear me. That was the way I wanted it because he wouldn’t be able to hear what I said next, when I confessed my undying love for my best friend in complete and utter secrecy. “…how much I’m in love with you,” I cried.