Promises, Promises, Promises.

ELLA’s POV

“Jess, I swear, he was definitely hitting on me this afternoon,”

“How can you tell, it must just be a guy thing, they are the Jonas Brothers, aren’t they,” She says sarcastically.

“But he asked me out, and, I don’t even know what Nate’s going to think.” I say, trying to imagine what he would say.

“Look, it’s his fault he hasn’t contacted you in what, three days? And it was definitely his fault for what he did last summer, don’t tell me you’ve forgiven him.” She says while I replay the events of last summer, was it really his fault that they had found drugs in his locker? or was Nate actually telling the truth, and someone tried to set him up?

“I really don’t know, but don’t hold it against him, that was a year ago….” I say, drifting off from my words.

“Ella, why don’t you admit it, you’re too afraid to break up with him because you guys have been together for such a long time, you have to make a change – you can’t be afraid. You know that right?”

“Of course I know that,” I reply in an offended tone.

“Then why don’t you give some other guys a go? Joe obviously has a thing for you, and maybe that Nick guy, too.” She was just being ridiculous now..

“I am not going to date a Jonas Brother, Jess. They’ve been family friends and, well, wouldn’t that just be awkward?”

“Are you serious? If you want to go for it, go for it. And anyways, I have to go, so I won’t be there to help you this time. I’m leaving this one up to you. But just to give you a little taste of things, it’s either the boyfriend who has touched drugs, or the family friends who probably don’t know what the stuff is. I’ll see you later.”

I rolled my eyes and hung up. I fiddled with my phone for a little while before deciding to ring another number.

I punched the number in and the line started ringing, “Hey Matt, are you sleeping?”

I heard sheets ruffle, “I was, but if you called, it must be something important, what’s wrong?” He says with a grumble.

“Now I feel really bad, I’m going to let you sleep, and I’ll call tomorrow, okay?” I say.

“No, no. You tell me what’s wrong, and I can go to sleep later, come on, cheer up. I don’t get to talk to you every day, you know.” He says comfortingly. A little bit too comfortingly that it reminded me of home – a tear slipped, and I knew I would break down any second.

“I just, uh, wanted to know how you felt about Nate, I was just on the phone with Jess and I’ve been telling her all these things, and she’s been telling me to move on. I don’t think I can, I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’m afraid of letting go – because, if he needs me….” I started sniffling, and he took over.

“Look, Ella, you do what you think is best. Don’t listen to anyone else about anything if you’re thinking the opposite, you know that right?” I wiped my tears away, and before I could continue, he went on, “Only you can tell if Nate’s the guy for you, and if he’s not, simple, you can just break up with him and forget everything. But don’t shut people out completely, you need their opinions too. Are you crying?”

I sniffled again, “Yes,” I said, getting up and grabbing a tissue, “So Mr. I-know-how-to-give-good-advice, what’s your advice for me? I don’t know how to make up my own mind, you know.”

“Ella, you’ll have to make up your own mind sooner or later, but don’t accuse him for what he did last year, okay? That isn’t the right thing to do because people can change, but if you think they haven’t, well, it’s all you.”

“Well what do you think of him? Jess doesn’t obviously respect him anymore…” I say, drifting away to the conversation we had earlier.

“Look, all I know that Nate is a good guy, and if he does something wrong, it’s clearly obvious, so don’t worry about him lying to you, because even a blind man can tell, and, just follow your heart. I know it sounds sappy, but you don’t argue with love, or it’ll bite you – and it’ll hurt.”

And when did Matt, all of a sudden become Mr. Love Guru? Yes, he was older. Yes, he was wiser. And yes…. I should be listening to him.

“When have you ever been concerned about your relationship anyway? If you weren’t worrying about it before, why now?”

“…I don’t know, Jess has been telling me that I should, consider me being with him. Joe asked me out today, he seemed really disappointed that I had a boyfriend..”

“Woah, woah, woah, Joe…. Jonas, asked you out… today?” He says, worrying about my stay. This was just fantabulous.

“…Yeah…” I said, it coming out as a whisper, “But don’t worry, I acted maturely and told him I had a boyfriend.” I say proudly, getting over my embarrassing tearing-up.

“Looks like I’ve taught you well, now, if you don’t mind little sis…” He says, as I hear the shuffling of more sheets.

“I’ll txt you tomorrow or something, okay?” I say, ready to hang up.

“Sure, sure.” He says, hanging up first.

I bit my lip in deep thought, should I confront Joe and tell him I appreciated his offer and actually give him a go? Or, should I… give It a bit more time and see how things go with Nate and I? I shook my head in frustration, and headed to the door, aiming for the kitchen for a cold drink.

As I turned the corner, Joe jumped in his seat, “Ella, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” I whisper, as he got up and headed for the fridge, getting out two glasses from the cabinet and filling them with chocolate milk.

He slid one over my way, and I took it and had a sip. There was an awkward silence, and the sound of Joe’s cup on the bench top broke the silence.

“I’m really sorry,” He started, I gave him a look which probably said ‘why?’ He shook his head, “I know that someone like you wouldn’t be… single, and I just didn’t think… and I only said it as a… more friendly gesture than anything else.” He stuttered on his words, and I could tell he was lying, but I didn’t want to say anything.

“Don’t worry about it, Joe. It’s happened before,” Quite a lot actually, but, I didn’t want to sound conceited.

“…What’s his name?” He asks, staring into his chocolate milk, the glass condensing from the cold.

“Nate Cress,” I whispered.

“He must be a lucky guy….”

I scoffed, “He’s changed,” I tapped my glass in thought, “We don’t seem that close anymore, so I think it’s time for us to change…”

“You’re going to break up with him?” He asks in confusion.

I laughed humorlessly, “I can’t believe I’m telling you this. First my best friend, then my brother, now you,” I said with a smile, looking up and seeing his crooked smirk. “But, yeah, I don’t feel… close to him, you know? It’s really confusing but… I just think it’s the right thing to do.”

“Follow your heart.”

I laughed, “You sound like my brother!”

He laughed too, “Do I?” He questioned, I nodded. “Well, why don’t we go out for lunch tomorrow, as friends and we can bring everyone along.” He says with a smile.

I shook my head approvingly, “If it’ll take my mind away from all this madness..”