A Friend Like Me

Don't know why I'd ever be so mean,
This could mean danger.
Granger Danger - A Very Potter Musical

I closed my textbook in frustration, deciding to give up.

“Oh hey,” I said, looking at my watch. “I better go get ready for the ball.”

Joe looked confused. “What do you need five hours for?”

“I'm not going to show up there looking like this.”

I started toward the hotel door.

“Wait!” Joe said, leaving the TV. “Who're you going with?”

But I merely waved at him, smiling, and left.

{∞∞∞}

My contacts are itching my eye.

I can't scratch it, though, because then I'll mess up my MAC makeover, which cost more than it should have.

I knew I should've worn contacts before, but no. I just had to decide to wear them for the first time when I have makeup on.

Also, it's really hard to rest my head on the back of the taxi with this complicated bun at the back of my head.

I think I look pretty decent, though. I mean, this dress, this white chiffon BCBG dress had a round neck and was sleeveless and was just…flattering on me, I guess.

The taxi slowed down, announcing the arrival to me.

See, I was debating to myself before whether to use the subway or not going here, but you know. I can have a treat every once in a while, right? Besides, it would've looked odd for me to be sitting in the subway in this attire.

Trying not to teeter in my heels, I walked past the paparazzi. Honestly, I don't know how anyone sees through this.

I finally made it inside and walked up the stairs to get to the ballroom. After getting the pass or ticket or whatever, I pushed open the double doors.

I immediately spotted Joe, looking exceptionally handsome in a suit, somewhere along the bottom of the stairs; James, meanwhile, was at the bottom of the stairs. I quickly hurried down.

“Hello,” said James as soon as I got to him, kissing my hand.

“Um,” I said, slightly pink. “Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Good – hey, I want you to meet this friend here who is a huge fan of your music.”

I led him to where Joe was, but Joe marched past me without a single glance at me.

I blinked. “Hold on,” I said to James. “Uh…why don't you go find our table?”

Actually, I already know where our table was; it was with Joe, Kevin, and Nick's. James needs to be occupied, though, while I go get Joe.

I went after Joe, who was speed-walking through the crowd, still not looking at me.

“Joe!” I called. “Joe!”

However, he still walked on, his eyes avoiding me.

“Hey, Vanessa,” I said when I saw her, “do you know what's going on with Joe? He hasn't even acknowledged me tonight. Like…he hasn't even looked at me.”

Vanessa looked over my shoulder. “Yeah he is. He's looking at you right now.”

“What?” I looked at him, but the moment we made eye contact, he looked away. “Ugh, see?”

“Well, I don't know,” said Vanessa, “but we better get to our table. Come on. By the way, you look so pretty right now.”

“Me? You look prettier right now.”

“I'm back,” I said to James when I got to our table.

Soon, Nick, Kevin, and Danielle (Kevin's partner) were at the table. Joe and his date were still missing.

“Hey,” Kevin said. “You're James Brown.”

“Yes,” James said. “And you're the Jonas Brothers. Where's the third one…ah…Joe?”

“I don't know,” Kevin said excitedly, “but he'd be so excited that you know his name. Whoa. Wait. Are you Ava's date?!”

“Yes,” I said. “He is.”

Finally, Joe arrived…with Demi Lovato, both of them laughing.

He pulled out the chair for her. “Here,” he said, his hand on her back. “You're hilarious. I'm so lucky to have a girl like you be with me for this long.”

“Hi Joe,” I tried.

He ignored me, but sat next to me.

Sighing, I looked at Nick, silently asking him why Joe was so irate. He shrugged.

“Hi, I'm James,” James introduced himself to Joe.

Joe ignored him, too and started whispering things into Demi's ear.

I stiffened. I'd never really done well when Joe did PDA with other people, for a reason I'm pretty sure you know.

{∞∞∞}

I held back a laugh as I passed by Nick and Vanessa dancing together. Nick, quite the non-dancer, was dancing a bit stiffly, as Vanessa tried to get him to loosen up.

“Can't we just go dance?” I heard Demi say as I walked towards the table.

“Huh?” Joe said.

“Fine,” Demi said, walking off.

“It's gotten really hot here,” I said breathlessly, collapsing down onto a chair next to Joe.

“Shouldn't you be cuddling with your boyfriend?” Joe sneered.

I raised my eyebrows. “What's your problem? And James isn't my boyfriend.”

“What's my problem? You don't know?” he jeered. “Imagine that, something the college student doesn't know.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“What do you two do, snuggle on campus in between classes?”

Okay. What's going on right now? I mean, what's with all of the attacking all of the sudden?

“What?!” I looked at him in surprise. “Joe, what are you talking about?!”

Joe raised his eyebrows. “You really don't know? I won't tell you, then.”

I raised my voice. “I asked you a question. Now answer it, Jonas.”

“He's using you,” he said, “for fame.”

“In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one of those celebrities running around without an education. And I'm not one of those celebrities who you pretend you've known your whole life.”

“He's using you to get to me.”

“Why would he do that? He's the one who's won more prestigious awards than you guys.”

Joe ignored this.

“And he's the enemy. He won the Grammy against us earlier this year, remember?” he said irrationally.

“The enemy?!” I said, surprised. “You were the one who wanted to meet him!”

Joe also ignored this.

“And,” he continued coldly, “he's trying to get information from you about me and the band, isn't he? It's so he can get more money. You're telling him everything, aren't you?”

Those words were practically a slap.

“I'd never do that,” I said, my voice quivering. “You know that. And he hasn't asked me a thing about you.”

“You'd better get back to your boyfriend,” Joe said scathingly and loudly. “He's probably looking for you.”

By now, people were starting to gape at us.

“He's not my boyfriend!” I said.

Just then, James came over, bringing me our drinks. “Have I mentioned you look beautiful right now?”

“It's just a little makeup,” Joe mumbled.

I threw Joe a dirty look and said to James, “Come on, let's go.”

{∞∞∞}

By the end of the night, I felt exhausted. It wasn't just the dancing that left me like this, though. It was also that stupid fight with stupid Joe.

“So,” I said, walking out of the ballroom hand in hand with James, “I'll see you Monday?”

“Alright,” said James. “See you.”

Then, he leaned down and kissed me softly and briefly. He pulled away, smiling, and left, waving at me.

But when I turned back around to the same position I'd been standing in when he kissed me, I saw Joe standing a few feet away. Our eyes connected, but then he looked away and slowly walked back to the ballroom, brushing past me.

{∞∞∞}

When Frankie opened the door to the Jonas hotel room alone, I was surprised. I'd gone up here to pick up the textbooks I had forgotten here, so I wouldn't have to run into Joe during the weekend.

“Where's your parents?” I asked him.

“They decided to go out or something,” Frankie replied, settling back down on the couch, watching SpongeBob SquarePants.

“They left you alone? I'll babysit you, then.”

I mean, it's kind of uncomforting, leaving Frankie alone at a hotel room. What if something combusts? Besides, Joe probably won't be here until later.

“Is it over?” Frankie said.

“The charity ball?” I asked and Frankie nodded. “No. I left early.”

I heard the door open and close, but I ignored it, assuming it was Nick. I mean, of the three brothers, Nick was the most likely to go home early from a dance because he's, well, he's Nick.

“What're you doing here?”

I looked towards the door to see Joe.

“Watching Frankie,” I replied.

“Oh? Are you sure your little boyfriend doesn't need you?” Joe sneered.

I grabbed Joe's wrist and harshly pulled him to a room where Frankie wouldn't hear us. “For the last time,” I hissed, “James isn't my boyfriend.”

“You picked him because you wanted to further your career, didn't you? Use his music and make a music video for him, so people would recognize you?”

“You're so idiotic. If I wanted to do that, I'd ask you!”

Like so many things tonight, Joe ignored that.

“So then why'd you go with him? Because of his looks?” Joe retaliated sharply. “What happened to 'Looks aren't everything'?”

“I didn't,” I snapped. “Unlike you, I'm not completely shallow. Besides, what about Demi? What happened to 'I broke up with her?'”

“I asked her because I decided to give things between us another shot. But because of you, things are over between us.”

“Because of me? What did I do?!”

“She said that I've been ignoring her all night, except at the beginning.”

Honestly, sometimes I can't believe why I've decided to fall for him.

“How is that my fault, Joe?” I yelled. “What's your problem, anyway? Just this morning you were talking about how excited you were on meeting James and just this afternoon, you didn't have a problem with me, either.”

“Why did you become his partner?” Joe yelled back, a bit red in the face by now.

“Because he asked me! He told me that he's seen me around and he's been trying to pick up the courage to ask me.”

“Isn't that touching.”

I glared at him. “If you're going to be like this, you know what to do the next time there's something like this, right?”

“What?” Joe yelled.

“Next time, don't use me as a backup plan or a last resort,” I yelled back. “Ask me before other people do!”

Joe looked baffled. “What? I – I didn't do that.”

I nodded vigorously, causing locks of my light brown hair to fall from my elegant bun. “Yeah, you did. It took you seventeen years to realize that I'm a girl, Joseph.”

“Why him? Why not someone else or – I don't know, someone who actually knows you better?!”

“I told you, he asked me first! He's the one who first showed interest.”

“How much interest? Have you ever thought of that? Have you ever thought that there's someone out there who you might've not noticed, that there's someone who deserves you more than he does?”

“Who, Joe?” I said, close to tears now. “Who? Name one guy. Name one, single guy who you think actually likes me, other than him.”

Joe opened his mouth and closed it, unable to say an answer. “I – He's just wrong for you.”

“Wrong for me? How? And now it's up to you to decide who's right for me and who isn't? What makes you have that right?”

Again, Joe was speechless and just moved towards me, grabbing my arms and drawing me closer.

Okay. What is he doing now?! Is he trying to make my brain go haywire? Because if he is, it's working. His face was extremely close and he was staring at me intensely, in a way he's never looked at me before. I knew something that would be completely irrational, yet totally enjoyable (like me kissing him) would happen. Naturally, I have to stop it.

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away. “Just because your love life is all over the place doesn't mean you have to destroy mine, too.”

Grabbing my textbook and clutch, I stormed out of the door, but as I was leaving, I heard Joe say, “Completely missed the point.”

I looked forward to getting home and sleeping, where I'd sleep and not lay awake, thinking about Joe, because I won't think about him.

Just watch me. I'll sleep soundly, my thoughts clear of Joe Jonas.