Missing in Action

“Hey Viola over here”

“How about a smile for the camera?”

“Who are your friends Viola?”

“If the results say that you‘re related to the Jonas brothers are you going to go by Gabriella now?”

Everywhere I turned I saw reporters. Some of them were just taking pictures while others had video cameras. It had been like this for about a week now. Every time I left the hotel room there were reporters following me.

Normally I didn’t/don’t have a problem with the paparazzi. I would always smile wave and not care if they were asking me questions. I just saw it as them doing there job. If it wasn’t for them then we wouldn’t know as much about celebrities as we do.

But now, I’m annoyed. I haven’t released a statement yet which only makes them follow me even more. I asked Claire if I could just say something to get them off my back but she told me that that was a horrible idea. She said that they would only continue to follow me around to get even more from me. In other words I would be dealing with this kind of attention for a while.

I had taken the DNA test about 3 days ago. Ever since the press found out, I haven’t been able to go any where. This was somewhat easy for me because my tutor has been meeting with me for the past few days.

Things haven’t been this well for Brandy and Kendra. When I was being tutored, they would leave the hotel so that they wouldn’t disturb us.I wish that they had stayed. The paparazzi then saw this as a chance to ask them questions. They were mostly questions about if I had talked to any of the Jonas’ lately. How was I handling the situation, and if I had talked to my “parents” lately.

Luckily Brandy was able to hold her tongue and not say anything. Kendra on the other hand would simply go into foreign mode, as Brandy and I called it. She would begin to speak Spanish as if she didn’t know how to speak English. Since her mom speaks Spanish around her house, Kendra is fluent in the language. She also speaks French but that’s because she didn’t feel the need to take Spanish in school.

Brandy, Kendra and I were leaving Juicy Couture on our way back to the car when the paparazzi showed up. I was carrying two bags, Brandy wasn’t carrying any bags and Kendra had three bags. Luckily, I was wearing my sun glasses so they wouldn’t be able to see that I wasn’t wearing my contacts. They’ve been constantly talking about my hair and my contacts ever since the incident.

“Por favor puede mover” Can you move please Kendra questioned to one of the camera men.

“So Viola what did you just buy?”

I decided to remain silent since we had finally reached the car. I waved to them as I opened the passenger door of Kendra’s car. Brandy climbed into the back seat as Kendra climbed into the driver’s side.

Once we pulled away from the curb Kendra groaned. “Estan molestos”

“English chica” Brandy replied.

“Right. I said they‘re annoying”

“Imagine what it‘s like to be me” I mumbled so that only I could here it. Everything was starting to take a toll on me. I didn’t want to know the results anymore. I didn’t want to know that my entire life was a lie. I wanted going on living the lie as if I didn’t know that it was a lie.

The paparazzi wasn’t making anything any better either. They kept reminding me that I didn’t know what was going to happen once I got the results. Like what I was going to do with my name. Would I go by the name that I have had for the past 15 years, or would I go by my birth name. I didn’t know and I tried to avoid thinking about it, as often as I could.

Kendra turned on the radio and the car was soon filled with Evacuate the Dance floor. Brandy started to sing the words loudly and off key. I laughed but joined along. Soon we were all singing off key and loudly in the car until we reached a stoplight.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket. I turned the volume down and answered the call, forgetting to look at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Um…hey is this Viola?”

I raised my eyebrow. I was hesitant to answer the question. With all the drama that’s going on, and how many times my name appears on TV I could be talking to anyone. Then again, I could simply hang-up if it turned out to be a reporter or something. “Yes it is. Who is this?” I questioned as nicely as I could.

“This Joe…you know Joe Jonas…..of the Jonas brothers”

“Oh hey” I instantly relaxed. I knew that I would be able to trust these guys. They hadn’t said anything about the innocent to the press as well so I wouldn’t have to worry about it getting out. They probably wouldn’t ask me anything and then tell anyone anyway. They were going through the same thing as me, maybe not the exact same thing but they were going through the same situation. “What‘s up?”

I saw Kendra giving me side glances, as she drove. She was wondering who I was talking to. I waved her off and continued to focus on my conversation. “Well we wanted to know if you wanted to meet up with us for something to eat”

“Sure but hold on a second okay” after Joe said okay I pulled the phone away from my ear and covered the receiver with my hand. I looked back at Brandy who was giving me a questioning look while texting on her phone.

“Hey do you guys want to go hang out with the Jonas’ for a little while?” I questioned. I knew what the response would be but I still wanted to ask them. Who knows, maybe they would want to do something else. Maybe they weren’t up for hanging out with celebrities today. Ha who am I kidding, who wouldn’t want to hang out with celebrities.

Kendra simply shrugged while keeping her eyes on the road. Brandy on the other hand, had a completely opposite reaction. Her eyes went wide and she pulled her ear buds out of her ears. She lunged forward and grabbed the phone directly out of my hand. She jumped back into her previous position leaving me baffled. Did this girl really just do what I think she just did?

“Where do you want us to meet……uh huh…..uh huh….uh huh” I sat there dumbfounded watching Brandy have a conversation on my phone. Kendra started laughing at my appearance but I was to in shock to care. She stole my phone, and my conversation. Is she for real.

Brandy hung up the phone and smiled one of the widest smiles that I have ever seen her smile. “I didn‘t want to do this at the hospital since we were dealing with the situation and al but there‘s no way that I can hold it in any longer” Brandy pressed the button on her door rolling her window down.

She’s not going to do what I think she’s going to do. Please tell me that she’s not actually about to do what I think she’s going to do. “Brandy what are you about to do?”

Brandy smiled before sticking her head out of the window. “I MET THE JONAS BROTHERS!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

I couldn’t help but laugh at all the weird looks people were now giving us, well the car. Brandy is defiantly crazy. Then again I can‘t blame her. If I met my favorite band and I was about to go eat lunch with them, I would scream too.

“Chica. Estas loco?” Kendra asked.

“What‘s with you and speaking Spanish all the time all of a sudden?” Brandy questioned as she rolled the window back up.

“It‘s a force of habit now. I‘ve been doing it practically everyday for 3 days straight. You forget sometimes alright”

I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened when Kendra made that comment. I was dragging my friends, into this drama along with me. They had nothing to do with what was going on in my life yet they were involved in my drama as well. Why did any of this have to happen to me?