A Twist in My Story

“Nicholas! Nicholas Jerry Jonas! Get your butt down here this instant!” Nick heard the shrill yells of his mother from downstairs. Nick rolled his eyes to himself. Ever since a few days ago, when they found out Joe was gone, his parents had been on edge—especially his mother. And since today was the day he would be moving into college, his mom was even more on edge—losing two sons in such a short period of time and all.

Tying his shoe laces, Nick got up from his bed and walked down the stairs. All of his things had been packed and loaded the day before. He had spent his final night at home out with his best friends and had gotten home late. It was far too early for him to be up on a Saturday morning, but his parents made it pretty clear they were going to be leaving early. It was a bit of a commute to Pennsylvania, where he was attending college, and he had to be there by the afternoon for the freshman orientation.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he found his mother there, the same exasperated face she’d been wearing for the past couple of days present. “Nicholas, when I said we were leaving early, I meant it. Now hurry up and go eat breakfast. You’ve already made us late,” she ordered. Nick was so tempted to make a smart ass remark, but held his tongue. It was too early for him to agitate his mother and she was already so moody because of Joe’s impromptu departure. Instead, Nick just did as he was told. He couldn’t wait until he was out of his parents’ house. He was tired of his dysfunctional family, tired of his father always fighting with Joe, and just tired of his town in general. He just wanted to be out, leaving everything about Wyckoff behind him and start over in a place where no one knew him.

Walking into the kitchen he saw his father reading the morning paper, the ever present frown on his face tugging on his lips and scrunching his eyebrows. Ever since Joe graduated, it seemed all his father did was worry about his middle son’s future and fight with him about it. Across from his dad, Frankie was shoveling cereal into his mouth. His eyes were closed as, he too, was tired. Nick shook his head before walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a box of cereal. Quickly checking his blood sugar, he prepared himself a bowl before sitting down to breakfast. As soon as he was finished, his mother herded the three of them into the van that was overflowing with his things.

The drive to Penn State main campus was a silent one. Nick was sure his parents were silently discussing Joe in the front seat, but Nick had turned his iPod as loud as his ear drums would allow as soon as they got settled into the drive and Frankie had fallen asleep almost as soon as his seatbelt was fastened. Nick was so tempted to follow in his baby brother’s footsteps, but he just couldn’t fall asleep. His mind was swarming with excitement. The farther they drove from Wyckoff, the more excited Nick became. He had grown up in that small town—he knew everyone and everyone knew him. Being one of the more popular kids at school certainly didn’t help. Sure, it was great having all the friends he did, going to all the hottest parties, and hooking up with almost every girl in his class, sometimes even the junior girls. But he was glad college was in his future. He couldn’t stand being around the same people every day. He was a bit tired of that life and wanted to change things for himself. He still had no idea what he was going to be doing in the future, but he had a while to figure that out. At the moment, he was just looking forward to getting there, leaving his family behind, and starting over.

The fact that he wouldn’t have to live in his brothers’ shadows anymore was an added bonus. All his life he had been known as “Kevin and Joe’s brother”. His teacher’s were always expecting him to live up to his brothers’ standards and while it was no problem for him to get the same grades as his older brothers, it still frustrated him being compared to them. He at least had his athletics to set him apart—and he worked extra hard to make sports his own, resulting in the scholarship he got from Penn State. He loved the feeling of being known for his own thing rather than being compared to his brothers. That’s why, even though he had applied and gotten into NYU, he hadn’t even seriously considered the school an option. He wasn’t about to be put back in their shadows when he had a chance to get away from it all and reinvent himself. After all, that’s what college was all about.

Nick had eventually fallen asleep, but he was awoken four hours later when the car pulled to a stop and his father announced their arrival. Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, Nick took in his surroundings. There were dozens of cars parked in front of him, all of them full of other students’ belongings as they all got out to check in and gather their room keys. A smile broke out on Nick’s lips as he slid open the door of their van. “Nicholas, where are you going?” his mom asked from the front seat.

“Chill mom, there are like, a million people in front of us. I’m just gonna go check in and get my key. Then we can go find my building and move my stuff in,” Nick responded. “Come on Tank.” With a nod of his head, Frankie unbuckled himself and followed his older brother out to the mass of people. Making sure to hold on to each other, Nick and Frankie walked up to the long table set up for the freshman to check in. Nick went up to the table marked J-L, waiting behind a line of about 25 other people. Once he finally got his room key, he and Frankie walked back to where the line of cars were parked—it had gotten longer in their absence.

“Nick, this school is so big. Aren’t you scared you’ll get lost?” Frankie asked him, holding on tightly to his brother’s shirt.

Nick just smiled—the size of the school was just one of the reasons he decided to go here. “Nope, I think I’ll blend right in,” Nick responded. Grabbing a hold of his brother’s hand, Nick walked along the side of cars, searching for his parents’ van. It took them a while, but they finally found the familiar gray van and hopped back inside.

“This is madness!” Nick’s mom stated, shaking her head as she took in all the cars and bodies swerving in and out of them. “Oh! Kevin, watch out! Don’t hit anyone!” she called out.

“Mom, relax, dad’s moving slower than snail pace,” Nick said, shaking his head at her antics. “Okay, I’m in Driscoll Hall,” Nick said, looking at the map he had received in the mail along with his room assignment and roommate information. After figuring out where it was on campus, he instructed his dad out of the madness of cars and in the right direction. After driving around the large campus, they finally found it. The freshmen dorms were all close to each other, but there were large quads separating them, all of them full of luscious green grass and tall, bulky trees.

“This is it,” Nick said with a smile, looking at the sign that clearly marked where he would be living for the next year. The rest of his family joined him on the side of the building as they looked up at it. It was a big building. “Okay, let’s start unpacking—we have a schedule to keep,” Nick stated with a wide grin.

It only took them an hour, but they got all his things up to his room. Luckily Nick was on the second floor—he felt bad for the people he saw lugging things up the seven flights of stairs. Upon arrival, half the room had stuff littered all over it, some unpacked, others still in their respective boxes, which meant his roommate had already arrived and gotten a head start on unpacking. They had found each other on Facebook and Nick thought he was a pretty cool guy, but he wouldn’t be able to tell until he got there. Nick told his family that he would unpack after orientation, so, making sure all his things were on his side of the room, he and his family left to go see the rest of the campus.

It was impossible to take it all in, in one day, so Nick just walked with his parents and kid brother to the large amphitheater where all the freshmen were to have their orientation. This year’s incoming class was in the thousands, so they were all just going to be gathered and given a lecture before being sent on their way. Other, smaller schools he had looked into would probably split them up into groups and have them get to know each other, but he was so glad Penn State didn’t do that. He had been forced to get to know people his whole life. He was in college now—he was going to meet people on his own terms and make friends his own way.

After the orientation was over, Nick met up with his parents and Frankie at one of the cafes on campus. “Nicholas, we have to buy your books before the school store closes. We don’t want them to sell out, do we?” his father remarked.

Nick shook his head. “It’s okay dad, mom and I ordered them online for that reason. They came in the mail a few days ago, so they’re up in my room already,” Nick said. “Why don’t we go back to my room and you guys can help me unpack?” he asked, eager to be settled in so he can start exploring the campus on his own.

When they got back to his room, his roommate was already there along with his family. They were in the process of unpacking the rest of his things. Nick introduced himself and his family, his roommate doing the same before they got started on the unpacking process. With both families there, things were a bit tight, but his roommate finished first and he and his family excused themselves to go grab dinner. Shortly after, Nick suggested they go to dinner as well, assuring his parent’s he’d finish unpacking the rest of his things once they had gone—all the big stuff had been unpacked and set up already.

Entering one of the many cafeterias on campus, Nick couldn’t help but smile to himself. Although the place was mostly packed with students and their families, Nick could already tell there was a large variation of people around. That had been exactly what he had been looking for in a school.

“This looks good,” he said, signaling a table that had just been vacated. His family set their stuff down before going to purchase meals. Nick and Frankie were back before their parents, so they started discussing Nick being gone from home for the first time by himself, while they waited for their parents to return. When they did, they weren’t alone.

“Look who we found,” came his dad's chipper voice. It was rare to hear him use that tone these days, so Nick was curious. Looking up, he felt his smile falter. Trailing behind his parents were the Chadwicke’s—with Olivia rounding out the group. Allen Chadwicke had been a close friend of his father’s since they were young boys, both of them being involved with the church. Joyce Chadwicke and his mom had become friends by default, though they are a lot closer now than when they were first introduced. And then there was Olivia, their only child.

Nick had known Olivia her entire life, being a few months older than her. Apparently when they were younger they were good friends, always being paired together at church functions and whatnot. Nick had no recollection of this. He did remember, however, when they were in middle school and she would trail behind him like a lost puppy. By the time they had reached high school, Nick was part of the popular group and Olivia was just the shy, quiet, straight ‘A’, preacher’s daughter. They didn’t travel in the same social circle in school, but every so often, his parents would force her on him at church events. It’s not so much that Nick hated her; he was just frustrated by her constant presence in his life. His friends always gave him a hard time about it, often teasing him by saying that she had feelings for him, which was ridiculous. She just hadn’t found her place in high school and had tried to be his friend like when they were younger. He had known she was attending Penn State but had hoped he wouldn’t have to see her. He was so desperate to leave all aspects of his life behind him and it was bad enough that someone from his high school was going to his college, but actually seeing her here really irked him.

“Nicholas, don’t be rude, say hello.” His mother reprimanding him brought Nick back to reality.

“Hi,” he mumbled turning back to his meal.

“You’ll have to excuse him. It’s been a long day. He’s just exhausted,” his mother stated as if he wasn’t sitting right there. Nick bit his tongue to refrain from refuting that statement while he rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you join us for dinner?” he heard his mom state. Nick’s head barely snapped up at her before the Chadwicke’s were already agreeing. “Nicholas, move over and make room,” his mom instructed. Rolling his eyes yet again, he got up and moved down so that Allen and Joyce could sit down. Olivia pulled out the seat across from him and sat down quietly. Their parents immediately immersed themselves in conversation, leaving him, Olivia and Frankie in silence. At that moment Nick cursed Joe for leaving in the middle of the night to wherever it was he went. He was supposed to come with them on this big day but instead he had run off to God knows where. If he had been here, Nick would have started a conversation with him and ignored Olivia. There wasn’t much conversation to be had with his youngest brother though, leaving them all in silence.

“So, Livy, are you living in Nick’s building?” Frankie turned to ask her. Nick narrowed his eyes at his little brother. Traitor. Olivia often babysat Frankie when Nick was too busy hanging out with his friends and his older brothers were off living their lives, so he was pretty fond of her. Nick didn’t like it quite as much—she was always there when he would get home and would have to stay until his parents arrived, putting them near each other again.

“I don’t know Frankie. I don’t know what building your brother’s living in,” Olivia responded.

“Uhm, it was something with a D. Nick, what was the name of your building?” Frankie asked.

Nick tensed. Damn his kid brother—he didn’t want to tell her where he was living. He looked up at her and saw her staring down at her plate, tucking a strand of her honey brown hair behind her ear at that exact moment. She shyly looked up at him and when she saw that he was looking at her, quickly looked back down at her plate. “Nick, what was your building’s name?” Frankie asked again, his tone exasperated this time.

“Driscoll,” Nick replied through clenched teeth.

“That’s it! Driscoll Hall. He lives on the second floor,” Frankie said excitedly, turning back to Olivia.

“Well, uhm, no Frankie, I don’t live in the same building as Nick,” she said quietly to him.

Thank God.

The rest of dinner Nick was off in his own world, praying for the meal to end while Frankie and Olivia talked about stupid stuff that held no interest for Nick. Finally, he saw his parents getting up from their seats. “It was so wonderful running into you here,” his mom was saying to Joyce as they exchanged a hug.

“You too. I’m so glad our kids are going to school together. I feel so much better about Livy going here knowing that there will be at least one friendly face around,” Joyce remarked.

If only she had seen Nick’s face when she made that comment…friendly would not be the word used to describe it.

Their families quickly said their goodbyes before Nick was dragging them away. “Okay, well, it’s getting late. You guys should probably head back home so nightfall doesn’t catch you on the way there,” Nick stated, eager to have them gone and get started on living on his own.

“That’s a good idea. Denise, we should go,” Kevin Sr. stated.

“Oh, okay,” Denise replied, taking in a shaky breath. Nick groaned at her actions.

“Mom, please don’t start crying. We’re in public,” he commented, already foreseeing his mother's next actions.

“I have a right to cry if I want to. It’s not every day my baby goes off to college and lives on his own,” she stated, tears already brimming in her eyes.

“Mom, I’ll just be a phone call away at all times,” Nick said in a gentle tone to appease her. “And I’ll be home for my breaks. It’s not like you’re never going to see me again,” he added.

His mom smiled tenderly at him. “I know sweetie, I’m just really going to miss you is all. Kevin lives on his own with Dani, Joe’s disappeared to God knows where, and now you’re going to school—all my boys are leaving me,” she sobbed.

Nick pulled his mom in for a hug. He really didn’t like seeing her like this. Sure, he had been eager to leave home, but now, he was starting to realize he was going to miss his mom. “I’m not leaving you, Mommy, I promise,” he whispered into her ear. She squeezed him tighter into her as a few more tears leaked out of her eyes. He rubbed her back a few times before pulling away to say goodbye to his dad and kid brother.

“Tank, take care of them, okay?” Nick instructed.

“I will. I’ll miss you Nicky,” Frankie said, wrapping his arms around his older brother’s waist. Nick hugged him back.

“I’ll miss you too kid,” he stated, already missing Frankie and his wild antics that reminded him so much of Joe. He really hated that he wasn’t here. They had talked so much about this day and Nick found himself getting mad that he had skipped out on the day and didn’t even tell anyone where he was going—especially him. But still—he hoped Joe was okay wherever he was.

Letting go of Frankie, Nick turned to his dad and embraced him in a man hug. “Be good son. Make good choices. And study hard. I’m proud of you,” his father stated. His dad…always a man of few words when it came to expressing these emotions.

“I will. Bye dad.” With that, Nick pulled back and watched as his family loaded into their family car. He really was going to miss them.

Denise had barely gotten a foot in the car before she was turning back around and embracing her second youngest boy in another tight hug. “Mom, I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I know, I know. But, just in case, I want you to program Olivia’s number into your phone. Nick pulled away from her.

“What? No!”

“Nicholas, please. I don’t know why you have such an attitude with her. She’s such a lovely girl.”

“Mom,” Nick whined.

“Nicholas, please. It will ease my mind. Her family has been friends with ours for years. You two used to be so close when you were younger. Just, please, put her number in your phone. Just in case you ever need a friendly face, she’ll be around,” she pleaded with him.

Nick stared at his mother, heavily considering telling her that he would never turn to Olivia if he ever needed help. He eventually decided against it. “Fine,” he grumbled, pulling out his phone and punching in the numbers his mother read to him.

“Thank you Nicholas. She has your number too, so if she ever uses it, please be nice to her. I know you’re eager to forget about Wyckoff, but Olivia is a shy girl and might want to see a familiar face around every once in a while, so please, for me, be the gentleman I raised you to be.”

The tone she was using let Nick know that she wasn’t asking—she was demanding, even if she did say please. “Yes ma’am,” Nick mumbled. Denise smiled at him once more before pulling him for another hug. After telling him once again to be safe and him promising to call at least every other day, she was on her way. Waving his family off, Nick couldn’t help but smile as he walked back into his dorm. At long last, he was on his own. He couldn’t wait for this year to be under way.