Summer Lovin'

I sighed, looking at myself in the mirror, smoothing out my clothes so they looked decent. Hair pin straight, and just enough makeup, I heard the doorbell ring, meaning that my Dad’s friend’s family had arrived.

I looked at my phone, contemplating on whether to text Addie, but my mother cut off my thoughts, yelling for me to come downstairs. After one last check in the mirror and a quick brush through my hair, I walked down the stairs.

“Ah, there she is. Finally.” My dad chuckled earning a few laughs from other people, holding out his hand for me to take at the end of the steps.

I grabbed it, smiling and let go, standing in between him and my mom, giving the family a big smile.

“Kevin, Denise, boys, I want you to meet my daughter-”

“Nahla!”

I looked up, trying to see who cut my dad off, and went wide eyed, grinning like an idiot.

“That’s right, Nahla.” My dad nodded, shocked.

I laughed lightly, rocking on my heels. “Nice to meet you all. It’s nice to finally meet the family my dad speaks so well of.”

The family smiled at me, already pleased with me.

“Nahla, honey, I want you to meet Kevin, Denise, Kevin Jr., Joe, and Nick Jonas.” My dad said, gesturing towards each person, and I gladly shook their hands, exchanging ‘hello’s and ‘nice to meet you’s.

I smiled, blushing a little when I shook Marley’s best friend’s hands. “Pleasure to meet you, Nick.”

He gave me a grin, laughing a little. “Pleasure’s all mine, Nahla. It’s all mine.”

We laughed and I stood back over to my parents, unable to take the smile off my face.

“So, shall we eat?” My mom suggested, and we all agreed.

[&&SL]

“Mom, the lasagna is delicious.” I said, shoving another spoonful of the hot pasta in my mouth, and everyone agreed happily.

“You’ll have to give me the recipe, Anne.” Denise smiled, and my mother smiled, nodding.

“Of course.”

“So, Nahla, do you play any sports?” Kevin Sr. asked me.

I nodded my head, swallowing the food in my mouth. “Yes, sir. I, uh, I play baseball actually.”

They looked at me, shocked.

“Wow, that’s interesting. Maybe you could play with the boys one day. They love baseball. Especially Nick.” Denise said, smiling.

I looked over at Nick next to me, smiling. “Yeah, maybe.”

He chuckled, nodding his head. “One day. In the very, very near future.”

“Do you like music?” Denise asked, looking at me.

I grinned, nodding quickly. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Nahla can play some instruments.” My dad smiled proudly, biting into his spoonful of pasta.

“Oh? What can you play?” Joe asked, looking at me from across the table.

“Uhm, piano, trumpet, guitar, violin, drums, and banjo.” I answered.

They stared at me, a bit shocked, and then nodded slowly.

“The banjo? That’s an odd instrument to learn how to play.” Kevin Jr. commented.

I nodded, smiling. “Yeah, but once I got into guitar, I kind of just wanted to continue with something similar. My family is from Tennessee, too, so at family parties-“

“She’s a real hit.” My mother smiled, winking at me.

I laughed lightly, nodding. “That’s right.”

“And once karaoke starts, well, everyone just about near slows down what they’re doin’ and stops to watch her.” My dad smiled, causing everyone to laugh.

My mom noticed everyone was finally done with dinner, so I helped her with the dishes while my dad kept the Jonas family entertained.

“Hey, Nahla! Why don’t you come here and sing the Jonases a song, yeah?” My dad asked, waving me over.

I looked at my mom, already setting down my dish. “You don’t mind?”

She shook her head. “No. You go on ‘head and show them Jonases what you’re made of.”

I grinned, drying my hands quickly, and walked in the living room where my dad and the Jonases were. “What y’all wanna hear?”

“Well, what do you know?” Mr. Jonas, and I laughed lightly.

“Well, just about everything, sir.” I answered, causing him to chuckle. “Okay, I got one. Dad, why don’t you get on the guitar, and Ma, why don’t you get on the drums? We’ll give ‘em a little Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

They nodded, smiling, and grabbed my instruments as I pulled my hair up.

“This one’s real popular at family reunions.” I grinned, getting my violin ready. “1, 2, 3.”

We all started playing, and I was sawing on my violin hard as mom pounded on the drums.

The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind 'cos he was way behind: he was willin' to make a deal.
When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot.
And the devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said: "Boy let me tell you what:
"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player too.
"And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.
"Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due:
"I bet a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cos I think I'm better than you."
The boy said: "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin,
"But I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been."

Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.
'Cos hells broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards.
And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold.
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul.

The devil opened up his case and he said: "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow.
And he pulled the bow across his strings and it made an evil hiss.
Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this.
When the devil finished, Johnny said: "Well you're pretty good ol' son.
"But sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how its done."

Fire on the mountain, run boys, run.
The devil's in the house of the risin' sun.
Chicken in the bread pan, pickin' out dough.
"Granny, does your dog bite?"
"No, child, no."

The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
He laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet.
Johnny said: "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again.
"I told you once, you son of a gun, I'm the best that's ever been."

And he played fire on the mountain, run boys, run.
The devil's in the house of the risin' sun.
Chicken in the bread pan, now they're pickin' out dough.
"Granny, will your dog bite?"
"No, child, no."
We stopped playing, and the Jonases immediately started clapping loudly, giving us a mini standing ovation.

My family and I grinned, bowing, laughing. The Jonases praised my family and I, telling us that it was a really good performance, and we thanked them gratefully.

“Now, Nahla, why don’t you do a little solo, huh?” My dad smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing a little.

I nodded, smiling, and grabbed my acoustic guitar, and sat down on the couch across from the Jonases and my parents. I bit my lip. What to play, what to play…. “Oh! Okay, I got one.”

I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

Before I fall, too fast
Kiss me quick
But make it last
So I can see how badly this will hurt me
When you say goodbye
Keep it sweet, keep it slow
Let the future pass, and don't let go
But tonight I could fall to soon
Under this beautiful moonlight

But you're so hypnotizing
You've got me laughing while I sing
You've got me smiling in my sleep
And I can see this unraveling
And your love is where I'm falling
But please don't catch me

See this heart won't settle down
Like a child running scared from a clown
I'm terrified of what you do
My stomach screams just when I look at you
Run far away so I can breath
Even though your far from suffocating me
I can't set my hopes to high
Cause every hello ends with a goodbye

But you're so hypnotizing
You've got me laughing while I sing
You've got me smiling in my sleep
And I can see this unraveling
your love is where I'm falling
But please don't catch me

So now you see why I'm scared
I can't open up my heart without a care
But here I go, it's what I feel
And for the first time in my life I know it's real

But you're so hypnotizing
You've got me laughing while I sing
You've got me smiling in my sleep
And I can see this unraveling
Your love is where I'm falling
So please don't catch me
If this is love please don't break me
I'm giving up so just catch me

Everyone started clapping, tell me I did a good job, and I thanked them quietly, quickly putting away my guitar.

“I don’t recognize that song. Who is it by?” Mr. Jonas asked, raising his eyebrows at me curiously.

I bit my lip, looking at my hands. Why was I being shy all of a sudden? “U-Uh…I-I w-w-wrote it.”

“So, why don’t we let the kids go up and talk, and we’ll talk, yes?” My mom suggested, seeing that I was getting uncomfortable.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” Mrs. Jonas smiled, nodding.

“Uhm, Mom, Dad, if it’s okay, Danielle is going to be in town for a few days, and I really want to see her….” Kevin started, his eyes pleading.

Joe nodded too. “Yeah, and uhm, Jesse is gonna be in town for one more day only, so I gotta go see him before he goes back home.”

Their parents sighed, not looking pleased with them.

“Do you mind?” Mrs. Jonas asked my parents.

My parents shook their heads quickly. “No, no, it’s perfectly okay. Their friends are much more important.” My mom smiled.

Joe and Kevin thanked them what seemed like a thousand times, and after quick goodbyes, they disappeared.

My parents and Nick’s parents found their ways into another room, so I looked at Nick.

He stared at me with a small smile playing on his lips.

I blushed, my heart speeding up a little as I looked at my feet for a second before looking back up at him. Why was he making me so nervous? “You, uh…you wanna come see my room now?”

He smiled slowly, nodding. “Sure.”

I bit my lip, opening my door slowly, my room coming into view. I stepped in, holding out my arms. “Well, here it is.”

Nick stepped in himself, looking around. His eyes found my window wall, and he wasn’t able to look away. “Wow….”

I looked over and stared myself. The sun was setting now, and the sky looked the most beautiful I’ve ever seen it. Purples, reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows were all mixing together in layers, making the sky so peaceful and gorgeous. “Wanna sit down?”

He nodded, and we walked over to my window wall. He sat down and I sat a few feet away from him, already taking my heels off my feet, sticking my tongue out at them as I threw them to side.

I blushed when I looked over and saw Nick smirking at me. "Sorry, my feet hurt. Heels hurt badly."

“Mhm. I don’t think a pair of shoes could really make someone’s feet hurt so bad.”

I scoffed, smirking. “You haven’t worn heels before then.”

He chuckled. “No, ‘cause I’m a guy. And I don’t plan on it either.”

I laughed lightly, bringing my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them as I rested my head on the top of my knees. I looked over, seeing the sky getting darker and darker as the sun went down. “So, how did you meet Marley?”

“We went to school together for the longest time. For like, nine years. We were best friends ever since kindergarten. We were…inseparable. You could always find us together. Every day after school we’d go to each other’s houses, do our homework, then we just hang out for the rest of the day. We’d have dinner with our parents, and then we’d leave, telling each other we’d see each other tomorrow.” He smiled, remembering the memory. “I remember when I first saw her. She was at one of the little chalkboards by herself. And I sat next to her with my crayons and paper, and she didn’t even look twice at me.” He chuckled. “She just kept drawing with her chalk. And I tried everything to get her to talk first because I was so shy and I didn’t want to talk first. It took me like, a half an hour of doing anything I could to get her to just look over. Finally, I just got fed up, took her chalkboard, and said ‘Why won’t you look over at me?’ She looked down at the chalkboard, and so I looked down at it too. And you wanna know what it said?”

I nodded eagerly, smiling.

He smiled, laughing a little to nothing in particular. “It said: Want to be friends?” His smile got bigger. “And we were best friends ever since.” He sighed, looking out at the ocean. “And then…we actually started dating. We…everyone saw it coming. I mean, it was bound to happen eventually. Everything was great. We basically did the same thing we did all the time. Hung out, went to the movies, did whatever. Except we just kissed and were more coupley.” He looked at the floor, picking at my carpet absentmindedly. “But…something just wasn’t right. For the longest time I couldn’t figure it out. Something didn’t feel right. But how would I know that? We were best friends. I thought we were supposed to be together forever. Like we were made for each other…. But…there was no…spark, I guess. It just…didn’t feel like it was meant to be. And when I told her about that, you know what she said? She said she felt the same thing.” He smiled slightly, obviously in thought.

“Do…do you miss it?” I whispered, a weird feeling in my stomach.

He sighed, resting his chin his knees, his eyes avoiding mine. “Yeah…sometimes. I miss being able to hold her hand whenever I wanted to.”

I nodded, looking at my feet. I didn’t know what to say next. There wasn’t an awkward silence, or comfortable either for that matter. It was just a…lost in though kind of silence. I laughed lightly with no humor, remembering something that I had wanted to forget for the rest of my life.

“What?” Nick asked.

I shook my head. “Reminds me of a relationship I had.” I sighed, looking down again after seeing Nick nod for me to continue. “His name was Aiden. We met freshman year. He was my first friend actually, since all my other friends went to another high school except for one. He was in like, six of my seven classes, so we became really good friends. He was the sweetest guy I had ever met. He was true gentleman; no one could deny that. About two weeks after high school we became best friends. We did almost everything together. He took my on my first roller coaster, and I ate my first ever Chicago dog with him.” I smiled, remembering how I had made such a mess. “And, so, we started to have feeling for each other. And I mean, pretty much everyone saw it before we even started to like each other. He asked me out, and I obviously said yes. We went out for a while, mainly through freshman year. I was always mesmerized by him. He had the most gorgeous eyes. They were so blue. Every time I looked in his eyes, I got lost. I was actually…in love with him.” I smiled to myself, the image of the ocean blue eyes in my mind, somehow getting butterflies in my stomach. “But…the whole time…he was always somewhere else when he was with me. He was always talking to someone else on the phone, and he had this look in his eyes when he looked at me. Like he was looking at someone else.” I bit my lip, a terrible feeling rushing through me. “And…when I went to a party…I was by myself because he had to go to a family reunion, he was there…with my best friend…and…he…” I quickly wiped the tear that had fallen slowly down my cheek catching at my quivering chin. “He was kissing her…and…when I went up to him, he was beyond drunk. He told me the whole story. The whole time…he was cheating on me with my best friend.” I croaked, looking anywhere but at Nick. “And then…this girl, Addie, she was always one of my good friends. She was at the party, and saw the whole thing. So…” I started laughing lightly. “She punched them. She punched him and my best friend. Broke both of their noses. She took me out the house and brought me to hers and I slept over. But man…did I cry that night. My gosh, I thought I was going to run out of tears. I was completely and utterly...crushed. And so I never talked to him again, nor my best friend. Addie was my new best friend, obviously. He tried to fix it, lying that he was drunk and he didn’t know what he was saying, and so did she actually. But I didn’t even listen.”

There was another silence, and I was lost in thought, remembering the whole thing like it had happened only yesterday.

“Do you miss him?”

I nodded, biting my lip. “Yeah…I do miss him. He was…so incredible. I’ll never consider him my first love, but…he was something special to me…even if he didn’t know it. I’ll always remember him, though.”

Nick let out a long sigh, shifting a little bit until his legs were stretched out.

“Thank you.” I finally said after a few minutes, and he gave me a confused look.

“For what?”

“For listening…not many people like to hear my story.” I smiled slightly. “Not many people like to hear the ol’ country girl’s life.”

He gave me a small smile, and nodded. “I don’t see why not. It’s a good story, even if it does have a sad ending. But, hey…thanks for listening to me, too.”

I smiled at him, blushing a little when I received a smile back.

“Nicholas! Time to go!”

We sighed sadly, slowly standing up. I put my shoes back on, almost falling over in the process, but Nick caught me just in time.

“Thanks.” I smiled, standing up.

“Anytime.” He mumbled, smoothing out his clothes.

I looked at him, and smiled slightly, and he gave me a smirk back. He opened up his arms and I flung mine around his torso, earning a chuckle from him.

“Bye, Nahla.”

I tightened my grip a little for a split second. “Bye, Nick.” I whispered.