A Second Reality.

I opened my eyes for the first time. Nick’s smile flashed quickly into my brain. Everything that happened yesterday seemed like a dream. I closed my eyes, and I could feel his arms wrap around me when we hugged goodbye. The words “so do you,” echoed in my ears as I remembered our conversation about his smile. I took in a deep breath as Abercrombie cologne filled my nostrils. I’m such a horrible person, I thought as I rolled over facing the ceiling fan that spun around, and around, and around.

I’m falling for another girl’s boyfriend. Not just another girl, Olivia. One of the nicest people I have ever met, and not to mention one of the most important people in Emelia’s life. I had no reason to hate her or want to hurt her, except for the boy whose voice that is stuck in my head. Why the hell is he so…so…gah!

I’ve never had a boyfriend before; actually I’ve never been in a situation where a boy really liked me. Well there was one time in 6th grade when Easton, one of the popular boys, called me every Friday for a month asking me out. I said no because 1. I wasn’t that into him and 2. I wasn’t sure if it was a prank or not. But that’s a different story.

To be completely honest I don’t know why a guy would like me. I am covered in a layer of soft freckles from my cheeks to my fingertips. I’m a little bit more overweight then most girls, and then there are those eyebrows, yuck. Don’t get me wrong there are qualities about myself that I do like. For example, my absolute favorite thing about me is my hair. It’s a soft brown mixed with a little red creating a pretty auburn color and gentle goldilocks style curls bounce at the bottom. That’s the one thing I would never ever change about myself.
Just as I was pondering inside my brain the door to my room swung open as a fluffy white dog jumped onto my bed.

“Good Morning Maxie,” I said as he nuzzled his black nose into my side telling me to pet him. “I love you puppy, so much.” He was honestly the cutest dog in the world. With his cocker spaniel ears and his bichon frise thick curly hair, it was hard to resist that adorable little face. “Did Daddy tell you to wake me up?” I asked as he cocked his head trying to understand exactly what I was saying. Then within seconds he jumped up and burst out the door. Obviously it was time to wake up.

*****

As I descended the stairs I could smell the fresh made pancakes from the kitchen. Ashley and Katelyn were both curled up on the couches in the family room. The TV lit up as the Zoey 101’s theme song began to play. I stood by the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room and watched my dad flip the pancakes over the hot stove. Today seemed like it was going to be a good day.

“Make some for me!” I said watching Max run around my dad’s legs.

“They’re on the table. Ashley and Katelyn complained that they didn’t want any pancakes.” My dad sounded irritated and mad. “So now they have to find their own breakfast.” His light blue eyes flashed with anger as he placed two hot pancakes onto a plate.

“We never said that! We said we didn’t want blueberry!” Katelyn yelled from the couch.
“I wanted plain!” Ashley chimed in.

His face got red as he let out, “Well the blueberries are going bad so I had to use them!” His voice echoed through the house causing me to freeze on the spot. “Allison go eat.” I walked over the table without saying a word. I knew better then to make madders worse. No matter how stupid I think they are.

I took two pancakes and began pouring syrup onto them. I felt my dad’s heavy footsteps behind me as he placed another plate of pancakes next the other two.

“So, how was Emalia’s?” My dad asked as he poured more batter onto the griddle. How many pancakes did he expect us all to eat?

“Fun,” I answered stuffing a slightly burnt piece into my mouth.

“Who were the boys there?”

“You should recognize them,” He looked at me confused with my response. “They were the Jonas Brothers, you know, the band that I like.”

“How the heck does Emelia know the Jonas Brothers?” My dad asked as he looked back down at the griddle. “Why would she want to know the Jonas Brothers?”

“Long story.” I rolled my eyes and went back to eating

“HOLD ON!” Ashley’s head appeared from the other side of the couch. “You’re saying that you met the Jonas Brothers yesterday and you didn’t tell me!” Oh crap. Ashley and Katelyn didn’t know because I didn’t want the two little blondes to tag along yesterday. Also I didn’t want this to happen. The next thing I knew Ashley and Katelyn were both sitting next to me with their big blue eyes wide open.

“Why didn’t you bring us?” Katelyn asked.

“Do they look the same in real life?” Ashley joined.

“Are you going to see them again?”

“Are you going to bring us?” Ashley pulled Katelyn next to her as they both smiled wide and gave me the best angel sister look they could.

“Um. I don’t know.” I said as I went back to eating ignoring their pouts just as my phone began to buzz on the side of the counter.

“That thing has been going off for hours.” Ashley pointed towards the silver phone.

“MAYBE IT’S NICK, KEVIN OR JOE!” Katelyn screamed as they both made a dash toward the cellular devise.

“NO!” I quickly ran up and snatched it before either one of them could come near it. “This is mine!”

“GIRLS!” My dad screamed on top of the commotion. “STOP IT!” With that I ran upstairs to escape from my annoying little sisters that I love ever so much.

I opened my phone to find that I had 2 missed calls, both from Emelia, and 3 text messages. The first two were from Emelia that said, “I did something bad.” And then “Hey we’re going to the mall, the boys want new outfits for show. Wanna come?” The last one was from Kevin saying almost exactly the same thing. “Hey Allison! We want to meet at the mall, let us know if you can come!” I quickly ran into the bathroom to get ready.

*****

Pushing some hangers out of the way I glanced through the graphic T-shirts. Emelia and the boys were standing on the other side of the store goofing around with a selection of hats, scarves, and sunglasses. We were shopping for Kevin, Nick, and Joe’s show next week; but I seemed to be like the only one actually looking.

I pulled out a red shirt in Joe’s size and then quietly moved on to a group of plaid shirts. As I grabbed a shirt I glanced over to the corner where the four of them were standing. They all laughed as Joe put on a fedora along with pink sunglasses and a pink scarf to match. I don’t have friends like that, at least not anymore. He strutted down a cross the store as if he was walking on a cat walk. When he reached the other side he did a little spin then pointed at Emelia. She was my closet friend, maybe my only one, but the problem is she lives close to a half an hour away.

I’ve never had tons of friends. I’m naturally a shy person, and I take a while to warm up to people. But that’s not the reason why. The truth is I’m scared of getting hurt; I don’t want to feel anymore pain then what I have already experienced.

In elementary school I had a new best friend every year; since each one of them would move away, there were a total of six. In Middle school I was considered weird, strange, and sometimes even gross. I barely had any friends. I remember telling myself, “Friends are for school, not home.” Just to make it seem alright that I was never invited to a sleep over, movie, or party. I was that girl in the corner that never spoke and no one knew their name. That was until Megan and Lauren came around.

To them I wasn’t weird; around them none of those things mattered. Through my friends Megan and Lauren I started finding more friends and reaching out. Freshman year of high school was the best. I felt like I had people to hang out with, go to football games, dances, and even the movies. That is until my world was flipped upside down.

Emelia waved and smiled as she put on a railroad style hat. She had found me at my deepest darkest moment. A month before I met her I had pushed my friends away. I didn’t want to be with them, I didn’t want to hang out, and I didn’t even want to talk to them. Megan and Lauren grew closer as I grew farther apart. They are now best friends and inseparable. Emelia is the only person I have let in since then. I tell her anything and everything. Never before have I actually had a best friend like her. I’ve never told anyone my deepest darkest secrets before. Everything was different with her.

“Hey!” Kevin said as he walked towards me “What you got there?”

I glanced down at the clothes in my hand then back at his face. “Well,” my voice slightly cracked due to the nerves in my stomach. For some reason I get extremely nervous talking to people I barley know. “I picked out some collared shirts for Nick.” When his name escaped my lips he looked up to study to the shirt. “I sort of noticed you like them,” I said to him as he smiled when I held out a green collared shirt.

“THAT’S IT!” Emelia shrieked than ran towards me. “Nick come!” She yanked the shirt out of my hands and threw it over his shoulder. Standing in the middle of the room she studied the large store.

“What is she doing?” I asked Kevin.

“Just wait.” He responded with a slight smirk.

Emelia then took off across the store dragging Nick behind her. She pulled out a gray vest that was tucked deep into a rack, then a pair of blue jeans that were on the large shelves on the wall, and finally pushed him into an open changing room.

“Try that on.” Was all she said as she pulled the door closed and walked back towards us.
“She’s been picking out our clothes for a few months now,” Joe said as he leaned against a rack watching her.

“So what do you have for us?” Kevin motioned towards the pile of clothes that remained in my arms.

I began to untangle the shirts as Emelia yelled, “JOESPH!”

“What?” he whined as he made his way towards her.

She handed him a light collared shirt, a black skinny tie, dark blue jeans and a nice dark jacket.

“Go Change.” She pointed towards the changing room next to Nicks. He groaned and turned on his heel towards the room. “Okay Kevin.” She turned towards us just as Joe disappeared behind the door. “Your turn.”

“Actually Ems, I was thinking of that shirt over there.” He pointed towards a black shirt with two layers of buttons running up the middle.

“Oh My God I was thinking the same thing!” She grabbed the shirt and walked towards the jeans.

“And then that green scarf bandana thing I was trying on earlier?” he enthusiastically asked.

“And Dark pants!” she held up a pair like they came up from thin air as he nodded with excitement.

“We make a great team!” He gave her a high five as he walked towards the last open changing room.

“Impressive,” I complemented while putting back some shirts.

“Thank you.” She gestured to let her help me.

“So…” I began, “What was that text message about?” she seemed confused as if she didn’t know that she even sent one. “What did you do that was so bad?”

Her face went red as she ducked down behind a rack, trying to avoid an answer. “Oh! Um, nothing.”

“Emelia…What did you do?”

“Nothing.” A smile popped up onto her face ever so slightly.

“Emelia…” I repeated.

“I felt Joe’s hair when he was sleeping! And then I sort of touched his face.” Her cheeks grew pinker.

“You did what?” I said a little too loudly.

“Nothing.” She then dashed towards a different rack.

“What am I going to do with you?”

Before she could respond Nick emerged. My face flushed, I could feel tingles from my neck down to my finger tips; he looked really, really hot. I couldn’t help but look him up and down.

Nick must have noticed since he asked, “Do you like it Allison?” I nodded with loss of words.
“That’s good enough.” Emelia answered then motioned for him to change. He rolled his eyes and walked back in. She stuffed a pair of pants in the middle of 20 other identical ones“It just happened okay!” She added looking at me.

“Well. Did it…like…feel good?”

“What?”

“I don’t know. Did he smile or whatever?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She pondered that for a moment as Joe stumbled out of the door. Emelia looked him up and down. “Something’s not right,” she said as she held up the shirt in her hand. “Try this.” And she tossed it to him.

Joe mumbled, “You’re adorable.” under his breath, however, I think I was the only one who heard it. He flashed a quick smile then reentered the room. Not even two seconds later both Nick and Kevin came out.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Emelia ran over to Kevin who was spinning around and posing in front of the mirror.

“Hey.” Nick said to me as he walked over. We both watched Emelia and Kevin freak over the outfit.

“Oh. Where’s Olivia?” I asked, “I was going to ask earlier but yeah.”

He paused for a moment as if deciding on what to say. “She had some family issues to deal with.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure exactly how to respond.

“Well a few years ago her parents got divorced. Her mom cheated on her dad. So today she had to go to her moms even though she hates it over there.”

The words, “that sucks,” slipped from my mouth.

“Yeah, I know.”

“At least she has you to make it better.” I gave him a small smile. I was surprised on how easy talking to him was. I just met the guy yesterday but I feel like I could talk to him about anything.

“Thanks.” He smiled back while Joe burst out behind the door scaring Emelia causing her to scream on the top of her lungs.

“NOT FUNNY!” She yelled just as his outfit caught her eye. “OOO but I like this better! Except it needs something…hmmm…” She looked over at the wall of accessories. “I KNOW!” Rushing over she grabbed a few belts and began to put them on Joe one at a time.
“So…” Nick started “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

I didn’t waste time before responding, “Two sisters, Ashley and Katelyn, twins, twelve, blond, blue eyes, look nothing like me. And they are going to kill me for not bringing them here with me.”

“Ah Fans.” Nick seemed pleased.

“Actually no. Well I’m not sure. They used to call you guys the Jonas Barfers for a long time. But ever since I told them I know you they can’t stop listening to your music. They also keep on asking about you, I think they just want to meet you so they can say they met someone famous.”

“I guess I’ll have to stop by then,” he smiled.

We both smiled at each other. I was so distracted by his deep brown eyes that I didn’t think before blurting out, “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?” It took only a second before that processed in my brain. “Oh wow that was stupid.” Nick let out a little laugh as I glanced back over at Kevin and Joe who were now looking at extra things to buy for themselves.

“I was about to say, you already know them.” He laughed again, “Do you know about Frankie?”

“Little adorable six year old brother?” I asked as he nodded, “yep know of him.”

“How about I tell you about my parents then?” He asked as I leaned in closer. “My dad was a minister when I was younger but now he’s our manager. Him and my mom met when they were teenagers and got engaged when they were only 18. For the first part of my life we moved around a lot because they were in a traveling christen singing group. Then when I was about five or six we decided to move to Wyckoff, New Jersey. That’s when I started Broadway, then released my first solo album called, “Nicholas Jonas” which followed by landing the first Jonas Brothers album. But a year or two later we were let go from the record label. We had spent all of our money touring and promoting, we thought we were done with the whole music thing until Disney called us up one day and told us they want to sign us.”

“Wow. That’s like your whole life story.”

“Yeah well, I thought you would like to know everything.” He grinned as he scooted closer to me, “your turn.”

I gazed down at the ground trying to formulate what I should say. “Well I live in a tiny town called South Lyon, and I have been there all of my life. When I was ten we moved to a house that was not even a mile away from my old one, and that’s really about it.”

Nick didn’t appear pleased by my answer, “What about your parents?” I felt my stomach quiver as I thought about that.

“My dad’s name is Alan, he’s an insurance agent. Then my mom…Sue, was a banker person. She used to work in the headquarters in Troy.”

“What happened?” He asked.

“She died.” I felt my heart sink as those words blurted out. “Three months ago, March 17th, St, Patrick’s day.” My eyes swelled as I spoke the words, “suicide.” He fell silent, all I could feel was the inner pain that bled deep within. Nothing of what happened made any sense. “I just remember waking up that day. She wasn’t home and the next thing I know she was gone for good.” I don’t know why I was telling him these things. I don’t know why he was listening. Normally when I start talking about this people shut me down saying “let’s not talk about this anymore.” They think they are protecting me from the pain, but it doesn’t matter it’s still there. All I have wanted for the longest time is just someone to talk to.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. I hate telling people what happened. They think of her as something she’s not. She was one of the happiest people in the world. She loved life; she loved her friends, and her family. She was my best friend.” I trusted him. That’s why all this came pouring out. He was the first person in a while would actually listened.

“I bet she was a wonderful person. Well she had to be, because she raised you.” Suddenly a smile appeared upon my face as his words echoed in my ears.

“She’s my hero.” For the first time in a long time I smiled a real smile. Ever since that day I have been pretending to be happy. I had to keep myself together and to ‘be strong’ for my dad and my sisters. I truly wasn’t happy until this moment.

“NICK!” Emelia shouted from across the room. “Bring over your clothes so we can buy them!”

“One second!” he yelled back then turned to me. “Hey why don’t you come to our concert on Friday? You can bring your sisters. It would be fun!”

“Sure. I’d love to.” He grinned as he walked over to Emelia.