Nothing Left But Scars

"Mindy!" I heard my friend Jamie yell. I stared down at the lunch table, pretending I couldn't hear her. When she say down across from me, I looked up. "Hey, girly!" she said. Well, actually she yelled it. I just smiled back. "Can you believe it's our first day of junior year?"

"Actually, no," I admitted. I hoped she wouldn't ask me what was the matter, but I was too late.

"What's got you down?" she asked, but I didn't have to reply. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, obviously remembering and catching on. I just nodded because I was afraid that if I spoke I would cry more.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, so I pulled it out and read my new text, being cautious of teachers.

"I'm here. -Mom," it said.

"My mom is here. I have an appointment. Bye." I waved to Jamie and walked out of the cafeteria.

----

"Good afternoon, Mindy." Mrs. Richardson greeted me, motioning for me to take a seat, once again, in her office.

"Hello," I replied, sitting down on a sofa across from her.

"Talk to me," she instructed.

I thought about what to say. "Today is the first day of my junior year in high school," I said very quietly. She nodded and continued to stare at me. "It's also the one year anniversary," I told her, pronouncing each word thoroughly.

I saw Mrs. Richardson jot down more notes about me.

"Let's not discuss that quite yet. Start somewhere else."

I sighed deeply. "Okay."

----

I was blind-folded, but I could tell where I was. I could practically smell Jonas Concert in the air. I could feel the adrenaline in my blood.

Nick squeezed my right hand, sending a flutter through my stomach. Joe had my left hand, and Kevin was behind me to make sure his bandanna remained securely over my eyes.
The four of us stopped walking, and they began singing.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Mindy. Happy Birthday to you." Their velvet-like voices rang throughout the room, echoing off walls.

Kevin pulled the cover from my eyes. I was surprised to see us standing in a bathroom at the venue, but then I understood.

"Oh my God!" I screamed, feeling the smile on my face and seeing smiles on Joe's, Nick's, and Kevin's. "You're gonna let me hear you rehearse!"

Nick nodded. They had always said no whenever I asked to be there while they prepared
before the shows that I could attend.

I could barely be there for any, especially as my favorite brother grew more and more well-know across the world. It was hard enough to keep a secret of the fact that I had been dating Nicholas Jonas since December, but never seeing him was worse. So, February first, two days before my fourteenth birthday, they had me flown in to be with them. Today I turned fourteen.

"It was hard to get Dad to agree to letting you watch," Nick admitted. "We had to agree to extra chores."

Joe scoffed. "We? Ha! Kev and me don't have to do anything extra," he said with a chuckle.

"Okay, guys; let's get to it," Kevin instructed.

I backed up and sat against the wall to watch. They did vocal exercises, jumping jacks, push-ups, practiced stuff on acoustic guitars, and prayed.

They thanked God for their fans, family, health, they talent that he had given them, friends, and finally each other, but I was in total awe when Nick added something. He thanked God for me. Of everyone and everything in the world, he was thankful for me. It literally brought me to tears.

I stood when they turned back to me from their huddle, and I hugged them one by one.
"You three are my best friends," I told them. Kevin laughed.

"We love you, too. It's time for you to get to your seat, though. We've gotta get ready with the band and crew," Kevin reminded me. I nodded, and Kevin and Joe left.

"Hurry," Joe reminded Nick before closing the bathroom door.

Nick shook his curls out of his eyes and walked towards me. He took hold of my hands and gently kissed me.

"You better get out there, Rockstar," I whispered.

"Mindy. I love you."

He had never said that before, and I jumped at the chance to tell him how I honestly felt. "I love you, too, with absolutely my entire heart and soul."

He smiled at me. "I hoped so."

We heard Joe outside the door. "Nick, Dad said come on!"

"Coming!" Nick called back. "Big Rob will be waiting for you at the other end of the hallway to escort you to your seat."

"Front row?" I asked as Nick opened the bathroom door to leave.

"Front row," he promised.

When he was out of the room and the door was shut, I squealed. "Best. Birthday. Ever!" I jumped in place and clapped to myself. I just felt like I was going to burst with joy.

----

"How did the concert go?" Mrs. Richardson asked.

"Have you ever been to a Jonas Brothers concert?" I asked back. She shook her head to say that she hadn't. "Well, I got out there, feeling my ears exploding from the sounds of screaming girls. Girls were chanting 'Jonas' repeatedly and singing any Jonas Brothers song they could think of. It was loud, dark, hot, and sweat dripped from everyone because it's impossible to not sweat when you're screaming, jumping, crying, and waving your arms around for hours. It's practically illegal to sit or stop screaming and singing along. The girls around you in the front push at you to reach out and touch a brother's hand for half of a second. When you get home, your throat is sore, your voice is gone, every inch of your body aches, including your heart because you miss the love and confidence that you feel at a Jonas concert, and you're dead tired."

"All of that sounds like a lot to put up with just to watch three boys sing for a couple hours," Mrs. Richardson complained.

"Are you kidding me?! I'd rather be there than anywhere else in the world."

She wrote more on her stupid note pad, probably about me being obsessed with adrenaline rushes.

"Our session is over," she told me.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, and I left the room.