One in a Million

Shock.

Aalia felt it stronger than ever at that moment.

She watched as the crowd surrounding him parted and made way for Caroline. Joe welcomed her into his arms warmly and kissed the side of her head. Just as Caroline was nearing another stumble, he caught her and concern flashed across his face. He held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes, creasing his eyebrows together as he said something to her that Aalia couldn’t hear.

Aalia still couldn’t believe her eyes.

She hadn’t seen him on television in a while, not that she spent a lot of time looking for him. But he looked incredibly different than she remembered him looking in those airbrushed, picture perfect magazines. He looked real.

It seemed like everything moved in slow motion as shock continued to rush through her body. It wasn’t until she saw Caroline turn sharply toward her and yell out her name with a grin on her face that she snapped out of it momentarily.

Caroline motioned her closer to where they stood.

Closer to him.

“Joe, baby,” Caroline began in a slurred voice, “I’d like you to meet my best friend in the entire world!”

Joe swiftly pulled his sunglasses off his face and tucked them into the front of his collared shirt, reaching out a hand.

“Aalia,” he said smoothly, grinning, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

He shook her limp hand firmly.

“Good things, I hope,” she replied, surprised that she could find her voice.

Aalia wasn’t one to get star-struck. She wasn’t even that big of a fan of him. That was Dylan’s thing, not hers. But the odds of him, Joe Jonas of all people, dating Caroline were out of this world.

“All good.” He took his hand back and snaked it around Caroline’s waist. She giggled, looking up at his face in awe.

“I’m gonna go get a drink!” Caroline shouted between laughs.

Joe turned to her. “A soda this time, okay?”

She rolled her eyes, breaking free of his hold and leaving Aalia alone with him. Aalia suddenly felt self-conscious.

She heard him sigh deeply, running a hand through his short, wavy hair.

“I tell her not to drink all the time,” he said quietly so only she could hear, “I hate seeing her like this.”

Aalia was still too shocked to feel surprised at his words.

“First, she’s underage,” he went on, “And second, she always goes overboard.”

“I didn’t even know she started drinking,” Aalia said after some time.

She watched as Joe looked at Caroline with concern in his eyes.

“At least she only does it here,” he said, “That way, at least I can be here to protect her.”

------------------------------------

The party wasn’t supposed to end like it did.

As Aalia ran on the treadmill back at a hotel, her heart thudding hard against her chest, sweat dripping down her skin nonstop, she replayed every motion in her head.

It had started on the dance floor. Aalia had been in her usual seat against the wall, away from the danger of social activity, sipping on a red Solo cup full of ginger ale. She had tried not to stare at what was right in front of her eyes.

Joe had been gripping the sides of Caroline’s hips tightly from behind as she moved against him. She had occasionally run a hand through her long blonde hair and bent forward further, moving her hips to the beat of the music. He had moved with her in rhythm, and they looked as though they fit together perfectly. Passionately.

In the split second that it had taken for Aalia to look down at her cup and take another sip of soda, the song had ended and transitioned to another one. When she’d looked back up, Joe and Caroline were walking toward her, hand in hand, laughing.

“Hey!” Caroline had yelled excitedly as they stood in front of Aalia, “Having fun!?”

Aalia had smiled and raised her cup. “A blast,” she said with a thumbs-up.

Caroline had laughed, too drunk to see her sarcasm. “Good!”

Joe had shaken his head, holding her to him securely, clearly disapproving her state of mind.

“I have to go to the bathroom!” Caroline had yelled.

Aalia had nodded, setting her cup down on a nearby table and standing up, prepared to go with her.

“No!” said Caroline, “You stay here! Have fun!”

“I should go with you, Caroline,” Aalia had insisted. She had known that the flash of concern in Joe’s eyes mirrored her own.

“I’ll be fine! I’ll be right back!” Caroline had yelled as she began to walk away from them.

She had disappeared into the crowd and Aalia’s heart began to speed up. She nervously looked down at her hands and then at Joe.

He had smiled at her as he took a seat beside her.

Aalia had mostly felt nervous for Caroline. Her job was to make sure she was okay. But she was always also nervous just being in his presence, still in shock that he was who he was.

She had sat back down in her seat and took another tiny sip of her drink.

Joe had laughed.

She had looked at him questioningly.

“What’s funny?”

“I just realized that it’s a really small world,” he had said, still laughing.

She couldn’t help but feel a little weirded out by him.

“What are you talking about?”

He had looked at her for what felt like a long time. She could see the brown color of his eyes clearly as he didn’t blink.

He had shaken his head. “Nothing,” he smiled, “You live in Arizona, right?”

She had nodded slowly, still confused.

“I was born in Arizona,” he had said.

“Really?”

“Yup, in Casa Grande,” he had said, “I thought you would know.”

The statement would have made him sound conceited if it weren’t for the kind and sincere look on his face.

She had laughed. “So you think I’m one of those girls?”

He had laughed with her. “I figured, considering how nervous you’ve been since we met.”

She had felt her cheeks burn hot.

“I’m just really surprised, that’s all,” she had said, “When you said you’d heard a lot about me, I didn’t know what to say because I haven’t heard a thing about you.”

He had nodded. “I told Caroline not to tell anyone.”

“Understandable,” said Aalia.

“We met here, actually,” he had begun, looking around the house, “It’s Jamie’s house. She and Caroline met at an audition somewhere, so I’ve heard. I know Jamie from my sister-in-law. It’s a long story.”

“But everyone here knows about you and Caroline?” Aalia had asked, “How is that okay?”

“It’s not,” he had laughed humorlessly, “I worry about it a lot, but the only time I can see Caroline without paparazzi is when I’m here. Most of the time, it’s not this packed.” He had motioned around the room. “Sometimes, Jamie lets it just be me and Caroline because she understands how we never get to see each other.”

“But these people,” Aalia had looked around, “All they need to do is snap a picture of you with Caroline and send it to a tabloid.”

He had nodded slowly and sadly. “Exactly.”

“But you risk it for Caroline.” She understood.

He had looked at her with eyes she couldn’t recognize. They were full of sadness, but they were also full of something else.

Love.

Aalia had nodded, unable to think of what to say. She had looked at her watch and the worry reignited inside her.

“It’s been a long time,” she had said, looking around the room, “Maybe I should go check on her.”

“I think you should,” he had said.

“I’ll be right back.”

She had stood, her eyes beginning to scan the room. She had pushed through large groups of people in search of Caroline’s signature platinum blonde hair, but she couldn’t find her. She had made her way to the dance floor, squeezing through countless couples practically having sex with their clothes on.

That’s when she had found her.

Caroline had been in the arms of a guy with spiky brown hair and stubble, moving against him like she’d moved against Joe just minutes before, except there was almost no empty space between them. Aalia had turned back in Joe’s direction to block him from seeing what was going on, but it was too late. She had already seen a look of hurt flash across his face before he looked down at his hands.

Aalia had stomped towards Caroline and pulled her off her partner.

“Aalia! What the hell?” Caroline had shrieked.

Aalia had continued to pull her arm away from the guy and towards the door. She had had enough of the insanity of that night.

She had thrown open the front door and escaped behind it with Caroline nagging beside her by her hand.

“You’re such a buzz kill tonight!” yelled Caroline, still used to speaking loudly over the music.

“I’m sick of this,” Aalia had begun, “I’m so sick of all this! I’ve been sitting back quietly, letting you have your fun tonight, but now I’ve had enough, okay?”

Caroline had rolled her eyes dramatically.

“How could you do that to Joe?” Aalia had continued, “How could you dance with another guy like that with him just a few feet away? I mean, did you even see his face when he saw you?”

Caroline had remained silent.

“I come here to be with you because I’m your best friend.” Aalia’s voice broke. “You bring me to a party full of people I don’t know and ditch me. But I don’t say anything. I let you do what you want as long as I can make sure you’re safe. But then you go and pull shit like that on someone who loves you more than you could even imagine? That kid is crazy about you, Caroline! I spent five minutes with him and I can already see it!”

Aalia had watched as Caroline’s face transformed into one of guilt.

“And let’s not even discuss the drinking.” Aalia had rubbed the front of her head with her hand.

“Aalia, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“Are you really going to be that selfish right now? You’re not responsible for just yourself anymore! You might be pregnant, Caroline! Do you know how bad drinking is when you’re pregnant? It’s common sense!” Aalia couldn’t control her anger.

“What?” Aalia had heard a voice beside her.

She and Caroline had whipped their heads towards the sound quickly. Aalia’s stomach had felt like it had fallen to the ground.

“Joe—" Caroline had begged.

Joe had looked at Caroline in shock for what seemed like forever before his face transformed into one she had never seen before. One of pain and disappointment.

He had opened his mouth and raised his hands up as he began to say something, but he had stopped before a sound was made. Instead, he had settled on walking away, away from the party and, more significantly, away from Caroline.

As every one of those events replayed themselves in Aalia’s mind as she ran on that treadmill, the one image she saw most clearly was Joe’s pained face.

Caroline had run off after him and Aalia had buried her head in her hands, feeling the most guilty she’d ever felt. She’d ruined everything for them.

When she’d gotten home that morning, Caroline had been so excruciatingly angry with her that she’d told her to leave. Aalia checked into a hotel and hadn’t heard from Caroline in days.

When Aalia thought things couldn’t get any worse as she was boarding her plane to Los Angeles, she was certainly wrong.

That was as worse as it could possibly get.