My Life With You

I jumped out of my chair wildly and threw my arms around Rissa's neck. She just smiled and threw her arms around my neck as well. Then her arms dropped and she stepped back.

"What's up gurrrrrlfrrrrrien'? Rissa asked, laughingly. She was originally from Cali, and she had a slight Valley Girl accent. I absolutely loved her for it. "You're looking mighty fine in that dress. Speaking of dresses, what are you doing wearing a formal dress? This isn't the Sophie-bear I remember." I hung my head, and she laughed. "I was totally kidding, dearest." She stuck out her tongue at Joe's dropped jaw reaction. "You looke gorgeous. Turn around and let me see you fully." I spun and she smiled as she looked over my outfit. "Your style taste has definitely grown, love. I remember when you couldn’t even match shoes to a dress. You make your momma proud."

She wiped a fake tear from her face and then beamed at me. We both burst out laughing and turned to look at the table only to find it full of staring boys. My Rissa was always gorgeous, even when we were little. She was a head turner, and those boy's heads were turning now. She smiled at them and they all looked away and at their menus. We both laughed and then she turned to my uncles who were sitting at the end of the table with Mari and Davey's parents.

"What's up duuudes?" She joked, running over to them and enveloping them in a hug. I followed behind her and stood there and she said hello. "I missed you guys uber much. Life is boring without you and Soph." She let go of them and smoothed out her skirt. Rissa was a model, so she was obviously obsessed with what she looked like, not that Jess and I had ever cared. Dan laughed when she did that, so Uncle Burt elbowed him and his face became instantly straight.

"I'm guessing Miranda moved out?" Burt asked. He had a good bond with Rissa from when we were younger, and he was like a role model to her. She adored him for some reason I could never figure out.

"Yup. Big sis decided to get up and leave me all alone for some fancy college in Cali." I loved how Riss said Cali. It was so…Rissa. "Left me all alone with my mom and pop."

"Well that seriously sucks," Dan said. "I'm so glad you decided to join us for Sophie's birthday." He smiled at me, and I smiled hugely back. "I bet she's super happy you saved her from the youngest boy in the band," he whispered loudly so Nick could hear.

Nick turned around and glared at Rissa and I as we smiled back innocently.
"I think we should go sit down," I whispered in Rissa's ear. We started walking the short distance to our seats and I got her up to speed on the day I had had already. "Mari and Jess teamed up against us and made me sit between Joe and Nick and you sit between Kevin in Joe, so get ready for drama from the boys. Oh, and Jack's here so you should say hi before he throws a fit and thinks you don't remember him."

By then we were back to our seats. Rissa was listening closely the whole time, and when she heard Jack's name her face brightened. She had been his second best friend besides me, and I could tell she had missed him just as much as he had missed her. She looked around the table and saw him sitting awkwardly between Mari and Jess.
"Jack-wacky!" She squealed.

Yeah, my friends squealed A LOT. If you hang out with us you were usually deaf by the end of the first hour, if you were lucky. I just sat down in my seat and sighed. This was going to be a long brunch, and the stinking waiter hadn't even got here yet. I wanted my food!

"Hey, Riss," Jack smiled at her.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe you're here!" Rissa ran around the table and gave him a hug, then stood back to get a good look at him. "Well, you've grown up nicely, m'dear." She stated, causing Jack to blush.

"You have too, Riss." This time it was her turn to blush. "You look nice, though."

"Thanks, dude." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Love you, but I gotta go sit by the 'cute Jonas' and the 'romantic Jonas, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Hah," Jack scoffed. "Go have fun."

"I will, Mr. sour-puss." Rissa teased.

She walked back around the table and plopped herself down. By this time everyone had started their own conversations again, and the table was back to normal. Nick wasn't bothering me because my uncles were distracting him, and Joe was concentrating very hard on his menu when I last looked at him. Even Rissa was in a deep conversation with Kevin on seal puppies and how cute they were, so I was extremely ignored and extremely bored. Isn't it odd how things turn out? I was the birthday girl, and then I ended up having no one to talk to. I decided to do what Joe was doing and stare at my menu. I looked at everything on the menu, and it all looked so good.

"I can't decide what to get!" I mumbled to myself. "It all looks so delicious!"

Joe looked at me and laughed. "That's exactly what I was thinking. How about you choose something random with eenie-meeny-miney-mo for me and I'll do the same for you."

I stared at him in shock. He was actually being nice and trying to help me. Maybe he wasn't so bad as I thought he was. "That actually sounds good, Jojo."

He laughed again at my nickname. "Glad I could help." Then his face got stern. "Now look at your menu and start eenying my food. And don't ask me yours because I won't tell you." He sighed, "and since you can't tell me I won't tell you. I want it to be a surprise."

I laughed. "Sure thing, Jonas."

I studied my menu and started in the middle. "Eeny, meeny, miney, mo. Catch a tiger by it's toe. If it hollers let it go. My mother says to count to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…ten."

My finger landed on the Loco Moco. I laughed silently and looked at Joe. I bet he had never had a Loco Moco. It was one of the most delicious things in the world, but it was definitely original, and NOT made in California, or wherever he lived. He looked over at me and I gave him an evil smile,
"I figured out what you're eating."

"Good," Joe said. "I figured yours out, too."

I looked at his eyes to intimidate him and then I gasped. His eyes were gorgeous. He did the same thing, and when we looked straight into each other's eyes it was like a magnet was pulling us together. Joe and I started to lean in, and just as our lips were about to meet Nick spoke. He sounded worried.

"Um…not to sound rude Joe, but what do you think you're doing to the boss's niece?"