Now It's My Time to Strike Back

The gang, Danielle, Kevin, Joe, Mel, and I were filing out of the gym when Mel grabbed my arm, holding me back.

“So, who did you choose?” she asked in a whisper.

“It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” I asked with a laugh.

“So, it’s Nick, isn’t it?” she asked with a smile.

“Yeah. I feel like I’ve been using Jake now,” I said in a sad tone.

“Don’t think that way. You were trying to figure out who you wanted and technically you guys never made it official so I guess it was a good thing,” she replied, catching me off guard.

“So, it’s OK?” I asked trying to get her approval.

“Of course. If he hurts you again, though, I’ll kill him,” she threatened.

I laughed a little as she did the same, linking arms with me.

“Where did you guys go?” Joe asked once we reached them again.

“We wanted to have a little girl talk between us,” Mel answered.

I thanked her mentally for not embarrassing me. Joe raised a brow before speaking.

“Not about me, I hope,” he joked.

I laughed lightly as I shook my head.

“No, not you, silly,” Mel said in a gushy tone.

We continued our walk to the cafeteria the guys ordering for all of us as Alyson, Maya, Mel, Danielle, and I sat at the table. I kind of felt left out seeing how everyone seemed to be sort of paired up with someone else.

“I haven’t seen that Jake guy Nick’s talked about,” Danielle said suddenly.

“Now that you mentioned it, where is the blockhead?” Mel asked, pulling out her cell phone as she texted feverishly.

I wrinkled my brows as I sat and thought. Where was Jake? Just as I opened my mouth to speak, however, the cafeteria doors opened revealing two people I never expected; Jake and Nick. I gulped loudly as I expected Jake to approach us, but what I didn’t expect was Nick following his path.

Nick cut to the same line as his friends and brothers while Jake noticed and did the same.

“What are they both doing here?!” Maya asked in a panicky tone.

“Isn’t it obvious? Nick’s the same Nick again,” Alyson answered in a happy tone.

A small smile formed on my lips as I hoped more than anything she was right. About 10-15 minutes later, they exited the line with about two trays each except Nick and Jake whom only had one.

They approached us in under a minute carefully placing each tray onto the table.

“I’ll get the drinks,” Joe said quickly going back to the counter while Kevin followed him to help.

Nick sat in between me and Mel to my right while Jake sat to my left next to Alyson. I scratched my head nervously as the tension filled the air. The gang decided to speak first.

“Dude, where have you been? You’ve disappeared like a ghost!” Mitchell said dramatically.

He received a round of looks as well as laughs before Jason spoke.

“Seriously, though! You’ve been really distant, ass!” he said tossing a fry at him.

“Sorry about that. That was my fault,” Nick said sympathetically.

“No worries. We knew you were going through a phase,” Maya said with a wave of her hand.

“Besides, we knew you’d come back eventually,” Alyson said eyeing him before a smile covered her lips.

“So, are you really back?” Mel asked causing his attention to be on her now.

Nick looked at everyone, his eyes landing on me last before answering.

“Yeah. Nothing is going to make me that way again,” he vowed catching me off guard.

I looked away from him, suddenly interested in the table just as Joe and Kevin returned with the drinks.

“Ah, here we are. Sprite for my lovely wife, Jason, and Alyson,” Kevin said, handing each to the person he mentioned.

“And Coca-Cola for Mel, Mitchell, and Maya while I have Hi-C,” Joe said with a proud smile.

“Where’s mine?” I asked stopping mid-question when I realized Nick had two drinks on his tray.

He handed me a medium smoothie while he had one himself. Silence reigned while the boys sorted the food, Nick once again having my food on his tray making Jake noticeably fume.

Slightly overwhelmed by the surprises from Nick, we finished about half an hour later and were currently headed to the lounge. Nick had a smile on his face the entire time since he sat down at our table in the cafeteria while Jake looked obviously grumpy. It seemed no matter how hard he tried hiding it, he only got angrier.

I tried ignoring it until he started talking with snide remarks.

“So, does anyone know who’s performing tonight?” Mel asked, looking around four tables we sat at.

“I don’t know, why don’t we ask our singers if we’re expecting any songs sung tonight?” Jake asked, staring at Nick instead of me.

“Who knows, Jake? We’ll just have to see,” Nick replied coolly with a smile as his eyes were focused on the stage as Mrs. Thorne appeared.

“Good evening, everyone!” she said to the crowd in her flowery dress.

Everyone greeted her with welcoming cheers.

“It’s packed tonight, I see! Did everyone enjoy our first game against the Wolves?” she asked as louder cheers erupted from the crowd.

“Good. Tonight is once again Karaoke night, but with a twist. We have a special request from a certain person whose name I won’t mention. So have fun tonight everyone!” she concluded before leaving the stage as one person I didn’t recognize approached the stage to perform their song.

It was a boy from Nick and I’s Music Appreciation class. A proud smile covered my lips as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Hey, everyone. I’m Mike and I’m performing a song called My Own Way,” he said with a small smile.

I listened to his voice as well as the song, thinking of my current predicament. I looked over at Jake, his face softening at the lyrics. Did he interpret the song as though it was about me?

My eyebrows wrinkled in concentration as I tried thinking what Jake was thinking, failing miserably. Numerous times, Ms. Thorne came onto the stage to introduce each person until she got to one person I didn’t expect.

“Our very own veteran, Joe Jonas and Rosalina Sanchez!” she said, causing me to drop my mouth open.

“Uh, what?” I asked with a laugh, but it held no humor.

“Come on, Rose! It’ll be fun!” he said in an excited tone, grabbing my hand as he led me to the stage. I gave Nick a nervous look, but he smiled all the while, shaking his head slightly.

When we approached the stage, Joe whispered to me as chatter began erupting amongst the crowd.

“I just want to prove something, alright? Just pretend like I’m Nick, OK?” he asked.

“But you’re not Nick! And why would I sing with him again?” I asked feverishly.

“Just do it, please,” he begged, grabbing one mic as I grabbed the other.

“Hey, guys! How’s everyone doing tonight?!” he asked excitedly to the crowd.

They responded with positive, excited cheers.

“I’m sure you guys know the lovely Rose,” he began, the crowd agreeing with cheers as well as a few whistles.

“Well, this is her first time performing a duet here obviously so we’re going to sing this song together. Don’t get any ideas, though,” he said jokingly.

The crowd laughed in response.

“Alright. This song is called On the Line,” he said in a soft tone.

The music began and my eyes scanned the crowd, Nick giving me a thumbs-up and a smile. I bit my bottom lip nervously before returning my attention Joe and the song, the teleprompter to my right in lettering just like when I performed When You Look Me in the Eyes with Nick.

The first two lines appeared in a pinkish-red and I opened my mouth to sing.