Stopping the World

I didn’t say anything to Rachel as I got ready for the date with Nick the following Saturday. A day after I gave him my number, he told me when and where to meet him. Generally, I would have thought he was desperate for setting up the date so soon, and for calling me the day after I gave him my number, but when he did... I wasn’t thinking about that. All I was thinking about was how much he possibly knows.

“Where are you going?” Rachel asked me, since I had just started getting dressed up, without explanation. “Is there something going on tonight?”

“Um... yeah,” I started hesitantly. “Just this... Sorority party, that a girl in my one class is having...”

“Oh, cool. Can I go with?” she asked, and started to get up from her bed. She was currently in sweats, and walked over to her dresser to presumably find something more suitable to wear.

“What? No!” I exclaimed, before she could open the drawer. She turned to me with raised eyebrows. “I mean... don’t you have an exam to study for that’s on... Monday?”

At first, I was beginning to think I made up something totally inaccurate, before she sighed. “Ugh, you’re right. I forgot. I guess I should stay in.”

“Good idea,” I said, before grabbing my purse. “I’ll be back as soon as I can... so you’re not alone that long.” I offered that in an attempt to ease the guilt I felt for lying to her about where I was going. But she just waved her hand at me and smiled.

“Oh, don’t worry about me! You just go and have a good time.”

I said goodbye before I finally left the room.

>>---------------------------------------------->>

“Glad to see you could make it,” Nick said to me, as soon as I met him at a local hang out that most college students went to on weekends. The place was nothing special, and went by the name of Hank’s. Not really original, I know, but at least the excuse was there that the actual owner’s name was Hank.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” I questioned rhetorically. We made our way inside and I made a beeline towards the booth in the back. It was my favorite and the one I sat in the few times I came here, and was always most likely empty since it was desolated from all the other booths or tables. Generally, when people came here, they were in big groups, and one booth wasn’t enough for that.

After the waitress came by to take our order, a girl I knew from one of my classes by the name of Valerie, I got straight to the point with Nick as soon as she walked away.

“Okay, Nick, how much do you know?” I asked, point blank. He raised an eyebrow at me, and then smirked. He leaned back into his side of the booth.

“About what?” he asked, playing dumb, still keeping the stupid smirk on his face. I tried not to think about it as I continued.

“You know, the other day,” I said. “Look, if you were just lying to me in order to get me to go out with you, I don’t really see the point as to why I should stay here-”

“I saw you appear,” he interrupted, catching me off guard. It took me a minute to speak.

“Appear?” I questioned, now being the one trying to play dumb. “Do you realize how crazy that sounds?”

“Yes, I do,” he answered. He looked down at the table between us. “I even went over it in my head several times later that day, but there was no other explanation.”

“Maybe your mind was playing tricks on you,” I offered. He shook his head, and looked back up at me.

“Do you have it with you?” he asked suddenly. I gave him a look of confusion.

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘it’...”

“The globe,” he explained, looking at me with a sudden look of curiosity. “The one you were holding when you appeared...”

“....no,” I answered hesitantly, seeing as I really hadn’t wished he would mention that. So he not only saw me appear, but he caught a glimpse of the world as well.

He looked at me for a long moment, before sighing.

“Look, I just want to know... how it works,” he said. “Or rather... where did you get it?”

“Nick, I... I can’t tell you that,” I said, struggling to think of something to tell him. “And look, you can’t tell anyone about what you saw. Got it? Because it could cause some trouble...”

“That’s not a problem. Everyone would think I was crazy anyhow. I even think I’m half crazy myself,” he said. I looked up at him, to see a look of disappointment on his face. Why? I wasn’t so sure. It was as if he lost something he thought he had ownership too. And as weird as it may sound, in that moment...

I decided to trust Nick Jonas.

I sighed, before looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to us or our conversation. When I noticed no one was, I turned back to him.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” I said, taking one quick glance around us again. “Let’s just say, theoretically, I had the earth right now...”

“The earth?” he questioned, but I ignored him and kept going.

“Anyways, if I did... what gives you the right to see it?” I asked him. “I mean... why should I trust you? Anyone would say that you blackmailed me to even be on this date with you right now...”

“I’m sorry I did that,” he said. “Really. But I did that because... well, I wasn’t sure how to get you to go on a date with me...”

“You could’ve just asked me,” I said, “like any normal person would-”

“Yeah, well, rumor’s been going around that you’ve been emotionally unavailable,” he stated. I gave him a look of confusion.

“And who did you hear that from?” I asked.

“Amberly. When I mentioned to her that I was thinking about asking you out... she told me that,” he explained. “So does that mean... you’re not?”

Amberly, of course. I rolled my eyes. That witch. “Of course not. I would’ve been happy to accept if you just asked me normally.”

“Really?” he asked, looking at me expectantly. I meekly smiled and nodded, before rolling my eyes again.

“Yeah. I mean, I can’t believe Amberly told you that,” I said. All of a sudden I remembered about how he knew about the earth, and picked back up with my train of thought. “Now look, about the earth, I... I’m willing to explain it to you... if you, again, promise not to tell anyone about it. I mean, you’re not even allowed to know about it, I’m supposed to be more careful when I transport-”

“I knew it. So you did appear in front of me,” he stated, looking satisfied. I laughed.

“Oddly enough, yes,” I said. “But look, Jonas, I’m taking a big risk with explaining this to you, with all of your fame and what not... your secrets don’t always stay secret like you want them to. So you can’t tell anyone, not even your family... got it?”

“Yeah, I understand,” he agreed.

“Okay, and for some reason or another I believe you, and do trust you...” I trailed off, feeling my heart leap in my chest. “Well, it all started on the day of my tenth birthday...”

From there, I told Nick the whole story. How the globe was actually the earth in convenient hand-held size, how I could go anywhere on earth I wanted... everything.

And as it turned out, it was a smart decision telling him all about it.

Because as hard as it may be to believe, Nick and I’s relationship actually went farther than one date.

And eventually... Nick would be the one accompanying me when I stopped the world.