Left on the Sidelines

-Danielle-

I sat there, trying desperately to untangle the cord of my headphones with no luck whatsoever. "You look like you could use a little help," a small red-haired girl sitting next to me giggled. I sighed, but soon started laughing along, "Is it that obvious?" "Kinda," she smiled, taking the headphones out of my hands. She untangled them with no problem and quickly handed them back to me. I stared at her in shock, "How did you do that?" "It happens to me a lot," she shrugged, sticking her hand out to me, "I'm Katia." I looked at her hand for a moment before I grabbed it and smiled once again, "Danielle."

"So, Danielle, what are you headed to Nashville for?" Katia asked. "School," I sighed, "You?" "Same," she answered, "My mom says I should get used to living in Nashville before I start college, so it won't seem all that bad." "Sounds like exactly what my parents said," I laughed, trying to find a song I wanted to listen to on my iPod.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Katia said, taking my iPod out of my hand. She scrolled back up the song list and looked at me, "You like Demi Lovato?" "Like her?" I giggled, "I love her!" She scrolled through all the artists and suddenly said, "You like the Jonas Brothers, too?" I nodded and she handed my iPod back to me, "That's it. We're officially best friends." "Wow, I made a friend in Nashville and the plane hasn't even taken off yet," I laughed. Katia threw her arm around my shoulder and smiled, "That only means it's the start of a beautiful friendship!"

Suddenly, I felt someone sit next to me. "Hi," a girl with light brown hair smiled at Katia and I, "I'm Jenna." "I'm Danielle and this is Katia," I smiled back. "Don't tell us you're going to Nashville for school, too," Katia said. "I am, actually," Jenna laughed, "I'm hoping to make something of myself in as a singer." "Oh, well, we'd love to hear you some time," I smiled again. "Sure, that would be great! Where will you guys be staying?" Jenna asked. "Well, I'm staying with my cousins," I replied. "I'm staying with my aunt until my mom gets to Nashville," Katia answered.

"Hey, maybe if you're good, we could start a band," I joked, "I'm hoping to learn how to play guitar while I'm there." "That would be fun," Katia grinned, "I've always wanted to learn how to play drums." "We just need to find a bass player and we're ready to go," I giggled. "I think I know the perfect person for that," Jenna grinned, "But you should probably learn how to play those before we get too serious about this." "Pessimism will get you no where in life," Katia jokingly lectured, making Jenna and I laugh like idiots.

"Good morning, everyone. We're about to take off. Please put your seatbelts on and turn off all electronic devices until further notice," the pilot said over the speaker. Everyone started putting everything away and buckling their seatbelts before the plane took off a couple minutes later.

After about 3 hours of goofing off, our plane finally landed at the Nashville International Airport. We filed out of the plane and went to find our bags. I suddenly began to feel nervous and Katia and Jenna could tell. "What's wrong?" Katia asked. I sighed, "It's just... I haven't seen my cousins since I was 5. What if they hate me?" "They won't hate you," Jenna replied, "If you came off as a mean person, you wouldn't have made two new friends today." I smiled and hugged her, "Thanks. Well, I guess I better go find them." "Hey, we'll come with you. We all have to go that way anyway," Katia giggled.

We grabbed our bags and started walking toward the doors when we heard someone yell, "Danielle!" We spun around and saw a woman rushing up to us before she pulled me into a hug, "I haven't seen you since you were a little girl!" "Um, hi," I trailed off as she let go of me. "I'm sorry," she smiled, "I forgot you might not remember me. I'm-" She was cut off by Katia and Jenna, "Adrienne Follese." I looked at them, "What?" "Do you not realize who your cousins are?" Katia shouted. I stared at her for a moment before shaking my head. "Anna, Ryan, and Jamie Follese?" Jenna yelled, throwing her hands in the air. I raised my eyebrow. "You've really never heard of Hot Chelle Rae?" Katia asked in disbelief. I shook my head, "No.." "Mrs. Follese, will you please put on some of their music on your way home?" Jenna giggled. "Sure thing," Adrienne smiled, "We do have to get going though. It was nice meeting you girls. And don't be strangers. Any friends of Danielle's are friends of ours."

I quickly exchanged numbers with Jenna and Katia, hugging them goodbye and picking up my bag and walking outside with Adrienne. "You seem nervous," she said as we climbed into her car. "What are they like? Ryan, Jamie, and Anna?" Adrienne smiled, starting the engine and pulling out onto the highway, "They're going to love you, if that's what you're worried about. You were always Jamie's favorite cousin." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Ever since you could walk, you and Jamie were basically attached at the hip. You two did everything together. He was devastated when your parents told us you were moving to Indiana. Even though he was only 6 when you left, I can't really say it doesn't still bother him," she answered. "So, what's Ryan like? I mean, he's at least 6 years older than me, isn't he?" "Oh, he loved you, too. Just not as much as Jamie," she laughed lightly, "He started a band about 6 years ago with three of his friends. They changed drummers a few years ago, so Jamie's in the band as well now. They haven't really gotten popular yet - except with your two friends, of course - but they're not giving up." I smiled slightly, "And what about Anna?" Adrienne laughed, "She would live at the gym if we'd let her. She's very into sports, and also very supportive of anyone and everyone she meets." I nodded and looked out the window, beginning to play with my fingers.

"They all loved you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about," Adrienne said after a while. "Do they know I'm here?" I asked randomly. "Nope, I wanted them to be surprised, especially Jamie," she smiled. "How could you have kept it a secret? I mean, I'm living with you for two years," I giggled lightly. "They know someone's coming to live with us, they just don't know it's you. Believe me, it was really hard for your Uncle Keith and I to keep this from them," Adrienne smiled again.

After another 5 minutes, Adrienne pulled into a driveway, "Home, sweet, home." The nerves hit again as we made our way to the front door. Adrienne opened the door and yelled, "We're back!" I heard footsteps coming down the staircase and a tall boy with jet black hair, a girl about the same height with dark brown hair, and a boy only a little taller than me, with dark brown hair all stared at me.

"Hi..." I said nervously, slightly waving at them. "This is your cousin," Adrienne said when they still didn't say anything. "Yeah," the brown-haired boy said, "But I feel like I recognize her.." Then, a man I could only assume was Keith walked in from around the corner and rested his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You know, Adrienne," he chuckled lightly, "I would think they would've immediately known it was Danielle."

All three of them looked at Keith, then back at me. The brown-haired boy didn't say anything before running over to me and hugging me tightly. "You must be Jamie," I choked, but giggled and hugged him back. "Actually," he pulled back, "I'm Anna." I looked at him and grinned widely as the tall boy walked over. "Don't confuse the poor girl, Jamicles," he said sarcastically, then turned to me. "I feel weird introducing myself to my own cousin," he laughed, "Hi, I'm Ryan, but everyone calls me RK." "Hi," I said quietly, smiling as he hugged me as well. "So, you're Jamie?" I asked Anna jokingly. She laughed loudly, "Isn't is obvious?" She hugged me as well. "Alright, my turn," Keith chuckled, hugging me as well. "Hey, Uncle Keith," I giggled, "Wow, I'm getting a lot of hugs today!"