Your Smile Still Makes My Heart Sing

The days to Kevin’s birthday deteriorated. It was finally Wednesday, and instead of being at school I begged for a day off. Luckily, I brought Frankie along to butter up my parents, since my puppy dog eyes no longer worked and when I needed Jared’s cuteness the most, he was off being a bratty little kid.

Originally this party was going to be on the following weekend, but Kevin wanted to go away for a weekend with his family and a few close friends. Joe made sure that I was invited, but I doubt my parents would let me skip school and travel to who knows where with the Jonas’.

“Higher,” I instructed. “Lower, lower. Nick your side is crooked.”

“Wasn’t it just here a minute ago?” Nick asked.

“Joe, higher,” I instructed again. Joe stood on his toes and made the sign higher. It was finally somewhat straight, and it wasn’t the nicest sign. I knew I should have let Frankie made the sign. I stared at the sign with my arms cross reading what Joe wrote.

The sign said Happy 21st Birthday Kevin but the one was darker than everything else because Joe originally wrote 20. He thought the 21 looked crappy so he threw glitter all over the banner, attempting to make it look better. Now that I think of it, Jared could have made a better banner than Joe and he can barely spell.

“Looks great,” Joe said. Nick let out a laugh while the three of us stared at the banner. “Come on, it looks nice. It’s the thought that counts, right?”

“I should have let Frankie do the sign,” I joked. Nick laughed to himself and Joe frowned as he looked at his masterpiece once again. “Okay, fine. It’s sparkly and I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“I just don’t get how you thought he was twenty,” Nick said. “He keeps reminding us he’s 21.”

“It was a mistake,” Joe retorted. “Just drop it. We only have a few hours before Kelsey comes back with Kevin. Plus we have to make sure everything is out…”

“Which it is,” Nick said cutting Joe off.

“And that everyone’s here,” Joe said. “So what time is your little girlfriend coming?”

“Who are you talking about?” Nick asked. He leaned on the couch, waiting for an answer.

“That girl that-” I elbowed Joe quickly, but Nick already knew who we were talking about.

“You invited her?” Nick asked. “Why?”

“She’s nice,” I said quickly. “You’ll like her and she’s really sorry about what she did. Didn’t I tell you I invited her though?”

“What if she is just pretending to be nice?” Nick asked. “And she tells all her friends where we live.”

“I told her this is my house,” I replied.

“Why would you have pictures of us all over your house?” Nick asked.

“I’ll tell her we’re related or something,” I said.” Jeez calm down, it’s not going to be bad. Plus you’re going to spend half the night with your little Disney girlfriends.”

“I will not,” Nick said. I raised my right eyebrow as I stared at him. “I mean who are you talking about?”

“Hey Joe, do you have that guest list Nick was working on?” I asked. “I want to see who he invited.”

“I invited friends,” Nick said, “Of Kevin’s.”

“Sure you did,” I said. “Just please, please, please be nice to her?”

“What do I get in return for being nice to a girl that ruined my shoes?” Nick questioned.

“She didn’t ruin your shoes,” I said. “And, what do you want?” Nick was about to say something, when I quickly cut him off. “You know what, never mind Nick. I don’t want to owe you anything, if you want to be nice to this girl, be nice because you want to, not because I am telling you to.”

My phone pulsed in my pocket and I took it out.

So are you guys done or can I come home now?

“Why did you tell Kevin he’s not allowed to be home?” I asked.

“I told him to leave and don’t come back until he’s wanted,” Joe said simply.

“He knows about the party?” I questioned.

“No,” Joe said quickly. He stepped closer and put his hand around my waist. “You’re just being paranoid.” He kissed my temple and smiled. “Come on. Let’s finish some of the small details.”

“How long have you two been back together?” Nick questioned.

“We aren’t,” Joe said removing his hand from my waist. “Yet.” He pressed his lips to my cheek and quickly dashed out of the living room where Nick and I were left standing.

I pressed my lips together and walked around Nick towards the stairs and sat on them. I took my phone out once again and decided to reply back to Kevin.

Kevin, you’re so silly. You’re allowed to come home. Joe just thought you wanted to spend your day with your lovely girlfriend.

“Sorry I yelled at you,” Nick said. I looked up at him as he leaned on the banister. I shrugged my shoulders as I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “Okay, so are you going to ignore me all night?”

“Not all night,” I said. I stood up and put my hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I’m going to tell Hayley not to come and to make it up to her I’m going to take her to the movies or something. Tell Kevin I’m sorry but I’m probably going to be late.” I grabbed my jacket that was on the banister and slipped it on.

“You’re leaving?” he questioned. “Just for what I said? She can come to the party Jas, I don’t care.”

“I know you care,” I said. “It was silly of me to play match maker when clearly you aren’t interested in her. She’s just a clumsy, silly girl that you don’t like because she spilled yogurt all over your shoes.” I walked to the door and opened it, feeling the cold November breeze blow in my face. “Tell Joseph I’ll see him later.”

“Wait, Jas. I mean it, I don’t care,” Nick said. “Let her come over. I’ll talk to her but I am not promising I’ll enjoy it.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want you having a smug look on your face all night. I promised her I would stay with her all night anyways.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Nick compromised, “But I won’t spend my night with her, unless she turns out to be cool.” I smiled at Nick and at his sudden change of mind.

“Okay, well I’m going to pick her up,” I replied. “I’ll be back in an hour or less.”

“Stay warm,” Nick said as I walked out the door and next door to start the car and head over to Hayley’s house.

An hour came and went, and Hayley and I were just wasting time before heading to the Jonas’ house. I wasn’t sure who exactly Nick and Joe invited, but I was pretty certain it was going to be a lot of the kids from Disney and of course family friends.

I was normally up for meeting new people, but I wasn’t sure how I’d act around these Disney stars. I contained my excitement for the Jonas boys, but I just got into their music recently. I’ve been a Disney kid all my life and was pretty much hooked on all the shows that were currently on.

“So, do you watch the Disney channel?” I randomly asked Hayley as we got closer to home. I looked over to see her reaction and she was just smiling.

“Not really,” she replied. “Everyone I know watches it, but it doesn’t tickle my fancy if you catch my drift.” I laughed, half relived that hopefully she won’t know most of the people that will show up. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering,” I lied. “I know a lot of kids our age watch it, but I wanted to see if it was because they enjoy it or because they have a younger sibling.”

“Do you enjoy it?” she asked.

“It’s okay,” I said, “But you already know I have two younger brothers and they sometimes force me to watch TV with them.” Hayley laughed out loud as the two of us finally reached our destination. We both got out of the car and quickly walked over to the Jonas’ house where somewhat loud music was blasting through the speakers.

“Party time,” I said as I threw the door open.

>>>

Two hours and about one hundreds guests later, I finally had time to myself. As I guessed, almost the entire Disney channel family showed up to help celebrate Kevin’s 21st birthday. I also met a few of the Jonas’ family friends, who were all sweet and kind just like the boys described them before.

“So I met everyone, but the birthday boy,” Hayley said to me. “Is he even here?” I leaned forward and grabbed two cups and offered one to Hayley.

“He’s around somewhere,” I commented. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was busy making out with his girlfriend.” I took a sip out of my cup and noticed Nick finally walking over to where Hayley and I were sitting.

“Hello ladies,” he said. Hayley smiled shyly at him while I pulled his arm so he could sit next to me. “Are you two enjoying yourselves?”

“Of course,” I replied. “Nick, this is Hayley. Hayley, meet Mr. Cranky Pants.” Nick gave Hayley a small smile as hers continued to grow.

“Hi Nick,” she said leaning her head over to look at Nick.

“Hi Hayley,” Nick replied. “Uh, how are you?” I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“Excuse me for a second,” I said standing up. “I hear my mom calling me.”

“You’re mom’s working,” Nick said. He stared at me and I knew what he was thinking. Something along the lines of You better not leave me or you are paying. I smiled at Nick as I excused myself once again.

I made my way into the kitchen where Joe was in a deep conversation with a group of people.

“My favorite person!” Joe shouted as soon as he saw me. He walked over and directed me towards the group of people he was talking to a few seconds ago. “You guys, this is Jasmina and she’s pretty much awesome.”

“You’re the famous Jasmina that Joe is always talking about!” a young girl said. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite put a name on her “It’s so good to finally put a face to the name.”

“I hope you’re hearing good things,” I commented, not sure of what else to say.

“Only from Nicholas of course,” the girl said. “Oh how silly of me. I’m Selena if you didn’t know.”

“Gomez!” I half shouted. “Sorry, my brother is like in love with you.” Everyone in ear shot all laughed. “Don’t tell him I told you that. He’d probably freak out.”

“You all know that’s the first thing I’m going to tell him when I see him,” Joe said. I wasn’t sure whether he was joking or not so I smacked his arm. “Ow, I was kidding Jas.”

“I hope you were,” I said. “He’ll probably stick my toothbrush in the toilet or something.” Joe scrunched up his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. “And I’m not joking.”

“Anyways,” Joe said, “I’m going to take Jas away for a second. Don’t miss us too much.” Joe grabbed my shoulders and started walking us both out towards the backyard.

“And where are we going?” I questioned. Joe walked to my side and draped his arm around my shoulders as we continued walking to his backyard. “Let me guess, it’s a surprise?”

Joe chucked, “Of course it is. Well, it’s not really a surprise. I just wanted to spend some time with you; away from everyone else.” I looked down at the wooden swing and noticed there was a red blanket lying on the back.

“Hm, planned this did we?” I questioned. I smiled as I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around me.

“Nobody will even know we’re missing,” Joe said as he sat on the swing and brought me to sit next to him.

“Except Nicholas,” I replied as I hugged the blanket closer to my body. “He was glaring daggers at me when I left him alone with Hayley.” Joe chuckled once more as I leaned closer, putting my head on his shoulder.

“He’ll get over it,” he said. “He never knows if he’ll start liking the girl or not.”

“Exactly!” I agreed. “He’s so stubborn sometimes.”

“Did you give Kevin his gifts yet?”

“I left them in his room,” I said. “So we’ll just see if he’s opened them or not later.” Joe snickered once again. “Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t know,” Joe replied, “Can you?”

“Joseph.”

“Okay, okay,” Joe said, “Sorry ask ahead Jas.”

“Do you ever want to, you know, get back together again?” I asked quickly.

“Of course I want to,” Joe said. “I always wanted to ask again, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to or not. Do you really want to give us another chance?”

I nodded my head, “I mean what’s the worst that can happen? If you do something lame again, I’ll just run you over with my car.” Joe’s eyes nearly popped out of his socket, which caused me to laugh. “I’m just kidding.”

I leaned forward and kissed Joe on his nose, which was slightly cold.

“I wanted to be the one to ask you back out though,” Joe said. “Can I just pretend you didn’t say that and ask you anyways?” I smiled and nodded my head. “Want to go out with me again? We can make it through it this time, I promise.”

“Okay,” I said, “But don’t make promises you can’t keep Joe. I know you said you want to make us work this time, but I don’t want you trying so hard that we split apart again. Live your life, hang out with your friends, go on tour and do everything you like, just know I’ll still be back home waiting for you patiently.”

“Thank you Jas,” Joe said as he leaned in to kiss the side of my head. “That’s sweet of you, but I love spending time with you. And next time we go on tour I’m dragging you along with me. I don’t care what your parents say.”

“Good luck with that buddy,” I replied. “My dad will be the first to say no.”

“Then I’ll just win him over once again,” Joe said. “I know he loves me. Probably more than he loves you.”

I laughed once again, “Sure Joe, believe that.”

“Come on, lets go back inside before we turn into popsicles,” Joe said standing up and stretching his hand out for me. I grabbed it and didn’t let go as the two of us walked back in the warm house where everyone was still enjoying themselves all the way until midnight, when slowly people started leaving.