Only in Black and White

Pink Berry was tons of fun. It felt nice to actually have friends. Demi was surprisingly friendly and nice; we already have plans for a girl’s night out along with Carmen. Mike really fit in well with our group. He’s hysterical; he can always make me laugh.
Today was my “date” with Joe. I loved Joe, but just as a friend. I couldn’t picture us as anything more.
“Ready for your date?” Carmen asked, while I searched through my closet, trying to find something reasonable.
“Eh,” I replied.
“I’m sure he’s not that bad.”
“He’s not. He’s just more of a friend to me,” I told her.
“Does he know that?” she asked.
“Not exactly.”
“April, you have to tell him.”
“I know, I know. I will tonight,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Good. Then I can have him,” she joked.
I laughed, “Good luck with that.”
She ignored me. “So who do you like? It’s Nick, isn’t it?” she guessed.
“You know, I don’t have to always like someone.”
“Yeah, but believe it or not, I know you only too well. I can tell you like one of them.”
“I don’t know who I like,” I admitted. “But it’s not Joe.”
“What about Mike? He was nice.”
“Mike’s cool, but I don’t really know him that well. Does this look ok?” I asked, changing the subject and held up my new red dress.
“Yeah, and wear your red heels with it,” she told me.
We heard the doorbell rang.
“He’s early,” I said, and frantically began to find my shoes.
“It’s ok, I’ll stall.”
“Thanks Carmen!”
“Uh-huh. Besides, it gives me a chance to talk with him,” she said, smiling.
I laughed, “like I said, good luck!”
---
After throwing everything on, and pulling my hair back, I ran downstairs to meet Joe. They were casually sitting on the sofa, Carmen was laughing, and Joe was smiling. He was wearing a tux, which he looked adorable in.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” Joe said, and smiled even wider. “You look pretty.”
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He laughed, “Ready?”
“Yup. Tell Aunt Heather I’ll be home by ten,” I told Carmen.
“Ok, have fun you two!”
“See ya, Car.” I waved goodbye, and walked outside. It was a beautiful August evening, it was warm, but not hot. Just the way I liked it. Joe put his hand on my back as we walked to the limo sitting in the driveway, but I shrugged it off. He looked a little surprised, but didn’t say anything. He went to my side of the car and opened the door for me.
“Thanks.” He nodded, and climbed into his side of the car. “So where are we going this time? Considering we’re in a limo, it must be someplace big.” I said, getting a little nervous.
“You’ll see,” he said, with a mischievous grin.
“Aw, come on. I hate surprises.”
“It’s a good surprise. I promise.”
“It better be,” I teased.
We eventually pulled up to a huge building, with a bunch of limos driving around, and a bunch of flashing lights. The limo pulled up, and we stepped out… onto a red carpet. He had taken me to the premier of Camp Rock. I was surprised at first, but then I was a little mad. I didn’t want everyone to know that I was on a “date” with the famous Joe Jonas.
“The premier! Joe!” I yelled.
“Told you it was a good surprise.”
“It--” I was going to tell him it wasn’t a good surprise, but we got bombarded with interviewers and flashing cameras.
“Joe!”
“Over here!”
“Who’s the girl?” they all screamed.
Joe, being the professional he is, grabbed my hand and dragged me inside, ignoring all the reporters. “Sorry about that,” he apologized. “They get a little crazy.”
“Joe,” I said. “You shouldn’t have taken me here.”
“It’s not a problem, really. I wanted to take you.” Didn’t this kid ever realize that I wasn’t trying to thank him?
“No, Joe. Listen to me for one second. geez.”
This got his attention. He pulled me into a corner. “what?”
“I--” now I suddenly felt bad. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had always been so good to me, and I really did like him. But I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, either. “I just wanted to say thank you, and…”
“And?”
“I’m really sorry, Joe. I like you. A lot. But, just as friends,” I finally spit out.
His jaw slightly dropped. “Just friends?” he repeated.
I nodded, “I’m sorry.”
He hesitated, “It’s ok. I should have known. The signs were all there,” he muttered.
“Signs? What are you talking about, Joe?”
“Nothing. Let’s just watch the movie, ok?” he snapped. Now I really felt bad.

We sat and watched the movie, awkwardly. He wouldn’t look at me and every time I tried to talk to him or start a conversation he would almost ignore me. I didn’t think Joe would be one to be bitter, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe he was just upset. I don’t know. I’d talk to Demi and Carmen about it later.
We were just about to leave with his brothers who we had finally caught up with later, when we ran into Demi.
“April! I didn’t know you were going to be here!”
“I didn’t either,” I said, and glanced at Joe, but he looked away. Demi looked at me, curious.
“Um, I was just leaving. Do you want to come to my house or something? We can have Carmen come too,” she asked, sensing something was wrong.
“That would be great.”
“I guess I’ll just leave with Demi, then, Joe. Ok?”
“Sure. Have fun,” he told me. Kevin and Nick gave us both confused looks.
“Bye,” I told him. “I really am sorry,” I whispered.