Worlds Keep Spinning Round

“Your change is two dollars and sixty cents. Have a nice day.” I handed the elderly man in front of me his change and watched as he grabbed his granddaughters hand and walked out of the store, the little girl giving me a weird look as he led her away.

It had been a month since the boys finished their tour and I was out of a job. As soon as we arrived to New Jersey, I found a job working at Barnes and Nobles. It wasn't as glamorous as my previous job, and I got my fair share of customers recognizing me and commenting on my relationship (whether I wanted them to or not), but it would have to do for the next few months. Speaking of my relationship, Joe and I spent as much time together while I wasn’t at work and he wasn’t busy. We saw a good deal of each other, but our time together was quickly fading. We had been avoiding a certain conversation for the past couple of days, but they were leaving tomorrow for California, and I didn’t know when I would see them again.
My watch beeped, indicating my shift was over. I gathered my things, punched out, got in my car and drove home. When I got there, I immediately went into the bathroom. After a long time, I stepped out of the steaming shower. I put on a pair of sweats, a t-shirt and one of Joe’s hoodies that had 'mysteriously' appeared amongst my things after the tour (I totally stole it. You would too if you knew just how comfortable they were...). I was finishing up a sandwich when my phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Hey,” I heard a familiar voice say.

“Wut’s up?” I asked.

“Nothing really. I’m supposed to be packing.”

“Joe, you know it takes you, like, years to pack. You shouldn’t have left it for the last minute,” I said taking my attention off of the television set we had in the kitchen.

“Yea I know. It’s going to take me forever to do. Unless I get help from someone.”

I could hear the smile in his voice as he suggested I be the one to do the task, which caused me to smile. I got up and took my plate over to the sink. “I’ll be over in a little bit,” I said rolling my eyes.

“Cool. Later.” I heard him click off the line and went upstairs. I grabbed my keys and ten minutes later, I was ringing their doorbell.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Gee, it’s nice to see you too Nick,” I said giving him a hug.

“Sorry. Come on in.”

Kevin walked into the foyer and gave me a hug. “Hey Nat, what are you doing here?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

“Wow, I can see you guys have gotten sick of me all these months,” I said jokingly.

“No way. We’re just surprised to see you. We didn’t know you were coming over,” Kevin said in their defense.

I giggled a bit. “It’s ok, I was just kidding. I’m actually here to help Joe pack,” I replied.

They both rolled their eyes. “Did he leave his packing for the last minute again?” Nick asked.
“Haha, yea. He called me a while ago and asked for help.”

“Yea, he tends to do that. Well, we’re glad you’re here. This way we can spend some time together before we leave,” Kevin replied. I shot him a weak smile and told them that I was gonna go upstairs. “Ok, come down when you guys are done.” I nodded my head ok and made my way up the stairs.

I stood in Joe’s open doorway and watched him walk around his room for a bit. Eventually he figured out I was there and came over, greeting me with a hug and a kiss. I looked around his room and sighed. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” I said.

He laughed out right and pulled me into the room. “Ok, obviously I’m really bad at this. Where do you suppose we start?” he asked.

“Ok, well it’s a start that you actually have suitcases. How about I start folding clothes in your closet? You can fold your underwear and socks, cuz I am definitely not touching those,” I said, scrunching my nose. He laughed at the expression on my face, gave me a small kiss on my nose, and nodded his head ok. For the next hour we folded clothes and talked about the most random things ever. Man, I’m going to miss him.

“Ok, well it looks like that’s the last of it,” he said pulling me back from my thoughts. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. We stood there for a while until we heard a knock on the door. We pulled apart as Mrs. Jonas walked into the room.

“Joseph, are you done packing yet? Oh, Natalie sweetie, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Uh yea. I came over a while ago. Joseph needed some help with his packing.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she asked shaking her head. I laughed along with her. “Well now that you’re here, I’m sure that you’ll be staying for dinner.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,” I said bashfully.

“Oh, nonsense. You’re like family,” she replied with a smile. I nodded my head ok. She told us that dinner would be ready in five minutes and left the room.

“So,” Joe said pulling me down onto his bed.

“Soo,” I said back as he wrapped his arms securely around my petite frame.

“When are you gonna go visit us in California?” he asked after a while, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.

“Um, I don’t know,” I replied fidgeting with the ring he gave me for Christmas.

“You are gonna visit, aren’t you?” I was lying with my head on his chest and I could feel his eyes burning a hole into the top of my head.

“Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I said getting even more nervous. I sat up and turned to face him. He looked very confused, which made me even more nervous. God he’s so cute when he’s confused! Ok Natalie, stop thinking about that and get on with it. “Umm, I don’t think that I’ll be able to visit for a while,” I said.

“Why not?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows and sitting upright.

“Well, I got accepted to Northeastern University in Massachusetts. I start towards the middle of August,” I cut to the chase, looking up to see his reaction. It was too hard to read his face, so I had no idea if he was happy for me, or upset, or what was going through his mind.

“Oh.”

Is that all he’s going to say? We stared at each other in an awkward silence. I was about to say something when Frankie walked into the room. “Joe, mommy said to come down to dinner. Natalie!” He ran towards me and jumped on my lap when he saw me sitting on Joe’s bed.

I put the pending conversation between me and Joe aside and turned my attention to Frankie. “Hey cutie. What’s up?” I asked, a smile spreading on my face.

“Nothing really. I was just packing my stuff for California. Daddy was helping me. I’m really excited. I love seeing my brother’s work. And now they’re gonna be on Disney Channel all the time! Did you know that?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter. “Yea I did know that. Personally I think they should have made you the star of that show but hey, I’m not the producer.” He giggled and I heard a small chuckle coming from the corner. I looked over and saw Joe shaking his head. I turned my attention back to Frankie. “Come on kiddo, let’s go down to dinner. We all know how Nicky gets when he doesn’t eat!” This got even more giggles from Frankie as we made our way down the stairs.

After dinner, we all made our way down to the basement. The guys had the TV on in the background as we talked. “So, how excited are you guys to start filming this show?”

“I don’t know about these guys but I’m super excited. Now our fans get to see us even more!” Nick proclaimed.

“Yea, I’m super excited too. And I know Joe is too. All he’s done is talk about how much fun it’s gonna be and how they could even feature you in an episode,” Kevin added.

My heart skipped a beat when I looked over at the expression on Joe’s face. He looked really angry. As if on queue he said, “Yea, well I guess we can scratch that idea.”

His brothers looked over at him confused, expecting him to elaborate. When he didn’t say anything, they looked back at me. Alright. Guess I should probably tell them the news. “Um, what he’s trying to say is that it might be difficult to do that.”

“Why?” they asked at the same time.

“Yea Nat, tell them why,” Joe said coldly.

I winced at the tone of his voice. Geez, he’s really being mean about this. I started fidgeting with my necklace, which I did whenever I was nervous. “Um, I got accepted into a university in Massachusetts.” I looked from Nick to Kevin, expecting their reactions to be the same as Joe’s, but they weren’t.

“Oh My God, really? That’s awesome!” Kevin said.

“Congrats,” Nick added.

“We didn’t know you had applied to colleges,” Kevin said.

I sighed, a bit relieved they weren’t angry like Joe. “Uh yea. I actually applied towards the end of my junior year when I still lived in LA. Way before I even met you guys. I had been keeping in touch with the administrator for a couple of months and I just received the acceptance letter about two weeks ago.”

Both Nick and Kevin seemed happy for me. I glanced at Joe and saw that his expression had softened a bit. I brought my attention back to Nick when I realized he had asked me a question. “What are you planning on becoming?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always liked kids and stuff so I was thinking elementary education,” I replied, though it sounded more like a question.

“Aww yea, I could totally see you doing that. I mean, the way you interact with Frankie and all our younger fans, you’re really good with kids,” Kevin said nodding his head excitedly.

“Thanks,” I said feeling a little bit better.

“So, when do classes start?” Nick asked.

“Around the middle of August,” I replied.

“That’s good. That gives you a few months to come out and visit. I mean, you can take about a week off from work and fly over,” Kevin said even more excited.

Wow, Kevin always gets excited about everything. “Yea. I could totally do that.”

“So, you’d still visit us?” We all looked over at Joe. He had been sitting quietly on the couch during our whole conversation until now.

“Of course she would. What did you think? That we’d never see her again just because she would be in college and we would be in California?” Nick teased, though that probably was what Joe was thinking.

“As if that would ever happen. Nat’s like family. We’re always going to be best friends.” A smile spread out on my face when Kevin said that. I knew that Joe and I would talk this out later. After that, everything would be absolutely fine. For right now, I was about to enjoy my last night with my boyfriend and my best friends.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

The next day I woke up with my phone vibrating uncontrollably somewhere on my bed. I grunted as my hand roamed around the bed blindly. Finally it made contact with the vibrating device. “Hello?” I answered in a groggily voice.

“Natalie, please don’t tell me you’re still in bed!” the person on the other line yelled.

My eyes shot wide open and I sat straight up. “Omigod, what time is it?”

“It’s already nine thirty. Kaitlyn and I are almost there. You better get your butt out of that bed pronto!”

“Alright, alright, I’m going,” I said and hung up the phone. I struggled with my sheets but managed to untangle myself and get out of bed. I raced into my bathroom, brushed my teeth and put on my contacts. Then I heard the doorbell ring. I knew Uncle Danny was already at work so I ran down the stairs and answered it. “Boy, you weren’t kidding when you said you guys were almost here,” I said. I gave both Sarah and Kaitlyn hugs and ushered them into the house.

“You’re not going to the airport in your pajamas, are you?” Kaitlyn asked plopping down on my couch.

“Of course not. Listen, I’m gonna go take a shower really quick. Could you guys please pick out an outfit for me to wear, so that we’re not late?” Once they nodded their heads, I dashed into my bathroom. After a quick shower, I went into my closet to find them finalizing their choice. I shooed them out and changed into the plain blue jeans and white t-shirt that they picked out for me. I put on a pair of white sneakers. Even though it was the end of March, I decided I would need a sweatshirt.

“Natalie, hurry up!” I heard Sarah say, banging on my door.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.” I grabbed the first sweatshirt I saw and threw it on. I ran out to my room, grabbed my purse, phone and keys and the three of us made our way down the stairs.

It was ten o’clock when we reached the Jonas household. Before we even made it up the driveway, Frankie was already in the front yard waiting for us. “It’s about time you got here. Geez, what took you guys so long?”

“Sorry Frankie, Nat here took forever to get ready,” Kaitlyn said bending down and giving him a hug. They had both really grown on each other in the few weeks that she and Nick had been dating.

Frankie pulled back from the hug and made an adorably cute confused face. “Why?”

“She’s a girl, they take forever.” We all looked up when we heard Nick speak up. All three guys were standing in the doorway with smirks on their faces.

Frankie scratched his head and he looked even more confused. “Joey takes forever too and he’s not a girl!” he exclaimed. This got all of us laughing, except for Joe who looked mad, and Frankie who looked plain confused. Once we were able to control our laughter, we made our way into the house. We all greeted each other and walked into the kitchen where Mrs. Jonas was setting breakfast on the table.

“Sweet, pancakes!” Joe ran to the table, sat down in his usual seat and started piling food onto his plate. “Thanks mom,” he said with food moving around in his mouth.

“Joseph, are you eating without saying grace?” Mr. Jonas asked as he walked into the kitchen. We all laughed as Joe set his fork down and gulped down the food in his mouth with a guilty look on his face. After greeting their parents, we made our way over to the table. We said grace and served ourselves breakfast. We all helped with the dishes afterward.

“Alright boys, do you have all your stuff?” Mr. Jonas asked. They all nodded their heads and we took the luggage outside. We were going in two cars and I was going to drive their car back. Sarah, Kevin, Kaitlyn, Nick, Joe and I were all in Sarah’s car while their parents and Frankie were in their car. Once we were all situated, we made our way to the airport.

Those forty-five minutes were the fastest ones of my life. We talked about anything and everything we could think of. When a song we liked came on the radio, we all started belting the lyrics. At first it was just Kaitlyn, Sarah and me but eventually the guys joined in. Especially when 'When You Look Me In The Eyes' came on Z100. We were having so much fun, but then the airport came into view and the knots in my stomach got tighter.

We pulled up in the drop off area and unloaded their luggage. Then we went and parked the cars. When we walked back into the terminal, they were checking in their luggage. When that was done, we went to the waiting area. There was still an hour left before their flight took off.

“Cool!” We all turned to see Frankie running towards the big glass window. He stopped and pressed his face against the glass. His eyes glistened with excitement when he turned to us and asked, “Are we gonna do that too?” We all laughed and nodded our heads. He turned back around and continued to watch the airplanes take off. You’d think he was used to this by now, with all the traveling his brothers do. We all shook our heads in amusement and sat down facing the window.

We talked for a bit about random things, which we seemed to do a lot of. After a while, Joe whispered in my ear, “Can I talk to you?” I had no idea what this was going to be about, but I nodded my head. We both got up and started to walk away from the group, hand in hand.

“Wonder where they’re going,” I heard Sarah ask out loud.

“They have some unfinished business to attend to,” Kevin told her.

Unfinished business? Wonder what he’s talking about. I bumped into Joe when he made an abrupt stop. He looked around, deciding which way to go. He pulled me to the right and into the gift shop. “So, what’s on your mind?” I asked making my way over to the candy aisle. Might as well satisfy my sweet tooth while I’m here. I looked up when he didn’t answer my question right away. I was met with his steady gaze on me. The intensity of it was too much for me to handle so I looked down at the candy in front of me.

He heaved a very audible sigh, which caused me to look back up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” I asked confused.

“For the way I acted last night. I acted like a complete jerk about the whole college thing. Which is stupid because you applied way before we started dating, before we even met. And either way, I’m your boyfriend, I should support you with any decision you make. So, I’m sorry.”

I walked over to him and gave him a hug. “Apology accepted,” I said. I pulled away and turned back to the row of candy. Joe just rolled his eyes at me. After a few minutes of him trying to convince me I couldn’t get all the candy I wanted, I settled on a pack of Starbursts to share with the group, and a pack of peanut M&M’s for myself.

Before I could even pull out my wallet, Joe had already handed the cashier a ten dollar bill. He collected his change, handed me my M&M’s and grabbed himself a Starburst. I linked arms with him and said, “Joseph Jonas, you are the best boyfriend ever.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as we turned to walk out of the store, almost bumping into the girl behind us.

“So sorry,” Joe and I said simultaneously.

The girl, who seemed to be in her teenage years, dropped the bottle of water she was holding. “Oh. My. God.,” she shrieked looking up at us. “You’re…and you’re,” she stammered pointing from Joe to me. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

I plunged my index finger into my ear but I could still hear her loud scream. “Looks like we just met yet another fan,” I said facing Joe, amusement dripping from my voice. I still found it hilarious how some of the fans reacted.

Just then, an older girl came running out of an aisle. “Cam, are you ok?” The girl stopped in her tracks when she saw what her sister was pointing to. “Oh. My. God. You’re Joe Jonas. And you’re Natalie Anderson. Oh my God.” The girl started fanning herself. Ok weird. This girl knows who I am. And she’s about to hyperventilate.

Joe and I looked at each other and then back at the two girls. “Can we get your autograph?” the younger one asked pulling out a notebook.

“Sure,” Joe replied, breaking out in a grin. He signed the girl’s book and left her a little message.

“Can we also take a picture?” the other girl asked, camera already in hand.

“Of course,” Joe replied politely.

“Here, I’ll take it for you,” I offered.

“But I want you to be in the picture,” the girl said, taking me by surprise.

“Really?”

“Yea. I think you and Joe are the cutest couple out there right now. It’s so surreal that the hottest guy alive is dating an everyday girl. It took me forever to get over the fact that all three Jonas’ are taken. But you guys are really cute together. So, how about it,” she said, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

“Sure,” I said bashfully. Wow, so this is what it feels like for the guys. The girl asked the cashier to take the picture. After a couple of shots, we left the girls gushing over their digital camera and walked back to where everyone else was.

We stopped dead in our tracks when we saw the huge crowd that had formed. “Uhh oh,” Joe said, pulling the brim of his hat down lower. Too late. The girl right in front of us turned around when he spoke and let out a piercing scream. Everyone turned around and dozens of eyes made contact with mine. The next thing I knew, all the girls made a beeline towards us, screaming their heads off.

Geez, where’s Big Rob when you need him? Within seconds, I was pushed to the outskirts of the crowd and found myself next to Sarah, Kaitlyn, and Frankie. Mr. & Mrs. Jonas were trying to cut through the crowd to go to their sons’ rescue.

“Wow, this is nuts!” Kaitlyn proclaimed. “It wasn’t like this at any of the concerts we went to!”

“Yea, that’s cuz we had Big Rob there to keep them away,” Sarah told her.

I chuckled and shook my head. “Welcome to a life with the Jonas Brothers,” I told them.

“Amen,” Frankie said. We all laughed at him and decided to sit back down. About ten minutes later, the airport security was able to get most of the girls to leave the boys alone. By then, it was time for their airplane to start boarding first class passengers.

“Alright kids, we have to get going,” Mr. Jonas said. Sarah, Kaitlyn and I said good-bye to Mr. & Mrs. Jonas and to Frankie. They went ahead and boarded the plane. Then came the hard part. Tears started burning in my eyes as I said good-bye to Nick, Kevin, and finally, Joe.

He pulled me into one of his tight bear hugs and whispered in my ear. “I’m really gonna miss you.”

“Not as much as I’m gonna miss you,” I said pulling back from the hug. I got on my tiptoes and gave him a long kiss. It was the best kiss of my life. I heard a chorus of ‘awws’ in the distance and I felt myself go light headed.

Everything cleared up as we pulled away from each other. “They are so cute,” a few girls near by said, taking pictures. I felt my cheeks warming up so I pulled Joe into another hug. I buried my face in his chest and took in his scent. Another thing about him I’m going to miss.

“Joe, we’ve got to go,” I heard Kevin say so we pulled apart from each other. Everyone said one more good-bye to each other and the boys started to walk towards the gate. They turned one last time and waved back at us, sad smiles on their faces.

“See you in three months,” I yelled back. They waved one final time, turned, gave their tickets to the attendant, and boarded their plane. The three of us walked back to the window and watched as several minutes later, their plane took off. When they were out of eye sight, I received a text message; ‘miss u already’. I couldn’t help but smile and send him a text back, even though he wouldn’t get it until their plane landed. Man, these are gonna be the longest three months of my life! Then, without a care in the world, I let out my sadness through tears.