A New Playing Field

Megan’s POV

I walked out to the backyard after showing Nate out. That was not what I expected to happen when the guys arrived. I don’t know what happened to Nate. That’s not the Nate I knew, fell for, or dated. He acted very immaturely with Nick and I was completely and utterly embarrassed.

Nick, Joe, and Kevin were sitting at the table on the patio. There was an open chair but I jumped onto Nick’s lap instead.

“And for Christmas, I want a pony!” We started laughing. Nick sat up straighter.

“Are you upset with how I just handled things?” Nick asked me.

“Upset? Absolutely not! Everything you said to him was either deserved or true. He’s not the kid I used to know. He’s changed a lot and now he’s a jerk. He used to be a nice person, I promise. Don’t judge my taste on that please.”

“I’ll judge your taste on me,” Nick replied, kissing me softly on the lips.

“At one point during lunch, I said that I learned from our relationship and then when Nick came up in the conversation, he was like ‘that’s long distance, I thought you said you learned from our relationship.’ That made me so mad.”

“That’s low! What’d you say to that?” Kevin asked.

“I told him that long distance can work if both people commit to it and don’t give up after one month.”

“Wow, I wish I could have seen his face after you said that!” Joe said laughing.

My phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I was not surprised to see the caller ID flashing Tara, my best friend in the entire world. I knew she would want all the details. I put my phone on speaker and answered the call.

“Hey Tara! Just so you know, you’re on speaker phone and the JoBros are here.”

“Woah, I bet not many girls can say they’ve been on speaker phone with the Jonas Brothers,” Tara said laughing.

“You bet right! I’m Joe.”

“I’m Kevin.”

“I’m Nick, and we’re the Jonas Brothers.” The guys exchanged looks of confusion as Tara and I laughed. “Sorry, habit I guess,” Nick said.

“So Meg, tell me!”

“It was…interesting. We caught up a little bit and ate hamburgers. He filled me in on some things going on at home. Then the brothers came over and Nick and Nate had a confrontation.”

“Seriously?! Do tell!"

“Nate was just being a jerk. He’s changed. I don’t like who he became.”

“Amen to that. So I take it Nick won the confrontation?”

“By a landslide!” Nick said, laughing.

"Oh, and then Nate tried to put the blame on me for the break up.”

“Are you kidding me? That jerk. On a scale of 1 to 10, your fault level in the break up was like a negative 14.”

“14? You are so random.”

“I am reading for English homework and that’s what page I’m on!”

“What page are you supposed to be on?”

“57.” Everyone laughed.

“It appears you know Tara rather well,” Nick said.

“Of course I know my best friend! Oh Yo T, did you know he has been going out with Katie recently?”

“Katie Fischer? Figures, your worst enemy. Ugh, they deserve each other.”

“Why is she your worst enemy?” Joe asked. Before I could answer, Tara did.

“Katie Fischer has been jealous of Megan since we were like…seven.”

“Well there is a lot to be jealous of,” Nick said, smiling at me.

“Aww, how sweet!” Tara cooed.

“Haha T, Nate told me you still give him death stares and asked why!”

“What a moron. He knows exactly why he gets them and he knows he deserves them. No one does something like that to my best friend and gets away with it! Nick, take note of this.” Nick opened his eyes wide.

“She’s kidding babe,” I told him. The tension in his body eased.

“Just treat my best friend right, and nothing bad will happen.”

“You have yourself a deal, Tara,” Nick said.

“So Tara, you should come visit Megan out here,” Joe suggested.

“I want to! I really do! But with school now, it’s kind of tough.”

“We’ll figure something out soon. How are Jack and Coop doing?” Jack and Cooper are Tara’s brothers. Jack is Colin’s best friend and Cooper is ten years old.

“Pretty well. Jack has football practice every day after school. Coop is turning into quite the little soccer player. He wants you to be proud of him because he said you're his inspiration. He feels like the man being in fifth grade now. It’s so funny.”

“Aw I miss them. Tell Coop-A-Loop to keep up the good work and that next time I see him, I want a one v. one battle! And how are Nance and Bri-Bri doing?” Tara’s parents, Nancy and Brian, are like my own. I’ve been on first name basis with them since I was 5 years old. Now I even have nicknames for them.

“They are doing very well. They miss you a lot. Every time they go into the basement, they see that spot on the wall and instantly think of you.” Tara and I started laughing uncontrollably.

“Tara, the guys look so confused right now. Tell them the story.”

“Okay, one time, we were having a sleepover at my house. My parents were in the basement trying to figure out the air mattress. Megan and I were running downstairs and Megan was in front of me. As she got to the last step, she completely tripped and went flying through the air. Literally flying, like stomach over the ground and arms over her head and everything.” The guys looked at me. I was cracking up and they started laughing too. Tara continued.

“Let me describe my basement a little. When you walk down the steps, there is a wall and you have to turn down a little hallway before getting into the TV area and stuff. So Megan flew across the hallway and her arm ended up putting a hole in the wall. I have never seen my parents laugh so hard.” The boys started cracking up. It took us all a few minutes to calm down.

“Well, this has been super fun, but Hunter just got here, so I gotta go.”

“Hunt-A-Moose! Tell him I said hey!”

“Of course. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay, love you T!”

“Love you too, M! Oh we are so Gossip Girl! Haha, night guys!”

“Goodnight Tara!” they said in unison. I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my pocket.

“Hunt-A-Moose?” Joe asked. The confused look on his face was priceless.

“Tara’s boyfriend, Hunter. He’s from Alaska, so sometimes I call him Hunt-A-Moose.” Joe started hysterically laughing.

“Tara seems really cool,” Nick said.

“She is. The whole family is amazing. Our parents have been friends since before we were all born. So Tara and I have been best friends since we were in diapers. Colin and Jack are best friends too. Cooper is ten and would get along great with Frankie. I just know it.”

“That’s awesome. You have like three families-your family, our family, and Tara’s family,” Nick said.

“I know, and I love each of them like crazy!” I smiled at half of a family that accepts me as their own. I love the Jonas’ and everything they have done for me and my family.

“So you really punched a hole in her wall?” Kevin asked. I nodded.

“That sounds like something I would do,” Joe said, causing an uproar of laughter between the four of us again.