Vote For Nick, I Mean Nicole!

Nicole took in a deep breath and let it out slowly in an attempt to calm her nerves. She slowly opened her green eyes and decided to sit down on a nearby chair.

"Nikki relax you'll do fine!" Chloe half yelled.

"Yeah calm down!" Starr agreed. Nicole rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Guys, I can't! I can't even stay still! What if something bad happens!?"

Chloe rolled her eyes as well and said, "Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Ugh, I'm just so paranoid! No pun intended.” Nicole turned to face three boys standing about six feet away from her. They were singing and playing their guitar, getting ready to perform. They didn't seem to hear her. Nicole turned back around to face her friends again. They smiled reassuringly at her. Nicole tried to return a smile, but only managed to open her mouth slightly.

"Okay boys, it's time to go on." One of the party planners said to the guys. They all nodded their heads and made their way across the room. Before he could walk further, Nicole placed her hand gently on Kevin's shoulder. He stopped and spun on his heels to face Nicole with a smile.

"Thanks." Nicole managed to say. She didn't know why she stopped him in the first place. She just felt like she needed to say something.

Kevin grinned at Nicole and gave her a reassuring hug. "It's no problem at all, Nikki. Really, we've known you since you were born. It's not even a favor, we feel honored to play at your party."

"I’m not thanking you for that though." Nicole replied. Kevin raised his eyebrows so Nicole continued. "I, I don't know. Just thank you for being there for me and for being my big brother, and stuff," Nicole shrugged. Kevin laughed out loud and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by one of his brothers.

"Dude, come on!" Nick shouted, impatient. Kevin gave Nicole another quick hug and a peck on the forehead, and walked through the door after his brothers.

Sitting down again, Nicole stared out at the garden through the glass doors. Everything was dark outside except the garden, filled with lights that brightened it up. She could hear Nick's singing and Kevin's guitar playing start in the background. She concentrated while staring out at the statue in the garden, trying not to think of what was up next. She also tried to ignore her friends who were talking lightly amongst themselves, possibly trying to distract her.

After the boys played their first song that Nicole knew too well, Burning up, they started to play Got me Going Crazy followed by their newest song called Paranoid. The last song they played was Live to Party, maybe to try to make the atmosphere more party-like, Nicole thought.

Then the moment that Nicole was dreading came. As soon as the boys came back through the door, Nicole started shaking. Kevin walked up to her, sweating and smiling broadly, and said "You'll be fine. Don't worry. It's your party so if they laugh then you can kick them out!"

Nicole couldn't help but laugh. She knew he was right, and that made her feel just a little better. Just enough so she could stop shaking and get up. "It's your turn to go up sweetie." The party planner spoke softly to Nicole. "And don't worry, you'll do fine." She added.

"Ok, so good luck Nikki, we'll be out in the crowd cheering you on and when you're done we'll come back stage and cheer you on some more!" Chloe yelled out.

"Yeah and if anyone laughs we'll give you their name so you can kick them the hell out!" Starr added, laughing.

Kevin chuckled at Nicole's friends as they walked out of the room and into the party area and gave Nicole a pep speech of his own. "Well they pretty much took the words out of my mouth, but don't forget to have fun okay? Remember it's your party and you're doing this for yourself and your own entertainment, not to entertain your friends." Nicole smiled showing her teeth and gave Kevin a big bear hug before walking slowly to the door.

Right before she opened the door, Nick muttered, "Geez, if she's so nervous now then how is she going to get through High School Musical the play?" But Nicole didn't hear him. The boys then went out to their own seats with their family.

Star and Chloe sat at the special long table for the VIP. They sat next to each other and looked over at the magician on stage who was hosting the party. He began by doing some cool card tricks and kept everyone entertained. Then his tricks began to get fancier and more complicated. That's when he announced the final trick and the coolest one by far.

He went over to a jack in the box that was placed on stage. He showed the inside of the jack in the box but there was nothing inside of it. Then he said the magic words and began to spin the handle. The giant jack in the box played its traditional music, and right before something was supposed to pop out, the box suddenly exploded and out came black and blue balloons with glitter on them along with tons of confetti that matched the balloons. Amongst the mayhem appeared Nicole in all her white dress glory. She was laughing like crazy as all her friends and family were blown away. They clapped and cheered her on as she shook all the confetti off of her and bowed along with the magician.

"Ahaha! Thank you!" Nicole exclaimed, the bright smile never leaving her face. The magician walked off stage and Nicole went and picked up her guitar then walked over to the microphone again. The crowd went quiet. "Well um, I'm just going to um, play a few songs. They're actually originals, and um, I just wrote them whenever I went through something. You know teenage drama and stuff." Nicole laughed nervously. She should've planned on what to say before she went on stage. "Um, this is the first song I ever wrote, and um, it's called Shadow. Hope you like it."

---

After performing her first song, Nicole relaxed more and continued on to play twelve more of her songs. Some songs were about her friends. Some songs were about the future and what it could hold for her. One song was just about enjoying life and having fun. But most of her songs were about Nick Jonas.

"This song I wrote about a fucker I hate. You know who you are," She had said as she was dedicating one of the songs. Hey, it was her party and she had the right to say and do what she wanted even though her parents gave her the 'watch what you're saying' look. She just smiled at them and performed her song.

"Okay so I've been playing an awful lot of songs and I know everyone is sick of my voice by now," She paused to laugh and look at everyone's face. They all had the same look that meant they agreed with Nicole's statement. Even Starr and Chloe. 'Gosh, some best friends they are!' She thought but laughed again.

"I'm just going to sing one last song, I swear! I didn't write it, but I swear that Miley Cyrus was thinking of me when she wrote it. It's called 7 Things and I'm sure you've heard it before. And if you haven't, well you're kind of going to have to hear it now. Sorry if you hate her." Nicole rolled her eyes. She loved Miley's music and hated when people said means things about her. They were all just jealous. "Oh and I'm going to sing this with the karaoke, I'm not going to play it on my guitar, so yeah." Nicole added.

She stood up from her stool, put her guitar to the side, and adjusted the microphone stand. The DJ started playing the song and Nicole danced along to it until it was her cue to sing. She began singing the first verse. She made sure to look Nick right in the eye as soon as she started singing.

I probably shouldn't say this
But at times I get so scared
When I think about the previous
Relationship we shared.
Nick's eyes were locked with Nicole's, and it was one of those moments where you look at a person but you just can't look away. It was exactly what Nicole wanted. A small smile crept onto her face as she sang directly to him.

It was awesome but we lost it
It's not possible for me, not to care
And now we're standing in the rain
But nothing's ever gonna change until you hear, my dear
Suddenly Nicole started singing at the top of her lungs and jumping around just like in the music video that she saw a few thousand times.

The 7 things I hate about you
The 7 things I hate about you, oh you
Her eyes sparkled as she scowled at Nick. People were starting to notice, though Nicole didn't notice people noticing.

You're vain, your games, you're insecure
You love me, you like her
She rolled her eyes at the last part.

You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don't know which side to buy

Your friends, they're jerks
When you act like them, just know it hurts
Nicole remembered the sixth grade and how Nick's actions hurt her. His friends encouraged him to act like an ass.

I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I hate the most that you do
Nicole's eyes suddenly softened up, she stopped jumping around, and her scowl went away. Now she looked sincere.

You make me love you
Nick's heart skipped a beat when he heard the girl he supposedly hates sing this right at him. Now people definitely knew who this song was dedicated to.

Nicole's expression changed from sincere back to the one she had before. She continued on with the song and finally broke her gaze away from Nick's to look at the crowd. As she sang she moved back to the center of the stage. She didn't realize it but she had somehow danced her way to the right side of the stage, the side where Nick was sitting with his family.

It's awkward and it’s silent
As I wait for you to say
What I need to hear now
Your sincere apology
Nicole looked at Nick once again.

When you mean it, I'll believe it
If you text it, I'll delete it
Let's be clear
Oh I'm not coming back
She shook her head as she sang the last part.

You're taking seven steps here
She broke her gaze once again, and started jumping around like she had done before.

The 7 things I hate about you
You're vain, your games, you're insecure
You love me, you like her
You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don't know which side to buy

Your friends, they're jerks
When you act like them, just know it hurts
I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I hate the most that you do
You make me love you
She stopped jumping around once again and started singing the next verse. She made sure to catch a glimpse of Nick before she did.

And compared to all the great things
That would take too long to write
I probably should mention
The 7 that I like
She smiled as she remembered all the good times she had with Nick. He wasn't always a jerk. Soon she began to jump around again.

The 7 things I like about you
Your hair, your eyes,

She touched her wavy hair.

your old Levi's

She touched her right thigh as she sang the last bit.

When we kiss, I'm hypnotized

She touched her cheek with her right hand, since she couldn't touch her lips because she was singing.
You make me laugh, you make me cry
But I guess that's both I'll have to buy

She rolled her eyes playfully this time with a small smile formed on her lips.

Your hands in mine
When we're intertwined, everything's alright
Then she put her right hand into a fist and placed it on her chest as she held the microphone with her other hand.

I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I like most that you do
She dropped her hand and stared directly and intently into Nick's brown eyes.

You make me love you
You do
Nicole suddenly felt overwhelmed by the situation. Something about Nick's gaze stirred up strange, incomprehensible feelings in her. It was all just too much for her to handle in one day. She suddenly realized that she had practically spilled her heart out with that one song.
And now she had no idea how Nick would react to that. But she had a pretty good idea in her mind, and it would have something to do with making her look like a fool. 'As if I already didn't embarrass myself enough already!' She thought.

She broke away from the impenetrable gaze in time to finish the song with the oooh's at the end. "Thank you." She said softly as everyone clapped and cheered. And as all the people she cared about cheered her on-probably because it was over-and the magician walked onto the stage, she decided that it wasn't worth beating herself up over it. What was done was done and all she could do now was try to enjoy her party. After all, it was for her entertainment and not her friends. They were just there to make things better.

Well all that is easier said than done.

"Wow! Wasn't she amazing everyone?" The magician yelled as he put his arm around Nicole's shoulder. She smiled at the young magician. He looked like he was in his early thirties, and he had light brown hair and eyes to match. He was generally a good looking person. Nicole thought so too, after all he was her uncle.

"Well what if I say that it's not over yet? That there's still one more surprise left?" Everyone looked confused and excited at the same time. Even Nicole furrowed her eyebrows together in wonder. What had her parents planned that they didn't tell her about?!