Younger Years
We were neighbors, but my family kept to themselves. We were quiet, and didn't get out much. I didn't have many friends. If you didn't count my stuffed Hippopotamus Henry, that I took with me everywhere .I was five years old, and already the underdog. My brown hair was too curly, and my blue eyes were too big. I was too skinny, and too shy. I was imperfect. And I knew it. So everyday I would spend hours outside in my sandbox, attempting to create the perfect sand castle, Henry always watching me from the top of the slide. I was alone, always.
I knew I had neighbors. They were three boys. Sometimes I would see them play out in their backyard. They would look at me, as if asking me to join them. But I was five, and I was shy. So I ignored them and got back to work on my latest sand castle.
One day as usual I was in my sandbox. The three boys were playing in their yard. One of them looked to be about my age, the other two were older. I'd never said I word to them, until the baseball they were throwing ended up right in my sandbox, causing my castle to become a hopeless mound of sand. The littlest one waddled over, a grape popsicle in his mouth…and on his hands…and all over his face. I'd never actually gotten a look at him. He had chubby cheeks and curly brown hair. All of a sudden his popsicle ended up in my sandbox, right next to the baseball. I looked up, his eyes got big, and tears welled up. I looked down at the pathetic mound of sand, the half eaten popsicle and the baseball. The boy stared down at me, and I stared up. He wiped his eyes with his sticky small fingers, and confidently said
"Hi, I'm Nicholas,"
I stared, my blue eyes wide. I picked up the baseball, and shoved it up at him, not saying a word. When he still didn't move, I took a deep breath and muttered
"I…I…I'm Alexis"
It's funny how I still remember that day like it happened recently, instead of ten years ago. After that day, Nicholas, his two brothers and I, were inseparable. Nick was my best friend, his brothers, my big brothers too. I was there at every single one of Nick and Joe's Broadway shows, went to all of their birthday parties, and was even at the hospital when little Frankie was born. I was there when Nick got a record deal, and was sitting right next to them when they were signed to Columbia records. I knew all their secrets, and they knew mine. They were my second family. As the Jonas Brothers stepped into stardom, I never left their side. But no one outside the Jonas Brothers, their staff, and my family ever knew I was with them. I was the best kept secret in Hollywood…for now.