"And even when the sun forgets to shine, I'll be there to hold you through the night…."
Isabella groaned as she fumbled for her cell phone. "Hello?" she mumbled into it groggily.
"Hey hey, Bella, this is your wake-up call!" came Joe's cheerful voice from the other end. "Rise and shine, Bellster, up and at 'em!"
"I didn't….order a wake-up call," said Isabella, her voice muffled from talking into the pillow.
"Well, it's the last day you'll be in high school, baby sis, and you don't wanna be late!"
"Are you high or something?" asked Isabella, climbing out of bed and pulling on her bathrobe. "What are you so cheerful about?"
"Finally you guys will be able to come on tour with us," said Joe in earnest. "Excuse me for being ecstatic."
"Sorry, Joe," replied Isabella. "I'll, um, meet you in the kitchen after I throw a shoe at Rebecca to wake her up, okay?"
Before he hung up, Joe added as an afterthought, "Throw one at her for me."
Isabella picked up the two shoes Rebecca left by the ladder the night before. "Becky, wake up!" she shouted, hurling one at her.
"Five more minutes, Mom…." she grumbled.
"Oh, and this one's from Joe!" Isabella threw the other one, which hit Rebecca in the head.
"Ow, okay I'm up, I'm up!" said Rebecca quickly, shuffling out of bed. "Dude, that could have done serious damage to my brain."
"Yeah, maybe," Isabella countered, starting to leave the room, "if you had one."
Rebecca ambled tiredly after her, not attempting to think of a comeback, so as not to exert herself any more than necessary this early in the morning, with her brain still being in sleep mode. They went to the kitchen where their parents had prepared a big breakfast for them containing the works.
"Good morning," said Isabella, kissing her mother Denise and dad on the cheek and sitting down in her normal spot between Nick and Joe. She grabbed a plate and helped herself to what she could eat, contrary to Rebecca, who, even at this hour, filled her own with more food she needed, after mumbling something inaudible and pretty much meaningless to everyone around her.
At that moment, Kevin walked in, wearing his plaid pajama bottoms and a white wife beater. "Morning, Bella, and Becky, are you two excited for your last day of school?" he asked, sitting down and taking food for himself.
"Today's our last day of school?" said Rebecca in somewhat disbelief, apparently still half-asleep. Or not.
"He probably made a mistake is all," said Joe. "It must just be Bella's last day of school even though you GO to her school….and you're in the same grade….and you're the same age and all…."
"Actually, she's older by thirty-six seconds," Rebecca pointed out, "and darn, I thought it was over today, so when can I leave?
Everyone just stared at her. "Are you serious?" asked Kevin.
"Uh, yeah, kinda, I mean, wouldn't YOU want to know when you get out of a place like that for good? Pass the syrup, please," she said to her mother, and started to eat her pancakes. No one really acknowledged her after that. The rest of the meal was silent, for the most part, until Isabella excused herself and stood up. At the same time, Rebecca finished, so they walked to their bedroom together.
"Seriously, Bella, when's my last day of school?" she whispered when they got there, and Isabella just shook her head, gathering her things to take a shower.
Rebecca still hadn't chosen an outfit even by the time Isabella finished blow-drying her hair, but she had done a legitimate job making a mess on the floor with both of their wardrobes.
"What on earth--Becky, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Isabella, gesturing to the piles of clothes all around their beds and on the floor. "Why are you looking through my clothes anyway? Don't you have your own? Oh, no wait, you don't." Isabella started to pick some of them up. "All of them are ON THE FLOOR!"
Rebecca scowled at her, and picked up most of her clothes and tossed them into the hamper. "Now they're all dirty, so I guess I have to borrow yours."
Isabella just sighed. "And to think, you COULD have been a twin brother."
"But I wasn't," said Rebecca happily, "and you're stuck with me!"
While she found clothes to wear and got dressed, Isabella folded most of hers and hung some of them back up, so the room looked at least manageable.
Rebecca had dressed in a casual outfit, consisting of Isabella's skinny jeans, Isabella's V-neck orange blouse, and Isabella's tan Uggs.
"That's a little plain, don't you think?" asked Isabella, as she applied eyeliner in the mirror. "You have to borrow my clothes, but you choose THAT?"
"Yeah, well…." Rebecca frowned at Isabella's outfit, a teal blouse, black vest, jeans, and black Uggs. "Yours is a little plain too."
"I'm making a big enough effort for the last day I'll ever spend in a living jail cell like that school," said Isabella.
"Well, whatever, I don't care, it's not like I'm going to try to impress anyone," Rebecca said, "because if there's one thing I don't want, it's getting a date with a really hot guy the night before I'll never see him again, really."
"Oh, you mean like David?" Isabella teased, finishing with her lip gloss and putting it into her purse.
"And you and Duncan," said Rebecca, going to brush her teeth. Isabella shook her head, and picked up her bags, then took one last gander around the somewhat tidy room.
I guess I'll finish when I get home, Isabella thought, and went downstairs.
"So this is it, little sister," said Kevin, nudging Isabella as she walked into the living room. "Your last day of school, are you happy?"
"I guess so," Isabella said, sitting on the couch next to her dad, reading the newspaper, and Joe, playing the Xbox. "I mean, I'll miss people, and hardly ever see them again."
"Like most parents say when their kids have to move with them," said Denise, "you'll always make new friends."
"That's true," said Isabella. "And not many people go on tour with the Jonas Brothers either."
"Oh, no, Bella," said Kevin. "You're one of us, now. Not many people are a PART of the Jonas Brothers."
"Especially girls," muttered Isabella, but Joe and Kevin heard her, and laughed.
"Rebecca! It's almost time to leave!" shouted Denise up the stairs.
Rebecca bounced down the stairs, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm ready, let's start walking, Bella." She hurried out the door without even waiting for Isabella to get up.
"See you later," she said to everyone, and hugging each of them in turn.
"Have fun," said Denise.
"I'll try," she replied, then went out the front door after Rebecca, who was halfway up the street.
"OH MY GOD," screamed a girl when they were together, "do you KNOW who you are?"
"Uh….no….?" replied Rebecca, glancing at her sister.
"You're REBECCA JONAS," said a random boy.
"Uh, no I'm not."
"Yes, you are!"
"Actually, I'm Isabella," said Rebecca.
"No, SHE is--"
"How do you know?" asked Rebecca.
"Because I can just TELL--"
"Okay, well….you're wrong." Rebecca laughed.
Before long, everyone at the bus stop was mobbing them, asking for autographs and to shake their hands.
"You're so hot, Isabella!" came a voice.
"Um….my sister and I are twins!" she shouted in reply to the person she couldn't see, being in the middle of about twenty kids.
"Well then you're equally hot!" the voice shouted.
"Uh, thanks!" yelled Rebecca.
"Hey guys, can you sing something?!" exclaimed a voice, and everyone screamed in agreement.
"If….you….get off us!" Rebecca and Isabella struggled to break free of the mob, and it was a relief to breathe natural air again.
"Sing SOS!" a girl yelled.
"Um, okay," said Rebecca, and she and her sister complied.
When they had finished the chorus, the bus had pulled up, and they exchanged relieved looks. They ran up the bus steps, only to have the same thing happen to them once they were on the bus.
"AAHHH, look!" came a loud voice. "IT'S THEM!"
"Hey Bella! Can you get Joe to call me?"
"No, tell him to call me!"
"No, ME!"
"I don't care, as long as Nick calls me!"
"Guys, guys," said Isabella calmly. "I can guarantee they'll call all of you." She and Rebecca pushed their way to the back of the bus.
"Really?" whispered Rebecca.
"No, not really," Isabella replied, and at last they made it to the very back, where they found David and Duncan, their two best friends, and also twins.
"Morning," said David, standing up to hug Rebecca like he always did every morning, like his brother and Isabella.
"Getting on the bus is such an epic task every day," said Isabella. "We're still normal people. Just, you know, better looking and more famous." David and Duncan laughed.
"Well, we were friends with you long before you joined the band," said Duncan, "but ohmigosh can I have your autograph?"
"I've signed enough autographs today," said Isabella. "It hasn't been five minutes and I've already given, like, twelve guys my number and about twenty-two girls an autograph."
"You gave them your number?" asked Rebecca, sitting down.
"No," said Isabella, smiling at some guy that winked at her, and sat down as well. "I gave them yours."
Duncan and David laughed at the appalled look on her face.
"Oh, that somehow reminds us," said David suddenly.
"We can't believe you're finally leaving after all these years," said Duncan.
"We're really going to miss you--"
"--so we were hoping--"
"--you'd like to go out tonight--"
"--on a double date," finished Duncan.
Rebecca and Isabella looked at each other. Isabella knew her sister had a huge crush on David, but on the other hand, she was more cautious when it came to guys, and she knew if something happened between her and Duncan, they couldn't be friends anymore. But then again, they were leaving, so she decided she'd give him the chance.
"We'd love to," they said simultaneously.
"That's great!" said Duncan.
"We'll pick you up at seven?" asked David.
"Sounds good," they said in sync.
The bus pulled up at the school, and everyone moved out of the way to leave the aisles clear for Rebecca and Isabella to walk down. When they got off, they were mobbed yet again by more fans--although most of the girls tried to get to them for their brothers--but this time, a lot of them were younger, attending the lower school.
After ten more minutes of constant autographs and pictures, Rebecca and Isabella were free.
"This is getting ridiculous," said Isabella.
"I know, it's like, the paparazzi," said Rebecca. "But not really, 'cause these kids are smaller….less vicious….and don't try to break down your door at three in the morning."
"Yeah," Isabella replied. "It can get dangerous."
"But we have awesome brothers," said Rebecca loudly, and Isabella glared at her for trying to get attention, "and those guys will get their asses kicked if they try to do anything to us."
"Very true," Isabella agreed, and they walked down the hall of the school together, ignoring all of the goggling boys and squealing girls.
"Geez, Becky, your locker is a disaster," said Isabella as they started to clean them out. Rebecca had dragged over a trash can and threw handfuls of papers into it. "And I thought our bedroom was bad? Seriously, if all these guys actually knew what you were really like at home…."
"And if all these girls knew what Joe, Nick and Kevin were like," said Rebecca, rifling through a notebook and tossing it after deciding she didn't need it, "they would totally be turned off."
Isabella took all of her notebooks, lined up neatly on a shelf, and put them into her backpack, along with the book covers that had gone on her books before she handed them back in to the teachers. "I don't think so, I love my brothers." She glanced at Rebecca again to evaluate her progress. "You're more conceited than ever, WHY have you got posters of us and the band in your locker?"
"You know," said Rebecca, waving to a pair of guys that walked by, who started whispering furiously and looking back frequently, until they disappeared around the corner. "Publicity."
"We get enough of that," said Isabella. She took out the bag that contained her gym clothes and sneakers in it, and closed the locker door. "but anyway, if you were more organized during the year, cleaning your locker would be so much easier."
"Maybe I….like being messy," said Rebecca, pulling out another handful of random notebook papers.
"Hey! Is that my sketchbook?" asked Isabella, reaching for a hardcover book underneath piles of folders. "That is! I was looking everywhere for it, and I was about to blame Joe for selling it on eBay. What's it doing in your locker?"
"I dunno," said Rebecca, flipping through her math notebook that was mostly filled with doodles and songs rather than numbers and formulas.
Isabella sighed, and put it into her bag. "Now hurry up, we're going to be late getting to class."
"What does it matter?" Rebecca wanted to know. "It's our last day of school, it's not like we have to do anything."
"Even so, you don't want to leave a bad impression on the teachers," Isabella told her. "We're never coming back here, we want them to think highly of us when they see us on TV and stuff."
"So we'll send them free CDs, now will you shut it?" asked Rebecca, peering deeper into her locker. She shrugged, and started throwing everything away.
Isabella watched her for a couple more minutes, then walked away.
"Where are you going?" Rebecca called, looking over her shoulder.
"Anywhere that's not here," Isabella yelled back. "I'll text you at lunch!"
Rebecca frowned at her sister's back, then hurriedly finished discarding the rest of her old notebooks and things she wouldn't need. She stuffed the underused papers into her bag and dashed after Isabella, who had already made it down the hall.
"Geez, don't just leave me like that," said Rebecca, panting.
"Aw, please," Isabella said, pulling out her phone, which was vibrating. "Like you got so lonely. Hello?" she said into the phone.
"Hey Bella, what are you doing right now?" It was Duncan.
"Well, I was trying to get away from my sister….but what's up?"
"Do you want to meet up for lunch with her and David….?"
Isabella glanced at Rebecca, who was busy toying with her bracelets. "Umm, sure. Sounds good. I'll meet you in the cafeteria?"
"Alrighty, then," said Duncan. "See you later." And he hung up.
"Becky." Isabella turned to her sister. "We're meeting David and Duncan for lunch, okay?"
"Who's buying?" she asked, ignoring a group of girls who pointed at them as they passed, giggling to themselves.
"Them, so far as I know," said Isabella. "It's not classy at all to make the girls pay if you're having lunch with them."
"I guess you're right," Rebecca said, as they came to the door outside their biology class. "So, uh, are you ready? To be trampled again?"
"It's not like we can hang out here all day," Isabella reminded her.
"Right again," Rebecca said, and she opened the door.
Much to their surprise, only three girls ran up to them, asking for autographs. But of course, it may have been on account of them being the only ones in the class.
When Isabella and Rebecca took their seats, Isabella pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and slipped them over her face. Rebecca considered, then copied her. "It's probably useless," said Isabella, "but hey, it's worth a shot, and I like my space."
"Oh, I know," said Rebecca, and she lowered her head as the door opened and their classmates started filing in.