Here's Chapter 3. Sorry for not updating recently, but school started … two months ago, and it's really time-consuming. So read and review!
Btw, I don't own Joe Jonas, unfortunately. I also don't own iPods or . But I do own Aunt Linda, Jared, and to the extent of my knowledge, I own The Waffle Palace.
'Man, it's great here.' Nick said, over the phone.
'How great for you.' Joe replied, frowning, closing the door to his bedroom. He had been at his aunt's house for over a week, now, and things weren't looking good. He still couldn't say a full sentence without his voice becoming raspy, and every time he turned on the television, that was conveniently located in his bedroom, all he could see were videos of his brothers, having the time of their life, all over the world. Right now, Joe calculated that it would be three in the afternoon in Germany, where the rest of the Jonas family was. He hadn't talked with anyone in over four days, so he had decided to call the two other Jonas brothers, to see how the tour was going.
'You should see the pool in the hotel. The water slide is massive!' Kevin added, oblivious to his brother's pain.
'And the girls are amazing.' Nick said, which made Joe smile. The last time they were on tour, they had made a chart rating which city had the best looking girls, judging on hair, eyes, and their smiles. The European city girls were generally the winners.
Joe sighed. He hadn't realized how much he had missed touring with his family until right then.
'So how's Aunt Linda's house?' Kevin asked, breaking through Joe's thoughts.
'Absolutely amazing. We're making cookies, and going to movies everyday, and having so much fun!' Joe said, rolling his eyes. 'What do you think?'
'So what have you been doing, then?' Nick said, smirking. He always had enjoyed the extra attention from his aunt.
'Nothing. Except for watching hours of TV at a time. And all I can manage to watch lovely music videos of you guys, which is not as fun as it might seem.' Joe said, clearing his throat.
'Hey, man. How are you feeling?' Nick said, ignoring his brother's last comment.
'Fine, I guess. I'm almost done my medicine, but I still can't talk properly. It doesn't help that you abandoned me' Joe said, sprawling out on his unmade bed. His clothes had made their way from his closet to his floor, and lay there, lifeless. His room hadn't seen daylight in three days, and there was an accumulating layer of dust on his desk and night table.
'Dude, we didn't abandon you; your throat abandoned us.' Kevin said, trying to cheer his younger brother up.
Joe gave a small smile, and sighed. 'I should go. You probably have some CD signing to go to or something.'
'Actually, yeah, we do. But we'll call you later, okay?' Nick said feeling slightly embarrassed at his brother's accurate guess.
'Sure. Have fun. Don't break the fan's hearts, eh?' Joe said, smirking slightly. On the last tour, there had been a scene with a fan, who had been convince that her and Nick were meant to be together. He signed her poster, and posed for a picture, but when he had to go back on the tour bus, she had started crying, and told him that they were broken up. Once everyone was in the bus, the brothers had nearly died laughing, and they had never heard from that girl again.
'Will do, big brother. See ya.' Nick said grimacing, as he hung up his phone.
Joe said goodbye to his older brother, and put in a quick hello to his parents, before he hung up himself.
He got up from his bed and started pacing his room. He needed to go somewhere, and he knew just the place.
After scribbling down an elaborate note to Aunt Linda, saying, 'Going Out, Be back soon,' he escaped the house, and turned the corner. He walked down the same street as he had yesterday, hoping to hear the music. When he reached the red brick house, he stopped and looked in. The grand piano remained silent. Joe shrugged, slightly disappointed. He turned on his iPod, and continued on his way to his paradise.
On route, he saw a group of kids that seemed to be around his age. They stared at him as he walked by, and Joe got the impression that something was strange. He glanced down at his outfit. He was wearing black skinny jeans, and a turquoise windbreaker over a plain white V-neck t-shirt. Over in the small group, they were wearing what seemed to be straight off a J. Crew catalogue; smart looking sports jackets, preppy polo shirts, and penny loafers.
He raised his hand in acknowledgement, only to receive blank stares from the guys, and looks of disgust from the girls.
Great, Joe thought to himself, one week here and people already think I'm weird. Before, when he went to school, people thought that it was weird to want to be different than everyone else. In the neighbourhood that the Jonas family lived in, everyone was taught to try to fit in, and be the same as the other kids. Neither Joe nor his brothers had liked this rule, and thrived on being different.
When he reached his destination, he heaved a sigh of relief. There, standing right in front of him, stood a large, neon sign, saying, 'Waffle Palace!' The building was painted a bright shade of yellow, and there were paintings of waffles on the side. Stepping inside, Joe saw the all-too familiar jukebox, where him and his brothers had spent hours picking out music. There were bright tables, no two the same colour. Fire truck Red, Cotton Candy Pink, Lily Pad Green. The waitresses wore bright pink uniforms, with their names stitched on the breast pocket, with baby blue roller skates on their feet.
While Joe was still marveling at the old restaurant, an older waitress walked over to him and said, 'Table for one?'
Joe nodded, and followed the woman over to a table by the window. He could see the group of teenagers, still lingering outside the restaurant.
'So I'm Cheyenne, and I'll be your waitress for today.' A voice pulled Joe out of his thoughts, and he looked up. There was a young, blond waitress staring down at him. He hadn't realized that the older waitress, who had ushered him to his seat, had left.
'H-Hi.' Joe stuttered, staring down at his menu, trying to decide what to order. 'I'll have the banana pancakes, and a side order or sausages, please.'
Cheyenne smiled as she wrote down his order and took his menu. 'It'll be here soon.'
As soon as she had skated away, Joe heard the tinkling noise of the bell, announcing the arrival of a new group of customers. He turned around, only to see the group that had blatantly ignored him, only twenty minutes ago. Turning back around, he could hear them giggling and talking, seemingly oblivious to him.
'Hey.' A voice startled him, and he turned back around to see one of the boys looking down at him, staring. He had shaggy, blond hair, and bright green eyes.
'Hi?' Joe replied, not really sure of what to make of the situation.
'Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. This is just a really small town, and new people don't really come around too often. We just thought you were making fun of us.' The boy said, holding out his hand, 'I'm Jared, by the way.'
'Joe.' He said, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. 'I wasn't making fun of you at all; completely the opposite, actually.'
'Well, it's nice to meet you.' Jared said. He looked down at the booth that Joe was sitting at. 'Do you mind?'
'No, not at all.' Joe said, slightly surprised, but gestured at the table nonetheless.
Jared sat down, and looked around the restaurant. 'Have you been here before?'
'Actually, I have.' Joe said, looking at the jukebox. 'My brothers and I used to come here whenever we visited, which wasn't actually that often, but it was kind of like a tradition.'
'Who do you visit here?'
'My Aunt Linda. Do you know her?' Joe asked, figuring that Jared would have some knowledge about his aunt, considering how small this town was.
'Linda? As in Linda Jonas? Are you kidding, she's a legend here!' Jared said, looking slightly surprised.
'A legend?' Joe exclaimed, surprised, 'How?'
'So every year, we have a music festival, and except for last year, Linda was the karaoke champion for thirteen years in a row. But no one knows why she stopped. We were all hoping that she would go again this year, but I don't think she's going to.' Jared said, helping himself to a piece of fruit from the plate that had just arrived for Joe.
Joe frowned. Over the last year, the Jonas Brothers had become more and more popular. Maybe that was why she had stopped. Stop thinking that way, Joe. She wouldn't have stopped because of you. He thought to himself.
'Maybe I can talk to her.' Joe said, pouring syrup over his pancakes.
'That would be great, man.' Jared said, nodding.
Over the next hour, they talked about things: school, friends, and music. Jared seemed surprised when Joe had told him that he was a musician.
'Yeah, man. I play with my brothers. The Jonas Brothers? Ever heard of them?' Joe asked.
'You're from the Jonas Brothers?' Jared asked, his mouth opened in shock. 'My sister practically wants to marry you!'
Joe smiled. He had received letters from different fans, giving him various different marriage proposals, and in concerts, there were many brightly coloured posters saying, 'I'm From Australia! We'd Be The Perfect Pair, Mate!' and 'I'm Burning Up for You Joe!' He'd always thought that it was kind of strange that perfect strangers would want to marry them, but he was still flattered. 'Marry me, huh?'
Jared rolled his eyes, 'I've heard every song you guys have sung, been forced to watch your movie, and the walls of her room are covered with your pictures. It would be a dream come true for her to even meet you.'
'Well, I think I'm kind of done with the whole singing career.' Joe admitted, sighing.
'Why?' Jared asked, genuinely perplexed.
'I have laryngitis. The doctor says that it will be a miracle if I can sing again. And my brothers are already on tour without me.' He said, looking down at his plate.
'That's too bad, man. But you know what would be good?'
'What?'
'There's this music camp that starts next week, that's held at the church. I know you can't sing and all, but you might be able to help people get ready for the festival.' Jared proposed, looking excited.
'Help people? Like who?' Joe asked, looking around. Jared turned around, only to find out that his friends seemed to have left the restaurant a while ago, but neither boys had noticed.
Jared shrugged, turning back around. 'I don't know. Different people. You can tell them if their song choice is good, or whether they should play an instrument or not. That kind of thing.'
Joe weighed the pros and cons. If he went, he'd have something to do this summer. If he didn't go, he'd be stuck at Aunt Linda's house. If he did go, he'd be helping people at a subject that he knew best. If he didn't go, he might be even more homesick.
'You know what?' Joe said, looking at Jared, 'I think I'll go.'
