Chapter 9, Bonus Jonas
A cool breeze, coming from the open window on Claire's side, stroked her cheeks. She extended her arm and let the stream of air slip through her fingers. Her hand tingled at the touch.
'Watch out,' Kaylee cautioned from behind the steering wheel. 'You could get your arm chopped off, you know. What if you hit a car?'
A sudden wind gush ruffled and tucked on Claire's black, wavy hair, messing with her perfect do for the night. It made Claire quickly roll up the window again and fix her hair in the rear view mirror. Tonight should be perfect. Kaylee smirked, looking pleased. Claire double-checked her make-up and blew out a big sigh. Nervous, nervous, nervous, was all she could think about. She had her legs crossed and was frantically shaking her dangling foot. Her hands unfolded and refolded over and over again. Claire felt Kaylee's eyes on her and looked over.
'What?'
Kaylee just raised her eyebrows and casually peeked at Claire's hands before focusing back on the road again. Claire inhaled.
'Okay, I admit I'm a bit nervous.' Another glance from Kaylee made her rethink her answer.
'Okay okay, screw the bit, I'm really, really, really nervous. But come on, this isn't just some sort of.. school's play. We're talking about Les Miserables here for crying out loud. In London. With Nick Jonas of all people. Who invited me himself. Can you believe it?'
Kaylee shook her head and tried to hold back her laughter. 'Nope. Maybe you should describe the phone call for me again. For the 100th time. Pretty please?' Claire ignored the question.
'I don't get it, how come you're not nervous?' She bit her lip, knowing she was talking way too much – a side-effect whenever she was nervous – and directed her view on the streets ahead. London, they were actually in London. She'd never been here before and she imagined herself with a pure English accent. How would Nick sound with one? Her thoughts were interrupted by a crowd of girls waiting in front of a building. Her mouth fell open.
'Oh snap.' Claire mouthed a silent "wow".
'Crap. We're never going to get through this,' Kaylee whispered, slowly crawling to a stop. She turned her head, looking out of the back window with her arm popped up on the back of her seat. She carefully backed up, and found a parking spot in the nearest street. They started towards the theater, making their way through a bunch of screaming girls to get inside. If this was the front entrance for the normal guests, how would the back entrance for Nick, Lucie Jones, and the rest of the performers look like? It would be literally impossible to get inside. S.O.S Big Rob, needed ASAP. When they finally made it through the doors, Claire's stomach started to act weird.
'I'm having a nervous breakdown,' she whispered to Kaylee, who pulled out her phone.
'Calling the Jonas's,' Kaylee said in a movie trailer voice, dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. The person on the other line answered after five seconds.
'Hi Joe, it's Kaylee.'
Claire was freaking out. Inside, of course. Outside, she was as smooth as ever. Her face was set on a permanent smile and her heart was turning into a time bomb. Kaylee was sitting on the right side of her, next to Joe. They were sucked into a conversation, heads bent towards each other. Claire felt like she shouldn't disturb them. Kaylee was all smiles, laughing at all his jokes. At Claire's left was Denise, next to her husband, her oldest son, Kevin and her youngest, Frankie. Whenever Claire looked at Denise, she received a warm and soothing smile back. She felt so welcome here. Kaylee had introduced Claire to all of them, and they had all looked so happy to meet her. Claire was beginning to feel jealous of the family's tight bond, she hadn't experienced anything like this since her father had died. It was only her and her mom now, and, if you count an animal within the family, her cat, Snort, too. A short vibrate in her favorite black skinny jeans' pocket, startled Claire. She reached inside and scooped her phone out. A message from her mom. Her eyes flew over the text, the end making her giggle and shake her head. Joe noticed it and leaned forward.
'Who was it?' he asked innocently, wanting to enjoy the inside joke too.
'Joseph, don't be rude,' his mother said.
'No, it's fine,' Claire answered with a smile, and looked back at Joe.
'It's just from my mom.' Joe nodded and frowned slightly.
'He wants to know why you were laughing,' Kaylee said with a smile on her lips, teasingly looking at Joe. Claire hesitated. This would be embarrassing.
'She just wanted to know if I was alright. And she, uh, always calls me Bonus Jonas. Like, as a joke.' Claire turned crimson red, but no one seemed to think the nickname was strange. Well, almost everyone.
'Hey, that's my nickname!' Frankie called out. Joe chuckled and flashed a smile at Claire.
'Don't mind him. You kinda are the Bonus Jonas tonight, right?' Her face lit up and she bit her lip. This was like a dream, she felt so at home. Kaylee was just about to open her mouth and say something, but then the lights dimmed and slow music started to play. The audience fell silent and everyone's head turned towards the stage. The music grew louder and louder and then fell completely still all of a sudden. A searchlight shone down on the stage, piercing through the darkness, as a person stepped out of the shade.
Claire gasped.