Sorry for not updating in forever! This chapter is pretty long, so I hope you enjoy it! :) Keep on reading and reviewing!
Chapter 5
"You don't mind, do you?" I asked hesitantly
"No, of course not! The more the merrier," Lily answered back with a smile.
"Well, it's okay if you have the urge to stab him anytime you want. I'll even help you!" I said sarcastically.
Lily giggled. "I'll be sure to think about it." She replied.
We sat on the bench in silence. From the corner of my eye, I could see her fiddling with the zipper on her sweater. I calculated that she had crossed and uncrossed her legs around 5 times until choosing to keep them crossed. I decided to break the silence, so I turned my entire body in her direction. She noticed my gesture and did the same. We were now face-to-face with each other and both smiling.
"You smell good," She belted out.
I smiled shyly and gave myself kudos for spraying on Kevin's new cologne this morning. I tried to quickly think of a response.
"No, I think it's you. Unless I smell like vanilla ice-cream," I said smoothly.
She raised one of her eyebrows mischievously. "Well, I guess it's your lucky day. 'Cause I love vanilla ice-cream."
"Then I guess we should go get some!" I shouted.
I stood up from the bench and reached out my hand for Lily to take. But before Lily could even notice my hand there, she was smiling at something behind me.
"Hey! You were going to go for ice-cream and not invite me? Nicholas Jerry Jonas, I am appalled! Well, I guess you'll just have to apologize by paying for my ice-cream!" A suddenly annoying voice boomed from behind.
"Oh, Joseph. Ice-cream without you? Oh gosh no! I wouldn't dream of it. And no, I will not be paying for your ice-cream. You have money, pay for it yourself!" I replied.
"Okay, enough bickering. Can we just go get some ice-cream? My treat!" Lily shouted.
I quickly shot a death glare at Joe. "It's okay, Lily. No need to pay for me or this idiot over here. I'm sure he can pay for his own ice-cream with the money he stole from my piggy bank last we-" I was cut short by Lily grabbing my wrist and dragging me to the ice-cream parlor.
Have I ever mentioned how annoying Joe can be? He is definitely getting that lecture later on tonight.
"So are you really going to buy us any flavor of ice-cream we want?" Joe asked Lily.
"Yes, Joe. Unlike some of us, we don't steal from our little brother's piggy bank to get money. I get it the old fashioned way," She responded.
"Oh, by stealing from your dad's wallet?"
"No,"
"Oh! By kicking soda machines?"
Lily shook her head and sent a smile my way. "Nope,"
"Okay, then you definitely rob banks. Wow, you're a crimin-"
"No, Joe. I have a job! A job, Joe. Do you know what that is?" Lily exclaimed.
I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Yeah, Joe. Do you know what a job is? Oh, wait! A job? Lily, where do you work?"
She grinned. "Well, you'll soon see."
After about a 10 minute walk, we finally arrived at the parlor. Thank the heavens. If another stupid thing was to escape from Joe's mouth, I probably would have pushed him in front of a moving car. Okay, no. I lied. That's a little too mean. And plus, mom and dad would ground me until forever.
"Hey, Nick! It's your favourite ice-cream parlor!" Joe yelled.
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Joe. It's your favorite too, remember?"
"Wait. You guys have eaten here before? And it's your favourite ice-cream parlor?" Lily asked, curiously.
Joe and I both nodded. "Yeah, why? You don't like their ice-cream?"
"No, not that. But my day just got a lot more interesting."
She was in the parlor before we could even ask her what she was talking about. I looked at Joe and he just shrugged. We both entered the parlor and spotted Lily at one of the tables. We sat down and she turned to us.
"So, what do you guys want?" She asked with a smile.
I turned to read the menu while Joe started debating over which flavor to get.
"I would say chocolate, but I just had chocolate pudding for lunch. The strawberry shortcake sounds good, but I'm not a big fan of strawberries. Vanilla's way too plain. Green tea sounds interesting, but I don't want to take my chances. Mint chocolate chip is always good, but then we have that at home. Rocky road is way too sweet for my liking. Oh, their rum and raisin is good! Oh wait, but I always throw away the raisins. Hey! What about cookies and cream? Nah, I always get that. Oh, there's always cotton candy. But then I'm not in the candy kind of mood and plus, it'll turn my tongue different colou-"
"Will you just pick a flavor?!" I yelled impatiently.
"Fine! Sheesh, I'll take chocolate marshmallow. Are you happy now, sir?" Joe responded.
Lily rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. "Now that we've established what Joe is getting, what about you Nick?"
"I actually don't want any ice-cream, if that's okay. I'm not really in the ice-cream eating mood. A soda would be fine." I answered politely.
"No! You have to get ice-cream. I thought this was your favourite ice-cream parlor? How often do you get to come here anyways? And plus, I'm paying! Come on, Nick. There's something you got to want." Lily argued.
"Lily, I seriously just want a soda. Thanks for the offer though." I stated.
Lily decided not to argue with me and stood up to order. Funny thing was, she was talking to the employee as if she'd known her for years. How weird. It got even weirder when Lily stepped into the area and started scooping our ice-cream and getting my soda. Isn't it illegal to do that? The girl she was talking to probably is a really close friend if she's going to allows Lily to do that. When Lily was finally done with the soda and ice-cream, she walked back to the table.
"Here's your chocolate marshmallow, Joe. And your Diet Pepsi, Nick. Don't ask me how I know you like Diet Pepsi," She said, passing everything to their rightful owner.
"Thanks, Lily!" Joe shouted with a huge smile on his face.
"Anything to stop you boys from bickering," She replied.
"Lily?" I randomly blurted out, which stopped her from taking her first bite of ice-cream.
"Yes, Nick?"
"How did you know I like Diet Pepsi?" I asked, playfully.
She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out in my direction. I couldn't help but let out a short laugh. "Okay, never mind. Eat your ice-cream!"
She took the first bite of her ice-cream and looked over at Joe. "I bet my ice-cream tastes 100 times better than yours!"
"No way. This chocolate marshmallow is awesome," Joe replied.
"Just try some and feel stupid," Lily challenged.
Joe took a bite out of Lily's ice-cream and his eyes widened. Wow, I guess Lily's ice-cream really is better than his.
"Okay, my ice-cream is good. But yours is amazing. What is it?" Joe urgently asked.
"Ha! I told you so, pretty boy. It's cookie dough. Good, huh?"
"Way good! Nick, you should seriously try some," Joe suggested.
"Yeah, Nick! Come on, please?" Lily pleaded.
"Um, sure. But if I don't like it, I get another soda!" I declared.
"Deal," The both of them said at the same time.
Joe handed me his spoon and I slowly put a good amount of ice-cream into my mouth. I looked up to see the both of them staring at me. I stopped myself from letting out a laugh. I still had ice-cream in my mouth! I swallowed the cold dessert and wiped my mouth.
"So?" Lily said, breaking the silence.
"Well, I really enjoyed this. It was simply delectable! The texture and flavor is amazing. The cookie dough is superb, and the vanilla ice-cream is heavenly," I replied, in a thick British accent. But before I could say anymore, I started laughing at myself.
Lily and Joe stared at me and joined in. After a couple minutes of painful stomach laughing, a lady walked up to us with a big smile plastered on her face. She handed us two Polaroid pictures before walking back to table she was wiping.
"Thanks, Haley!" Lily yelled to the lady.
"You know her?" I asked, curiously.
"Uh huh," she replied, while shaking the Polaroid pictures.
"How?" Joe asked.
"She's my boss," She simply stated.
My face met Joe's and I could see that he was just as confused as I was. Wait, Lily worked here? Oh my, Lily works here! That's why she got to scoop our ice-cream and that's how she knew all the employees! How could I be so stupid?
"Well, that explains a lot," I whispered softly.
"That is so cool, Lily!" Joe yelled, with excitement.
Lily smiled at us and nodded. "Way, way cool. Oh hey! The picture's coming up,"
By this time, the three of us were staring blankly at the developing picture. Waiting to see what the lady took a picture of and why she gave it to us. Seconds passed, and I was finally able to make out the picture. My stomach dropped and the light smile on my face faded. The picture contained two people. Two very happy looking people.
"It's me and you, Lily!" Joe screamed.
"Um, I have to go. I'm sorry guys. I just forgot that I promised Kevin that I would help him… uh, bake muffins! Yeah, bake muffins," I blurted out, mentally slapping myself for making up the dumbest excuse.
"What? No way! You're staying. If not, we're coming with you. Plus, the second picture hasn't even developed yet!" Lily protested.
Me stay back and then have the picture reveal another picture of Lily and Joe looking like the happiest couple ever? Ha! No thanks.
"No, no. I honestly should get going. I need to owe him for driving us here, anyways. He gets really mad when I interrupt his Rachel McAdams dreams. So I'm going to help him, yeah..." I argued back.
I quickly got up and fixed my wrinkled shirt. "Well, see you tomorrow, Lily. And Joseph, try not to kill Lily, okay?" I said, sarcastically.
"Are you sure that you and Kevin don't need our help?" Joe surprisingly asked.
"Ha! You, in the kitchen? I don't plan on dying young, thank you very much!" I answered back.
Lily stood up and smiled. She opened her arms and we locked in an embrace. I could smell her perfume again and hoped that her smell would stick on to me.
"See you tomorrow." She whispered softly in my ear. This in which, sent chills down my spine.
Our hug ended and I nodded at Joe. It was one of our ways of saying bye. I quickly walked out of the store to clear my head. I couldn't handle it in there. Why did this one particular girl have this effect on me? I didn't get it. And the funny thing was, I've only known her for 2 days. Boy, was love confusing!
I couldn't help but feel jealousy towards Joe. He got the girl, again. With his comedic timing and perfectly conditioned straight hair! And every time, the girl would always fall for him. The cute, funny one. And before I could even think of taking a shot with Lily, he's probably already got her under his spell or whatever.
I kicked a rock near my feet and started walking home. I was planning on calling Kevin to pick me up, but he'd ask me too many questions. So I just decided to walk. It wasn't very far from our house anyways. I walked in silence, until I heard chattering behind me.
"Look guys! It's that Jonas kid. The one who just attended our school," A rather big, blonde haired boy said.
I slowly turned around to see the whole Seaview football team behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed the sly smiles they had on their faces. This was not going to turn out good, at all.
"Oh, hi guys," I greeted, nervously.
"Did you hear that, boys? He said hi to us, oh my gosh! Let's go write about it on our MySpace! Ha, this kid's pathetic. I seriously don't know what all the girls see in you and your stupid brothers. We don't like the fact that you're stealing our spotlight, rock star. High school girls are supposed to be falling for the football players, not a couple of idiots who sing stupid love songs!" Another boy with black hair said.
"Actually, I kind of like their musi-"
"Shut up, Steve!" The blonde hair boy interrupted. He walked up to me and smirked.
"So I see you've been hanging around that Truscott chick a lot. Believe me, she may be falling for your rock star charm, but I'm going to get her in my pants before you do, pretty boy. Trust me on that," He said, arrogantly.
That pushed me over the edge. Anger built up in me and my fingers curled into a fist. I could feel my breathing increase and before I knew it, my fist was in contact with his jaw. He fell to the ground, clutching his jaw and wiping the blood from the side of his mouth. His eyes burned in fury and I could hear the team break into chaos. Before he could even get up, I ran. As quickly as my legs would allow me to. Sure, I had given him a punch he'd remember every time he would see me from now on, but I was sure that I wouldn't be able to take on all of them. My legs were slowly dying on me, which wasn't good.
I was getting really tired, so I decided to go into the nearest store. I walked into a bakery and the aroma of the freshly baked goods made me hungry. I quickly sat at one of the tables to rest.
"Oh my! Are you alright?" A worried voice behind me asked.
I slowly turned around to find a very pretty girl looking at me with a concerned expression on her face. Her big brown eyes were masked behind a pair of glasses. Her wavy brown hair fell freely down her shoulder. She had a nose pierce, and the ray of sunlight through the window caused her nose ring to gleam brightly. She looked around Kevin's age. I realized that she worked at the bakery. I glanced at her name tag, which read Sydney.
"Oh, gosh. You look like you're about to pass out. Hold on, let me go get you some water," She said.
I nodded lightly and she quickly left to the back of the bakery. After about a minute, she came back carrying a glass of water.
"Here you go, sweetie. Goodness, what happened?" She asked, concerned.
It took me a while to finish the glass of water before answering her. I wiped my mouth and placed the empty glass on the table carefully. I looked up to her and sighed.
"It might sound silly, but I got chased by the whole football team at my school. So I came here just in case," I responded, out of breath.
She raised her right eyebrow and shook her head. "You go to Seaview?"
I was confused as to how she knew. But I nodded anyways. "Yeah,"
"Ugh, I am going to kill that little retard! I am so, so sorry. That was my little brother Jeffery and his team. I think he mentioned you once? Something about the Jonas Brothers and how you guys were stealing all the girls and how if he ever caught you alone, he would um….yeah. I am seriously so sorry! He is going to be in the biggest trouble when I get my hands on him. The nerve of that boy! Oh wait, holy crap! The Jonas Brothers! My goodness, you must be Nick. I can't believe I didn't notice you before. Wow, I am such an idiot. Sorry, I'm a bit slow. Well, I'm Sydney, by the way," She blabbered.
I smiled and shook her hand. "No, it's okay. Yeah, I'm Nick. Nice to meet you, Sydney. So, how is it working here?" I asked, trying to start a conversation. By now, my hard breathing had eased and my heart rate had return to its original state.
"Well, it's pretty fun. I mean, I have no choice but to work here anyways. My family owns the company, so it's a must. It's okay though, I like it. And the stuff here is really good. Speaking of that, would you like anything to eat? I think I just heard your stomach growl," She said, playfully.
I felt my cheeks flush and caught another whiff of the baked goods. "Yeah, sorry. That was definitely me. So, Sydney, what do you recommend? Oh, I should probably mention that I'm diabetic," I stated.
"Aww, are you really? I'm sorry. Well, we have a lot of sugar-less treats. So I'll bring a couple of those for you. I'll be right back!" She answered, before dashing to the back again.
I smiled at her bubbly personality. She seemed so fun to be around. After about a minute, I recognized her brown waves from behind the counter. She walked back to our table carrying a big box with Sugar, the store's name printed on it.
"Okay, so there are donuts, cookies, cupcakes and some tarts. And yes, they're all sugar free!" She explained excitedly.
"Thanks so much," I opened the box and my eyes widened. They looked delicious. "How much for everything?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. It's on the house. Just one of the many perks of your family owning the company." She said, smiling widely.
"You're kidding, right? This is way too much for me to get without paying for it! At least let me pay half. Wait, aren't you supposed to be working?" I asked, stunned.
She rolled her eyes and giggled. "I'm on my break, don't worry. And no! I refuse. Plus, I didn't just sneak them in and give them to you, my parents insisted as well. Believe it or not, they love your music." Sydney reassured, slightly embarrassed.
I swallowed my honey glazed donut before answering. "Are you serious? Thank you and tell your parents I said thank you as well. And it's good to hear they enjoy our music." I replied.
She nodded in response and started drumming her fingers on the table. "So, why is a cute boy like you walking alone?"
I blushed and shrugged my shoulders. "It's complicated, I guess,"
"I'm all ears." She said, bluntly.
Her face read of fascination and I decided to tell her. I mean, I needed to tell someone.
"Okay, well… there's this girl named Lily…" I started, and then continued on with my story. Telling her every detail and every emotion I felt.
After I had told her everything, her face had changed from fascinated to surprised.
"Wow, that is a handful. Nick, you're just jumping to conclusions. First of all, that picture doesn't show how she truly feels about him. It's just a picture of all of you laughing, and somehow, you just got cut out. I know that it's hard for you to look at the picture and not feel jealousy, and that's totally normal. But it doesn't mean you can tell Lily's in love with Joe just by looking at a picture. Don't worry, Nick. She's still in your reach. And maybe you should sit down with Joe and talk to him? I'm sure he'd understand. He is your brother." Sydney advised.
My thoughts were consumed of what she had just said and it all clicked. Sydney was right! Boy, was I stupid.
I looked up to Sydney and gave her a smile. I pulled her into a hug and I guess she was confused, because she didn't start hugging back until 3 seconds later. She smelled exactly like cupcakes and cookies. I guess that was another perk of working in a bakery.
"You're right. Thanks, Sydney." I said, sincerely.
"No problem at all, Nick. So, do you have someone to come pick you up?" She asked.
"No, I'm just going to walk home, I gues-" I was interrupted by Sydney's yelling.
"Are you insane?! What if my dick of a brother sees you again? No, no. That is not happening, sweetie. Here, give me your phone!"
I was taken back and quickly handed my phone to her. She scanned through my contacts and then rested my phone to her ear.
"Sydney, who are you-"
"Hi, is this Kevin? Well, I'm sorry for waking you up during that um, interesting dream. No, this is not Nick. No, I did not steal his phone! My name's Sydney and- Oh, thanks. Yeah, well your brother is not in a good state to walk home right now. Is it possible for you to come pick him up at Sugar? Yeah, the one on Queen Street. He accidentally got separated from them, and ended up in here. What! No, he's not dead! Oh, haha. Okay then, see you in a few. Thanks so much, bye." She spoke through my phone.
"Sydney! You called Kevin? He's going to ask me a million questions in the car! God, he is totally going to kill me for waking him up again. What am I going to do?" I wondered, frantically.
"Nick, calm down! Don't worry. I'll just ask him to drive me home too. He wouldn't ask you questions if I were there, right?" She responded.
"That could work…but when you're home, he'll have the chance then!"
She thought for a moment, biting down on her bottom lip while doing so. "Oh! I have it. I know what to do. Don't worry, Nick. I got you covered. I'll be right back!" She left before I could even ask her what she was thinking of. Oh man, Kevin is going to murder me.