So, my computer finally crashed and lost all my files, which is why I haven't been motivated to update my stories. But today I decided to re-write this chapter. To make up for taking so long, I'm going to post chapter four and five in the next few days. You can take it as my Christmas present to you, even if it's over. Oh, and don't think I haven't forgotten about Games, I'm still really bummed out how my computer crashed. Anyway, enjoy! Don't forget to review!
Masquerade
Chapter Three
"So I'm the one who started this whole fainting fad?" Macy laughed.
"We believe so," Kevin agreed.
Joe suddenly spoke up, his voice a little loud, "I have to go."
"Where?" Nick questioned his older brother.
"I have to go see my math teacher, she has some extra homework for me to do," Joe shrugged and left without waiting for a response from someone else.
The three exchanged looks, why did he rush off like that? Once they decided that it was Joe's problem and not theirs, they continued their conversation. They talked about how big they've become, and how the brothers remembered they would see Macy in the crowd at almost every concert they've done in New Jersey.
"You're really dedicated, aren't you, Macy?" Nick commented. "I'm not saying that as a bad thing. I'm just glad we're friends with one of our biggest fans in the country."
""Well, I was going to take that as a good thing anyway," Macy assured him. "But yes, I am dedicated. I'm one of those girls who camp out just to get front row tickets at your shows. Before you tell me that I can just ask for tickets from you, I don't want to. It makes me guilty. Even though we're friends, I don't want to make you feel like I'm just using you for concert tickets and backstage passes. That's why I save up my allowance. I spend it mostly on you."
"Aw, well that's sweet," Kevin replied. "I wish Stella was like you, not asking for concert tickets."
"Wait, I thought Stella got to go in for free because she's your stylist," Macy said. She never had this conversation with Stella, so she might as well ask the brothers themselves.
"Well, you could say that," Nick tilted his head to the side. "She asks for concert tickets and backstage passes for some fans she meets outside the venue that don't have tickets."
"I mean, we're glad to help out fans, but we'd like to give it to them personally," Kevin continued. "Just to show them how much we appreciate them."
"And that's why JONAS is my favorite band of all time!" Macy concluded with a smile. She loved many things about the band. Giving back to their fans was definitely high on that list. How many bands do you know give fans tickets to their shows for free? Macy knows one. There's probably are a few more bands that do the same thing, but Macy couldn't care less about them right now.
-x-
Once school was over, Macy headed home. She didn't have a car yet, or her driver's license at all, for that matter, so she walked home. It was good anyway since she does so many sports. It counts as exercise, so she doesn't have to do extra on the treadmill when she gets home. So you see, she's very serious about sports and she doesn't let anything get in the way of that. Not even JONAS. She tries to forget the fact that her favorite band of brothers are sitting in the crowd, cheering her, and Horace Mantis to victory. She tries to forget the fact of how angelic their voices sound when they scream her name. Nothing stops this girl from winning a game.
Macy suddenly heard loud footsteps and naturally walked faster. When she crossed the street, someone behind her screamed her name. She turned around to see the boys she wasn't expecting to see at that moment. She wasn't expecting them to be without a body guard either.
"Hey, we've been trying to reach you," Kevin panted.
"It would've helped if you screamed my name earlier," Macy shrugged.
"That's what I suggested, but no, these two decided to 'surprise' you," Joe rolled his eyes and used air quotes. The way Joe rushed off at lunch like that; Macy didn't expect him to be with his brothers right now. But they're brothers, and they're responsible of walking home together, right?
The four began to walk again.
"Where's Big Man?" Macy questioned. "Why didn't he pick you up?"
"You know our mom, the whole 'keep it real' thing," Nick replied.
"Your mom's nice," Macy commented. "But of course, I've never met her yet."
"You have met our dad, though, right?" Kevin checked.
"Mhm," She nodded. "Why are you walking with me anyway?"
"We hear your house is in the same direction as ours," Nick answered.
"Stella?" Macy guessed.
"Stella," Nick and Kevin confirmed.
"Speaking of Stella, where is she?" Joe asked. "We thought she'd be walking with you." Of course, Joe was the one to talk about Stella. Macy didn't mind that her best friend was with her crush. Besides, it was just a celebrity crush, that can't cause harm. Well, Joe and Stella weren't together officially, Nick, Kevin and Macy just liked to think they are.
"Yeah, so when we saw you alone, we decided to join you," Nick agreed.
"Stella's staying after school to help with the dance," Macy responded. "She wants the dance to be the best dance ever."
"Wait, I thought that was prom," Kevin realized.
"One of the best dances ever," Macy corrected. "But she's most likely to help out with prom too once that comes around."
"She better make it best, if she's going to help out with my prom," Kevin warned.
They talked for some more until they reached Macy's fairly sized house.
"Well, this is my house; I'll see you guys tomorrow," Macy said, a bit nervous. She hadn't had this much quality time alone with the brothers. Stella was always there to break the awkward silences.
"You have a nice house," Nick commented.
"Eh, I've seen better," Joe rudely remarked. Why's he being a jerk?
"Don't listen to Joe," Kevin rolled his eyes. Brothers. "You should invite us over sometime."
"Yeah, I should," Macy laughed.
"Meanwhile, we'll invite you over to our house this Saturday when Stella comes over to take measurements for our suits for the dance," Nick smiled. Oh how Macy longed for that beautiful smile.
"You are going to the dance, right?"
"I still have to talk to Stella about it. She told me I'd have to tell her if I was, because she wants to design me the perfect dress. I don't think she should be wasting her time on me, she is your stylist, after all."
"But she's your best friend forever, after all," Nick reminded me.
"Can we hurry this up? I want to get home already," Joe sighed. Seriously, what was with the sudden change of character? He was always nice. The last time Macy remembered he was nice was during lunch, and after lunch, he just turned into a jerk. How can that happen in just a matter of hours? Maybe math is stressing him out, Macy thought to herself. Yeah, that's it. Math. She can't admit that she may be the one who's done something to him. But she's never done anything mean or bad to any one of these brothers. She loved them too much. She shouldn't care too much, even if she is the number one JONAS super fan. She respected their privacy. This is Joe's problem anyway.
"Okay, bye," Macy ran off to her driveway and started walking once she got to the path that led to her door.
"Mom, call me down for dinner, okay?" Macy instructed her mother as she rushed upstairs. She changed into her pajamas, because she knew she wasn't going anywhere tonight. She went on her laptop and once it was ready for her, she updated her JONAS fan site and then updated her blog. The blog she had was personal, and she talked about her life. She even mentions what she does with the brothers. She didn't mind if the fans were only reading it for JONAS, but at least someone's interested in her life. The only thing exciting about it is JONAS.
As she clicked 'publish', the phone rang. Thinking nothing of it, because it was the land line, she ignored it. She picked it up, turned it on and put it against her ear when her mom notified that it was Stella.
"Make up your mind, Macy Misa," Stella began. "Are you going to the dance or not?"
"I don't want to," She denied.
"Come on Macy, it'll be fun!"
"You're not going to let this go if I don't attend, are you?"
"Nope, so you should go."
"Fine, I'm going."
"Great, come over to my house on Friday, so I can get your measurements and we can think of ideas of what your dress will look like," Stella informed her. "I'm going to the firehouse on Saturday for the boys' suits."
"Yeah, okay, I'll be there," Macy replied. "And I'm joining you on Saturday too, the brothers invited me over."
"Okay, you can be my assistant for that day." Macy could hear a smile in Stella's voice.
-x-
"Joe, dude, what's your problem?!" Nick yelled once Macy was out of sight.
"I just want to get home. I'm sorry if I had to be rude to get that across," Joe replied and continued walking.
"Joseph!" Nick was about to go after him, but Kevin stopped him from doing so.
"Just leave him be," Kevin said. "He's probably stressed. He'll talk to us when he's ready."
Once they reached the firehouse, Joe slammed the door in Kevin and Nick's face. The brothers rolled their eyes and thought nothing of it. They went inside and was greeted by their mother.
"Boys, do you know what's wrong with Joe?" She asked.
"We have no idea. He started acting like that after lunch. We don't know what's going on."
"Is it because of Stella or something?" She suggested.
"Probably not, but speaking of Stella, we'll ask her to talk to him. She's his best friend."
The two head upstairs to find Joe playing the keyboard. He's probably writing a song expressing how he feels at the moment. They went to the side opposite of Joe to talk. Kevin gave Nick his cell phone and dialed Stella's number.
"Stella!" Nick greeted.
"Nick!" She played along.
"Can you please talk to your boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend."
"Joe, isn't he your boyfriend?"
"No! He just so happens to be my best guy friend."
"What about Kevin and me?"
"You two come in second, sorry."
"But anyway, talk to Joe!"
"Why should I, after you've been being really rude to me?"
"He's acting like a jerk and we don't know why. You're the only one he trusts."
"Okay, fine, pass the phone to him, please."
Nick took the phone off his ear and covered the bottom. He nodded at Kevin.
"JOSEPH ADAM LUCAS! STELLA'S ON THE PHONE!" That sure got his attention. He quickly ran over to his brothers and snatched the phone from Nick. He went back to the keyboard to talk to her.
-x-
"Joseph," Stella said in a stern voice. "What's this I hear about you being a jerk?"
"I'm not being a jerk!" Joe denied.
"Then why did your brothers say you are?" Stella challenged.
"They're my brothers, they hate me!"
"Oh, really?"
"Mhm."
"Because last time I checked, you all loved each other. Now tell me the reason why you're being so rude."
"You're going to laugh at me," Joe sighed, giving up the act.
"I'm going to laugh at you either way, now spill."
"Okay, fine, just don't tell anyone, especially my brothers and Macy," He gave in.
"Why would I tell Macy?"
"Because she's your best friend."
"Oh, right, so anyway, talk."
"The reason why I'm acting like this is because…"
-x-
"Are you done talking to Stella?!" Nick yelled from across the room.
Joe didn't say anything and just chucked the phone to them. Luckily, Kevin caught it and put it to his ear.
"So what's the problem?"
"I'm sorry, Kevin, I can't tell you. I promised Joe I wouldn't tell anyone," Stella replied. "But I can tell you that he'll stop being a jerk in a few weeks."
"A few weeks?!" Kevin repeated. "I can't live with Jerky Joe for that much longer."
"Look, just learn to deal with it. Joe's really focused on something and it's really getting frustrating for him, okay?"
"What's he doing?"
"Like I said before, I can't tell you. But he said he'd let me know when he's done this 'something' and then he'll be the Joe we all know and love. Just give him some space. He has a lot on his mind. You know what that's like, right?"
"Of course, I mean, trying to balance school work with our music career, it's kind of hard." They have to learn to deal with that, because it was their choice to attend a real high school.