• I faked a smile at Nick, thinking that the only good part about this was skipping classes. Otherwise, I was dreading this. “Hi,” he said curtly. He wasn't too pleased, either. And then the bell rang.

    I stood up, taking his schedule and comparing it to mine. Oh my god. We were in all the same classes. Who knew a pop star could be so smart? “Well, this should be fun,” I said awkwardly. “Follow me. Keep up.” He did as he was told.

    I stopped at room 301. AP Physics with Ms. Tener. “Here we are,” I said, opening the door and walking inside. He took the seat next to me, not saying much of anything. Clearly he was very shy. Ms. Tener didn't seem ready to start yet, so I continued. “Come here every day after homeroom. I'll be in this class, too, in case you get lost. But don't rely on me to know everything, because sometimes I won't be so gracious.”

    “Seating chart is on the board,” Ms. Tener began. I moved one seat back, with Nick right behind me. We were pretty much at the back of the class. “Nice to meet you all. My name is Ms. Tener. Don't call me Mrs. I do have some rules, such as, don't talk when I'm talking, be prepared for class, and always do your work. If you break any of these rules, I give you a warning and from then on you get detentions. No exceptions, and no excuses.”

    I cringed. I was going to hate her class more than having to drag Nick Jonas around the school. “Let's begin,” she continued, talking about books and what we would need for class. We were never to write in anything but black ink. She wouldn't lend us pens or paper. We needed a 2 inch, 3 ring binder with white, 3 holed, lined paper. She would check everything tomorrow.

    The bell rang once again and I couldn't wait to get out of there. I led Nick to every class, telling him this and that and anything else he would need to know. He never actually talked back, but once in awhile he seemed to be taking notes. Even in classes. I didn't; I relied solely on my brain power.

    The lunch bell rang at 12:00, and I broke into a run to get my seat. There were never any good seats if you took your time. I'd learned that the first day of freshman year. I sat down next to Amber in a circle table, and we started chatting. Then a Joe Jonas sat down next to her.

    And then it hit me. Crap! I forgot the Jonas. I raced through the halls, forcing my way between the crowds of people. I hated it when they built up around one classroom, or just stopped in the middle of the hallway. I shoved and searched, but couldn't spot him.

    s**t. s**t. s**t! Minutes of booking down the halls, and still no sight of him. Where could he have gone? How do you lose a celebrity? I rushed back to the cafeteria, in case he had returned. He was definitely not in there.

    Where else did he know how to get to? Other than classes? Principal's office, bathroom. I darted in the principal's general direction, and then slowed down to not be noticed. I did that a lot in life. Thank God for glass, I thought, peeking through to see who was in there. Not Nick Jonas, that was for sure.

    No. No. No way. I stood outside the bathroom door. There was no way I was going in there. It was the boy's bathroom, for crying out loud! A random boy rushed in, having to go really badly.

    “He's not in there,” a voice said to my left. I turned slightly. Nick!

    “Oh my god! Are you kidding me right now?” I whooped. I was very bitter at the moment.

    “What?” He answered, faking a little bit of attitude. It was cute. No, no. I did not just say that I think Nick Jonas is cute. I just think he's... “See something you like?” he smirked. Jerk.

    “I just ran around the fricking school looking for you! Where were you?” My voice was very loud and full of anger.

    “I was still in Phys Ed. You kinda left me there, and I didn't know where to go, so...” He started to explain.

    “You could've, I don't know, followed the crowd of people going to lunch,” I shot.

    “It's my first day! How was I supposed to know?” Clearly he wasn't good at doing things by himself. I rolled my eyes.

    “Here,” I said reluctantly, handing him half of my sandwich. “Lunch is almost over, so let's head to... 212. Finley. s**t.” I started walking, and he followed.

    “What?” he asked.

    I fake smiled. “Finley hates me,” I explained. I couldn't believe I was actually getting along with Nick Jonas. Stupid, famous, popular, stuck up Nick Jonas.

    “How come?” He was a curious boy.

    “Three older brothers. She's on detention duty, and she had to deal with all of them. She thinks I'm just like them.”

    “Well, that's stupid. A teacher, of all people, should take the time to get to know her students. She wouldn't be a teacher if she didn't love kids!”

    “What is the world coming to?” I joked. And then we laughed. I made Nick Jonas laugh.

    After school, I waved bye to Nick with a fake smile and he nodded and climbed into a big black truck with tinted windows. I hated him for that. Showoff. I stepped onto the bus and counted the seconds until I could return to my canvas.

    “Mom!” I yelled once I got inside. “I'm home!”

    “Hi sweetie! How was your day?” She replied cheerfully. She didn't seem to be mad at me anymore, which was a good sign. Then I remembered she'd taken away my canvas, and I felt a piece of my heart break. One month was going to be a long time.

    -----

    Ring! The phone. Again. It had been ringing off the hook lately, and I didn't even have to guess who it was.

    “Hey, Amber,” I answered after three rings.

    “Chey! What up girl?” She replied in her smiley voice. She was too happy about something, but I didn't know what.

    “Not much. You?”

    “Much,” She explained. I could tell that she was bobbing up and down in excitement.

    “What?” I was curious.

    “Okay, so the Jonas Brothers are pretty much my new best friends. And yesterday they came over my house again. And NICK KISSED ME!” She screeched swiftly.

    My heart sunk. I might've had a slight crush on Nick Jonas. Slight? Crush? Okay, maybe looking at him made me weak at the knees. I'd just gotten through the week leading him to every class.

    We started talking for real on the second day. First, just a question. “So, have you heard of us before?”

    “Yeah,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

    “Well, you don't seem to be treating me as if I'm famous,” he pointed out.

    “You're still a person, though. Just because you're famous, it doesn't make you any cooler or better than everybody else. It just means you skip the hardest parts of life,” I told him. He nodded, taking it in.

    “What do you mean by that?”

    “Well, you never have to experience things like poverty, hunger, or disease.”

    “Neither do you,” Nick remarked jokingly. He smirked. And my stomach dropped. No, I told myself, You cannot like Nick Jonas. But it was too late. He'd had me at so.

    “So? You always get the best things, and everything you want. And you never have relationship problems, or problems with the bank. You don't have to worry about paying for stuff, like college, or a house. You don't even need a job,” I replied.

    “Money makes the world go round,” he declared.

    “It sure does,” I agreed, sitting down in Pre-Calc. He sat next to me, as he did in most classes that didn't give assigned seats. The teachers weren't bad. The concepts were easy. But only because I was uber smart.

    From then on, we talked nonstop; movies, people, classes, music, etc. He even offered to teach me how to play an instrument. He played five. “Impressive,” I told him. He laughed. Apparently my adjectives were charming.

    So, yeah, I'd taken a liking to Nick Jonas. I didn't really talk to anyone but him and Amber on a regular basis. Joe somehow ended up in the same grade as us, which made no sense, but it didn't really matter. Amber was his tour guide, so he was covered. Kevin was a senior, so I never saw him. I just waved as the three of them drove away in their big black truck.

    However, as Amber's official best friend, I was supposed to support her in everything. So I pretended to be happy for her as best as I could.

    “Really? Wow. That's cool,” I lied smoothly.

    “I know!” Amber hollered. “Isn't it great?”

    “Totally.” Not. I wasn't too pleased.

    “Yeah! And we're going out tonight. So you have to come over and help me get ready!” She said. Just the thing that would make it worse. I didn't reply, so she finished for me. “Okay, see you soon then!”

    Great. My best friend was expecting me to help her get ready for a date with my crush. I was a pretty strong girl, but I didn't know if I could handle that. I couldn't just keep quiet and let her take him. It would kill me.

    Yet, twenty minutes later, I found myself walking down to her house. I didn't know why, but my instincts told me that she would need me. Nobody had ever needed me before, so it was a strange feeling. But a nice one. It was powerful.

    “Cheyenne! Get in here!” She screamed out the window. I laughed, but ran inside. Amber wore a short black dress with a green belt. It went nicely with her green eyes and short, curly brown hair. She looked gorgeous.

    “Oh my god!” I said. “Where are you going dressed so nice?”

    “Oh, just this restaurant. La Pieta?” She told me, biting her lip. La Pieta was the nicest restaurant in Jersey. And a piece of my heart broke knowing that Nick Jonas was taking her there.

    “Holy crap! That's the best restaurant in Jersey! How have you never heard of it before?” I yelled. She shrugged.

    “Help me with my makeup!” She begged. I rolled my eyes, but grabbed her makeup bag, starting with foundation, then eyeliner and mascara. Finally, I added a taint of eyeshadow and blush and some sparkles. I stepped back, admiring my masterpiece. She looked in the mirror.

    “Oh! Thank you! I love you!” She screeched. Then the doorbell rang. “He's here!” She opened up the door, revealing a fancy-looking Nick Jonas. I felt my heart jump. He stared at me for a second. He was obviously surprised to see me.

    Amber smiled, and the two of them took off. In a limo! Rich jerks.