Animated

Ryan stared at the piece of paper in front of him. The blank piece of paper. He was supposed to be practicing. His art teacher, Mr. Chambers, told him the only way to really improve his art was to practice. But practice wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Ryan had been staring at his paper for the past 10 minutes waiting for an idea to come to him. At this point the had resulted to the most basic doodling, stars swirls and smiley faces.

“You are going to leave me like this?” Ryan startled and looked around his room. “Down here you dummy!” Ryan looked down at his paper where one of his smiley faces was now frowning. “Close your mouth you big oaf. You look like a giant fly catcher.” Ryan closed his mouth and glanced around the room again before leaning back in his chair.

“I’m going insane!” He whispered.

“Well duh, your pathetic drawing is talking to you. I would say that classifies as insane.”

“I didn’t ask you to start talking did I?”

“No one asks to be insane. But I had to start talking. You were planning on leaving me as a few dots and a curve! Would you want to live like that?”

“You aren’t actually living.” Ryan said smartly.

“That’s what I said. This is no life for a drawing, especially one coming from an artist like you. If you left me like this I would be the laughingstock of all your drawings.”

“That’s not actually-”

“Like these eyes, dots, seriously? I need eyelids and eyebrows and an iris and all those things. Maybe even some lashes, I don’t even know what gender I am.”

“Ok, ok, I’ll draw you some real eyes.” Ryan caved and leaned back forward and went to work-erasing the smiley’s eyes and put in more realistic eyes. “Do you want to chose your eye color?” Ryan asked grabbing his colored pencils.

“You’re the artist.” Ryan picked up purple and filled in the blanks. “Oh! So I am a girl!.” The drawing batted her eyelashes.

“Sure why not.”

“Now, how about doing something about this mouth. A line? Really? If I’m a girl, I need real lips.” Ryan nodded and picked up his eraser. "That seems about right." The face smacked it's lips, how about adding some nice red to them?"

"Well aren't you bossy." Ryan muttered and the smiley rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming you want something done about your nose too?"

"No I wan't to stick with the dot that has absolutely no use whatsoever." Ryan noted her sarcasm.

"Your nose wont be useful anyway since you are actually a drawing."

"Hey, don't get snippy with me, I am helping you finish a neglected piece of art. Now, are you going to give me a real head or just let me live as a floating collage of facial features?" Ryan started outlining the face when she spoke up again. "And while you're at it, why not keep going for the rest of my body?" Ryan worked in relative silence for a while. The drawing kept giving him tips and suggestions whether or not they were welcome. "Whoa whoa! What's this?" She looked straight down where her chest was taking shape.

"What?" Ryan couldn't tell anything wrong?

"That!" She pointed at her chest but Ryan still didn't know what she was talking about. "If I am supposed to be a girl make me a girl! I am not going to stand being a flat-chested ambiguity!"

"That doesn't really make sense you know."

"I don't care! Give me boobs!" She stomped her foot.

"But-" Ryan turned a pale shade of pink.

"Oh, stop being such a pansy, unless all of your drawings are going to be gay, you need to learn to draw a girl some boobs." She looked up expectantly. Ryan raised his pencil, still blushing and got to work. When he was done, his drawing surveyed the damage. "I suppose they will do. You definitely need more practice though."

"Well thanks for the encouragement." Ryan returned some of the sarcasm he had been dealt.

"How about a name?"

"Obnoxious sounds about right." Ryan said looking at the clock. He had been at this drawing for an hour now and he had to admit it did look pretty darn good, but he was ready for a break.

"Ha ha ha, now, how about a real name and then you can stuff me in a sketchbook and forget about me. Ryan leaned on his elbows.

"Um, Patricia?" She just laughed. "Lacey." She shook her head.

"Do I look like a ribbons and Lace type of girl?"

"Lexi?"

"Too common." Ryan groaned and put his head on the desk. Suddenly he popped up.

"What about Lee?" The drawing thought for a second.

"Hmm, slightly ambiguous, strong, I actually kind of like it." Ryan grinned and picked up his purple pencil again. He drew a spiky 'Lee' over the girl. She smiled proudly as she watched. "Spectacular!" She said as he finished.

"Ryan!" A voice from downstairs called. "Dinner time!" Ryan put his pencil down and made for the door. When his hand touched the knob he turned back.

"Thanks Lee." He expected Lee to make a sarcastic remark but she was frozen on the paper, like a real drawing. Ryan sighed and began thinking of his next drawing. He would make it a little nicer if he could.

Wild

Wild. That is what the forest around her tower had grown to be. Anis had been living in the tower since she was young. It was tradition. Her great great grandmother had been imprisoned in the tower as a youth and now the women in her family used it as a way to find their perfect mate.

"The world is a dangerous place for women." Her mother used to say. "Men prowl like animals looking for the weakest prey." Anis used to wonder why, then, did the women of the Lanae family pen themselves up like sheep for slaughter.

She had matured a lot since she had last thought that. Now she understood. Lenae women were not bound to the interior of the tower. They were free to come and go which becomes a necessarily when you have no man around to help you survive. Lenae women learned to cook and clean, or else live in their own filth, and sew and weave, or else freeze in the winter, but that wasn't all they learned. They learned to work the ground in order to eat, and to use weapons to hunt as well as protect themselves. The tower was a rather ingenious solution to the hunt for a mate. A man must be brave enough to come looking and have the perseverance to last through the rigorous questions and tests a Lanae women might impose on him.

Yes, Anis liked living in the tower, except for one small detail - Ryanthia.

Ryanthia was Anis' cousin. All Lanae women have a right to living in the tower whenever they want for however long they choose and it just so happened that Ryanthia decided to come not too long after Anis had settled herself in.

"I'm tired!" Ryanthia whined as she plopped onto the ground of the garden.

"Would you like to eat tonight?"

"Duh."

"Then you better get picking because I am not sharing any of mine." Ryanthia harrumphed and stuck her tongue out at Anis. The pitiful part of this exchange was that both girls had been alive the same amount of time, 19 years, and yet Ryanthia threw a temper tantrum like a toddler.

"Hallo!" Anis sighed. Though the point of the tower was to find a mate, right now she was not in the mood to deal with a man who's first impression is a shouted 'Hallo!' from across the small clearing. Ryanthia, though, had a different opinion.

"Why hello there!" She called back, batting her eyes. The man, if that's what you could call that string bean of a male, blushed slightly as he approached and bowed low to the two ladies. "And what, pray tell, brings you here on this fine day, stranger?" Ryanthia let out an obnoxious giggle, still batting her eyelashes so fast Anis was surprised the man didn't blow away.

"I heared rumors about two young women living in a tower in these woods alone and I thought to myself: I should pop in for a visit and make sure the girls have proper supervision. I wouldn't want to have ignored this information and have been responsible for the demise of said beautiful ladies." Ryanthia giggled again. Anis just stared.

"Well, as you can see we are quite responsible for ourselves and have no need of supervision. As such, you should be on your way soon, it will be dark in a few hours and it takes more than that to get to the nearest town." Anis gathered the plants she had collected and turned to go inside.

"Why don't you stay here the night mister . . ." Anis froze in her place.

"Karle, just Karle." Another giggle.

"What do you say, Anis? Couldn't Karle stay the night? You said yourself that he wouldn't make it to town by dark." Anis sighed, she had admittedly dug her own grave.

"Very well, but being the honorable gentleman I am sure you are, you will sleep outside." Ryanthia giggled and took Karle's arm.

"I don't believe I caught your name, lady." Ryanthia led Karle to a small bench set up away from the tower. Anis went inside to prepare supper, though Ryanthia had been basically no help Anis was still kind enough to prepare her meal as well as one for Karle.

When supper was nearly finished Ryanthia rushed in.

"You will never guess what has happened!" Anis barely spared a glance at her gushing cousin. "Karle has brought a friend." Anis wiped her hands and put them on her hips.

"Well either he brought his own food or he's going without supper because i have none for him."

"I brought my own." A man stood in the doorway. "I wanted to apologize for the sudden arrival. Karle and I had been planning to leave town in the afternoon but he disappeared before lunch."

"Oh."

"I am sorry again, I have not introduced myself. I am Gentry." He bowed.

"Oh, I am Anis, and this is my cousin Ryanthia, if she hasn't already introduced herself." Gentry nodded to Ryanthia.

"I will take my leave then, I wouldn't want to be underfoot." Anis nodded as Gentry bowed out.

"I know that look." Ryanthia grinned pointing at Anis' face. she laughed and clapped her hands like a child on Christmas. "You think Gentry is attractive!" Anis scoffed.

"And?" She turned back to the food. "I have the right to think that people are attractive."

"Mm hmm." Ryanthia hummed knowingly as she slinked out the door giggling. Anis shook her head. Yes, she thought Gentry was attractive but that didn't mean that she was going to fawn over him as Ryanthia was doing with Karle. She shook her head again and gathered up supper and dishes.

Gentry took the dishes from her when she walked outside as Ryanthia and Karle ignored her while they giggled and blushed at each other.

"Thank you." Anis set down the food.

"Of course, I would never turn down a damsel in distress." Gentry grinned.

"If you want your food warm you had better eat it now." Ryanthia patted around next to her without taking her eyes off Karle.

"What would she do if you put a rat under her hand?" Anis laughed at the suggestion.

"Scream and run for the hills most likely. Pity I don't have any on hand." Gentry chuckled and took a bite of some dried meat.

"Did you want something else?" Anis motioned to the food she had prepared.

"I thought you had no food for me." Anis blushed a little.

"I was not in a good mood, and, with the lovebirds over there, I think there will be plenty extra."

Suddenly Ryanthia shreiked.

"Yes!!" She jumped up from the ground. "Oh Anis, did you hear? Karle asked me to go back with him! Oh, dear Karle, I would love to!" Ryanthia pulled a blushing Karle from the ground and dragged him for a walk around the clearing.

"A 'thanks' is apparently in order. " Gentry threw a questioning look at Anis.

"Your friend is about to take away the thing that is making my stay here miserable." Anis waved her hand toward the couple.

"You and your cousin don't get along?"

"Oh, we do. As long as she is talking and I am working." Gentry chuckled.

"In that case, I should also be thanking you." Anis returned the confused glanced Gentry had given her moments before. "Karle is my Ryanthia."

"Ah." Anis smiled. "I suppose you will be leaving with them tomorrow?"

"I suppose. Though, if you would allow me, I would like to come back to visit you. I might even bring an entire meal with me." Anis averted her eyes.

"I wouldn't be entirely opposed to that." Gentry nodded and they both finished their meal in silence as they watched Ryanthia and Karle strut around the clearing.

"Oh Anis, I will miss you so much!" Ryanthia hugged Anis tightly. "Will you miss me?"

"Very much." Was Anis' flat reply. Gentry stifled a chuckle on top of his horse.

"Well my dear, we must be off if we are to make out schedule." Karle called from his mount. Ryanthia nodded and took a hold of his arm so he could hoist her up.

"Farewell dear cousin." Karle turned his horse and trotted off.

"Until we meet again, Lady Anis." He threw her a casual salute before following his friend. Anis watched as he disappeared into the trees.

Christmas Cake

So this is a story I wrote FOREVER ago when I was really into Harry Potter fanfics. Don't laugh at how stupid it is, you're the one reading it.

“We’ve been married how many years and I still don’t understand you?” Draco asked as his wife retrieved ingredients from the delivery owl. “I can get you any cake you want from any baker magical or muggle and you still insist on making and icing one yourself.” He said wrapping his arms around her waist as she started to mix the ingredients for the chocolate cake.

“Draco not now, I need to start on this cake I only have six hours to make it.” Hermione answered him.

“Love, maybe you should take a rest the party isn’t until six and it’s only nine.”

“Well I need extra time just in case and I have to make myself look pretty.” She grinned up at him.

“You never look pretty.” He answered making her grin disappear. “You always look beautiful.” She smiled again and turned around to kiss him.

“Thank you, now go to work I have a lot to do.” She turned back to the bowl.

“Well I feel wanted.” Draco pouted feigning sadness.

“You can feel wanted tonight; right now I need to work.”

“Tonight?” He grinned.

“At the party.” Hermione specified. “Now, for Merlin’s sake go!” She said pushing him out of the kitchen. Hearing the loud crack that told her he had left for work, she went back to her cake. While the Christmas tree cake was baking, she made the icing and then started hanging decorations with magic. She was not always primitive, as her husband had once called her because of her muggle habits. When the cake was done, she took it out to cool while she continued to decorate.

Once it was ready, she started icing. Green went on first, then some gold, then silver, red, blue, purple, pink, orange, white, and black. Four icing ornaments decorated the tree, one was a red and gold lion, and another was a silver and green serpent. The last two were a bronze and blue eagle and a yellow and black badger. Each of the ornaments represented one of the four houses in Hogwarts. The tree was for the biannual Christmas party Hermione hosted for their class. As she was putting the finishing touches on the cake there was one spot that the icing would not stick to. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows trying to cover up the bare cake. She growled at it. After playing with it for ten minutes, she brought out her wand to try to cover it up.

“I thought you weren’t going to use magic?” A voice asked from the door. Hermione jumped dropping her wand.

“Draco! You scared me.” She said picking up her wand. “And I wasn’t going to use magic I was going to use my wand to beat the icing onto this stupid spot.” She frowned crossing her arms. Draco just laughed at her.

“Whatever, it’s your cake.” He shrugged.

“Wait, what are you doing home?” She asked silently charming icing onto the bald spot.

“I got done early and decided to come home and help you set up.” He walked over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Thank you I could use a little help with the sitting room.” The two walked into the other room and finished putting up decorations. When they were done, Hermione commented that they had two hours until the caterers go there so they should go get dressed. After an hour in the bathroom and countless whines from Draco complaining that she took way too long, Hermione stepped out and Draco immediately silenced. His wife stood in front of him in a red knee length cocktail dress. Her curls were piled on her head.

“I was right you are always beautiful.” Draco smiled and Hermione blushed.

“Why aren’t you changed?” She asked examining him.

“I’ll put it on later. I only need five minutes to get the thing on.” Hermione frowned but didn’t argue. Over the next half hour, Hermione ran around the house fixing all of the decorations that Draco put up. This meant moving them one way and then putting them back and saying it then looked perfect.

“Why did you want me to help with the decorations if you were just going to say they weren’t right?” Draco asked as he watched the spectacle from the door.

“Because I thought you would be able to do it right.” She said stepping back to survey her handiwork. Draco decided it would be better if he didn’t point out the fact that she was looking over his shoulder the entire time and correcting him when he put things in the wrong place or arranged them off center or in the wrong order.

The half hour before the caterers were supposed to be there Hermione paced in the foyer complaining that she should have gotten a different company because this one had a tendency to be late. To Draco relief the caterers arrived ten minutes before five and tried to apologize if it was inconvenient for them to be there early but they were a few hands short. They had all of the food unpacked in thirty minutes then started setting up. Before they were finished, Hermione ordered Draco to go change.

“How much food did you order?” Draco asked as he walked into the room dressed in black pants and a red silk shirt. “I would almost think you invited the entire school from every year we were there.” He paused when she didn’t answer. “You didn’t invite the entire school did you?” He and Hermione watched the men and women set the food up in intricate designs.

“No, only our class. However, that includes twenty guys. I would rather have extra than not enough.” They moved out of the way of a caterer carrying a huge tray of food. “Besides I have boxes so if anyone wants the extras they can take it home.”

“You think of everything don’t you?” He put his arms around her waist and kissed her.

“Oh! I forgot the cake. Excuse me! Can you leave this space open?” She asked the caterers. The people around her nodded and she ran up to the office. She came back down with red tape. “Draco, come help me.” She commanded. Draco wandered over and Hermione slapped the end of the tape on his hand.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” He asked.

“Just stay there for a sec.” She answered pulling the tape. When it got to the length she wanted, she cut it off and secured it to the floor. She walked over the tape to stick it to the floor. When she got to Draco, he put his end on the floor and then she put the new end on his hand. They did this three more times to make a box about four feet by four feet. By the time she was finished the caterers had finished and left.

“You think that little cake needs that much space?” He asked.

“You’ll see.” She answered with a smile going into the kitchen to retrieve the cake. She put the cake in the center of the square of tape. Just then, the doorbell rang. “Could you get that honey?” Draco sighed and left the room.

“Draco!” Blaise Zabini called out clearly drunk as he shook Draco’s hand. Hermione came into the foyer to see who it was and immediately regretted it. “Hermione! I haven’t seen you in two years.” He almost fell on her as he hugged her. “This is my friend Cherry.” He pointed to the woman he brought. She giggled.

“Nice to meet you.” Hermione held out her hand. The girl giggled as she shook Hermione’s hand. “Draco, why don’t you show Blaise and um, Cherry to the sitting room?” Draco nodded and motioned for the two to follow him. Hermione went into the kitchen again out of nervous habit and the fact she didn’t want to spend too much time around Blaise. Every time they saw him, he had a new girlfriend just as giggly as the last. The doorbell rang again and Hermione ran to answer it.

“Hermione!” Her two best friends exclaimed as they enveloped her in a giant hug.

“Harry, Ron. I’m so glad you could come.” She grinned. “Ginny, Zoe. How are you?” She asked the spouses of her friends as she embraced them.

“Hi Hermione. Guess what!” Zoe, Ron’s American girlfriend said grinning.

“What?” Hermione smiled.

“We’re engaged!” She held her hand up to show the gigantic ring on it. She and Ron were doing very well now with Ron being the owner of a branch of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and Zoe being an accomplished artist. Hermione squealed and hugged the girl.

“That’s so exciting!” She said hugging Ron as well.

“What’s all the squealing about?” Draco asked coming into the foyer.

“Ron and Zoe are engaged.” Hermione said.

“Well congrats.” He shook Ron’s hand then Harry’s to say hello. He gave each of the girls a kiss on the cheek.

“Come on you have to see the cake I made!” Hermione said leading Ginny and Zoe into the other room. Over the next hour more and more people arrived. Hermione and Draco were separated for a good part of the party entertaining their friends. When they finally caught up with each other, they savored the moment looking at the semi-eaten tree cake.

“Now I really don’t understand why you had to make the cake yourself if you were just going to use magic to make it into a six foot display.” He said watching a couple try to take a piece off without making it fall over.

“Personal satisfaction among other things.” Hermione answered.

“What other things?” Draco asked.

“Hermione, did you really ice that whole thing?” Lavender Brown asked pulling Hermione away.

“Mm Hm.” Hermione answered. “And it only took two hours.”

“Are you sure you didn’t use magic?” Their voices faded into the crowd and Draco grinned at his wife’s half-truth.

Dance, Dance, Dance

I got inspiration for this story from my job as a dance teacher. I was watching another teacher as she taught and I noticed her face when the kids got something and I hope my face looks like that when my kids figure something out.

“Mommy.” Frankie said walking into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“I wanna dance.” He announced.

“Dance?” Denise asked not missing a beat she asked as she did with every announcement like this that one of her boys came up with me. “And how did you make that decision?”

“I was watching stuff on youtube and I wanna do tap and jazz.”

“Ok honey, I will look into it and we will see if we can find somewhere for you to try it.”

“Ok, thank you mommy.” Frankie hopped out of the kitchen and Denise started to think of any dance studios she had seen.

“Hello, welcome to Aspiration Dance Studio, my name is Amy, are you interested in a class for a little ballerina?” A teenage girl asked standing behind the desk.

“I’m Denise Jonas and actually, my son Frankie,” Denise motioned to Frankie standing next to her. “Was interested in trying class.”

“Ah a danseur, very cool. How old are you, Frankie?” Amy asked.

“8.”

"And what kind of dance would you like to try?” She asked Frankie.

“Jazz and tap.”

“Awesome, well since it’s summer Frankie can take as many classes as he wants in the 6-8 age group.” Amy brought out a brochure with a schedule. “The jazz and tap classes he can take are Monday thru Thursday at 4:15. Tap on Monday and Wednesday, and jazz on Tuesday and Thursday. And since you are new here I can give you a free class to try it out to make sure you like it. Does that sound cool? Then your mom isn’t going to waste money on something you don’t like, cause if you aren’t having fun than that’s no good.”

“That is wonderful.” Denise smiled.

“Now, it’s about 3 o’clock on Monday, so that means tap starts in an hour and fifteen minutes if you wanted to take it. But, I would suggest you take this home,” She tapped the brochure. “And think about it to make sure this is what you want to do. Then you can come back tomorrow and try jazz, then you don’t need to worry about the tap shoes until you know that you really want to. In fact, for the summer you wouldn’t really need the shoes unless he really wants to make the sounds.” Denise nodded and looked over the brochure.

“So the dress code?”

“Is relaxed during the summer. Comfortable clothes he can move in. As long as he’s covered it’s pretty much ok. For shoes, he can just wear some socks for jazz and if you don’t get the tap shoes they would work for tap too. Oh, and before I forget you will be able to watch the class via our closed circuit tv.” They all looked up toward the tv screen.

“Ok, I think we are going to take your advise and take this home and come back tomorrow.”

“Alright then, I can’t wait to see you then.”

“Mom! It’s time to go!” Frankie whined.

“Patience, Franklin. We will leave in a second.”

“Leave where?” Joe asked walking through eating from a bag of chips.

“I’m going to dance.” Frankie announced. Joe started choking on his chips.

“You’re what?” He laughed.

“I’m going to do jazz.” Joe opened his mouth but his mother spoke first.

“Frankie is trying something new and I don’t want you to discourage him, is that understood?” Denise warned. “I’m going to get my purse and then we’ll leave ok honey?” Frankie nodded and Denise went upstairs.

“Look Frank, a little advise from one brother to another, dudes don’t dance.” Joe said putting a hand on Frankie’s shoulder.

“Yes they do, I saw them on youtube.” Joe sighed.

“Ok, straight guys don’t dance.”

“Oh,” Frankie’s face fell.

“Alright Frankie, lets go.” Denise said coming down the stairs and opening the door. He got in the car and they drove to the studio.
“Frankie, you came back!” Amy exclaimed. “I forgot to tell you something yesterday, I get to be your teacher.” Frankie nodded. “Hello Mrs. Jonas, this is my aunt and the owner of Aspiration, Mrs. Delilah Fawks.” Amy motioned to the woman behind the desk. “Now I think it’s about time to start, Frankie you can take your tennis shoes off in the back or leave them with your mom.” Frankie pulled his shoes off and handed them to Denise who was starting up a conversation with Delilah. “And if all of my dancers and my danseur will follow me, we will get started.” Amy never stopped smiling as she lead about seven kids down the hallway to the room.

Amy sat everyone down in the middle of the floor. “There are a few new faces so, my name is Miss Amy, there are a few girls here who have been dancing for a while so don’t get discouraged if you cant do something just try your best.” Amy ran over and started some music before she started leading the stretch.

After stretching she sent the kids to one side of the room for across the floor while she changed songs. “Why don’t we start with around the chassé?” She explained how to do them and sent the first two across the floor correcting and congratulating as they went. After everyone had gone but Frankie, she counted him off but he didn’t go. “Aren’t you going try Frankie?” He shook his head. “Aw, why not? You seemed so excited yesterday.”

“Joe said dancing is gay.” He mumbled.

“He did? Is Joe your brother?” He nodded again. “Well, trust me dancing is not gay. I know a lot of guys who dance and aren’t gay. Dance is pretty hard, most gay guys I’ve seen cant do it.” She smiled. Frankie just crossed his arms and looked away. “I have an idea, why don’t we invite Joe to try a class? You can help me write him a letter after class, ok?”

“I guess.”

“So you have to try this class so you’re that much better than him, cool?” Frankie smiled.

“Cool.”

“Awesome.” She held up her hand for a high five and he hit it. Frankie tried his best through the rest of class and at the end after everyone got a stamp he and Amy sat for a little bit writing the letter. “So is your brothers full name Joseph?”

“Mm hm.”

"Ok.” Amy read as she wrote. “Dear Joseph, Frankie told me that you said male dancers are gay. I would like to show you it takes more than a feminine personality or figure to become a dancer. I would like to personally invite you to join Frankie’s class for a day on,” Amy stopped writing. “Should he come to tap or jazz?”

“Jazz, I’m not sure if I wanna do tap. Jazz is really cool.” She smiled.

“Ok, join Frankie’s class for a day on Thursday. I look forward to seeing you in comfortable clothes with socks. Sincerely, Miss Amy.” She signed it and folded it before handing it over to Frankie. “I can’t wait until Thursday.” Amy grinned before giving Frankie a hug and walking out to the lobby with him.

“How was it?” Denise asked she saw them.

“Fun.”

“Mrs. Jonas, Frankie said that your son Joseph told him that dancing was gay so I gave him a letter inviting Joseph to join the class on Thursday. Don’t worry about the cost, we can afford to give out one extra class if it keeps Frankie here, he did really well.”

“You do realize Joe is 19?"

“That’s alright, it will be fun.”

“Well, that works for me.” Denise laughed. “I guess I will see you again with two sons in tow on Thursday.”

“See you then.” Amy waved as they walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m what?” Kevin and Nick burst out laughing when their mother announced Joe’s invitation at dinner.

“You are going to take Frankie’s dance class on Thursday with him.” Denise repeated herself. “Frankie almost quit the class because you told him that dancing was gay after I specifically told you not to discourage him. And you two," Nick and Kevin were still trying to control their laughter. “If you continue laughing you will both be joining him.” They immediately stopped.

“But it’s a little kid class.” Joe whined.

“Miss Amy said that she was very excited to have you.” Joe sighed.

“Is there any way to get out of this?”

“No.”

“Ok.” The only sound was utensils scraping on plates for a while.

“Miss Amy sent you a note too.” Frankie said happily.

“Oh great.” Joe rolled his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday Denise had successfully dragged Joe along with Frankie to Aspiration earlier than they had shown up for the last class and after being greeted by Delilah they sat down to wait. A stampede of little girls ran down the hall at 4:15 and Amy followed them smiling.

“Hey Frankie!” She grinned.

“Hi Miss Amy.”

“Hello, Mrs. Jonas. This must be Joseph.” She extended her hand.

“Yeah.” Joe stood up taking her hand. “I’m Joe.”

“The one who thinks guy dancers are all gay.” Joe smiled sheepishly and Amy turned to the rest of the kids in the lobby.

“Is everyone ready?” She started leading everyone down the hall. After directing everyone to sit in the middle she stopped for a second. “For the new faces and the forgetful ones, my name is Miss Amy. We have a visitor who is a little older than all of you but he is just learning a lesson.” She winked at Joe before she turned the music on and started the stretch. It seemed that every time Amy switched the stretch Joe was whispering some comment to Frankie and not paying attention.

“Joseph,” She kept reminding him. “If you do not pay attention I will send you out.” Even though she would have assumed he would not want to be here he was very quick to fix himself for a while. When they started going across the floor she would give him some of the harder things because he was older and more coordinated than a 6-8 year old would be.

“Why do I have to do hard stuff?” He whined.

“Because Joseph, you are older and should be more coordinated. Besides, Frankie is doing it.” She said watching as Frankie went across the floor.

“You know, Amy, you can call me Joe.”

“It’s Miss Amy, Joseph, and it’s your turn.” Joe sighed and started across the floor. At the end of class she handed out stickers and even gave one to Joe. Frankie was waiting for Joe to follow him out after they got their stickers but Joe sent him out to their mother.

“So I’m curious, do you actually not know who I am?” He leaned on the shelf the stereo was on while she picked up her bags.

“Of course I do. I had to warn my ballet class so they wouldn’t freak.”

“So you’re not a fan?”

“I’m just a really good actress.” She chuckled. “I’m a fan, I’m just not a crazed fan. Your songs are actually really good for jazz. Of course, I can’t use them while Frankie’s in the class. But that’s ok, I’ll sacrifice for having a boy in class.” She started walking out and he followed. “So have you learned you lesson? Do you still think all male dancers are gay?”

“No. This dance thing is hard.” Amy laughed.

“And that was a 6-8 beginning class.”

“Joseph, come on we’ve got to go.” Denise said.

“One sec.” He turned back to Amy. “Why don’t you come and hang out at our house, we’ve got some more brothers you could convert.”

“Sorry, I’ve got class.” She put her bags behind the counter. “Maybe another time.” She pulled a pair of socks out of her bags and came out from behind the counter. “So you’re coming back right?” She asked Frankie.“Yeah!” He said with a grin.“Great, you are catching on so fast! See you next week, and we can settle the money stuff then.” Just then a dark haired woman walked in. “Hey Kris.”
"You are awesome Amy.” Denise said. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem.”
“Ready Aims?” Kris asked making her way down the hall.
“Be right there. See you guys next week.” She waved and jogged down the hall to catch up with Kris.
“So, was that one of the Jonas guys?” Kris asked putting a cd in the stereo.
“Yeah!” Amy half-giggled-half-sighed.
“Wow, and you kept a straight face the whole time? I’m impressed.” Amy laughed.
“I’m not going to freak on him. Have you seen some of their fans. I’m embarrassed for them.” Kris laughed and they started class. After three hours of ballet, tap and jazz Amy and Kris walked down the hall laughing. At the end of the hall they both froze.
“Joe?” Amy asked. “What are you doing here it’s been three hours.”
“Um, I think I’m going to leave now, see ya Aims.” Kris said heading for the door.
“I’ll come with you.” Delilah said grabbing her purse. “Lock up will you, Amy?”

“Yeah sure.” The two women went out the door leaving Joe and Amy alone
"So do I still have to call you Miss Amy?” Joe asked making Amy smile.
“Only in class, but why are you here seriously? Three hours is a long time.”
“I wanted to see you dance. I only got a glimpse in my class.”
“Why were you interested? Most people would leave it up to their imagination.”
“Well to tell you the truth I didn’t want to stop seeing you.” Amy blushed.
“Uh huh.” She went behind the counter and grabbed her bags.
“Really, I wanted to keep seeing your face light up like it did when one of the kids got something right. I figured maybe it looked even better when you mastered something.”
“Well, thanks.”
“Can I take you out sometime?”
“Um,” She looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Um sure, I guess.”
“How about I get your number and I’ll call you.”
“Ok.” He pulled out his phone and she recited her number. He pushed a few buttons and her phone went off.
“And now you have my number.”
“Cool.” Amy smiled. “Well we should go, my roommate will be expecting me.” They walked out the door and she locked it before looking out into the parking lot. “You don’t have a ride do you?” She asked when she saw that her car was the only one in lot. He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.
“I figured I could just take the bus or something.” Amy laughed.
“Joe Jonas, on a bus? You would shut down the public transportation system.”

“So what do you expect me to do?” Amy unlocked her car.

“Get in.” She smirked. “Maybe I’ll get a chance to convert those brothers you were talking about."

Beyond Words

So this is a song fic to Beyond Words by Tenth Avenue North
It's mostly about Denise and Joe Jonas
Enjoy

~Well if you only knew the pain that I've been through~
~Since when did it become all about you~
~As you can see right from the start I've said the truth~
~And if the truth means nothing to you~
~Then what am I supposed to do? ~

“Mommy, watch me!” 6-year-old Joseph called as he raced down the street on his new bike lifting his hands off the handlebars for a few seconds at a time.
“I see you Joseph, keep your hands on the bars, you might crash.”
“Wee!” Joseph put his hands in the air. Long enough, this time, to let the wheel turn and send him crashing into a street light.
“Joseph!” Denise ran and sat next to her son pulling him onto her lap as he cried. “Oh honey, are you OK?”
“My hand hurts.” He cried. She examined his hand and saw the redness of it hitting the concrete as well as the scrapes from the small rocks on the ground. She inspected the rest of him, only finding a cut on his lip, most likely from him biting through it on the way down. She looked into his eyes and nearly burst into empathetic tears for her son.
“Come on, you’ll be fine.” She said confidently. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
“But what about my bike?” Joseph sniffled.
“We’ll ask daddy to come out for it, OK?” He nodded and laid his head on Denise’s shoulder. She walked the short distance to the house and sat Joseph on the kitchen counter.
“Mommy?” He asked as Denise carefully cleaned his hand.
“Hmm?” She retrieved the first aid kit from the cabinet.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you told me not to let go.” Denise smiled placing band-aids on the worst cuts.
“I think you learned your lesson, but thank you for apologizing.” She wrapped her arms around him kissing his forehead before taking him down from the counter. “Now, why don’t you go ask your father to help you get your bike?” Joseph grinned ad nodded before running out the door. Denise chuckled as she cleaned up. Knowing that by next week her middle child would be riding his bike without his hands on the bars again.

~And I'll still love you~
~Beyond what words can say~
~I'll take your every suffering moment~
~And bring a better day~
~I'll still love you~
~More then what I hope to be~
~Let me wrap my arms around you~
~Let me take your breath away~

“Daddy, watch me!” Joseph let go of the handlebars as he coasted along the street.
“Joseph, Be careful.” Kevin Sr. called making Denise smile before through the window before going to check on the cookies in the oven. “I told you not to let go of the handlebars.” Kevin Sr. reprimanded walking into the kitchen with a sniffling Joseph in his arms. He set him on a stool at the island then went to get the first aid kit.
“I know.” Joseph said quietly as his father cleaned his scraped knee before putting a band-aid over it.
“Would a chocolate chip cookie make your knee feel better?” Denise asked putting two, fresh out of the oven, cookies on a plate in front of him. He grinned and picked up the first cookie.
“I’m going to get your bike.” Kevin Sr. mussed Joseph’s hair before leaving.
“Mommy, I think I figured something out.” Joseph said swallowing the last of his first cookie.
“What did you figure out?” Denise asked leaning on the counter across from him.
“You and daddy are pretty smart.”
“We are? How did you figure that out?”
“Well, you both told me, if I let go of the handlebars that I would crash. And both times I let go, I crashed.” Denise laughed. “So I figure, you guys are pretty smart and maybe, I should listen to you.”
“Just maybe?”
“Just maybe.” He nodded.
“At least we have the benefit of the doubt.” Denise grinned and hugged him.
“The cookies are done?” Kevin Jr. asked running into the kitchen. “Nick! Cookies are done!” Kevin Jr. yelled jumping onto a stool as Denise got two plates of cookies ready. She could hear Nicholas pounding down the stairs before seeing him slide into the kitchen.

~And every time I ask~
~You assure your doing fine~
~But your heart looks good by smiling~
~You couldn't fool mine~
~By the end of the night your pillow sits to dry~
~In a crowded room your singing~
~But on the inside you sigh~

“Joseph?” Denise asked sitting on the couch next to her son in the green room. “Are you alright”
“Yeah,” He flashed a small smile. “Just tired.” She rubbed his back.
“One more week and then vacation.” She said softly. “Yay.”
“Yeah.” He smiled again moving to lean his head on her shoulder. “Mommy,” He started. “I really miss home.”
“I know, honey.” She ran the tips of her fingers through his hair.
“Joseph, time to go on.” Kevin Sr. said poking his head through the door. Joe stood and sighed. Denise stood too.
“Relax a little, honey, you deserve it.” She hugged him quickly before he had to go to the show. Denise found her husband backstage and wrapped her arm around him. “They really need this vacation don’t they?” He asked.
“Definitely.”

~And I'll still love you~
~Beyond what words can say~
~I'll take your every suffering moment~
~And bring a better day~
~I'll still love you~
~More then what I hope to be~
~Let me wrap my arms around you~
~Let me take your breath away~

Denise and Kevin Sr. clapped along with the crowd as their boys ran off stage breathing heavily.
“Good show, boys.” Kevin said clapping Nick on the back. “Who thinks this calls for a movie night?”
“I do!” Frankie, their youngest, raised his hand excitedly.
“Works for me.” Joe shrugged.
“Why not?” Nick agreed. “As long as we get showers first.”
“Of course!” Denise cried. “I wasn’t going to let your sweaty bodies on our couch.” She grinned.
“Group hug!” Kevin Jr. called before all four boys wrapped themselves around their laughing mother.
“I guess I need a shower too now.”
“Alright, alright, lets get back to the hotel and get showers. I think it’s your mothers turn to pick.”
“Yes!” Denise threw her hands in the air as all of her sons groaned.

An hour later they boys were showered and in their pajamas at their parents door. Frankie opened the door and they raced to the couch where their parents were already sitting. Frankie sat on one side by Kevin Sr. while Joe sat by Denise. Kevin Jr. leaned against the couch by Frankie’s feet and Nick laid on the floor in front of everyone.
“So which chick flick are we watching today?” Kevin Jr. acted annoyed.
“Loves Abiding Joy.” Denise answered letting the commercials run.
“There’s more?” Joe asked. "We've already watched, like, ten of these."
“Yup, and it’s only the fourth out of six.” The boys let out a collective groan. “Shh!” The credits started to roll.

“I think we’re stuck.” Denise whispered as the screen went black. Kevin Sr. looked around at the sleeping boys sprawled on the floor, Frankie taking up most of the couch and Joe leaning on Denise’s shoulder and snoring in her ear.
“You mean you’re stuck.” Kevin grinned standing up and going to the closet. He pulled blankets and pillows out. He dropped a pillow by each of the boys heads and laid a blanket over them. “Do you want me to get you out?” He asked putting a blanket over Joe.
“No, I’m fine you go to bed.” She smiled and he leaned down to kiss her.
“Eww.” Joe whined not moving his head. His parents grinned and Denise slid out from under him.
“Shh, go back to sleep.” She said tucking the blanket around him and kissing his forehead before she and Kevin went into the bedroom.

~In a ball room there is dancing~
~In a forest there are trees~

“Joe, come sit with me.” Denise said two weeks later on the porch of their rented beach house. She patted the bench next to her. He sat down.
“Watcha doin?” He asked.
“Looking at scrapbooks.”
“Oh, I remember that.” He laughed looking at a picture of himself at 4-years-old in tap shoes and a tux.

“OK, we’re going to go backstage in just a second. What don’t we do backstage?” His teacher, Miss Jessica, asked. Joe raised his hand and waved it around. “Joe?”
“We don’t do this.” He said stomping his feet.
“That’s right.” She said. “What else don’t we do?” Darcy raised her hand. “Darcy.”
“We don’t talk.”
“Good, ready?” The whole class nodded and Miss Jessica led them down a hallway to the stage.

“I stepped on my partners toe and she cried through half of the dance.” Joe laughed. Denise joined him as she turned the page. “You got a picture of this?!” He grinned at the forest scene where he was peering around a tree and Kevin Jr. and Nick were standing in the background with paintball guns. “We ran around the forest for hours.”

“Guys . . . Come out! Mom says we have to go in.” Kevin called into the trees, gun ready to fire.
“Aw, do we have to?” Nick asked stepping out of his hiding place.
“Nope!” Kevin blasted a few paint balls his way laughing evilly.
“Cheater!” Nick yelled ducking for cover. “I give, I give!” He held his hands up in surrender.
“I am the greatest!” Kevin announced strutting around like a peacock. That’s when Joe attacked from behind his tree. His brothers didn’t have time to lift their guns before they were covered in paint.
“Who is the greatest?” Joe asked smugly emerging from his vantage point.
“You are.” Kevin said, defeated.
“That’s right, now lets go in. Mom told me she was going to make a pie cookie.”
“Yes!” Kevin punched the air and took off out of the trees.

~In a child there's a hope~
~That keeps him in belief~

Denise turned a few more pages.
“Do you remember this?” She asked pointing to a picture of the three boys in a hospital room around a little girl.
“Yeah, Chloe right?”
“Mm hmm.”
“What happened to her?” Joe asked quietly.
“The chemo worked. She’s out living a normal life now.”
“Do you remember what she told us?”
“What?”
“She said that she trusted God to do whatever he wanted to do and if she died it was OK because then she would be home and if she lived she knew God was going to help her help others.” Joe paused. “I remember wishing that I could be that trusting.”
“It takes courage. You will get there someday, I can tell you that you have grown in your faith since we started.”
“Yeah.” He turned the page for her.

~With any star there is a sky~
~With any beach there's a sea~
~With any love song there's a lover~
~And in your heart I hope its...~

“Fourth of July.” He smiled.
“Mm hmm, this was the day you really met Alexandria, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Joe stared at the fireworks in the picture. “She was on tour all June and I didn’t know who she was.” He chuckled to himself. “I accused her of being a nosy reporter and threatened to have her thrown out. I can’t believe how she could ever date me after that. Taylor was livid with me after I talked to her. She thought I was flirting.”

“Excuse you.” The brown haired girl muttered after Joe ran into her.
“Who are you?” He asked. She held up her camera.
“Photographer, duh.” She said.
“Reporters aren’t allowed back here, this is a family and crew. I‘m sorry but you‘ll have to go stick your nose into someone else’s business.”
“Excuse me?” She asked putting a hand on her hip.
“I can have you thrown out if you aren’t going to leave.” Joe said looking over his shoulder for security.
“Alex! There you are, I wanted to get some shots of the decorations.” Nathan, the brothers chief photographer said running up.
“Nate, She’s with you?” Joe asked, dumbfounded.
“Yeah, Joe. She’s been photographing since the beginning of June. Now we gotta go.” He lead Alex away but not before she turned back to stick her tongue out at Joe.

Denise laughed. “And 2 weeks later you two were going off to find somewhere to talk alone on the beach.” She pointed to the next picture of Joe and Alex walking away from the camera, Joe was leaning down to whisper something in Alex’s ear.
“And a month after that I had broken up with Taylor and after another month I was telling Alex I loved her.” Denise nodded.
“I remember that.” Joe looked at her questioningly.
“I told her in my room with the door closed, how do you remember that?” Denise blushed slightly.
“I might have listened and teared up outside the door when you sang her Lovebug.”
“Mom!” Joe whined.
“I couldn’t help it, my little boy had grown up so much.” She squeezed his arm.

~And I'll still love you~
~Beyond what words can say~
~I'll take your every suffering moment~
~And bring a better day~
~I'll still love you~
~More then what I hope to be~

“You’ve been turning into a young man right in front of my eyes.” She said after flipping a few more pages and sharing a few more stories.
“Thanks mom.” Denise hugged her son.
“I don‘t think I tell you and your brothers how proud I am of all of you.”
“You tell us almost every day, mom.”
“I’m just so proud. It never seems like enough.” She wiped a tear away.
“Thanks mom, I love you.” Joe put his arm around her.

~Let me wrap my arms around you~
~Let me wrap my arms around you~
~Let me wrap my arms around you~
~Let me take your breath away~

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you told me not to let go.” Denise smiled placing band-aids on the worst cuts.
“I think you learned your lesson, but thank you for apologizing.” She wrapped her arms around him kissing his forehead before taking him down from the counter.

“Well, you both told me, if I let go of the handlebars that I would crash. And both times I let go, I crashed.” Denise laughed. “So I figure, you guys are pretty smart and maybe, I should listen to you.”
“Just maybe?”
“Just maybe.” He nodded.
“At least we have the benefit of the doubt.” Denise grinned and hugged him.

“I’m just so proud. It never seems like enough.” She wiped a tear away.
“Thanks mom, I love you.” Joe put his arm around her.

The wedding march began to play and everyone stood. Joe looked down the aisle and wondered how all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room just by having his fiancé enter.

“Do you, Alexandria Marie Teller, take Joseph Adam Jonas to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.”
“Do you, Joseph Adam Jonas, take Alexandria Marie Teller to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“Then by the power vested in me by the state of New Jersey and by the Wyckoff Assembly of God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Joe wrapped his arms around his new wife and kissed her.

“I love you.” Joe said looking over at his wife, sitting next to him at the wedding reception.
“I love you too.” Ales replied.
“Do you want to know what I thought as you were walking down the aisle?”
“Hmm?”
“I was thinking, how breath-taking you looked. And you still look just as beautiful now.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.” She smiled and kissed him.

Castles N' Coasters

So I wrote this for my friend cause when we were freshmen in high school I promised her that I would write her a story. I finished it the end of December/ beginning of January junior year. :-) Yeah, and the only reason I got it done was cause she was going to move back to Africa. (She didn't end up moving though, YAY) It was supposed to include four of her favorite things: Jonas Brothers, Roller coasters, High School Musical, and monkeys. It only has the first two though and now that I think of it, High School Musical had somewhere I could put it but oh well. I was going to have a petting zoo to put the monkeys in but I was running out of time till when she was supposed to move so I had to wrap it up.
Enjoy! :-D



“Emelia!” Anna shouted across the high school room. “You’re here early!” Emelia laughed as she went around the circle giving hugs.
“That’s because I have the most awesomest news ever!”
“Awesomest?” Chea asked looking up from his phone for the first time since Emilia had come in.
“Yes, awesomest. You got a problem with that?” Emelia asked putting her hand on her hip.
“Yeah I got a problem with that.” He answered imitating her stance.
“Well you aren’t cool enough to count so…” She snapped in front of his face and the whole circle laughed.
“So what’s the awesome news?” Gem asked impatiently.
“Y’all know that Castles ‘n Coasters has been remodeling, right?” Everyone nodded. “Well, my uncle just so happens to work on the committee that decides what to do.”
“And?” Elizabeth questioned.
“And, he got us in to the V.I.P., invitation only, first time open after remodeling party!”
“So?” Kimberly looked at her like she was crazy.
“So, there will be free performances, and free food and free roller coasters.”
“Free food? I’m there.” Chea said earning a smack from Ashlyn.
“Free food and roller coasters? I’m there.” Gem agreed.
“You will never guess who they got to perform!” Emelia was practically jumping out of her skin.
“Who?!”
“Jonas Brothers!” She and Amber went crazy screaming and jumping.
“Ahh!” Steve joined them until they noticed and stopped. ”What are we screaming about?” He asked as they stared at him.
“Emelia just got us into the most amazing party ever!” Amber exclaimed.
“Oh cool, what party?”
“The remodeled Castles ‘n Coasters party. And for the rest of y’alls information they aren’t going to be the only performers there. Linkin Park is gonna be there,” Emelia turned to Anna “And David Archuleta.”
“Really?! I am there ma homie.”
“Anna, you aren’t black.” Ashlyn said fake sympathetically.
“What you talkin’ bout foo? I’m the blackest homie here!”
“Ok… back on track. Who’s coming?” Hands went up around the circle.
“Wait, when is it?” Kimberly asked.
“This Friday night. 4-12. Then I figured you could all sleep over at my house and go home in the morning. Well except for you, Chea, and Jacen cause they’re guys. Y’all can come right?”
“Yeah!” Amber exclaimed. “I’ll ditch anything for this party.”
“You can come too, right Anna?” Everyone turned.
“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask my mom.”
We’ll all go ask her afterward so she can’t say no.” Amber announced. “You can’t miss this party!” Anna looked nervous but agreed. They all whispered through the sermon and as soon as they were released they went to find Mrs. Ridgeway.

“Hello, girls.” Mrs. Ridgway said as she walked up.
“Hello.” They all chorused.
“Do you think Anna could come to Castles ‘n Coasters on Friday and then sleep over at my house?” The woman thought for a while.
“I don’t see why not. As long as her homework is done.” Anna grimaced.
“Yay! Thank you so much!”
“Well, we had better be going.”
“Alright, bye Anna, see you Friday!” Everyone gave her a hug and she left.
“I can’t wait till Friday now.” Amber said jumping up and down.
“I know!” Elizabeth said grabbing her hands and jumping with her.
“I know!” Emelia repeated joining them.
“What are they jumping for?” Jacen asked Kimberly as he walked up to the group.
“We’re going to the grand opening of the newly remodeled Castles ‘n Coasters.” Kimberly answered.
“You’re invited too, Jacen.” Emelia said as the three stopped jumping.
“Ok, and when is this party?” He asked.
“Friday 4-12 pm.” Jacen thought a little bit.
“I guess I can make it.” He said slowly.
“Yay!” They talked for a while longer before going to find their parents. Throughout the week the teens called, texted, emailed, and myspaced each other talking about Friday.

When the day finally came they met at Emelia’s house.
“Oh My Gosh I’m so excited!” Anna was almost bouncing as they waited in Emelia’s living room for the ride her uncle was supposed to send.
“Geez Anna, calm down.” Chea said patting her shoulder.
“Why? It’s so exciting! Free concerts, free food, free, like, everything!” Elizabeth melodramatically exclaimed.
“Emelia, your uncle is here.” Emelia’s mom called and everyone made their way outside. The girls looked at the car waiting for them in shock.
“It’s . . . a . . . limo.” Ashlyn said in astonishment just before the other girls broke out in screams. The two boys covered their ears.
“I love you!” Emelia screeched hugging her uncle.
“Alright, alright. You all should get in or we are going to be late.” He said opening the door of the limo. Everyone piled in and immediately started talking about the limo or the party. I could write down all of their conversations but that would be seven or more pages of the ten conversations that went on in the 12 minute drive. So instead I will just say that when the teens stepped out of the limo onto the red carpet Castles n’ Coasters had rolled out (Which they later discussed and thought it was way over the top.) they were all much more excited than they had been when they got into the limo and Emelia’s uncle, Jacen and, Chea were much more confused. The teens walked in twos down the carpet, the couples, Kimberly and Jacen and Ashlyn and Chea, walked together then Anna and Elizabeth and Amber and Emelia. They walked into the arcade and their jaws dropped. The interior had been completely changed. There were multi-colored strobe lights going and the carpeting and layout were almost entirely different excepting the circular dip in the center of the room which was still there but was now a lounge.
“Emelia!” Her uncle called and then lead the group out the door to the park. “You all can do anything you want as long as you meet me here at 11:45, ok?” The teens nodded their heads. “Ok, have fun.” They immediately took off into the small crowd.
“What should we do first?” Ashlyn asked.
“Tag the walls.” Her boyfriend, Chea, said earning himself a slap while everyone else laughed.
“How about the Patriot?” Gem suggested and the group moved towards the back of the park.
“Are we the only kids here?” Anna asked as they walked straight to the front of the non-existent line.
“No.” A heavily accented voice said. “I am Lee.” They all turned to see an Asian boy who looked around their age.
“I’m, Anna. Where are you from?” Anna asked slowly earning a slap from Amber.
“Minnesota.” He answered losing all trace of the accent. Everyone but Anna laughed. “Sorry kid. I never miss a chance to pull that one.”
“Who are you calling ‘kid’?” She crossed her arms and shifted backwards no longer embarrassed. Emelia and Ashlyn ‘ooh’ed and waited for Lee’s answer.
“Well I kind of assumed since . . .” He motioned to show her height.
“Hey, we’re all vertically challenged.” Amber defended.
“It’s fun-sized.” Kimberly corrected. “We’re fun-sized.” The three boys laughed.
“On that note, I’m Emelia.” She said extending her hand and starting a chain reaction.
“Jacen.”
“Kimberly.”
“Amber.”
“Gem.”
“Ashlyn.”
“Chea.”
“Elizabeth.” Lee shook each of their hands.
“And you’re Anna, right?” He extended his hand to her. She glared at it for a while before shaking it.
“Yeah.” Now she glared at him.
“Cool,” He said uncomfortably. “I probably wont remember many of your names but I’ll try.” They laughed as he kept glancing back at Anna who was still glaring. “So how did you guys get into the party?”
“My uncle worked on the renovation committee.” Emelia explained.
“How did you get in?” Anna asked accusingly, as if he snuck in.
“My parents were the head contacts for the new ice rink.”
“That’s awesome! Maybe we’ll go there next. Do you want to hang out with us?” Emelia offered.
“Sure.”
“Cool.” They all climbed onto the roller coaster.
“Ya’ll good?” The coaster operator asked.
“Wait!” Everyone turned and saw the Jonas Brothers running toward the ride. “Mind if we join you?” Everyone nodded and they scrambled to get in. Joe and Kevin to a seat and Nick in the empty seat next to Amber. When the ride was over they were all laughing at Joe, Lee and Emelia who started almost everyone screaming even though the Patriot was the most baby of a coaster in the whole park.
“I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Kevin.”
“Joe!”
“I’m Nick.”
“We know!” Emelia and Amber exclaimed. “We love you guys!” The brothers laughed.
“Thanks.” Nick said. Everyone else introduced themselves then Joe stumbled backwards.
“Too . . . Many . . . Names . . . Too . . . Much . . . Brain power.” His brothers rolled their eyes as some of the girls laughed.
“That’s what I thought, maybe we should just split up the names and each of us remember a few.” Lee suggested bringing everyone to laughter.
“So what are we doing next?”
“Let’s go on the swing ride.” Gem suggested.
“I thought we were going ice skating.” Jacen stated and Gem pouted.
“Why don’t we go on the ride on the way they moved it, it’s near the path to the new part of the park.”
“The swing ride it is.” Emelia said.
“Cool.” Nick said smiling at her.
“Let’s go!” She hooked arms with the nearest two people, which was Lee and Nick, and started skipping off toward the new section of the park. Anna, Amber and Elizabeth hooked arms with Joe and Kevin and followed. The rest followed, walking.
“Do you mind if I join you?” A boy looking a lot like David Archuleta walked up and asked. And from Anna’s reaction everyone assumed it was him.
“Yeah of course!” Anna agreed quickly.
“Shouldn’t we ask his name first Anna?” Ashlyn asked.
“Oh, yeah.” She blushed.
“I’m David.” He said.
“I’m Anna.”
“She’s a big fan.” Emelia said nudging her and earning a glare. “I’m Emelia.” Again everyone said their own names and again the new-comer commented on how many of them there were. They went on the ride and then started the walk to the ice rink.
“Looks like we’re the,” Amber counted heads. “10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th wheels.” She said to Elizabeth, Gem, Kevin and Joe. They looked around and saw Kimberly and Jacen walking together, Ashlyn and Chea together. Anna and David were becoming fast friends and Emelia, Lee, and Nick were hanging pretty close together.
“Emelia seems really popular.” Elizabeth said making Amber and even Gem giggle.
“Hopefully neither of those two will be horribly devastated if she chooses the other.” Kevin said.
“I don’t know, with Emelia making the choice she might chose neither.” Amber said and they walked in silence a while watching the couples.
“Tag! You’re it!.” Gem said shoving Joe and taking off running. The other four ran away before he even understood what happened. He grinned and ran up to the trio.
“You’re it!” He screamed pushing Nick into the others. Emelia laughed as Joe ran off.
“Don’t you laugh.” Nick grinned tapping her shoulder. “You’re it.” He ran.
“Oh, no he didn’t.” She said laughing as Lee ran too. By this time everyone in the group had heard about the game and they were all running. When they got to the ice rink they paused the game to get the skates on and then continued on the ice. By the time they had all spent an hour on the ice they were all ‘tag’ed out and decided to move on. After removing their skates they walked outside.
“What else did they put in?” Gem asked nodding to the large building next to the rink.
“Um, I’m not sure, maybe it’s the movie theater. I’m not sure if they actually put one in but they were talking about it for a while.” Emelia guessed. The group walked into the building and found a theater like Emelia had suggested.
“Oh, My, Gosh!” Anna exclaimed. “Twilight!”
“Yes!” The girls raced into the theater. The boys followed them in.
“You do realize there’s like a half an hour before it starts right?” Chea asked.
“So? We can hang out until it starts.” Ashlyn said.
“I’m gonna go get something to eat.” Gem said.
“I’ll go with you.” Amber said.
“Oh, me too!” The three started walking out. “You guys do have money for me right?” Everyone laughed. When they got back, each with two buckets of popcorn they each dumped one on the row.
“What was that for?!” Kimberly asked picking popcorn out of her hair.
“The snacks are free!” Gem half screamed.
“Free food!” Joe yelled racing out of his seat. Some others went to get food while the rest talked.
“Looks like we’re not alone.” Amber said quietly when a group of teens walked in and flirted the whole way up the stairs to sit in the back row.
“OMG. This party is like the greatest thing since sliced bread.” One girl said.
“LOL. I know free Twilight, what’s better?” Another girl said without laughing out loud. The girls rolled their eyes as they went to their seats.
“OMG. Can you believe we got into this movie? It is so packed!” Elizabeth said loudly making their group snicker as the other row glared.
“LOL. I know, Edward Cullen is SO hawt! He‘s the greatest thing since canned ham.” Emelia said in her best valley-girl voice.
“OMG. Don’t give me that popcorn! You know it has like 10 million calories in it, right?” Anna said grinning when David tried handing her the bucket of popcorn. She passed it on down the line but not before subtly taking a handful.
“LOL. Popcorn will give you zits and you’ll be as ugly and fat as Barbie.” Amber joined.
“Omg. What beyotches.” One of the girls said as the whole group stood to leave.
“Omg. I’m so not a blond bimbo of a valley-girl.” Emelia imitated as she smacked her gum and pretended to twirl her hair, looking straight at the girl. As soon as they were gone everyone burst out laughing.
“That was awesome!” Joe exclaimed.
“Shh!” All of the girls said. “The movie’s starting.” The boys all laughed again until they were shushed again.
“I am so confused.” Jacen said as they all walked out.
“You haven’t read the book, you would be confused.” Kimberly explained. He just shook his head.
“What should we do next?” Nick asked.
“You guys have to perform at some point, don’t you?” Anna asked, mostly to David but Nick answered.
“Yeah but not until 10:30.” Amber looked at her watch.
“So we’ve got about 2 hours.” She said.
“Who wants to go on the carousel?” Emelia asked almost bouncing. Most of the girls agreed while most of the guys groaned but went when they were pulled. They spent the next hour riding rides and making fun of the other group of teens whenever they saw them.

“I’m hungry.” Chea stated after they had gotten off Desert Storm for the fifth time.
“Me too.” Joe and Lee said.
“Me three, lets get some food.” Emelia said taking her spot between Nick and Lee again and pulling them to the new food court. Everyone got something, mostly hamburgers and French fries, and pushed some tables together. Couples sat across from each other and the five extra wheels took the end of the combined tables. After a while of eating and joking Emelia and Nick disappeared from the table and the extra wheels stopped their fry throwing contest to watch them across the food court.
“I’m sorry, Nick but I’m just too madly in love with you to want anything to do with Lee. I don’t think we can be friends with him.” Joe said melodramatically in a high voice earning a barrage of French fries.
“No it’s more like ‘Oh Nick-’”
“Shh! They’re coming back.” The five turned back to each other way too fast to look normal.
“If ya’ll are done gossiping . . .” Emelia said grinning. The three girls stuck their tongues out at her.
“Oh boys!” A woman gasped running up. “There you are!” You have fifteen minutes before you have to be back onstage.”
“Sorry, Mrs. DeAnder. We lost track of time.” Kevin said as the four performers stood.
“Oh, it’s quite alright, just, come quickly.” They waved back at the table as they followed the woman away.
“So . . . What now?” Amber asked. “We have fifteen minutes.”
“Why don’t we go and get front row spots?” Kimberly suggested. They agreed and after cleaning up their tables they started walking to the stage. The girls all gravitated toward Emelia and pulled her away from Lee.
“So . . .” Anna said.
“So, what?” Emelia asked innocently. Amber slapped her arm.
“You know what! What happened with Nick?”
“Oh!” She acted as if it had just dawned on her. “Well he pulled me away and asked me if I wanted to exchange numbers and stuff. I said ‘sure’ and then said that I wasn’t into him as a boyfriend type way but I still wanted to be his friend. And he was cool with it.”
“Aww!” The girls squealed.
“So you like Lee?” Elizabeth asked.
“Maybe.” They ‘aww’ed louder. “And what about you little miss Archuleta?” Anna blushed. “I saw you two split off for a while there.”
“He asked for my number.” She said shyly. Another ‘aww’ went up.
“Ladies and gentlemen! We have a special performance by some of the hottest artists of the moment coming up in five minutes in the stage area.” The speakers blared and the girls merged back with the guys to talk. “And now, the moment you have been waiting for! To start our show, David Archuleta!” The now huge crowd screamed. Which was somewhat unsettling as most of the crowd was made up of 20-30 year-olds.
“Hi, I’m David Archulta.” More screams. I hope you all had a fun time tonight. I’m sure I did.” Even more screams. “I would like to dedicate this first song to a special girl I met tonight.” David said as the intro to Crush started. Al the girls turned and grinned at a blushing Anna. He did a few more songs after Crush all the while looking at Anna. “So that’s it for me tonight, I hope you had fun listening cause I had a lot of fun playing.” The crowd sighed. “But, now the Jonas Brothers are going to come entertain you!” The brothers walked onstage to even more screams which weren’t quite as creepy because Kevin was older but still not cool. They each gave David a man-hug and he left.
“Hello!” Joe yelled into his microphone. The screams got louder. “Guess what!” Half of the audience screamed ‘what?’ and the other half just screamed. “None of us found our true love tonight,” Joe grinned at Anna as the crowd ‘aww’ed. “But we would like to dedicate this song to our new group of friends.” They started playing That’s Just the Way We Roll. During Burnin’ Up Joe reached his hands out over the audience and Anna, Emelia, Elizabeth and Amber reached for him and screamed sarcastically. When he touched Amber he let a paper drop into her hand. She got the attention of everyone else and opened the note.
‘If you aren’t that into Linkin’ Park, meet us at the mini-golf after our set. P.S. David’s coming too, Anna.’ Everyone laughed as Anna blushed then started to figure out who wanted to go and who would stay. It took a while but they finally turned back to the concert after deciding that Ashlyn, Chea, Kimberly, and Jacen would stay while everyone else went. After the brothers were finished they introduced Linkin’ Park and left the stage. Lee, Emelia, Elizabeth, Anna, Gem and Amber wove their way out of the crowd and toward the mini-golf.

“You came!” Joe said almost sounding surprised.
“Most of us.” Amber corrected. They talked and joked until the concert was over and the other four joined them.
“Aw, we only have fifteen minutes till we have to meet my uncle.” Emelia pouted.
“Well we should get started exchanging numbers if we’re going to be finished by then.” Lee joked. But everyone agreed and they started a cycle so everyone who wanted got everyone’s numbers and emails and myspaces.
“Looks like time‘s up.” Gem said looking at Emelia’s uncle walking toward the meeting spot. Everyone hugged each other and promised to call or message and the boys walked them to Emelia’s uncle for one last good bye.

“Did you all have fun?” Emelia’s uncle asked as they climbed into the limo.
“Definitely!” “Yes.” “Yeah!” And more agreements went up as the limo pulled out of the parking lot. They all started reminiscing and by the time they got back to Emelia’s house the girls were ready for bed.