Okay, this is half-true, half-fake. There was no argument between Robbie and Ashley (me), but those were my realy feelings when this happened. The date, time, party, place, and that were fudged a little to make sense. But the kissing thing did happen, the Jonas Brothers never happened, so, yeah.
This is a oneshot, no romance, no nothing. Just a random act of kindness bit.
.~:*:~.
The Jonas Clan was spending time with their cousins, his mother’s sister, Jacquelyn Tucker, and her family. She had two sons, one older one at sixteen named Phillip, and a younger one at four named Zach. The Tucker’s lived in a small town in Illinois, and on this particular Saturday, Nick’s blood sugar was low. He was pretty bummed out. In order to prevent the mood from spreading, Nick headed off for a walk. He stopped at a school’s park, and sat on one of the two swings. It was an old park, numerous things were scratched on the support poles, and there was a firetruck blocked off. Slightly moving the swing, he gripped the chains on each side, and began to think.
He was interrupted by footsteps on the woodchips. A girl with brown hair and eyes hidden by sunglasses was heading towards the swings. Her head was down, and a gig bag was across her back. Setting the guitar down against a support pole, she sat in the other swing. There were a few minutes of silence “So, what got you down, Nick?”
So, she was a fan. “My blood sugar is low. You don’t look so hot either, Miss. . .” He trailed off, not knowing her name.
“Ashley. I’m Ashley. And it’s a long story. . .”
“Well,” he turned to her and gave her a small smile. “We’ve got a while.”
“Well, it’s my “friend’s” birthday party that I’m supposed to be at, but, eh. . .”
“Not so fun?” Nick guessed.
“No, it’s not!” She cried. “Well, not for a girl like me, at least. . .” Her voice was so soft. “We were gonna play truth or dare, but minus the truth. So, it was basically dare. Then it turned into ‘kiss this person’!” She bit her lip, and Nick noticed the ring on her left ring finger. “I got dared to kiss someone, and I said no. That I didn’t do that stuff. They called me boring, so I came here. They also said that my choice was stupid, and that I’d end up breaking my promise to myself, and God.”
“You wear a purity ring?” Nick asked. “It’s really beautiful.”
He saw her smile, but her eyes remained hidden. “Thanks. I got it at Rahl Jewelers, he’s my Dad’s friend, so it’s nice. Then we went to my church and got it blessed, my parents got it for me for my fourteenth birthday.”
“You go to church too?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. I’m Catholic.” She answered.
“But, that’s not the point!” Nick said. “I hate it when people mock us when we have standards! What’s their problem?!” He was genuinely upset.
She took off her sunglasses, and revealed brown eyes that showed signs of crying. “I’m their problem.” She answered softly. “I’m the weirdest girl in my grade, because I don’t swear, because I wear purity ring, because I’m nice, because I do my work, because I’m too old fashioned. I don’t fit in anymore, everything about me isn’t right in this time.”
“I think you’re just too mature for them.” He said.
“They also don’t like me because I love music, because I like your band.” She looked ready to cry, “I’ve never kissed a guy, I want it to be with someone I care about.”
“That’s why you didn’t kiss him, isn’t it?” Nick asked.
“I was raised to respect myself, and, ohmigosh! What happened to the firetruck!” She ran over to the fenced off play toy, and stared at it. “When I went here, there was floorboards, and a steering wheel, and a bar up here!” She made a motion over the two doorways/drivers area. “And there was a separator back here!” She moved towards the near end. . . “I miss it here. . .”
Nick looked around. “You went here?”
Ashley smiled. “This is where I went, from second to eighth grade. It was so simple, I loved it. . .”
“Ashley!” Nick and her turned to see a boy with brown hair running towards them. “Come on back, we’re done playing!”
Ashley shook her head, “No, Robbie. I’m not, I need to be alone now.”
“If this is because we called you boring,” he said pointedly, “We were joking.”
Ashley looked at him long and hard for a few moments, “You’re lying.” She stated simply.
“Come on, Ash, don’t be stupid. You’ve known most of us since second grade, you know that we care about you!” Ashley walked off to the swings, to grab her guitar.
“No, Robbie! That’s the problem! I don’t know! You insult me a lot because of the way I am, because of what I love!” She turned on him, “It’s not fun anymore! I’m sick of being insulted because I’m different! So you know what? I’m going home!” Nick just watched, knowing he shouldn’t intrude yet.
“The party doesn’t end for another two hours.” Robbie said.
“I’ll walk home if I have to!” Ashley snapped, slinging her gigbag over her shoulder and leaving the park. Robbie just watched her.
“What’s your problem?” Nick asked levelly, sending a text message to Kevin to come pick him up. “There’s nothing wrong with having standards, just because you don’t have any, give you no right to trash someone who respects themselves. No right at all. If there were more people like her, perhaps our country’s teenagers wouldn’t be looked down upon. You make me sick.” Nick hissed.
He didn’t care that he had just met Ashley, that he didn’t know her last name, that she was a fan, but she was someone who treated him like a person. And Nick hated it when those who care were treated badly by those who were supposed to be close to them. Kevin’s car picked that moment to pull up. “Excuse you?” Robbie said, incredulous at what he had just heard.
Nick simply walked to the car, and opened the door. He got in, and shut the door. Mr. President rolled down the window, and gave Robbie a look. “You heard me, Robbie, you have no right to treat her like that.” Kevin drove off, “Keep going this way, I want to see if we can catch up with Ashley."
They found her a few streets over, and Nick called out to her. “Hey, Ashley, do you want a ride home? I heard Robbie talking and. . .” She paused.
“I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to impose. . .” Kevin shook his head.
“Hop in, Ash, I’ll take you home.” Ashley opened the door and got in, placing her guitar next to her. “So, where am I going?”
Ashley told him, and Kevin drove off. About fifteen minutes later, they had pulled up to her house. A woman the Jonas boys presumed her Mom was sitting on the doorstep, in some shorts and a tank top. Ashley got out, and so did the Jonas boys. “Nick, Kevin, this is my Mom, Cheryl. Mom, this is Nick and Kevin Jonas.”
“Nice to meet you.” The proper introductions were performed, and Cheryl looked at her daughter.
“What’s wrong?”
“I wasn’t having a good time, so I left, talked to Nick for a bit, and ended up being driven home after some problems, I’ll tell you later.”
“Okay, I’ll take that inside for you, how about that?” Ashley handed her Mom her guitar, and she went inside.
“Kevin, Nick, thanks.” She smiled. “I would’ve been messed up if you weren’t there. I owe you one.”
“Nah, we’re even. You treated us like people, instead of celebrities. Thanks.” Kevin answered.
“Give me your phone,” Nick said. Ashley handed it to him, and he began to do stuff.
“How long are you guys here?” Ashley asked.
“We’ve got another week, why?” Kevin answered.
“It’d be nice to see you guys again, if you’re not busy.” She stated.
“We’re not that busy.” Nick replied. “Our numbers are in your phone, if you call later, I’m sure we can work out something.” Ashley smiled, showing her top teeth. She only does that when she’s really glad, just a tidbit of info.
“Thank you so much.” She whispered. “Hugs?”
“Hugs!” They hugged each other, and went their separate ways.
.~:*:~.
The Jonas family, the Tucker family, and Ashley’s family met at Olive Garden for dinner one night. The band played a show at the local mall, Ashley and a few of her friends were sitting front row. When they smiled at her, she grinned back, and her friends squealed and jostled her.
There was a connection between them, one that ran deep. Even though they barely knew each other. It was rooted at having standards, something that can be hard to find this generation.
A one-of-a-kind band, and one of their fans.
