Chapter 2- Joe's view
I had been sitting in study hall. I was watching HIM again. I’m not sure why he interested me, but something about him caught my eye every time he passed me. Suddenly, the bell for study hall rang and I gathered my books and left. I could see him, Noah, walking with a girl I had come to find out was his friend Cael. Normally I was late to band, stopping to chat with whoever seemed interesting that day, I knew it, everyone knew it, I was Joseph Jonas, the guy to be. I’m not sure why, but today I decided would be the day I would finally work up the nerve to talk to him. Something about him made me feel insecure, like I was back in the first grade and the teacher was showing us something new and complicated. No one had ever made me feel small before besides my brothers, but somehow this boy I had never talked to before made my palms sweat and my heart beat just a touch faster.
I made my way into the band room to see Noah playing the drums like it was the way to keep his heart from breaking, to keep him from yelling out something he would regret later on. I’m not sure what made me pick up a guitar, but something compelled me to go over and add to Noah’s wonderful beat, the kind that made your soul seem like it could jump from your body and fly away. I could tell Noah didn’t know it was me playing or he probably would have stopped.
Noah stopped and looked up. When he saw me, his face turned pale. I started to smile, but tried to hide it, resulting in a rather odd smirk. He didn’t seem to know how to talk to me, and I really didn’t have much to say either. Was there anything you really could say in this situation? Luckily the bell rang, breaking the awkward silence. The teacher asked Noah something and he seemed to be faking a smile, and then he glared at Cael, causing her to laugh, it made me wish so badly to be her right then. I sighed, knowing this class would be so long, being so far away from the only person to ever catch my eye.
“Class, today I would like you to work in groups of two to write some lyrics down.” Mrs. Flood called out. I sighed, knowing Cael would pair up with Noah, and I would have to pick someone else, it wouldn’t be a problem, everyone in the room was willing to be my partner. I looked back at Cael, only to see her staring right at me, she gave a smile before turning away and going to the other side of the room and saying something to one of the guys I eat lunch with. All of a sudden, the two sat down and I realized, she had just let me have Noah.
I could see Noah’s face go even paler as I walked over and sat down. “So, will you be my partner?” I asked Noah, false confidence radiating from my voice. He didn’t speak a word, only a nod. “I guess I’ll start” I said. There were no specifics on the lyrics, so I didn’t have any idea where to start. I looked deep into Noah’s eyes, and suddenly a spark of inspiration came at me, so I opened my mouth and sang.
Don’t try to fix me
I’m already broken
I stopped. Waiting for Noah to sing something else. When he didn’t, I looked up at him only to find him staring at me. “How did you think of that” He asked me. I panicked, what was I supposed to say? I got it from looking into his eyes? It was just too weird. So, rather than replying, I stare back, hoping he could hear my heart screaming out the truth. Instead, the bell rang, ending our silence. “Well,, guess I’ll take a rain check on our song,” I said “Because now that we’ve started this, we aren’t stopping until we finish.”
