Winning Skylinn

45

A/N: I know, I know. Jonny's outfit looks like Augustus Waters. But it wasn't supposed to when I made it. It just...does.
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I walked inside and saw a bunch of familiar faces, all smiling and looking at me. "Is this...for me?" I asked Jake, a little breathless from the shock.

"Of course it is! It's your birthday." She nudged my shoulder and I pulled her into a hug.

Just then, I saw Jonny approaching from out of the shadows. Jake released me so I could say hi.

"Hey, Leonard. You cleaned up nice," he said.

"You're not so bad yourself."

He was wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans, and his hair was parted to the side a little.

We hugged briefly. "Did you do all this?" I asked.

"Most of it. Jake helped."

"But it was his idea to create your dream sweet sixteen," Jake chimed in.

"My dream sweet sixteen?"

"From when we were kids," Jonny explained. "Look around."

I did, and saw an ice sculpture. As I walked closer, I could tell that it was of me. My hands flew to my mouth.

"And look over there," Jake said, pointing to the food table. There was a chocolate fountain, surrounded by all sorts of fruit to dip in it.

There was also a small dance floor with a pink balloon arch stretching across one side. The DJ played music from my old favorite movie, Camp Rock.

"I know it's not the Jonas Brothers, but...they're kind of broken up now, so this is the best I could do," Jonny said.

"Don't even apologize. This is the sweetest thing ever!" I gave him another hug, still in a state of shock.

It was everything I'd ever wanted as a kid when I pictured my sweet sixteen. But instead of having a big party that day, I'd spent it with Denver. That's when he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. It seemed a little weird that he wasn't here to enjoy this party with me, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. And I wanted to stay positive, so I pushed all thoughts of Denver out of my mind.

"I better say hi to all my guests," I said, excusing myself from Jake and Jonny. I went over to Amelia, my friend from high school. I hadn't seen her since New Years.

"Thanks for coming," I said, hugging her.

"No problem! When Jonny told me he was doing this, I just knew I had to be a part of it. I'm really glad I could come!"

The other guests were all friends from high school, or neighbors who lived in my subdivision.

I heard something like feedback coming from the stage, and then Jonny's voice welcoming everyone to the party. "Thank you all for coming. Now that our guest of honor is here, it's time for dinner."

Waiters appeared, wearing boots and jeans and carrying plates of steaming food. I suppose Jake had lied about this being a 'restaurant.' It was more like a venue.

I sat at a round table with Jake, Jonny, and some of our neighbors. Looking around, I noticed that Leo wasn't here. Good.

The food was delicious: fried chicken, waffle fries that were somehow better than Chick-Fil-A's, and green beans with bacon.

"What do you think?" Jonny asked as a waiter filled my glass with Dr Pepper.

"This is amazing. I can't believe you guys did all this!"

"Anything for our favorite girl," Jake said with a wink.

After dinner, Jake had an announcement to make. "Even though this isn't a wedding, we're gonna have a first dance. Skylinn, pick a dance partner, and get your butt out on the floor!"

A few people laughed, but I just blushed. I had to dance in front of all these people? I was such a klutz at dancing! Nevertheless, I had to pick someone. They were all expecting me to be up there.

I turned to Jonny. "Care to dance?"

"I'd be honored," he replied in a British accent.

I took his hand and we stepped into the middle of the dance floor. "Gotta Find You" came on, and I buried my face in Jonny's chest. "You did not," I said, blushing. This song-and Joe Jonas-was my obsession in 2008.

Without a word, Jonny brought his hands to the middle of my back and pulled me in close. I wrapped my arms around his neck and we danced like that, like we were eleven again and my only decision in life was who the cutest Jonas brother was. (Joe, obviously.)

The rest of the music was all from Camp Rock one and two, DNCE, Nick Jonas, and the Jonas Brothers. It was absolutely perfect in every way. Jake and I and the rest of the girls did an outrageous dance number to "Too Cool," and I was surprised I remembered all the moves. Oh, Tess Tyler. The original queen B.

I didn't want the night to end. When everybody started to leave, I pulled Jake aside. "Hey, wanna sleep over? We could have a Disney throwback movie night, and watch Camp Rock and High School Musical."

"Sounds good, but aren't you tired of the Camp Rock songs by now?"

"Um, never."

So after the party, she and I went home-guess we couldn't taken my car anyway-and got our pj's on. We were about the same size, so it worked.

"How was the party?" Mom asked.

"Wait, you knew?"

She smiled proudly. "I did."

"How long did you have this planned?" I asked Jake.

"Since...the beginning of April. I think Jonny called me the day after he woke up or something."

"Oh, okay." I turned to my mom. "We're gonna watch some movies in the living room, if that's okay."

"It's fine. Have fun," she said.

So I got the movies out of my room and brought them downstairs to watch. We let the previews play, partly so we could relive our childhood, but also so we could talk.

"Dd you have fun tonight?" Jake asked.

"Duh. It was so awesome! I can't believe you did that for me."

"You weren't expecting it at all?"

"No, never. I thought my sweet sixteen was long gone, but you guys brought it to life. And you did an amazing job. It was exactly how I pictured."

"Well good. I'm glad. You know, we haven't really had a sleepover in a long time."

"I know. I've missed this. I just...wasn't in the mood, with all that was going on."

"Yeah, I understand. And I don't blame you. Jonny's coma and a broken leg? That really sucked. But I'm glad it's all in the past now."

"Me too. I hope nothing like that ever happens again."

"Hey, don't jinx it!" she warned.

We laughed as the first High School Musical movie began. I couldn't believe it was already ten years old! I definitely wasn't a kid anymore.

But nights like these made me realize I didn't really mind.