Collide: A Jonas Brothers Love Story

Chapter 7

{My grandmother used to have a saying: "You only get one first impression, so don't screw it up." Well, she used a different word than "screw," but I cleaned it up for all of you. I used to always take my grandmother's words as absolute truth. It's not like you can redo the first impression someone has of you. Trust me, there are a lot of first impressions I would love to do over again. So what if both people were willing to give that first impression a second chance?

I know what you're all thinking. Isn't she supposed to be writing for a celebrity magazine? I have yet to write a single article that really focuses on a celebrity. I'm just as surprised as you that they continue to publish my column. But this topic is celebrity related. In my last column I passed some harsh judgments on a celebrity because of my first impression of him. Now he's asked me to reconsider. And despite my first impression I actually want to give him another chance.

Maybe it's because I'm distinctly hoping that the man his family describes is still there somewhere. Or maybe I want to prove to the world that I was right in the first place. Although if I'm going to be truly honest with myself it's because I know that if I were in his situation I would want another chance as well. Grandma could be wrong just this once. And if she isn't? Then I guess she can say, "I told you so."

Candidly Yours,

Beks}

BEKS' POV

"Come on," Reda whined as she pushed me through the park. "Didn't you say you wanted to give him another chance in your article?"

"Please stop quoting my own words back at me," I groaned as she steered me towards where Joe and Kevin stood. "Is this supposed to be some kind of double date?"

"No. Kevin and I are going on a date. We just wanted to make sure that you actually showed up to meet with Joe."

"That hurts. It's like you have no faith in me."

"No. I'm your best friend, and I know all of the crap you pull. Now smile and wave at the nice boy."

"The only nice boy I see is Kevin." I felt Reda smack the side of my head. [AN: I have several friends that will hit me when I start acting snotty.] "Ow."

"Kevin's mine. Now stow the attitude." I pasted a fake smile on my face as we walked up to Joe and Kevin. Joe's usual swagger and attitude seemed to have disappeared today. Maybe Kevin and Nick were right. Maybe today Joe would be different. I smiled warmly when Joe's eyes met mine. I could feel my stomach flip a little as his eyes twinkled. I was starting to understand why so many girls fell for him. "Okay, we're off! Play nice," Reda said pulling Kevin away with her. And there I stood alone with Joe. [AN: My friend Reda would totally do this to me. She loves pushing me out of my comfort zone.]

"So would you like to go feed the ducks?" Joe asked softly.

"Feed the ducks?" I asked. "Seriously?"

"Or we could just do something else," Joe said with a blush. "It was just an idea." Suddenly I felt awful. My attitude was always getting me into trouble.

"I'd love to feed the ducks. Let's go." I walked quickly past Joe to the duck pond collapsing onto the ground next to the pond. Joe soon joined me holding a bag of bread he had bought off a vendor. I helped him to throw the bread out into the pond. We sat there in silence for several minutes. "I can't even remember the last time I fed ducks at a pond. It reminds me of home."

"Oh yeah?" Joe asked with a sly grin. "We used to have a pond near the house where we grew up. When I needed to get some quiet I would come out and feed the ducks." I glanced over at Joe as he watched the ducks dive for their pieces of bread. He smiled to himself as a family of ducks swam by. He wasn't such a bad guy when he was like this. Was this the young man his brothers talked about so fondly?

"I'm sorry," I said to both of our surprises. "I shouldn't have said what I did about you in that article. It was mean and uncalled for."

"You don't have to apologize. I behaved like a jackass towards you. It's not the first time my attitude has gotten me into trouble."

"Tell me about it," I joked. "Do you think maybe we could start over? As friends?"

"Sure," Joe said putting out his hand for me to shake. "Friends." I shook his hand doing my best to ignore the tingles that ran up my arm. I had just moved to LA. Right now friends was all that I could handle.

[AN: I really don't love this chapter. It's kind of just filler to move the story along.]