Nick Jonas

Goodbye

Joe takes on the responsibility of playing music when we get inside, stealing the speaker from my room again and connecting his phone. He proceeds to blast Keep it Real at full volume until we convince him it doesn't need to be that loud when we're just packing up my stuff. Also, we're trying to speak to one another, and it's nearly impossible at the moment. When he does lower the volume I can tell he's not happy about it, but I can't even hear myself think so it's really hard to figure out what I need to keep and what I don't.

It takes the five of us an hour and a half just to figure out what things I need to keep and what I should sell from the five bedrooms upstairs.

"You have way too much stuff in this house," says Joe, annoyed with the process already.

"Less than what you have in yours," I rebuttal.

"That's cause I'm a very accomplished musician, who wins a lot of awards and receives a lot of fanmail," he teases, and I whack his chest again.

"You're so annoying," I say, and Nick comes up behind me.

"This is why I'm the favorite, Joseph," he says cheekily.

"This is why I'm the favorite," Joe mocks in a high voice that sounds nothing like Nick.

"Guys. We're putting things in boxes," says Pri, motioning to get us back on track, and I nod and get back to work.

Around three hours later, we finally have all of my personal belongings packed up, and Kevin has finished the monumental task of putting my house up for sale. He will be taking care of the business side of things, because he has some background in real estate and understands it the most out of all of us.

"Alright, that's everything. All your clothes, belongings, everything. There's nothing else you want from here, correct?" Nick says, taping the last box shut and standing up to survey the area.

I look around, noting how empty the house looks with everything that makes it mine packed up. "I think that's it. Thanks, guys," I say, truly grateful for the help.

"No problem. We can start loading the boxes into our cars if you want to take a last look around," Kevin says, and with that, Joe picks up two boxes and walks them out to Nick's car.

The others grab some of my stuff and make their way outside as I slowly walk up the stairs for what will be the last time. It starts to hit me; I grew up in this house. I spent days and days and days on end with my cousins in this house, and my best friends from school. My parents lived here with me, and we had so many good memories. I walk into my empty room and look around; I've spent almost eighteen years of my life in this bedroom. It was my safe haven always, the place I would go if I was bored, or wanted to be alone, the place that was truly mine. Though I know I'll have my own bedroom at Nick and Pri's, it won't be the same as this one.

I close the door before I get emotional and walk into each of the three guest rooms. Though they were called the 'guest rooms', they really belonged to Kevin, Joe, and Nick because they were the only people who ever stayed in them. My parents' room I can't even look at; too many painful memories there. I walk downstairs again before the tears form...I don't want to cry about this. This was Nick's idea, he's trying to protect me, and I don't want him to think I'm having second thoughts about it by getting emotional.

I walk outside and face the house one last time. This is it, the real goodbye. Then, I steel myself and walk over to the cars where my family stands waiting. "I'm ready, guys."

"Alright. Let's get going, then," Nick says, hugging me quickly and getting into his car.

"See you in a few," Joe says, starting his car and heading to Nick's.

I wave to Kevin as he takes off after Joe, then slide into Nick's car. As we back out of the driveway and roll away from the only home I've ever known, one thought enters my mind. The next chapter of my life is about to begin, and it's going to bring the most special memories I'll ever have. If that's not worth this pain, this feeling of loss, nothing is.