"Wooohooo! Road trip, baby!" Tommy Mack said. I laughed at my uncles’ best friend’s glee. "I always knew you would get a chance with Joe Jonas, darling. I told you that at that fabulous wedding your mother and Larry had a few years ago. And sweetheart, Joe is gorgeous! Hmmmm-hmmmm!" If you couldn’t tell by now, Tommy is gay. Actually, both of my uncles’ best friends are gay, but my uncles aren’t. Weird, huh?

"Tommy, you crack me up, but I gotta go, Joe’s coming back."

"Call when you do the deed!"

"Will do!" I hung up and slipped my phone back in my pocket before turning to face Joe. "Hey, rock star, ready to roll?"

"Yep." Joe opened the passenger door on my cherry-red, vintage Mustang convertible, a present from my biological dad. "Have I mentioned that you have the sweetest ride?" he asked as he buckled his seatbelt and popped a piece of Orbit gum into his mouth. "Want some?" He held the pack out to me. I wrinkled my nose.

"I hate cinnamon gum; it’s too strong."

"Well!" Joe huffed, acting offended. "Be that way!" I rolled my eyes and turned the radio on.

"What’s Los Angeles’ local rock/pop/rap station?" I asked, fiddling with the scanner. Joe told me and two seconds later, the chorus to If You Seek Amy by Britney Spears came on. "Ohmigod! I love this song!" I cranked the volume up and started singing.

When the song ended, I glanced over at Joe. We still hadn’t left the parking lot of his house, where I had driven to two days ago so he could get packed and we could drive down to Alabama. It had taken a lot of convincing to make his parents agree to letting him stay with me for three months. But in the end, they relented. They must trust Joe a hell of a lot more than I do. As I looked at Joe, his eyes slowly locked onto mine, an expression on his face that mixed shock with lust. Now we’re getting somewhere, I thought. I cranked the car and pulled out of his driveway. Once we were on the road, I casually let my right hand rest on his left upper thigh. Joe shifted in his seat and I smiled. He gently removed my hand and scooted closer to the passenger side door, a blush heating his face. We were silent for the next few minutes until we got caught in a traffic jam on the highway.

"So, are you excited?" I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and silently cursed the traffic.

"Yes. It’s going to be a wonderful change to go someplace where no one knows me."

"Yeah, about that," I said as the traffic finally started moving. "They know you, but they don’t give two shits about you." Joe looked at me shocked again. "Sorry, I’m going to warn you, I cuss sometimes."

"Oh, um, it’s, um, okay, I just………" he stammered. "I’m an idiot," he finished. I laughed and playfully punched his shoulder.

"I agree with you."

"Hey!" Joe said, pretending to be offended. "I resent that!"

"You know I’m just messing with you."

"Humph."

"Anyway, about them not caring about you. I’m to blame for that. See, I’m, well now, was, since I met you, obsessed with you and your brothers. So, since everybody hated me, ya’ll all became uncool. So, yeah, sorry about that."

"It’s cool. But why did they hate you?" I gritted my teeth at Joe’s question and immediately had a flashback.

"I don’t want to talk about it." I slammed the brakes on as the light in front of us turned red and cursed under my breath. My phone started beeping, signaling that the battery was dying. Slowly, I took a deep breath and reached over Joe’s lap to the glove compartment and pulled out my cell phone charger. After hooking it up to the cigarette lighter and plugging my phone in, I turned to Joe. "I used to be ugly," I told him as the light turned green. "I moved from Georgia when I was eight and I was the outsider. I stayed at Jameson until the middle of eighth grade when I transferred to Hayes Middle School because the teasing got so bad. I used to have braces and ugly hair and I was fat. And smart. I got skipped one grade ahead when I moved to Alabama so I was younger then everybody in my glass. They hated me." I blinked away tears and shook my hair over the side of my face so Joe couldn’t see me.

"Hey," he said softly. "I think you’re gorgeous and I don’t lie. Those people were idiots. You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met.

"You’ve only known me for two days," I reminded him.

"I don’t care. I can tell you’re a good person."

"Wow, you really are perfect," I said sarcastically with a harsh laugh. I sighed then and bit my lip. "I’m sorry, I just don’t have a good tolerance for talking about my past."

"Okay, then," Joe said. "Let’s talk about something else. What are your views on poodles?"

"They’re stupid, frilly, manicured, hair-balls. I hate them."

"What about labs?"

"You mean Elvis? He’s adorable. And I love his name."

"What are your views on me?" I was shocked at his question. How did he go from talking about dogs to asking me how I felt about him? I didn’t even know how I truly felt about him! All I knew was what I thought I felt about him.

"Ummmmmmm, I like your voice and your smile and your body and your hair. Your face, your eyes, and the way you can hold a crowd of ten thousand people captive just by walking onto a stage. I love how nice and funny you are. I love that you haven’t let fame go to your head. I love that you actually care about your family. I love that you stick to your beliefs. I love how you seem unsure of yourself and how you can’t see how amazing you are. I love the fact that you actually took the time to get to know me." I took a deep breath and cautiously looked at Joe. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. Finally, he cracked a smile.

"So, does that mean you love me?"

"In your dreams, Jonas." I rolled my eyes, but inside I was smiling. I still couldn’t believe that I was riding in a car with Joe Jonas and he actually liked me. Or at least thought of me as a friend. But even though we were hanging out, I still felt amazed by him. Everything he did made me star struck. He just had that affect on people. But at the same time, he was so sweet and down to earth. He was perfect. I didn’t know why I switched from using like to love. Did I love Joe? I had known him for three years, but hadn’t really known him until two days ago.

"Aren’t you dying to know what I think about you?" Joe asked with a smirk on his face.

"Shoot."

"I think you’re cool. I think you’re a flirt, but you don’t want to be. You can’t see how awesome you are. You’re sweet and funny and brave enough to ask Taylor about me."

"Yep, that’s me in a nutshell," I said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?"

"That’s not all who I am. But I’m sure you’ll find that out in the next few months."

"I’m holding you to that."

"Well, well, well, look who it is. The Jonas Freak."

"Go away." I ignored Cody and Josh, two of the most popular boys in the eighth-grade class and continued walking down the hall.

"Don’t be a bitch, slut. Or should I say Jonas Slut."

"Like they would ever fuck the likes of you," Josh sneered. He pushed me against the lockers and ripped my notebook from my hands, turning to the first page. "I would give anything to kiss Joe Jonas." Josh laughed and threw the notebook in the trashcan beside him. Then they left, still laughing.

Love me, hate me, but can’t you see what I see. All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to If You Seek Amy.