Jourdin turned to see what her 14-year-old sister was holding up. "JACOBI! No way in hell!"
"J! I'm gonna be in HIGH SCHOOL! I gotta look cool!"
"Cool, yes. Like a slut, no. There will be no wearing of pleather mini-skirts until you're in college." Jourdin said, taking the red skirt and hanging it back up.
"I haven't even started school yet, and I'm already getting doomed to eternal geek-hood."
Jourdin laughed, "Cobi, it's not that bad."
"How would you know! You're going to graduate in a few months." Cobi whined, shuffling over to the racks of blue jeans.
Jourdin shook her head and slipped her arm around Cobi. "You gotta chill out. It's exactly like middle school- only there's alot of older kids again- and yes, seniors can be scary, but you don't bother them and they won't bother you."
"What if nobody likes me? Can I tell them my sister is dating a Backstreet Boy? They'd like me then!"
"No you can not tell everyone that!" Jourdin said, lightly smacking Cobi's arm. "My own friends don't even know I'm dating a Backstreet Boy."
"How can they not know that?" Cobi asked, walking out of the clothes department and towards the school supplies.
"I just don't talk about what he does. They know his name is Nick and that's about it." Jourdin replied.
"Why don't you tell them? I'd want everyone to know!"
Jourdin picked up a few folders and a binder for her classes, and said, "When we hooked up last semester, back in the spring... like we weren't really that serious, so I wasn't going to go around telling everyone in case it didn't work out or whatever... and now- since I've moved in with him and all.. yeah, we're obvioiusly serious, but we've decided just to keep everything on the downlow... so I can finish school in peace- then if he wants to.. he can tell the world."
"What if someone asks him about having a girlfriend? Would he say he's single?"
"Probably. Because if he says he does, people are going to want to know who, and start trying to find out." Jourdin answered.
"You're okay with that? If he says he's single? I wouldn't like that!!" Cobi said, gathering up notebooks and pencils.
"Yeah. I know he loves me, I love him... we just don't think everyone needs to know right now. "
Cobi looked thoughtful for a moment. "Huh..."
"What?"
"That's just weird, in school everyone wants everyone to know who they're dating so they can show off... and now you're like, going out of your way to keep things a secret, but I mean, I guess I get it.."
Jourdin laughed a little, "Relationships definitely change from middle school/high school... well, for some people they probably don't... but it doesn't matter who I'm dating, like, in the sense of what he does... You know, like when you come hang out with us, he's just goofball Nick who plays basketball and goes swimming with you... he just happens to have a kind of .. unusual job."
"Yeah, he's cool. Definitely the best guy you've dated." Cobi agreed.
"And you don't even think about that he's a singer then, do you?"
"No.. except for all those records on the walls."
"Well, yeah, but really- he's just Nick, my boyfriend... and I don't really think anyone needs to anymore than that."
Cobi nodded, "Yeah, I get it.. that's cool."
~~~~
Jourdin pulled into the driveway of her old house to let Cobi out. "Hey- don't stress about school, okay? You need help with homework, just call me. Don't worry about making friends- you've already got all your other friends from middle school, and you'll make more. It won't be bad, I swear. But if you're still not convinced, call Jax, he could tell you a thing or two about surviving high school."
"NOO! I refuse to listen to anymore of his high school stories!" Cobi leaned over to hug her sister and thanked her for taking her shopping.
"I had fun.. I always enjoy hanging out with my mini-me." Jourdin smiled. She waited for Cobi to get into the house and wave to her before she drove off.
She turned onto the main highway, and picked up her cell phone, dialing Nick's cell number. She knew he was still in rehearsal, but that didn't mean she couldn't leave him a naughty voicemail to entice him to come home as soon as possible.