Chapter 1

"Gustavo, please," I mumbled, looking at my former boss.

"Kenny, I can't give you your job back," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"You quit your job. I lost a lot of money because of that, and your uncle, Griffin, is not very happy about that."

"I quit my job because my brothers were threatened! Hawk, your rival, threatened to hurt my brothers if I didn't quit my job. I had no choice!"

"You had a choice, but you just chose to do what was easy."

"Gustavo!"

"Stop. Kenny, leave. I'm sorry, but I can't give you your job back. I can't make you famous."

"So what am I supposed to do now? Go back home? After everything I've done for you? There are people waiting for my album to come out, Gustavo!"

"Looks like you won't make an album. You'll be a one-hit wonder."

"I've had more than one hit," I answered.

"I'm sorry, Kenny."

"What do you expect me to do now?"

"Go home. To Minnesota."

I sat there in shock. Did I really just hear him say that?

"Carry on your life as if none of this ever happened to you," Gustavo continued.

"As if none of this ever happened to me?" I shrieked. "I spent an entire year of my life in L.A. And you expect me to pretend none of this ever happened to me?"

"Here's a ticket back to Minnesota. You'll be leaving next week," Gustavo said in monotone.

"So that's it?"

"That's it."

"Fine," I mumbled, taking the ticket and leaving Rocque Records without a second glance.

I didn't bother calling for a cab. The walk would help me think- to clear my mind.

"How am I going to tell Kendall, Logan, and Carlos? How am I going to tell Camille? Oh, gosh, how am I going to tell James?"

With every thought of telling my friends that I was no longer going to be living in L.A., but rather back in Minnesota, my heart ached.

I walked into the Palm Woods, the familiar faces of the future famous strolling around, moving as a mindless zombie. I couldn't believe this was happening to me.

Without realizing where I was going, I found myself at the Palm Woods pool. I was standing there absent-mindedly, probably seeming as if I was looking for someone.

Someone came up behind me, wrapping strong arms around my waist.

"Hey, Kenz," he mumbled in my ear.

"Hey, James," I answered, leaning back against him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, letting go of me and turning me around to face him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled, leaning in to kiss him.

James pulled away a few seconds later. "I'm not buying it," he said.

"I'm fine, James," I said, hugging him.

"Still not buying it!"

I laughed. "Can you please just buy it?"

"No," he said stubbornly. I laughed again.

"I'm fine," I said, emphasizing "fine."

"Hey, Kenz!" Kendall said, walking up to us.

"Hey, Kendall," I smiled.

"What's up?"

"Not much. You guys want to do something today?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Let's just hang out at the pool," I said.

"Ok. I'll go get Carlos and Logan," Kendall said, rushing away.

"Let's go to the pool," I told James. He nodded and followed me. I sat down on a lounge chair and James sat next to me. I stared at the water, glistening in the sunlight, thinking about how in the world I was going to tell the boys that in a week from tomorrow, I would no longer live in L.A.

"Kenz, what's going on?" James asked, worry painting his face.

"Nothing. Just thinking," I answered.

"Kenny, are you ever going to tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, James. Don't worry about it," I answered. Just then, Kendall came, with Carlos and Logan on either side of him.

For the next couple days, the boys and I spent a lot of time together. The morning before the day I was to leave, I still hadn't told the boys I was leaving. I decided it was finally time to tell them.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door of 2J.

"Hey, Kenz!" Carlos smiled brightly. Probably a little too brightly for seven in the morning.

"Hey, Carlitos. Is everyone here?"

"Yeah," he said. "Why?"

"I have something I need to tell you guys."

"Hey, Kenny," James smiled when he saw me. He walked towards me, enveloping me in his arms.

"Morning, James. Is everyone awake?"

"Yeah. We're getting breakfast now. Care to join us?" Logan asked.

"I have something I need to tell you guys first," I said.

"What's up?"

"Well, James, you remember when you thought something was wrong with me?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Well, something was wrong."

"I knew it!"

"You see, I went to talk to Gustavo that morning."

"And…?" Kendall asked.

"He's not giving me my job back," I said.

"What?" the four boys exclaimed in unison.

"I'm not getting my job back. Uncle Griffin's sending me back to Minnesota tomorrow morning."

"No! You can't go back to Minnesota!" Carlos yelled.

"I have to, Carlos," I whispered.

"Well, we're going to spend the entire day with you today then," Kendall said. I smiled.

"You don't have to, Kendall," I said.

"Yes, we do. You're our best friend and who knows when we'll get to see you again?"

I smiled. "Well, what do you guys want to do?"

"Let's go to the beach," James suggested.

"Good idea. To the beach!" I exclaimed. "But wait, I'm getting my camera first." I rushed into my room, changed into my swimsuit, grabbed my camera, and rushed out, running into James on the way.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah. Let's go," I smiled.

Logan drove us to the beach, and we ran side by side down to salt water. After a few minutes of playing with the waves, I sat down on the warm sand, watching the boys surf.

They were all pretty good surfers. Then, James fell off his surfboard, plunging down into the water. I sat up, searching the waters, waiting for him to pop up.

After a few seconds, he still hadn't popped up and I was frantically searching for him.

I got up, running to the water, calling his name, still frantically searching. Suddenly, someone jumped up behind me, pulling me under water. I small scream escaped my lips just before I was submerged.

I kicked back up, and turned to face the person who pulled me underwater- James.

"James, you suck! You scared me!" I exclaimed, slapping his arm.

"Sorry," he said, pulling me closer to him. I pecked him on the cheek, and spun out of his arm, splashing him with water. James attempted to splash me, but I moved out of the way and the water landing on Logan. Logan splashed back but James ducked under water and the water hit Kendall. Kendall accidentally splashed Carlos and soon we were all in the middle of a huge salt water fight.

Afterwards, we went to get dinner and spent the rest of the day playing in the sand.

It got dark soon, and we were laying on the sand staring up at the stars.

"I'm not ready to leave all this," I said suddenly.

"I wish you didn't have to be," James answered.

"Me too. You have no idea how much. But I will find a way to get back here," I said.

"How?" Kendall asked.

"I'll figure something out," I said.

"Kenz, can I talk to you?" James asked suddenly. "Alone?"
"Yeah, sure," I answered. James took my hand and led me a few feet away from the rest of the guys.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You know I love you, right?" James asked.

"Yeah. I love you too," I answered. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just.. well I've heard about long distance relationships. How they never work out."

"You think that our long distance relationship won't work out?" I asked, starting to freak out.

"No, no. I hope it will. I'm just- I don't know- scared, I guess."

"Well, whatever happens, we'll still be close. We'll still be best friends, James," I said, hugging him.

"No matter what," he answered, hugging me back. We headed back to the rest of the boys, hand-in-hand.

"Everything ok?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," I answered, smiling.