Disclaimer: It doesn't belong to me, but to the beautiful Scott Fellows. However, I would like to take credit for the Other Character's in my story. Song Lyrics are credited to Disney because I definitely didn't write them! :)
Author's Note: Well, hello there everyone! This will be the first chapter of the first story that I have ever written for the Big Time Rush section of this website. Kind of exciting if you ask me. Anyways, I'm not big on introductions becauses I don't really have much to say about the story at this point except for thanks for clicking and thinking about giving this story a chance! Please, feel free to leave me a review and tell me what you think! The next few chapters are already written as well so they should be up soon too.
Thanks again! And have a wonderful day!
It Happens This Way
Christopher Johnson rubbed his neck as he watched the three girls in front of him. The shortest of the three paced back and forth in front of his desk like a caged tiger in the zoo, planning her next move before she would strike. He could feel himself perspiring under the harsh glare of the second girl, unnervingly staring without a blink of her unnaturally blue eyes. The only one he could find solace with was the tall blonde who looked at her pacing friend warily.
"I don't see why it is of vast importance that we take on this job for you," The pacing girl stopped, pressed her hands onto her lean hips and bent down to look him in the eyes. Her green eyes were narrowed and Christopher could feel his tie strangling him. She straightened back up and then resumed her pacing. He cleared his throat to begin speaking.
"Ms. Monroe, as Dead of Students I am at the liberty to choose the top students to help incorporate new students here at Hart." His voice was hesitant, as if he didn't want to startle the two ticking bombs in front of him.
The pacing girl, her pin-straight, below the elbow length hair spinning, sat down hard in the middle chair between her blonde friend and her lighter brunette counterpart. "There has to be other students that would be willing to do this for you," The blonde spoke in her soft voice and Christopher felt trapped between the three top Juniors at his beloved school.
Taking a handkerchief from his suit pocket, he glanced at the thermometer in the room, willing the damn thing to come on before he passed out. He once again cleared his throat before the only student who hadn't spoken yet opened her mouth.
"It seems to me that you left this to the last minute, Mr. Johnson," She said without much emotion in her voice. Her face was passé, but her piercing blue eyes were probing.
"Tess!" Her blonde friend snapped while giving a slight shake of her head. 'Tess' shrugged as if she could care less that she was speaking to an authority member like this. "Dean, we would be willing to help new students get themselves incorporated into the school, but having them follow us around for the school day is not a productive use of our time."
"Leah's just being nice," The darker-haired brunette spoke. "I don't come to school everyday to baby-sit some fourteen year old freshmen. They should have been at orientation like everyone else."
Having no retort to this last comment, the Dean of Students could find no other way to compromise. "The choir is always complaining about a new piano. I'll work on the School Board to see if we can make that happen." If there was one thing these girls cared about more than anything else at this school, it was the choir. Looking at each other and exchanging a mental conversation, the girls came to an agreement.
"We'll do it," The leader of the group, Sophie Monroe, said and the girls got up from their seats while gathering their stuff. "When do they get here?" She questioned as she went to open the door to leave.
"The boys should be here soon," He said while thinking back to the schedule the pretty assistant had dropped off with him yesterday.
With a curt nod, the three cousins were gone, the remorseful blonde giving him a small smile as she shut the door. Sighing while loosening his tie, Christopher Johnson closed is eyes. Another successful encounter with the Monroe's.
Out in the main lobby of William S. Hart High School, Leah Monroe turned to her friends, her shyness falling away as her gray eyes flashed. "You two have got to learn how to contain yourselves. Sophie, you can't talk to an authority figure that way. And Tess, I know you love to do the whole 'who gives a shit' thing but that was serious. What if they took away the music department? It's already failing as is," She muttered while crossing her arms and looking down at her friends.
At five-foot-nine, Leah Monroe was the tallest of the three cousins. She was also, as they told her repeatedly, the most anal. Sophie Monroe swung her loose hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes while fiddling with her bangs. "You worry too much, Leah. Calm down; we're getting a new piano and our lovely Dean gets what he wants. Everyone wins," She told her older cousin while sending her a dazzling smile.
"Of course, if you want me to I'll go apologize. But, really, who else can I practice my acting skills on but the unexacting faculty?" Tess Monroe said as she stood on her tiptoes and hugged Leah.
Leah held her frown for a moment more before she laughed softly, as was her nature, and smiled widely showing her teeth. "We're getting a new piano!" She said while spinning slightly, her curly bob bouncing around her shoulders. Tess joined in, and after a moment of rolling her perfectly mascara'd eyes, Sophie began to bounce around the lobby.
Being the clumsiest, but also most enthusiastic, of the group, Sophie spun around, whipped Tess in the face with her hair, and then tripped over her dark green flats. Falling to the ground and taking the girls with her, they ended in a pile-up while continuing to laugh. Leah's soft laugh mixed with Tess's giggling shrieks while Sophie's natural snorting laughter caused the girls to laugh more.
"Stop, stop," Tess said as she stood from the pile-up and straightened out her shredded jean shorts. Fixing her orange and white nautical tank-top, she looked down at the other two while raising an eyebrow. "You two are so childish. And Leah, nice bra. Victoria Secret's?"
With a shriek, Leah jumped up, her face going red as she adjusted her yellow button down shirt-dress which had shifted to reveal her polka dotted bra. With a scowl, she pushed her rolled up sleeves back up to her elbows and adjusted her gray leggings. "I'm not speaking to you," She said in a blank voice, but then she smiled, her face still tinged with red.
"I for one just wish that people could see us when we are in our natural habitat." Sophie said while continuing to sit on the floor, her legs crossed Indian style totally disregarding the fact that she had on a high-waisted blowy skirt, that was currently puffed out around her upper thighs. She made a face by rolling back her top lip and crossing her eyes, and then adjusted her navy blue t-shirt.
Without warning, all three girls began to make a pained face and put their faces into their shoulders. "Where's the cat?" Leah asked in a loud, distorted voice while Tess mumbled on about cockroaches.
"Sugar water!" Sophie said in the same voice and began to walk around in a stilted swagger. The façade wasn't held for long as the three dissolved into giggles again.
The laughing stopped, however, as the doors leading into the lobby from the school opened and a freshman boy walked through, looking at the older girls as most boys did. The masks the girls had let slip for a moment slid seamlessly back into place. Drama-Queen-Bee Sophie cocked her hip and stared at the young boy, batting her eyelashes slowly. Tough-but-cute Tess smiled prettily at the boy, crossing her arms and looking for the entire world like a model. And the devastatingly shy Leah returned, grasping her hands behind her back and holding her breath while biting her lip.
It wasn't for a second that this boy saw the girls as they only were around each other, but then he slipped into the office and the girls stood frozen for a moment. Leah let out her breath, while Tess continued to stand with folded arms, and Sophie flipped her hair before reaching down for her Coach Messenger bag.
"Let's go wait for these guys in the choir room. They aren't here yet so they can come to us." Sophie said and the other two girls followed in line behind her. Tess swung her leather satchel over her shoulder and walked in her slow, stalking gait, while Leah held her books in her arms, her purse forgotten in her locker.
The hallways were deserted as they went through during their lunch period, but Sophie never changed her saunter and Leah kept her head down. "I need to stop by my locker," Leah muttered and she left the other two girls who in turn went towards the beloved choir room. The only room at this school that they could show their true selves and emotions in.
Tess and Sophie continued down the hallway, pausing to open the door, before continuing into the choir room. The bright green walls clashed horribly with the violently orange carpet. The old Steinway piano in the corner was horribly out of tune and falling apart. And the raised stage at the end of the room was chipping and rotted.
The room, however, had charisma. It told stories. It was the place the girls had come as a solace before Sophomore year when they grew into their limbs. Tess sat down at the piano while Sophie sat on the stage. As they waited for Leah to enter the room, Tess began to pound out some chords on the piano while Sophie hummed softly and swung her legs. The song had just started to take form when Leah walked in.
"Any particular reason you're playing this beautiful song, Tess?" Leah asked while she dropped her books and her oversized purse to the floor haphazardly. Tess shrugged, smiled, and motioned to Sophie who hopped up onto the stage and then dodged a split floor board.
"If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess I've already won that." She winked at Leah who acted like she was swooning and then she began to strut around the stage. "No man is worth the aggravation. That's ancient history; been there, done that."
"Who ya' think you're kidding? He's the Earth and Heaven to you," Leah and Tess sang together as they sat at the piano, Tess playing the song and Leah swaying back and forth while adding in random notes. "Tried to keep it hidden, honey we can see right through you. Girl, you can't conceal it, we know how you're feeling; who you're thinking of."
Sophie jumped off the stage while adding in the oh's and then leaned across the piano while dancing overdramatically. "No chance, no way! I won't say it; no, no."
"You swoon, you sigh. Why deny it, uh-oh."
"It's too cliché. I won't say I'm in love!"
While Leah and Tess continued to do the shoo doops, Leah got off the piano bench and danced her way over to Sophie who spun her around while they did a funny version of the waltz. Sophie continued to sing while they continued to harmonize.
"I thought my heart had learned its lesson. It feels so good when you start out. My head is screaming, 'Get a grip girl, unless you're dying to cry your heart out.'"
As the girls harmonized, danced around, and did what they loved to do, four faces vied for spots at the door to see who was singing. Three adults and one administrator stood listening as well.
"You keep on denying, who you are and how you're feeling. Baby, we're not buying. Hun, we saw you hit the ceiling. Face it like a grown up. When you going to own up that you got, got, got it bad?"
"No chance, no way; I won't say it. No, no," Sophie's voice rang out as if she was really arguing with her two friends. The emotion on her face laid out for everyone to see. Her green eyes flashed but her smile was giving her away.
From the piano, Tess's voice sounded. "Give up; give in. Check the grin you're in love!"
"This scene won't play; I won't say I'm in love."
"You're doing flips; read our lips, you're in love!" Leah sang as she came up behind Sophie and pinched her sides. The girls laughed while Sophie continued to sing.
"You're way off base, I won't say it." Sophie sang loudly, running away from Leah who was chasing her towards the piano for their favorite grand finale.
"She won't say it, no!" Tess and Leah harmonized while Sophie climbed up onto the piano top. The old instrument gave a slight groan, but like countless times before, it held strong.
"Get of my case; I won't say it!"
"Now don't be proud, it's okay. You're in love."
Tess cut out the piano from playing, chords filling the air as Sophie got a dreamy look on her face and leaned back on her arms.
"Oh, at least out loud, I won't say I'm in love."
Tess played the final chord while she and Leah did the final sha-la-la and sighed. They stayed like that for a moment before Sophie peeked open and eye and shot them a shit-eating grin. The grin was returned and then Leah started to smile, while Tess started to laugh. As the three began to snap and do random beats, the door opened stopping them effectively.
The shock of seeing people actually there was enough to leave the remnants of smiles and true happiness on the girls' faces before the masks slid back into place. Standing behind Mr. Johnson, who must have led the new students to the only place the girls ever stayed, was an extremely large man wearing copious amounts of gold jewelry, a pretty black woman holding a clipboard, a smiling tall, thin woman who just screamed motherly wisdom, and four teenage boys.
Who were definitely not freshmen.
Leah immediately shook her side-swept bangs in front of her eyes, hiding her face. Tess looked straight on at the crowd, a half-smile on her face and her strikingly blue eyes boring into each person. Sophie, on the other hand, had crossed her legs, straightened her hair, and was giving them all her classic smirk. Each girl from moments before was gone, replaced by someone else completely.
Mr. Johnson turned to the crowd of people behind him, smiling tightly and looking around nervously. "As you can see, our music department is astounding, even though we do not have the funds right now to sustain a proper room."
The large man looked around the room and lowered his sunglasses. "Well, it's doable." He spoke with barely concealed disgust. Sophie sat up straighter on the piano, the offense registering as personal to her. She took her music seriously and did not enjoy the sarcasm.
Hopping down from the piano before Leah could calm her down; she sauntered over to where the adults were standing. She smiled in her commanding way and then stuck her hand out firmly. "Sophie Monroe. I'm a junior here at Hart and our Fine Arts department is more than just doable." She shook each person's hand firmly.
Following behind her, Leah and Tess each introduced themselves. Tess smiled secretively while she spoke, and Leah stood to her full height while talking to the adults. The boys, who had yet to introduce themselves, stood watching the girls. Finally, as Mr. Johnson talked about the other amenities offered at Hart, the girls turned their attention from defending the music studio to looking at their 'shadows.'
Sophie took in each boy, from the towering model with nice guns, the beautiful eyes of a boy with thick eyebrows, the brunette with the devastating smile, to the tan-skinned funny guy. All in all, she thought, it could be worse. She gave them the same smile she had earlier and walked a little closer, her two wingman at her sides. "So new guys, you're not from around here are you?" She asked in a slightly raspy voice.
As the model smiled at her, she perused her options. She was just looking at the one with the smile when she caught his eye. Taken aback for a moment at the look he was giving her, she looked away quickly and focused on what Tess was saying. Or at least acted like it. Why did this stranger look like he knew what she was doing?
Logan Henderson looked at the long-haired drama queen in front of him. No doubt she was pretty, beautiful even, but he had seen the look on her face a million times with James so it wasn't fooling him. It was what the boys liked to call the 'hunting' look. And it meant heartbreak. He continued to look at her, meeting her emerald eyes occasionally as she looked back at him, while the girl with the aqua eyes talked.
Tess wasn't sure which one of these boys she hated more at the moment. Tall, dark, and stupid or tall, blonde, and eyebrows. As she introduced herself, Eyebrows had stared none-to-discretely at her breasts. And if there was one thing she hated about new guys, it was the fact that they didn't think she could kick their ass. Of course, she came off as nice, the one in the group that wasn't as abrasive as Sophie or as reserved as Leah, but in reality she could be just as much of a bitch as the rest of the catty tag-alongs in their grade.
Kendall looked at Tess Monroe. And when he said looked, he meant stared. Did she not realize that there was a huge piece of dust clinging to the bright orange stripe of her sweater? When he looked back up and caught her eye, she was looking straight at him with those baby blues, one eyebrow raised as if she wanted to know why he was staring at her chest. Right. Clearing his throat, he spoke as seriously as he could so as not to burst into laughter.
"You've got a huge piece of lint stuck on your shirt there." He smiled helpfully. Not expecting his answer, Tess looked down and saw the sawdust hanging right over her left breast. Fuck, she thought as she picked the lint off and blushed, hard. She had just been conceited enough to think he was that much of a leech. As everyone laughed, she hid her face from view and looked at her gray suede shoes. I definitely need to stop hanging out with Sophie, she told herself as she looked back up and couldn't help but smile.
Leah had never felt so…short. Standing at four inches taller than Tess and almost half the female population and a good chunk of the male's, she was not a short girl. But compared to the two giants standing in front of her, she felt like Sophie. Pushing her hair from her face, she looked around at the boys, taking each in while smiling politely while the others conversed.
While both of the Jolly Green Giants looked to be nice enough, she could tell right away that the obvious leader was the blonde. The boys congregated around him, much like she and Tess did Sophie, and he exuded an easy going attitude with a hint of confidence. The brunette pretty boy, however, was standing so smug and almost too comfortable in his own skin. Plus, if she was being honest, there was a yellow bandana in his pocket.
The Hispanic boy smiled in a way that promised fun and she felt herself smiling back at him for no reason. When he caught her eye, she blushed violently and tilted her head slightly away. Having the advantage of being tall was helpful when singing back-up and being seen, but when she wanted to disappear it was slightly harder. Finally, her eyes settled on the smartest looking one. He was about her height and she took in the way he was dressed.
Button down red plaid shirt, hidden behind a grey sweater vest, with dark wash jeans. She watched him talk, the jumpy sort of way he did so giving away his hidden nervousness. Know how that is, she thought and when he looked up she gave him the full power of her smile while pushing her hair back out. He smiled back, turning slightly towards her to include her in the conversation.
James crossed her arms over his chest and looked at each girl. The one closest to him was baring just enough leg to keep him interested, but seemed to already hate him. Not that he really cared; he did like a challenge. The one with the smoldering green eyes looked promising as she caught his eye and gave him a slight wink. He tossed his hair from his eyes and tilted his head slightly. Ah, so even the Queen Bee realizes we have potential, he thought as he blinked slowly and then moved his attention.
The blonde was watching Logan with a smile, and as she pushed her hair out of her eyes, he saw the odd color of her eyes. While the leg girl had such bright eyes so much so that it was like looking at the ocean, the color of this one's eyes were such a different color of gray that they looked purple. He leaned in a little to get a better look, but before he could she had shifted as if she knew someone was looking at her. He made a mental note of that and turned back to the conversation.
"Well, Mr. Rocque, if you and Ms. Knight would come into my office we can finalize everything while the boys get to their first class of the day." The boys looked over at the twitchy, sweaty Dean of Students and then to Gustavo. He looked even less swayed by the idea of them attending a regular school than he did the day they brought up the idea.
With wide eyes, Kendall looked at Kelly, mentally telling her to do something. Seeing the desperate look in their eyes, Kelly pushed Gustavo to follow the adults out of the room. "Oh, we'll be back to pick you up and drive you to practice at three-forty."
As the door opened, the bell rang and Leah, Tess, and Sophie went to collect their things. "I have Art History with Freeman this period." Leah said while shoving her books into her oversized bag. Looking at them from under her bangs, she asked, "Any of you have that class?"
They consulted their schedules and Logan smiled. "I've got it this period too." Leah smiled slightly and then waved at Tess and Sophie as she and Logan made their way out of the choir room.
"And we each have Psychology with Jones so I guess you're with us." Sophie said, swinging her bag up onto her shoulder. She began her way out of the room, James catching up with her. The two began to talk and Sophie laughed, not her real snorting laughter, but the laughter she used when she flirted with a boy.
Tess, on the other hand, threw her bag at Kendall who caught it and then smiled. "You can carry my bag since you were so kind to point out my embarrassment earlier." She strode past him, not pausing to let them catch up. Once out in the hallway, she smiled at a few people and glanced around for the tall blonde head of Leah. She saw her walking towards Freeman's classroom and wished she had taken Art History, not for the first time that semester.
Kendall looked at Carlos, who was laughing slightly. "Shut up," He said while holding the leather bag in his hands and following after the girl who was supposed to show him around but had since left them both.
Maybe this had been a bad idea.
Thanks again for reading the first chapter! Once again, feel free to review and let me know what you think! Tips, what you liked, what you didn't, are all welcomed. And to those of you concerned that these characters are going to be total MarySue, perfect princess, etc. they won't be. Give them some time to grow on you and tell you their real selves.
Peace, Love, and Happinness!
