James Diamond sulked in the corner of him and his friends' shared bedroom, scowling angrily and looking out of the window opposite to see the new Palm Woods guests lounging on the sun baked deckchairs. He balled up his fists, digging his short, rounded nails into the soft skin of his palm.
Looking further out of the window, into the glass doors of the lobby, James saw his friends laughing and joking together, waiting for their three girlfriends to arrive; they were planning a triple-date. Logan had Camille, Carlos had Sasha after deciding rather brashly that the fact that she didn't like corndogs wasn't enough to keep them apart- and then, Kendall had Jo. That had been established from the beginning.
It seemed the girls from the Palm Woods had some sort of allergy to James. Not only did they always avert their eyes from his flirty gaze, they walked straight out of his path. James remembered journeying by the side of the pool to see a pretty girl walking directly in his direction. He remembered her striking blue eyes looking up and meeting his, and... disappearing as she threw herself into the pool.
The seventeen year old shrugged out of his jacket, untying the bandana around his head at the same time. It wasn't fair. How could the best looking- in James' own opinion- in Big Time Rush not have a girlfriend? He got the girls. Not the others. Especially not Carlos! Granted, that was Gustavo's fault, Carlos wouldn't have met Sasha if she hadn't been hired to play his girlfriend…
Ignoring the thoughts that ran through his head and all the jealous accusations pointing towards his best friends, James flung himself back onto the bed. He turned over, burying his face in his pillow.
Knock, knock. A short, rapping sequence bounded off of the wooden door to the boy's apartment. James chose to disregard it and continued wallowing in his gloom. Knock! The knocking began even shorter, and eventually James couldn't stand it anymore. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm coming!" His yell was quieter than he'd anticipated, so he repeated the line louder. The knocking ceased for a few long seconds; James was at the top of the slide leading down into his living room before it began again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He slid down the yellow monster, and proceeded through the other end. He smirked, enjoying the thrill of the fast- if short- movement. He bounded over the sofa, kicked back a loose book that lay in front of the doorway. Taking a deep breath, he smiled and opened the door. "Hell-?" He scowled at the woman's reaction.
"Uhm," the woman in front of him turned away, as if protecting herself from a sight worse than the victim of plague.
"What is it?"
It was the women's turn to scowl. "You're just as rude as they say you are, you know." She looked down towards James' cheek. "And as disgusting!"James followed her gaze to find his bandana stuck to his upper jaw.
"Oh, this? I-" James scrabbled with it, pulling it off hastily leaving a crimson mark. "Wait… who's been saying what about me?" He cocked his head to one side, inquisitive now.
"Oh, no-one. Anyway, Mr. Bitters is waiting for you in the lobby."
"Uh, why?"
"Just go." The women slammed the door, sending James reeling backwards, clutching his face. He grabbed some tissues for the kitchen counter, using them to blot his now bleeding nose.
"Thanks for that!" James shouted after the woman, knowing he wouldn't be heard. He muttered quieter under his breath a variety of curse words, before finally adding, "…And you could have done some serious damage to my…" He softened his tone, raising his free hand to his nose. "…precious face!"
Sure enough, in time, James made his way down to the lobby to see what Mr. Bitters wanted with him. As James walked into the lobby, he saw it was busy as usual, but perhaps even more so today with all the new guests. He also noticed that the guests eyes him ruefully, as if wishing he weren't there. James held up a bloody tissue.
"This? One of the cleaners slammed a door in my face." He pointed to his cheek. "I had a bandana stuck to me here, and," he continued, pointing towards his hair, "can't you guys see my beautiful hair? Start looking at it, it's lovely!" His voice grew louder with every word, James getting angrier by the second until-
"James! You're here!" Mr. Bitters looked the seventeen year old up and down, then gestured to his desk. "I need a favour."
"Then why are you asking me?"
"I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to keep you and the others out of trouble, but, now they have girlfriends, they are keeping out of trouble, and they're keeping out from under my feet!"
"Oh. I see."
"James Diamond."
James looked up at the hotel manager. "Yes?"
"What's wrong?"
"What?"
"I wouldn't usually care, but you're bringing down all the guys in the lobby." James glanced around the room, seeing most of the men in the room droopy, as if they all had a grey raincloud over their heads.
"Sorry." James twiddled his fingers. It was understandable that the manager was concerned, James thought, because James was usually one of the happiest people around. But since his friends have began getting on with their lives and girlfriends, he'd had to pretend that he was happy, but only when they were around. He didn't bother for anyone else. Trying to make even the littlest of efforts, James said, "well, how about this favour?"
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot." Mr. Bitters rummaged through his messy desk, and pulled out a file. "In two days, a family are moving to the Palm Woods from..." Mr. Bitters traced his fingers down the file, lingering over a certain sentence. "England. There's three of them, two girls of sixteen, and the second girl's mother."
"Yes?"
"You will be in charge of showing them around."
"Oh, really."
"Yes, really. James Diamond, you better do this job well, the fate of Palm Woods is resting on your shoulders-"
Another head popped up from behind the desk. "It's really not." Katie Knight stood up, raising her eyebrows at Mr. Bitters.
"Ah, Katie, I was wondering when you would show up, I have some questions regarding the sales projection for the-"
"Uhm, hey, guys?" James tilted his head to the side, trying to cut into the conversation. "May I... go?"
The reply was far from concentrated towards the boy. "Yeah, whatever..."
James walked away, his head reeling. What would he do in the meantime? There was two days to fill, and he, for one, wasn't spending it living in the corner of his room...