So I ran a poll on my profile page to find out what story to do next. And the result was actually a tie between two stories, this one (obviously) and one centered around Logan. I decided to do this one since I just finished up a Lomille, and I've never really worked with James and I'm really excited to do this idea! But keep going to my profile and voting for what story you want to see after this one. I love to hear you guys' opinions, because you're the reason I do this! Yay!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Big Time Rush or any of its characters.
"And one and two and three and four and jump, jump, jump, jump, five and six." Kendall, Carlos, and James all tried their best to ignore Logan as they walked back up to the Palm Woods after being dropped off from a long day of dance rehearsals. They looked at their best friend, who was still reciting the moves they had learned that day, over and over and over and…
"Hey!" Kendall finally broke in, trying his hardest to sound pleasant. Logan stopped and looked at him. "So, Logan, you know that we love you and everything, but could you…oh I don't know…shut up?" James and Carlos both agreed immediately and Logan flushed a bright shade of crimson.
"Sorry…" he mumbled under his breath. "I just keep forgetting what happens after the leg wiggle thing…you know, after the jumps?" He started counting under his breath again as they walked through the lobby, and Carlos let out a dramatic groan, shoving his hands over his ears.
"Logan!" Carlos whined. "I heard enough of that dumb counting from Mr. X today! I can't take it anymore!"
"Okay, wait, Logan, it's the step out on the left foot, cross-step, turn, and then walk away, okay?" James finally told him, desperate to make it stop. "Like this." The guys stopped while James demonstrated the move that Logan was forgetting. "Got it?"
"Here they are," they heard an amused voice say. All of them looked up to see Camille, Logan's girlfriend (or was she his ex-girlfriend right now? They were so on-and-off it was hard to remember sometimes), walking in from the pool. And by her side…
"New girrrrrrrl!" the guys all said appreciatively. Logan received a look from Camille, and he blushed again, ducking his head, but the other three immediately turned on their charm.
"Well hello there," Kendall purred in his flirtiest voice. "Nice to meet you. Name's Kendall. What's yours?"
The girl just laughed, tossing her straight blonde hair over one shoulder. "Well, my name is Arianna. But everyone calls me Ari."
"Well, Ari," Carlos said, sidling up closer to her. He grabbed his helmet and put it on, tapping it twice as usual. "Do you like helmets?" That earned another amused laugh from Ari—not a flirty giggle, but an actual, genuine laugh.
"Oh, you weren't joking, Camille!" she laughed. "They are funny."
"Ari's here from Minnesota, just like you guys," Camille told them. "I thought you'd like to meet her."
"Hey, Minnesota?" Kendall exclaimed, losing his flirty voice. "Wow, that's great! We're from Minnesota!"
Ari gave Kendall a strange look. "That's what Camille just said…"
"Right…" Kendall realized, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"So anyway," James finally, said, slinking a little closer to Ari. "I was thinking later maybe you and I—"
"Oh!" Camille suddenly exclaimed, looking at her watch. "Ari, we're going to be late. The movie starts in like ten minutes."
"You guys are going to a movie?" James tried again. "Well, maybe I—we," he corrected himself after getting a look from all three of his best friends. "Maybe we could join you lovely ladies and—"
"No, we're ordering a movie on pay-per-view. And we're watching it in my apartment. With Stephanie and Rachel. And no boys allowed!" Camille exclaimed, holding up a finger as all four boys attempted to invite themselves over at the same time. Camille smiled and linked arms with Ari, who also smiled. "Bye boys!" With a little cutesy wave to Logan, she turned and walked away.
Ari looked over her shoulder and waved, very friendly, to the boys, who all waved back. Carlos sighed. "I think I'm in love."
"No, you can't be," Kendall informed him. "Because she's going to be mine."
"Uh, unfair!" Logan protested. "I say I get a chance with her!"
"Oh please," James scoffed. "You'll be dating Camille again by Tuesday, so you don't get a vote. And besides," he said, putting on his most confident look. "We all really know who she'll choose."
Carlos, Logan, and Kendall all exchanged a look. "Why do you automatically assume that all girls are interested in you?"
"Um, because they all are?" James laughed, wondering how his friends could not realize how much power The Face could wield.
Logan put on a mock thoughtful expression. "Let's see…Jo, Stephanie, Lucy, all the Jennifers…" he listed, counting on his fingers.
"Shut up!" James simply said, and pulled out his lucky comb from his pocket, running it through his perfect hair. "No lady can resist the Jamester." He turned and strutted off towards the elevator on his imaginary runway.
"Seriously?" Kendall asked his two best friends who stood beside him. He sighed and shook his head. "One of these days his head won't even fit through the door."
"It's not fair!" Carlos pouted. "He'll just turn on his James charm and she'll melt for him and then he'll get her! And then he'll probably dump her when another girl comes along, too…" Carlos crossed his arms. "Dumb James."
"You don't mean that, buddy," Logan reassured him. "C'mon. Maybe after he dumbs her she'll want to date a sweeter member of the band." That thought perked Carlos up a bit.
"Yeah," Kendall added. "And besides, you know what today is, right?"
"Friday…" Carlos said slowly before realizing what Kendall meant. "FISHTICK FRIDAY!" Carlos took off full speed for the elevators, Logan and Kendall only half a second behind him.
~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR
"So, Ari, I heard you met the guys today," Stephanie said, grabbing a handful of popcorn from one of the bowls that they had made.
"Yeah," Ari said. "They're pretty…interesting guys, right?"
The other girls could only laugh. "Interesting is one way to describe them," Stephanie informed Ari. "I don't think I've been here a day where they haven't done something completely crazy."
"Remember when James asked all those girls to the dance?" Rachel reminded Stephanie and Camille. "All because he was trying to teach Logan how to ask you, Camille."
"I don't know, I was so busy trying to get Carlos to finally notice me," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "And then nothing happens after that. I swear, that boy can be really dense sometimes. Like, what do I have to say to get him to like me?"
"Right?" Camille agreed. "It took so long to bring Logan around to finally being interested in me."
"Didn't you guys break up the other day?" Stephanie asked her.
"Yeah," Camille admitted, waving a hand like it was nothing. "But we only break up because we like to make up."
"You mean make out!" Rachel teased, tossing a kernel at Camille who just smiled slyly.
"Hey, weren't you one of the girls that James asked to the dance, Rachel?" Camille remembered.
"Yeah, one of like twenty," Rachel grumbled. "He was in so much trouble."
"Wait," Ari finally broke in. "He asked twenty girls to be his date?"
"Well, I think a few of them were an accident," Rachel allowed.
"Still!" Ari exclaimed. "All of those girls said yes?" When the others nodded, she was incredibly shocked. "But…why?"
"I guess James just has that effect on girls," Camille said simply. "He's a real player though, and he's obsessed with his looks."
"Which kind of makes sense," Rachel told her. "Have you seen him? The boy is fine." The others giggled, and insisted that their boy was better looking, while Ari just smiled along.
~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BT~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR~~~~~~BTR
"James," Carlos murmured sleepily from across the room. "Will you turn the light out?"
James turned around in his desk chair to look at his tired friend sitting up in the twin bed across the room. "It's Friday night. Why do you want to go to sleep so early anyway?" He swiveled back around to face the notebook he was scribbling in.
"Because Logan told me to," Carlos replied. "And because I'm tired, and because we have rehearsal at eight AM tomorrow morning because Gustavo is freaking out about the concert."
"Right…" James muttered, his pencil pausing on the page. "The concert's soon isn't it?"
"Next Saturday," Carlos reminded him, pulling the covers up and curling up on his side. "You've got it marked on your calendar. Why would you forget?"
"I didn't!" James said, insulted. "I was just…making sure." He went back to writing, and when Carlos didn't hear him getting ready for bed, he sat up again.
"What are you working so hard on?" Carlos demanded.
"Uh, just homework," James absently told him.
"No you're not!" Carlos snickered. "It's Friday! You don't do your homework until Sunday night when Logan makes you."
"Well, maybe I wanted to get a head start on it this time."
Carlos opened his mouth to respond, but the door opened. James looked up to see Logan standing there with Kendall.
"Guys, I thought we all agreed we would be well-rested for tomorrow!" Logan groaned, seeing that both boys were awake. When Carlos attempted to protest, Logan held up a finger to stop him. "No, don't try to argue! I'm the one who always has to drag you out of bed and force-feed you coffee and get you in the limo and I just want tomorrow's rehearsal to go well! Have you been around Gustavo recently? He's crazy."
"It was James," Carlos murmured. "I'm in bed. See? He won't turn the light off."
"James, can you just go to bed?" Kendall asked. "It's past eleven."
"Fine!" James exclaimed, annoyed, flipping his notebook closed. Kendall eyed it suspiciously as James got up to grab his PJs.
"What are you doing?" Kendall asked. He reached out for the notebook, but James snatched it away.
"Nothing!" James said, a little too quickly. Logan and Kendall exchanged a look. "Just homework."
"Really?" Logan asked hopefully. "You mean I won't have to badger you into doing it this weekend?"
"Well, maybe, since I didn't get a chance to finish it," James grumbled, shoving the notebook in his backpack by the door and undoing his pants to change clothes. "Now you guys go to bed. We'll turn out the lights like good little boys, Mama Logan. We promise."
"Good," Logan said, ignoring the jab. "See you when I drag Carlos out of bed tomorrow morning."
James gave a mock salute as Kendall and Logan left to go to their own bedroom.
"So what's really in the notebook?" Carlos asked, sounding incredibly curious. "Is it a diary or something? Or did you commit a crime and you can only feel guilt-free by confessing it onto paper?"
"No, Carlos," James said tiredly, wishing they hadn't let him watch that detective movie the other day. "It's nothing, okay? I…I'm working on something, but I don't want anyone to see it yet, alright?" he admitted.
"Okay," Carlos accepted surprisingly easily. He rolled over again, facing the wall. "Night, James."
"Night, Carlitos…" James murmured as he tossed his jeans into the laundry hamper across the room and flicked off the overhead light.
Kind of a strange ending, but I wasn't sure how else to end it. Comment and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading! Second chapter up maybe…Wednesday? I'm pretty busy right now, but I'll try to update quickly, because I love hearing what you guys think! I'm excited to work with James : )