Camille Roberts strolled into the Palm Woods poolside area on a bright, summery day, completely intent on getting her relax on. She desperately needed to work on her tan which, at the moment, was nonexistent. She laid herself down in a pool chair and slid her shades over her eyes, sighing in content.
"Help me!"
Camille groaned; so much for chillaxing. She opened her eyes to see that Lucy was standing over her with a frazzled look on her face.
Camille smirked. "Don't tell me you OD'd on coffee again."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "No." She looked around suspiciously and lowered her voice. "This is serious."
Camille sat up, suddenly interested. "What is it?"
Lucy grabbed Camille by the shoulders, her hazel eyes widened. "Kendall asked me out!" she exclaimed.
Camille's mouth tumbled open in surprise.
"I know, right?" Lucy agreed.
Camille just kept nodding. Kendall and Lucy had been flirting ferociously for months, but Camille hadn't thought Kendall actually had the cajones to ask Lucy out on a date.
"How come you aren't excited?" Camille asked, confused. "You should totally be happy dancing right now. Why aren't you happy dancing?"
Lucy nervously glanced away. "I just don't know if I want to go out with him. I just know I'll mess something up."
Camille had never seen Lucy as unconfident as she seemed now. Normally, she was extremely ballsy and brave. Camille beamed; it was her chance to finally help out her friend.
"You're going on that date," Camille ordered, "And you know what that means…"
Lucy frowned. "What does it mean?"
Camille grabbed Lucy's arm and stood up. "Makeover!' she squealed excitedly.
Lucy's face fell. "Oh, God."
"Let's go!" Camille yanked Lucy out of her seat and raced back into the Palm Woods.
BTRBTRBTRBTRBTRBTR
"I just made reservations at Chez Amour for tonight," Logan, Camille's boyfriend, announced. Camille shrieked in delight.
Camille, Lucy, and Logan were packed into the bathroom in Big Time Rush's crib. Camille was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, trying to scrub those pesky highlights out of her punk-rocker friend's hair. Logan was leaning against the door so no one could get in. Specifically, someone named Kendall.
Camille gasped as Lucy lifted her head out of the water, getting tiny droplets all over her tank top. "Lucy!" she snapped, shielding herself.
Lucy grabbed a chuck of her hair and wrung out the dampness. "Sorry," she apologized, grabbing a towel, "But I think my highlights are gone. And what the heck is Shay Uh-more?"
"Chez Amour is the fanciest, most romantic restaurant in LA," Camille replied cheerfully, "Logie took me there a few weeks ago." She gazed up at her boyfriend, who was about as red as a tomato.
Lucy snickered as she secured her towel turban. "I didn't know you were a romantic, Logan."
He shrugged bashfully. "I have my moments," he said, tucking his cell phone into his back pocket.
Camille rose to her feet and pecked Logan on the cheek. "Yes, he does," Camille agreed, grinning. Logan wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Lucy smiled at two teenagers. They had to be the sappiest couple ever. And she was actually jealous of them. Could she and Kendall ever be like that?
Just then, there was a rapid knocking at the door. Lucy could hear Carlos' panicked voice on the other end.
"Let me in! I need to pee!" His knocking was beginning to sound like a jackhammer hopped up on sugar.
Lucy started giggling uncontrollably as she pictured Carlos jumping up and down with a constipated look on his face.
"Unless you want everyone in here getting an eyeful of your junk," Lucy began, "You may want to use the bathroom in the lobby."
Carlos groaned dramatically. "Fine…" he said begrudgingly. He hopped away from the bathroom door and headed for the lobby.
Camille pulled open the cabinet next to Logan's head and pulled out a hair curling wand.
Lucy covered her head in fear. "If you think I'm gonna let you near my head while wielding that thing, you've got another thing coming!"
Camille plugged the curling iron, wrapping the cord around her finger. "We'll see about that."
BTRBTRBTRBTRBTR
"What do you think of this?" Lucy asked. She stepped out of her closet wearing a black and red frock with rips in the seams and holes all over.
"Are you kidding me?' Camille snapped, collapsing in the pile of clothes Lucy had created. "That thing looks like it was eaten by a giant moth. Or a billion regular-sized ones. What did you do to it?"
Lucy huffed, offended. "You don't have to be rude. And it's supposed to look like this." She tugged at the zipper in the back and tossed the dress near the reject pile. "I'm starting to run out of clothes."
"Chez Amour is a classy hangout," Camille pointed out, "You can't be up in there looking like you just stepped out of a sewer." She glanced up at Lucy and smiled sheepishly, adding, "No offense."
Lucy rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "How could I possibly be offended by that?" she asked sarcastically. She sat down in the pile next to her curly-haired friend miserably. "Can we just give up?" she pleaded, holding her head in her hands.
Camille stared at Lucy in disbelief. "No, we may not. Don't you want to go on this date?" Camille went to go search the closet.
"Not anymore," Lucy muttered, picking at the closet. Everything seemed so wrong. Lucy at a fancy restaurant was like a nun at a rock concert. Fancy was so not her thing.
Camille then emerged from walk-in closet holding a poofy prom dress. It had cutesy sweetheart neckline and alternating white-and-sky-blue tiers. "It's perfect," Camille gasped, hugging the dress to her chest.
"It's horrible," Lucy gagged, pretending stick a finger down her throat. "My mom bought that for my prom." Lucy snorted. "As if I actually wore it."
A sly smile spread across Camille's face. "You're wearing it tonight. You'll look so posh if I just pair this with my white cardigan…"
Lucy buried her face in the pile of clothing. Tonight was going to be a disaster.
BTRBTRBTRBTRBTR
Lucy slowly approached Chez Amour, thinking about backing out. Camille was in the car she had just exited, but maybe she could make a run for it.
"Go in!" Camille urged from the car, leaning out the window. Lucy gulped and stepped into the restaurant. A man wearing a bright red vest came up to her, smiling happily. Lucy tried to smile back.
"Who is your reservation under?" he asked, holding a clipboard with a list of names on it.
"Uh, Knight," Lucy stammered, pulling at the hem of her borrowed cardigan. The man led her to a table where Kendall was seated, waiting. He glanced up and slowly smiled when he saw Lucy.
Lucy grinned as Kendall stood, revealing his substantial height. He was wearing an unbuttoned dark blazer over a crisp, white button-up and jeans. A bit dressy, but definitely casual. He looked…really nice, actually.
"You look amazing," Kendall blurted, motioning to Lucy. Her hair was hanging in soft waves around her face. She was wearing a dress fit for a princess that stopped just a bit below her knees. She looked…different. Not a bad different, just different.
"Someone will be here to take your orders in a little bit," the red-vested man said, then walked away. Lucy slid into her seat across from Kendall and smoothed her dress over her knees.
Kendall ran his fingers through the back of his hair. "You know, when I asked you out," he started tentatively, "I kinda thought you were gonna say no."
Lucy grabbed the leather-bound menu and pored over the meals, which seemed to all be written in French. "That's ridiculous," Lucy disagreed, shaking her head. "In fact, I've been wanting you to ask me out a long time."
Kendall glanced up, a look of surprise on his face. "Really?"
Lucy blushed and brushed her curls away from her face. "Well, yeah. I think you're a really cool guy."
A waitress with a tray of drinks in her hands bent down next to their table, placing two tall glasses of wine in the center. When she was out of earshot, Lucy asked, "Doesn't she know we're not over twenty-one?"
Kendall shrugged innocently. "I may have told them that we were…"
Lucy reached over and smacked Kendall on the shoulder. "You're so bad!" she laughed, grabbing one of the glasses and taking a tiny sip. Kendall always knew how to loosen her up, even in a snooty place like Chez Amour.
Lucy and Kendall ordered their food shortly after, laughing, eating, and trying to get through tense, awkward silences. Lucy looked over her shoulder, witnessing a group of young, hip teenagers whispering and sneaking peeks at the two of them. Lucy sighed, pushing the food around on her plate.
Lucy went for her glass, accidentally knocking over the candle on there table. She screamed and stood up with a start as the table cloth caught on fire. Kendall crabbed the pitcher of water on the cart next to them and splashed it over the glowing flames. Lucy sighed in relief. Her relief dissolved when she noticed the entire restaurant had their eyes on them.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Lucy apologized, covering her mouth. A couple of waiters were headed their way and they didn't look happy.
"Lucy, it's fine," Kendall assured her, putting his hand on Lucy's arm. Lucy started trying to get out of the area and found herself tripping over her own feet. She slipped, tumbling right into the food cart, bringing it down with her.
Lucy ripped away when Kendall tried to help her up. She tore out of the area and rushed into the bathroom. Close to tears, Lucy locked herself into a stall and sat on the toilet. The dress that she didn't even like was destroyed and she had somehow destroyed an entire table of food single-handedly. She was a mess.
Lucy heard the door open and someone step inside. She sighed when she saw Kendall's familiar Vans under the stall door.
"Lucy, can we talk?" he asked.
"No, please just go," Lucy responded dejectedly. "I can't go back out there."
"I want to see you. Please." Lucy unzipped her dress and slipped out of it, pulling down the legs of the jeans she'd been wearing under it. She unlocked the stall door and stepped out, staring at the floor.
"Were you wearing that the whole time?" Kendall asked. Lucy was now in a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top under Camille's cardigan. "You should have come in that."
Lucy balled the dress up and stuffed it into a garbage can. "Camille said I should wear something fancy," she muttered. Then she groaned. "God, I didn't even want to come here."
Kendall's smile wilted. "You didn't?"
"No, I mean, I did," Lucy clarified, "Just not Chez Amour. I just wanted to hang out with you in the apartment, maybe watch a movie together and fall asleep on the couch." Kendall took one of Lucy's hands and pulled her towards him. Lucy blushed, startled.
"That sounds incredible," Kendall agreed, smiling. He ran a finger through Lucy's hair and gazed into her eyes. "Besides, we're way too good for this place."
Lucy snorted, resting her head against Kendall's chest. "Let's get out of here before we get sued." She squeezed Kendall's hand. "Come on."
"Wait," Kendall said. He twirled Lucy around and pulled her into a soft kiss. Lucy smiled against Kendall's lips. The disaster date had ended on a nice note.
