Warped
By: Riley
Summary – Kendall's excited to be going to warped tour for the first time and he's stoked to be able to see some of his favorite bands with his friends. He didn't think he'd make such good friends while there. Some that would throw the rest of his life in a tail-spin –Pre-series-
Pairs: Hints of Kiley and Lolla.
A/N: This one-shot is a UA (or Universe Alteration) where it's the regular BTR show verse, the only difference now being DE's background, their personalities are slightly different, and that their parents are alive. However after this one-shot is the rest of the show, where they meet Gustavo and get sent out to LA and go through the rest of the show.
I got the idea for this story after talking to Rhu about potentially doing a BTR season 1-4 story with DE's parents being alive. So I wanted to try and do something that had them alive so I could work on their personalities and how they deal with their kids. Another source of inspiration was that Kendall had been in a band that played Warped Tour in 2008 right before he dropped out to audition for Big Time Rush. I hope you guys like it.
"Kendall! Wake up!"
Kendall groaned and rolled onto his stomach, pulling his blankets up over his head. He let out a heavy sigh, nestling his face into his cool pillow, allowing his breath to even out so he could fall back asleep. A moment later he was rudely awakened by loud, shrill ringing in his ear. Kendall tucked himself into a ball before launching himself upwards, throwing his sheets off him. Katie stepped back and dropped the alarm clock that was blaring in her hand onto the bedside table. She turned back to her brother with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.
"God, Katie," Kendall groaned, rubbing his eyes. "For an eleven year old, you can be so evil."
"For a fourteen year old, it's pathetic that you still need to have someone wake you up," Katie replied. She rolled her eyes before pointing over at the clock once more, as the ringing stopped. "Besides, considering today's Warped Tour. I figured you would have been up hours ago. Your idiotic friends are already-"
"Warped Tour?" Kendall leapt out of his bed and hurried over to the calendar that sat on the wall across his bed. He tripped over the clothes, hockey sticks, and shoes that littered the floor to get there, crashing face-first into the wall to stop his frantic momentum. Kendall ignored Katie's hysterical laughter as he stabbed at the calendar with his index finger and dragged it around to the current date. It was circled in red and, in his own scribble, read Warped Tour Today. "Yes!"
"I told you," Katie mumbled. Pushing the sleeves to her purple, plaid shirt up, she walked over to her brother, standing on her tiptoes to get a good look at his face. "What's so great about Warped Tour anyway? You and the guys have been talking about it for months. Ever since it's been announced that they're coming to Minnesota."
"I've explained it a hundred times, Katie," Kendall said, pulling off his t-shirt and looking around his room for a new one. Getting down on his hands and knees he shuffled around, sniffing some shirts he found along the way. Katie, who was watching him, curled her upper lip as he cast a few shirts aside then picked up a black one, smelling it twice before pulling it over his head. "Warped Tour is like…the Oscars of music. But instead of getting awards, you're playing for large groups of fans and picking up more along the way. It's a massive music festival, almost as good as Coachella. It's like a good slap shot."
"Whatever," Katie dismissed. Anything that suddenly had hockey term put into his speech she was never particularly fond about in the first place.
She looked around Kendall's room and walked over to the guitar that was sitting in the corner. Unlike everything else he had wanted to take lessons for, all of which were now sitting in his closet collection dust, the sheen on the guitar's fret board showed he took very good care of the instrument. Every time he finished his practicing for the day, he would painstakingly take off each of the strings and oil the fret board to be sure things were working well before replacing the strings. Katie liked to sit and watch him practice the guitar, the peaceful look that came onto his face as he toggled the strings and frets always made her smile. She thought he was really talented too; he hadn't been playing long, only a couple of months, but he already knew so many of his favorite songs and was starting to write some of his own.
So what if she thought he was the best because he's her older brother? She knew talent when she saw it, and he definitely had talent. Maybe one day she could become his manager or something. Katie picked up the guitar and turned back to her brother, who pulled his shorts up his hips and jumped into a pair of Vans. Standing at his floor length mirror Kendall ran his fingers through his blonde hair, pulling at the spiky strands that stuck out in every direction. Katie watched him for a moment before shaking her head.
"You can mess with your hair all you want, Big Brother, it's still not going to help your lack in style," Katie remarked. She walked over to him, still holding out the guitar. "Are you going to try and see if anyone will listen to the stuff you recorded?"
Kendall turned and took his guitar from her, carefully placing it on his bed. "No. All the singing I do is just for fun anyway." He shook his head. "Especially at work, since they have it on the nineties channel all the time." Now he rolled his green eyes, despite his words, they were bright with excitement about the music festival. "You'd think my boss was stuck in the nineties or something." He lifted his chin, sniffing the air. "Smells like Mom's got breakfast started. C'mon Baby Sister."
He kneeled down and Katie walked over and climbed onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and Kendall grasped her legs tightly as he stood up. He walked out of his room, slightly bouncing his sister up and down as he went. Kendall tightened his grip on her legs as he thundered down the stairs, jumping down the last couple of steps and landing hard on the ground below. Their mother let out a startled shriek at the sound before poking her head out of the kitchen, giving her son a hard glare.
"Kendall, how many times have I told you not to do that?" She asked.
"A million and one at this point," Kendall replied. "Sorry, Mom." He twisted his head back and smiled at Katie, who giggled and tightened her grip around her brother's shoulders. The two shared a sly smile before Kendall turned back to her, walking into the kitchen as well. Mrs. Knight rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove, flipping a pancake over in the griddle. "So what's for breakfast?" He gently lowered Katie off his back and onto the floor before the two of them did their family handshake.
Katie smiled as she plopped down in her seat and picked up a glass of orange juice that was waiting for her. She spoke again after swallowing, placing the glass back on the table. "Anything that's left after Carlos gets through it all." As soon as the last word came out of her mouth, the front door to the house burst open, causing Mrs. Knight to scream in surprise, and flip a pancake onto the floor.
"I dibs it!" Kendall shouted at the same time a helmet clad teenage boy shouted, barreling into the kitchen. He swooped down and picked up the pancake, taking a quick bite.
"Ew!" Katie wrinkled her nose.
Kendall laughed, dropping down into his own seat, reaching out and picking up an mp3 player that was resting by his plate. He unraveled the headphones and stuck them over his ears before leaning over and reaching out a hand for a high-five.
"Carlos, that's disgusting!"
Carlos laughed. He pulled off his helmet and tossed it at the brunette that was giving him an admonishing look. His nose wrinkled even more than Katie's had. "Seriously, Logan, you gotta lighten up sometime." He then turned to the taller brunette who was standing behind Logan. "I mean, seriously, he thinks that a couple of germs is actually gonna make me sick." Carlos made a show of taking a large bite and chewing it noisily. "I haven't gotten sick in years; I'm not going to get sick now."
"Give me some of that!" The tall brunette grabbed half of the pancake and ripped it, jamming it into his mouth.
"Ew, James, you're just as disgusting as Carlos," Katie protested, dropping her fork and knife.
James shrugged, grabbing a chair and turning it around so the back rested against the table. Lifting a leg, he straddled the chair, resting his arms on the table. He grinned as he leaned towards her. "Maybe, but I'm definitely better looking." He sent a wink her way, his smile widening when Katie's cheeks flushed and she looked away from him.
Logan rolled his eyes before turning to Mrs. Knight. "I know it doesn't help much, but I'm apologizing for them," he said, motioning to James and Logan. He then took a seat at the table as well. "And thank you from taking the time out of your already busy schedule to take us to Warped Tour and for making us breakfast."
Kendall raised an eyebrow, removing a headphone from his ear. Tinny rock music filled the air from the displaced headphone. "Seriously, dude, I don't think I've ever met someone our age that speaks as good as you do."
"As well as I do," Logan corrected him. "And I have to if I want to be taken seriously as a doctor."
"That's why I want to be famous," James said with a bright smile. "I can portray myself however I want and I can hire someone else to do my interview for me." He stretched his arms out in front of him, interlacing his fingers to crack his knuckles. "While I sit back and hang out with the girls in my hot tub."
"Yeah, the girls that are laughing at you," Kendall teased. He and Logan laughed and he raised a hand, exchanging a high-five with his friend. He replaced the headphones over his ears, bobbing along to the drum beats of Taking Back Sunday. He flipped his fork around his fingers, waiting as his mother filled plates with pancakes and bacon, passing them out around the table. "Thanks, Mom," he said before digging into his own plate. "Dude, can you guys believe we're really going to Warped Tour?"
"No way," James agreed. He flicked his long hair out of his face. "I mean, it's already cool enough that we're going but now I can find some people who can make me famous while I'm there." He grinned, nudging Carlos on the shoulder. "And all of those girls in bikinis will be what makes it worth it."
"Totally," Carlos agreed through a full mouth. He was hunched over his plate, a fork and knife in each hand, shoveling bites of food into his mouth. As he spoke, tiny bits of food fell out onto his plate. He whipped them back up into his mouth a second later. "Today's going to be so cool!"
"Even I'm excited to be going," Logan agreed. He turned to Kendall. "Just think about everything you can learn about the music industry. I mean, maybe you can find someone that can get you a summer job and-"
"Whoa!" Kendall held up a hand before pointing at Logan between the eyes. "Warped Tour is going to be sweet, but I'm still all for becoming a hockey player. The Minnesota Wild is my one and only goal with the Canada Maple Leafs as my backup! Apart from today, I'm spending all summer getting ready for the team at school. Now that we're going into sophomore year we should have more opportunities to play."
"Kendall, you were the captain last year," Logan pointed out. "Something that, I must add, you've only managed to do in the history of school." Kendall could feel his ego swell with pride. "You couldn't play any more than you already do." He reached out and placed his hand on Kendall's shoulder, gently shaking him. Kendall smiled and turned back to his breakfast. "I mean, I want to be a doctor and even I know how cool today is going to be. Don't think one experience is going to change your future plans."
"Yeah, Kendall, you not playing hockey would mean that the world is going to end, and it can't end yet. I have too much stuff to do and too many corn dogs to eat." Carlos reached out towards the middle of the table, where his helmet was resting, and tapped it twice, smiling lovingly at the protective plastic.
"Boys," Katie murmured, shaking her head.
Mrs. Knight sat at the head of the table and smiled down at her daughter. If only Katie knew that fourteen year old boys were like this all the time and that they only seemed to get worse the older they got.
"Dad! Dad! Listen to this guitar riff! I think it's something we can do for our show today!"
"Hang on a tick, Cherry. I'm helping Grape set up her drum kit." Reed Jackson scratched the back of his head after placing a cymbal on top of its stand. His blue eyes darted around the stage before he turned to face his twin daughters, who were standing on the ground in front of him. An amused smile slid onto his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. Despite his sunny disposition, her tone turned hard. "Rhuben, I thought you asked for my help, not for me to do it all myself."
Rhuben placed her hands on her hips, swinging her black hair out of her face then tucked her purple strand of hair behind her ear. "That's what 'help' means," she replied. "Every kid knows that whenever we ask our parents for help, we just want them to do it all for us."
"She's right, Daddy," Riley agreed, her lips curling up into a smirk. Her dark blue eyes flashed as she crossed her arms over her chest, nudging her red and black electric guitar behind her back. "I mean, how do you think my grades in maths have been getting better so quickly?" Her smirk widened. "I asked Mum for help."
"That's good to know, sweetie," Reed said. He jumped down from the stage and reached out his hands, ruffling his daughters' hair. "Remind me to talk to your mother about that next time report cards come around." He ran his hand through his dark brown locks before leaning towards her. "Now, what was it that you wanted to show me?"
"This new riff I came up with," Riley said. She turned and hopped up onto the edge of the stage, kicking her legs back and forth. He features were graced with a smile. "Can you believe that we're here in America for Warped Tour? Fourteen years old and we're already making it in the big time."
"It's not the big time yet," Reed reminded her. "This is just your first set of shows in the US."
"But our popularity is rising back in Oz, you said so yourself," Rhuben reminded him.
"Yes, it is. But your first shows in a different country are harder than you'd think, especially because you're relatively unknown here. No worries. You just need to remember that and not let everything go to your head." He reached out and tapped Riley on the tip of her nose. She smiled and pushed his hand away. Reed smiled back before kissing both of his daughters on the forehead. "Alright, where are your mother and your brothers?"
"Mum and Julius went to get some food," Rhuben said dutifully. "And I think Patrick, Noah, and Sydney are messing around on their scooters."
"And Ronan said he was going to look at some other bands while we waited to go to our tent for the merchandise singing," Riley added.
"Thanks, Riles. I'll go find your mother. You two stay here and keep an eye on your brothers."
"Got it," the twin girls chorused before watching their father disappear, slipping through the crowds that walked around their stage area.
Rhuben pulled herself up onto the stage with her sister. Riley put her guitar aside and watched the crowds that passed back and forth in front of them. The crowds of young kids, teenagers, and adults surged back and forth in front of them, all talking and laughing excitedly with each other. Some of them were carrying signed posters of some of the other bands that were performing at Warped Tour that day. She wanted nothing more than to go check out the ones that were currently playing, but the fact that her brothers were missing was even more pressing.
"So where do you think they got off to?" Rhuben frowned, pressing her lips together. She gently shook her head. "Not that it makes much of a difference. We'd figure out where they are as soon as we hear screaming." With that, there was the sound of loud laughter and shrieks of outrage and annoyance coming towards them from the left side of the stage. Her lips twitched upwards into an amused smile.
"Spoke too soon." Riley laughed.
"Look over there! Story of the Year is starting to warm up for their show!" Carlos pointed out the band. His eyes grew significantly wider as he continued to look around. "And Angels & Airwaves, Gym Class Heroes, Paramore, All Time Love, 3OH!3, Forever the Sickest Kids…every band that we actually know!" He waved his arms over his head, turning in a quick circle. "I can't believe we're actually here! This is so cool!"
"Hey, you weren't the one that sat online for three days straight to make sure we got these tickets," Kendall reminded him. He had even missed hockey practices for it, it was that important to him and his friends. Their school had been buzzing about it when the news broke out and everyone scrambled for tickets as soon as they went on sale. "If anything, I think you should be kissing my butt. I could have easily freezed the puck on you." He smacked Carlos on the back of the head before turning to Logan and James. Katie walked along with them, a few steps behind them. "What band do you guys want to see first? We have a while before Mom comes back."
"I want to see-"
"We know who you want to see, Katie," Kendall remarked, turning back to look at his little sister. He reached out and took her hand, pulling her to his side. "You've been going on and on about them throughout the car ride here." Katie smiled and held tightly onto Katie's hand.
Normally, any brother would have been annoyed having to take their little sister with them to Warped Tour, especially having to look after them the whole time they were there. Kendall had, admittedly, been annoyed at first when they were heading out to the car and Mrs. Knight said she wasn't going to spend the whole day at the music festival. Instead, she instructed Kendall to watch Katie while they were there, promising if he took an eye off her she would know and he would be grounded. To say that Mrs. Knight was overprotective was an understatement especially when it came to her kids' well beings. Get her started about their grades and she could get just as heated about it.
"I just want to see if I can meet them, other than that I don't really care," Katie said, tightening her grip on Kendall's hand.
"I want to check out Paramore," James said. "That Hayley chick is so hot." He rubbed his hands together, eyes rapidly raising and lowering as he grinned at his friends. Logan and Carlos nodded in agreement. "I mean, she had a hot body as it is, her voice is freaking beautiful, and her hair is, like, awesome."
"Why don't you just go ahead and say that you just want to make out with her and that's it?" Katie demanded. Kendall squeezed her hand tighter, looking down at her with a disapproving glance. "What? We all know he's thinking it. He may as well admit it."
"He could but then that'd be a lot of things that you shouldn't hear," Logan pointed out. He reached out and poked James on the arm. "And you need to be a bit more careful about how you treat girls. I know you know your Mom would kill you if she heard you disrespecting them."
"Pssht." James waved a hand. "Like you weren't thinking it."
"Boys," Katie murmured.
"WATCH OUT!"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James all turned to see three boys on scooters heading their way. Kendall reached out an arm and pushed Katie backwards out of the way as three boys on scooters zoomed by them. They skidded to a halt, nearly running into Carlos and Logan, who screamed at the tops of their lungs and clung onto each other. The two stopped screaming and slowly let go of each other as the three boys' laughter reached their ears.
"Sorry, mate, didn't see you there," one of them said with a bright smile on his face. "Good thing we stopped though, or else Syd would be charged with manslaughter." He reached out and smacked the shorted boy on the shoulder, who smiled as he pushed his helmet up his forehead.
"Even then, we'd still blame it on you, Pat," the other one replied.
"Uh, excuse me, boy who nearly got crushed standing over here!" Carlos called, waving a hand in the air. He placed that hand on his chest, gently leaning over, resting his hands on his knees. "I think I may need to get a new change of pants."
"TMI, Carlos," Logan said with a groan, shifting away from the helmet clad boy. He regained his composure, clearing his throat and straightening his clothes. "And I never knew you could scream so loud."
"He wasn't the one that screamed like a girl, mate," Sydney commented, pushing his blue dyed strands out of his face. He laughed, dimples appearing in his cheeks, along with his brothers.
Katie made a choking sound and tugged on Kendall's arm. He looked down at her for a second before turning back to the three boys that were standing in front of them. His face screwed up as he studied them, black hair, blue eyes, and similar facial features. However, each of their black hair had streaks that were dyed different colors; blue, blonde, and white. The two boys on the right were definitely twins otherwise they all looked similar, breaking any doubt they were related.
"Excuse me for having my vocal register break at certain octaves," Logan defended himself.
"PATRICK!" Patrick winced, his shoulders immediately moving up to his ears, before he turned around and smiled sheepishly at the two girls that pushed through the crowd to the two boys. These two were twins as well, as far as Kendall could tell from a quick glance, differencing themselves by wearing red and purple respectively. Just like the boys, some of their hair was dyed their colors as well. The girl in red moved up to Patrick's side, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning into him. "Why do I get the feeling that you've been terrorizing people with your face again?"
"Because he always does?" Sydney piped up. "Even you know that, Ri-Ri."
"Don't look so innocent, Little Man, you didn't have to go along with him, too," The girl in purple scolded him. Sydney grabbed onto the handles of his scooter and ducked down behind it, blinking up at her. Shaking her head, the girl turned back to the four boys standing in front of them.
Talk about an odd man rush, Kendall thought, his eyebrow rising for a moment. It lowered as Katie shook his arm once more. Kendall shook her off before crossing his arms over his chest. "Those were my friends that you almost knocked over," he pointed out.
"You didn't apologize?" The girl in red looked harshly at the three boys. "Figures." She shook her head, rolling her eyes before turning back to the boys. "I'm sorry, you lot. They really don't know anything about boundaries and not killing people." She smirked. "Though it did look like fun."
"Way to set an example, Riles," the girl in purple scoffed, elbowing her sister in the side. The two girls laughed.
"Kendall!" Katie hissed.
"What?" Kendall finally took a good look at his sister. His eyebrows then lowered. It was the most excited and speechless he had ever seen her. She looked at him, then turned her gaze back towards the five kids in front of them. His eyes lowered to a badge that was resting around their necks. Peering closer, his eyes widened when he recognized it. "Hey, that's a band pass! You're performing in Warped Tour today?" Another tug to his arm. "Oh! You're the band that Katie really wanted to meet. The DarkElements, right?"
"Right." The boy who had his hair dyed white nodded.
"WOW!" Carlos practically shouted. "I've heard of you. Katie plays your guys' CDs all the time. You're so good. And you're so famous! What are you doing here?" He placed both of his hands on his helmet and started to jump up and down in spot. "You're, like, the most famous people I've ever met! This is so cool!"
Logan grabbed onto Carlos's shoulder and pulled him back out of the way. "You'll have to excuse him, we all him not to have so much sugar all the time but he doesn't listen." He gave a friendly smile to the five siblings. "I'm Logan Mitchell, That's Carlos Garcia—"
"I'm James Diamond," James said as he took a step forward. He tapped himself on the chest. "Better remember the name; you're going to hear more of me soon."
Kendall rubbed his forehead before pinching the bridge of his nose. Figures he'd be the only one who would stay calm in a moment like this. Carlos and Logan had screamed their heads off, Katie had gone silent for the first time since she had been born, and James, of course, was trying to make connections out of any opportunity that came his way. Was he really the only sane one out of him and his friends?
"I'm sorry about them," Kendall said. He motioned to Logan, Carlos, and James who were still asking rapid-fire questions, barely giving the Jacksons room to get a word in. "They're really not this weird or jerkish." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Kendall."
"Riley." She slapped her hand into his and gave it a firm shake. He felt his fingers get pushed together by the force of her handshake. She gave him a friendly smile. "Rilandon Jackson, actually, but I prefer Riley."
"I'm Rhuben." She gave him a handshake as well, hers just as strong as her sister's. Dropping her hand, she motioned to the boys beside her. "And these three terrors are our brothers, Patrick,"—he gave a lopsided smile—"Noah,"—he smiled and nodded—"and-"
"Hi! I'm Sydney!" Sydney waved his hand in the air, giving a bright smile.
"This is my sister, Katie," Kendall said. He placed his hands on Katie's shoulders and moved her in front of him. He gently pushed her forward. "She's a real big fan of yours and…I'm sure would say that herself if she was able to talk. Ow!" Katie elbowed Kendall in the stomach and turned to glare at her brother before turning back to the band.
"Don't listen to him" she said. "He's just as weird as the rest of these guys. Trust me; I've been around them for ages." She clasped her hands together. "Um, would it be ok if I get an autograph or something?" She looked at them earnestly. "It'd mean a lot."
Kendall smiled to himself. Though she was star struck, he knew she was asking for the autograph to sell it to the highest bidder online. There had been numerous times where he would bring her to the Mall of America for some sort of convention or meet and greet to get the celebrities autograph, only to turn around and sell it to whoever wanted it. The impressive thing was that she would take some money for getting the autograph in the first place, then charge even more for the autograph in the first place.
"No worries," Rhuben said. She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Our merchandise table is over there, we can find something for ya." She shrugged. "It's our first time out here so it's probably the cheapest you're going to get the stuff. C'mon." Motioning with a toss of her head, she and her siblings led Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, and Katie followed behind them.
"Do you play guitar by any chance?"
Kendall looked up to see Riley walking beside him, hands on her hips, her eyes boring right into his. Kendall was startled by her intense look for a moment, not used to having someone look at him so closely, as if she could see right through him. Finally, he blinked and looked away before nodding. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Calluses." She said the word so simply he felt a little foolish. "I felt em' on your fingertips, mate. Do you have a band or anything?"
"Not really," Kendall said. "I just like to play. It's something I do in my spare time." He cracked his knuckles. "Actually, I really like to play hockey. I've been playing since I was, like, five. My dream is to play for the Wild or the Maple Leafs." She nodded. "But I like to play the guitar a lot."
"What's your favorite?"
"Les Paul."
Riley's eyes lit up and she gave him a friendly smile. "Ace! I'm more of a Gibson fan, myself. But that's a good choice, yeah? Classic." She raised her hand in a thumbs up, giving him the chance to see the dragon tattoo that wrapped around her arm. "And they have some really good models that came out recently."
Kendall nodded in agreement, continuing the conversation as they went to the merch booth. Riley had just offered him to try out one of her extras when they arrived, her attention quickly diverted. Sydney quickly ducked behind the table and started to take out large boxes filled with t-shirts, Riley perched on the edge of the table one leg dangling above the ground, Rhuben sat down in a chair behind the table, crossing her legs, and Patrick and Noah started looking through some more boxes of merchandise for something to sign.
"The shirts are only, about, ten bucks each," Rhuben said, crossing her legs at the ankle and resting her hands on her lap. "We have some notebooks as well, in case some people want to use them to learn how to write their own songs, hats, posters, phone cases." She flipped her hair behind her shoulder, looking at the boys. "Pretty much anything you can think of."
"Are you British?" Logan asked, resting his hands on the table and leaning towards her. His eyes were narrowed as if deep in thought. "I think I'm detecting that, but I'm also getting a feeling that you're from the Oceanic region."
Rhuben looked at him for a long moment before smiling warmly. "You're the first one to get that right; more people think we're British than anything else." She gently nodded her head. "We're Australian actually. Born and raised in different areas, but all grown up in Sydney." She pointed over to her baby brother. "Which he's named after."
"Best city in the world," Sydney commented, pulling out the flaps of a box of t-shirts. "You can't compare the surfing there, either, mate."
"No matter where you go, be is Pipeline or Mavericks, nothing is better than the Ozzy surf," Patrick agreed. He reached out a hand and gave Noah a fist bump. He squinted his right eye against the sunlight that streamed through the booth. "Then again, I may be biased."
"Anything that you can watch Patrick eat a chunk of the beach when coming off a surfboard is a highlight," Noah added with a light laugh. He ducked his head out of the way as Patrick reached out to smack him, and then grabbed his brother in a headlock.
"This stuff is really cool," James said, looking over the shirts. "I really like the silver and black you all have for you logo." He picked up a white t-shirt with the DE logo on the front, the two letters written in medieval lettering, taking up the front of the t-shirt. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you guys get in the industry?" Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and Katie all groaned, rolling their eyes. James ignored him, though the Jacksons looked interested.
"Something tells me he talks about this a lot," Noah remarked.
"You have no idea," Carlos said. He mimed sticking a finger down his throat and making a retching sound, causing the whole group to start laughing. Riley made a motion with her arm and she and her siblings tried to hide their laughter. Carlos turned around to see a security guard walking their way, his hands tightly holding onto his belt. "Oh no! Dad didn't hire someone to follow us around again did he?"
"After the time someone stole your helmet, I wouldn't put it past him," Logan remarked. He then winced, his dark eyes crinkling up. "I hope we're not going to get interrogated again. I barely got over my nightmares from the last time."
"Wimp," Katie declared. She let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head. She looked at the Jacksons as if to say 'do you see what I have to put up with'? She backed out of the way as the guard came to a stop next to the booth and looked down at the five siblings.
"Can we help you officer?" Rhuben's smile widened.
"I got a call from Kevin Lyman saying that you all had stolen a golf cart and was joy riding it around the arena today," he said in his gruff voice. "What do you have to say for yourselves? You've been on the tour for three days now and so far I've had to come to your booth every day."
"Well, then I think you have too much time on your hands, mate," Riley said. She tucked her hair behind her ears before sitting up, dropping her hands into her lap. "Yes, we found an abandoned golf cart earlier this afternoon, but we were just driving it back over to the security area. Can't arrest us for that can you?"
"Also, don't forget that the laws from Australia to America are different and this being our first time in the United States, we're not exactly sure what's allowed and what's not," Sydney spoke up. As he continued, his words came out rapidly to the point that it was almost undistinguishable. "Also, if there is a problem with us, you may want to consider talking to our managers, our Mum and Dad, or to our music producer, Ronan McGuire, who could all attest to the fact that if you think we're causing too much trouble, than Warped Tour may not be the best place for us. Which would be a shame; everyone knows that Kevin Lyman likes to have Warped Tour branch out to a lot of different countries. Pushing out a band that's representing Australia, one of his favorites places to visit, may not reflect well on you, yeah?" He finished his tirade with a cocky smirk as his brothers and sisters laughed. Kendall laughed along with his friends at the stunned expression on the guard's face before he turned and walked away.
Kendall shook his head, lifting his gaze and looking around the booths that were set up around them. While hockey was his main passion, he could feel his excitement grow as he watched those that were so immersed in the music culture make their way around him. He loved to play the guitar in his free time and long ago, before he had decided he wanted nothing to do but play hockey, he did have dreams of being a rock star. A part of him would like to know what it would be like to be a rock star. Listening to bands like Sublime and Taking Back Sunday, following their careers in a way that he lived vicariously though them. He probably would have done the same if he had decided to play guitar the rest of his life and followed his favorite hockey players' lives.
"Good one, Syd," Rhuben remarked. "I think that was really the fastest we've gotten rid of him." She sat up straight. "Mum's not going to be too happy with it, though. So you might as well enjoy your freedom now before your grounding kicks in."
"Seven years old and a week grounding only because I told off a security guard," Sydney said sarcastically. "I think I can live with that one."
"You're only seven?" James's eyes flew wide open. "Wow, you're really young." He snapped his fingers. "That means I have a good chance to get into this industry, get the girls, and have the fame."
"You're making a bad choice if the only reason you want to be in the industry is for the fame," Patrick commented. He thumped himself on the chest. "It seems all glamorous and cool at first, and it kind of is, but it takes a lot of hard work."
"James is my best bud and I can vouch for him, he'd work really hard." Kendall put an arm around James' shoulders, smiling at him. "He works harder than anyone I know. And breaking into the industry is what he really wants."
"Whatever you say, Spider-Head," Riley replied, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes momentarily moved towards Kendall's spiky hair before she looked him up and down. "You're, like, fourteen, yeah?" The four boys nodded. "Then you have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. Though you in particular, already seem to have it all figured out."
"What about you?" Rhuben asked Logan and Carlos, her eyes shifting back and forth between the two. "What do you want to do with your lives? I mean, if you've already thought about it." She dropped her feet from the table top and brought one foot up to rest on the edge of her seat. She wrapped her arm around her knee, showing off the musical note tattoo on her arm.
"Me?" Logan pointed at himself before smiling warmly. "I want to be a doctor. I plan on going into Pre-Med for my first three years of college, graduate early, and then use what would be my fourth year to start working on Medical school in general."
"Wow." Rhuben nodded, her eyebrows shooting up. She held up a finger. "Just a tip, don't count your chooks before they hatch."
"I won't," Logan said confidently. "I'm going to be a doctor. Just watch."
"I'm looking forward to it." Rhuben's eyes shifted to the side and she and her siblings got to their feet. "Hey, come here! We want to introduce you to some people!" The boys and Katie turned around to find two older men, an older woman, and a teenage boy walking their way. They all smiled and nodded when they reached the booth. "Mum, Dad, Ronan, Julius, this is Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, and Katie."
"And this is our Mum, Renee, our Dad, Reed, our music producer Ronan, and our older brother Julius," Riley introduced, pointing to each of them in turn. "Ronan is also the owner of Blazing Phoenix Records, which we're signed to, and he's one of our best mates."
The four went through the five younger teenagers and gave them handshakes and warm smiles. Despite the heat of the day or how stressful things seemed to be around them, they were all friendly a polite. Julius, like the rest of his siblings, had black hair and blue eyes with strands of his black hair dyed dark blue. All six of the Jacksons were mixtures of their parents, stick them by their mother with her dark hair, kind, brown, exotic eyes, and warm smile and they looked exactly like her. Stick them next to their father with sandy brown hair, bright blue eyes, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, giving off an air of being wise beyond his years and they looked exactly like him.
"So, why was there security over here?" Renee turned to her children, raising an eyebrow. Unlike the rest of them, she had an American accent compared to her husband's and kids' Australian one. "I know you all did something and if you don't tell me now, I'm just going to find out later. And if I find out later, things are just going to be worse for you."
Much like any kid would in front of their mother; the Jacksons all gulped and looked at each other with guilty expressions on their faces. Crossing your mother when she meant business was a delicate situation to get yourself out of. Kendall was the one that usually tried to butter her up with compliments and reminding her that he loved her, and about the time that he saved her from choking to keep from getting into trouble. But then she would narrow her green eyes at him and he would immediately tell her what sort of trouble him and the boys— who always seemed to be right by him when he was in trouble — had gotten into. It seemed that the Jacksons were having the same dilemma.
"You don't have to look far Mum," Julius said before turning his gaze to Riley. "We all know she's the mastermind of whatever crime they committed."
"Thanks a lot, Bro," Riley grumbled. She smiled sweetly at her mother. "Your see, Mum, what had happened was that we found an abandoned golf cart and was trying to return it."
"By taking laps around the arena?" Ronan jumped in. When the Jacksons's eyes turned to him, he held his hands up defensively. "I may be your music producer, but you guys are still representing my name wherever you go." He paused, then looked like he was trying his hardest not to smile. "The call that we got sure was interesting."
"I bet it was," Rhuben agreed and she and Riley high-fived.
Reed gave the two a warning look.
"We can worry about this later," Julius suggested, looking at his watch as it beeped. "We only have a half hour before their show starts up and they need to do a sound check. He then glanced at the four boys and Katie before turning to his parents. "Do you think we could get them some backstage passes or something?"
"All six of you are in the band?" James asked.
"Yeah," Katie jumped in. "It's a family thing. Julius isn't as into it as the rest of them, he's more into his schooling, so he pops in and out. But the rest of us make up the core of the band." She gave a modest smile as all eyes turned to her.
"Sounds like someone is a big fan," Patrick remarked.
"Sounds like you're right," Noah agreed.
"All of you know what your jobs are then," Renee said to her kids in a firm voice, quickly switching from mother to manager. Her somewhat hushed voice rose a little. "Let us know if there's anything your instruments need and we'll get it sorted accordingly."
"We'll try to bring in as much attraction as we can," Reed added. "I already have a meeting set up with Kevin right after the show to see what he thinks about bringing you guys back another year. Otherwise, I'll make sure the set list is finalized and make sure that everything is running smoothly time wise." The corner of his mouth lifted up into a lopsided smile. "We don't want to run over time again."
"Definitely not, Daddy-o." Patrick scrambled over the table and gave his father a salute. "Let's roll!" He turned and smiled at Carlos as he sidled up to his side asking, "So how did you get the golf cart and how fast did you really go?"
"Katie, do you want to use my scooter?" Sydney moved to Katie's side, opening up the toy and setting it on the ground. "It's really fun."
"Sure!" Katie climbed on top and started to push herself forwards as Sydney jogged at her side.
"So, ladies,"—James moved up in between Riley and Rhuben, putting his arms around their shoulders—"Being close to the big time, I'm probably going to need a girl on my shoulder for photo shoots and appearances and stuff. So,"—he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a tiny black notebook. "What do you look for in a guy?"
"A guy that's muscular, "Rhuben started.
"Tall, "Riley added.
"Funny."
"Spontaneous."
"Easy on the eyes."
"Athletic."
The two girls then pointed over their shoulder. "And not afraid of our brother," they said in unison. James started to smile at them, but then the words reached his ears and he slowly turned to find Julius glaring at him, having heard the whole conversation. James quickly snapped his notebook shut and speed walked ahead of them.
Kendall shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and trailed along behind the large group as they walked over to the stage that was set up for them. The Jacksons climbed up on stage and went to their instruments; Julius, Riley, and Patrick on guitars, Rhuben and Noah on the drums, and Sydney on the piano. Reed, Renee, and Ronan all moved to their own positions around the area, getting their jobs done as well. Katie followed them, intently watching what they were doing.
"So give us a song to practice with," Julius suggested, strapping his guitar into a portable amp. "Any suggestions? Anything you want to hear?" He then took a step back away from his mic. "Or do you guy want to try something."
"Me!" Carlos started to leap to his feet, but was shoved back down by Kendall and James, who were sitting on either side of him. Carlos pouted, dropping his hands into his lap, keeping his gaze on the ground. The Jacksons all looked at each other.
"Trust me, you don't want to hear him sing," Logan said seriously.
"I can sing!" James boasted, his chest swelling with pride. "I'm really good, too."
"Ok." Sydney tapped his chin for a moment. "Is there a song that you lot know? Like, all of you?" He shrugged, pressing a few keys on his piano before starting a few chords of the chorus to Canon in D, his fingers flying over the frets at an impressive speed. Once he was finished, he dropped his hands from the keys, resting them on the side of the keyboard. "Anything at all?"
Kendall slowly started to smile an evil smile. There was one song that he knew that the four of them knew. He had made it up one time when they were having a sleepover in his backyard. Carlos had made a joke, saying Logan was a giant turd, and it had all rolled from there. Kendall glanced at his best fiends out of the corner of his eye and quietly started to sing the song to himself. "Oh you're such a turd. Oh yeah a giant turd, and you look like a turd and you smell like a turd." As he continued to sing, Logan, Carlos, and James all joined in, smiling at each other, really getting into the song. Finally, James finished the song and the four boys burst out laughing, high-fiving each other.
"Well, it's a song alright," Patrick said.
"Not a very good one," Riley said bluntly. James whipped around and glared at her, silently warning her to be nice. "What? You were thinking it too."
"Hey, I told you we weren't singers," Kendall defended himself. "We got one non-singer, a singer, a doctor, and a hockey player that you're working with. You weren't going to get more out of us." He clasped his hands together in his lap, looking around at the guitars that were on the stage. What he would give to pick one of them up and be able to play it.
Even just joking around.
Truth be told, the only reason he didn't let anyone know that he liked to sing was because he felt foolish about it. Sure, he had been in choir last year, but that was because they had promised their friend Jenny they would join with her. Yeah, he did enjoy singing, but what would others say? A hockey player that loved to sing? It just didn't mesh.
"Cool, huh?" Ronan had appeared at his side, making Kendall jump. Where had he come from? "There's a lot of things that you can do with a singing career. A lot of different opportunities that can come your way."
"No," Kendall said politely. "I'm not a singer. None of us are really; James is the only one that wants to do it." He placed a hand on his chest. "I'm a hockey player. That's my dream. To play for the Wild and opportunities like that only come once in a lifetime."
"I'm just saying that there's something about you, Kendall," Ronan said calmly. "I'm not telling you to give up your dream. But there's plenty of time for you to think about your future." He reached into his back pocket and took out a wallet. "If you all ever change your minds or find yourselves with a record deal, give me a call or something." Ronan pressed a business card into his hand. Kendall looked down at it and noticed that it was the contact information for Blazing Phoenix Records. Flipping the card over, he found an e-mail scribbled onto it.
"Who knows,"—Riley shrugged, giving him a warm smile. Her eyes flashed as she gave him a challenging look. "Maybe we'll end up working together one day."
A/N: So there was that quick idea. I'm thinking of extending this one-shot a bit; maybe make it a two-shot or something. I had fun writing DE's personalities in a slightly different way. I hope you guys liked it. Sorry it was really long.