A/N: I know what you're thinking; Laura, you have so many stories on the go already, why don't you work on them in stead of posting useless oneshots! Well I say too bad! :) I was inspired to write this, so you get it whether you want it or not! :P
OK, so as mentioned in the summary, this is based on an experience I had with my family when I was on holidays last week, basically I had a bit of a panic attack at this science place, anyways, read on, you'll see.
"Come on guys, pretty please?" Carlos pleaded, fixing his friends with puppy-dog eyes as the others rolled their eyes
"Carlos, seriously?" James asked "you really wanna go to Sam's Illusionarium?"
"Yes!" Carlos pleaded "Come on, guys!" he turned to Logan and Kendall before looking at James again "It'll be fun!"
"What are you, like 5?" Logan smirked at his helmet wearing best friend, who was practically bouncing up and down in his seat.
"No!" Carlos pouted "It just looks really cool! Come on, guys, pretty please?" he begged, watching intently as his three best friends shared a look.
"Fine," Kendall relented, and Carlos let out a cheer.
"Yay! Mama Knight!" he called, and Kendall's mother appeared in the entrance to the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
"You know, you boys can't just call me and expect me to -" Mrs Knight began.
"Me and the guys are going to the Illusionarium, see you later!" Carlos interrupted, heading out the front door, closely followed by James and Logan as Kendall shot his mother an apologetic look before grabbing the car keys off the hook and following the boys out of the apartment.
After a long and noisy journey to the Illusionarium, due to Carlos' constant excited chatter - no journey with BTR was complete without it, the boys had finally arrived at the colorful kids playhouse, and were making their way to the front desk.
"Four adults please," Kendall told the over enthusiastic employee who gave them a cartoonish smile as she processed their ticket order, a helicopter hat quivering atop her head.
"Here you go!" she said, way too perkily for Logan's liking, and handed Kendall the tickets "Have fun in Sam's Illusionarium!"
"Whatever," Kendall rolled his eyes at the annoyingly cheery woman before handing the boys their tickets, Carlos practically vibrating with excitement upon receiving his.
"OK, Carlitos," James smiled at his ecstatic friend, Carlos' excitement was beginning to grow on him "where to first?"
"Ummmm," Carlos tapped his finger on his chin as he looked around all the signs that pointed to different exhibits, as if he was deep in thought "how about... the shrink-ey room!" he decided excitedly.
"You mean the Ames room?" Logan guessed "You know, it's trapezium shape, combined with the use of a monocular depth cue make the room seem like it's bigger at one end, when in reality, it's actually all in exact proportions to a regular room-" (1)
"Logan, we don't have time for all your science-y knowledge stuff!" Carlos cried "Let's go!" he took off at a sprint towards the Ames room, flinging himself inside and dragging Kendall who, unfortunately for him, happened to be closest, along with him. "Look, James!" Carlos called "I'm bigger than Kendall!"
And so it went on like this for nearly two hours, Carlos thoroughly enjoying himself with the wonders of science, and all the while thoroughly ignoring Logan's explanations as to why each was a wonder in the first place. Finally, however, the boys had arrived at the last attraction of the Illusionarium, the Maze Of Mirrors.
"Oh my gosh, guys!" Carlos cried, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation "We have to go in!"
"I don't know," Logan gulped, looking anxiously into the seemingly endless room of mirrors.
"It looks like we have to," James said, indicating the exit sign that was pointing into the maze.
"Well, uh, maybe I'll just meet you guys in the parking lot, I'll go back the way we came-"
"Oh, come on! Don't be a baby, Logan!" Kendall smirked.
"Yeah, Logie!" Carlos put in, pouting "It won't be any fun with just the three of us!"
"Fine!" Logan relented "Score one for peer pressure! I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered as he followed the boys into the maze.
"This way guys," Carlos announced "I have an awesome sense of direction," Carlos' awesome sense of direction led him straight into a mirror, and all of the boys tried to hide their snickers as he rubbed his nose gingerly "fine," he pouted "Kendall, you lead us!"
"Alright," Kendall said smugly "I say, we go this wa-" James and Carlos exploded with laughter as Kendall walked smack into another mirror, and even Logan had to let out a chuckle "who put that mirror there?" he demanded, rubbing his nose.
"Kendall, I hate to break it to you, but we're kinda in a mirror maze," James smirked "it's, uh, it's full of mirrors, buddy,"
"That's it!" Kendall snapped "We're splitting up, me and Logan will go this way," he grabbed the raven haired boy's arm, making him let out a little shriek "and you guys go that way, race you to the end!" he all but dragged Logan with him around a corner and stood before him, fuming; Kendall hated making a fool of himself.
"Kendall!" Logan squeaked "what did you do that for? We're never gonna find them!"
"It's fine Logan, we'll see them at the end, now lets go." Kendall assured him, grabbing Logan's wrist and sticking his other hand out in front of him, feeling for mirrors.
"Look, Kendall!" Logan said after a few minutes of wrong turns and bruised noses "Its Carlos!" he waved excitedly, his smile fading as he didn't receive one in return "Carlos?" he called, worry creeping up into his chest "Carlos!"
"Logie?" Carlos' reply came from somewhere near Kendall, and Logan whipped around to see another Carlos standing there looking in the complete opposite direction. Duh! said the rational part of his brain, you're in a mirror maze, of course there's gonna be reflections everywhere! That part of Logan's brain was silenced, however, as he turned turned to Kendall, only to find himself face to face with yet another mirror.
"Kendall?" Logan squeaked, terror clenching his windpipe as he walked straight into a mirror.
"Logan?" Kendall returned, heading towards where he heard the sound, only to be confronted by yet another mirror. "Stay where you are, bud, I'm coming!"
"I can see you!" Logan felt the unforgiving glass collide with his forehead for what must have been the hundredth time and tears began to sting his eyes as he slid his back down the cold wall, into a sitting position as he brought his knees under his chin and began to cry.
"Logie!" Logan looked up at the voice, and suddenly, about three Kendalls were running towards him. Logan relaxed slightly as the real Kendall placed a hand on his shoulder, and his breathing began to return to normal.
"Kendall, we gotta get out of here, I can't take it anymore!" Logan looked around at all the reflections of them, and his breathing sped up again, his chest tightening as Kendall's grip tightened on his shoulder. "We're never gonna get out of here! There's too many dead ends! There's no way out Kendall! We're stuck in here! Kendall! Ke-Kendall!" Logan was hysterical now, choking on his tears as he cried and began to push at the mirrors either side of him, as if he was trying to break out.
"Logan, calm down, buddy, it's gonna be OK, it's all gonna be fine, we're gonna get out of here, and we'll meet up with Jamie and Litos, OK? It's gonna be fine, but you gotta snap out of this," Logan seemed completely oblivious to anything Kendall was saying however, his fear was pushing in on him, squeezing him, suffocating him... he looked up at the red lights bearing down on him, blinding him, yet casting an ominous shadow over everything at the same time. Logan tore his eyes from the lights to look around, at the reflections either side of him, those damn reflections! They were everywhere, following him, haunting him-
"Logan!" Kendall's voice suddenly became clearer as Logan felt Kendall grab his chin and turn it to face him "Look at me, buddy, just focus on me, OK?" Logan nodded shakily as Kendall helped him to his feet. "OK, Logie, we're gonna start walking, but just keep watching me, just keep your eyes on my face, can you do that for me?" Logan's breath was still short and choppy, but he nodded again, keeping his eyes on Kendall's, those moss green eyes, so full of compassion, love, love for his best friend, his brother, as the two walked - Kendall backwards and Logan forwards - Logan's death grip on one of Kendall's hands as Kendall's other felt around them for a clear path. "That's it, Logie," Kendall smiled, hastening a glance behind him "you're doing great, come on, buddy, almost there, that's it! There!" Kendall said as he stepped down and out of the mirror maze, and holding his arms open for Logan to fall into, tears of relief streaming from the raven haired boy's eyes as Kendall stroked his hair. "We made it!" he whispered into Logan's ear "I'm so proud of you Logie Bear!"
(1) I had to fit my semester one Psychology knowledge in here somewhere :) I actually bored my sister with this when we went to the Ames room, my parents pretended to be interested, but I don't think they were :P
A/N: Anyone else find it cool that I hit the 'done' button on my notes app just as it ticked over to midnight? :)
OK, so basically I didn't really flip out like Logan did, but I was pretty dang close, mirror mazes are the freakiest things on the planet! Now, I'm not claustrophobic, but just the thought of not being able to get out just is terrifying (oh yeah, great English there, Laura, your Literature teacher would be proud!)! But yeah, it was the exit to the place, so I had to go in, not fun!
Reviews would be awesome!