Carlos stared at the ice cream hungrily; He dug into his pocket and rummaged around for change frowning. His hands only managed to wrap around a dollar and what he assumed was a ten cent coin and half a melted chocolate bar. His eyebrows creased and a pathetic look crossed his face before an idea struck him.
He turned to his left and smiled a cherub-esk smile towards Logan, who attempted to not look at him by looking at a nearby cat perched on the fence. Carlos let his eyes get wider and bumped his head onto his friends shoulder, chanting "please" in a rather needy tone. Logan folded as expected, and sighed, complying probably to simply avoid further embarrassment. He knew Carlos would make a scene if he didn't, Logan remembered that incident with the fairy floss at the state fair all to well.
"Fine, I got this one." Logan muttered pulling out his wallet as he paid the corndog man, cursing him for also getting into the frozen treats business. Logan had the depressing feeling he and Carlos were singlehandedly helping him put his children through college, the amount of times this very scenario had occurred.
"If your not going to pay for your corndogs, or your sodas or your candy or-" Logan ranted annoyed, Carlos tried to interject "Logan-" but Logan was having none of it. "Or your fruit smackers or… I swear I was going somewhere with this." Carlos stared eyebrows raised expectantly, fear across his face as he fumbled with the ice cream Logan tossed at him. "Have you thought about maybe getting a job? Like for extra cash?"
"What, like Kendall?" Carlos asked confused, Logan nodded slowly like he was talking to a particularly small child. Carlos stared away dreamily for a few moments, or in actual reality a few minutes. Logan waved his hand in front of Carlos who blinked numerous times.
"Corndogs or fruit smackers?" Logan asked smirking as he lent back on the bench they had decided to sit at after they (Logan) had bought their food. "Smackers" Carlos replied smiling widely, "they just kept falling from the sky, it was magical."
Logan rolled his eyes and laughed, He noticed Carlos was losing focus again and stood up, signaling they were leaving. It may have been spring, but it was still Minnesota and it was still freezing. Carlos didn't move, Logan sighed a very put upon sigh and grabbed Carlos' arm heaving him up and dragging him away.
**********-_BTR_-*************
Carlos tapped his pen vigorously on the desk whilst he tapped his foot in an offbeat manner. He thought about what Logan had said, a triumph in itself because Carlos didn't really like to think- and certainly not about whatever boring things Logan talked about.
How was he meant to get a job? Kendall has a job, how did get his? Did he ask for it or something? Probably not. People always just asked Kendall things; it was never really the other way around. He sulked momentarily at the unfairness of that, but decided to stop, he'd hate it if people were asking him for things all the time.
He stared intently at the patterns of the wood on his desk pouting until a voice pulled him out of his growing agitation. "Um… Carlos?" he looked up to face his lab partner Adele, "So did you want to Measure density or temperature of the-" she watched his eyes glaze over realizing she was asking him something chemistry related.
She rolled her eyes and clicked her pen towards his face, Carlos jolted in surprise and stared at her frustrated blue eyes and smiled sheepishly. "Sounds good?" he stated, well more like questioned, he hadn't been listening at all. She rolled her eyes again and sighed, 'she wanted to pass her assignment' she thought bitterly 'she should ask what was bugging him.'
Maybe he had a fight with one of his friends? It seemed highly improbable, they were practically always attached together, and Adele meant that quite literally. No one had to look hard to see that. She grown up with them and never seen them have a serious fight.
She studied his face he seemed even more confused, 'maybe about the assignment' she thought momentarily hopeful. It would be nice if he actually did something occasionally. Though she quickly ruled out that possibility as she watched him struggle to open one of her new twist pens that kind of looked like a clicky one, which he hadn't exactly figure out yet. 'Hey! That's my pen!' she thought suddenly. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
She wondered how he managed to get into chemistry anyway, His friends were split up for science this year, she noted sourly. She had a strong suspicion that James and Carlos had only been doing well in the class previously due to their more focused lab partners (James had got a B- and Carlos got an A, no prizes for who got who as a lab partner last year.)
"Hey Adele? Do you have a job?" Carlos asked her suddenly as he managed to successfully work the pen.
"Um yeah, I work at my brother-in-law's library." Adele closed her book and faced him questioningly.
"Is there like any um, um-" he fumbled, and the pen clattered to the ground, making both of them wince "Job openings?" Adele interjected "Yeah I think there's actually one since Mandy left for maternity leave, It's like a couple afternoon shifts and stuff." Adele finished for him. "Did you want me to get you an interview or something?"
"Yeah that would be awesome! I mean if it's not to much trouble," he added grinning. He wasn't really one for libraries, but Logan had dragged him there a couple of times and they did have these cool carts you could ride on. Carlos grinned wider and hugged Adele who smiled.
"So density or temperature?" she tried again.
"Density." Carlos replied picking up her pen again. "That's like rocks right?"
She promised to get him an interview if he promised he would do all his chemistry homework in the presence of his genius best friend. Hopefully Logan would explain to Carlos how density was not like a rock.
**********-_BTR_-*************
It's not like Carlos didn't know how to dress himself… it's jus that he didn't really know what to do when something or someone said formal. What does that even mean? Carlos thought laying down on his bed exhausted.
His interview was in a couple of hours and he still had no clue what to wear. Feeling more like a teenage girl than Carlos was ever willing to admit, he covered his face with his superman pillow and did the only thing he could. He called James- a mistake, probably in hindsight.
A rather excited James came bounding through his door in minutes and struck a pose that looked half superman and half what James must think was manly. "Did someone call for my expertise… of awesomeness?" he asked in a deeper serious James-like voice he was fond of using.
"Just pick my stupid clothes!" Carlos grumbled from his bed, not bothering from removing the pillow from his face. James frowned, "How am I meant to pick it if I don't know what it's for?" Carlos sat up and stared at him confused. "I told you on the phone." He clearly remembered, it had been a painful ordeal of swallowing his pride and then having to listen to James squealing in excitement over the phone.
"Yeah... All I really heard was blah, blah, blah I need you help blah, blah, blah clothes. After that I kinda just ran here- after all it is a rare opportunity and I didn't want to waste time." Carlos rolled his eyes and immediately felt like Logan, god he hoped Logan didn't feel this way all the time when they hung out- God! Why did Logan even hang out with them?
"I just need to dress formally okay," Carlos told him sulkily. James immediately started rummaging through his clothes pulling things out haphazardly in a way Carlos' mum would surely not approve of."Pshh please, did you forget who your talking to?"
that's how Carlos ended up siting rather uncomfortably during his interview. He always felt uncomfortable by the lack of mobility in suits, or suit like apparel as James had called it.
He answered all the questions as best as he could and he thought Adele's brother-in-law was a pretty cool guy. Nothing to difficult, except for the ones about goals and commitment and all the other stuff that made him sad that he had to find a job in the first place.
He remembered when Logan once filled out an application for one of those 'doctor prep schools' (an application which they sabotaged and agreed never to speak about again.) He had told Carlos that you have to impressive people and show you have no faults.
But all he could really think about was riding on those book carts and eating fruit smackers. Lots and lots of fruit smackers. Though he didn't really count either of those as faults on his part.
**********-_BTR_-*************
Kendall, James, Logan and Carlos had just finished hockey practice and were now seeking refugee on Kendall's couch for their aching bodies.
"I was thinking we should get some extra practice in tomorrow since the first games in a week." Kendall mumbled through bites of sandwich. "Sorry I cant, I've got work." Carlos responded massaging his now sore shoulder, wincing in part pain part annoyance at his new job eating into precious hockey practice time.
"You got a job that's great!" Logan exclaimed patting Carlos on the shoulder, causing him to wince, "Sorry! Sorry!" Logan yelped and placed a soft hand on his helmet-covered head instead; Carlos smiled weakly, but fondly at him.
"Oh!" James suddenly said in recognition, "No James I didn't get the job because of what I was wearing," Carlos told him laughing. "Well I'm sure it helped," James interjected pouting turning to Logan for confirmation who just laughed at him.
"So where are you working?" Kendal asked, finishing the last of his sandwich, feeling that annoyed feeling he got when he was the only one left out of the loop.
"Um the Kent street library," Carlos said biting into his sandwich. Kendal and James burst out laughing and Logan looked slightly awed and annoyed that he hadn't thought to get a job there first.
"No way, how did YOU get a job at a library?" Logan asked not trying to mask his tone of disbelief, "hahaha you have to tell us what happened." Kendall jeered not unkindly; Carlos frowned anyway and felt karmicly righted when Kendall choked on his chocolate milk.
Carlos began to retell his interview and ignoring their previous unkind remarks, thinking of all the delicious things he could buy now that he had a job. A real job anyway, "Well he asked me a bunch of questions and then some hard ones.
"Like what?" Kendall asked attentively, wiping the dribbling line of chocolate milk from his chin. "Well," he continued, "he was all like what's your biggest weakness? And I didn't know, so you know, when in doubt you ask yourself what would superman do."
They all stared at him blankly and James mouth wavered as if he were about to break into a smile, "so I said kryptonite. And then he laughed and said I start tomorrow. But I didn't really get what was so funny!"
Kendall's loud laughter began to fill the room as he shook his head, "So I'm guessing there's none of that in the library, what a relief." he lifted his lead to reestablish eye contact with Carlos, he smiled wider at Carlos confused expression.
Which had suddenly turned happier as he mumbled "mmm fruit smackers."