What is this Feeling (Part One)
A/N: I'm back! Sorry, guys! I've been really busy lately with school and everything. I actually have a concussion now, but don't worry. I'll be fine. For all my Wherever You Are readers, I'm having some serious writer's block. I mean, I have ideas for other chapters in the story; I just can't get past the chapter I'm on now. Either way, I played this song the other day and had a sudden urge to write a BTR song-fic about it. I figured I'd make it a two-shot. This chapter will be like a prologue. It'll lead into the song, which will be in the next chapter. The song is What is this Feeling from the Broadway musical Wicked. It's amazing! I suggest listening to it at least once. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: As in all my stories, I own NOTHING!
James Diamond's first day at Shiz University, where he was studying to become an actor, was rough. He was never popular because his brother was never popular. Logan Mitchell, James's adopted brother, was handicapped. He was shown sympathy by all of his classmates, but no one truly cared about him. Logan was one of the shiest people James had ever met, separating himself from everyone except James. In turn, James also separated himself from the rest of their class. Logan was also really smart, a genius almost, and many of the students took advantage of how kind and helpful he was. It was James's duty to protect his brother from those people. Anyone who wanted to take advantage of Logan had James Diamond to go through first.
The brothers, Logan being pushed in his wheelchair by James, finally made it to the dormitories. They were supposed to be roomed together so Logan could have unlimited access to his brother, but looking at the list, James was shocked to see that Logan was roomed with a boy named Carlos Garcia and not him.
"This has to be a mistake," James murmured to himself before speaking to Logan. "You're supposed to be in the same room as me. I'm going to talk to the dorm advisor and see if I can get us switched into the same room."
Logan stopped his big brother before he could get anywhere. "James, that's not necessary. I'm with Carlos. I'll be fine."
"You know him?" James asked, confused. Logan didn't have any friends other than himself, and James had never even heard of this Carlos guy.
"We both do. Carlos Garcia. We went to high school with him. The hyper boy who always sat in the middle of the classroom and would have a sarcastic comeback to everything the teacher said. He was on the hockey team with you, the goalie. Remember?" When Logan noticed that James still held no recognition of Carlos, he tried another approach. "He was Kendall's best friend."
Hazel eyes darkened with hatred at the sound of that name. Kendall Knight. He was the most popular guy in high school, and James hated his guts. The feeling was definitely mutual. Neither James nor Kendall could stand the thought of each other. Although James didn't really know Carlos, he had always judged him because he was Kendall's best friend. Kendall was mean and hateful, not to mention a total fake. He always acted nice to Logan, but once they got to hockey practice, he would make fun of James's little brother. James assumed Carlos was the same way. He didn't want his baby brother associated with someone like that. "In that case, I'm definitely making them switch us."
Logan sighed. James always got like this when it came to Kendall and his posse, but Carlos was different. While Kendall and Dak and Jett and everyone else on the hockey team was stuck-up and rude, Carlos was sweet and innocent. He could never hurt a fly. Logan had talked to the Latino quite a few times back in high school, and he didn't see anything wrong with him. It was wrong of James to judge Carlos just because of who he hung out with. "James, Carlos is nothing like Kendall. He's the complete opposite. Just give him a chance. Please? For me?"
When Logan stared up at James with those brown doe eyes, it was impossible for James to say no. He let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine. He gets one chance, but if he hurts you, we're switching rooms. Deal?"
"Deal." Logan smiled. "Thank you, James."
James smiled back down at his brother. "Anything for you, Logan." He glanced back at the rooming list and scowled when he saw his roommate's name: Kendall Knight. "You've got to be kidding me! Kendall's my roommate?"
"It might not be so bad. Maybe Kendall's changed since high school ended. You two could become friends if you give each other a chance."
"Kendall doesn't deserve a chance. He's a jerk, Logan, and you know that!"
"Everyone deserves a chance, Jamie. Just because Kendall made some mistakes in the past doesn't mean you can't forgive him."
James knew he couldn't win this argument with Logan. In fact, he never won against Logan. "I'll try my best, Logie."
"Good. Now come on!" Logan exclaimed, excitedly. "Roll me to my room. I want to get my books unpacked and start reading."
"It's not even the first day of school, and you're already studying?" It still surprised James how much time Logan would spend with his head in a book. The kid already knew everything. How much more could he learn?
"If I want to be a successful doctor, then I have to do as much reading as possible."
James smiled. Logan really was an inspiration. Too bad people didn't give him a chance. They look at the wheelchair and immediately judge him. It was then that James realized he was doing the same thing to Carlos, judging him because of the people he was friends with and not for who he was. James rolled Logan into the dorms and searched for his room. They were happy to learn that Logan's room was on the first floor and not the second.
They opened the door and realized that Carlos was already there, meaning Kendall was probably waiting for James in their room. James frowned slightly before perking back up for Logan's sake. "Excuse us?"
Carlos looked up from his packing and smiled. He knew these boys. It was James Diamond and Logan Mitchell from high school. "Hi!" He bounced over to the two of them and held out his hand. "I'm Carlos. I'm not sure if you remember me, but we went to high school together."
Logan shook his head and grabbed Carlos's hand. "Of course, I remember you. You were on the hockey team with my brother."
"Yeah." Carlos glanced at James and noticed him as the left defenseman. Because Kendall was the right defenseman, him and James constantly tried to one-up each other, usually starting a fight on the ice. Carlos blushed and chuckled nervously. "You know, James, we can switch rooms if you want to be with Logan. I heard you had Kendall as your roommate, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you and I switched."
If Logan hadn't have been glaring at James, clearly telling him to say no, there's no doubt in James's mind that he would have accepted Carlos's offer. "Thank you, Carlos, but I'm positive that Logan will be okay here with you. Besides, it looks like you're already completely unpacked."
It was true. Everything that belonged to Carlos was put away in its rightful place. "I got here earlier this morning. I was going to wait for Ken to get here, but he was taking too long, so I went ahead and unpacked to pass the time."
James smiled slightly. "You're saying Kendall's not here yet?"
"Not yet. He said something about wanting to spend some time with his mom and sister before going away. He should be here soon though."
The tallest nodded. "I think I should let you guys get to know each other. I'll unpack my things and wait for Kendall."
**WICKED**
From the minute he stepped into school, Kendall Knight was king. He ruled the school, from his days as a little kid on the playground to being captain of his high school hockey team. He expected college to be no different.
Even though he had promised Carlos that he would stop by, Kendall decided to go straight to his room. They had both made it to Shiz on account of their hockey scholarships, so Kendall was sure that he would see his best friend later that day at hockey practice.
Kendall made it to his room and noticed that their was no one there. There were bags covering one side of the room but the person they belonged to was no where in sight.
"Hello?" Kendall called out. "Is anyone here?"
At that moment, a tall brunette, who looked oddly familiar to Kendall, appeared from out of the bathroom. Kendall racked his brain to figure out who this guy could be, but when no one came to mind, he decided to introduce himself. "Hey. I'm Kendall. Do I know you from somewhere? You looked strangely familiar."
"I'm James. James Diamond. I used to play hockey with you in high school. You were the right defenseman, and I was the left. I'm also Logan Mitchell's older brother." James's hazel eyes narrowed at Kendall, causing the blonde to take a sudden step back from the realization of who he was rooming with.
"James Diamond? The same James Diamond who almost stole my hockey scholarship?"
"I didn't steal anything from you! The university thought I was a better hockey player than you, so th-"
"You are not a better hockey player than me! In fact, don't ever compare yourself to me again! I'll always be better than you!" With that, Kendall stormed out of their room in search for Carlos. He didn't have to wander for long before a familiar, cheery voice was calling his name.
"Kendall!"
Before Kendall got the chance to reply, he was engulfed in a bone crushing hug from Carlos. Kendall chuckled at his small friend's antics but hugged back nonetheless. "It's so good to see you, Carlos. You won't believe who I got stuck with for a roommate?"
Carlos pulled away and glanced down. "I bet I can guess," he mumbled.
"What?" Kendall shook his head. "Never mind. I'm rooming with Logan Mitchell's older brother, James Diamond. Remember him? He was the left defenseman who was always checking me into the boards."
"Well, Kendall, you started it." Carlos avoided Kendall's gaze, unable to bear the look of betrayal in his best friend's eyes. "I mean, James never would have done that if you just left Logan alone. Logan never even did anything to you, but you still picked on him. It was bad enough that he was in a wheelchair. Did you really have to bully him all the time?"
Kendall stared at Carlos, appalled by what he was saying. Carlos never went against the things Kendall had said or done. "Need I remind you, Carlos, that you teased Logan just as much as I did?"
"I know that, but I also know that what we did was wrong. We were wrong for picking on Logan, and we were wrong for instigating fights with James." It was obvious to Carlos that Kendall was upset with what he had to say, and Carlos feared that this could ruin their friendship. "Kenny, I don't want to fight with you, but you know I'm right. Can you please try to make this work with James?"
Kendall sighed and nodded. He knew Carlos was right, but he didn't want to admit it. He was too stubborn to admit that he was wrong, but he supposed he could make rooming with James work if only for Carlos's sake. "Alright. I'll try to be nice to James and Logan."
"Thank you." Carlos smiled widely before launching himself back into Kendall's arms. "Thank you so much."
"Anything for you, Carlitos." Kendall let go of Carlos and walked back to his dorm room. He found James sitting on his bed typing what he supposed was a letter to his parents. The emrald-eyed boy decided that he should do the same and then maybe work out his problems with James.
A/N: If any of you are familiar with Wicked, I hope I made it pretty clear who everyone was playing. James - Elphaba, Kendall - Galinda, Logan - Nessa, and Carlos wasn't anyone in particular - I just had to include him. Hehe. Let me know how I did, and I'll try to have the song-fic part of it up soon.