(A/N: Hello my lovely darlings. Today is Friday, woot! ...Ew. I just thought of Rebecca Black...anyhoodles! This is the second chapter of Play It Like a Game. ^_^ I should tell you all that I got accepted into a creative writing summer camp at Northern Illinois University. I drive up there June 18th. I will write the next few chapters in advance, so the Friday I'm there, I'll update with my jump drive. I'll update every Friday as scheduled!)
"Sammi, please!"
"No."
"Pretty, pretty, pretty please Sammi?"
"I said no!"
"Sammi, you're no fun!"
As Samantha Rivers leaned forward on her hostess stand at Primoro di Oro, the Italian restaurant where she worked, her best friend, Roxanne Dalton, put her hands on her hips and narrowed her green eyes. Her pale skin was flushed red, as it often does when she doesn't get what she wants—making her look like a carrot with her recently-dyed-red hair.
Sammi rolled her eyes. "You know I'm plenty fun."
"Then come! Carlos and the Rush are putting on an impromptu concert later on and I really want to go."
"You know I don't listen to boy bands," she sneered, disgusted at the thought.
"Sam, you're always the one bitching about when people judge books by their covers or unfair things like that," Roxanne noted, huffing a bit.
"That's different," she argued weakly, even though it really wasn't.
"How?"
"You know I try not to like anything popular."
"Look, I know that you and I both like being individuals and all, but Carlos and the Rush is really good. I only started listening to them days ago and I really like them."
"I don't want go!"
Roxanne felt prompted to pull out her cell phone and show Sammi a picture. "Look, here they are. Aren't they all just fuckin' adorable?"
Sammi studied the picture and had to admit that they were pretty adorable. One in particular caught her attention. She practically felt her big, brown, doe eyes lighting up at the sight of him. She prayed that Roxanne didn't see.
"Oh, which one do you like?" Roxanne asked. Damn. She would have to see.
"None," she emphasized, biting her lip. "But the Hispanic one is pretty attractive. That's Carlos?"
"Uh huh. My personal favorite is Logan. He's the one with the dark, spiky hair. He's smart."
"Exactly your type," Sammi snickered. "Wait until he finds out how stupid you are."
"I'm not stupid!"
"I'm kidding." Sammi laughed. Roxanne smiled a bit.
"So, seriously, will you come? Please? For me? I'll owe you one."
A long moment passed as Sammi thought. Presuming that the concert would start after she was done with work, she really had nothing to lose. "Fine."
"Yay!" Roxanne threw her arms around Sammi.
She laughed.
"So, the concert starts at seven. I'll come to your place around six."
"Fine," Sammi said, standing up straight as customers entered. "Now get outta here."
"Yes ma'am," Roxanne said, removing her arms. Quietly, she added, "And who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky and sleep with Carlos."
Hours later, Sammi was climbing into the passenger's seat of Roxanne's blue-green Toyota Camry.
"You look cute," Roxanne complimented, giving her a scan. Sammi decided to dress in a pink ruffled A-line miniskirt, a black and white racerback tank top, and black Converse high tops. Her hair was in a curly high ponytail, and for makeup, she wore concealer, foundation, clear lip gloss, mascara, and liquid eyeliner on her top lids.
"Thanks," she said, shutting her door. "You too."
Roxanne had curled her hair and was wearing it down. She was wearing denim shorts and a one-shoulder purple blouse. Rouge was upon her cheeks and purple lipstick was upon her lips.
Sammi was trying her hardest not to pull down the visor and check in the mirror herself. All she wanted was a quick glance. Just a quick one to double-check that her eyeliner was perfectly lined, that her gloss was only on her lips, that the colors she'd gone with complimented her rich toffee color skin with a pop.
From her seat, Roxanne snickered, reading her best friend's mind completely. "You're gorgeous."
Sammi rolled her eyes and turned away. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm not trying to impress a boy band."
"Mhmm," Roxanne sang, knowingly.
Sammi grew silent as the car inched on. Sometimes, she forgot exactly how beautiful Los Angeles was. She'd only been living there for a few years now. Sammi was getting a degree in Creative Writing at UCLA. Her parents were helping her pay for her tuition, so Sammi worked a part-time job. The money went towards tuition and miscellaneous things. She was often too busy to just sit around and enjoy L.A., even though Sammi loved everything about it. The weather, the pretty palm trees, the variety of food, stores, and opportunities.
Roxanne, on the other hand, was the daughter of two lawyers and was used to having everything handed to her on a silver platter. Roxanne was studying journalism at UCLA and her parents paid for everything for her. Sammi didn't envy her. Due to her being used to getting whatever she wanted, Roxanne naturally expected things, and got a little bratty when she didn't get them.
Both girls had a lot of similarities. Sammi and Roxanne both gave off an air of intimidation. Sammi gave off this tough, I'm-such-an-individual-and-much-cooler-than-you vibe, whereas Roxanne gave off this high-expectation, I-get-whatever-I-want image. They knew they were different and wouldn't have it any other way. They were good-natured and loved to have fun.
"We're here early," Roxanne announced, arriving about a half-hour later. "We'll go grab a bite."
As Carlos stood with Kendall Knight, Logan Mitchell, and James Diamond backstage at the arena of their impromptu concert, he kept glancing at the girls, scoping out his prey.
"See anybody decent for tonight?" James asked, nudging Carlos lightly. Kendall and Logan rolled their eyes.
"A few," Carlos replied, shrugging. "No one particularly catches my eye. That's perfect."
"Carlos, you broke a virgin's heart last night and you don't even care." Kendall said, shaking his head.
"It's not like it's the first time," Logan added from beside him.
Carlos looked at them shamelessly. "I don't care."
The sad thing was, was that it was one hundred percent true. Carlos pre-Carlos and the Rush never would have even dreamed of shamelessly taking a virgin's virginity and dumping her on her ass. Carlos post-Carlos and the Rush and the Incident—who he was now—wouldn't give it a second thought. However, virgins weren't his usual victims.
Gustavo and Kelly were in the wings. "Get into places!" Gustavo yelled. Carlos and the Rush did so.
Carlos and, the Rush!
Carlos and, the Rush!
Carlos and, the Rush!
The fans were chanting. It was time. The curtain slowly rose and the fans went nuts as the boys came into view.
"Los Angeles, are you ready?" Carlos yelled into the mike. The crowd responded immediately. This was his turf, his domain. It was go time.
Hours later, Carlos and the Rush left the arena and met the fans who had waited for them outside. The first he went to was average. He smiled and signed and autograph and moved onto the next, pausing as he studied her and her friend.
The girl was a redhead, who wore a gigantic smile on her face. She was pretty cute, definitely, but that's not the one who he was looking at. He was particularly interested in her beautiful friend. This one was not a dime a dozen. Whereas the other fans wore the skimpiest things they could find, the things that showed the most skin possible, this girl looked like she dressed the way she had because she felt that it was cute.
Carlos scribbled an autograph for the redhead and smiled at her and her friend. "Hey, I'm Carlos."
"Hey, I'm Roxanne!"
"Samantha," her friend replied coolly, seeming not to care. It almost made Carlos step back and look her up and down. That was not the reaction he was used to.
"Have I seen you at a concert before?" He asked Samantha, cocking an eyebrow. "You look kind of familiar."
Yeah, he was lying. He just wanted to see her reaction.
Roxanne left Samantha's side to go to Logan and the others.
"Nope," Samantha said, blinking her eyes. "I'm not a Carlos and the Rush fan."
Carlos coughed and covered his mouth. "I'm sorry?"
"I don't like your band. I'm here just because Roxanne begged me to come."
Samantha didn't seem unapologetic in the least after she said this. She said it like she was stating something as simple as saying the sky was blue. Carlos wondered if she really did believe that saying that was that simple, or if she had any idea at all what those words can do to the psyche of someone like him, and said it on purpose.
Carlos didn't know how to react. Part of him was pissed off, and another part of him was refreshed and enthralled by her attitude.
He stared into her big, brown, doe eyes as he searched for an answer. They offered none. The tension in the air between the two made his heart race and his skin prickled in the most disorientating way.
Samantha was oblivious to his inner monologue. Growing bored, she craned her neck to see if Roxanne was done harassing Logan. She wasn't.
"So what are you interested in?" Carlos felt compelled to ask. The words felt unnatural leaving his lips. He hadn't asked a girl a question like that in years.
"Pop, rock, R&B."
Carlos appeared confused. "But that's what Carlos and the Rush is."
"If you're a food connoisseur, does that mean you like every fuckin' food in the world?"
"I guess you're right."
An awkward silence passed between them. Carlos knew that Roxanne couldn't talk to Logan much longer. She would likely get edged out by another fan and return for her friend. As much as he hated to admit, Carlos genuinely enjoyed talking to this girl. He had to sever whatever this bubbly emotion was inside of him and kill it. Destroy it. Make sure it never came back for him.
"Do you want to have sex with me?" Carlos whispered, glancing around as he noticed a few envious fans glaring at her.
"What?" she screeched.
"Do you want to?" He had to. He had to do it. Carlos and the Rush lead singer Carlos Garcia did not have feelings. At least, not anymore. Not since the Incident. Girls were no longer people who interested him—they wore toys that existed for his amusement.
Slap! Her hand was swift across his fast.
"You bastard," she said simply, crossing her arms. Roxanne joined her side with wide eyes. Fans stared in awe as Carlos touched his violated cheek.
"Sammi," Roxanne gasped, in shock. "What happened?"
"This asshole just asked me to sleep with him," she replied, grabbing her arm. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of here."
Before Roxanne could protest, Samantha was already dragging her away.
"It was nice meeting you, Logan!" Roxanne cried, scrambling to catch up with her retreating friend.
"You too," Logan called back, joining Carlos's side.
"She rejected me," Carlos murmured, incredulous. "She rejected me."
"You gonna be alright?"
"Just fine," he said, removing his hand. A cold breeze blew and he shivered.
Game on.
(There you have it! Feedback? Do you like Sammi? I also wanted to thank you all for seven reviews, you rock! *Hands you cookies* And, I was asked what happened to Carlos. Hmmm... ;D)