Alright, Chapter 3 up and running! Let's see how the guys handle this shocking news, shall we? Oh, and thanks so much for you're reviews: Cali-not the state-Ride and Royal shadow1! You guys get free virtual cookies of your choice! Yay! Anyway, on to the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush...geez, get off my back...I just own Leah and my own love for the show. Also, I don't own any of the songs that I use in this chapter.
"Whoa, whoa whoa! Slow down, what!?" James said, "What do you mean, going back to New York?"
Logan looked at her, "You'll go back to New York? To live there?" he asked incredulously. Leah nodded, "Yeah, to live there."
"Why?" Kendall asked, "You just got back from there! Why go back?" Carlos just remained silent, a look that was a mixture of shock, disbelief, and sadness on his face. "What about Dad?" Logan asked.
"Logan, you know how much Dad loved to travel. He's always wanted to travel around the world, and well, now's his chance to do that. I mean, I went off to New York, and you came here to be in a band, and then I came here to do the same thing. He's free to to just that! If I don't make it, I don't want to make Dad stay home. Besides, I love the city, so it's a win-win."
"It's not a win for us! Or you. We know how much you want this..." James said. Leah sighed, "Yeah, I do. So bad...but you guys have to promise me something," she added, seriously. When they nodded after a minute, she spoke again. "As much as I want to get this, I don't want you guys to choose me for unfair reasons, okay? I wanna win this fairly, and let everyone else have a chance. Promise?" She held up her hand as if she was going to arm wrestle someone.
After a minute of contemplating, Kendall nodded and grasped her hand with his own. "I promise not to interfere." Logan put his hand on top of theirs, nodding, "I promise, too." James put his hand on, "I promise! See? This is my promise face!" He did his little hand thing when he showed off 'The Face'.
They all looked at Carlos, who was looking down. "Carlos?" Leah asked quietly, "Please?" Carlos looked up at Kendall, then James, to Logan, and finally his gaze landed on Leah. Sighing, he put his hand slowly on top of everyone else's. "I...I promise," he mumbled. Leah's face lit up, "Thanks, guys! You're the greatest!" They quick group-hugged, then Leah said, "So can we go back home? I need a shower before bed. Plus, I'm starving!" She went up the hallway, and disappeared around the corner.
Carlos immediately turned around, "Guys! We have to get Leah to win this!" he said, looking desperately at his friends. Kendall looked at him in disbelief, "Carlos! We promised her we wouldn't do anything. We've never gone back on a promise before, and I'm not about to start now."
"Yeah! I even made my promise face! And my promise face does not lie!" James said. Carlos looked sadly at Logan, "Dude, you really want your sister to go back to the other side of the country?" Logan looked at the others before saying, "No, I don't. But we did promise her...and besides that, do you want her to kill you if you don't keep it?" Carlos looked at them all, "But...she just got back from New York...she's here! C'mon, guys, she's our best friend..."
"Carlos," Kendall said, putting a hand on his friends shoulder, "we know. We don't want her to leave, either. But Leah's not the only one competing. We need to be fair, okay?" he said gently. He had never seen his normally goofy friend so sad. This is really taking a toll on him, he thought. Logan put his arm around Carlos, and James was on the other side of Kendall, who said, "Don't worry about it right now, man. Let's just enjoy it for now, and who knows..."
"...she might win!" James said. Leah stuck her head around the corner, "Are you slowpokes coming? I'm huuuuuungry!" she whined. Carlos laughed, and looked at his friends, "Thanks, guys. Now, c'mon! I wanna show Leah the swirly slide!" he ran off in her direction excitedly. The other three looked at each other before walking down the hallway. "That boy's a hopeless case," Logan sighed.
"You know...Leah's looking pretty hot..."
"Hey! That's my sister!"
"Yeah, I know! I was just saying!"
"Yeah, well don't let Carlos hear you saying that...he'd kill you," Kendall laughed. "And relax, Logan. Remember, complete stranger? Or close friend?"
"I know, I know...can we go, now?" The boys all laughed as they left.
"Okay, so...here's the drill. You call the girl's names on this list, they come out, they sing a song, and you judge whether they make it into the next round or not. You can only disqualify four girls a day, got it?" Gustavo instructed. "It goes like this for two weeks. Hopefully, you dogs won't screw anything up," this earned him four offended looks, "and we'll have our fifth band member at the end of the two weeks. So, DON'T SCREW ANYTHING UP!" he shouted, then walked away.
"Well, I don't think we could screw this up..." Kendall said. "Just listen to a bunch of girls sing all day," Logan said. "Uuuuuuuuugh..." they all groaned.
Leah peeked out from behind the curtain on the stage they were at, giving the boys a thumbs up. They all smiled and gave one back. Carlos stood up and yelled, "Good luck, Leah!" The boys looked at him, eyebrows raised, and Leah, looked around, smiling awkwardly, then disappeared back behind the curtain. Carlos looked around himself, feeling slightly stupid, and James pulled him back into his seat.
From Carlos' other side, Logan said, "Let's just get this over with..." He cleared his throat and said, much louder, "Okay, Sarah Ackley! You're up!"
A small blond, slightly frizzy-haired girl came on stage. "Hi! I'm such a big fan of you guys, and I'm so excited I'm here, I'm so happy I'm talking to you, this is great, my friend will never believe this-"
"Um, Sarah? Could, you know, just...sing? Please?" Kendall asked.
"Oh! Right! Ahem," she cleared her throat, then began singing in a horribly off-key voice, "If we were a moviiiieee, and you were the riiiiight guuuuy..."
"THANK YOU! Um...good job, we'll get back to you, thanks!" James said. "Good job," Logan said. Sarah squealed a little and ran off stage. The James shook his head, "Next is...Kelly Anderson!"
-2 hours later-
"We cannot keep doing this!" Carlos whispered as the the 60th girl started singing, sounding just as bad as the last 3 people.
"We're only supposed to disqualify four a day? There were only 18 good singers!" Logan asked in disbelief. "Guys, we can do this...all we have to do is pick four people every day until they're gone, and the good people are left." The boys rolled their eyes and groaned, and Kendall looked at his list, "Okay, Mercedes Griffan...Mercedes?" Kendall looked up in shock.
"Hi, guys."
"Um, not to sound rude, but why are you here? Don't you have to pick big future hits for your dad or something?"
"Well, I wanted to sing in a band, and I picked you guys. Because you're all cute. Now let me sing!" Mercedes began to sing, but she was horrible. It was all the guys could do not to cover their ears. "Has she ever heard of singing lessons? Or laryngitis?" James said.
When it was over, Mercedes stood up there, hands on her hips expectantly. "Well, tell me how beautifully I did so I can leave!"
"Well...Mercedes, you were...well, you weren't bad, per se, but..." Kendall started after a silent fight to see who got to break it to her, which he apparently lost.
"Wait, stop," she said, putting her hand up. "You had better be telling me that I sing like an angel!" she said threateningly. "Or what?" Logan asked.
"Or else, you tell me that I'm bad, even in the slightest, and I'll tell Daddy." Mercedes said. Kendall laughed, the other three chuckling beside him. "Oh, you're going to tell you're dad that we were being honest? Oooooh, I'm sooooo scaaaared!"
"No." She got off the stage and walked over to where they sat, "I'll tell him that you were being mean, and called me the worst singer ever! And then Daddy will just have to end your guys' career."
They looked at each other in shock. "Oh, I'm sooo scared..." Kendall said in a small voice. "But we never said anything like that!" James exclaimed. "No, but you never told me I'm good, either." Mercedes said in a maddeningly superior tone.
"You're amazing!" they all said in unison, although Kendall and Logan said it in a tone of disbelief, instead of hurried reassurance like James and Carlos. Mercedes smiled, "Good!"
"But, wait!" Kendall said as she turned around to leave. She turned back, sighing impatiently. "Why are you doing this now? I thought we were cool?" he asked. The boys nodded vigorously behind him.
"We were...and then Logan broke my heart at that stupid party of yours," she said, pointedly glaring at Logan. He threw up his hands in a 'what?' gesture, and Carlos and James glared at him. "I told you I was sorry, Mercedes! I mean, I really didn't want to be your boyfriend," she looked angry at this, and he added hurriedly, "b-but I wanted you to be happy, so I was trying to...I'm sorry."
"So, you don't even like me?" The boys shook their heads in protest, but she continued, "Fine! Look, you better let me win, or Big Time Rush..." she leaned towards them over the table, so she was almost nose-to-nose with Kendall, "...is big time over!" She straightened, then walked to the exit. Kendall, James, and Carlos all looked at Logan.
"What? What did I do, now?"
Oh, boy...Mercedes strikes again! I don't hate her, but I planned this out, and I could totally see this happening in an episode, so...plot twist! How will the boys figure this out? And I didn't like making Carlos sad...but I thought he would be, since he tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve. Review! ^_^
~Bella
