Author's note : Hey guys, I said I'd upload two chapters. But, with the time constraint that is really not possible; so this will probably be the only chapter you'll be getting for these two weeks.

Chapter 3- The Warm Welcome

Elizabeth used the knuckles of the fingers to clear the grime from her eyes. She could hear someone's continuous laugh throughout the party hall. She felt cold and considerably mortified. She could feel slime over her forehead, she swallowed hard. She noticed the black haired boy, who had stumbled over her fifteen seconds ago, was slightly wet too. From the other side of the room, she heard a Latino boy say something in joyous voice. Then, she heard some more laughter from the same guy who had been laughing all along. Who's this obnoxious guy who finds every single second of this humiliating scenario absolutely hilarious?

She glanced around the room, she saw a lanky, blond covering his face with his hands. Then, her eyes caught hold of the boy was laughing. He was what she had guessed him to be by the sound of his laugh, very good-looking and very, very rude. He had perfect hair and a perfect smile, he was tall and lean.

Then she spotted everyone's costume. They were all having a party, or celebrating something. Or maybe, she had been transported to the medieval. Or this was some kind of kinky cult. She didn't know what to say and neither did anyone else in the room. The girl who claimed to be Jo's boyfriend's sister stepped forward and grudgingly held her shoulder, to, perhaps, offer some support. Then, she finally, asked them a question.

"What is this place?"

A voice to her left said "Palmwoods party hall."

She turned, it was Jo. She looked embarrassed and red in the face. She had been standing there all along, beside the lanky blond. Jo stepped forward "This was meant to be a welcome party. Medieval themed."

"Right."

Elizabeth felt slightly better, realizing Jo's intentions. She didn't want any of this to ruin Jo's party, so, she quickly waved her hands in an attempt to flick away any of the dirt. "This sure doesn't sound like a party. I can't hear the music?"

The blond boy partially uncovered his face. Some people in the room sighed in relief, while, others like the pretty, brown haired boy, looked doubtful. Elizabeth urged and forced a smile "C'mon. You can't let stupid things like this ruin a good party."

Instantly, things in the room brightened and many people looked happy and cheerful again. Jo's eyes widened "Elizabeth, are you okay? Are you sure you want a party? We can get back to my hotel room and-"

Elizabeth held up her hand "Look, if anyone's supposed to feel guilty about trying to ruin this party it's not you.-" she saw the Latino boy look frightful and guilty. She turned her eyes towards the good-looking boy "-The ones worthy of the blame are those who laugh at others while they suffer humiliation."

The music in the hall was turned up, and everybody cheered and shimmied back to the dance floor. Jo gave her niece a fond smile "It's only seven-thirty, do you want quickly head to the room and have a quick shower?"

Elizabeth nodded. Jo motioned Elizabeth to follow her outside the room. She looked at her niece "I've even got a costume laid out for you, in blue. If you'd like to wear that?"

"Sure." Elizabeth said simply.

"Wait!" two voices from behind yelled as they walked on. The black haired boy who was dressed as a monk was holding his robe and running towards them, he was followed by the Latino boy. The black haired boy breathed as halted before them "Elizabeth."

He shuffled his feet, careful not to tumble over the hem of his robe. "I'm really sorry… I really should have worn something else."

The Latino said as he caught up to his black haired friend "I'm sorry, too. I set up the bucket, just before you came. I wanted to get back on Jett."

"It's forgiven and forgotten. Go back to the party, and enjoy yourselves. I'll be back shortly." Elizabeth said, closing the subject. The beamed and eagerly got back to the party. Elizabeth grinned as she saw the black-haired boy trip over length of the robe, but he quickly steadied himself.

The girls began walking back to the room.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow "Don't you work with that guy? Jett?"

"It's a long story." Jo answered. She looked at her niece affectionately as she began making a small talk as they made their way to her room "So, what brings you to LA?"

Elizabeth smiled through her grime covered face "I want to pursue a career as a screenwriter."

James stomach churned on air, he was getting hungry. Jo had informed him prior to the party that they would have something like a medieval banquet that her parents had arranged. The party hall was well decorated, with grey colored wallpapers and dark colored draperies against the windows. There were wooden chair and tables, and light were dim, but torches and candles brightened the room to a certain extent. He glanced at the grandfather clock, it was 8 pm. There was another hour before food would be served.

He saw Carlos and Logan walk through the doors, they looked relieved. He walked up to them across the dance floor. "What's up guys?"

"Nothing, really." Logan said, "We just went out there to apologize to Elizabeth."

"Why did you have to apologize?" James asked looking at Carlos.

"The water… That was my fault." Carlos said, "I thought I would manage to get Jett under there, but somehow Buddha Bob gave me the wrong signal, and then, you know the rest."

"She's nice. You know, after all this, she didn't refuse to join the party and she forgave us without even asking for an explanation." Logan smiled, while Carlos eagerly nodded. "You shouldn't have laughed that much James, you didn't really put up that much of a good impression."

"I don't care, I don't really want to get anywhere with her. So, I didn't do anything I would regret doing. It was funny, the entire thing, and Logan's expression was hilarious." James said crudely.

"Dude, I think she's going to be here at Palmwoods for a while. So… who knows you might start like her." Carlos said, looking at James a bit seriously.

"Fat chance." James remarked, "She's a redhead. I don't like-"

"Hey, Kendall!" Carlos waved at Kendall, who was so noticeable in the crowd with his armor on. Kendall saw the three of them and began walking towards them. He was staring daggers at James.

"Do you realize you were the only one laughing Elizabeth and Logan? We are having this party because of Elizabeth. Do you have any clue, because of you, what might Jo think of me?" Kendall asked anxiously. His mind was fixed on Jo's upset face that had been upsetting him since Logan tumbled over Elizabeth.

"Jo won't care, honestly, her work has always been her first priority, and she doesn't even spend enough time with you-" James said, Kendall raised his hand as he glared at James.

"Not a word about Jo."

Logan looked at Kendall and then, at James "Guys, cool it. It's over, in fact, Elizabeth kindly chose to forget all of this. She'll change and be here in a few minutes. Then, James will personally apologize."

James chin jutted out "Never."

Kendall continued glaring at James. Then, he noticed Jo enter the party hall, her face was more relaxed than it had been a few minutes ago. He gave his friends a fleeting look and left them, to ask Jo about her niece.

"He's pathetic, one look at Jo's face and he's all smiles." James muttered.

Then, one after another, Logan and Carlos left him for Camille and chili cheese fries girl. James scowled "All of them are pathetic."

Lucy Stone was at the party too, dancing with guitar dude, she, for once, was not dressed in her usual black. She was dressed in a Maiden of Verona costume that looked odd, considering the red streaks in her hair. Oh, I'm glad I'm not with her.

He sighed as he thought about the stern look Mrs. Knight gave him as he had laughed at Jo's niece. Now, he felt that everyone at the party was ignoring him. He looked at the ground, and grimaced, a hand then, held out some passion fruit punch to him. He looked up, it was Camille.

"Why so glum? You're generally the life of the party." she asked. Mercifully, at least she wasn't accusing him of anything.

"I'm not glum, just a little mad."

"At?"

He reluctantly considered his response options "Myself."

Camille looked at him expectantly; she wanted a more elaborate answer. He sighed "Because, I laughed at her… I'm scared that I'm turning into a horrible douchebag."

"You can be sweet, when you want to. Remember the time when you'd helped me run lines for an audition."

James grinned "Then, we accidently kissed."

Camille stared at him for a moment, after which she blinked. "James, maybe you are turning into a horrible douchebag."

He watched Camille walk slowly, as she made her way to Logan who was helping himself to second cup of punch. He looked around and saw the chili cheese fries girl dancing with Jett. Buddha bob was tackling Bitters, who obviously found some flaw with the party arrangement. His eyes swept over the room, he found himself staring at a girl. She was wearing a bottle green, ankle length hooded dress with a long slit. She short, but didn't look that bad.

He walked around aimlessly, his hand still gripped the Styrofoam passion fruit punch cup, he sipped some of the punch. He winced, it was cold. He was actually thinking of going to Rocque Records and running over the lines of the new song from their new album Elevate, which they would probably record next Tuesday. He strolled some more, he stopped and stared at the wooden table that was now had heaps of chicken drumsticks served on plates. His stomach growled.

"Have it." James looked abashed as he noticed Kendall, who had been standing next to him for quite a while.

"Not mad at me?"

"You're my buddy. I can be mad at Jo for a long time, but you, never."

James beamed at Kendall, he went up to him. The two of them looked t people on the dance floor. James continued staring at the girl in the hooded dress.

"You won't say sorry to her?"

"No." James shook his head. The girl in the hooded dress was getting closer now; she was within audible vicinity. She was animatedly speaking to Carlos about tater tots and corndogs.

"Then, perhaps you could dance with her instead, as a way of saying sorry." Kendall suggested.

"No." James wondered why Kendall had asked him that.

"Well, I thought that would be easy for you since you've been staring at her for so long." Kendall smirked at James. James did a double take; he realized the hooded girl he had been staring for so long was Elizabeth. She was pale with short, curly red hair poking out of her hood. He reddened, she certainly didn't look that ugly up front.

"She's not as unpleasant as I thought she'd look, but she's still an absolute midget." James said grudgingly. At that instant, Elizabeth stopped mid-conversation and looked right into James eyes. She gave him a cold, unnerving look. Then, she slowly uncurled her neck and responded to Carlos' question.

Kendall gently touched James' shoulder "I think she heard you."

"I don't care."