Chapter 3: Big Time Mellie
Logan Mitchell licked his finger before turning the page in his book. He made a humming sound and rubbed his chin while taking in every word on the page. A few seconds later he heard a large impatient sigh coming from his right. Logan lifted his head to look at his friend, Camille, who had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking at him pointedly.
"What?" Logan asked with a little laugh.
"Logan, don't you want to go outside and get some sun?" Camille sighed. "Or are you afraid of going out into the sun for fear that I will discover your secret?" She asked dramatically while grabbing the front of his shirt. "Is that it?"
"Twilight audition?" Logan asked while prying Camille's fingers off of his shirt. He frowned down at the wrinkles in it. He gently smoothed them out and then smiled at the sate that his shirt had returned to.
Camille shrugged and nodded. "It's not my first choice but it's really popular, from what I've heard," she explained. "Logan, school was over an hour ago. Why are you still in here doing work?" She waved her hands about the small, empty classroom that was filled with many desks and chairs for the residents in the Palm Woods that were old enough to be tutored.
"I want to make sure this extra credit project doesn't have any flaws," Logan replied, picking up the book to start reading again. "And once I'm finished with this book I can get a head start to be sure I'm done on time to be two weeks early."
"Logan!" Camille said, snapping in front of his face. "You already have an A+ in this class. Extra credit would just earn you an A++."
"My ninth A++ since being born," he pointed out.
"Is that even possible?" A voice invaded their conversation. Logan and Camille both looked to see who it was that had jumped into the conversation. Mellie was leaning against the door frame, looking at them with her arms crossed over her chest. "Someone's a brown-noser," she noted.
"Someone wants to have a career later in life," Logan replied while jabbing at the front of the book he was reading How to be a Doctor for Dummies.
"Nice book choice," Mellie said teasingly but she kept a pleasant smile on her face. It always threw people off whenever she was aiming to poke fun at them. Then she noticed Camille who was sitting in the room. "Camille!" She gasped happily.
"Mellie!" Camille squealed, jumping up to seize the girl in a hug. Logan watched the exchanged with raised eyebrows. He's never seen the girl before in his life. He was sure he'd recognize those brown eyes and that bright smile. A smile that made his heart skip a beat. As the two girls continued to speak to each other in excited tones he looked her over. She wasn't built like most girls around the Palm Woods, she was smaller and noticeably more athletic looking with a bit of muscle on her arms and legs. Her face was makeup free but it's what made her more noticeable.
"….gan. Logan!" Logan blinked when Camille waved her hand in front of his face. Then he jumped up and let out a peal of nervous laughter while scratching at the back of his head. "I said this is Melanie Mason," Camille explained while pointing at Mellie who gave a little mock-salute. "She comes around during the summer because she lives in Virginia."
"All the way on the East Coast?" Logan asked and then mentally kicked himself for asking that.
Mellie laughed. "Yes, all the way on the East Coast," she replied. "Is there another Virginia I don't know of?"
"I mean, why do you come all the way out here for the summer?" Logan corrected himself, mentally slapping himself on the head.
Mellie shrugged. "Adventure," she said vaguely. "It's bound to be a lot more exciting here than it is in Virginia, I can tell you that."
"Oh, but there's a lot of rich history in Virginia," Logan said as he lifted a finger. "There's the Civil War. The Battle of Fredericksburg. The—" Logan's words were cut off when a strange stomping sound filled their ears. Camille and Mellie looked around while a horrified look formed on Logan's features. "Oh no!" He gasped. Just then the door was knocked over onto a few stacks and a wild eyed blonde's eyes moved around the room before they rested on Logan. "Hi, Mercedes," Logan said with a clenched-teeth smile.
"Mercedes?" Mellie asked, turning to Camille with a lifted eyebrow.
Camille rolled her eyes and sighed. "Long story," she responded.
"You," Mercedes said while pointing her finger at Logan. "Where have you been? You're my new boyfriend, remember?"
"I, uh, thought that Guitar Dude was your new boyfriend," Logan said with a little laugh, glancing at Camille and Mellie who looked on in amusement.
"He was my old boyfriend. All he cared about was his guitar," Mercedes replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a huff. "You're m new boyfriend again. Got it?"
"Oh, um, I can't do that Mercedes because I'm already dating…her!" Logan said while pointing at Melanie who then had a confused and shocked look of her own when Mercedes rounded on her.
"Oh yeah? And who are you?" Mercedes demanded.
Mellie's eyebrows crinkled together. She wasn't stupid. She wasn't just going to give her name to someone she didn't know, especially one that seemed like a borderline psychotic jealous girlfriend, such as she. Mellie's nose wrinkled together. Did that Logan guy actually date her? She felt bad for Logan just for thinking that.
"Umm…I'm…Aubrey Stewart," Mellie replied. She looked past Camille's shoulder and saw that she had suddenly lifted a sign that read 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' Mellie just shrugged and tilted her head a bit, as if to say I don't know.
Mercedes laughed. "You're not Aubrey Stewart."
Logan internally began to panic. His nerves jumped when he heard a sudden "Uh uh uh oh!" coming from somewhere. He looked around the room to see Camille frantically hitting a boom box that was by her elbow. When that didn't work and the Big Time Rush song continued playing she simply picked up the boom box and smashed it onto the ground. Mercedes and Melanie didn't seem to notice.
"Yes I am," Mellie replied with a little point of her finger. "I'm…biracial so…I changed my skin color?" Mellie made a face at her own lie. Surely that Mercedes girl wouldn't believe her, right?
Mercedes slowly nodded and then got close to Mellie's face. "I'm going to be watching you, Aubrey. If there's even an inkling that I don't believe you're dating Logan then you're going down."
"Down where?" Mellie asked. "Down under? Y'know, I've always wanted to go to Australia."
"Just watch your back!"
'"Hmm, that's actually impossible without a mirror. You don't happen to have one, do you?"
"I have one!" James announced while bursting into the room. He whipped a mirror out of his pocket and held it in front of his face, admiring his own reflection. "See, now you can doubly see how handsome I am," he addressed Mellie with a smile.
"James, what are you doing here?" Logan asked through clenched teeth, tiling his head at Mercedes and looked at his friend as if begging for help.
"Trying to convince Mickey here to go out with me," James replied while pointing at Melanie. "You know you can't resist this," he added, wiggling his fingers in front of his face. Melanie swore she heard a little guitar riff accompany his ridiculous gesture.
"Who's Mickey?" Logan asked. "That's M—"
"Aubrey!" Camille jumped in as Mercedes's vulture like eyes snapped in Melanie's direction. "Aubrey Stewart!"
James laughed. "I took Aubrey to the Prom, I think I know who she is and that's not—ouch!" James uttered when Camille basically threw herself at him and shoved him out the door to the classroom. "Camille! What was that for?" James asked. He whipped out his comb to quickly fix his hair. Once every follicle was in place he let a stern look come to his features again. "I was trying to get Mickey to accept a date with me. I don't even know why I'm working this hard, I mean, really. Look at me."
Camille opened her mouth to correct James but stopped. He thought that Mellie was Mickey, which meant that he didn't know that they were quads. This meant that none of boys knew who they were because Kelly hadn't told them yet. It didn't surprise her in the least. She only knew who the Mason girls were because they've come to California for the summer for years and they've always ran into each other at the park. They took the time to stop and talk and got to know each other and became fast friends to Camille. The only reason the boys didn't know about them was because they were still new to the place.
"Maybe…you're just trying too hard," Camille offered. "But right now, you need to go along with the idea that she's Aubrey Stewart. Or else Mercedes will dig her claws into my, er, I mean, into Logan again. Got it?"
"Got it," James responded.
Just then the door opened and Mercedes stormed out of the room, followed by a sheepish looking Logan and an annoyed looking Mellie. "Okay, I think that bought Logan a minute before she comes back," Melanie said with a sigh. "What're we going to do now?"
"Are you forgetting that I'm an actress?" Camille asked with an elegant lift to her arms. "I have a plan."
"Why is it that you get to wear a costume but I still look like this?" Melanie asked while watching Camille walk out of the bathroom stall in her new costume as a bodyguard to 'Aubrey Stewart'. Her hair was pulled back into a low bun hidden underneath a cap. A large brown moustache was added to her upper lip and she wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses to go with it.
"Because, if we're going to get Mercedes off of you back we have to be convincing that you're actually Aubrey," Camille replied, pressing on the moustache to make sure it stayed still.
"But I'm not Aubrey," Mellie replied.
"And as long as Mercedes doesn't know that Logan will be fine," Camille explained.
Mellie sighed. "You still like him, don't you?" Camille didn't reply. "I could read between the lines in your e-mails, y'know. You still like Logan."
"I don't know," Camille sighed.
"Well, he is cute."
"Don't I know it," Camille said with a dreamy look on her face. "But we're just friends. That's all."
"Ah, but you want to be more than friends," Mellie pointed out. "You two are going to be going around in circles if you don't say anything about it or do anything about it, y'know," she advised. Then she let out a groan. "So, how is it, after you've told me about these people, I end up pulled into one of their crazy schemes?"
"It's their charm," Camille said with a grin.
"One small problem. James thinks I'm Mickey. Knowing her, she's a challenge for him so he won't leave her alone. Which means he won't leave me alone because he thinks I'm her. What are we going to do with him?"
"I've got that one covered," Camille replied with a wink. "Don't you worry about a thing." She gave one of her eyebrows a little pinch and then leaned back from the mirror. "Okay, let's go."
She pumped the door handle to the bathroom and the two girls walked out. Logan gave Camille a half smile as she adjusted her moustache again. "I can't thank you guys enough for helping me deal with Mercedes, especially you, since you don't even know her," Logan said to Mellie.
Melanie shrugged. "I know enough about her to know that she's a psycho. Anything I can do to help take down those types of girls is fun for me. It comes close to playing the drums, but not quite there."
Logan's eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. "You play the drums?"
"Yeah, for about seven years now."
"That's so cool! You know, I actually play a little bit of bass—"
"Not now!" Camille interrupted in a gruff voice, lifting a boom box to her shoulder. "Right now we have to go through a montage at the right moments for Mercedes to think that you're actually dating." She pressed a button on the boom box and Big Time Rush's 'Any Kind of Guy' started playing at a high volume.
And that's what they did. Logan and Melanie went around the Palm Woods and the park staging 'dates' that Mercedes could catch them on, such as lounging around the pool, playing video games, taking a walk, eating ice cream, rollerblading, playing a little bit of hockey, playing cards, telling each other about their interests, talk extensively about music and his band, and having a lunch date as well. Logan had to admit to himself that it was the most fun he had with another girl in a while, even if it was fake. He felt so relaxed and stress-free, despite it being one of their 'crazy schemes'.
Melanie found herself having fun as well. Logan was certainly a charmer and he had a lot to say on any subject that she brought up, which was refreshing. The other boys that she had dates with usually made her do all of the talking because they didn't know much about what she wanted to talk about or they weren't paying attention to her at all. But Logan was really attentive and actually cared about what she had to say.
Logan, in short, was in awe of her. Not only did she play drums but she volunteered her time after school to help out the younger kids learn to play instruments, she was in their school's rock and jazz band, and ran cross country and played soccer. She was a little rough around the edges, sarcastic to the point that half of the time he didn't know if she were being serious or not and he felt that she was a little guarded but her enthusiasm for music eclipsed it.
"You know, Logan, this is the best non-date I've ever been on in my life," Melanie told him, setting down her glass of lemonade. "Someone who's such a bookworm as yourself has really surprised me."
"Well, thank you," Logan said with a smile. He was amazed at how relaxed he was around her. Whenever he was around other girls, such as Camille or The Jennifers, he got nervous and stumbled over his words. But with her, he got a sort of confidence that he's never felt he had before. "Would you like a refill on that?" He offered.
"Sure, thanks." Almost as soon as Melanie handed over her drink and he walked away she let out a scream when James took his place, as if appearing out of nowhere, and shoved flowers in her face. "What…?" Was all that she could manage to ask him.
"A pretty girl such as yourself deserves flowers that are the only true rival of your beauty," he explained, handing over the white roses.
"Look, James, this is very nice of you but—"
"Ah ha!" Mercedes yelled, jumping out of the nearby bushes. She tossed off her tree hat and crossed her arms over her chest. "I knew you weren't dating Logan!"
Melanie looked from Mercedes to the lowers, to James, back to Mercedes, and to the flowers again. And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. "I, er, nooo!" She uttered, pointing at James. "This isn't what it looks like," she said lamely. Not like it would help matters, Mercedes was out for blood and James just spilled a pool of it.
"Whoa whoa whoa, back it up there girlie," Camille jumped in, chewing on a piece of gum somewhat obnoxiously. "That's too close!" Mercedes reached out and ripped off the moustache that Camille had worn. She let out a little shriek and brought her hands up to her upper lip which was now stinging from having the moustache ripped off.
"I knew you weren't dating Logan," Mercedes repeated. "And I knew you weren't Aubrey Stewart. That just proved it."
"No! No, James was just…delivering flowers that I ordered," Melanie explained, hoping that he'd play along. Then she paused. "You really thought I was Aubrey? Really?" She waved at her light brown skin and scoffed.
"Heh heh, um, what's going on here?" Logan asked nervously, returning with her lemonade.
"What's going on here is that you're not dating anyone, except for me now," Mercedes replied, looping her arm with his. "So now you can take me to the mall and buy me anything cute that I want."
"And you can help me decide which headshot is better," James addressed Melanie while lifting them up. "Luscious Lumberjack or Hot Police officer?"
"While I do like a man in uniform, I have to pass," Melanie replied, giving him an odd look.
"Mercedes, we are so dating," Logan laughed, pointing between himself and Melanie.
"Oh yeah?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Prove it."
"You want us to pro—" Melanie started to ask incredulously but stopped when Logan grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. Her eyes widened a bit at the shock of the situation. She wasn't able to grasp what was going on before Logan let her go. Her head swam and her heart raced but she kept her lips pressed together while Camille and James looked on.
"Dude!" James growled before tackling Logan to the ground.
While they started to roll around and fight each other Camille grabbed Melanie by the wrist and pulled her away from the pool area and into the lobby. "What was that about? You know I still like him," she called over her shoulder.
"I…he kissed me!" Melanie protested. "I didn't do anything, 'Mille."
"Yeah, but it'd be best if you got out of here before Mercedes comes looking for you to kill you," Camille told her, turning to look where she was going, stopping herself from crashing into Kendall just in time.
"Did you forget something this time?" Kendall asked Melanie.
"Huh?" Melanie asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"You just left!" He was going hysterical now. Twice the girl he met had run away from him and now here she was again, still not knowing who he was. He was beginning to wonder if he was seeing things or if he was going insane.
"Nnnooo, I didn't," Melanie replied. "But I'm leaving now." She gave Kendall and Camille a little wave before running off in the direction of the Palm Woods Park to find Sammi. She needed to tell someone about her day.
As Kendall turned around James and Logan ran up to him, their clothes a little dirty and torn. "What happened to you two?" Kendall asked.
"Logan kissed the girl of my dreams, that's what happened!" James snapped.
"No, I kissed the girl of my dreams," Logan corrected. "And now she's gone!"
"Yeah? Well, the girl of my dreams forgot who I was. AGAIN!" Kendall cried out, throwing his arms into the air.
Camille chuckled to herself while shaking her head. "Boys are so stupid."
And here's the next one. I hope I'm keeping their personalities right. Let me know if there's anything I need to change, personality wise for the guys.
I'm glad you all are enjoying this story! It really means a lot.
~C.M.
