Chapter 4- The Perfect Excuse

"That was the best party ever! " Katie exclaimed.

"Yes, that was the best party ever. Now, get to bed. All five of you." Mrs. Knight ordered sternly, her eyes on all four boys and her daughter.

"Yes, we're going." Kendall sighed, taking the heavy helmet off his head.

He went into his bedroom, eager to separate the armor from his body. He silently wondered of how medieval soldiers accustomed themselves to wearing something so bulky. He'd have to return all of it to Gustavo the next day. He recalled the angry memory of Gustavo earlier this evening saying that he'd kick Kendall out of Big Time Rush if he returned the armor to him with a dent or a scratch. Kendall licked his lips nervously as he stared at the scratch across the metal chest plate that resembled a claw mark. He pulled on his pajamas; he heard a quick knock on his door.

It was James "Are you done?"

"Yeah…" Kendall replied. James entered the room and hopped onto his bed. His head hit the pillow and he swung his legs up onto the bed.

Kendall raised an eyebrow "Aren't you going to change?"

"Nope."

"You're going to sleep in that incredibly uncomfortable outfit?" Kendal asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I want to know what it would be like to sleep like a royal." James answered.

"Royals in the Dark Ages didn't sleep in stuff like this; they had their night clothes too." Kendall said.

"Fine. I'm too lazy to change. Can we just sleep now?" James asked in an annoyed voice.

"Yes, but where are Carlos and Logan?"

"Logan's changing in the bathroom and Carlos is going to have a corndog before bed." James said as he stifled a yawn. Kendall remained silent for a while as he got into his own bed.

"So… You were looking at Elizabeth."

James turned his head "Is there a girl who I don't look at?"

"True. I can't argue with that." Kendall replied "She's here to be a screenwriter, Jo told me. That's different, a new talent around Palmwoods-"

"Why are we talking about her? Besides, I'm not interested in any girl who's going to be staying at the Palmwoods anymore." James asked mid-yawn.

"She saved the party Jo and I had been working on. That was really sweet of her, considering the humiliation everyone threw at her." Kendall said seriously.

James rolled his eyes "It's always Jo this, Jo that. Isn't it?"

Kendall sat up against his bed "James, what are you talking about?"

James closed his eyes "LA changes everybody; there's no way of handling things well here. Look at the Jennifers, for instance, look what this place has done to them. Everybody has toughened up and become selfish to a certain extent. We're the only ones who haven't toughened up."

"And, what does this have to do with Jo?" Kendall asked firmly.

"It's- Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to poison you against Jo or anything like that. It's that when I see you around Jo, I feel like you're the only one in love. But, is this even close to love? Love is never one-way." James said hesitantly.

"James, I think you really need to go to sleep. You don't know what you're saying." Kendall said, trying to ignore the ring of James' words in his head.

"I'm not trying to-" James paused, trying to think of the right word "-instigate you against anyone. This is what I think."

"Then, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself." Kendall muttered, trying to not sound offensive "I don't love Jo, but, I really, really care about her."

There was, soon, nothing but silence, with the exception of Kendall's snore, in the room.

"So, Kendall Knight, huh?" Elizabeth asked Jo.

Jo smiled, and reddened.

Jo decided to share her bedroom with Elizabeth. Jo changed into her pajamas, while Elizabeth slipped on her nightdress.

Elizabeth continued "He seems like a nice guy, affectionate, helpful and honest. He's friendly too."

"He is all of those things." Jo confirmed.

"Aren't you lucky?"

"Very lucky." Jo corrected. She turned around and grabbed the moisturizer from her dressed. She squeezed out some into her palm and then, slapped them on her feet."

"Good for you. Kendall Knight of Big Time Rush, I was expecting to be something different. But, I guess he's really like what he appears to be in all of the interviews and everything." Elizabeth said.

"So, do you like Palmwoods so far?" Jo asked in a serious voice.

"Most people here seem fun and likeable." Elizabeth said in a slow voice.

"Most?"

"James Diamond is not particularly likeable, in my opinion. Neither are the Jennifers." Elizabeth said, running a comb through her wet hair as she studied herself in the mirror. She looked jetlagged and haggard.

Jo mulled over his behavior at the party "He's generally not this rude and self-absorbed. Wonder what had gotten into him?"

"I think the fame is finally getting to him. I'd think it would be impossible for someone like Kendall to be friends with someone like James."

Jo pleaded "Get to know James; he's really not what you think he is. He's probably having a bad day."

"He probably thinks inferior to him, so I'm not going to even try." Elizabeth said with finality. With that, Elizabeth walked to her bed and rolled onto it. She closed her eyes, and felt Jo switch off the lights in the room. She couldn't erase the thought of James' laughing face from her mind.

The next morning Jo and Elizabeth headed outside for a walk at the Palmwoods Park, after breakfast. It was a warm day. Jo had her day off and the boys were at Rocque Records, so Jo decided now would be the best time to show Elizabeth around Palmwoods. The day was bright and warm.

"This is the Palmwoods Park, where you can do things you normally do in a park." Jo said motioning at the surrounding shrubbery.

"Fascinating." Elizabeth responded with a smile playing on her lips.

"It's a nice, quiet place if you need time to be on your own.-" Jo looked at her right as she heard Camille practice her line in a dramatic voice "-Or if you need to rehearse your lines."

Camille spun around in their direction and waved at them excitedly. Jo and Elizabeth walked over to her.

"Hey, guys." Camille said.

"Hey… It's Camille, right?" Elizabeth asked indecisively.

"Well, you have a good memory." Camille remarked. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

Jo answered "I was just showing Elizabeth around Palmwoods, maybe we'll grab a smoothie later. Wanna join us?"

"I'd love to." Camille chirped, she looked at Elizabeth "If you don't mind, that is."

"Don't be silly." Elizabeth waved her hand.

The three of them walked over footpath. Elizabeth glanced around the park as they walked "So, what are the other popular hangouts around here?"

"Well, there is the ice rink. If you like figure-skating or ice-hockey, you should go there sometime." Camille offered.

"It's really nice. Kendall and I go there all the time." Jo added.

Elizabeth laughed nervously "Well, I would go there, if I didn't have bad memories of slipping around the ice rink and constantly bruising myself."

Camille and Jo laughed.

After a moment of silence, Camille said Elizabeth in a sympathetic voice "It must have been really hard decision for you to make, move all the way from North Carolina and come here, to LA."

"It was." Elizabeth agreed in a small voice. "But, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make."

"You might really be missing all your friends?"

"I am. But, they made it easier. They were supportive and really cool about me moving to LA when I told them about a screenwriter who wanted to employ me as an apprentice because he thought I was an exceptional writer. I thought they'd go berserk, but they didn't. I'm glad they didn't." Elizabeth said in a relieved voice.

Jo patted her Elizabeth's shoulder "Don't sweat it. You made the right choice, like Kendall always says 'Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime.' "

"You're always thinking about Kendall, aren't you?" Camille asked playfully.

Jo turned red "Says the one, who can't keep her lips off Logan's."

"You both are so lucky to have such nice boyfriends." Elizabeth remarked.

"True. I mean, Kendall's perfect. He cares, unconditionally." Jo said lovingly.

Camille nodded "At any rate, he's crazy about you."

"Only if he could see you here blushing at the very mention of his name." Elizabeth grinned.

"I don't think there is a need for that. He knows I care about him just as much as he cares about me." Jo said.

"But, why do you hide that?" Camille asked as they walked ahead. The smoothie kiosk was not far.

"Hide what?" Jo said.

"Hide your…-" Camille paused, waiting for the right word to come to her "- affection."

"I don't hide it. I'm just not as open as he is about his emotions. I guess, I find it hard to express my emotions." Jo replied thoughtfully.

"If you want Kendall to remain yours forever, you'll have to start showering him with love sooner or later… I suggest the sooner the better." Camille said raising her expressive eyebrows.

"You don't want to let go of Kendall. He's a gem." Elizabeth added.

"Alright, alright." Jo agreed laughingly.

Jo offered to order the smoothies. Elizabeth and Camille seated themselves on a nearby bench.

"So, did you have a boyfriend back in your town?" Camille enquired.

"Yeah, I did. But, we broke up. Our relationship was more or less in tatters, he was pushy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Chad. It's just that I like people who respect my independence; he wasn't the guy for me." Elizabeth explained.

"Chad?"

"Chad. He's probably a lot like James."

"Don't say that." Camille said, slightly defensive. "I don't know what's gotten into him lately. I'm mad at him too, I just don't know how mad."

"What?!" Elizabeth asked with a grin.

"You know, I'm dating Logan, right? Once, James and I accidently kissed, while he was helping me rehearse my lines for a play. It was horrible, Logan and I broke up. But, luckily we made up."

"And, you're still mad at James?"

Camille shook her head "He brought up the kiss last night at the party. It was weird."

Elizabeth said in a quiet voice "I really don't know what to say, without making it sound that I'm poisoning you against him."

James huffed; he stopped beside the pavement to catch his breath. He had been running nonstop for twenty-five minutes. He inhaled the fresh air. The Palmwoods Park was green and alive as usual, with happy kids playing around. He needed a drink; he lifted his water bottle and shook it. He expected to hear the splash of water within the bottle, but instead, he heard no sound.

He grimaced, but quickly, his mouth stretched into a smile as he spotted the smoothie kiosk around the corner of a pavement. He jogged further, but abruptly came to a halt when he sighted Elizabeth and Camille sitting on a bench near the kiosk. Their backs were facing him.

He could faintly hear Elizabeth say "…..a lot like James."

He hunkered towards a bush close to their bench, and sat there to hear more of their conversation. To his surprise, he found Tyler sitting, probably hiding from his mother, with a tree hat on. James seized the tree hat and put it on. Tyler scowled and was about to complain, but, James motioned at him to shut up.

James licked his lips and attempted to hear Elizabeth speak. However, it was Camille who spoke. She was speaking a James, and how he mentioned their kiss at the party last night. She was mad at him. James raised his eyebrow.

Once Camille was done speaking, Elizabeth told Camille that she didn't know what to say without making it look like she was provoking Camille against James. James moved further into the bush to hear what Camille would say. But, she didn't say anything.

He heard footsteps in the direction of their bench. It was Jo.

"Here are you're smoothies." James heard Jo say. She asked one of the other two "Blue or pink?"

Elizabeth replied in a quiet voice "Blue."

She has a sweet voice, James thought silently to himself. In his mind, James recalled the sight of her face. His mind scrutinized the features of her face. He tried to imagine what her face would look like with a smile. Her eyes were teal green and monolid.

"Why are you smiling?" Tyler asked curiously, his wide eyes fixed on James.

James, unaware of his smile, glowered at Tyler and motioned at him to keep his mouth shut.

"They aren't here. They just left for the ice rink."

"Good… Now, you can have your tree hat." James took off his tree hat and swished his sweaty hair. James decided to jog back to Palmwoods, to memorize the lyrics of Big Time Rush's new single Worldwide.

"Wait!" Tyler exclaimed. "I needed to know if you're planning a party for Katie's birthday."

"No. I know, it's her birthday, but, I think Mrs. Knight wanted a quiet celebration at home."

"Well, she's expecting a party."

James smirked "Is she?"

Tyler nodded. James pondered for a while, and then said in a slow voice "Well, then. She'll get a party."

"Wow. Big Time Rush sure knows how to live life king size. Two parties in one week."

"Well, at least I'll get another chance to speak to her. An invitation will be the perfect excuse." James spoke to himself.

Tyler stared at James "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh. It's nothing. Don't worry, Katie will get her surprise party."