I was going to say that not a lot happens in this chapter, but actually a lot does happen. So read. I command you! ._. Just kidding. Please read?
Wait! First, I have some review replies to do! *ahem*
To the guest who was unsure if I watch the show, I would be offended... but my answer is yes and no. I watched up to Big Time Pranks 2 up until yesterday when I finally talked myself into watching Big Time Rides and Big Time Tests. And yes, I did sob and call Jo names. My mom told me that crying and yelling at fictional characters is a sure way to get my name on a padded cell. I replied with "at least the feels can't find me there! ;_;" Anyway, it inspired me to write Getaway. You should check it out, if you haven't already. *insert shameless self-promotion here*
And then to the other Guest (then again it might be the same one) who puts up a review to just prompt me to update... Thank you! :D I need those. I'm so lazy T-T Bad Shadow.
I love all of you guys! And I'll shut up now ._.
- Shadow
Disclaimer: I don't own BTR, but I do happen to own a shed full of pitchforks. Anyone want to go commandeer the entire BTR set and re-film the episodes from here til the finale with me? I promise Kucy and snacks. Torches are optional.
The next few days went by in the usual way they did; uneventful. Kendall spent his afternoons and evenings at the high school, doing what coaches do. Sarah watched Claire when he was away and did her own thing when he wasn't. The only thing not 'normal' was Lucy's presence, though it was getting more so as time passed by.
She spent most of her afternoons at the mall in the next town over, a small city about an hour away. Her mornings consisted of playing with Claire or spending time with Kendall in the apartment. She would call it 'talking', but since Sunday he hadn't said much past "Good morning" and "Good night". The rocker couldn't help but think that this was his normal anymore. And that worried her.
Where was the Kendall she knew from the Palm Woods? The one who spent hours upon hours trying to convince her that his music was just as rocking as hers? The one she's laughed with more times than she could even count anymore? The one who's helped her out of so many scrapes it would take weeks to tally up her debt? Where's the curiosity? The competitiveness? The sense of adventure? The smile? Because she hadn't seen one from him since Saturday night. Not a real one, anyways.
At dinner, Kendall would ask Lucy if she had any plans of leaving. His voice would be void of any real curiosity or need to know. Lucy would shrug and say that she wasn't needed anywhere else at the moment and, much to her disappointment, that would be the end of that.
It was now Friday afternoon. Sarah had taken Claire on the last picnic of the season with her church group. The long Indian Summer they were experiencing was drawing to a close, and it was finally feeling like the late fall that it really was. Sarah had invited Lucy to tag along as well, but the rocker didn't think that a bunch of old devout ladies would take too kindly to her hair, clothes, or all around life style.
So Lucy sat by herself in Kendall's apartment, filling the rare, and somehow unwelcome, quiet with the sounds of a first person shooter on his xbox. She had a pretty good kill streak going when the house phone sitting on the counter rang. Lucy wondered whether or not she should answer it, and her slight hesitation cost her character his life.
"Damnit," she growled as she got up. She moved over to the counter, scooped the phone up, and answered it. "Hello?"
"Oh, uh, I might have the wrong number… I'm looking for Kendall Knight?"
The stumbling voice coming out of the handset sent a shard of icy anger down Lucy's spine.
She recognized that voice.
It was Jo's voice.
"This is his number," Lucy replied, forcing her voice to sound neutral.
"Is he there?" The actress apparently hadn't recognized Lucy's voice as easily as the rocker had recognized hers.
Which suited Lucy just fine.
"No, he's out right now," she said in the same flat tone.
"Can I leave a message? He and I really need to talk."
Lucy couldn't help herself. She let out a disbelieving snort. "What do you and Kendall have left to talk about?" She spat out the question like it hurt.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, "Lucy?"
"What's it to you?" she growled.
"Nothing. It's just… You still say his name like you used to back at the Palm Woods."
Lucy felt her face flush. "You mean before you broke him?" she snapped back. She mashed the 'end call' button and aggressively put the phone back on its cradle. Lucy let herself seethe for a little bit, but she eventually calmed down enough to think.
What did that blonde bitch think she still had to say to him? Not that it was any of Lucy's business.
The rocker slammed a fist down on the counter top. "Damn me if it isn't my business," she argued with herself. Kendall is her friend. She hated seeing him hurt. And Jo definitely hurt him.
Lucy took a deep breath and let it out with a hiss. A glance at the tv told her that the game was ready to send her in for another round if she was in. The clock told her that she still had a few hours until anyone was due home. She just hoped that she didn't break anything between now and then.
Lucy walked back to the living room and picked up the 360 controller. Maybe another kill streak would act as a stress relief.
.:.:.:.
Sitting in his small coach's office, Kendall hovered the cursor of his desktop computer over the button that would decline the Skype call for the seventh time. But instead of clicking it, he sighed in resignation and hit 'accept'. The guys were relentless.
"Finally!" chorused Logan, James, and Carlos as their faces each popped up on his screen simultaneously. Kendall adjusted the webcam on the monitor so it was centered.
"Hey guys," he greeted them.
"Declining our calls?" James scolded. "Really, dude?"
Kendall sputtered defensively. "I was busy!"
"Of course you were." Logan's voice was dripping with skepticism.
Carlos' portion of the screen was suddenly filled with a mass of black and brown fur. "Brandy, get down! I'm talking!" He shoved the German Shepherd away, only for her to belly-crawl back into his lap.
"Gee," Logan snorted, "for a police dog Brandy's not very obedient."
Carlos puffed out his chest as much as he could with a 60 pound dog on it. "That's because she's not wearing her vest," he informed him proudly.
Kendall coughed to interrupt the two before a real argument could break out. "Just like old times, huh?" he asked dryly.
"Right." Logan cleared his throat. "First order of business, how is everyone?"
Kendall just lifted an eyebrow while James and Carlos each gave a murmur of contentment. There was a few beats of silence, then Logan threw his arms up.
"My life's going great, thanks for asking," he said in a tone of indignation.
Kendall sighed. "Can we just get to the real reason you guys called?" he asked abrasively.
Logan, James, and Carlos looked synthetically clueless.
"Thanksgiving?" Kendall prompted, though he knew that they knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Oh, is it really that time of the year already?" James scoffed. "Well, you know what that means…"
"MINI MUSIC FEST!" the three of them cheered at the top of their lungs. Brandy punctuated the words with a loud bark, while Kendall just rolled his eyes.
"Do we have to?" he complained.
His friends gasped.
"Yes we have to!" Carlos covered his dog's ears. "It's a tradition! How dare you insinuate us not going through with this sacred event."
"I just mean-"
"Ehp!" James interrupted. "Don't be a party pooper."
Kendall leaned back in his chair. "I'm not a-"
"Logan," James spoke over him, "you had better go over the rules for the party pooper."
Kendall rolled his eyes again, but let his friend speak.
"Ahem." Logan cleared his throat importantly. "Each year, participants will have at least three weeks to find a song of a specified genre and learn said song to be sung at some point over the Thanksgiving visit to the house of Momma Knight. The song must be about someone or something in your life. The lyrics can be tweaked, but the song must remain wholly unchanged."
Carlos waved his hand to gain everyone's attention. "Tell him about the new rule," he reminded Logan.
"Oh, right. Kendall?"
This outta be good, Kendall thought. "Yeah?"
"Nothing depressing," Logan said flatly.
"But-"
"No buts," James interrupted him once again. "Jo isn't the only person in your life right now." Everyone flinched, but James continued without reservation. "I mean, you have Claire, and Lucy's even out there right now."
Kendall drew a confused expression. "How'd you know Lucy was out here?"
"Sarah talked to your mom the other day," he said, glancing briefly off-screen. He shrugged.
Kendall shook his head. "Whatever. But that still-"
"But what?" James interrupted yet again.
"I might not be going anywhere for Thanksgiving," Kendall blurted out before anyone could cut him off.
Logan, Carlos, and James froze and there was silence, until someone off of someone's screen spoke.
"He said what now?!"
Kendall knew that voice almost as well as he knew his own. "What's my sister doing at your house?" he directed his question at James.
"My girlfriend and our house," he corrected.
Kendall bristled. "You moved in together?!"
Katie appeared on-screen and sat next to James on what would be 'their' couch. "That is so not the point here," she told her older brother. "What do you mean you're not going anywhere for Thanksgiving?"
Kendall shrugged. They all knew why, but he answered her anyway. "I just don't want to go anywhere near…" he trailed off, but Katie didn't give him time to hunt for an end to his sentence.
"So, what? You're going to avoid the entire west coast for the rest of your life?" She shook her head. "You can't do that, Kendall. Did you know that mom's already started preparing the house for you guys to arrive?"
Kendall ran a hand down his face. No, he hadn't.
"If you don't come," Katie added, "she'll be crushed."
Kendall groaned. Why did she have to play the mom-who-barely-gets-to-see-her-kids card? "I'll think about it," he amended.
Katie grinned.
"Shall we pull the Genre out of the Hat of Genres?" Carlos asked.
"Indeed we shall," Logan agreed, picking up a top hat from the floor. It was upside down, and everyone knew what was in it, though Logan still said it out loud for dramatic effect. "Contained within the brim of the Hat of Genres are the Slips of Genres. Each Slip of Genre has a genre written on it. Whichever genre is picked will be the genre-"
"Get on with it," James demanded, earning him an elbow in the ribs courtesy of Katie.
"-theme of the Mini Music Fest," Logan finished with a dirty look directed at James. He stuck his hand in the hat and mixed up the paper slips a bit before pulling one out. "And this year's genre is…" he announced with a theatrical pause, "country."
James and Carlos groaned.
"Ah, ah, ah," Logan chided. "Rules are rules. We each have to pick a country song. And Kendall?"
Kendall sighed. "Nothing depressing, I know."
"Good. Now I have to go clean a bathroom." He pulled a disgusted look. "The boys caught the flu from school. Loganator out." His screen went blank.
"So James," Kendall began dangerously. "About this whole "our house" thing…"
James opened his mouth, but Katie was the quickest to answer. "Bye big brother!" Their screen blacked out aswell.
Kendall looked at Carlos, who gave him a sympathetic look in return. "You okay?"
"Maybe eventually," Kendall replied dully.
"It's good that Lucy's out there with you. She's a fun person to hang out with." He shrugged. "See you at Thanksgiving?" Carlos held his fist up to the screen.
Kendall's face shifted with a ghost of a smile as he copied his friend's gesture in a video-chat knuckle-bump. "I'll see you."
Carlos' screen went blank too, leaving Kendall to stare at the image of himself through the webcam.
Does anyone have any questions about the whole Mini Music Fest, or did Logan actually do a good job of explaining it? Er, no offense Logan.
And do you see what I mean? Not a lot... but a lot.
Sorry, just my self-doubt as an author shining through ._.
