Chapter 7 – Of Cars and Confessions

"Jo, chill!" I said for the hundredth time to the blond who was sitting on my couch, bouncing her knee nervously, "I'm sure everything's going just fine."

"I guess you're right…" she admitted, "I guess I'm just worried; Camille's my best friend and I want this to be perfect for her. At least Logan was able to pluck up the courage to actually ask her out normally this time."

I was curious as to what she meant, but decided against asking and just smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, with how coordinated our efforts were it's bound to be going perfectly." She just shrugged, and I rolled my eyes, "All right, new plan; you want to help me pick out my outfit for tonight? I'm having a little trouble deciding and it might get your mind off things."

"All right…" she smiled slightly, "I guess it might help me a bit."

"Awesome," I grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the couch, "Let's get working!"

We went into my bedroom and spent the next hour or so looking through all my clothes and eventually decided on a pair of distressed skinny jeans, a purple tank top layered under a short-sleeved black plaid shirt, black suede boots, and a black fedora with a checked band above the brim. That was coupled with my favorite 'Hockey' necklace, a purple watch, two rings; a silver dinosaur and purple and silver rhinestone heart, and a stack of black jelly bracelets on my right wrist. Once I was done with that, I addressed my multitude of piercings; putting my usual black rounded barbell in my lip, an acrylic dice rounded barbell in my eyebrow, a moon cut-out ear shield in my cartilage, and two sets of studs in my lobes; one purple and the other black.

Once I was done with everything, I turned to Jo, "So? How do I look?"

"Perfect," she nodded in approval, "But your hair doesn't look good in a ponytail; with how your tips are done we need to try something else."

I thought about it for a second, then snapped my finger, "What about that double-braid thing I did yesterday? That'd probably look good under a hat."

"Yeah, and the fact that Carlos loved it last night has nothing to do with it, I'm sure," Jo said, and I spun around to see her giving me a knowing smile.

"What're you talking about?" I asked her, spinning back around and pulling my hair out of the ponytail to do the braids.

"Erin, I'm not blind," Jo said with a bit of a laugh, "I saw how you and Carlos were looking at each other when we were hanging out last night. You like him."

I couldn't exactly deny she was right, but it still unnerved me when, whenever I thought about El Chico in question, another face floated into my brain, as well. A face with great hair and an amazing smile… I shook it off, turning back to Jo, "And if I did?"

"Then I'd offer my services," she told me, smiling a bit, "I can easily help you get closer to the guy."

"Thanks but no thanks," I said, turning back to my mirror and grabbing my eyeliner, "I've got enough stuff on my mind to worry about guys."

"If you say so…" Jo told me, shrugging, "But if you change your mind Camille and I would be more than happy to help you out."

"I'll remember that," I smiled, nodding in thanks before dusting on my favorite eye shadow, applying some mascara, and spinning around. I struck a pose, "I feel hot."

"You look it," Jo said with a laugh, standing up from my bed, "Now come on; it's almost 7:45."

We'd decided on an 8:30 showing, so the plan was for me and Jo to meet up with Camille and the guys in the lobby at 7:45 (Logan had promised to be back by 7:30, and he was. On the dot. I swear, that boy is going to take some getting used to). At that point, we were going to figure out rides and drive out to the theatre.

Jo and I rode down in the elevator, and once I stepped out into the lobby I heard a guy with a guitar call from the corner of the room, "Lookin' good there, new girl!"

I felt myself blush as the guys turned around, and Jo had to gently nudge me ahead towards them. As I approached, I noticed Carlos with his mouth agape as he looked at me. "What'd I tell you?" Jo asked quietly, and I elbowed her lightly in the ribs as she chuckled.

"Hey there, guys," Kendall said, smiling in greeting, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, but what're we going to do for rides?" Camille asked from where she and Logan were sitting together on one of the couches (judging by how close they were, the date had gone well).

"Well… you have your license, right, Erin?" Kendall asked.

"Oh, no, my parents just sent me an incredible car that I can't drive," I said sarcastically, getting a laugh out of the rest of the group, "Yeah, I can drive people."

"I call shotgun!" James cried out, causing half the lobby to turn to us (god, he has got to stop doing that).

"You don't even know what car you're going in," Carlos pointed out.

"I don't care," James shrugged, "I just wanna ride shotgun."

"Okay…" Jo let out an exasperated sigh, "How about Kendall and I ride with Logan and Camille; James and Carlos can go with Erin."

I felt myself tense up; I barely even knew how to deal with one of those guys, having both of them together was just trouble waiting to happen. "Actually," Kendall spoke up, "How about Jo and I ride with Erin? I'm curious about that Charger."

I breathed an internal sigh of relief as James started stammering, "But, but, but…"

"You can ride shotgun in the car on the way back," Logan told him with a roll of his eyes, then stood up, "Now come on, don't we have a movie to get to?"

We all agreed and walked out to where the cars were waiting. As I unlocked the Charger, I turned to Kendall, "Dude, I owe you; how'd you know what to do for the rides?"

"You should've seen your face when Jo made the suggestion," he told me with a laugh, "It was pretty clear something else would've worked better."

"No kidding," I laughed myself, nodding in agreement, "But seriously, thanks."

He just shrugged, pushing the front seat forward and climbing into the back. I got into the driver's seat as Jo climbed in, and nervously bit my lip as I turned the car on. Everything seemed to be in working order, so I pulled out of my spot and drove out of the parking lot. The drive to the theatre didn't take very long, but parking was excruciating. I mean, seriously, was everyone in LA here tonight? When we finally were approaching the theatre, I saw James standing there, his arms crossed impatiently. I smiled sheepishly as we approached, and he brandished a comb that was in his hand at us, "About time you all showed up."

"Hey, you try parking out here!" I gestured to the expanse of parking lot behind us, "I'm surprised you guys aren't still fumbling around, looking for a spot!"

"Erin," Kendall put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention, "Logan was driving; they probably found a spot in about 5 seconds."

I made to retort, but then sighed in defeat; from what I knew about Logan that was a valid point. Kendall smirked, and he and Jo went into the theatre building. As the door closed behind them, I turned to James, "So, is there another reason you were freaking out on us? You upset you're missing valuable girl time?"

"No!" he quickly denied, then looked away from me just as quickly. I cocked an eyebrow, and he looked back at me, speaking quietly, "I was a little worried about you. You don't know the streets and easily could've gotten into an accident or something."

"Worried?" I repeated, taken aback by the sudden drop in confidence I sensed in the guy. When he nodded, I felt myself blush, "Well, that's sweet of you."

He just shrugged, shuffling his feet a bit before straightening up, his air of self-confidence coming back as quickly as it had left, "Well, let's get going; those tickets aren't going to buy themselves, you know!"

I smiled, laughing a bit as we walked inside, but something inside kept on gnawing at my brain; Carlos was awesome, but James was… I don't know, intriguing. There were some things I knew for sure, though. Both were very attractive guys. Both were incredibly sweet, at least in their own way. Both were single. And… I had no clue whatsoever as to what to do about them. HELP ME!


GUESS WHO'S BACK! *triumphant applause* Haha, sorry, that was my self-indulgence for the time being. Anyway... notes time!

1: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Or whatever other holiday you may celebrate

2: I feel horrible for not updating since the summer! I just got wrapped up in school prep and everything and the story kinda took the back burner of my mind. I'm going to try and get back to normal updates, though, but they probably won't be as frequent as they used to be since I have school to worry about (Junior year's a BITCH!)

3: I'm still kinda wondering who she's going to wind up with, so if you have any suggestions I'd appreciate them! Heck, it doesn't even have to be Carlos or James; I could mix it up a bit and have it be Logan or Kendall. It's all up in the air right now.

Anywho... methinks that's it... so yeah; REVIEW! It'll help ease my guilt for making you wait so long!