24 Hours
Wow, a week without an update. Sorry about that! Hope this chapter makes up for it!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from Big Time Rush. I only own the plot.
Hour Seven
6:00 A.M
The clock struck six as Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan each took a seat on the couch. Kendall sat next to Carlos on one side, while Logan and James sat on the other. Kendall glared at Logan, who held an ice pack to his swelling face. The dark haired boy's body was sore all over, aching from Kendall's punches to when he fell into the kitchen table and it collapsed under him.
"Who's going to go first?" James asked. Carlos raised his hand, and went to stand in front of the T.V.
"Well, I don't really know where to start." Carlos began, rubbing the back of his head. "First, Stephanie is the one the blackmailers took from me. And as for my secret…" Carlos placed his hands on top of his head let out a giant puff of air. "My secret is…my secret is that I'm the reason my mother is dead."
Kendall, James, and Logan each gave Carlos a confused look. Carlos bit his lip, staring up at the ceiling as he paced back and forth.
"I was six. My mom and I were coming home in the middle of a bad snowstorm. I had these really cool airplanes that my mom had given to keep me distracted so she could focus on a driving. But I was making the airplanes swoop in circles and I wanted my mom to see. I begged and pleaded with her till she finally gave in. When my mom finally took her eyes off the road and turned around to see me, a car crashed into the driver's side. The crash broke my mother's spine and snapped her neck. She was dead on impact. I escaped alive…but if I hadn't made her turn around, she would be here. She could have swerved out of the way in time. But I distracted her all because I wanted her to see my stupid airplanes, that weren't even real, fly in circles. It's all my fault."
Hot tears slid down Carlos's face. Carlos still stared up at the ceiling, fighting back any more tears. A sniffle escaped the Latino, and Carlos felt his friends engulf him in a hug. A sob escaped Carlos, and his friends comforted him till Carlos cried himself of all his tears.
It was 6:34 when Carlos finally finished crying. They four pulled apart and Carlos nodded his head, silently thanking his friends.
"Who's next?" Carlos sniffed out. Kendall, James, and Logan looked at each, before Kendall let out a sigh and raised his hand slightly. "I'll go." He said in defeat.
James, Carlos, and Logan settled themselves back in on the couch. Kendall faced them, opening his closing his mouth, before finally finding the words he so desperately needed to say.
"Well, you probably all know the blackmailers took Katie from me. I saw the pictures, it was easy for me to see who they had taken from me. But when I had to read the index card with my secret on it, I didn't read it at first. I pretended to read it. And when I had to read the letter with our instructions, I could barely read it. I wanted to slam it down in frustration."
"Because you were so angry over what happened?" James asked.
"No, it was because I couldn't read the words on the paper." Kendall said, biting his lip.
"Wait, so you can't read?" Logan asked, letting out a sigh of relief. "Well, that's not that bad. A lot of Americans can't read, but if you want, we can teach you…"
"No Logan, I can read." Kendall snapped, still anger at Logan for not telling him about Jo. "The words, the letters, everything on the page were scrambled up, like someone had just thrown the letters on the page. I wanted to slam the paper down in frustration because I have dyslexia, and I reading is hard for me."
"Dyslexia?" Logan stuttered out. "Kendall that's nothing. Millions of people across the world have dyslexia."
"So why did you hide it from us?" Carlos asked. "Why would you hide something so simple from us?"
"Because you guys would have treated me like I was stupid." Kendall admitted. "You would have treated me like some idiot kid who never learned how to read. When I would want to quit, you guys would force me to keep reading. And when I get frustrated when I can't read, I get angry. If you guys forced me to keep reading, even after I was frustrated, who knows what I would have done to you. It could have destroyed out friendship. Something as simple as dyslexia could have made me end my friendship with you three."
"Kendall…" James said, reaching out towards Kendall to pull him into a hug. Kendall jumped back shaking his head.
"See, you're already doing it!" Kendall exclaimed. "You feel sorry for me because I'm a stupid kid who can't read! Stay away from me!"
"Kendall, listen to me." James said, standing up. "We don't think you're secret is a minor one compared to ours. I understand why you hide it. You felt ashamed of yourself for having it, and felt like we would treat you differently if we knew about it."
"That's why I didn't tell you guys about my mom." Carlos piped up. "I thought you guys would just see me as a monster that killed his mother."
"But you aren't." Logan said. "We still see you as your little Carlitos who loves corndogs."
"And we still see you as Kendall, the man who always has a plan." James said, addressing Kendall. "Whether you can read or not, whether you have dyslexia or feel stupid, you're still the same Kendall Knight we have known since kindergarten."
"Thanks." Kendall whispered. He and James exchanged a quick hug. "Now, who's next? Logan or James?"
"James!" Logan shouted. Kendall and Carlos looked at James, nodding their heads in approval. James looked between the three, before bolting off towards the door. Kendall lunged forward, reaching out towards James and reaching for anything in his grasp.
And Kendall pulled off James's wig, revealing his bald head.
