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Chapter 9: School Daze
When a girl in a mini skirt and high heels walked by without so much as a glance at the popular boy band standing in the doorway, Logan wondered for the first time in his life if going to school was going to be a good idea. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, were the gorgeous, the privileged, the unaffected boys and girls of West Beverly Hills High School. Jocks swaggered down the halls in their letterman's jackets, girls strutted around in short skirts. All of them walked with a purpose, and none of them gave a moment's notice to the four new boys wandering the halls, too absorbed in their conversations, or busy chatting on cell phones, or texting while walking.
Maybe they were in over their heads here.
Logan had done some research. West Beverly had a reputation for intense academic pressure, rampant drug and alcohol abuse, scandals ranging from inappropriate teacher-student relationships to grade-padding so that star athletes could compete, and being an overall den of hedonism for its beyond-wealthy students. Nearly all of its students went on to study at Ivy League universities, or play on Division I teams. The students were the children of corporate business owners, of famous music producers, of renowned doctors and lawyers, and of notorious tabloid movie stars. They were the elite teens of LA, many of whom were gaining notoriety themselves as socialites, or as aspiring singers or actors or filmmakers or athletes.
The four boys tried to find their way in the huge school. On the bright side, at least their lockers were all in the same hallway. At Mrs. Knight's (and Logan's) insistence, the boys had arrived to school quite early, so once they had all found their lockers and put away the random school supplies they were free to roam the halls, looking for classrooms and locating the cafeteria. Logan noticed that they were now getting some stares and whispers. Not that he was being conceited or anything, but this was what he'd expected. After all, Big Time Rush was pretty popular in the California area. And the Minnesota area, but that was neither here nor there. Kendall ignored the attention as usual, James straightened up and smoothed his hair as usual, and Carlos was oblivious as usual. When they circled back around and found the hallway containing their lockers again, they found a place to sit and wait for the bell to ring.
"Hey, Diamond!"
They boys all turned to see an angry looking boy approaching them. James stood up, and the other three followed suit, smelling the scent of a fight in the air. Over Nathan's shoulder, James could see Michelle standing a few feet away, looking annoyed as she came up behind him and grabbed onto his wrist.
"Nate, stop! This is not the place."
Nathan shook her off and shoved James backwards into a row of lockers. "Stay away from my girlfriend, Diamond."
Kendall angrily stepped forward. "Hey! What's your problem, man?"
"My problem is your pretty-boy friend over there, putting his hands on my girlfriend."
"Nate!" Michelle hissed, trying not to cause a scene. "I told you it was just for the ad!"
"Yeah, why don't you back off?" Kendall said, poking Nathan in the chest.
Nathan smacked Kendall's hand away from him. "You back off and stay out of this. This is between me and him," he said, glaring over at James.
James put a hand on Kendall's shoulder. "Let me handle this… Look," he addressed Nathan. "I'm sorry I kissed Michelle, but it was just for the shoot, dude. The director wanted some heat."
"Yeah, and I bet you were all too happy to give it to him, weren't you, Diamond? You better watch yourself," he sneered. The first bell rang and he stalked off down the hallway to his first class, leaving Kendall, Logan, and Carlos to stare at James in confusion.
"I'll explain later," James muttered to Kendall and Logan. He grabbed his backpack roughly and headed off to his first class, U.S. History, which he had with Carlos.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the other boys.
James stopped abruptly and Carlos bumped into him. "I think this is our classroom," he said, avoiding Carlos' eyes by checking his schedule. The door was open and there were several students milling about, as the late bell hadn't yet rung and the teacher was nowhere in sight. A few of the girls whispered to each other as James and Carlos passed them, heading to the back corner.
James took the very last chair in the row farthest from the door and Carlos opted for the spot directly in front of him, fidgeting with his white button down shirt, which had already come untucked. Carlos raised an eyebrow at James, who still hadn't answered his question, but before he could do anything to make James talk, their teacher walked through the door and seconds later the bell rang.
"Good morning, class," the teacher said brightly. A few students mumbled hello in response. "For those of you who don't know, I'm Mr. Arnold." He began passing out course descriptions and expectations. The sheet of paper detailed how students would be graded based on homework, quizzes, tests, and participation, and gave his list of classroom rules ranging from 'No Gum Chewing' to 'No Cell Phones.'
Next, he called roll, and a couple of girls giggled as he called, "Diamond, James" and "Garcia, Carlos."
Getting right down to business, Mr. Arnold spent the rest of the period outlining the first chapter of their textbook, which they were to finish reading by Thursday. James liked history enough, but he couldn't believe they were already being assigned homework on the first day. Talk about unfair.
When the bell rang signaling the end of the period, Carlos jolted up in his seat, having already dozed off momentarily. He tapped his head to wake himself up, frowning when he remembered he wasn't wearing his helmet. However, now that he was awake, he had other matters to attend to.
"So," he started, waiting for James to finish repacking his backpack.
James sighed and began talking, knowing he couldn't avoid the subject forever. "Remember that photo shoot I had to go to the other day? The day we went shopping for clothes? I kissed Michelle during the shoot, and the director wants to use that picture for the main ads."
Carlos' jaw dropped. "Wow."
"Yeah, and as you witnessed there in the hallway, Michelle's dating Nathan, so now Nathan's pissed at me. I'm surprised he didn't give me a black eye."
"I can't believe you made that mistake again," Carlos said tactlessly. "I mean you'd think after what happened with you and Camille and Logan—"
"Man, you think I don't know that?" James interrupted. "It just…happened! Anyway, I gotta book it. I have Drama next and I don't even know where the theater is."
"Catch you later." Carlos and James fist-bumped and headed off in opposite directions. Carlos had barely taken five steps before he was stopped by a teacher who made him tuck his shirt back in.
James walked into the theater, where there were some boys and girls standing around talking to each other, catching up on the summer. He was surprised to see that Michelle was in the class, chatting with a couple of girls. He approached the group and one girl stopped talking abruptly as he walked up to them. He tapped Michelle's shoulder.
"Hey," she greeted, looking up at him.
"What's up?"
She led him away from the girls she was standing with so they could talk privately. "Look, I'm sorry about Nate this morning. I told him about the photo shoot last night. I thought he'd cool off by now."
"It's no big deal. I'd have probably done the same if I were him… You didn't tell him about… you know. In the car?"
Michelle shook her head no. "There's no need for that."
"You're not gonna tell him at all? I mean, I should probably thank you, 'cause I really don't want to get beat up. But don't you think he deserves to know?"
Michelle crossed her arms. "Don't judge me, James," she replied, sounding slightly angry. "And don't make any assumptions about what's best for my relationship."
When the teacher arrived she made each student introduce and talk a little bit about themselves, saying that in Drama, there was no room for shyness—everyone must be comfortable speaking in front of crowds. After the introductions, they spent the rest of the period doing simple enunciation exercises, which they would continue with throughout the rest of the week.
After Drama, James had a free period and then Physics with Kendall. James walked in and took a seat in the far back corner again. Kendall came in a few moments later, bee-lining for the seat next to James.
"You kissed Michelle?"
"What? How do you already know?" James asked, taken aback.
"Carlos had Spanish with Logan for second period, and for third period, Logan had History with me. And now we're here."
"And of course Carlos and Logan can't keep their mouths shut," James grumbled. He wasn't really angry with them, he was just a little frustrated.
"Why should they?" Kendall scoffed. "We don't keep secrets from each other."
"It wasn't really a secret," James answered. "It was just acting."
"I've heard that before," Kendall said pointedly.
"Don't remind me about Camille, please," James scowled. "Carlos already did that, thank you very much."
Kendall opened his mouth to argue some more, but the bell rang, effectively ending their conversation. He thought that maybe there was more to this story than James was letting on, but he decided not to call him out on it just yet.
Mr. Cordell was possibly the most boring teacher alive. Twenty minutes into class, both boys were doodling in their otherwise blank notebooks, and looking around surreptitiously, James noticed that many other students were doing the same. Only a handful of students near the front of the room seemed to be paying any attention at all; the rest had their heads resting in their hands, were drawing in their notebooks, or texting with their phones in their laps. None of this apparently bothered Mr. Cordell at all, as he lectured through the end of the period without pausing once.
"Are there any questions?" he asked the class as the bell rang.
It was the fastest James had ever seen a classroom clear out. He didn't know whether it was to get away from Mr. Cordell, or because this meant it was time for lunch. He and Kendall made their way to the hallway where their lockers were located and found that Logan was already waiting for them, leaning up against his locker. He had his phone pulled out and a happy look on his face as he typed a message.
"How can you look so happy? It's the first day of school," James said, rolling his eyes at Logan.
"Please," Kendall said. "That's probably why he looks happy. Nothing turns Logan on more than some Honors Pre-Calculus."
Logan shoved Kendall lightly. "Shut up. Camille finally texted me back."
"No way. Nice!"
"Yeah. She told me to call her later and we could talk. She didn't seem like she was still pissed at me."
"That's good," James said. "Maybe you two will finally get your shit together."
Carlos finally approached the boys.
"I didn't recognize you from a distance without your helmet," Kendall commented.
"You're even shorter without it," James teased.
"Shut up," Carlos replied. "Anyway, I almost didn't recognize you guys because everyone looks the freakin' same. I've never seen this much khaki and navy blue in my life. And," he said, pausing to tuck his shirt back into his navy blue pants, "I never wear my shirts like this. I've already gotten in trouble three times today."
"Maybe if you weren't so fidgety, your shirt would stay in," Logan told him. "Can we go eat now? I'm starving."
"Ditto," James spoke up.
The boys had opted to bring their lunch today rather than buy from the cafeteria. Kendall's mom had sweetly written each boy's initials on the brown paper bags containing their lunches, and had taken time to make sure none of them were given something they didn't like. Hence, Carlos was packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Kendall and James were both given turkey sandwiches (Kendall's with no crust and James' on wheat bread), and Logan had been given a tuna salad sandwich. She had also given each boy some type of fruit, chips or crackers, and their preferred color of Gatorade. They were lucky enough to find an empty table in the large the café that was crowded with students. It was a long rectangular table with benches attached on either side. They sat down and were telling each other about their days so far when someone tapped Logan on the shoulder from behind.
"Excuse me, but you seem to be sitting in my seat," came a familiar voice.
Logan turned to see Hannah grinning down at him, holding a lunch tray and standing with a brown-haired Hispanic girl who James recognized from his Drama class.
He grinned back at her. "I didn't know the cafeteria seating arrangements were assigned."
"Oh yeah," she teased. "It's like a scene straight out of Mean Girls. Varsity jocks, JV jocks, marching band, freshmen… everyone has a spot."
"So what spot is this that we've commandeered?" He and Kendall slid down closer to the end of the table, making room for Hannah and her friend.
"Popular kids, of course," Hannah said matter-of-factly. "This is Anya, by the way. Anya, that's Kendall, and this is Logan, James, and Carlos."
Anya waved at the boys. "We had class together this morning, right?" she said, addressing James.
"Yeah, Drama."
Michelle walked up to the table with Nathan and Naomi, both of whom looked mildly surprised to see the BTR boys sitting at their table. Neither said anything about it, though Nathan aimed a scowl in James' direction. Soon after, Michelle's twin brother Derek came and sat down as well, along with his friend Scott, whom Logan remembered as the guy who'd brought the drugs to Michelle's party, and the quiet girl, Holly. He was surprised at how quickly their table had filled—he'd fully expected that he and the other three guys would be eating lunch alone. They were the new kids, after all. It was like some cliché rite of passage to sit in the corner alone on your first day at a new school.
However, everyone (save for Nate maybe) was perfectly friendly to them. After everyone was properly introduced, Derek and Scott talked to Kendall about hockey, and were even trying to talk him into joining the lacrosse team—tryouts were coming up this weekend—since their school didn't have a hockey team. All things considered, Logan couldn't have asked for a better first day back. Even Carlos seemed to be enjoying himself. He was a sociable person; he did well in large groups, so it was good for him to be making new friends. Maybe this whole public school thing wouldn't be so bad.
The rest of the day passed without major incident, but the guys were all actually happy about school. It was nice to get out of the house and have people to interact with besides each other. They got cranky having only themselves to talk to. When they got back home, Logan went straight up to his room to start working on his homework.
"Seriously, Loges? It's the first day! How much homework could you possibly have?" Carlos asked, disbelieving.
"Twenty problems for Honors Pre-Cal, a worksheet for AP Spanish, fifteen pages of reading for AP US History, another fifteen pages of reading for AP Biology, twenty five pages of reading for AP English, twelve pages for Honors Physics, and I need to start studying paintings for Art History," Logan rattled off, listing his work off the top of his head.
James let out a low whistle.
"Logan," Kendall started seriously, looking him in the eye, "Your lack of bullshit classes concerns me. Couldn't you have thrown in an art class or PE or something?"
"Yeah, good luck with that," James said, looking both amazed and slightly disgusted at the same time.
Logan rolled his eyes at them. "You underestimate me. My natural work ethic and photographic memory will definitely serve me well this year. Plus, I'm always up for the challenge."
"And you wanna get done fast so you can go out with Camille!" Carlos said.
"Oh so you're going out now?" Kendall questioned.
"Nooo," Logan responded. "I'm going to meet her in Palmwoods Park again, and hopefully we won't get into a screaming match like last time."
When Logan had finally finished all this homework for the evening, it was nearly eight o'clock, and Mrs. Knight had a rule about the boys being home by 9:30 on school nights. In theory, this was so that the boys would do exactly as Loganh ad just done, and finish their homework right after school so they could be free to spend their evenings how they wanted. More often than not, it resulted in them staying out until 9:30, and then returning home to start their homework. Either way, he had to book it if he wanted to have any time to actually get to talk to Camille. This was the first time she'd actually responded to one of his texts since the big fight, and he was nervous about how the meeting would go. He thought that it might go well—she'd initiated the conversation that day by wishing him luck on his first day of school, and they'd kept texting off and on all day. Maybe she was finally ready to forgive him for what had happened with Hannah.
He borrowed the bike from Carlos again and made his way to the park. This time he was the first one there, but it didn't take long for Camille to appear.
"Hey," she said, smiling shyly. She joined him on the bench.
"Hey," he answered back, his heart starting to beat a little faster.
"So, I can't stay long," she started. "We have night filming tonight and I have to go get into hair and makeup soon."
"That's okay. I'm on curfew… school night and all."
"Ha. Okay, so, I mostly just wanted to apologize for screaming at you. I was really upset and I said a lot of stuff and I should have handled it better. I didn't mean for it happen like that…and we probably wouldn't have ended up on Hollywood Teen Beat if I hadn't been shrieking at you for the world to hear."
"No, I should be the one apologizing," Logan said. "You were right about everything. I was being selfish. I wasn't sure if I was ready to date you but I didn't want you dating anyone either, and that wasn't fair. You had every right to yell at me. I said some stupid stuff too."
"So you forgive me?"
"I do if you do," he replied, grinning.
"Cool. So tell me all about your first day. Did you get shoved into any lockers?"
"Ha, no. James almost got in a fight though, and I'm pretty sure if anyone has to tell Carlos to tuck in his shirt one more time, he'll have detention for the rest of the year, and Kendall is like halfway talked into joining the lacrosse team."
"James almost got in a fight? On the first day?"
"Yeah… something about kissing another guy's girlfriend…" Logan said awkwardly.
Camille blushed a little. "So do you have a lot of homework?" An obvious attempt to change the subject quickly.
"Yeah, but I'm already done. It was mainly a lot of reading… God, this is gonna sound so lame, but I think I actually missed going to real school."
"You would say that," she laughed. "Nerd."
"I know, believe me. The other guys have already given me shit for it."
"I can imagine. How are things with the guys, by the way? I saw the video of you guys doing your new song."
"You did?"
"Yeah. I may or may not keep up with Hollywood Teen Beat more than I'd like to admit. I also saw you getting shoved into a pool bunch of seven year olds."
"Haha. Oh yes, the fabulous life of working as a lifeguard. But yeah, we're doing okay. We really like how the song came out, but we're not the most pro songwriters out there."
"Well I'm sure it'll get easier." She checked her phone for the time. "Crap, I gotta go."
Logan stood up with her. "It was nice seeing you. I'm glad we got to talk."
"Me too." She pulled him into a brief hug. "I think the first commercial for the show is supposed to air tonight. You guys should check it out if you get a chance."
"Sure thing. Have fun at work."
"Thanks. See you soon?"
"Yeah, of course."
When Logan returned home, the boys were just starting their homework for the evening, and he decided to lay low in hopes of avoiding being asked to "help" them with it (i.e., do it for them). He was happy with the way things had gone today. He liked his classes, they were making friends, and things were finally looking up with Camille. All in all, he felt he couldn't really ask for anything better.
Meanwhile, the other three boys suffered through their own homework assignments from the first day, though none of them had nearly as much as Logan.
While he read his history book, James' mind drifted off to Michelle. He knew it was wrong, but he felt this odd attraction to her. She was beautiful, kind of mysterious, and just all around cool. She wasn't afraid to be herself, everyone else's opinions be damned. And they had some real chemistry together. The director could see it in their photo shoot, and James felt it when she'd kissed him after driving him home. He honestly didn't know if they would have ever stopped if she hadn't had to remind him not to leave any marks on her neck. Right, he thought. Leave no marks. Because she has a boyfriend. In a way, he felt kind of bad for Nathan. Sure, he was kind of a jerk, but did he really deserve to be cheated on, and then lied to about it?
Another part of James felt guilty for another reason: Logan. What Carlos had said earlier struck a nerve. Was he really going to make the same mistake twice by kissing a girl who already had a boyfriend? Technically, he'd actually already made the mistake. Nathan wasn't his best friend or anything, but that didn't make it any less wrong. He'd basically single-handedly ended Logan and Camille's relationship, something that he still felt bad about to this day. Did he want to be responsible for doing the same thing to Michelle? No matter what happened, someone was bound to get hurt in this situation.
And yet, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that pursuing her might all be worth it somehow.
What's that? You want to review this chapter and tell me what you thought about it? Well… I suppose I can't stop you.
In all seriousness though, please let me know if you are enjoying the story. Does everyone feel realistic? Are things moving too slowly? Are my OC's too hard to keep track of? Should I bother continuing on? Comments, questions, criticism… I want to know what YOU think! Do you have something you'd like to see happen? Let me know!
Coming up: (drum roll…..) a Camille chapter!
