Alice: I was away for a week without Internet.

Emily: That's why it took me so long to update.

Alice: Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Katie was walking to the park when it happened. Due to Logan's constant need to feed her, she gained weight. Though instead of looking like a skinny twig, she now had the perfect weight for her height and age. When she learned Kendall and Logan began dating, she screamed "Finally!" which made both boys blush. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice a boy hiding in the bushes. She proceeded to fall to her ground after tripping over him. "Ow!" the boy groaned.

Katie scowled, taking in his appearance. He had red hair and a pale face. Slightly chubby, she saw the expensive looking clothing and immediately hated him. "Watch it!" she snapped.

"Sorry," he blushed, making his face match the color of a tomato. "I'm hiding!"

"I don't care," Katie glared, about to stand up and dust the dirt off of her jeans.

"No," he hissed, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back down. His eyes scanned the area around him as he sighed with relief. "My mom's looking for me. You'll give away my hiding spot!"

"You're hiding form your mom?" Katie snorted. He was around her age, so the idea of him hiding from his mom like a six year old amused her.

He blushed again. "It's not funny," he mumbled, clearly used to being made fun of by his peers. Katie rolled her eyes again. "You're Kendall's sister, right?"

"Katie," she confirmed.

"Tyler," he stuck out his hand. Katie eyed it wearily, making no move to take it. "What?" he sounded hurt.

"You're rich," she narrowed her brown eyes. Tyler opened his mouth, possibly about to contradict before he blushed again. He glanced down at his clothes and well-kept hair. The girl before him already had stains and dirt covering her own clothes with holes in them.

"So is Logan," he decided to say. "But I see you around him all the time."

"Logan's different!" Katie argued.

"How would you know?" Tyler titled his head to the side. "You only just met me, and I'm the one who's being civil. You, on the other hand, look like you're about to slaughter me!"

"What do you want?" Katie grumbled. She really couldn't argue with that, so she decided to change the subject. Sure, Logan was a nice rich guy, but she didn't know anyone else like that.

"My mom not finding me," Tyler informed. "That's what I want. She tries to force me to do these juice commercials, but I don't like them. I just want to be a kid."

"Yeah making money is just horrible," she sneered, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"You should give me a chance," Tyler pouted. "Our sides are getting along now."

"We are?" This was news to her.

"Two girls from opposite sides started dating. I forget their names though," Tyler confessed. Katie then immediately thought of Lucy and the other girl she was with. They helped her and her mom spy on Kendall and Logan. Lucy even stated the girl was just like Logan. Maybe it was them?

"So?" Katie glared at him.

"If they can get along, why can't we get along?" Tyler asked. Katie opened her mouth to protest but closed it. Now that she thought about it, why not? If she rejected this kid's offer of friendship because he's rich, what did that make her? A hypocrite. She liked Logan, and she didn't mind that other rich girl Lucy introduced. Maybe she could give him a chance then not like him because of his personality.

If Logan thought the rumors between him and Kendall spread fast, it was nothing compared to the ones on Lucy and Camille. He was surprised that they liked each other, but he guessed he should have seen it coming. Camille was talking about Lucy a lot, but he never guessed they had feelings for each other. Kendall teased him, saying it was as obvious as them liking each other. What shocked them the most was that people from opposite sides began to hang out. Katie began hanging around a rich redheaded boy named Tyler and saying how he was a cool kid. Jett, Logan's very rich and snobby neighbor, started a love-hate friendship with James on who looked "handsomer".

"I am way better looking than you!" James had once screamed across the hallway.

"Ha! I am!" Jett screamed back. Due to the tone of their voices, anyone could tell it was more playful than a serious fight. Jo even began hanging out with Lucy and sometimes told her about all the embarrassing stories about the boys from way back. At first, Lucy avoided her but something happened that actually made them good friends. In result, Jett started talking to Lucy as well.

"Hey Logan," a voice said. Logan turned to see James offer an awkward smile at him. Logan returned the gesture, almost just as awkward. Carlos suggested he talk things out with James, and Logan agreed. Kendall, on the other hand, didn't want to.

"He kissed you!" Kendall argued.

"I know, but he hasn't been hanging around anyone lately," Logan pointed out. "Carlos seems to avoid him too. He might have treated me like dirt but he was trying to protect you guys. And the kiss thing… I don't know. But we have to talk to him. You guys are all he has."

Kendall reluctantly agreed.

Logan had gone to James that day and asked to stay after school. They talked about it, and James confessed. Logan rejected him properly instead of running away and James accepted it. He even stated he's been confused on his feelings for someone else.

"Have you ever had someone around you that you never thought about romantically until they tell you they like you? Then you see them in a new light? And you might like them back?" James blushed with a slight stutter.

"No," Logan replied honestly. With Kendall, he just sort of realized he liked him but Kendall confessing had nothing to do with it. In the past, no one ever really liked Logan like that. He never had that situation happen to him.

"Okay," James shrugged. "I'm sorry about all the crap I put you through."

"You were just trying to protect them," Logan reassured. "Maybe we can be friends now?"

James grinned. "I'd like that."

James and Kendall made up after that. It was still a little awkward between Logan and James, but they were slowly getting over it. Carlos still ate lunch with Logan and talked with Kendall, but he was avoiding James, who stared at him with a confused expression, like he was trying to figure something out. When Logan brought this up at lunch, Carlos blushed and said they had a little fight. "It's nothing," Carlos forced a smile.

Logan didn't believe him.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Lucy snorted. Kendall, Lucy, and Camille were all around his locker as he explained the situation. Lucy had a tight hold around Camille's waist. "Carlos has always been in love with James. Even when he was rich!"

"Huh?" Logan's mouth dropped open.

"He's still not over that?" Kendall raised a bushy eyebrow. At Logan's shocked gaze, Kendall shrugged. "We kind of always knew he had a crush on James. It's what made us become friends with him in the first place. Carlos liked him when he was rich for some reason. When he was poor, Carlos eventually convinced us to start talking to him. I thought Carlos grew out of that crush."

"He liked him even back then?" Logan sounded surprised.

"We never knew why," Lucy shrugged. "James wasn't exactly a good person to the poor when he had money. Carlos always insisted he was different. I've always doubted it. Turns out it wasn't true. He's pretty cool."

"I think it's cute," Camille smiled. "Maybe we can get them together?"

"Oh like how we tried to get those two idiots together?" Lucy nudged her head towards Logan and Kendall with a smirk.

"How did you guys realize your feelings for each other anyway? One day you were friends then you were dating," Camille asked curiously.

Kendall glanced at him, and Logan subtly shook his head. He didn't want everyone knowing about James crush on him. Technically he only told Kendall because he felt guilty about it like he cheated on him. "We just kind of… realized it." Logan lied.

"Yep," Kendall nodded in agreement. "But back to Carlos and James. We should try and get them together."

Lucy frowned. "How?"

"We could lock them in a room together and force them to talk about their feelings!" Camille gasped, grinning brightly. It caused the other three to stare at her for a moment.

Lucy paused. "It could work."

Logan and Kendall frowned. The mischievous gleam in the two girls' eyes made the two gulp. Was this how they looked when they were scheming on how to get them together? They glanced at each other and shrugged. "I guess it works," Logan shrugged.

James frowned when he saw the note in his locker. In cursive, it asked him to meet in the music room and even had a confession. He snorted when the bottom was signed the girl of his dreams. As if. Still, he needed to reject her. Not showing up wasn't the best thing to do, so he began walking towards the music room.

Once he opened the door and looked around, he blinked when he saw Carlos sitting there and staring down at the paper in his hand. "Carlos?" James called out. Carlos glanced up and blushed heavily. Before either could say anything, the music room door slammed shut. Both boys turned to see Lucy standing there with a smirk. She held out a key and then walked off.

"What the…?" James mumbled. Carlos stood up and walked towards the door, trying to pull it open. It was locked. "She stole the keys?"

"You stole the keys!?" Logan exclaimed.

"I had help," Lucy smirked, glancing at Kendall. Camille just laughed at the absolute shock on Logan's face.

"Why did she lock us in here?" James frowned, turning to a blushing Carlos. "She probably sent my note too. Did you get a note?"

"Yeah," Carlos tried to calm his beating heart. They must have figured out he still had feelings for James. Logan probably wanted them to get together as well. Damn the boy for being so smart! He just hoped James didn't figure that out. Carlos was embarrassed about kissing him, so he avoided James, who he sometimes caught staring at him.

"What did yours say?" James asked curiously, not catching onto Carlos' beat red face and twitching fingers.

"A note from the girl of my dreams," Carlos shrugged. "It was weird."

"Me too," James snickered. "I bet Camille wrote those if Lucy's the one who locked us in here. It did seem a little overdramatic."

"Yeah," Carlos forced a laugh. It was silence for a few moments.

"How long?" James sat down, staring at Carlos intensely.

"How long what?" Carlos blinked, not understanding what James meant.

"How long have you… liked me?" James blushed.

Carlos flushed as well. James already knew, so he might as well be honest with him. "When I met you as a kid," Carlos confessed. "You saved me from those boys in the sandbox. We became friends after that."

"James~" Carlos whined. The two young boys were running around, playing tag. James laughed, smiling brightly. The sun reflected on his tan skin. Both boys finally collapsed under the sun next to each other.

"I won," James laughed.

"No fair," Carlos pouted. After James saved him and gave him water, they began hanging out. Every Wednesday, they would go to the park at six and meet each other. The boys had become very close friends.

"It was," James grinned before frowning. Carlos blinked and followed James' gaze. A man was storming towards him, glaring straight at Carlos. "Dad?" James asked, confused.

"James," the man snarled. "Who is this?"

"Carlos?" James clearly never saw the man this angry before. It confused him "He's my friend."

"No he isn't," the man glared down at the boy. "He's dirt poor, James. He's only your friend to steal your money. Come with me!"

"Dad," James protested. The man grabbed his arm and hoisted him up. He began dragging James away. James glanced behind him to see Carlos' wide and scared eyes. "Bye," James whispered.

"Bye," Carlos whispered back.

James never showed up at the park on Wednesdays again.

"My dad," James laughed bitterly. "He hated poor people. He always thought they weren't worth his time. He took me home and lectured me about poor people and said if I ever went back to meet up with you, he'd punish me."

"Oh," Carlos blinked.

"I didn't realize it was you though," James confessed. "Or that the boy loved me."

Carlos turned red again. "Even when you were rich and a mean kid, I always defended you. My friends wondered why I had a crush on you, and I said it was none of their business. They thought after we became friends I got over it. I never did."

"You defended me?" James sounded surprised.

Carlos nodded. "When you lost your money and your friends left you, I wanted to talk to you. My friends didn't and you still seemed to hate us. I waited for a while. Then I was an idiot and kissed you."

"It's… it's fine," James mumbled.

"No it's not," Carlos sounded frustrated with himself. "I ruined our friendship by confessing and I shouldn't have-"

"I love you too," James blurted out. Carlos stopped talking, staring at James in shock. "I never realized it until you kissed me. You were always my best friend but I never thought about you like that. Then you kissed me, and I couldn't stop thinking about you. I thought about all the times you've helped me in the past, how nice you've always been, and other stuff."

"You…" Carlos whispered. James smiled and stood up, kissing the top of Carlos' head. Carlos grinned and grabbed the back of James' neck, pulling him down and kissing him. James eagerly kissed back.

Lucy unlocked the door when she saw the boy kissing. She even slid the key under the door to make them realize it was open. Logan and Kendall were talking down the hallway so the two girls couldn't hear them. Though they briefly heard words like "parents" "meet" and "sure". Camille was grinning at the two boys. "Aw," she gushed. Lucy smiled and kissed her lips very quickly.

"Want to come over?" Lucy asked.

"Sure!" Camille grinned. "I can cook us dinner!"

Lucy grinned, grabbing her hand and walking out of the school with intertwined fingers. Looks like everything was looking up.

Alice: Hope you guys liked that!

Emily: Only three chapters left!

Alice: Thanks for reading!