.:Chapter Nine:.
Kendall awoke with a start, spitting water out of his mouth. As he sat up, he launched something soggy into his lap with a loud smack. Then laughter reached his ears and he looked over to find Craig standing over him, a hockey stick hovering over his face. Kendall picked up the wash cloth that continued to seep water into his lap and tossed it back to Craig, who caught it with is left hand.
"Sorry, man, couldn't help it," Craig said with a laugh. "You looked like you could use some help with your wet dream, dude."
Kendall gave a half smile, running his hands over his face. "Sure, if you count being screamed at by an overweight tyrant who suddenly turned into a zombie a dream you want to have."
"I don't know, sounds cool to me."
"You don't know Gustavo." Kendall frowned, remembering he hadn't called Gustavo or Kelly since he had gotten to Minnesota. And that had been…a while ago. He couldn't keep his days straight, honestly Day after day was filled with early morning practice, going to work, and afternoon practice, and then getting back to the house he shared with Miles, Craig, and Bobby to eat, sleep, and do it all over again.
It was a wonder he was able to get used to it so quickly—his previous hockey career and working in Big Time Rush certainly did help—but he never thought he would become the kind of person that didn't have as much time to call his friends more often.
"Whatever."
Craig dropped down onto his bed and started to get dressed. "I hope you don't mind but I've already got about one hundred other ideas of how to wake you up when you oversleep."
"Uh…" Kendall reached up to scratch his forehead. At least he was used to those antics, too. "It's no big deal. It's something that Carlos would've done anyway." Then he swore he heard the sound of a record scratch in his head and he repeated, "overslept?" Craig pointed to the clock just as Kendall whipped around and groaned. It was a twenty minute drive to the arena and he only had five minutes to get out the door.
If there was anything the coaches hated more than losing, it was when the players were late.
Flinging his blankets off him, Kendall leapt to his feet and started to run around the room, gathering his things together. "Why did I have to get you as a roommate? Any sane person would have woken me up ages ago."
"Because someone had to draw the short straw," Craig pointed out. "No one wants to get stuck with the rook. I mean, you're a cool guy but the rookies have to go through the paces to know they're good for the team. You know?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
I figured I would've been done with that by now, Kendall thought. But he didn't say it out loud. Initiation was a team thing and he had gone through the same thing when playing for his old high school team, proving that he could be Captain. Hopefully things wouldn't turn out as badly here as it had then. Sure, he became the youngest captain in the history of the school but even he hated how angry he had gotten when he couldn't take the stupid pranks anymore. It took a bit longer for the team to listen to him due to that and his age, but with James, Logan, and Carlos on his side they came around.
But this time he didn't have his three best friends to vouch for him.
He had to do this on his own.
Kendall picked up his gym bag and threw his clothes and skates inside. He found his wallet and phone and held them tightly in his hand. Then he grasped his shoes and nearly face planted as his hockey stick got caught between his feet. He hooked the stick by his foot and flipped it up into his hands before racing down into the living room where Miles and Bobby were milling around casually.
"Yo dude, what's your rush?" Miles asked, mouth filled with cereal. His eyes shifted along Kendall's path as he flew through the room.
"Yeah, don't you want ot eat?" Bobby added.
"I don't have time. I'm going to be—" Kendall turned around and stared at Bobby and Miles. They stared back at him and Kendall's eyes slowly shifted over to Craig, who slowly descended the stairs and smirked at him. Kendall's shoulders slumped and he tilted his head back. "Oh come on, you don't think you've had enough yet?"
"Oh, I haven't even gotten started yet." Craig laughed and walked over to Kendall, slapping him on the shoulder. "Seriously, man, I haven't seen anyone run that fast before. Seriously, if you can get that onto the ice instead of worrying what everyone thinks of you then you'll be good to go."
"Especially in time for our first game," Miles added. "It's only a week away and you're still playing like you're holding back."
"Well, if I didn't have everyone on our team trying to body slam me every day I think I'd be more open to it." Kendall dropped all of his stuff to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "But thanks for that vote of confidence. The coach basically told me the same thing."
"So did Coach Marx," Bobby pointed out. Kendall nodded again. His high school coach had noticed he was having difficulties with that as well, when he had first started as a freshman. It must've been a real pattern. "And you ended up being the best player the school had ever seen. Until you famously gave it all up to go chase a music dream."
"Yeah, wasn't ballet supposed to help you on the ice?" Miles flopped back onto the couch, crossing his legs at the ankle. "That's what I head anyway."
"I never leaned ballet. James tried to get us to do it but we all outvoted him." Relieved, Kendall fell face first onto the loveseat and let out a long sigh, closing his eyes. Maybe he could get some more sleep before they really had to go to practice.
Bobby reached out his foot and gently pressed his toes into Kendall's side. "Um, aren't you going to see who the flowers are from?"
"What flowers?"
"The ones sitting on the coffee table. They were delivered yesterday."
Pushing himself up, Kendall turned his head to the side and glanced at the bouquet of sunflowers that sat in a vase on the coffee table in the middle of the room. For a second he expected it to be another prank. Then he remembered no one would've even known that sunflowers were his favorite flower—let alone knowing many guys that would know what their favorite flower was—and rolled off the couch. Sitting down by the coffee table Kendall reached up and grabbed the card that stuck out of the top.
Hopefully this brightens up your day just as you brighten up mine. I'm very proud of you. Love, Mom.
"Is this one of your jokes, too?" Bobby asked, causing Craig to chuckle.
"Trust me, if this were a joke it'd come from my Dad," Kendall replied. He tossed the card back on the table. "Actually, it's from my Mom." He groaned and rubbed his face once more. "Oh, I need to call her, too."
"Well make it fast, we've got to get to practice in about a half hour and it's your turn to drive," Miles said.
"Yeah, let me just get something to eat first." Getting up, Kendall walked into the kitchen, stifling his yawns as he went. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his mother while rummaging through the pantry for something. He turned to the counter and found a bag of chips, shrugging as he started to eat.
His eyebrows slammed together when he heard his mother's voice, "Hey Kendall! How are you?"
Kendall then looked at his watch before pressing his fingertips to his forehead. "Why are you so cheerful? Isn't it kind of early? You don't normally use your 'chipper voice' until at least eight."
"Well, I'm not one that particularly enjoys getting up at four in the morning but I'm having a pretty good time this time around." With that Kendall looked at his watch then closed his eyes in resignation. He had forgotten about the time difference from Minnesota to California. It wasn't that big, but big enough. She seemed to have sensed his confusion as she explained, "You try having a house to finish setting up. You know clutter starts to bother me after a while."
His eyebrows rose. "You're still unpacking? I thought you had finished it already."
"You know how big this house is," Mrs. Knight replied with a light laugh. He could hear a ripping sound in the background and figured she had taken the tape off another box. "It's about the size of the one in Bel-Air and that was big. I don't think we have enough space to fill it all. And I've been pretty busy getting some of the other rooms filled up and these are the last of the boxes."
Kendall smiled, practically seeing the large smile that was on her face as she continued to tidy up. "Anyway, I'm sorry for calling this early but I wanted to thank you for the flowers. I don't know how you do it, but they came at a great time."
"I'm glad they came at such a good time," Mrs. Knight said and Kendall could hear the warmth in her voice. It made him long for being back in LA, so that he could spill his worries to his mother and have her wrap him in her arms and reassure him that everything would be okay. Just as she did after every game he lost and every hard practice he had. Just like she had done when they first moved to go after the pipedream that was Big Time Rush. "But I can't take all of the credit for the flowers, they weren't just from me."
"I figured," Kendall said. He smiled to himself. "I called Riles last night and she sounded a bit suspicious."
"You'll have to thank your sister, too. She was the one that told me you needed some cheering up in the first place. She said something about this guy named Jimmy wanting to push your forward within the team's PR?"
"Oh right." Of course Kendall had told Katie all about that. If not Kevin telling her. Once practice had been over that afternoon and his father insisted they have dinner together, Kendall couldn't help but tell him what was going on and how strange the entire conversation had been.
Kevin's advice had been okay; it was something he needed to get used to. As he continued to play for the team and he was linked to his former band he would continue to get attention for it. "Not to mention," Kevin said with a chuckle, "if you're as good of a player as you've always been you're going to get attention for that."
"And because I'm related to you?" Kendall pointed out.
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"Unbelievable. You nearly get to the pros once and you continue to ride the cash cow it came in on." Kendall meant to say it in a joking, light-hearted way. But a hint of bitterness came to his tone. He immediately looked away from his father, though Kevin chuckled lightly.
"Well, if I know anything about fame, it's never a bad thing to have." Kevin pushed his Rum and Coke aside and leaned on the table, staring directly into Kendall's eyes. "I know we've lived in two different worlds in terms of infamy but it's not so different that I can't help you." Kendall's eyebrow rose. "If you'll take my help. I know things aren't good between us and I'll admit I was confused when your mother asked me to come out here with you."
"So was I," Kendall said under his breath.
There were just too many things that he couldn't get over. But he had to suck it up if things were going to be this complicated. Especially as Kevin certainly wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
"But I'm a man of my word and I said I would help you wherever you need it. I don't think you'll need any help having to fend off a bunch of girls that will do anything for your attention when you're with someone." Kevin smiled fondly. "Trust me when I say your mother is as much to blame about you rand Katie inheriting the Knight jealousy gene than I am."
Kendall smiled.
"But in terms of the different opportunities that are now coming your way, I wouldn't be quick to turn them down. What if this exposure lets you become drafted to a new team or move up to the NHL even a year sooner than before?"
He certainly hadn't thought about that. But having to act incredibly fake just to sell the image that their team was all one big family when he was routinely getting his head slammed into the boards? Then again Miles, Bobby, and Craig were very emphatic that all he had to do was prove he could roll with the punches as a rookie.
"You think I'd be drafted that quickly?"
"When you were registering for the tryouts I heard the coaches say there were more teams than just the Minnesota Magicians that were looking at you to join their team. The fact you guys announced your split as Big Time Rush was just a timely coincidence."
Kendall felt a thrill of excitement go through him at the news. That was better than he had imagined. He hadn't played hockey in about three years and there were still teams that wanted to work with him. So if he worked hard enough to get up with everyone else then his dream of being able to play for the Wild or the Maple Leafs wasn't too far off. If Logan, Carlos, and James could follow their dreams then he could, too.
A sigh escaped Kendall's lips as he gripped his phone tighter. Another pang struck his stomach, this one of sadness and loneliness.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Mrs. Knight asked, her voice lowering in concern. "I'm sure everything with the PR team is going to be fine. Though Katie says that you have to run everything by her first."
"Everything is fine, Mom. I promise. I'm just a little tired. I woke up a bit early today, too." He sniffed and changed the subject. "So how's Katie doing? Is she still sleeping or did you get her to help you with your cleaning binge too?"
Mrs. Knight laughed. "You say that now but wait until you really get your own place that you stay in for more than a few months at a time and you tell me how easy it is keeping things clean. As for your sister she's still asleep. She's been knocked out since yesterday."
"Long hours trying to hustle everyone at the beach?"
"No, from cheerleading practice."
Kendall was so startled he nearly choked on the chips he was chewing. Katie? Practicing cheerleading? That was the last thing he had ever expected her to do. She played field hockey—and was kicked off the team—volleyball,—and was kicked off the team—and lacrosse—and was kicked off the team. All for being a little bit too aggressive, when she wasn't able to play ice hockey as well. She had expressed interest in gymnastics and figure skating a few times, but never in cheerleading.
"Excuse me?" He asked.
"Kendall, are you eating chips this early in the morning? You know that's not good for your body when you're in training."
Wide-eyed, Kendall stared at the bag that sat in front of him and pushed it aside. Maybe his mother had x-ray vision as much as she had a sixth sense about things. "No…I'm eating an apple. What is this about Katie and cheerleading?"
"Oh, Lizzie is going to a cheerleading camp soon and she recruited Katie to help her. So far I've seen nothing but somersaults, cartwheels, 'accidentally' kick each other, and lie out by the pool. So I don't know what sort of progress they're making."
Kendall laughed. "That sounds like them. But how's she really doing?"
Now Mrs. Knight laughed, knowing what he was really getting at. "You know she'd never outright say that she misses you, buts she does. She jumps whenever her phone rings or constantly looks for emails from you. It's really sweet."
"I miss her, too," Kendall said. "And everyone else, of course. I'm sorry I haven't called as much. I've just been so busy—"
"Hey, you don't have to apologize about it. We know how busy you are and we're all incredibly proud of you. And we'll all be there in the stands cheering for you for your first game."
"Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetie. I'll let you go. I have some more unpacking to do and I'm sure you need to get to practice. But Kendall, remember that things aren't always going to go your way at first. But neither did Big Time Rush and you were amazing. I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was true."
"Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetie. I love you."
"I love you, too. Bye."
Kendall hung up and inhaled deeply.
He felt much better.
.
..
...
"A 'B'? I've never got a 'B' in my life!" Logan slapped his paper down onto the table top. He stared at the red ink that comprised of the letter that had never graced his presence. Then his eyes shifted to the markings that lined the page. "I don't get what's wrong with this. This paper was gold!"
"So you got one 'B' on one paper, now you'll be down here with the rest of us 'B' schleps," Riley commented, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at her laptop screen.
Rhuben looked up over her notebook and stared at her sister incredulously. "Who're you calling a schlep?"
"I don't think she even knows what schlep means," Dak teased, sitting down on Rhuben's other side, pressing a pitcher of lemonade onto the table as well.
A smirk came to Riley's face. "I know that you're not smart enough to question me, mate," she replied. "And for your information a 'schlep' is—"
"—someone who isn't as academically inclined, if you want to say it nicely," Logan interrupted in a low tone, still studying his paper. "I'm not academically uninclined!"
"Neither am I," Rhuben whined.
"No need to whinge, sis, I'm just kidding," Riley reassured her. Then she let out a long breath that moved her bangs out of her face. "Though to see Logan have a fall from grace isn't too bad considering his permanent record."
Logan wrinkled his nose, Rhuben shifted uncomfortably, and Dak let out a low whistle. He stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the table. "Way to kick a man when he's down, Riles."
"She's got a point though," Rhuben came to her sister's defense. "A 'B' isn't really a big deal. It's not the end of the world. It just means that you can improve on some things. And besides, didn't you tell me this was just a first draft of your paper, Logie? That one that you sent your professor early?"
"Yeah and that's the problem," Logan replied. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He shook his head lightly. "I did everything my professor wanted and they still gave me a 'B'. If anything I should've gotten at least an A-. I can see where some of the sentences don't make sense but…" He shook his head. "Not that bad."
"It's a rough draft," Dak repeated. "If anything the professor is lucky that you even turned that in. Most students just wait until the very last day to do it let alone turn it in at all." He slouched lower in his seat and flipped open a script that sat in his lap. "You're being too hard on yourself."
"Logie and 'too hard on yourself' are synonymous, especially in terms of academics, Dizzy," Rhuben pointed out, poking him in the side with her pen. He smiled and batted her hand away then she turned her attention to Logan, pointing the ink tip at him. "And he's right."
"So everyone is right but me?" Logan demanded.
Now Rhuben held up her hands. "Just trying to keep the peace here. You asked if we wanted to come study and you know that things can get pretty tense when studying is involved." She sighed heavily, resting her chin in her hands. "Especially when it's bloody music theory. I hate music theory."
"And that's why I don't study it," Riley added. Then she frowned. "Though this psychology homework isn't so easy."
Logan gave a half smile but it didn't stay. Partially because he didn't understand what Professor Phillips seemed to have against him. And the other part because he knew this get together to work on homework wasn't as friendly and cordial as they were pretending it to be. He and Dak weren't close friends but they were at least civil with each other, not helping that they had once fought over Rhuben. The other being how tense things still were between him and Riley since they had stopped being friends.
There were blips of that former friendship that came to light here and there but otherwise it was still hard. He did his best to act like nothing was going on and that they were still friends, maybe able to start the friendship all over again.
"I asked if you wanted to help my figure out what's wrong with my paper," Logan pointed out. "You didn't have to bring in your own homework."
"Yeah, well, if I didn't get it done, Ronan would go on the war path. You'd think that being in college, albeit online, would make him relax a bit more." Riley chuckled, shaking her head. "Though I think 'normal' went flying out the window once he developed that twitch."
"You mean that one he gets whenever you're around?" Dak teased.
"Whatever, Teen Icon. You're just mad that you're the one that has to take care of everyone and everything since you emancipated yourself and moved in here." Riley waved her arms around the condo the four were situated in. "Which, by the way, you can thank us for, too."
Logan smiled and laughed quietly.
Things really had changed. When he met up with the twin girls in LA for the first time since he had moved from Texas to Minnesota, it was their family and Ronan that had lived in the condo. Then after an increasingly deteriorating relationship with his parents Dak emancipated himself and his little sister and the two moved into the condo with WayneWayne while Ronan and the Jacksons moved into their own house.
"Anyway, do you think you could help me with this paper?" Logan asked. "See if there's anything that Professor Phillips said that's actually true. I need to get a good grade on this paper and you guys are really good at English."
"And you don't think the flurry of red markings on the paper isn't doing it for you?"
"Just shut up and read your script," Rhuben directed her boyfriend, picking the offending object up and shoved it in his face. "Your show can't go on a tour if you don't know your lines."
"Huh, now I get why he calls you Sugar Plum, sis," Riley teased.
Rhuben reached out and swatted her sister on the leg. "At least my boyfriend's here."
"For now. He's leaving to go on a show tour, remember? And then you'll be in the same boat as me. Better off that he's gone."
"Are you telling me you don't actually miss Kendall?" Dak raised an eyebrow.
"I was talking about you." Sticking her tongue out at her sister, Riley took the paper from Logan and started to flip through it. "I reckon it shouldn't be a problem if you already got a B- on it. Like you said the biggest issue is the fact that you have a lot of run-on sentences and some that don't make sense. And some that don't backup the facts you're trying to show. Otherwise I reckon its good." Then her eyebrows rose. "It's about music therapy?"
Logan shrugged as she continued to look over the paper. "Yeah. Why?"
"That's what I was thinking of writing about for my psychology class."
"Oh, cool. Well, if you ever need help I'm here." Logan smiled and tried to catch her eye, but she made sure to keep her eyes on the paper. Logan sighed and looked over at Rhuben who gave a sympathetic smile and shrugged. Okay, so maybe that wasn't going to work. But at least it was getting easier to be around each other.
As the others looked over their respective pieces of homework Logan pulled out his phone. He looked over at text from Camille, reminding him that he needed to pick her up from an audition later, a text from Carlos begging him to help figure out the finances for the wedding—which was ironic as Logan had tried to tell Carlos about the importance of a budget within the wedding industry but was waved off—a text from James that reminded him of a double date they were supposed to go on with their girlfriends, and a newsletter from his favorite science magazine.
Then he moved onto his social media accounts, smirking when he noticed that a large portion of the messages he received were from people that questioned why he wasn't on social media so much. It was an important part of being in the music industry as Gustavo had grilled into their heads over and over but he wasn't one that put so much of his private life on the internet. Nor did he particularly like the idea of people questioning every move he made or analyzing his pictures half to death.
The others didn't seem to mind and interacted with their fans as much as possible. But Logan thought it was a little fun to take long stretches of time off the sites and post to see what the fans had to say. Most begged him to go on more often while others were glad he would say something every now and then. It was a bit of torture but he couldn't fathom spending so much time on his public image when there were so many different topics he could study.
And if this first B- was a starting point for his entire school career that meant he needed to work really hard to get good grades. It wasn't the end of the world but he knew medical school was difficult even for the smartest person.
He continued to scroll through his timeline, smiling at the pictures and videos he and his friends had put up recently—the funniest being of Camille, Jo, and Stephanie wearing wigs that resembled each other's hair—and stopped when he noticed that Kendall had posted. It was the first time in a while that he had put anything incredibly relevant up on his accounts. Mostly because he had been so busy with practice.
A picture of him holding up a hockey jersey with his number on it—13—and two of his teammates giving thumbs up in the background with a caption that read; Finally got the jersey, it's official. #13 #MinnesotaMagic
"Hey, check this out," Logan said. "Kendall's finally got his jersey." He passed his phone around so the others could see the picture. "Looks like he's managed to prove he's meant to be on the team. From what he's told me they've really been putting him through the ringer."
"Nothing that I'm sure you lot haven't gone through when you were still playing hockey, Logie-Bear," Rhuben pointed out.
Logan thought for a moment then shuddered. It was a like a nightmare that kept playing in his head over and over. Icy-Hot in all the wrong places, being taped to a locker, his medical supplies stolen so that he was wrapped up like a mummy, early-early morning practices, being held late, being the ones that had to take out all of the equipment before practice and put it up after practice.
Oh yeah, he remembered why he wasn't so heartbroken over giving up hockey. Besides, he liked playing with his friends more than the sport itself. Indulging in a game or two wasn't so bad just as long as he made time to properly stretch.
"Actually, I think that was much worse," Logan commented. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I can still feel the Icy-Hot burning."
"Ooh," Dak winced. "Been there, done that, not fun."
"Plus I bet you didn't get tired of having a hockey puck hurtling at your head at fifty miles an hour," Rhuben added.
Logan laughed. "Tell that to Carlos. That dent in his forehead isn't from the time he fell out of a tree. Even his helmet couldn't protect him from that." He took the phone back and studied the picture once more. "I can't wait until we can go see him play. It was nice of Gustavo to buy tickets for all of us to go." He paused. "For publicity of course, but still it's nice. I was overdue to see my Mom anyway."
"You talk to her on the phone, like, every day," Riley pointed out. "What more do you have to tell her?"
"I want to show her my paper," Logan insisted. "And with your help I'm going to show her a grade A college paper."
Besides, his house was always the best place to get some studying done. And if he was going to make up for this grade with the next one, he needed as much peace and quiet as possible.
A/N: So as you can see there are time jumps with each chapter. More often than not I don't mention how much time has passed so that can slow a story down from time to time. I tried to be extra cautious with putting it in here. Things are progressing with Kendall and Logan but as you can see there are still some things they're working through.
Same with James and Carlos. But the four of them being around each other again should help, right? Let me know what you think of the chapter or what you'd want to see as the story goes on.
-Riles