Chapter 5
The two teenagers arrived at the police station, unsure of what to do in their upcoming mission. Logan was completely freaking out. Being pessimistic, he knew that there was a lot of doubt in him and in the horrible plan. The future doctor had no experience in guns and criminal justice so it just made him even more unsure about the idea. Not only was he anxious but he was also confused. The teen knew that the Latino's partner in crime was the pretty boy but he decided not to choose him. Before he left, he saw James show a quick look of dejection but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Logan had no idea what was going through the youngest one's mind but he just hopes he knew what he was doing.
Carlos, on the other hand, was determined more than anything. His father had taught him the basics of crime-fighting and investigating anything when he took him 'bring your kid to work day'. Sure he was a little uneasy because he too didn't have hands-on experience but he did watch plenty of movies to know what could happen. The helmet-wearing boy knew that if something went bad, he could handle it. The two teenagers walked up past the front desk, giving a smile to the clerk, and off to a different room. They stopped at a door that read 'chief' on its nameplate. The Latino opened the door and walked in as if he owned the place, in search of his father's key. In the meantime, the genius just stood in the doorway awkwardly, just staring at the pictures and awards on the wall that were named under Mr. Garcia's name. After a few seconds, Carlos found what he was looking for and walked out of the room with the other behind him. They reached the back area of the station where all the weapons are stored along with other stuff. He turned to the weary genius and showed him a big grin. "Time to suit up."
"What do we need anyway?" Logan asked as he walked around the room and started touching stuff.
"We don't need that much just a gun, badge, and handcuffs each," he shrugged. The genius nodded and started to grab the stuff but then paused.
"Aren't we going to look suspicious carrying a gun?" The genius questioned.
"Yeah you're right," Carlos mumbled and placed a finger on his chin. He walked around the room and opened the lockers for anything. His eyes lit up when he found two formal suits and shoes that are, coincidently, their size. He threw one of them to the awaiting teen with a "here".
"Seriously?" He asked incredulously with a raised eyebrow. Carlos nodded and started putting on his suit while the other reluctantly did the same. After they were finished, they both dressed formally with their concealed weapons and handcuffs in the pockets while their badges are attached to their belt. Carlos wore a dark blue suit while Logan wore black. "Where did you get these badges?"
"I just found them lying around," the Latino shrugged. The genius nodded and walked out the door with the other following in pursuit. Carlos handed Logan his written notes that he got from Officer McKean earlier. "We need to go to that address."
"How? That's like an hour on foot, we'll never get there on time." This statement caused the shorter teen to grin causing the brunette to become uneasy again. "What are we going to do?"
Carlos didn't answer, he only ran out the station and into the parking lot, with Logan in pursuit. The Latino halted to a stop, causing the other to crash into him. In front of them was a 1970 Dodge Charger with a burgundy color. He dangled the keys in front of the genius, who was staring with wide eyes. "Who's car is this 'Los?"
"My dad's. He said that I can use it anytime I want when I have a license," he shrugged. Logan grabbed the keys. "But since I don't have one yet, you are going to drive in the meantime."
"What?!" He exclaimed. "You know I can't drive without an adult because I only have a learner's permit!"
"Come one Logie! Technically we are cops for today so we are adults too."
"Ugh, I can't believe I'm doing this," he whined as they both hopped into the car with him in the driver's seat. Fortunately, that type of car had an automatic transmission so he didn't have much difficulty putting it into drive. Just to be cheeky, Carlos changed the radio station to be playing on of their songs, Windows Down, on full blast. Carlos sang along to it while the genius glared. Logan eventually gave in and joined in, singing their parts when they needed to as they drove off to their destination.
Logan and Carlos finally made it to their destination, 4755 Oral Lake Road, and parked in front of the house's driveway. The home itself looked clean as in it had a light blue exterior, not definitive cracks along the wall, bricks look clean and the decorations that littered the property look nice. If they didn't know any better, they would automatically assume that an old couple lived in that house.
"Are you sure that this is the right address?" The teen in blue asked.
"Yup. This is Oral Lake road and see?" He pointed to the front porch that had numbers on them. "4755, this is it."
"Okay, let's go in," he nodded. They simultaneously got out of the car and walked up to the front porch, to which Carlos knocked at the door. They waited and heard footsteps then the door opened to a woman in her mid-thirties in a sunflower dress. "Excuse me, mam, sorry to disturb you but are you Mrs. Devon by any chance?"
"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?" She politely asked.
"We just want a moment of your time," Logan answered this time as he showed his badge by moving his coat out of the way, Carlos did the same. The woman looked at the badges carefully but ultimately nodded and moved aside to let them in. The two 'detectives' were lead to the living room where they sat.
"Would you two like any coffee?" She asked them as she prepared to the kitchen.
"Uh no-"
"Yes please, thank you," Carlos cut the other off. The mother nodded and walked off to the kitchen. Logan looked at him incredulously. "What?"
"You don't drink coffee Carlos," he said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I thought we all agreed that you can't have any caffeine because you get too hyper."
"I'm just tired," he shrugged innocently. Logan was still uncertain of how to handle his partner since the bags under his eyes are still clearly visible but before he could ask again, Mrs. Devon returned with two cups of coffee to which she gave on to the Latino.
"Sugar? Cream?"
"No thanks." They both sipped their coffee. Carlos was so close to spitting out the drink because it was so strong and bitter but he did ask for it so he needed to finish it. Logan cleared his throat, grabbing the other two's attention.
"So we are here to talk about your sons," Logan began. During their ride there, Carlos informed him of what they were trying to find out. "We're aware that your youngest son, Smike, passed away not too long ago and I'm deeply sorry for that."
She nodded solemnly.
"But we need to find out where your other two sons are, Louis and Rich. Our sources say that they had multiple affairs in different crimes and we need to bring them in for questioning and arrest. Are they here right now?"
"No. They haven't been back for days, but are you sure they commit any crime?" She asked them both, almost pleading that it weren't true. The two teens sent her looks of sympathy, confirming it. On the verge of tears, she asked one more question. "What are they charged for?"
"Um…" Logan looked at his partner for help, to which he sighed and placed his half-empty mug down and looked at the woman straight in the eyes.
"Louis and Rich are both charged with murder and assault," he said seriously, trying to sound as professional as possible but that plan went out the window when the mother started sobbing uncontrollably. Carlos quickly went over to her side of the coffee table and wrapped a comforting arm around her. Mrs. Devon gladly accepted and moved her sobbing from her hands to the teen's chest while Logan came up and rubbed circles on her back. After a few long minutes, she calmed down. The older woman moved back into her original position and cleared her tears with a tissue.
"I'm sorry," she croaked.
"It's okay, I know that it's hard to go through but we need your help to find your sons," Logan reasoned.
"I don't know where they are."
"When is the last time were they seen? Do you know?" Carlos asked.
"Um, they came home Tuesday last week around dinner time being really mad out something. I asked them if there was anything wrong and their brother was but all they said was for me to get out of their way," she explained. "They didn't come to eat dinner so I thought it was just one of their mood swings again. The next day I found out that they were gone when they didn't answer my calls for breakfast. Then I was informed later in the morning that my youngest son..."
"Okay. Do you mind if we check their rooms for anything that might lead us to where they are?" Logan asked her, not letting the woman go through the emotions again.
"It's fine. Louis' room is down the hall to the right while Rich and Smike's room is to the left," she said while pointing to the dark corridor. They both nodded and got up to investigate. Carlos quickly took the cup of coffee, addicted to the drink, while he searched in the shared room while Logan took Louis'.
The Latino walked into the medium-sized room. It had two twin-sized beds, a closet, a drawer, and multiple posters of race cars and women hanging around the room. Taking a sip from his coffee, he checked the mattress for anything but found nothing in or under it. He did the same thing with the drawer and reached the same conclusion. He took another sip. Carlos walked around to the closet and found most of their clothing gone. 'Must have planned to leave' he thought. The teen walked around for anything unusual but could not find anything. But then he found three photos in frames on the top of the drawer. One of them had a man, a woman, and three young kids grinning like crazy. He assumed that the man was the father since the woman looked identical to Mrs. Devon and the three kids were the three criminals when they were younger. He remembered his father's partner saying that the father passed away so it may be a motive to jump-start the crime life, but it was only a theory. The second photo was just two teenagers, seems to be in a skate park. The taller one was trapping the shorter one in a headlock, but they both still had open grins. Carlos automatically thought that these two are Rich and Smike, since they look similar to the family photos he saw in the living room. The third one was around the same age, from what he believed, but there were a lot more people in the picture. There was Rich, Smike, another teen that was close to them and two more older teens that were a space away. If he had to guess, the one near the two brothers is the oldest sibling, Louis. The teens seemed to be in sewer pipes, just like what McKean said, so the other two might be their friends. But something threw Carlos off. It wasn't the background, it wasn't the people, but it was the expressions on their faces.
They all looked dead.
"What the…" he muttered to himself. He looked back at the two previous pictures and saw that the two young brothers seem to be a great time but the third one didn't make sense. He put his cup down, grabbed the photo and pulled it close to his face, trying to see anything that might give him a clue to the change in behavior. He observed the teenagers, tallest to shortest, and saw that the three older teenagers (which included Louis) had no emotion at all. But the last two were different. The closer he looked, the more he saw was that Rich and Smike were trying to keep a straight face but looked as if they would bust out in laughter because secretly Rich looked as if he was trying to tickle his younger brother while the other jabbed a finger his gut. But why would they try to keep a lifeless look? The Latino looked back at the two pictures. A loving family. Two great brothers. And then… that. 'Maybe they didn't have a strong relationship with Louis?' He put the picture back and walked over to the hallway where he met up Logan. "Did you find anything?"
"No, just that this kid was a goth and there are clothes missing from his closet," the teen shook his head. They started heading for the living room, coffee mug long forgotten. "You?"
"Maybe, it could be something but I don't know." They walked into the living room, about to ask Mrs. Devon more questions, but gasped instead when they saw her downing a bottle of alcohol. They rushed over to her. Carlos ripped the bottle from her while Logan caught her fall from her place. "Mrs. Devon!"
"Why would you do that?!" Logan asserted. She didn't answer just tried to reach for the bottle again but Carlos beat her to it. He went over and poured the remaining liquid into the kitchen sink in both disgust and anger. He dropped the glass into the trash bin and marched up to the drunk woman.
"You know what that stuff could do to you? It could kill you or mess you up so much that you can't think straight!" He shouted at her while looking at her furiously in the eyes. Logan just watched fearfully as the Latino towered over her. "This isn't the time for you to feel sorry for yourself! If you want to help your sons in any way possible, then this isn't a way to do it. If you truly love your sons then you wouldn't let yourself fall into this pit of self-pity-!"
"Carlos that's enough!" Logan cut him off. The ranting teen looked up at him, fire blazing in his eyes, then he looked back down to see the woman crying silently repeatedly saying 'I'm sorry' to herself… or to him, they weren't sure. This caused Carlos' eyes to soften.
"*sigh* Mrs. Devon. Using alcohol isn't going to help our situation," the 'detective' in blue said in a softer tone. "Now I need you to tell me what's the relationship between Rich and Smike to Louis."
"R-Rich and Smike a-always had a kind relationship. The three of them almost never fought and were so good children. When their father died, that's when one of them changed," she told them softly. "Louis started hanging around kids that did drugs and I told him to stop but he never listened. Rich and Smike still had a great relationship but they started to get distant and less loving toward the oldest. They always said that they were always pressured by him and his friends to start doing that stuff he's doing but they never did."
"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Devon," Carlos curtly nodded as he headed toward the door. Logan helped the woman to her couch and waved goodbye then went out the door as well, closing it behind him. The two teens silently reached the car and got inside. They sat there in silence, the tension in the air wasn't describable.
"...Do you want to talk about it?" Logan asked his partner, referring to the scene he put in the house, after a few quiet moments. Carlos sighed.
"We need to get to the forest next," he instructed tonelessly. The smart brunette wanted to question why he avoided his first question but right now the Latino was a timebomb so provoking him more isn't such a bright idea. Logan sighed and turned on the car, driving to the next destination. After a short five minutes, they reached the desolate place. Carlos hopped out and began his search but Logan just waited in the car and watched him disappear. Sighing once more, he was about to open the door when his phone started ringing. Without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Logan. How's it going?" It was Kendall. "It's been a couple hours already and you two haven't come back yet, so we started to get worried. Is everything okay?"
"Everything is okay," the genius let out in a long sigh as he glanced at the direction of where the Latino went.
"Well that doesn't sound reassuring," the dirty blonde remarked.
"Well let's just say that this 'investigating' business is a little harder than we originally thought."
"Like how?"
"Like the boys' mom tried to kill herself with a bottle of alcohol," he admitted. He could almost hear Kendall wince if that made any sense.
"Wow," is all he said.
"Yeah, and Carlitos didn't take it too well," he watched the forest as he said this. "I can feel that something was bothering him before and when we came it was just salt on the wound. Then there's Mr. Garcia in a coma and Mr. Preps, the kid can't get enough."
"Well, I remember Katie saying that he had nightmares so maybe that's bothering him?" Kendall pointed out. Before Logan could get a chance to respond, a gunshot echoed throughout the area. The older teen must have heard it through the phone because he started asking about it. "Logan? Logan, what was that?"
"Oh no," was all the dirty blonde heard until he was hung upon. Logan quickly got out of the car and rushed into the woods, occasionally tripping and/or hopping over rocks and logs. Eventually, he slowed down and hid behind a large boulder when he heard voices near him. Peeking out, he nearly gasped when he saw Carlos on his knees and arms up with a gun pointed dangerously close to his head. The future doctor saw that it was Louis that was pointing the gun at his friend, along with two unknown teens behind him and Rich. Logan subconsciously started reading the expressions on their faces. Carlos: he was a mix of anger, fear, and pain? Louis: he looked pleased which unnerved the brunette. The two teens: showed no emotion. Rich: he looked uncomfortable and unsure, which confused the teen. As a last-minute distraction while the threatening teen talked, Logan searched the floor for anything. A medium-sized rock was near his foot. Getting an idea, he picked it up and threw it as hard as he could in the opposite direction, grabbing the teens attention.
"Go check that out," he heard Louis order the mysterious teenagers, which they did. Making a decision, he ran out of his hiding spot and tackled the unfortunate teen to the ground. "HEY GET OFF OF ME!"
"Carlos!" Logan exclaimed while trying to help the knocked over Latino. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine Logie," the teen in blue grinned. Secretly, he was stabbed in the thigh which explained the abrupt gunshot (because his gun was taken away) that rang across the forest, but the dark attire he was wearing didn't make it look noticeable. Carlos tried his hardest not to wince or groan, especially not to pass out because of the blood loss.
"Who the hell are you two?!" Louis' voice brought them back to the situation.
"None of your business. You are coming with us," Logan reasoned as he pulled out handcuffs.
"Oh yeah? Well, it's four against two," the gothic teen smirked as he motioned to the mysterious two teens and Rich in the background. They all lined up. Carlos and Logan shared a quick glance, both unsure that they can win without an even match. They were about to start in their fight when a voice called out to them.
"Nope! It's four against four!" Out of nowhere, Kendall and James came out of the woods with determined grins on their faces. "We didn't miss the fight did we?"
"Kendall, James?! What are you doing here?" Logan questioned with wide eyes.
"Katie somehow managed to hack into your phone and track you," Kendall explained while he pointed to the back of them. They turned to see the preteen girl in the background, so they waved.
"So we decided to come and help when Ken-doll here heard a gunshot over the phone," James filled in. "Nice suits by the way."
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Louis' voice boomed, causing the guys to shut up and turn to him. They all alined themselves; Kendall with one teen, James the other, Logan fought Louis, and Carlos battled Rich. With a battle cry, they went off. Not even a five minutes, Kendall and James took care of their enemies so they helped Logan, which was way harder. With Carlos, he decided to take a turn.
"What happened to you Rich?" Carlos began as he pinned down the teen, who sent him a confused look. "You were one of the good kids, along with your brother, Smike."
"Don't you dare talk about him!" Rich growled as he managed to switch and be on top of the Latino. "You don't know who I am."
"I talked to your mom. She said that you two were inseparable, even after your dad died." Carlos kicked him off and stood up. " I just to know what happened so I could help you."
"You don't understand," he said quietly as he shook his head and glanced at a fighting Louis. " Everything changed when he was gone. Louis changed. He wanted to change us so he didn't allow us to laugh or smile."
Carlos just listened.
"It was his fault that he's gone," Rich mumbled with wide eyes and tears brimming them but the Latino was just able to hear what he said. "I tried to save him but he just pulled me back and let me watch. He wanted to separate us."
"Who's 'he'?" Carlos asked. Rich looked up with ghost eyes.
"Smike." Carlos silently gasped as he started putting the pieces together, it was alarming him by how much he figured out. And they call him stupid. He reverted his attention to the rambling teen. "He made me watch Smike get killed. Louis wanted to separate us because we were happy. He left that officer guy to die. He almost killed me trying to help him. Louis wants that officer dead for killing Smike. He wants to kill that guy's family." He looked up at Carlos, straight in the eyes. "He wants to kill you."
"You have to stand up to him," Carlos persuaded, not really registering the last sentence.
"No no, I can't! He'll kill me!" Rich rapidly shook his head. Before he could respond, the Latino started seeming black spots fog his vision and him losing his balance. Before he passed out, he saw Katie run to the direction of the car and all of the guys knocked out, along with three teenagers standing over them.
A figure groaned and stirred, but didn't wake. SLAP! The figure shot up and clutched their face. "Ow!" They whined. He saw in front of him was Katie who slapped him awake a gave him a stern yet concerned look.
"Sorry Carlos," she said, then backed up. Looking around, he saw that they were still in the middle of the forest and the other three guys were wide awake and clutching their faces. He sent a look to the preteen who sheepishly shrugged in response. It was already dark but they were just about to see their faces.
"Are you okay?" Carlos whispered to the girl. "They didn't get you right?"
"No. I managed to hide before they got the chance," Katie responded just as quietly. Carlos nodded and looked around just to find that all the criminals gone, causing him to lay back down. He grunted in pain as he did. His leg was on fire and he was sure that he could die from blood loss if he didn't get to the hospital, but he hated them so he didn't say anything. But the sound of pain set off a red flag in Katie's head. "Are you okay?"
"...Yeah," he answered, taking a moment to respond because he couldn't grasp at what she said. The girl looked down at the ground and touched it, flinching when she felt something warm, thick, and wet.
"Oh my god," she gasped. He closed his eyes knowing she just figured it out. "We need to the hospital, now."
"Who needs to go to the hospital?" James came up from behind Katie, along with the other two.
"Carlos does. He's bleeding out like crazy," Katie exaggerated in the Latino's mind.
"I'm fine Katie," he looked at her and started getting up. "See I'll prove it." Slowly, very slowly, he got up and stepped forward. It was the wrong move because it was his hurt leg, causing him to fall but thankfully Kendall caught him.
"Let's get to the car," Logan advised going into doctor mode. "There's a cloth in there that we could use to stop the bleeding. How long have you been bleeding Carlos?"
"The first few minutes when we got here," the asked teen nervously chuckled. The brunette facepalmed. They all hopped into the Charger, compliments coming from James, and sped off to the ER. Logan drove, Katie was in the front seat, James, Kendall, and Carlos were in the back. The Latino fell asleep, his head rested on James' shoulder. Eventually, they finally made it.
"CARLOS WAAKE UP!" James shouted, causing everyone in the car to jump into the air then glare at the teen. "What? It's what he does to us."
"Not the time James," Katie glared even harder at the teen, who shrunk back. They all walked (or hopped in Carlos' case) to the front desk.
"Hi, my friend here is bleeding out so we need someone right away," Logan told the clerk, who looked at him with a bored expression. She slid a clipboard to him that carried a bunch of medical papers then turned her attention to her computer.
"It will take ten minutes," she informed, her voice just as amusing as her face. Logan rolled his eyes and shooed everyone to the waiting room, sitting in the chairs. Quietly, Logan filled out the forms while Carlos came in and out of consciousness. All of a sudden, a little girl around seven years old came up to them in a shy smile and with something behind her back.
"U-Um, are you guys Big Time Rush?" She shyly asked. The boys looked at each other while Katie amusingly rolled her eyes.
"Yeah," they all answered. The girl's eyes immediately lit up as she pulled out a small notebook and pen.
"Can I have your autographs?" She asked. At once, the guys repositioned themselves to look better. Kendall straightened up, along with Logan, and put on a grin. James whipped out his comb and mirror, did a quick brush and put it away, then flash a 'James Dimond' grin. Carlos just sat there and put a smile. He couldn't grin because he started to get nauseous all of a sudden so a smile was the best he could do. One by one they all signed the notebook. It was until she reached the Latino is where she paused and looked at him with wide eyes. He was about to ask her what's wrong when she abruptly hugged him out of the blue. Shocked, he still returned it.
"Are you okay? I see you cut your leg," he heard her say in his ear, causing his eyes to widen.
"Yeah. I'm okay," he croaked. They let go. Carlos saw that she was convinced so she handed him the book, to which he signed. The girl then moved onto Logan, who signed, then waved at Katie, who awkwardly waved back, then ran off.
"I wonder who's her favorite," Kendall teased once she was gone.
"Why would she pick Carlos for a hug?!" James screeched, flailing his arms everywhere. Then did his hand motion in front of face while he said, "Did she not see THIS?!"
"Don't be jealous James, I'm sure she did see your face but only didn't care about it," Logan snickered when he heard the pretty boy gasp. "She a little girl, I'm sure she didn't think you'll get offended by it either."
"I still could have gotten one though," James crossed his arms with a 'hmph'.
"She just gave me a hug because she wanted to ask if I was okay," Carlos clarified. The guys looked at him and saw that he was turning a little pale, causing them to worry. The doctor came up to them with a friendly smile, a very different demeanor than the front desk lady. He led only the Latino to a room, where the boy sat down on a table.
"Okay, what hurts?" The doctor crossed his arms. It made the teen think of Doc Hollywood back in LA. Slowly, with a disbelieving look, pointed to his stabbed thigh.
"I was stabbed," Carlos answered in a 'duh' voice. The doctor nodded and asked the teen to take off his pants, which he did. The wound was about three inches long and pretty deep, definitely needing stitches. It was covered in dried blood and looked slightly infected.
"You're lucky you don't need it amputated," he heard the doctor muttered under his breath, causing him to stiffen, but the man didn't notice or care. He moved across the room, grabbed a couple things, then turned back to the teen. "I need to numb the area so I could put stitches then I need to do a blood transfusion."
"S-Stitches?" Carlos stuttered, not liking to be sewed up at all. The doctor nodded. His friendly smile turn to a wicked grin when he pushed the teen to the bed, stomach up, and strapped his arms and legs down then put a gag on the unsuspecting teen's mouth.
"Now calm down. This won't hurt," the doctor cooed then pulled out a giant needle with green liquid inside, "that much! Mwahahaha!"
"Aaaaaahhhh!" Carlos tried to scream but it came out as a muffled one. He was injected with the serum then all of a sudden he couldn't feel ANYTHING. The boy waited a while because he saw nothing happen so he decided to take a nap.
Half an hour later, Carlos opened his eyes and groaned as he looked around. How did he get back home? He remembered being in the hospital and in that room with the psycho of a doctor then he took a nap. So how did he get back home? He was on the couch so he shifted his legs and went to stand up, but instead fell down to the floor. 'What the…' Carlos thought. He still couldn't feel his legs. Someone must have heard his fall because he heard footsteps coming his way.
"I'm glad you're finally awake but I didn't expect you to be on the floor," Katie came up with an amused smirk.
"I can't feel my legs," he chuckled.
"Why not?" She asked, helping him from the floor and to the dining room.
"I had a psycho doctor that strapped me to the bed and gave me a lot of green stuff to make me numb," he said when he reached the table, where the others sat.
"Pyscho doctor?" The guys repeated with an amused grin.
"Yeah! He pinned me to the bed, strapped me to it, and started laughing evilly and stuff," Carlos pouted. The other guys started laughing which caused him to pout even more.
"He must have given you a lot of anesthetics then," Logan frowned suddenly. "It could have given you the side effects of nausea, vomiting, respiratory distress, hypothermia, or hallucinations. You don't like that right?"
"No," Carlos squeaked. "Can a doctor amputate you if you're injured?"
"Yes, but only when the bone is severed from its tissue," the genius answered matter of factly. "Why?"
"No reason," he rushed, getting nervous. The boys caught the anxiety in his voice but decided not to press anything forward. A moment later, Katie came out of the kitchen with a tray full of lemon breast chicken, roasted potatoes, and salad. This caused her to get confused and bewildered looks.
"When did you learn how to cook?" Kendall asked first, getting the food and placing it on his plate, the others doing the same. Katie sat down at the other end of the table.
"I had someone teach me the recipe," Katie shrugged with a satisfied smile. Carlos couldn't help but laugh at the statement.
"Who helped you? Because this is amazing!" James followed, trying the chicken. The others did the same and were impressed by the results.
"Carlos," was all she said. The three other members of BTR turned to the Latino, who turned red from embarrassment.
"YOU can cook?!" They all exasperated at the same time.
"I would have thought you would burn the kitchen!" Logan laughed causing Carlos to frown.
"Well, how would you expect us to eat?" The teen questioned the genius but it was also directed to the others. "We couldn't live off of expired chips and oatmeal!"
"Yeah but maybe corndogs," Kendall snickered.
"No, I don't believe Carlos taught you," James crossed his arms, clearly in denial. "He probably bought it or something because the Carlos I know can't even make boxed Mac n' Cheese!"
"He did teach me, James. We were both in the kitchen following step by step instructions that he said," Katie defended getting an appreciated smile from the teen.
"He may be tricked you into saying that," James narrowed his eyes. "How much did he give you? 20? 30?"
"He didn't give me anything!"
"Fine James," Carlos jumped in. His eyes burning with determination as they challenged the brown ones across from him. "I'll show you that I can cook! I'll make a dessert just to prove you wrong!"
"What are you betting?" James smirked, knowing he was going to win.
"I bet my helmet!" The Latino exclaimed, pulling the black piece of plastic and slamming it on the table. Everyone gasped. They knew that if the teen was betting his helmet, it meant business. "I won't wear it for a whole three weeks!"
"Fine. And I'll bet my lucky comb!" The pretty one exclaimed, pulling it out and smacking it on the table. Everyone gasped again. This was a very heated bet. "I won't use it for three weeks if only I lose."
"Okay. Deal!" The two teens shook hands, smirks wide, and very visible. Carlos ate his dinner very quickly and rushed off to the kitchen, his numbness was forgotten. He went into the kitchen and set out the ingredients, since he bought it earlier from the previous days. The teen wanted to make a lemon meringue pie (knowing perfectly well that pie was James' weak spot) so he started with the pastry, which he layered over the pie tin and trimmed the edges to make it fit perfectly well. He put it in the fridge to cool then the oven, filled with dry beans, and baked it to a golden color, then he set it aside. Next, he started on the filling. He dumps in all the ingredients, simmers the lemon juice and water, mixing it until it thickens then puts it aside. Then he started on the meringue. He whipped the eggs whites, sugar, and flour together until it was fluffy. He reheated the filling. Carlos removed the dry beans from the crust, replacing it with the warm filling, and topped the uncooked pie with the meringue, starting from the edges to the middle and giving it a swirl at the end. He put it into the oven and slammed it shut. Carlos checked his watch.
"Did it in ten minutes. That's unreal but a new record!" He cheered. In a ding, the pie was ready so he carefully took it out and examined his work of art. Carlos let it cool then decided to present it with a single raspberry on top. The teen heard the guys start talking more and more, signaling them that they finished eating. So he placed his pie on a silver plater and covered it with a silver dome. Casually, he walked out of the kitchen to the dining room. "Are you ready to say goodbye to your lucky comb, James?"
"Let's see what you made," James raised his head. The Latino placed the covered plate in the middle of the table and dramatically lifted the cover to reveal a perfectly baked lemon meringue pie. Everyone stared agape while Carlos stood back with a proud face.
"What is that?" Kendall asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the pie.
"It's a lemon meringue pie," he answered matter of factly. "Want a slice?"
"Yes!" They all shouted. Carlos did what he was told and cut everyone a slice of the pie, including himself. Once finished, he sat down at his seat.
No one made a move.
"Guys?" Carlos called, waving his hand in front of the closest person, which was Logan. They finally blinked, registering what happened. They all, except the Latino, simultaneous picked up their fork and sliced into the pie, picking up a piece and placing it in their mouth. Chewing and swallowing, they gasped. Kendall, James, and Logan immediately started shoving their remaining pie in their mouths and abruptly stood up and launched at the center pie in the middle of the table with hungry eyes. Carlos and Katie just sat at their ends of the table, eating their pie slowly, watching their friends compete over the dessert. Eventually, the fighting quieted down. The two calm ones peeked over and saw the three older teens lay down of the floor, bellies full and asleep.
"Wow," Katie remarked. She sighed, came up from her seat, went to the kitchen then returned with a pitcher full of water. Carlos watched intently as the preteen poured the water on all of the heads of the once sleeping teenagers who shot awake immediately.
"COLD!" They exclaimed while getting up and sprinting out of the room. The two left started laughing hysterically and picked up the dishes and moved them to the sink.
"I'm proud of you today," Carlos said after they started off to bed, or the couch in the Latino's case.
"I thought I would. That pie was really good by the way," she complimented. "Night."
"Goodnight." They went their separate ways. Carlos went to change into his pj's then came out onto the couch, hockey stick, and blanket in hand. Unfortunately, he lost his father's pistol when fighting off against the criminals. So now he was in full vision of the front door with his family on the second level of the house. He laid down and escaped into dreamland, his helmet on his head, and stick in a death grip.
To be continued...