I own nothing.

PART TWO: Chapter 2

Dear Diary,

No matter what I do, I can't make things right with Logan.

James came home yesterday. Logan left this morning.

James came to my room last night. I wouldn't let him in this time. I couldn't chance Logan finding James in my room. If Logan knew that I was in love with one of his best friends, it would just hurt him even more...

I had been dreading James' return. I wasn't sure how I was going to convince James that nothing was wrong. James would be able to see that Logan wasn't himself. James would see how I avoided Logan. He might not have been able to figure out exactly what happened, but it would raise questions that I would never be able to answer…and I didn't want Logan to answer either.

Before I had time to worry too much, Logan left. He was on the other side of the US before I even knew about it. I can't say I blame him.

These past two weeks have been so horrible. Logan can barely looked at me. During the first week, I tried to corner him, tried to talk to him, but he either acted like he didn't hear me, or blatantly ignored me.

I finally managed to wear him down last week. I apologized again and asked him how we could possibly fix our friendship. He finally showed some emotion, but not the one I was hoping for.

He was so upset! He hates the position I put him in. Kendall is his best friend and now he has to keep this huge secret from him. He said its killing him. Said he didn't know how he would possibly be able to BE around Kendall when he got back. Asked if I had any idea what I had done to him. He accused me of playing with his feelings, of using him to get back at someone else. He couldn't believe that I had used him that way.

I tried to deny his words, but deep down I knew he was right. I had used Logan, in the worst possible way.

He wouldn't let me deny it. He told me to stay away from him. Told me to stop trying to talk to him. That every time he saw me he felt sick.

That we would never be friends again.

All I could see was his pain. In that moment I knew that this wasn't just about Kendall. He had accused me of playing with his feelings, which could only mean that Logan must have somehow fallen in love with me that night.

And I had broken his heart.

I confronted a small truth about that night. As much as I tried to block it out, I remembered everything vividly. For that brief space of time, Logan was the only one in the world to me. Even if it wasn't something I consciously planned, I gave him everything.

And I wanted to give him everything I now knew he wanted. I do love Logan, and not just as the brother I've always treated him as, but in a way that was new and uncertain. With time, maybe there could be a chance for us. And I knew I never wanted to see that look on his face again…

But I couldn't do it.

I was still very much in love with James as well even if he didn't love me enough. Not a day went by that I didn't miss him or still want to be with him. It wouldn't be fair to Logan if I was with him while I was still in love with James. I would just be using him again. And…it would just be cruel to parade a relationship with Logan in front of James.

I avoided Logan as much as possible after that. I did everything I could to stay out of his way. I didn't want to hurt him anymore. I even missed the fact that James was back from Canada because I was too busy running to get to my room before Logan got off the elevator and saw me. I'd rather shoot myself before purposefully hurting Logan again.

Now that he's gone…

I miss him.

Katie

"You okay?" Gage thought Alex looked a little pale.

She quickly jumped off the rock before she could do something silly like fall on her butt.

"Fine, fine," she reassured quickly, keeping her head down, hoping that Maggie and Ashley wouldn't spot her as easily as she had spotted them. She started gathering up her long hair, pulling it against the nape of her neck. "Did your aunt say anything else about the, uh, band?"

She looped her hair around and around and tied it in a knot, wincing. Her hair was going to look horrible. She just prayed she didn't break any strands when she tried to get it out of the knot later.

"Not really," Gage shrugged, wondering why she was suddenly messing with her hair. "Mom cut her off before she could keep going. Once Aunt Vicky starts, it's hard to get her to stop."

"Right," Alex thanked her lucky stars that she wouldn't have to deal with explaining the connection between her dads and Kendall Knight. She still had a more imminent problem.

She finished adjusting her hair but knew it wasn't going to be enough. She grabbed the baseball cap off of Gage's head. "You don't really need this, do you?" She quickly put it on her own head, praying there wasn't tons of icky sweat seeping into her scalp from it.

Gage winced at the early morning sun, putting a hand up to cover his eyes. He saw her pull the front bill further down over her face.

"Yeah, I kinda do," he said, reaching for his hat.

She hopped back out of his reach. "Gage! How many bananas should you eat before going into a nuclear plant?"

He looked at her, perplexed. "What does—"

"None, because bananas absorb radiation," she explained quickly. "How many—"

"Okay, something is up," Gage said, frowning. "I may not have known you that long, but even I know you start rambling off useless facts when you're trying to avoid talking about something. And I still want my hat back."

Alex looked around, seeing that Ashley had finally joined Maggie. She pulled the brim even further down on Gage's hat.

"Some people I used to know are here," she explained in a staged whisper. "I don't want them to see me."

"Where?" he turned around.

"Don't look!" she squeaked, grabbing his arm and making him turn to face her again.

"Alex," he said, clearly amused. "They don't know me and I doubt they could see past your disguise."

That's the problem; they probably could.

Maggie and Ashley had been her best friends since preschool. The three of them had been inseparable. Her father, Logan, had made sure that Alex's friendship with them remained strong through the years. Alex always lived so far away from the others because her dads—well, James—needed a lot of privacy, but Logan always saw to it that she never missed anything: sleepovers, birthday parties, Girl Scouts. Even when his work schedule got in the way, he had their housekeeper, Mrs. Quincy, take her.

Logan was the one who encouraged the other parents to let their daughters sign up for girls' hockey with Alex. After that, the three always did everything together. Whether Maggie wanted to try white water rafting or Ashley wanted to enter a beauty pageant, all three did it. Oftentimes the results were disastrous, but they had fun anyway. And usually Alex came up with some plan to fix everything before their parents found out.

Plans that may have included disguises.

Alex wished she was also wearing a hoodie.

"So who are we avoiding?" he asked, turning to stand next to her to observe the crowd and follow her gaze.

She ducked behind his broad back. "Gage! Stop moving."

"Since when do you hide from people anyway?" Gage said over his shoulder. "I thought you were fearless."

She winced. "I just don't want to deal with them today. When does this thing start?"

"Soon," Gage said.

"Who judges the tryouts? I mean, is-is-" she couldn't even say his name.

Fortunately Gage figured out what she was saying. "I think the individual class coaches pick who they want. The head coach just oversees them or something. I don't even know why he agreed to do it anyway. He's like, famous! I doubt we'll get to see him today. If I make it, I'm totally getting an autograph though!"

"When, Gage, when," she encouraged, silently cheering that at least she wouldn't have to avoid that person too. Though she knew he would never have any inkling of who she was even if they did bump into each other.

That's what happens when you ignore someone their entire life.

Bb-bb-br-rr-rr-ri-ii-ii-ii-ii-in-nn-nn-ng-gg!

Kendall Knight woke up, startled at the loud noise, and jerked to a sitting position.

Pain shot through him and he let out an involuntary curse as his knee felt like it exploded.

He gritted his teeth and reached over for the annoying instrument making the god-awful sound next to his head.

"Yes?" he managed. He started massaging the flesh around his right knee.

"Good morning!" his wife said cheerfully. "Awake yet?"

He flopped back on the unfamiliar bed located in the private on-campus housing he had agreed to stay in.

"Am now."

"Good," she said. "I miss you."

He softened and smiled despite the pain in his leg. "I miss you too."

"It won't be too much longer though," she continued. "This guest spot is wrapping up nicely. And as soon as school lets out, the boys and I will be on the first plane to join you."

He ran a hand down his face and gingerly sat up, swinging his legs slowly off the bed.

"Tell me again why I agreed to do this?" he mumbled.

"Because you've been promising your sons forever that they could spend an entire summer with Carlos," she explained. "And between your injury, and the fact that I don't have any projects lined up, it's the perfect time to finally keep that promise. And—"

He rolled his eyes. "And I agreed to be head coach because Tom thinks coaching is the next, best, and only step in my career and this is the perfect opportunity to start honing my new craft," Kendall finished for her, his sarcasm evident. He didn't always agree with his manager, but he was only helping. Kendall really shouldn't give him a hard time, things had just been very disappointing lately.

"Exactly," she said with a small smile in her voice.

"Jo, I don't want to coach," he grumbled even though there was nothing she, or he, could do about it. "I want to play."

"Not going to happen," she said, trying to keep the spunk in her voice for his benefit. "Just give it a real chance for the summer. If you hate it, you don't ever have to do it again. You don't even have to work again. You know that." Which was definitely true, neither of them had to work ever again considering their successful careers.

"Hockey isn't work," he pointed out. "And I'll be bored to death if I'm not doing something."

"Well, there ya go," she said. "Now get ready and have a great day."

"Yes, dear," he mocked playfully. "Love you."

"Love ya more," she teased.

Yeah right, he smiled to himself before hanging up. She was the one who always stood by him through everything, including the darkest period of his life where he nearly succeeded in pushing her away forever. To this day he couldn't believe they managed to get through that. He was pretty sure he was the one who loved her the most considering she had put up with him all these years. And she was still putting up with him through this latest slump.

He pulled the bottle of pain killers off the night stand and grudgingly swallowed one.

He hated the blasted things but whenever he overdid it, the pain and inflammation started up. He shouldn't have gone out on the ice yesterday. He had been playing with some of the other coaches, trying to get a feel for their strategy and skill and trying to get them more comfortable with him since they would be working together all summer.

His knee had officially given out two years ago and he was told by multiple doctors that he wouldn't be playing professional hockey again. He'd spent the next year going through rehabilitation, trying to prove them all wrong.

But this was one problem that couldn't be fixed.

If he allowed himself to think about it too much, his mood would plummet faster than a hockey player on thin ice. His knee hadn't given out just because of his hockey career. He'd only been playing professionally for nine years, seeing as how he got a late start. He should have had a few more years left except he had spent four years of his life dancing almost daily. All the wear and tear had finally made its presence known in his last professional game when someone did some slashing and clobbered him. The other guy ended up in the penalty box, but he ended up needing to be carted off the ice.

Deep down he knew that he was never going to get clearance to play professionally again. It just took him another year to accept the truth enough to give in to his manager's demands to start over, doing something else.

For someone who had already achieved every single one of his dreams, it was hard to figure out what to do next. But he supposed that coaching was the logical choice.

He had some reservations about spending his summer in this place. He knew the boys loved Carlos and Carlos' boys. He knew he had promised them at least one summer together. But he was antsy about the close proximity to certain people he had been trying to forget for years. It was only Jo's assurances that they always spent the summer abroad that made him finally agree—though he did wonder how she even knew that. He knew Carlos still kept in close contact with them. But Carlos knew better than to mention anything about them to him. It was their unspoken rule for years now. Carlos had only brought them up once, five years ago, after some accident. It took months before he would finally answer one of Carlos' phone calls after that.

He hadn't seen either of them since Carlos' wedding twelve years ago. He almost hadn't gone. But a very pregnant Jo had made it clear that the day was about Carlos, not about him. So he went because Carlos was his best friend, and because Carlos had been best man at his own wedding. Carlos did ask him to be a groomsman, but he explained that he felt more at ease sitting with Jo since she was so close to term and it was their first baby.

He also didn't want to stand next to that…that…pretty boy, who was Carlos' best man.

He shook himself of his thoughts, cursing again as he got up to shower and get ready for his day.

The past needed to stay in the past, even though it seemed to be popping into his head more often lately than he'd like to admit.

Darn, stupid, promise.

"Uh, those people?" Gage asked hesitantly, referring to the ones Alex had spotted earlier. "What do they look like?"

"Why?" Alex said, keeping her head down. She was sitting in the spectator section, waiting for Gage's turn to head off to the locker room.

It turned out Gage had gotten them to the building way too early in his eagerness. He claimed he wanted to get a lay of the land and see how the entire process worked before his show-up time of noon. So she had been forced to sit through the girls' tryouts. It figured the girls would get to be the ones to wake up early on Saturday morning and turn up on the ice long before the boys had to crawl out of bed, though she did see some other boys traipsing around. Maybe they just had sisters trying out or something.

"Because those two girls keep looking over here," he whispered.

"What do they look like?" she whispered back, not looking up.

"They have their hockey gear on," he explained. "How am I supposed to tell?"

"You just asked me what they looked like!" she said, exasperated. "Stop looking! Stop looking!" she insisted.

Gage tried to look away, but it was difficult when he knew someone was staring at him. Plus, he was curious.

He was also disappointed. He lied to Alex, telling her that he had 'accidentally' gotten them there too early. The truth was he hoped to convince her to actually try out. He knew the girls started this early. He made a ruse of saying she should try out since, well, why not?

She had declined.

"So, what's the story?" he asked. "Who are they? Old friends or something? Their jerseys say 'Edina'. That's your old school, right?"

"They are not my friends," she snapped.

"Bad blood, huh?" he guessed.

"Butt out."

"You really don't want to talk about them, do you?" he asked. He knew she closed up about certain things…like her movie star father and how two straight men had ended up raising her together. But she always just teased her way around those responses or changed the topic. This time she was shutting him out completely to the point of rudeness.

"Finally, you get the picture," she said into her lap, hand firmly clenched on the hat she was trying to cover her face with still.

He was going to respond, but he noticed an influx of boys. He checked the time. "I gotta go. Wish me luck."

"Good luck," she said, forcing a smile.

She waited until he was out of sight before getting up and walking to the other side of the arena. She found a girly decorative scarf someone must have dropped on the way, so she pulled off the cap and stuffed it in her bag before covering her head with the scarf. She knew she looked horrible, but if Maggie and Ashley really had noticed her, she didn't want them to be able to find her.

"Hey!"

Gage was following the other boys to the locker room where they would suit up before tryouts. His mind was preoccupied trying to focus on everything Alex had taught him.

"Hey!"

Gage noticed a few boys looking over their shoulders. He gave a little wave of greeting and received a nod or grunt in return.

"HEY!"

Gage felt someone tugging on his Henley and turned around, realizing the shouting had been to get his attention.

"Do you know Alex Mitchell?" a red headed girl asked him. She was slightly shorter than Alex and her eyes were an intense shade of light blue that gazed expectantly at him like she would rip out his liver if he didn't respond with the truth.

A brunette joined her, finally catching up. The brunette's hair was short and bouncy. Her hair seemed to match her personality considering she couldn't seem to stand still once she stopped. She was shorter than her forceful friend. She beamed at him. "Please tell us you know Alex!" She clearly had a bubbly nature and was much more approachable than the other one.

"I, uh," he stumbled, trying not to look at the redhead again. "I have to go—"

"That was her, wasn't it!" the scary one exclaimed, pointing at him. "Talk, raven haired boy!"

"I know an Alex Diamond-Mitchell," he mumbled for lack of a better thing to say. Alex had corrected him enough by now that he knew her name backward and forward.

He reached to open the locker room door, trying to get inside before he could be questioned further, but the redhead gripped his shirt again, pulling him back.

"So you do know her!" the brunette said, smiling even bigger if that were possible, like he had passed some test by using her complete last name. Her eyes gave away the fact that she did have a brain in her head, even though her gushing demeanor showed otherwise.

"Look, I really need to get to—" he could hear what sounded like a role call through the open locker room door.

"I know, I know," the redhead said, waving away his words. "I'm Maggie, this is Ashley. Can you give her a message? Tell her we're really sorry and we miss her very much and that we just want five minutes to talk! Think you can handle that?"

"I'm no messenger boy," he finally said, not liking the condescending way she was talking to him.

"Please? Pretty please?" Ashley begged, her big brown eyes wide and almost tearful.

"I'll… uh…maybe," he finally said, more confused than ever at this turn in events. With the way Alex had been acting, he was sure these girls had to be horrible or just mean or something. Instead, they wanted to apologize to her?

"Thanks so much!" Ashley practically jumped up and down. "You're the sweetest, raven-haired—"

"Gage Peterson!"

Crap.

He ran into the locker room, his big gym bag slamming against his side, and hollered out "Here!" before they thought he hadn't bothered to show up.

He found an empty locker and started changing, barely stopping to think about anything but getting his head in the game.

He would worry about Alex and her girly mess afterward.

Right now, his nerves were unraveling.

"Kendall!" Carlos exclaimed, answering his front door, surprised but happy to see his friend.

"Hey, Carlos," Kendall said, smiling.

"Come in, come in," Carlos pulled Kendall inside, giving him a quick hug. "Is it just you? I thought you guys weren't going to be here 'til June?"

Carlos was momentarily wary when he thought of his weekend house guest. Thankfully she had gone out to meet a friend in town. Alex visited him frequently so she knew plenty of people in the area. He was her godfather and they had remained close her entire life, plus his name was still on her birth certificate.

"Watch out!" Carlos warned, grabbing Kendall before egg yolk dropped onto his head instead of the hardwood floor.

Kendall saw the glob land and grinned.

"Still learning to cook, Chef Carlitos?" he laughed. "And Jo and the boys will be here in June, I had to come down early for tryouts."

"That would be the work of Chef Mikey," Carlos said, referring to his eleven year old son, Michelangelo.

"Like father, like son," Kendall smirked. It still amused him that Carlos' wife, Sophie, had actually allowed him to name their sons after Ninja Turtles, though it probably had something to do with the fact that the woman was one of those crazy artistic types who loved the classic artists from way back in the day. That, and her Italian descent.

"You have no idea, man!" Carlos rolled his eyes remembering the egg catapult of twenty minutes ago.

"Daddy! Mikey won't let me help!" Leonardo Garcia squealed as he ran into the hallway from the kitchen, completely covered in flour.

Carlos reached to stop the eight year old before he ended up sliding in the egg glob.

"Uncle Kendall!" Leo pulled out of his father's grasp and threw himself at the taller man's legs, leaving a pint sized flour print.

Kendall picked him up, laughing. "Let's go tell Chef Mikey that he should treat his assistant better. What are you making?"

"A giant shark cake! Mikey put all the Chiclets in for the teeth! He won't let me squirt the blood!"

"But that's the best part," Kendall smirked as he entered the kitchen, Carlos following behind.

The guys stopped and laughed when they saw Carlos' oldest. He was covered in flour too, but it looked like he'd been on the receiving end of one or two of the raw eggs that must have resulted in the mess in the entryway.

He was trying to funnel some strange dark red syrup into a squirt bottle but it was spilling everywhere. It looked like someone had been slaughtered in the kitchen.

"I wanna squirt it!" Leo insisted from his uncle's arms.

"No!" Mikey denied. "You'll ruin it and it has to be perfect!"

"What's the occasion?" Kendall said to Carlos, still amused.

"We're making a surprise for—" Mikey started to say as he twisted the top on to the squirt bottle.

"A friend of ours," Carlos finished, taking Leo from his friends' arms and setting him down. "No one you know," he said quickly. Then he mentally slapped himself, hoping Kendall didn't pick up on the fact that he was hiding that 'friend's' identity. "Mikey, let your brother help."

"Aw, dad!" the boy complained, but he grudgingly handed the messy bottle over.

"You sure you're ready to deal with all of them for the entire summer?" Kendall asked. "You are a much better man than me. Or just a bigger kid." He winked.

"Everyone is welcome at Carlos' fun house!" Carlos joked, relieved he hadn't caught on. He knew better than to mention Alex to Kendall. "Plus, Jo and Sophie'll be around. And there's tons of stuff to do and play with."

He was referring to all the strange animals he kept around his house. He couldn't help that his collection had grown over the years. He didn't have anything truly dangerous—his wife wouldn't allow it around the boys—but he had been obsessed with the idea ever since he found out about Gustavo's mote.

"Right," Kendall nodded. That was the reason his boys had been so eager to stay in the first place. He thought his friend was crazy, but… that had sort of been established years ago. "If you can keep Sophie from dragging Jo everywhere to do girly things, that is. She's probably going crazy not having any other females in the house."

Carlos avoided flinching, but barely. Sophie always went out with Alex whenever she visited. They even had plans for lunch and shopping the next day. He hated having to watch what he said around Kendall. It always felt like he was walking on eggshells in any conversation he had with him. It was part of the reason why they weren't as close as they used to be even though their friendship was firmly intact.

That was a miracle in itself.

Fifteen years ago, from the moment Kendall opened his eyes in the cold sterile room he'd been placed in to sleep off his sedative, Carlos knew that the coming months were going to wreak havoc on all of their lives.

Carlos remembered Mrs. Knight had fallen asleep in a chair next to Kendall's bed, her head resting on the covers and her hand clasping his.

He remembered texting the guys to let them know he couldn't tell who the father was, and to let them know that Kendall was still asleep. He remembered standing next to the bed. He was too wound up to sit down. He was scared to death that his friends, no, his family was about to fall apart.

And then it did.

Kendall seemed to shut down when he finally woke up. Carlos tried to tell him what little he knew about the Logan/Katie/James situation—leaving out some parts, like the fact that Logan hadn't protected her.

He found out anyway.

Everything came out when Kendall had finally gone to confront them. Carlos had felt sick to his stomach watching Kendall turn on them. Kendall had always been their rock, their leader, the center that their worlds revolved around. But he couldn't give in to his grief. Instead of crying and mourning, Kendall blamed all parties involved. And he pushed everyone away, even Carlos, Jo, his own mother. He didn't want anyone to comfort him because comfort meant he would lose his anger, and his anger was the only thing keeping him alive.

The brunt of his anger seemed directed toward Logan. It might have been because James had actually been in a relationship with Katie, albeit in secret, while it had been more like a one night stand with Logan. It might have been because of the lack of protection thing, even though Carlos pointed out that James could very well be the father too. It might have been because Kendall had already beaten the shit out of James and hadn't laid a hand on Logan yet.

But deep down Carlos knew the real reason.

Logan was Kendall's best friend. More than Carlos and more than James, Logan was the one person that Kendall always thought he could count on.

Carlos would never forget watching Logan try to explain everything to Kendall. Logan had pleaded with Kendall, begging him to forgive him for his part in the mess. Logan tried to tell Kendall how much he really did love Katie. Logan had been desperate not to lose Kendall.

But Kendall had wanted no part of an explanation.

It was a miracle Kendall didn't kill Logan. Carlos could see the rage in his eyes. But Kendall never actually laid a hand on him. Carlos sometimes wondered if the blonde knew he would go too far if he did.

Instead, Kendall told Logan and James that he never wanted to see either of them again. They were completely dead to him.

By sheer will, Carlos managed to hold onto his friendship with Kendall. When Kendall found out what Carlos had done as far as the baby went, he used it as an excuse to try to kick Carlos out of his life too.

It had been a long year, trying to juggle the baby, dealing with James' and Logan's issues, and attempting to remain in Kendall's life.

Carlos had never felt more ill-prepared for responsibility in his life. That was the year he truly had to grow up. He had to become the rock. No one else was able to.

Kendall finally allowed him back in after Carlos let James and Logan adopt Alex. He was pretty sure Jo had a lot to do with it too.

And he knew that Jo had everything to do with the man now standing in his kitchen who seemed at ease, able to smile and joke. The shadows of his past were buried deep, though not gone. Kendall had managed to go on with his life.

Carlos just wished that life included Logan, James, and especially Alex.

"So, why aren't you at the tryouts?" Carlos asked, bringing his mind back to the present. "If that's the reason you're here early?"

"The other coaches pick the teams," Kendall explained. "I just oversee everything, and I'm not really needed there except for some paperwork today. I hit the office, and now I'm ready for some Carlos time."

"So, you wanna see Patsy?" Carlos asked slyly, "I just got her. We're gonna see if she can get through the maze on her first try."

"Patsy?"

Carlos grinned.

"You think he'll tell her?"

"Maybe," Maggie said, blue eyes flashing.

"At least we know those rumors about James getting married again are fake," Ashley pointed out. They hadn't spoken to their friend in two months, so the only way to get any information was to check out all the rags and internet gossip about her famous father.

One rumor was that James was engaged to his latest costar, Penelope Schwartz. Both of the girls remembered what happened the last time James married. Alex was so mad she wouldn't answer to Diamond-Mitchell anymore. She claimed that her last name was Mitchell, even making her teachers address her that way. They knew it probably had something to do with the fact that she couldn't call him 'Daddy' whenever they had guests at his home in L.A. They needed to protect the "big secret".

Once the raven haired boy had mentioned the double last names, they knew the rumor couldn't be true or Alex would have nixed that in the butt again…

"Unless she actually likes this one," Maggie pointed out.

Ashley pouted, knowing her friend was right. So they actually knew nothing.

"Why was she here anyway?" Maggie asked though she knew Ash wouldn't know the answer. "I mean, doesn't she know who the head coach is?"

Ashley shrugged. "She didn't try out, so maybe she was just here for that guy."

"In which case, if he makes the team," Maggie started smiling slyly. "We'll have a way in!"

"Not if you keep scaring him!" Ashley said, shaking her head in exasperation.

"I couldn't help it," the redhead shrugged. "He's deaf as a doornail! Did you hear me have to yell for him, like, three times? Annoying!"

"I think he's kind of cute," Ashley said, smiling slightly.

"Stop," Maggie glared. "That's the last thing we need if we're going to see our plan through and get Alex to talk to us again."

"I'm all for getting Alex to talk to us again," the brunette said. "I'm just worried about approaching Kendall Knight. What if we mess things up worse?"

"Believe me, things can't get much worse than they already are."

What was he doing?

Alex smacked her forehead, unable to believe how terrible Gage was doing. He was all over the place. She had seen him trip over his own feet once! Even during speed drills, he was lagging behind the others and at one point looked bootsy!

Gage was so much better than this! What was wrong with him?

He finally seemed to show improvement during the final stage when they started a scrimmage game, able to make some decent assists, but she knew the damage was already done.

There was no way Gage was going to make the cut.

Alex slumped her shoulders, feeling badly for her friend. She was supposed to be his good luck charm, but obviously she didn't bring the luck that day.

Afterward, she waited by the exit, pulling the scarf out of her hair and undoing the knot, letting her hair fall into a tumble down her back. The girls had long since left, so she knew she didn't have to worry about Maggie or Ashley anymore. If they had wanted to bother her, they would have done so by now.

The boys came trickling out, the ones who knew they had performed well looked super excited as they rushed up to their parents or friends who were waiting for them.

Finally Gage came out. He was trying to play it cool, but she knew how disappointed he must be. She hadn't really showed any huge displays of affection with him before, but she couldn't help but rush to give him a big hug, nearly knocking him over.

He awkwardly returned the hug, surprised and almost pleased at the contact, but after his disappointing tryout, he really just wanted to leave.

When she pulled back, he shrugged, "Ready to go?"

"Did they say anything yet?" she asked, still trying to be positive. "When do you find out if you made it?"

"They'll post the roster for the team online tomorrow morning or something," he mumbled.

"What time?" she asked. "I can't wait to see if you're—"

"Can it, Alex," Gage said, shoulders drooping. "You and I both know I'm not going to be on that list, not even for an alternate. I choked."

"There's still a possibility—"

"You know how you told me to butt out when it came to those friends of yours?" he said, frustrated. "Well, this is where I tell you to leave it alone. I didn't make it. It's not going to happen. I'm not going to start this fall either, and I'm never going to play professional hockey! When they post those rosters I'm not going to be on it!"

"What if you could be," she said, smiling mischievously.

Huh?

"This is insane!" Gage hissed, watching as she loaded a black screen onto the desktop computer and began typing frantically.

"No its not," she typed until she got through the first firewall, grinning.

"They're going to know there was some sort of mistake when my name turns up on that list," he said. "It's not supposed to be there."

"But it will be there," she said. "And they will have to honor their word. Its not your mistake if someone messes up, now is it?"

"Alex…" he kept peaking out the door to the computer lab, expecting campus police to show up any minute.

"Crap!" she mumbled. She stopped typing, chewing on her lip.

"What?" he said, turning quickly.

"Coach Wilson already sent his list to the head coach's email," she mumbled. "I guess he's the one who posts all the lists."

"Well, just, um, send a new list?" he asked, wondering if that were possible. "Just say that there was a typo on the first one?"

"I would, except it would be even more obvious when the question about how your name got on the list comes up," she said. "I'm going to have to get into his email and delete the first one."

"Can you do that?"

She groaned inwardly. She could, but it was getting way too close to a person she didn't want to be near.

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?" Gage threw his caution to the wind. "Please, Alex?"

She sighed. She would do this, but only to help Gage. She hoped the powers that be could see the sacrifice she was making for a friend and would let her get away with this.

"I have to access it from his office computer which is turned off," she said. "I can only get through to Wilson's because he's logged into his. I know some backdoor stuff, but not enough." Maggie was the real genius at computers.

"So, how exactly…?"

"I need rope, gloves, a belt with a big buckle, a bobby pin, a flashlight, and a big mouse trap sticky pad," she listed.

"Oh… kay?"

Gage winced, watching her wave before going over the edge of the roof.

They had to wait until darkness fell before attempting their breaking and entering routine. At this point, he figured he had nothing else to lose. If they got caught, what were they going to do? Kick him out of the program? Ha!

Alex had been ecstatic when they found a perfectly good metal circle prong on the roof. She was easily able to pull the rope through, tying it deftly, like she knew a thing or two about knotting ropes. She threaded the rope through the belt buckle, the leather strap of which was threaded through her jeans.

She then propelled off the side of the building, her gloved hands holding onto the rope while her feet were pressed firmly against the wall.

She was the craziest person he had ever met. At least it was only a three story building.

He asked if they could just go through the front door of the office, but she claimed it was too risky. He thought this way was the one that was too risky. But she seemed to know what she was doing, so he held his breath and prayed she didn't fall.

Alex finally reached her destination and tried to open the window, hoping she wouldn't need the bobby pin she had asked for or any other tool she didn't currently have.

She grinned successfully when the pane opened without much effort. Who would care about locking a third story window anyway?

She looked inside, careful to keep an ear out for any potential intruders.

She quickly unlatched the belt, removing it, and slipped into the room, racing to set all her props in place before settling in front of the monitor on the desk.

She was in!

He was getting nervous. He had seen her go into the window, but he hadn't heard anything for a few minutes. How long would it take to finish?

He ducked down on the roof when headlights pulled into the parking lot. It was dusk. Only janitorial staff should be in the building, and they had already arrived. No one else was supposed to be there, at least not until the next morning. So why was someone pulling into the parking lot now?

In the dim light of the lot, he caught a glimpse of dark blonde hair getting out of a dark blue truck. He tried to see the guy's face and gasped when he realized who he was looking at.

He scampered over to the edge and tried to whisper loudly. "Alex!"

When she didn't reply, he tried to text her only to hear a tell-tale beep from the jacket she had left on the roof with him. What a time for her to not be wearing her wrist phone!

He grabbed her jacket and raced toward the door to the building. He ran inside and made a mad dash for the room, frantic to get her out before Kendall Knight could reach his office.

Alex nibbled on her bottom lip, wishing she had added watermelon Peel & Pull to her supply list.

She thought she heard something in the hallway and glanced up before focusing on the computer again.

She was trying to crack his password. She didn't understand why it was so difficult to get into his system. Maybe she had missed something. Either way, she just needed to get in. Now.

As a last resort she typed katie and was rewarded with entry to the computer.

She gulped, not quite believing that had worked. She frantically accessed his internet browser, happy to see he was one of those people who logged into their email and told the computer to keep them logged in.

She could hear cursing in front of the office door, and she grinned. She knew whoever it was, they were currently in a very sticky situation. She needed to hurry now if she was going to get out before it was too late.

She deleted the first email from Coach Wilson, and made sure to remove it from his deleted file too.

"What are you doing?"

Alex looked up, expecting to be caught. Instead, she saw that the door was still closed. Huh?

"Oh, I, uh,"

Alex winced. What was Gage doing in the hallway?

She quickly closed the browser and shut down the computer, just in time for the office door to open. She tried to duck under the desk before she was seen, but that plan failed when Gage practically fell into the office, the sticky pad stuck to his shoes. He knocked into a chair, which knocked into the desk, which slammed into Alex's head, causing her to end up flat on her back with the swivel chair she had been sitting on lying on top of her.

She groaned, closed her eyes and tried to move the chair, only to have it lifted off before she could find the strength to properly push.

"Keep still."

She was slightly dizzy from the blow to her head anyway, so she obeyed the voice, feeling gentle fingers at the growing knot on her forehead.

"Kid, take your shoes off and go get some ice for your friend."

She could hear stumbling, figured it was probably Gage trying to remove his feet from the sticky trap and do the man's bidding.

She finally braved a look, her eyes focusing on the person kneeling above her.

His eyes were amused as he stared at her. "Mind telling me what you're doing in my office?"

Crap! Crap! Crap!

After an insane afternoon with Carlos and his boys, Kendall had only been stopping by to pick up his wallet, which he had accidentally left in his new office since he wasn't used to the new routine yet.

The first weird thing he noticed was some boy standing in front of his office door, hopping around, clearly trying to get something off his feet. At first Kendall tried to help the boy, attempting to calm him down enough to tell him to remove his shoes. It wasn't the first time Kendall had been up close and personal with a glue trap. The kid seemed to freak out even more though. Kendall decided to unlock his office door and let the kid hobble over to a chair.

Instead, as soon as he unlocked the door, the kid lost his balance and went crashing into it, opening it before Kendall had a chance. All he could do was watch as the kid fell all over the place. His amusement went to shock and then alarm when he noticed there was someone else in his office, behind his desk, and whoever it was got slammed in the forehead by the desk when the kid pushed it accidentally.

He went around the desk to try to help the girl in suspiciously dark clothing, pulling his chair off of her and hoping she wasn't too injured.

He winced at the size of the knot on her head, and sent the other kid off for ice.

She finally opened her eyes, gaining focus. Good! he thought, hoping she didn't have a concussion.

Kendall grew confused as he watched the pain in the girls' face fade away to... was that hatred?

"Here's some!" The boy exclaimed, running back into the office. The dark bandana he had been wearing on his forehead was now filled with ice from the lounge down the hall. He pushed it toward Kendall.

Kendall quickly applied it to her head.

She reached up and snatched it out of his hand, flinching away from him and applying it herself. "I got it," she snapped.

"So, I repeat,' he said. "What are you doing in my office?"

The girl closed her mouth, indicating that she wasn't going to say another word. She didn't have to; the boy said it all for her.

"We are so sorry! I'm so sorry! She doesn't even want to be here. She didn't even try out. It's not her fault! I knew I wasn't going to make the team and—"

"Shh!' the girl shushed him loudly.

Kendall sat back on his haunches, starting to understand the situation.

"Is this about the teams being posted tomorrow?"

"Why couldn't you have just stayed on the roof?" the girl grumbled to the boy.

Kendall raised an eyebrow and looked to the window. He stood up and walked over, seeing that it was open. He smirked when he saw the belt dangling from a rope.

"You didn't want to just use the door?" he asked, amused.

'That's what I said," the boy mumbled to him before looking at the girl. "I saw him coming, I was trying to get your attention but I couldn't."

"I had a plan for that," she muttered back to him.

"Let me guess," Kendall said. "You slipped the mouse pad in front of the door so if someone came to it, they would get stuck and you would be alerted and able to get away." It sounded pretty cool to him. He was just glad he hadn't been the one to get stuck. His knee had been acting up all day. He really couldn't take much more irritation.

The girl gave a perfunctory nod. She wouldn't look at him though.

"So, all I know is, this has something to do with the lists," he said. "Were you hoping to change them or something?"

The kids were silent.

"What are your names?"

Silence again.

Kendall started his computer and easily logged in, opening his browser. "Let's see, you're what? Fifteen? Sixteen? Midget class. Coach Wilson."

"Maybe I should just call Coach Wilson, see if he remembers you from today? I'm sure he'll be willing to give me your name," he said to the boy, wondering if that would get a reaction. He opened the email he had already received from the coach.

The boy sighed. "Gage. I'm Gage Peterson."

The girl poked the boy in the ribs.

Kendall couldn't help the small laugh he made at that, before he saw something on the list that stopped his laughter.

"Wait a minute, your name is already on here," he looked at the boy again. "What was the point in doing all of this if you already made it?"

The boy's eyes widened. He glanced at the girl quickly before stammering out, "I-I just wasn't… sure."

Kendall realized the boy was lying. This kid had known he wasn't going to make it. That meant the girl had succeeded in hacking his account before he had gotten to the office.

"I think I'm going to call the coach, just to make sure this is right," he said as he reached for his office phone.

The girl finally showed some reaction. "Don't do that!"

"But why? Like I said the name's already there, so there isn't really anything to worry about," Kendall was the picture of wide-eyed innocence.

"You know he's lying," she admitted. "He sucks at it. But he really deserves to be on that team! He just gets nervous sometimes. He wouldn't if he had proper training! He's really good! I swear!"

"Nervous, huh?" He almost laughed. He hadn't seen anything but nerves since he first met the kid.

"It was bad," Gage winced. "Really bad."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kendall said. "And I'm also sorry to tell you this, but I'm not the one who picks the teams. The coaches do. And their word is final."

"But…" Gage grumbled, giving up. "Aw, man. So close!"

"But you're in charge of the entire program," the girl pointed out. "What you decide should be final, especially if… say… we beat you for it."

"Excuse me?" Kendall was curious where this was going. The girl seemed to be extremely resourceful and devious.

"I play you," she said simply. "First one to three points wins."

"And the terms?" he asked, wondering why he was even considering this.

"Simple. If you win, we're out of your hair forever," she shrugged. "But if I win, you have to let Gage on the team."

"I'll do you one better," he said, feeling intrigued by the entire situation and remembering that the boy said the girl hadn't tried out. "If you win, both of you are in."

"No, just him," the girl replied quickly.

"But he's a ball of nerves," he pointed out. "And you think you can take me. If you can even score one point, you should definitely be here."

"I can't afford it," the girl said, looking a little peaked.

The boy frowned at her. Kendall didn't miss a thing. He wondered why the girl would lie about being able to afford the program, but even so…

"Don't worry about that," he answered.

"I don't—"

"If you don't stay, he can't stay," he gave the ultimatum. He still didn't know why he was bothering to play this game. He figured she wasn't going to score anyway, but it was still funny that she thought she could.

The girl looked at her friend. The boy silently begged her.

She looked back at Kendall.

"No deal." She stood up, cradling her head as she came to her full height. Kendall was a little thrown when he realized she was practically as tall as he was.

The boy groaned, but rose to his feet as well. He was about as tall as both of them, but it wasn't as surprising as the girl.

Kendall shrugged. "Lists go out at ten tomorrow. If you change your mind, be here at eight.

"In the meantime, make sure you keep ice on that," he nodded to her head. "And stay awake for a while."

"I know the drill," she mumbled.

"By the way, what's your name?" he asked.

The girl just shrugged, not responding.

"Al—" the boy started to say.

"Allie," the girl interrupted quickly. "I'm Allie."

"Allie," he said, repeating the name back.

"Allie Bishop."

"Allie Bishop?" Gage waited until they had reached the outside of the building to ask her about it. "Why did you lie?"

"I panicked," she said, still fighting back her anger at the man they had left inside the building. "He didn't need to know my name."

"Well, the Allie part I get, sort of," he said. "But what was up with the Bishop?"

"Chess," she mumbled.

"Chess?" he asked, bewildered.

"You know, king, queen, knight, bishop?" she muttered. "It was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Oh, because his last name is Knight," he nodded.

"Yeah," she affirmed. She couldn't believe she had just met the infamous Kendall Knight. It was scary how many similarities she could see between the two of them. She had seen photos before, but up close she noticed that the skin around his nose crinkled the same way as hers when she smiled even though his nose was much bigger. He had the same little laugh lines as her around his mouth. He even had her eyebrows! Well, what would be her eyebrows if she didn't wax and tweeze like crazy. "Well, that was a waste of time."

"Not if you show up tomorrow," he hinted hopefully.

"It was just a ploy anyway," she said, covering quickly. "He was in the NHL! There's no way I could score. I was just talking smack to see if I could get him to just give in. I didn't think he'd really take me up on it."

"Alex…" he said, looking at her with intense eyes. "If anyone can do it, it's you."

"Gage—"

"You're my only hope," he pleaded. "What am I going to do all summer if I don't do this? Get a job? My parents work all summer. I'll be bored out of my mind. You'll probably be in some exotic place. And I'll just be trying to sneak into my neighbor's pool when they're out of town."

"But—"

"And even if you aren't going away for the entire summer, your father hates me for some reason! I can't even hang out with you anyway," he griped.

"Daddy's being a bit difficult, but you know my Dad doesn't hate you," she quickly explained. "I'm sure there will be plenty of things for us to do."

"I want to do this, Alex," he said, eyes pleading. "I want to get over my nerves. You never got to see me play because you transferred at the end of the season. I don't know why I get that way. It just happens. You saw me getting better towards the end. It just took a while of being on the ice. I can do this! I just need to get one more chance…and they won't give it to me without your help."

Alex wanted to scream. She wanted to help him so badly, but she couldn't do it!

Maggie, Ashley, and Kendall Knight all rolled up into one summer vacation? It was a recipe for disaster. Especially if her dads ever found out what she was doing. How was she even going to be able to get away from them for the entire summer? And what if they found out he was here? She hadn't brought the man up to either of her dads in years. She didn't even want to spend an entire summer near him. She hated him.

"Please just try?" he begged. "For me?"

She started to get a semblance of another plan. She felt guilty lying to Gage, but there was no help for it. If he thought she was trying to help him, he couldn't be mad if she lost. After all, she would be trying. As much as she wanted to help Gage, he had no idea what she was going to have to go through if she won the game.

"I'll do it," she finally agreed.

"Yes!" he said, jumping in joy.

"Don't get your hopes up though," she was quick to say. "There's a strong possibility that I won't win."

"Right, right," he nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"So what are you going to tell your dads?" he asked, suddenly realizing they weren't completely out of the woods yet.

"If I win, I'll think of something," she was relieved she wouldn't have to since she definitely wasn't going to win.

"And at least you don't have to ask your dads to pay for it," he pointed out. "Pretty quick thinking in there.'

She shrugged. She had been trying to talk her way out of things when she concocted that lie. She didn't really care about lying to Kendall Knight anyway. She didn't have any respect for the man.

"You could just tell them about it, maybe they'll let you stay?"

"I doubt that," she said. "Because I have a feeling they won't like the coed dorm thing." Or the Kendall Knight thing.

"But its same sex on each floor," he explained. "Not like we'd be rooming next to each other."

"And still, I say, I have a feeling they won't let me…" she said. "We'll figure it out, I guess. We got this far. Let's just see what happens tomorrow."

What had she done? What had she done!

She was supposed to throw the game, so how did this happen?

From the moment she stood in front of him on the ice and saw the amusement in his eyes, again, she had felt a rush of annoyance.

Why was he always smiling like that anyway? When the whistle blew, she found herself grabbing the puck first.

He let her. She could tell he was playing with her, letting her think she had a chance before going in for the kill.

It infuriated her when she realized he wasn't taking this all that seriously. It would have been so much easier if he just grabbed the puck and went for the goal. This could have all been over in seconds.

But now she was getting mad. She knew all she needed was one point. He had changed the rules she set. All she needed was to score one point for Gage to stay and to start the worst summer of her life.

She started to forget all about the problems that would arise if she won. Instead, she started really playing.

She was trying to fake him out, skating back and forth, her footwork fast, handling the puck with ease, even spinning once or twice to change directions on him, but nothing was breaking through his solid defense.

Then she noticed he wasn't as solid when he went to the right. That's when she remembered the injury, his reason for even being there. She knew that was her entry point. That all she had to do was attack that side and she would be home free. It would be well worth it, seeing him in pain after everything—

She started to raise her stick, and stopped. She had never played that dirty in her life. She tossed the idea aside before she could convince herself to go there.

She pulled back, letting the puck go behind her before she chased for it, wanting to open things up a little before she went for the kill. With her speed, and his confusion at her change in tactics, she managed to pick up the puck before he got to it. With the space she created, she accelerated to an even faster speed toward him, so when she crashed her back into his left side, she had more force in her push than most girls could achieve.

He ended up against the boards, but he didn't fall—she wasn't that strong, and he was used to being checked. She only had a split second before he was after her, so she did what any self-respecting hockey player would do and skated for her life.

She knew he was right behind her. She was surprised he hadn't reached her yet though he would surely be on her any minute. She got the feeling he was done toying with her and was going to take control of the game any minute. She needed to shake him if she was ever going to get a shot at the goal.

There was only one thing left for her to do.

She stopped the puck, her stick holding it in place, while she dug in her skates, shutting down her forward momentum in mere seconds, and bent forward.

She grinned in victory when he couldn't stop himself. Most high school students like her make the mistake of getting too cocky, thinking they could be faster. Any other high school student in her position would have kept going. It took extreme patience to back down like she had. He fell forward over her, her body completely tripping up his legs. Her legs hurt at the effort it took to stay upright, but since it wasn't his entire body smashing into her, she was able to hold on.

She stood up and skated toward her goal, easily sliding the puck into the net.

As the buzzer went off, Gage started cheering from the side lines. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Milton, the boy and girl Midget coaches who had been invited to the game since their teams would be affected by the game, were staring at her in shock.

Even Kendall Knight, who was barely off his feet before regaining them, seemed to be stunned, but he still had that amused look in his eyes. Damn him.

"Welcome to Weston, Allie Bishop," he said, bumping her shoulder with his gloved hand.

She glared at him, wishing she had slammed her stick against his knee. She left the ice quickly, tearing at her laces and practically kicking off her skates in a fit of anger.

What did I do! She screamed at herself. Her competitive spirit had won over what her brain had been telling her. She was so screwed. How was she supposed to get herself out of this one?

"Is there anything you can't do?" Gage asked, meeting up with her. His eyes were glowing. At least one thing had gone right, though it was for him, not her.

"It was a bust. He was toying with me," she grumbled, her mind racing.

Gage rushed to keep up with her when she left the arena area and stormed down the dank cement walkway to the empty girls' locker room. He kept following because he knew no one else was in there.

"C'mon, Alex, you were awesome! Did you see his face? You were toying with him!"

Alex remained silent, struggling to get her jersey and pads off, still furious.

"What's wrong?" he asked, realizing that she was actually upset. "You should be happy about this. You love beating the guys, and you just beat a professional hockey player!"

"An injured retired hockey player," she pointed out, ignoring the rest of his question.

"That's not the point!" Gage said. "You still won, so why are you acting like you're about to kill someone? Is staying here really that bad?" He gulped. "I mean… I'm going to be here."

Alex shook her head.

Gage shifted uncomfortably. He really really liked her. But she had never once shown any interest besides friends. He could live with that. But what was so wrong with spending the summer with him? And it was hockey. She was one of the best. Why wouldn't she want this?

"Look," Gage finally said, feeling a little hurt but he didn't want her to be this unhappy. "If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. I'm the one who messed up. I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do."

Alex stopped her movement, looking down at the floor. "You'd really be okay with that?"

"Yeah," Gage said, trying to hide his disappointment.

She couldn't let him miss out on this chance. No one should lose hope in their dreams. This was Gage's chance to train under the watchful eye of a professional.

Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime. And when they do, you gotta grab it and go big time. Her Dad had taught her that message a long time ago. He said a very wise man told it to him. Gage was willing to give up on his dream...but she couldn't let that happen even if his chances of going pro were slim. He needed someone to believe in him. Someone to give him a chance to prove what he was capable of.

Alex sighed. "I'll stay."

"You sure?" Gage asked, afraid to hope.

"But it's going to take more than some intricate plan to get around my dads," she said. "I think its time to involve Uncle Carlos."

She just hoped he could help.

Kendall didn't know what her problem was.

From the moment she stepped on the ice, he knew the hostility she had directed at him the previous evening hadn't been his imagination. This girl really didn't like him.

She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't figure out whom. He didn't remember any Bishops, but maybe he had gone to school with someone years ago. Maybe some lab partner who he had to spend way too much time around and subconsciously remembered their looks but couldn't pinpoint?

He let the girl get the puck first. He wanted to see what she would do with it, if she really had any skill. She seemed like she wasn't into it at first. If he had gone for the puck, he would have easily beaten her.

The more she worked the ice, the more she got into the game. He saw a familiar glint in her eyes, and he knew she had decided to go for it.

He saw everything, even when her eyes landed on his right knee for a split second. He was used to people going for the low blow. He was ready to take her out in an instant, especially when she started lifting her stick.

He didn't know why she stopped. If her attitude was any indication, she should have swung. But she didn't.

Instead, she back tracked. He was embarrassed to admit he was a little thrown. Expecting a blow that never came made him give her a second to regroup. It even gave her enough space to check him. He noticed that she went for his left side. He was surprised that the girl even managed it. She must be in excellent condition.

And then she took off, showing him her speed. And, man, was she fast. He knew he was faster though. He took off after her, ready to take control of the game finally. He was positive that she would keep going until she reached the goal. He had seen seasoned players make that mistake numerous times. They knew someone would be on them any minute, and still they were too cocky. They were sure they could out skate their opponent. High School players had a tendency to only see the goal in front of them, thinking they had finally broken through the other teams' defense.

That was why, when she slowed down suddenly and bent forward—a move out of his very own playbook—he couldn't stop or go around her in time.

He landed hard but quickly regained his footing in time to hear the telltale buzzer go off.

She actually did it.

He was shocked, amazed, and impressed. He wasn't one to get embarrassed and resentful just because a teenage girl had beat him.

He tried to congratulate her, but if looks could kill he would be lying on the ice with a skate shoved through his neck.

He watched her leave the arena. She was angry, actually furious, throwing her skates and barely speaking to the friend she had done all of this for.

What the hell was her problem?

To be continued…

Next: Part II – Chapter 3.

See my profile for side-by-sides of Logan/Alex/James and Kendall/Alex/Katie.