Disclaimer: So, to cover the usual bases, I do not own Big Time Rush or anything that is recognizable in this chapter.

Taylor: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. Ah, then you understand ;) Exactly, I'm the same way. The more reviews that come in, the better chance the next chapter will be up soon, because I'll be really eager to write more. And as always, thank you for reviewing :)

KnylonMaslow: Thank you so much! Happy (late) 4th to you too :) And thank you for taking the time to review!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, or reviewed this story! I appreciate it so much, I can't even begin to describe it!

A/N: Yes, I know, it's a freaking miracle! I'm actually getting this chapter up less than a week after I last updated. What can I say, weirder things have happened...probably. Anyway, I got a ton of amazing reviews between posting chapter 5 and posting this, and they spurred me to write faster, so here you go :) Basically, things are finally starting to happen in this story, so hopefully that means this story will get a little more interesting. I know it's been going kind of slow, but that's because everything was being set up and arranged and yeah, total grunt work ;P

I also posted the epilogue to "Touch the Flame" a little while ago, so if you're reading that, there you go :) Also, Dana2184 updated "Fresh Start" which has an amazing plot so far, so if you haven't already, go and check it out. :)

Warnings: Language and sexual innuendos.

Enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter Six – Intrigued and Mystified

James' POV

By the time I sat down in homeroom, my mind was reeling with what Camille and Jo had told me. It sounded like Katie and Zach had quite the interesting relationship. I had wondered when I had first met Katie if Zach could be cheating on her, and if Camille Roberts thought that there was a chance that he was sleeping around, then it looked like my instincts could be right after all.

And then there was the whole good girl rep that they had talked about. That in itself was interesting. It got me wondering if Zach could in fact be using her simply because people liked her. And if that was the case, than that was seriously low, even for a world class jackass like him. Using Katie Knight for his own means…

The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got. Who the hell did he think he was? He was a prick, nothing more, nothing less. He didn't deserve to have a girlfriend like Katie, not in the least. He needed a good ass kicking, and I knew just the person to do it.

Me.

I didn't hear a single word of the morning announcements, and the rest of my morning classes went by in a haze. I didn't even make any comments to Mr. Gallagher, my U.S History teacher who was most likely hired because he was the principle's nephew. The dude didn't know a single thing about history or the lessons we learn from history, and I was constantly getting into arguments with him. Usually within fifteen minutes into the class, I had been called a "smart mouth kid" and informed that I had detention. I usually just shrugged and replied, "So, guess that means I win."

But today, I kept my mouth shut, which I should've been doing anyway, since I was planning on auditioning for Guys and Dolls next week. I needed to keep my nose clean and out of trouble if I wanted to land the lead role and actually, you know, keep it.

At last, lunch rolled around, and I grabbed a sub sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of Pepsi, before sitting down with my friends.

"Dude, check it out," Jett said to me, elbowing me in the side. "Wilder's giving you his death glare again."

I glanced over at Katie's table and sure enough, if looks could kill, I would have been dead and buried and total dust the moment I met Zach's eyes. I shrugged, but then rolled my own eyes as he, still keeping his gaze trained on me, leaned over to Katie and began to nibble on her neck.

She broke off the conversation she had been having with Camille and Jo to turn and give Zach a weird look, before saying something to him. He replied, and she shook her head, swinging her hair over her right shoulder so that it effectively blocked him from her neck or jaw or whatever else he might have tried for next.

I mentally smirked and turned back to my sandwich, biting into it. "He's such an ass."

"Who, Wilder?" Dak asked, looking over at me.

I nodded. "Thinks the whole fucking world revolves around him. Someone needs to knock him off his fucking high horse."

"Amen to that," Lucy chimed in, raising her bottle of lemonade in the air. Jett and Dak both laughed, and I grinned, just as Carlos took his seat.

"You know what's hot?" he asked the table at large as he rearranged his corndogs and tater tots.

I reached over, stealing one of his tater tots. "Is this a rhetorical question, or can I actually answer that?"

"It's a rhetorical question – I'm afraid to hear what your answer is."

"Right. Well, what's hot?"

"My new biology partner," Carlos said with a slightly dreamy smile on his face.

"You got Logan Mitchell as your biology partner?" I asked in surprise.

"Sure did. I've been hoping to be his partner in something since freshman year, and it's finally happening."

"Maybe now you can finally find out if he's gay or bi," I said to him as I took a bite of my apple.

"And how am I going to do that?" he demanded, nibbling slightly anxiously on the end of a corndog.

"Manage to work it into a conversation, I don't know."

"Oh, that'll be great," Carlos said sarcastically.

Lucy grinned. "I can just see it now. Oh, Logan, you're so hot in your sweater vest and pocket protector…I've been madly infatuated with you for three years, and I was just wondering if you could find it in your heart to go gay for me. I'll even eat a corndog in front of you."

The entire table cracked up as Carlos' cheeks flushed, though he grinned a little despite the joke aimed at him. "I think Lucy said it all," he informed me. "I'm not doing it, I'm not coming onto him."

Jett snickered. "Coming…You'll be coming for him."

Dak smacked him around the back of the head. "Grow up. And then you wonder why none of the girls around here like you. Anyway." He turned to Carlos and me. "Seems like you two are in similar situations."

Carlos and I blinked at him, before Carlos spun to face me. "Since when are you gay?!"

"I like girls…"

"Since when are you bi?!"

"I'm not bi!"

"Pansexual!"

"I – huh…" I thought about that for a moment. "Pansexual…that's when you don't care who you get sex from, right?"

"Yeah."

I rolled that over in my mind for a minute, chewing on my apple, before shaking my head. "Nah. I prefer girls."

"But – Dak said – "

"I think what he meant," Lucy spoke up, "is that you two are both seriously crushing on people from the soon-to-be-presidents-lawyers-world-leaders-heart- attacks table. Oh, and I think being sexually attracted to whoever is polysexual…which sounds a lot like bisexual, but I guess gender terms aren't used or whatever."

Carlos rubbed his temples. "This is confusing."

"Tell me about it," I agreed.

"I'm lost."

"Same."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, my original point was, you want Katie," she pointed at me, "and you want Logan," her finger moved to Carlos. "And they're both in the so-called 'perfect' crowd, whereas we're all more on the outskirts, acting out, doing our own thing, that sort of stuff. So you two are in the same situation in that way."

"Oh." Carlos thought about this for a long moment. "I guess that makes sense."

"Believe me, it does," she assured him. "So, what're you guys going to do about it?"

"About what?" I asked blankly.

"About your crushes on Katie Knight and Logan Mitchell."

Carlos blinked at her. "We have to do something about them?"

She face palmed. "Yes! Because if you don't, Katie will forever be stuck with Zach Wilder – and who, besides Zach, actually wants that? – and Logan will end up with some preppy prep from Prep Land."

"There's Prep Land?"

She face palmed again. "Not the point! The point is, this is our senior year of high school, and this might be your last chance to get with Katie and Logan. You need to do something about it, and pronto."

I sighed. "I don't know, Luce. Katie does have a boyfriend, and he's possessive."

"But you want her."

"More than anything."

"So make sure she knows that. Make sure she knows she has options."

"I…kind of already have. Yesterday. After detention. I told her if she decided to break up with him, I would probably be waiting for her."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So follow through on it. It's the only thing you can do now."

"And how am I going to do that?" I demanded.

"I don't know, get creative. Use your infamous Diamond charm on her, do whatever."

I took a sip of my water, wondering just what exactly my game plan should be…

Detention finally rolled around, and I made my way to the designated classroom. I slid into my usual spot, and about thirty seconds later, Katie joined me, tying her hair up in a high ponytail, her lips pursed resignedly. I chuckled a little at the look on her face.

"What?" she asked once she realized I was laughing.

"You. You look so…you look like a mother whose kids have decided to go into the arcade, with or without her permission."

"Oh." Katie shrugged. "I wouldn't say that, exactly. I mean, I'm pretty much stuck here without just cause, so…"

"Sounds like a lesson for a U.S Civics class," I said, opening my English notebook absentmindedly. "Innocent until proven guilty. Taxation without representation. All that stuff."

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it," she agreed, pulling out a notebook and a textbook so thick I was pretty sure it weighed more than she did. "But I'd rather not dwell on it. It's an injustice, but it's a manageable one."

I quirked an eyebrow. "What the hell happened to the girl I met on Monday? You were practically in tears. Did you loosen up in the past three days?"

"I don't need to loosen up. And thinking about this just isn't worth my time, because otherwise I'll just get upset and I have enough stress in my life without adding to it."

"Very true. What is that book?" I turned the textbook towards me to read the title. "An Extensive History of the Greek and Roman Empires. Extensive is a good way to put it. And you have to read that in a semester?"

"Pretty much," she replied as she flipped to the beginning of chapter six. "Luckily, it's really interesting, otherwise I'd be in trouble."

"I think I'd be in trouble anyway if I had to read that. How do you do it?"

The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement. "Very carefully."

"Obviously. So, how was your evening yesterday?"

"It was fine," she said offhandedly, flipping to the next page. "Nothing special."

"Hang out with Zach?"

"Actually, no. He was being a jerk, so I ended up hanging out with my other friends in the Huddle."

"Sounds fun and relaxing."

"It was. How was your evening?" She scribbled something in her notebook.

"Nothing special. Just hung out with Carlos. Did homework. Talked about the school musical."

"What's the musical this year?" Katie asked me, still writing away, fingers poised gracefully around her purple glitter gel pen.

"Guys and Dolls."

"Oh, I've heard of that. It's supposed to be really good. Are you auditioning for it?"

"Yeah, for the lead. I printed a bunch of information for it out during study hall today." I reached into my backpack and pulled out the folder that I had designated to the plays and musicals I performed in.

Katie finally looked up from the notes she was taking and curiously pried the folder open, tugging out the summary and synopsis of the different acts that I had carefully stapled together. I watched as she flipped through the different pages, my eyes focusing in on the way she furrowed her brow ever so slightly as she read, how she chewed her lower lip, the beat she drummed her fingers to against the desk, nails glazed bubblegum pink and impossibly bright and cheerful against the fake wooden surface.

Zach Wilder didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve to be with someone as beautiful or as nice or as smart as Katie was, and he certainly didn't deserve to be an ass about it.

Katie finally passed me the papers back and gave me a small smile. "It sounds really interesting. The lead, Sky Masterson, kind of reminds me of you."

I eyed her in amusement. "Should I be offended?"

"No, no, I just mean, he's not the most innocent guy in the world, but he does turn out to be okay."

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"It's not a bad thing by any means. I just see some character similarities between you two." She went back to her note taking, just as Mrs. Vanderbilt bustled into the room.

True to her track record, within five minutes she was back out the door, the click of the lock echoing in her wake.

Katie sighed and set her pen down, closing her textbook and notebook in quick succession.

"Are you giving up on homework?" I asked in mock horror.

"I'd rather do it later, in the Huddle or the library."

"Ah."

"Yeah. So…what're your plans for the weekend?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably hit a couple of parties and catch up on my sleep."

"Sounds…fun…"

"It can be. How about you?"

"My family has a cabin in Winchester, so my friends and I are heading up there for the weekend."

"Ah. Sounds like that'll be fun."

She shrugged. "It depends."

"On?"

"Whether or not Zach's being a jerk. Kendall has his own car, but there's six of us. Zach has a car too, but he can be…weird…about us using his car. There've been times where a couple of us have had to sit the trip out because Zach wouldn't let anyone hear his car."

I stared at her. "Is he, like, smuggling drugs in it or something?"

"Nope." She popped the P. "He just gets selfish sometimes."

"Only sometimes? Why the fuck are you with him?"

Katie ignored my question. "Do you have any family nearby? Or any places to get away from school?"

"Not really. My mom splits her time between Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York city, and my dad and stepmom don't give a fuck about me, so I'm pretty much left to my own devices. I do have a car, though," I added. "I bought it last summer so that I could have transportation and wouldn't have to rely on the buses and trains around here."

"Yeah, the public transportation system sucks," she agreed. "What kind of car is it?"

"A '75 Dodge Charger. I spent a lot of time this summer cleaning her up, making sure that she was running right. She's in pretty good condition now."

She smiled. "That's good to hear. Kendall keeps bugging me to get my own car, but I don't even have a driver's license, so it'd be pointless. And honestly, I'm not a huge fan of cars."

"Why not?"

She shrugged, looking down at the desk. "I got into a pretty bad accident when I was younger."

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's in the past. So," she glanced sideways at my hand. "I see you washed the freshman's number off."

"Yeah, last night. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea."

"Can anyone ever get the right idea with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I looked back at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I – just – never mind. It's not important." She tightened her ponytail.

"Really? Because it sounded like it was."

She sighed. "It's just, it's hard to figure you out. I know I don't know you that well, but it seems like every time I talk to you, every time I find out something new about you it just kind of adds to your mystery."

I gaped at her. "My mystery?"

"Yeah. You're kind of mysterious. I guess it goes with your bad boy reputation, but…I mean, how many people really know you?"

"The only people who really matter," I responded, looking away from her and out the window.

Sun was shining down on the courtyard, and teenagers still in their school uniforms were walking by, whispering to each other, checking their phones, laughing at inside jokes. And for the first time since freshman year, I wanted to be out there instead of stuck here in the detention room, trying to swallow back a vomit of memories.

Katie didn't say anything, and I didn't bother trying to break the silence. I just continued to gaze out the window.

At last, she spoke up: "I'm sorry if I was prying. It's just…it's hard not to be curious about you. I was warned about you the very first day I stepped into Dalton Prep. I remember Zach nodding at you and whispering to me to stay away from you because you were nothing but a sex addict bad boy. But even with the bad reputation, girls still flocked to you and I wasn't able to figure out why. I mean, you're pretty hot, but even that couldn't be enough to keep the girls coming to you if the only good thing about you is sex. But…you've got something about you that kind of…keeps people interested. Keep them coming back for more. There's this sort of dark mystery about you. It's intriguing."

I gawped at her, not entirely sure how to react to that. Dark mystery? Intriguing? Sex addict bad boy? What?

"Sorry…I know it doesn't make any sense."

"No, it's just…I really don't get where you're coming from," I tried to explain.

Katie shrugged. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Okay…So, how was class?"

We spent the rest of detention talking about school. At last, Mrs. Vanderbilt returned and a few minutes later, shooed us out of the room. I bid a quick goodbye to Katie and hurried away.

It wasn't her, exactly, that I wanted to get away from. It was the memories she had unwittingly brought up, the memories that had surfaced the night before when I had been talking to Carlos. Dark mystery…maybe in a way it did fit me, in a way I had never considered, in a way I refused to think about if I could help it.

That was a road I wasn't ever going back down. Not after last summer.

Katie's POV

I sighed as I crossed the courtyard, my mind still on James. I had the distinct feeling that I had hit a nerve when I had begun questioning him. Maybe I shouldn't have pried, but it was almost impossible not to. He had something about him that just had me craving to know what exactly made him tick, to know every single thing about him, ever secret, every memory.

But for the first time since I had first seen him leaning against his locker, flirting with a girl, eyes glittering mischievously, I found myself seriously considering what exactly had led him to make some of his choices, to what had pushed him in the direction of his bad boy, sex addict reputation…What had transpired in his life to force his normally warm hazel eyes to turn cold and distant, gaining a haunted quality about them.

What I did know was that his bad boy, sex addict reputation wasn't random; he hadn't woken up one morning and decided it would be a good idea to suddenly appear messed up and sex crazed. That wasn't who he was, not when you peeled back a couple of layers, anyway. The problem was, was that I had the impression that the more layers I peeled back, the more I would find.

But damn, if it wasn't captivating, if he wasn't captivating. The more time I spent with him, the more I wanted to never leave his side. He was pulling me in with the flash of his eyes, the tantalizing smirk of his lips, the melodic tone of his voice, the way he actually took the time to talk to me and pay attention to me…how he managed to make me feel beautiful, which was something Zach had never been able to. In all honesty, I had never even thought twice about it, but now I was biting thoughtfully on my lower lip, wondering how relevant that little piece was, how relevant the way he could make me feel really was.

As I headed towards the dining hall, I caught sight of Zach leaning against the building's wall, chatting with a couple of his buddies. As I approached, he said something to them and they sauntered off, tossing me smirks as they passed by me.

Creeps.

"I don't know why you hang out with them," I informed Zach once I reached him. "They're really creepy and they always lure at me and Camille and Jo like they'd like to do things to us."

He laughed. "Aren't you cute?"

"Zach, I'm serious."

"And I'm serious. Really, Katie, you have nothing to worry about. Would I really hang out with people who I thought might put you in danger?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Not intentionally. But I just have a bad feeling about those two…"

"It's all in your head," he assured me, tapping my right temple. "Believe me, you're just overreacting."

I sighed. "Whatever. Come on, let's go grab something to eat, I'm starving."

"How was detention?" he asked as we walked into the building. "You see Diamond?"

"As a matter of fact, I sat with him. And before you get all mad and upset and jealous, he was a perfect gentleman. Nothing happened – at all."

Zach rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I still don't like him."

"And I don't like your friends, but I'm not going to tell you to stop hanging out with them."

"Yeah, fine. Anyway, I have some bad news."

I looked at him worriedly. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to be able to go to Winchester tomorrow. I have a makeup test for my world history class on Saturday afternoon."

"Why is it a makeup test?" I asked curiously.

"Because I missed the first one yesterday."

"Why?"

"I was having a bad day and I…uh…lost track of time."

"B.S. You skipped it."

"I was having a bad day," he insisted. "You had gotten detention and I was upset."

"Wow. That's your excuse?"

"It's my reason. So, I guess the trip's off."

"For you? Yeah."

"No. For all of us. You can't go without me."

I smirked. "You wanna bet?"

"Katie – !"

"Look, you're the one who was stupid enough to skip a test you knew you needed to take. It's not my problem"

"But Katie," he whined. "I don't know what's gotten into you. Don't you want me to come with you?"

"Of course I do. But you can't go, and I'm not cancelling the entire trip simply because you screwed up. It's not fair to everyone else. I'm sorry, but the trip's still on." And with that I sped up and hurried into the cafeteria without him.

Zach didn't bother eating with me. He just grabbed a sandwich and stalked out of the cafeteria like he had been personally wronged. I shook my head and turned back to my soup.

"What's up with him?" Camille asked, nodding at Zach's retreating figure.

I explained quickly that he wouldn't be able to go on the trip, and she shrugged.

"What a fucking bummer."

"I will say, as much as I don't like him, that it kind of is a bummer that he can't go, because we need his car for the extra luggage," Kendall spoke up.

"You could invite someone else," Jo suggested to Kendall and me. "Someone with a car. Someone who we actually like."

I paused, spooning more soup into my mouth, before slowly grinning. "I know someone who has a car…and a cute Latino friend who Logan is trying to pretend he's not staring at."

Logan sputtered as he looked away from the aforementioned cute Latino friend. "I'm not staring at anyone!" he cried.

"Dude, if you like Carlos Garcia, it's cool. He's really nice."

"He's my lab partner…"

"Even better."

"You're going to ask James and Carlos to go to Winchester with us?" Kendall asked me.

"If that's okay."

"Yeah, sure. I know you kind of like James, and Logan's obviously already head over heels for Carlos – he can't keep his eyes off of him."

"I'm intrigued by James," I corrected him. "I don't have feelings for him."

"Bullshit."

I just shook my head, not bothering to argue the point any further.

Once I had finished eating, I hurried to Bastille Hall and up to James' and Carlos' room. I steeled myself before knocking on the door.

The door was flung open a moment later and I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing for a few seconds.

James stood there, hair ruffled, with sweatpants hanging down low around his hips and no shirt in sight.

I had a feeling that image was going to be making its way into my dreams tonight.

James blinked at me as I continued to stare speechlessly at him. Huge shoulder muscles…insane biceps…pecs larger than my chest…rock hard abs…then there was the perfect V of his hips and his happy trail, leading down into the waistband of his sweats.

Zach who?

"Something I can do for you, Katie?" James asked, bringing me back to earth.

"What? Oh, yeah, there is. Um…so, you know how I was talking about my friends and me driving up to Winchester tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Zach had to bow out…and we kind of need an extra car for luggage, and some extra company never hurts…So would you and Carlos be interested in coming with us?"

James leaned against the doorway, his huge frame dwarfing me, an elfish smirk playing around his lips. "So, that's what it's come to, huh? You're using me for my car."

I giggled. "Yeah, pretty much. But if you're interested…"

"I'm interested, I'm interested. Hey, Carlos!" he shouted over his shoulder further into the room.

"What?" Carlos asked a moment later.

"Take your earbuds out, Katie's here. She's inviting us to go to Winchester with her and her friends tomorrow, sans Zach. We just have to bring my car. You interested?"

"Fuck yeah!" I heard Carlos cheer. "Dude, this place is, like, dead on the weekends, except for the parties. Hey, uh," his voice lowered slightly, "could you ask her if Logan's going to be there?"

James laughed. "Katie, Carlos wants to know if Logan's going to be there."

I nodded. "As a matter of fact, he is."

"He is," James called to Carlos.

"Sweet!" was his response.

"So," I continued, catching James' attention again, "we're going to meet in the parking lot after we get out of detention, so around four-ish. Kendall's car is the dark blue Toyota Yaris, and we're going to be meeting there."

"Okay," he nodded. "Sounds good. I know which one you mean, it has a Taking Back Sunday bumper sticker on it, right?"

I grinned. "That's the one."

"Okay. I'm parked close by."

"Sounds good. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," he smiled at me. "See you tomorrow."

I smiled back and turned around, but before I could even take a step, I looked over my shoulder at him. "Oh, and…um…for the record?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you and Carlos are coming with us. And not just because you have a car."

His smile widened. "So am I."

I stepped towards him to give him a quick hug, before remembering that he was bare chested. He looked at me in confusion as I froze. "Why'd you stop?"

"You're shirtless…"

"And is that a problem?"

"Yeah…kinda…"

He rolled his eyes and pulled me into a huge bear hug, evoking a squeal from me. Nevertheless I hugged him back, feeling my body relax automatically against his.

Well, this was…different…

"By the way?" he murmured, lips lightly brushing against my ear, causing me to shiver and huddle closer to him. "Zach Wilder is never going have half the dark mystery that I have. And he's sure as hell never going to be able to intrigue you the way I do. Something to think about." And with that he pulled back, lips barely ghosting against mine, before he was in his room and the door was closed.

That was definitely different.

Dun, dun, dun...So, things are hopefully starting to get interesting between James and Katie...maybe heating up a tiny bit? Or am I just jumping the gun? Please feel free to review and let me know if you liked the chapter and any thoughts or theories or questions you might have :) In fact, just feel free to review, period. What can I say? I'm a fanfiction author who's a review whore ;) I'm hoping you guys don't mind too much...