Chapter 19

Kendall and James just finished singing their duet when Shane entered the room. "Hello." He smiled at them. Kendall and James shared a glance.

"Sorry if I interrupted the song or anything." He added, shocking Gustavo. This dog wasn't as horrible as his other dogs... He apologized for doing something not even as bad as what the dogs did on a daily basis.

"Oh, no problem..." Kendall trailed of, for once not knowing what to say or do. Shane was the new guy, and none of them knew anything about him. Kendall was never that good at goodbyes or hellos. Especially with someone who would be replacing Logan temporarily.

"So, where ya from?" James asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Shane looked up, relieved to have something to talk about.

"I moved here from Utah. My dad died in a car crash, so my mom had to move to LA for her new job." Shane continued, looking saddened for a moment.
"I'm so sorry... That's horrible." Kendall said, truly feeling horrible. Shane's dad had died. Kendall's dad had left his family when he was little, so he had no idea really how it felt to lose someone you truly love as a brother, father, sister, or other family member. Maybe he was experiencing the feeling with Logan, but Logan wasn't dead yet. But Shane's dad was, and that was a sad thing.

"Thanks. I'm getting used to it. But I'll never really get over it, know what I mean?" Shane sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

Kendall and James nodded sympathetically. Gustavo had already left the room, so it was only the three of them at the moment.

"And I got a job here so we won't be camping on the streets, ya know?" Shane tried to make it sound like a joke, but instead making the situation even grimmer. Shane needed this job or his mom and him and his family were going to become poor and live a horrible life. Kendall and James knew this, and they respected Shane's courage and his responsibility.

"How many siblings do you have? I have a little sister named Katie. She's 10." Kendall informed Shane.

Shane nodded. "Cool! I have a little brother named Luke. He's 12." The cheerfulness in his voice made Kendall and James perk up, too.

"And I'm an only child." James said before anyone could ask him.

"Doesn't that get lonely?" Shane asked. James shrugged.

"I've always got my best buds here with me, don't I?" James winked.
Shane rolled his eyes. "What did I say about being the pretty one? I'm going to shock you with my beauty."

James let out a girlish scream. "Don't you dare..." He warned in a deep voice.

Shane laughed. "Are all your friends like this? Tell me about 'em."

Kendall thought for a moment. "Well, I'm kinda their leader, cuz they're way too crazy and horrible to be left alone with no guidance." Shane let out a little chuckle. Kendall smirked. "Then, James is obviously the pretty boy. He's a caring guy, but he probably cares about his hair more than anyone else." Kendall smirked again as James punched him on the arm playfully.

"Carlos is like the sunshine of our group. He's crazy, energetic, and makes us laugh. He's as innocent as innocent can get, and even though he's really annoying sometimes, he's the youngest of all of us and we love him like an annoying little brother."

"And Logan. Logan, he, he's the one in the hospital. He got rabies from a bat during a camping trip in Brazil. He's the smart one of our group; he's pessimistic and realistic, and keeps us from getting into too much trouble. We're protective of him, because he's small and a big target for bullies." Kendall's voice cracks, much to his embarrassment.

Shane smiles weakly. "I'm sorry this is happening to you right now. But I know you'll all stick together. From what you told me, you guys are like peanut butter and jelly. You're together no matter what."

Kendall and James looked better. "Thanks, man, you really know how to make a guy feel better." James said gratefully. Shane just nodded.

"No problem. You're gonna be my band mates now, right? Best get a good first impression, huh?" James and Kendall snickered. That was the same thing he said when the first saw him about an hour ago.

Just then, Carlos burst through the door. He opened his mouth to say something, but the quickly closed it for some unknown reason of his own.

"Hey!" He said enthusiastically.

"Hey, Carlos" Shane greeted. Kendall and James followed suit.

Carlos was about to say something else, but they suddenly heard their limo's horn beeping outside.

"Ugh, that thing took longer to come than James takes in the shower." Kendall groaned. The four boys got up and started walking out of Rocque Records.
Suddenly, Carlos tripped and scraped the back of his ankle. As he fell, he caught sight of his backpack strap caught on to a cabinet handle. The backpack had pulled him down.

"Ow!" Carlos felt tears in his eyes. He felt burning pain in his foot. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" He cried.

He started taking deep breaths until the agonizing part of his pain had gone.

"Aw, Carlitos. Can I see?" Kendall took Carlos's shoe off, and saw a red and gray-purple bruise on the back of his ankle. It looked painful.

"You alright, buddy?" James asked, worry in his voice.

"Yeah, that looks like it hurts." Shane added, his eyes filled with worry, too.

Carlos smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, it just hurts a lot, but I'll be fine." He told them. Kendall helped him off the floor, and they headed home.

Line line line

When the boys arrived, they quickly got Shane into his apartment and hung out there for awhile.

It was when Kendall and James went out of the Palm Woods to get their ordered pizza that it happened.

Carlos and Shane were alone in Shane's apartment, with nothing to do.

Shane grinned at the younger boy with a mischievous glow in his blue eyes.

"What do you wanna do, buddy?" He half sneered, half asked. He put his hand on Carlos's shoulder in a friendly gesture.
Carlos noticed that Shane was squeezing his shoulder a bit harder than necessary.

"Ow. You're hurting me." Carlos whined in a small voice. Shane kept his hand on his shoulder, squeezing harder.

"I. Don't. Care." Those three words changed everything. Carlos knew that Shane was... Shane was bullying him. It had been Shane all along who had tripped him the two times he tripped and hurt himself that day.

"Carlos. I really enjoy your two other best friends. Kendall and James. They're cool dudes. But you're not."

Carlos gulped. "Why?" He squeaked.

Shane smirked. "I had a talk with you little pal Logan the other day. He seemed way out of it. But he told me that you caused him to be like that. It's your fault that Logan's suffering. And I hate people who cause other people to be in pain. Especially idiots who aren't American." Shane snarled, his voice getting huskier and deeper.

"It wasn't my fault." Carlos said timidly, looking down. He suddenly felt Shane punch his jaw. It wasn't super hard; just hard enough to lift his eyes back to Shane's face. But it hurt Carlos's soft chin anyways.

"You ruined Logan. From what your friends told me, Logan was a genius. He was awesome. But you came along and ended that for him. You made Logan's life horrible. And that's disgusting."

"I hate you, Carlos. And if you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, what I happened today, you'll be in some big trouble. Got it?" Carlos nodded.
Shane smiled. It didn't look like a cheerful smile, though. "Good boy." He smiled that evil grin again and kicked Carlos hard in the shin.

"Oww!" Carlos cried, bending down to rub his sore shin. He glared at Shane, trying to hide the hurt he felt at Shane's words, and the fear he felt of Shane. Shane was a bully. And Carlos hated bullies. He was completely scared of them, and they made him feel so helplessly mad and pathetic.

Shane opened his mouth to say something else. Just then, the door opened, revealing Kendall and James with their pizza and drinks.

"We're baaaacckk!" James sang happily. Kendall rolled his green eyes.

"I love pizza!" Shane exclaimed cheerfully. "Thanks, guys."

"No prob. You helped pay for it too." Kendall pointed out.

"Yeah, but you went to pick it up. The gas money, man." Shane added. Kendall chuckled.

The boys started eating, all except for Carlos.

Shane wrinkled his eyebrows together in an act of confusion. "You want a piece, Carlos?" He asked nicely, winking at the Latino boy.

Carlos bit his lip. "I have to do something first. Be right back." He quickly left the apartment, returning back to his, trying to ignore the satisfied smirk on Shane's face.

Shane. All this time he had faked being nice to Carlos. He had hated Carlos all along. And Carlos had believed his act. He was so gullible. He was so stupid.
Carlos went into his room and lay on his soft bed. He felt tears in his eyes.

And suddenly, Carlos was crying tears of confusion and pain. How could Kendall and James's best friend be his worst enemy?

Line line line

Logan opened his eyes. He was surrounded by anger. He was angry at everything. His anger was like an untamed lion.

But in the midst of all the red anger, Logan Mitchell felt confused. It was hardly there, but his confusion lay deep inside that lion. Telling it to stop, but with no avail.

What was wrong with him? He'd been so different... And for some reason, he liked it. He liked making his friends feel guilty. He liked making them blame themselves. He wanted revenge, but he didn't know what for

Logan knew he'd been so wrong, so cruel, and that he should change as-

Logan shook his head. No way. This was their faults, not his. They caused him to be like this, and he'd make them pay for it. And that was what he told the mysterious teen who came to visit him some time ago. What was his name again? Shan? Cane? Whatever.

Kendall, James, and Carlos were going to pay. And that's all Logan knew before the lion swallowed him whole, swallowing him into complete darkness.

A/N-So….Something sinister is going on, don't you think? I hope ya all liked this chapter…

Reviews are awesome!

Peace, Love, and Giraffes,

Anonymous Skrtle