.:CHAPTER FOUR – We're a bunch of weirdoes, didn't you know?:.

"Ok, so what I need you guys to work on is-" Ronan McGuire's eyebrows rose as he watched a sheet of paper rhythmically move up and down in front of his face. "Why is there a sheet of paper hovering in my face?" He lowered his clipboard and tilted his head down to look at Patrick, who was grinning back at him. "What is this?" he took the sheet of paper.

"It's my essay," Patrick replied, his eyes shining. "And look," he jabbed a finger at it. "I got an A!"

"Way to go," Ronan grinned and handed it back to him as he walked over to the corner of the dance studio and sat down, resting his back against the wall behind him. "Did you show your dad?"

"We're home-schooled Ronan," Rhuben reminded him, giving him an odd look, leaning over to stretch her hamstring. "Dad is the one that grades us."

"Oh yeah." Ronan laughed as he scratched his forehead. "I forgot."

"Obviously." Riley snorted. Ronan made a face at her and she mimicked the same expression before laughing to herself.

"Don't change the subject," Ronan waved his clipboard at the Jacksons, a mock-stern expression on his face. "You guys really need to get this down pat if you want to be able to perform it at your next concert which is on," he took his phone from his pocket and looked it over. "Two weeks and, to be perfectly honest, you're progressing slower than you usually do."

"We'll work harder," Sydney got to his feet and clapped his hands together before wiping them on the seat of his sweat pants. He flashed a smile, his dimples indenting his cheeks. "Promise." His eyebrows twitched when Ronan continued to stare at him. "What?"

"What happened to the side of your head?" Ronan asked after a minute.

Noah bit his lower lip and looked up through the fringe of his hair as he watched his baby brother's reaction. Come on Syd, I know you hate lying and basically can't do it without breaking down in the next half a second, but you can't open your mouth and blab now. He urged his brother to keep quiet, looking at him through the mirror. Sydney nodded back ever so slightly and gave a wide smile as he used both hands to shove his hair from his face.

"I ran into a wall," He replied brightly with a hint of laughter in his voice. "I took Patrick's cell phone and he chased me around, I turned a corner too sharply." He started to bounce on his toes. "It's a funny story really-"

"I'm sure we don't have time to hear it, Syd." Rhuben commented as she walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Sydney nodded and fell silent.

Ronan let out a sigh and moved his head forward so his forehead rested on his knees. He wasn't sure what to say. There were so many things that he needed to address but there also wasn't a way that he could think of bringing it up. He really needed to talk to them about their music and help them get prepared for their upcoming concert, and that was what he really needed to focus on. But then…there was that tiny part of him that was asking him, no tell him to ask what he wanted to know. It was the 'father figure' part of him, as he had worked with the Jacksons for years and had watched them grow up so there were times where he felt that he needed to guide them in some way.

It was always very frustrating.

But there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Before your dad gets here and runs you into the ground," Ronan sounded sarcastic as he looked at his watch before regarding his clipboard again. "How about you guys start off with…Disconnected (Out of Touch)?"

"Aye, Aye, sir." Patrick replied as he and Noah gave a mock salute.

"James?" Katie looked at the hazel-eyed boy as she placed her hands on her hips, looking annoyed.

"What?" He replied tonelessly and after a few seconds. If it wasn't for the fact that he replied, Katie would have thought that he was dead to the world.

"Have you seen my phone?" She asked, continuing to look around.

James adopted an expression on his face that was of innocence, but at the same time it caused Katie to wonder if he really did know what happened to her phone. But from the charming smile that he was giving her, it was also really hard to distinguish. "Phone? What phone?" he asked, reaching over and picking up a nearby magazine, loudly flipping through the pages.

"My phone!" Katie stressed firmly.

"What's it look like?" James replied, blinking up at her.

"You know what it looks like."

"Is it purple with a 'Hello Kitty' theme?" He continued to keep up his charade, knowing that it was starting to get on her nerves.

"James! Have you seen my phone?" she exploded.

Beside him on the couch, Logan, Carlos, and Kendall burst out laughing at Katie's frustration with him. Usually she didn't get this worked up over her phone being missing, she just stopped looking it would be there, but now, because she had the suspicion that someone had taken it, and because she had to listen to the four boys while her mother was out getting food, it just made her frustration grow quickly.

"Katie, calm down." Kendall chided his little sister, leaning out of the way as she grabbed a pillow from the couch and went to hit him with it.

Katie sighed heavily and turned away from James, over to Logan and Carlos. "Logan?" she asked as sweetly as possible. Kendall laughed as James pouted and slid down in his seat. He always had a feeling that Katie had a soft spot for Logan, but when asked about any of the boys, she would just snort and change the subject.

"What?" Logan replied, just as polite.

Katie sighed, knowing that he was probably not going to be able to help her, but wanted to try anyway. "Have you seen my phone?"

"What phone?" Logan's lips curled into a teasing smile as Katie glared at him as well. "Oh come on, Katie. I never pegged you to be the type of girl that has to have her phone on her at all times." His teasing smile grew wider. "It's not like you can't go a day without a text from Patrick or Noah…or even worse Dak."

Katie crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks blooming a bright red as the four boys started to make kissing sounds and cat-calls, further embarrassing the girl. Kendall chuckled as he teased his sister.

It was bound to happen sooner or later He reasoned to himself. That she would become interested in boys, and I would rather her date someone that I know won't hurt her than someone that she would have to bring home for me to meet. He started to frown a little. I just hope that she doesn't get too caught up in it.

"Guys!" Katie stomped her foot again, trying to get their attention. "I need my phone!" Ugh, sometimes I get tired of being around these idiots all the time. She rolled her eyes. Especially when they're making fun of me for no reason.

"Do we have anything to eat?" Carlos asked suddenly, to Katie's joy, changing the subject.

"Donuts, I think." Kendall replied lazily, draping an arm over his eyes. "Mom should be back from the store soon." He lifted his watch over his head. "She should be back soon, by the way." He frowned. "She's running kinda late?"

"Where are those so-called donuts?" Carlos asked.

"Well, you see the thing is…" James started off slowly, putting down his magazine. "That I sort of ate most of them, so there are only those nasty glazed ones left."

"You only left glazed?" Carlos' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "What's wrong with you?"

"Well how am I to be expected to go for a disgusting glazed donut when there's a blueberry filled one staring at me?" James replied, throwing his hands into the air. "Or raspberry? Ooooh—or chocolate custard? That one was the best!" He licked his lips.

"There was chocolate custard?" Carlos gritted his teeth together.

"How many donuts did you eat?" Logan broke in, giving his muscular friend a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were the one that freaked out every time someone brought home junk food?"

James turned to Logan and gave him a fake glare. "You trying to say I need to lose weight?"

"Oh my god!" Katie burst out loudly, grabbing on the ends of her hair. "You guys are so weird!"

"I thought I was the only one that thought that." Katie and the boys turned around to see Jo Taylor, Stephanie King, and Camille Roberts stand in the doorway to the apartment, laughing to themselves. "I knocked, but apparently you guys didn't hear me." Jo continued to laugh a little as she pulled her hair behind her ears. "Hey guys." She gave each boy a smile, her eyes resting on Kendall a little longer.

"Hey girls." Carlos gave an enthusiastic wave back at them.

"Hey Carlos." Camille laughed back. "What were you guys yelling about?"

"It doesn't really matter…" Katie trailed off as she looked under the couch, spotting something familiar to her. "Aha!" She dove to her knees and shoved Logan's legs aside, grabbing her phone. She stood up and whacked Logan on the back of the head. "I knew you had it!"

"Ouch!" Logan rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't take your phone," he elbowed James in the side. "James did!"

"Did not!"

"And I often wonder how the Palm Woods was ever quiet when you guys weren't around." Camille commented as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Dak and WayneWayne are working today so they couldn't hang out." She explained why the girls were there, even when she didn't need to. "And we were bored so we decided to come over and see what you guys were doing."

"What? Are we your endless source of entertainment?" Kendall asked, sounding the least bit offended.

"Pretty much." Stephanie replied, taking out her video camera and taping Katie as she continued to hit James over the head.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble," Logan stood up and stretched. "But we're not really doing anything interesting either."

"Oh it's no problem," Camille replied quickly, giving a warm smile. "Just hanging with you guys is fun, even if we don't do anything." Her smile grew wider as Logan smiled back at her. Jo elbowed her in the side, giggling a little, before clearing her throat.

"So what do you guys want to do?" She asked.

"Well," Carlos rubbed his chin as he thought about it. "We don't have to go into work today so…" He jumped to his feet, slapped his helmet twice, and grinned. "Why don't we go and visit the Jacksons at their studio?" He suggested. "I mean, they're always coming over to us when they're done for the day, why don't we visit them?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Logan stated as he frowned. "I mean, they've never invited us over before-"

"And we've never invited them over to us, but that hasn't stopped them." Kendall added.

"Oh please," James rolled his eyes. "You can't tell me that you haven't enjoyed the attention that Riley has given you." He missed Jo's frown as Kendall rolled his eyes and shoved him on the arm.

"Unlike you, who just likes attention from girls in general?" Kendall shot back with a grin.

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Logan continued to worry, lightly chewing his lower lip. "I mean, if they wanted us over they would have invited us, and with the whole thing about them coming over-"

"Oh just calm down, Logan." Stephanie snapped her video camera shut and crossed her arms over her chest. "They're our friends, so if they can't hang for a minute, we'll just watch."

"Mhm," Katie nodded in agreement. "Besides, we've never seen them practice a new routine from scratch before and I don't know about you guys, but I would like to be able to see it before one of their concerts for once in my life."

"I have to agree," Jo replied after a minute of silence, her smile finally returning to her face. "Just one problem, how are we going to get there? It's like, on the other side of the city."

"Girls, girls, girls," James walked over to Jo and Camille and put his arms around their shoulders as he grinned. "You underestimate the power of us being a boy-band," he nodded at his friends. "There's nothing a little bit of charm can't get us."

"Really?" Now it was Kendall's turn to look skeptical.

"Really," James confirmed with a nod and a wink. "Trust me."

"Famous last words." Carlos joked.

"My thoughts exactly." Katie replied.

"Syd, sing along with the scale, I need to test your vocals since you've been complaining of a scratchy throat recently" Patrick instructed as he held his acoustic guitar out in front of him. They were taking a small break from their rehearsal that day and while Ronan went to answer an important phone call, the Jacksons were going over their vocals as they took a short break from dancing.

"All right," Sydney nodded and took a swig of water. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaaa" he sang as Patrick slowly picked out the notes.

"Open your mouth" Noah commanded. Sydney made a face and then opened his mouth wide, sticking his tongue out. Noah clapped a hand over Sydney's mouth, popping something inside. "A throat lozenge," he explained. "Just in case you're getting a sore throat, normally you can reach the high notes easier."

"Got it" Sydney gave a thumbs up.

"I wonder why dad's not here yet." Rhuben commented from where she and Riley were lying on their backs on the floor, towels over their faces. "Usually he's storming in here like a battering ram by now."

"Knock on wood." Riley added and lightly knocked against the ground.

The five of them jumped and whirled to face the door as it was suddenly kicked in, then visibly relaxed when they saw that it was Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Katie, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, and then a second later, tensed up again.

"What are you doing here?" Patrick asked, his eyes flying wide open, dropping his guitar to the ground with a loud thud.

"We just came by to see how your guys' rehearsal was doing." Katie replied with a warm smile as she walked over to Patrick, giving a short wave. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, though. "I hope you didn't break your guitar."

"What guitar?" he replied, his eyes quickly shifting to the door.

"It was nice of you guys coming by to watch, but it's actually going to be pretty boring here," Riley sat up, her towel falling into her lap, before she pushed herself to her feet. "Very boring. So you should just…leave."

"Are you trying to get rid of us?" Kendall asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to be subtle?" she shot back, immediately knowing that he was referencing to their conversation a couple of days before.

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"Oh come on Beautiful," James looked at Riley. "And Beautiful," he looked at Rhuben. "Can't we just watch you guys rehearse a little?" He gave a charming smile. "It will kind of be like us supporting you, how you're always supporting and helping us at Rocque Records."

Yeah, but the only reason that we go over there is so we can get away from Dad Noah thought to himself, knowing that it would be stupid if he ever said it out loud.

"Yeah, please?" Carlos stuck out his lower lip in a pout. He then elbowed Stephanie in the side and she looked at him for a second and then pouted as well.

"Yeah, please?" she repeated.

"Hold on just a second," Rhuben waved her arms and her siblings huddled around her as she lowered her voice. "This is going to blow up in our faces if dad comes in."

"If you hadn't said it and jinxed us, we wouldn't have to worry about that." Patrick reminded her in a harsh whisper.

"Belt up!" Rhuben snapped back.

"What do you think we should do, Riles?" Noah asked, turning to his oldest siblings.

"Why ask me?" Riley looked irritated.

"You're the leader, that's why," Sydney replied as if it was obvious. "We may not like that half the time, but someone has to be, and you're so bossy as it is, you might as well think up a lie to get them out of here without their feelings getting hurt and without us getting caught."

"Too late," Riley replied as she stood up straight, noticing her father in the doorway, glaring at them. "Hey dad." She gave a weak wave.

"Hi Mr. Jackson." Camille gave a small smile, taking a step back. She couldn't explain it, but something about him made her intimidated by him whenever he came into the room. She could tell from the way that her friends backed up that they were thinking the same thing.

"What are you friends doing here?" Robert kept his eyes on his sons and daughters. "I thought I told you that your rehearsal was closed today and that you couldn't have any visitors."

"It was our fault," Logan jumped in, holding out an arm, waving Katie over to his side. She quickly scurried back over to them. "We just stopped by to say hey."

"Well, I'm sorry but they're very busy, so you're going to have to leave now."

"We're going." James squeaked and grabbed Camille's arm and pulled her out of the dance studio as the others shoved their way out behind him. They all winced when the door slammed shut, and moved over to the glass window that let them look into the dance studio.

"Am I the only one that thinks that something is weird about him?" Stephanie asked, rubbing her arms. "He gives me the chills."

"Nope." Was the unanimous reply.

"Am I the only one that thinks that they're hiding something?" Kendall asked quietly, but still loud enough for the other to hear. He shrugged at the silence in reply. "I don't know, just a feeling."

"Well that's the thing about friendships," Jo stated as she gently placed a hand on Kendall's arm, tilting her head slightly. "We can talk about anything but we won't tell each other everything."

"She's got a point." Logan agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked at Robert as he watched his kids move across the floor, working as hard as they could. Robert had a frown on his lips and he seemed to be glaring at his kids. "But with them, I wonder what it is they're not telling us."

A/N: Oops, next chapter has Gustavo, Kelly, Robert, and Kacy. And don't worry, Jo isn't going to be a boy-stealing bitch in this story, I just think that it was a good idea to have some sort of a love 'v' somewhere in one of my stories. Now for the other pairings, I have a REALLY good idea for Carphanie as well as jealousy with some of the other characters.

And of course, the really big piece of drama with the Jacksons as well as with Kendall, which you guys already know since I've hinted at it in the last chapter. Now what I really need help with is what should I do for some drama with Katie…a little help? Thanks in advance!

I decided to make it about both Kendall and Riley, so the next chapter is mostly about Riley, but of course it has the others too, like this chapter did. So sorry it took so long to get put up. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

What else would you guys like to see in this story?

Cheers,

-Riles