Authors Note: Hi! Sooo this story is my first ever FanFic. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it! Reviews would be much appreciated :)
Oh and i dont own any of these characters!
Chapter 15: Business Mergers
Kendall stared in front of him blankly: shock and confusion both streaked across his face. Carlos looked in the same direction, but was instead giggling, he obviously didnt believe what he had just heard.
"Im serious," James rolled his eyes at his friends' respective reactions, "Logan and Alex have something going on!"
The three boys were all sitting at a table by the pool, Kendall's skin was still flushed and Carlos's breathing was still shallow. The two had burst out of their apartment and dashed down the stairs to the pool as soon as they received James's text.
"Silly, silly boy," Kendall used whatever energy he still had to take on a british accent, "Our dear Logie, doesnt exactly favor the hollywood-type"
James rolled his eyes yet again, "No. Duh." He enunciated every word as if he were speaking to a younger sibling, "But Alex is a nerd. Like not in a bad way, just in a 'she-likes-to-read-and-do-math-and-crap-like-that' kind of way"
Kendall seemed to ponder the boy's statement. Meanwhile, Carlos interrupted.
"She IS in the same fancy-schmancy math class as him?" He offered with a shrug, "Buuuut," Carlos over-exaggerated the word as he turned to James, "werent YOU hitting on her?"
James gasped dramatically as he put his hand to his chest and turned away from the other boys "Mister Garcia? How dare you?" He peeked out of the corner of his eye to see that neither of his friends were phased. "Yah, pretty much, but bookworm isnt my type, but Logan doesnt know that, he thinks theres something between us. Thats why hes been weird lately, him and Alex were hanging out and he felt bad for 'betraying' me"
Kendall shrugged casually "I guess that makes sense, but why did Carlos and I have to get out of the apartment"
"and take the stairs" Carlos added giving James an annoyed look.
"Oh, I convinced Alex to talk to him, and tell him theres nothing between me an-"
James lost his train of thought when he saw Alex storm out of the elevators and into the lobby. She seemed angry, and he thought he saw her wiping at her eyes. Was she crying?
"Speaking of which.." His raised arm directed the other boys's attention to Alex Bennet, who holding a book in her lap as she used a tissue to wipe at her eyes.
All three boys stood up quickly and made their way to the arrangement of couches, but when they were finally in speaking distance of the girl, they were surprised by what they saw. Alex looked fine, she had a slight smile on her face as she stared down at the open book in her hands absentmindedly.
After Logan had returned to his own room, Alex had tried to do the same. She found herself curled up on her bed with A Tale of Two Cities in a matter of minutes. She needed the book to distract her from thoughts of him... but she found it hard to give the book her full attention, her eyes kept wandering to the wall that she knew separated her and Logan's apartment. Well aware of the fact that she would be unable to separate her mind from the thought of Logan, she decided to separate herself physically form him by going down to the lobby.
Alex silently pleaded with herself to just sit down and cry, to toss her book at the wall, and to deal with her problems rather than veil her true feelings. But her mask was her favorite accessory, and it was all too easy to wipe away her tears and place a smile on her face. So Alex Bennet pushed her content corpse onto the lobby couch.
James, Kendall, and Carlos all looked down at the green- eyed girl in front of them. In a matter of seconds, she had transformed from a crying mess to the normal, happy superstar actress, Alex Bennet.
"Youre reading?" James's voice startled Alex.
Alex looked up to see three boys all surrounding her.
Alex laughed slightly, "Yes, James. Its not all that rare, I promise."
"Alex, we just saw you," Carlos's voice mirrored the confusion that was evident in all three of the boys, "and you looked sad"
Alex's smile turned down slightly, and she suddenly looked colder, but the unfamiliar face was replaced almost instantly by happy-Alex. "Very funny Carlos. I have noooo idea what youre talking about. But id love to get back to my book, so ill talk to you guys later?"
"Noo mamm" Kendall sat down next to her as he spoke, "WE know you like Logan"
Alex shot James a dark stare, but didnt veryify or deny Kendalls statement.
"Sorry!" James shot is hands up in surrender, and Alex withdrew her gaze, "but we dont keep secretes, which means they also know that you were supposed to be talking to Logan right now!"
"I already did" Alex's voice was quiet and emotionless.
"Soooo?" Carlos urged.
"Soooo," Alex imitated the hispanic boys theatricality, "i already did"
"Well, what did he say"
Alex removed her gaze from the boys and returned it to the novel in her lap. He didnt say anything she thought silently.
"Alex, what did he say?"
"Nothing," She sighed, and suddenly her mask emerged on her face yet again. "He said nothing. He just doesnt want this. And frankly, I dont think I did either"
All three boys stared silently at the disguised girl in front of them. She could tell they were debating whether to believe her or not.
"Trust me guys," she urged, "Im fine. Its no biggy" She smiled enthusiastically as she tried wholeheartedly to fool the boys in front of her. "Listen, I have a big bike riding scene tomorrow that I dont want to embarrass myself in, so ima go practice at the park, ok?" She got up slowly as she patted James's back, "dont worry so much, you'll get wrinkles" With that, she slowly exited the Palmwoods Hotel.
"Well she says she ok" Carlos said weakly. He was still obviously unsure.
"Carlos, I dont think tha-" Kendall began.
"Guys!" James interrupted, "this is serious!" His face was pale and his eyes had widened, "I cant have WRINKLES!"
Carlos and Kendall both rolled their eyes as Kendall smacked James in the back of his head, "Seriously James?" he sighed, "Lets go find Logan"
Pacing. Logan Mitchell was pacing around the living room of Apartment 2J.
The sight was all too familiar for Kendall, Carlos, and James. They all knew that their smart friend was not too smart when it came to pressure- he just couldnt deal with it. Logan Mitchell liked to know everything. And pacing meant there was something he was unsure about.
Normally, the boys would have stopped Logan to ask him what was making him worry, but they all knew that the reason for their friend's uncertainty was currently riding a bike in the Palmwoods park.
The brown haired boy looked up and saw his three friends standing in the doorway. They all had worry plastered across their faces and each of them was staring straight at him. "Oh, Hey guys!" He sheepishly blurted out.
"You screwed up Logie" Carlos crossed his arms as if he was scolding his child.
Logan seemed to shrink under the gaze of his 'father'.
"Seriously man, i think she was crying" James shook his head at Logan as he too embodied the fatherly-role.
And the child's arm shot up to his neck. Yet another another Logan-sign of worry.
"What happened Logan?" Kendall demanded as he finally stepped into the father-shoes.
"Nothing happened" Logan offered quietly.
"So we heard" Kendall began, "but seriously, we know you like her and w-"
"We know she likes you" James interrupted, "and you have to know that theres nothing between me and her"
"I-" Logan attempted.
"Dont even try that, Logie!" Carlos blurted out.
"Yah, you were just using that James/ Alex thing as an excuse" Kendall assured.
"I-" Logan tried again before being interrupted by James.
"Yah, i know she told you that me and her are just friends. So why didnt you tell her that you liked her back?"
"Well, I-" Logan attempted.
"I dont get it, why are you so afraid to admit when you like someone?" Kendall's hands shot up into the air as he spoke.
"Its just like Hayley Jenson in the 8th grade. Logan liked her. She liked him. But he wouldnt ask her out, because he was afraid things would change between them" Carlos pointed out.
"Exactly, Carlos!" James smiled at his friend before turning to face Logan, "And what happened to Hayley Jenson a week later?"
"Well, Sh-"
"She was asked out by Peter Rollison, and they ended up winning class couple, right?" Kendall said as he interrupted the short brunette.
"I-"
"You what? You want that to happen with Al-!" Carlos crossed his arms before being interrupted.
"GUYS!" Logan finally broke out of the child-shaped shell, "I KNOW! Alex," His voice became softer after saying her name, "Alex already told me that there nothing between James and her, but- "
"but youre being stupi- " Kendall tried to interrupt.
"Let me finish!" Logan urged, "BUT you guys dont get it. Its just not worth the tension."
"What the hell are you talking about?" James blurted out.
Logan, unusually calm, suddenly walked into his room. His three friends watched silently as he returned in a few moments with his small notepad in hand.
"What is that?" Carlos asked suspiciously.
"This" Logan spoke with an unfamiliar sense of confidence, "is a pro and con list. You know, reasons i SHOULD date Alex and reasons i SHOULDNT" His voice resembled that of a teacher as he displayed the two equally sized charts on the notepad. Each column had Logan's writing scribbled within it. At the top of the page Carlos was just barely able to make out a title: "Risks and Benefits concerning Alex Bennet"
"This isnt a business Logan, you cant weigh the risks and benefits. and Alex isnt corporate strategy." Kendall looked at his friend incredulously.
Logan didnt seem phased by their comments, "If anything its exactly that Kendall. Think of it as a business merger. The whole Alex thing had me going crazy for a little while, but then i assessed the strengths and weaknesses that would be present in a merger like this and," Logan's eyes dropped suddenly as he stared at the floor, "and. well the risks far outweigh the benefits" Logan pointed at the column on the right which was labeled "Risks" and was far longer then its counterpart on the left.
"Logan, attraction sooo doesnt fit into boxes on you're merger chart" James face palmed himself as he spoke to Logan.
Logan looked down at his chart quietly.
"Listen," Carlos's voice became softer as he patted Logan's back, "i dunno whats happened between you and Alex, but if you still think about her and smile, well then, i think you forgot a couple points on your Pro- list.
Logans mind was racing as he looked down at his beloved list. Smiling is NOT a concrete benefit. Stuff like that doesnt fit on the list... The list. The list that for a second gave me a moment of clarity and confidece. The list that convinced me that Alex would only be a distraction. The list that- i dunno. Maybe Carlos is right. Logan laughed quietly at the thought, Carlos. Hahaha. The voice of reason.
"Guys," Logan finally spoke, "I just dont know. And i hate not knowing. This is why i made the list, and then you guys came and gahh"
Hearing Logan suddenly gave Kendall an idea. "I KNOW!" He said as he winked at James and Carlos, "Logan, why dont you go for a bike ride around the Park."
The other boys caught on immediately, "Yah," Carlos offered, "That usually helps you clear your mind. Maybe then youll be able to sort everything out"
Logan waited for the idea to register in his mind. A bike ride. He smiled as images of Alex on a bike flooded his mind. Then suddenly he heard Carlos's words again: ' if you still think about her and smile...' Gahhh. Maybe i do still need to sort things out.
"Ok" the brunnette finally managed as he walked out of the Apartment and down to the park.
"Soo, we send him to the park where Alex is aaaand?" James looked towards Kendall for an answer.
Kendall knitted his eyebrows together as he pondered James's question, "And maybe just maybe, we'll have a successful merger?"
Carlos and James both shrugged in response. Maybe.
Soo i know ive been lagging on the updates, and im sorry, but ill try and update quicker. I think this story is drawing to a close :( but you still have me for a couple more chapters, and i would love any reviews whatsoever. Like i said this is my FIRST FANFIC, so i would love some criticism and courage. They would really help me update quicker and maybe even write more stories after this? idk yet. But anyways, thanks :)