Thank you once again for your reviews and criticism!

Two days after the boys had all started sitting together at lunch, Kendall and Logan presented their poster to their second period health class. Kendall did all of the talking, because Logan had his stutter. The teacher handed them their grade immediately after: an A. Kendall smiled at Logan. "Wow. Thanks to you, this is the first 'A' I've gotten in a long time."

Kendall patted Logan on the back. The two of them sat back down in their seats, and they didn't speak another word to each other for the rest of the period.

Carlos walked into the bathroom during his third period class. He didn't really have to "go", he just wanted to get out of class for a bit. Carlos looked at himself in the mirror. For whatever reason, a lot of his acne had cleared up. He had to admit that the face under all those pimples was extremely cute.

Carlos's felt his face turn red as Dylan Slate entered the bathroom behind him. Dylan stood directly behind Carlos, crossed his arms over his chest, and sneered evilly. Carlos turned around, not afraid anymore. "What do you want?"

"I was just wanted to ask you what I should do with the jerk who stole my best friend," answered Dylan. He cracked his fingers, trying to look tough.

Carlos smiled and shook his head. "You're just embarrassing yourself. And by the way, Kendall has never been your best friend. He's just your lapdog. Or, he WAS your lapdog."

Feeling confident, Carlos started his way out of the bathroom. Then he heard Dylan laughed. Carlos turned around again. Dylan shook his head. "He's just playing you. All three of you. It's a joke. He's getting paid to be nice to you."

"I don't believe you," said Carlos, as he turned and practically ran out of the bathroom. It was just about time for break now, so Carlos found Kendall.

Kendall smiled. "Oh hey, Car-"

Carlos put up a hand. "Don't talk. I just saw Dylan in the bathroom, and he told me that someone is giving you money to be nice to me, Logan, and James. Is it true?"

"Um, well. It's, uh..." stumbled Kendall.

Carlos shook his head. "I can't believe this! Never talk to me ever again, okay? And leave James and Logan alone, too."

Carlos walked away quickly.

At lunch, Carlos told the other two boys what had happened with Kendall. James shrugged. "I'm not usually one to say 'I told you so', but I told you so! No one like Kendall can ever be trusted!"

"I sh-should have kn-known he was just, um, u-using me for my b-brain," stuttered Logan, putting his head down.

"So should we be humiliated because we got played, or should he be humiliated because he got caught playing us?" James asked Carlos.

Carlos smiled. "A little bit of both. Mostly the second one. You should have seen how nervous he was when I asked him about it. He couldn't even get out more than two words."

"It's still embarrassing," said Logan.

James and Carlos both looked at Logan. James smiled brightly. "You just got out a whole sentence without stuttering."

"I've been seeing that, um, woman that Carlos r-recommended me to. She's h-helping a lot," said Logan. "She s-said I'd be st-stutter-free in a few weeks."

"That's great!" yelled Carlos, while James put a hand on Logan's shoulder.

After a huge period of silence in which the boys ate their food, Carlos said, "Do you guys wanna come over after school today?"

"Is there going to be lots of Spanish?" asked James. "Because Spanish confuses me. Like, a lot."

"A little bit of Spanish," answered Carlos.

"Okay, then," said James.

"Sounds g-great," said Logan.

After school, James and Logan walked to Carlos's house together. He had given them directions right after school had let out. They knocked on the door. A beautiful Latina woman opened the door. "Hola! You must be Carlos's friends! I am Señora Garcia. Come in. Carlos is back in the kitchen."

James and Logan came into Carlos's foyer and followed his mother back to the kitchen. Carlos was sitting at the table, dipping Oreos in a glass of milk. He waved as they entered. With his mouth full, he said, "Hey, guys."

"Carlitos! Do not talk with your mouth full!" yelled Sra. Garcia.

Carlos swallowed the bite in his mouth. "Sorry, Mamá. Come on, guys. Let's go upstairs."

Carlos chugged his milk and set the glass in the sink. Sra. Garcia quickly washed it and put it away. Carlos led the way to his bedroom. His bedspread and his lamp were both purple. James snorted a laugh. "Really? Purple?"

"What? It's my favorite color," said Carlos. He threw himself onto his bed. James and Logan laughed.

James sighed. "You know, forget Kendall. He's missing out on something by not being friends with us. All he has is a jerk that treats him like crap, but if Kendall's going to be a jerk, then he deserves to be treated like crap. If he really would have become friends with us, then he could actually be having fun."

"But I told him to never talk to us again, so that's not gonna happen," explained Carlos.

"We don't n-need anyone else. We're just fine," said Logan.

"True that. To us three," said Carlos, putting his hand out with his palm facing downward. James put his hand on top of Carlos's, and Logan put his hand on top of James's. They pulled their hands away a moment later and smiled. It would just be the three of them for a while.

Most people need food and water to survive. I need reviews. ;)