Jo was sitting with Camille and Stephanie in the lobby after they had just finished their last day of Palm Woods School for the summer, and all three were excited and hopeful for how much fun tonight could be thanks to a certain band's idea.
"Honestly, thank God the guys are here. The end-of-year parties thrown by Bitters every year are always so lame." Camille laughed.
"Yeah, and with the guys in charge you know it's going to be awesome." Jo smiled brightly back.
"Oh, I know that look, still thinking about their party a few weeks ago?" Camille asked teasingly, "Are you looking for a repeat?"
"Of course I am, it was so fun partying with Kendall, and even running around tricking Bitters, but hopefully there won't be as much running this time."
"So, does that mean you've officially called off your no-boyfriend plan?" Stephanie asked.
"OK, I'll admit I'm not opposed to Kendall being my boyfriend," Jo admitted with a blush. "That sneaky, handsome hockey player doesn't give up. But I was his not date at the party."
"Which ended with the two of you dancing on your balcony all alone until way past midnight." Camille reminded her. "I'm pretty sure anyone with eyes can tell that he's obviously going to ask you to the dance. I mean it's not like you two aren't flirting with each other at your desks whenever you get the chance."
"We…we don't flirt in school." Jo gave a blushing denial.
"Um yeah, you do." Stephanie agreed, "If nothing else the way you two always smile at each other with hearts in your eyes whenever you make eye contact."
"OK, Ok, I get it. So I already know Camille's answer, but Stephanie, is there anyone, in particular, you want to go with?"
"Actually yes." Stephanie smiled, and this time it was her turn to blush. "I'm hoping Carlos will ask me."
Camille smiled even brighter, "Awe, you two would be so cute together. Although if you want my advice, just give Carlos a corndog and he'll worship the ground you walk on."
"Have you guys been hanging out lately?" Jo asked.
"No, not really. Just them trying to track down the Palm Woods ghost and then when I helped all of them scare Gustavo back to his mansion. But who knows, I'm hoping that that will change tonight."
"So Camille, are you going to ask Logan?"
"Actually I'm not," Camille said confidently.
"You're not? Then who do you want to go with?" Jo asked in shock.
"Oh, I will be going with Logan. For one, every girl at the Palm Woods knows I have dibs. And while I know their party was fun for you Jo, I'm going to make sure Logan chooses to focus on me, and not Mercedes Griffin this time." Camille growled.
"And how are you going to do that?" Stephanie asked.
"Well, I have made my intentions more than clear to Logan, so tonight, if he wants to dance the night away with me, he can be the one to ask me."
"Alright, I guess that makes sense." Jo glanced away from Stephanie for a moment as the focus of their conversation ran into the lobby and quickly huddled up, probably making their plan of attack for tonight. She smiled though when she noticed they were all walking up to the girls, and Kendall had his eye on her. "Ooh, here comes Kendall, I think he's going to ask me to the dance," she whispered to her friends and brushed her hands through her hair for a few seconds to make sure nothing was out of place.
Just like she hoped, Kendall stopped in front of her and cupped his hands together. "Hey, Jo I need to ask you something."
"Yes?" Jo smiled up at him.
"Could you go to the convenience store and get them to donate some snackage for the dance?"
"Oh, sure, Kendall." Her heart fell in disappointment, and she looked back at Camile and Stephanie for a moment who were both shooting her matching looks of annoyance, but he didn't seem to notice. "But, is that the only thing you wanted to ask me?" Jo asked. After all the time he spent chasing her, surely he just wanted to get logistics out of the way, and then he would ask her.
Kendall looked down like he was lost in thought for a moment, but then tapped his forehead like he just remembered something, and unknown to him, reviving Jo's hope. "Oh yeah, could you get some sodas too?"
Jo looked at him in surprise for a moment. "Sure." She said curtly, so then she stood up and walked away.
The guys walked off, still focused on planning the dance, and started talking to Bitters about something, so Camille and Stephanie ran out of the lobby to catch up with Jo.
"Jo, wait up are you ok?" Camille asked when they caught up to Jo.
"Sure Camille, why wouldn't I be?" Jo asked sarcastically, trying to hide how much it hurt. This is why she promised herself she wouldn't be distracted by boys.
"You know Kendall, he probably has some big elaborate plan in place that he has to set up first." Stephanie did her best to reassure her.
"Yeah, and obviously they have a lot of work to do anyway. This is probably just his way of getting some stuff done, and getting you out of the Palm Woods so he can do whatever he's going to do to ask you." Camille added.
"Oh, you really think so?" Jo said, as she thought over what Camille said, honestly that did sound like something Kendall would do. She was probably just worried for nothing.
"I know so, in fact, I am totally confident that's probably what all four of them are doing right now. Getting the dance set up, and then finding their dates. And we still have five hours for them to ask us."
"OK Camille, I know you're right. Well, ladies, it looks like I have some snacks to find. But good luck to you two."
"Good luck Jo!" Stephanie and Camille waved goodbye as Jo got on the bus for a ride to the nearest convenience store. Yeah, she was just worrying for nothing. Kendall was definitely going to ask her.
The guys got back to the Palm Woods after they got Gustavo's permission to hold the dance at Roque Records, so Kendall was ready for the next step of the plan.
"OK dance committee, now all we need now are some chaperones."
"Dates!" The other guys all put their sunglasses on and then took off before Kendall could stop them.
"Unbelievable." Kendal sighed, knowing his bros, it was probably going to take them all day to find a date, well maybe not James, but Logan and Carlos for sure. But thankfully he already had his date taken care of. He couldn't wait to see how beautiful Jo will look tonight as they dance the night away.
Kendall made his way back up to apartment 2J. "Mom!" Kendall called out, and thankfully she was putting dishes away in the kitchen. "We're having a school dance tonight, will you please be a chaperone?"
"Sure, sounds like fun." Mom smiled as she put some plates in the cupboard.
"Maybe you should bring a date," Katie suggested.
Mom dropped the plates she was holding to the ground with a clatter. "Ha ha, me bring a date to the dance? That's funny." She attempted to laugh it off. "That is funny, right? No! Chaperone. Just chaperoning is good." She then walked off to her bedroom, looking to avoid the topic entirely.
"Hey Katie, when was the last time Mom had a date?" Kendall asked her.
"Legend says when I was three."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Operation Get Mom a Date?"
"Make it so Baby Sister."
About an hour later Jo walked over to apartment 2J, at least the door was open since her hands were full of groceries. And now that she had been sufficiently distracted, she was ready for Kendall to spring his question on her. "Hey Kendall, I got some snacks for the…dance..." Jo couldn't help but notice a very handsome man was writhing under a net in the middle of the apartment with Katie trying to hold him down.
"Ahh! Help me!"
Kendall walked over to her, leaned against the door, and smiled like this was totally normal, and honestly, still not the strangest thing she had seen Kendall and his friends do since she moved to the Palm Woods. Jo just shook her head and decided to ignore the craziness. "So I was wondering, is there anything else you wanted to ask me? About the dance?" Jo smiled as brightly as she could.
"Yes, there is." Kendall smiled at her, and Jo felt her heart rate speed up, filled with excitement. "Could you make a banner and help decorate the studio?"
Jo looked at him for a moment and then glared at him. "Sure." She growled through gritted teeth and dropped all the snacks straight to the ground. She then turned around without a word and marched away from Kendall. So what if he didn't want to go to the dance with her, she knew she could still have plenty of fun. Maybe she should see how Stephanie and Camille were doing. Maybe their favorite band members actually cared about them.
Kendall squatted down to grab all the snacks Jo had dropped. Was she upset about something? She seemed excited about the dance but also angry for some reason. He stuck his head out the door just long enough to watch her march into the elevator at the end of the hallway. Kendall wanted to follow her and find out whatever was bothering her so he could fix it. But it looks like it will have to wait until they're at the dance together because then Kendall planned on spending every moment possible with her. And right now, he needed help Katie wrangle Fabio before he escaped the net.
So it turns out neither Jo, Camille, nor Stephanie had dates to the dance, so they decided to all go to Roque Records together a bit early. Thankfully Kelly already had a lot of the decorating done, so all they had to do was make Kendall's requested banner. Jo just wished Kendall had moved his butt a little more when it came to asking her. Camille was apparently in the same boat as Logan had come up to her plenty of times in the last five hours but he could never get the words out to ask her himself. And Stephanie had even tried asking Carlos herself but he hadn't paid her any attention.
They all watched as Carlos, dressed in a blond wig and a shiny purple jacket strutted down the red-carpeted hallway with one of the Jennifers.
"Oh, Olaf! You're so famous and my date tonight!" Jennifer said loudly.
"Yeah Jennifer, Olaf will meet you on the dance floor!" Carlos shouted in a fake Swedish accent and then zoomed back down the hallway.
And then he came back, holding a soccer ball and wearing a different wig of long dark dreadlocks, "Yeah Jennifer, I'm the soccer king." As he walked in with the second Jennifer on his arm.
"Should I go talk to him?" Stephanie asked Jo and Camille. "That doesn't look right."
"It's up to you Stephanie." Camille said, "From what I saw he's been chasing all three of them around all day."
"But didn't you hear Jennifer? I think they're just using him."
"If you want to talk to him, it can't hurt." Jo said, "And it wouldn't hurt to tell him how you feel."
"I'm going to do it." Stephanie handed her plate to Camille and walked up to Carlos and the two Jennifers. "Carlos?"
"Yeah?" Carlos asked, only to be slapped on his chest by Jennifer. "Ope, I am Olaf." Jennifer slapped him again. "I mean I am Ronaldo!"
"Huhem." The third Jennifer cleared her throat pointedly down the hall and then started marching up to them herself.
Seeing her coming, Carlos ran off and was back seconds later in his first outfit. "I mean, I am Marcello." Carlos extended his arm to Jennifer.
"No that's Olaf, you're dating Marcello." The first Jennifer said.
"No, I'm dumping Marcello, he's stupid." The third Jennifer shot back.
"Marcello is not stupid!" Carlos said, sounding offended.
"Actually, Olaf dumped you for me!" Jennifer tried to pull Carlos away from Jennifer, and within seconds a catfight among all three of them ensued.
"He's mine! He's mine! He's mine! He's mine! He's mine!"
"Carlos!" Stephanie yelled and pulled the ridiculous blond wig off his head, getting the Jennifers to stop fighting for a moment. "Would you like to dance?"
Carlos took off his sunglasses and smiled at Stephanie. "Carlos would love to dance." Carlos took a step closer to Stephanie and held his arm out for her take, which she happily did.
They were about to walk over to the dance floor when Carlos paused and turned back around. "And ladies, Marcello, Olaf, and Ronaldo, have left the building." Carlos grabbed the wig from Stephanie's hand and tossed it back to them. "And how hot is Stephanie? WOO!"
Stephanie felt herself blushing be she didn't care. "Thank you Carlos, but can I ask, why did you go with them?"
Carlos paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "I thought they were the hottest girls at the Palm Woods, so I of course asked each of them, and they said no, like usual, but then they said yes, but they had this big plan since all three of them needed dates. I thought I could handle it, but I see now I made a mistake."
"Carlos, you know they were only using you right?"
Carlos shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I can see that now. I guess I was foolish thinking any girl would want to come to the dance with me huh?"
"You know, I wouldn't have minded if you had asked me. And I would have said yes to Carlos, not Olaf or Marcello or anyone else."
Carlos smiled, "Make that two mistakes then." Carlos smiled back at her.
"Two mistakes? What are you talking about?"
"One, the Jennifers aren't the three hottest girls at the Palm Woods. You are. And two, the next time there's a dance, maybe we can arrive together in the first place?"
"Yeah, I would like that." Stephanie nodded her head, "And Carlos, want to know a secret?"
"Sure, what is it, Stephanie?"
"Who do you think is the hottest guy at the Palmwoods?"
"James obviously," Carlos said it automatically like it was a fact.
"That's the third mistake you've made today. Don't count yourself short Carlos. There's no one I want to spend tonight with, then you."
"And Stephanie, there's no one I want to spend tonight with other than you either."
Out by the snack table, Jo and Camille smiled at Stephanie's success if her and Carlos' happy dance moves were anything to go by.
"Well, at least Stephanie got a date to the dance. And I can't believe that Kendall didn't ask me." Jo grumbled once again.
"Logan tried asking me, but he's really terrible at it." Camille sighed.
"But at least he tried. Do you think Kendall asked someone else? Why wouldn't he ask me?"
"No way. He's been chasing you since the day you moved in, and if there's one thing I know about Kendall, it's that he doesn't give up. I have no good answer, and knowing BTR it probably has something to do with a net, a horse, and some sort of mess they made and Kendall has to help fix it."
From down the hallway, everyone heard a horse neighing loudly so they turned to see what the commotion was as Logan rode in on majestic glory.
"Is that Logan? On a horse?" Jo asked.
"Hello, milady," Logan said grandly to Camille, "would you like to accompany me to the dance?"
"Say yes!" Two familiar voices shouted from the horse.
"Heck yeah, I will!" Camille tossed her plate of snacks in the air and took Logan's offered hand to pull her up on the horse with him.
"Onward trusty steed!" Logan shouted and the horse walked off onto the dance floor.
Jo smiled at her friend, well, two out of three of them weren't bad, but she wouldn't mind if that horse came back for her with her own knight in shining armor.
Everyone else followed Logan and Camille onto the dance floor as the music turned up, but Jo stayed put. Just like Camille and Stephanie, there was only one guy she wanted to dance with tonight but it looked like that wasn't happening.
About a minute later, Kendall walked back out, wearing half a horse costume. "Hey, what are you doing out here all alone? Let's dance, have fun!" He was smiling at her like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Hey? You can't just waltz in here, dressed all half-horse-y, and say let's dance!" Jo yelled at him. Kendall tried to get a word in, but Jo wouldn't let him. "I've been waiting all day for you to ask me to be your date! But you never did!" She would let him see how angry she was, but not how much it hurt if he didn't think she was important enough to ask her until now. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him.
"Seriously?" Kendall asked.
"Um yeah! Forget anything? All you've asked me today is to help set up the dance!" Jo finally let him have all her anger. Who did he think he was? Did he ask someone else but it didn't work out, so he only now came crawling back to her?
"I just thought we were, kind of you know…together," Kendall smirked at her.
That got Jo to stop her rant against him. "Really? You thought we were together? Like together, together?"
"Yeah…Is that ok?" Kendall smiled at her, and oh why did he have to be so cute? It made it really hard for her to stay mad at him when he smiled at her like that.
"It's… it's great." Jo smiled back at him. So Kendall may be clueless and crazy sometimes, but honestly, she wouldn't change anything about him. "Let's go dance!" Jo reached out her hand to take Kendall's in her own.
Kendall smiled back at her but stiffened slightly when a new song started playing in the next room. "Actually, I think I have to go sing. But I promise, it's just one song and then we can spend the rest of the night together."
"I'd like that." Jo smiled at him. "Now go break a leg!" They ran into the studio where the other three guys were already on stage, after squeezing Jo's hand again. Kendall let go to sprint up on stage behind his microphone.
If you could read my mind
All your doubts would be left behind
And every little thing would be falling into place.
I would scream to the world
They would see you're my girl
But I just keep getting stuck, stuck
But I'm never giving up, up
In the middle of the perfect day
I'm searching for the words to say
I don't want to keep you guessing
But I always end up getting stuck, stuck
But I'm never giving up, up.
After the guys finished their song to a roaring round of applause, everyone was ready to really party the night away, but most of all were Jo and Kendall.
"OK, I'm so sorry I forgot to ask you to the dance." Kendall apologized as they danced along to the music, "But like I said, I just assumed we were already going and I was busy."
"With what? Cause I'm the one that got all the snacks and helped decorate." Jo reminded him with a smiling but still questioning look.
"Well, helping Logan with Camille," Kendall said proudly and pointed over to where they were both swaying to the music together. "and also helping Mom find a date." Kendall pointed to the corner where the handsome guy from earlier was dancing with Kendall's mom.
"Yeah, do I want to know what exactly I walked in on earlier today? Is there a chance you're about to get arrested?"
"No, no worries…this time. It took some time, but my baby sister and I convinced Fabio to give Mom a chance to have fun tonight."
"And why did you pick Fabio of all people?"
"Well, she hated all the handsome doctors we found for her and said Fabio was the love of her life and she would only go to the dance with him. Now obviously she forgot the most important rule of being a Knight. We never back down from a challenge."
"I'll keep that in mind." Jo smiled at him, and hugged him for a moment, "OK, I forgive you, because you're so sweet to do something like that for your mom when you didn't have to."
"Thank you, Jo, so now my success rate is two for two, but I want to make it three for three. So, Jo first off, will you be my date to the dance?"
"I thought you'd never ask." She teased him. "I would love to go to the dance with you." Jo smiled, and as she did, a slow song came on. They both swayed to the music, happily, and together. Jo had her arms resting around Kendall's neck, and his hands were gently placed around her waist as they made their way around the dance floor.
"This is great, but I do have one more thing to ask you."
"Ask away."
Kendall started singing softly, just loud enough for Jo to hear him and looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes. "I know you've told me you're not looking for a boyfriend, but I don't see that, and I hope I've given you time to know I want to be that…"
Don't be scared to come
Put your trust in me
Can't you see all I really want to be
Is your boyfriend, can't fight that
Knock me down you know I'm coming right back
I don't care at all what you've done before
All I really want is to be your boyfriend
"Jo, may I be your boyfriend? And will you be my girlfriend?"
Jo did her best to keep her cool and hide the butterflies flying in her stomach. "Absolutely Kendall, I would like that. And thank you, for asking me and not just assuming."
Kendall sighed happily, "I promise from now on, every single dance or party I go to, you will always be the first, last, and only girl I will ask to join me. Cause all I want to be is your boyfriend."
"And I know what I said about my career being more important, but I've changed my mind. While you are an excellent distraction, being with you makes me way too happy to ignore my feelings. So, are you ready to dance, Boyfriend?"
"That I am, Girlfriend." Kendall smiled.
"It sure seems like everything worked out for everyone." Jo smiled as they kept dancing, the music speeding up into a faster song once again.
"Yeah except for James, he was so busy helping Logan that he also forgot to ask anyone to the dance."
Right as the words left Kendall's mouth they watched as James ran screaming from the dance floor, being chased by a mob of angry girls.
"Eh, he'll be fine." Kendall shrugged his shoulders. "Besides I'm going to spend the rest of tonight with my girlfriend."
"And I have no problem with that, boyfriend." Jo couldn't help but smile giddily both hearing that word rolling off Kendall's tongue or her saying it back. As long as they weren't stuck in limbo anymore she couldn't be happier with how tonight had turned out."
"Now I hate to ask, but do you still have a 10 pm curfew?"
"Actually, since this is a school-sponsored event. I can be out as long as it lasts."
"Good thing we have a big night planned then because I want to spend every minute with you that I can."
"I couldn't agree more, but speaking of, after tonight, my Dad is definitely going to want to meet you."
"Well, I can't wait," Kendall said confidently.
"Really?" Jo looked surprised, although she hadn't tried talking about her dad too much with Kendall yet.
"How scared should I be?" Kendall asked, reading her surprised and nervous expression.
"Um…"
"That good huh, well, do you want to get the easy part out of the way? Want to go meet Katie and my Mom?"
Jo looked past Kendall's shoulder to see his mom dancing with Fabio, and both had smiles on their faces and laughing. "Let's wait, I don't want to interrupt her dream date. I know exactly how she's feeling, and I don't want anyone to interrupt us either."
"You got it. But don't worry I've already talked about you so much she already loves you."
"Thanks, and totally honest, I'm pretty sure my mom loves you already too. She's been asking me for a picture of the cute boy that's stolen my heart."
"Stolen your heart eh? Well, you don't have to take anything from me, because I will give you my heart freely."
"Thanks, Kendall, that means a lot."
"So is there anything else I can do to make this night perfect for you?"
"I'm already here with you, that's all I need for a perfect night. Just promise we can do this again."
"Definitely and I will ask you next time."
"Not if I ask you first. Since obviously you can't be trusted." Jo teased him.
"Oh, that's how it is huh?"
"Yep, but don't worry too much about my dad. As long as you keep me happy, I know he'll be happy."
"Whatever you say, but let's just keep dancing. I'm pretty sure we have plenty more slow songs, so I have an excuse to hold you close to me." Kendall grinned down at her.
"Ah, so that's your big plan huh? But it's not going to work." Jo said with complete confidence.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't need some elaborate plan, I only need you Kendall."
"I only need you too Jo."