"Dogs, the album is still in its early stages, but what is one thing it is never too early to start thinking about?" Gustavo questioned Big Time Rush as he stood in front of three covered easels at the head of the confernece room table.
"Retirement," the ever-practical Logan Mitchell answered.
"No," Gustavo said.
"Lunch!" Carlos Garcia suggested.
"Wrong again," Gustavo sighed.
"My next haircut," James Diamond stated, glancing in a hand mirror as he ran his old lucky comb through his brunette locks.
"No!" Gustavo was starting to become frustrated. Well, starting probably wasn't the right word. "Kendall? Any ideas not from Looneyville?"
"Uh, I'm guessing it's something to do with the album?" Kendall Knight inquired sarcastically.
"Yes," Gustavo replied. "Now, what is the first thing people notice about an album?"
"How I look on the cover!" Smiling like he was posing for his own covershoot now, James looked right at Jen Woodley, the teenage intern at Rocque Records, who sat at Gustavo's left side.
"James, put down the mirror!" Kelly Wainright, Gustavo's assistant, huffed from her seat on the producer's right side. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the boy with an obvious secret crush. What he knew about that kind of thing was nothing compared to what she knew, Kelly thought to herself.
James complied. Deciding he wasn't in the mood to deal with any more of the boys' silly answers, Gustavo cut right to it. "Close enough, James. Album art!"
"Oh!" The boys all nodded slowly in unison.
"And we have three selections from the photoshoot you did last week," Gustavo continued. "Jen?"
The tall blonde rose from her chair and, trying not to trip over her own long legs and the crowded legs of the easel stands, reached over to pull the covers off one by one.
Gustavo announced each picture as Jen unveiled it, game-show style. "Black and Bleach!" Jen pulled the cover off of the first easel, revealing a shot ot the boys dressed in vibrant white clothes against a black background. They all shuddered involuntarily.
"It's just so... blank," Kendall stated. The rest of the room mumered agreement.
"Okay, take two," Gustavo sighed. "Spotlights and Sold Out Crowd!" Jen pulled the cover off the second picture: one of the band standing in front of a sold-out arena, the spotlights shining, casting long shadows and giving them a glowing effect.
"I like that one," Kendall smiled.
"Me too!" Jen agreed.
"I was gonna say that!" James added. "I love that one!" He smiled at Jen again. She just shook her head.
"And finally," Gustavo announced, calling attention back to the important matters at hand, "Trampolines and Technicolor!" Jen pulled the cover to show a vibrantly colored shot of the guys all capture in mid-air as they had been bouncing on trampolines on set.
"That one was fun!" Carlos said. "And my helmet's in it!" He patted his head, reassuring himself that the hockey helmet he always wore was still in place.
"So, Gustavo, which one are we going to use?" Logan asked.
Gustavo gave them a rare smile. "I've decided to let you dogs decide, since I need to spend a little more time working on songs for the album." He exited the room, leaving the band to its own devices.
