The New Girl is Real
and a mishap with a blogger
It was approaching mid-afternoon when May found herself going down to the Palm Woods pool to try and meet new friends that weren't the Jennifers, or the strange boy who couldn't so much as speak a word to her.
When she passed the threshold, from the lobby to the swim area, a boy blasted into the pool on roller skates that had rockets duck taped to them, destroying his camera.
The people around him gasped, as he looked at his camera completely waterlogged, but May observed that no one had gone to help him— so she rushed to his aid.
"Are you alright!?" The girl asked urgently, lending a hand for the boy, to help him out of the pool. As he climbed out, he quickly forgot he was wearing skates and slid all over the concrete before grasping onto the girl and inevitably soaking her with chlorine water.
He cringed as she helped him onto a chair. "Sorry!" He kept saying every time he slipped up, and it made May giggle. "Oh no... I ruined your clothes. I'm so sor—-" he cut himself off as he finally made eye contact with the girl and saw who she was.
His face dropped quickly. James wasn't lying, there was a new girl, and she was gorgeous. "Don't worry!" May told him, trying to help him get the skates off before he fell once again. "What we're you even trying to do?" She questioned unsure.
"Well, I wanted to show off my rocket skates, but I kinda ruined the camera," the boy said, holding up the destroyed piece of technology, while shooting her a cheap, dime store grin.
Nodding, like she understood, though she didn't, May sent him a kind smile back anyway. "Sorry it didn't work out," she told him, finally yanking the second skate off of his foot before standing up. "I'm May, by the way. I'm new here," she gave her hand for him to shake.
"May!" He said like he realized something, but then noticed the strange look she was giving him. "I'm Carlos," he corrected quickly. "I think you met my friend James yesterday."
Furrowing her eyebrows she thought back to the boy at the park, connecting the dots, and then awed in realization. "Ohh... so James is his name," she said softly. "Yeah he didn't say much to me. Just kinda ran away."
"What!" Carlos jumped up, confused. "I mean, um, no. That doesn't sound like James. See cause you're pretty— like really pretty, and James when he—" he spoke so fast that his words jumbled together, and May couldn't keep up.
"Maybe he was having a bad day?" May suggested, with a shrug. "I mean he looked kind of nervous, and he was stuttering an awful lot. He could have just been having a moment," she continued kindly, but Carlos smirked at this new information.
Did he really just learn that his best friend, James, stuttered around a girl? He was gonna get his friends to harp on him about it, and never let it go. Considering it payback for when they inevitably laugh at him for destroying the camera in the pool.
"No way!" Carlos exclaimed, more to himself than to the girl. "I'm so gonna make fun of him for this! Thanks May! See ya later!" He called out to her as he dashed back into the lobby, leaving her dwelling in her own confusion.
But Carlos didn't have much time, he had to let the guys know that James indeed was not a womanizer, and had lost his composure around the new girl.
In the lobby, he saw Kendall and James fighting for Logan's camera— as his was the only one still intact. And just like that he saw it break too. "Guys! No time!" Carlos cut them off, as they all snapped their heads to him with an annoyance.
"What Carlos? We need to borrow Logan's camera," Kendall tried to explain as a grin plastered itself across Carlos's face, shaking his head urgently.
He couldn't hold back the laughter that spilled from his lips as he revealed his hand. "James was right. The new girl is real," he confessed, causing Logan to furrow his eyebrow at the boy.
"Thank you!" James exasperated, throwing his hands out in victory.
"But, that's not all—" Carlos grinned some more, and James paled. He couldn't know about his mess up, could he? But all at once, Carlos revealed the very secret James planned on keeping. "James got nervous and embarrassed himself in front of her!" Carlos pointed at the boy, surrendering to a fit of laughter.
"Yeah... right," Kendall rolled his eyes. "You almost had me fooled, Carlos. Good one."
"Good one," Logan muttered too, shaking his head, and James took a breath of relief. Before, he would have been mad about them not believing in the new girl, but now that it might have costed him his rep, he didn't mind it.
Carlos's face dropped into one of shock. "But... I'm not lying!" He tried to convince. "She was just over at the pool— look, over there!" He tried to point out the doorway to where the girl once stood, but to his dismay... no one was there.
"You'll see! You'll all see! And then, won't you feel stupid!" Carlos exclaimed, as he stomped away, heading toward the recording studio.
The girl's disappearance at the pool had not been unwarranted. It had been caused by something, or rather someone. A nice blonde girl, around her age, that went by the name of Jo, invited her to go get smoothies down the street.
Finally, May thought, a semi-normal friend that wouldn't make her strut around in slow motion, or stutter when they spoke to her, or launch themselves into the pool with rockets. This was finally a friend that May would have considered herself making back home.
"Modeling's so cool," Jo continued to converse with the girl as they sat at the tables outside the small shop. "Not a lot of people at the Palm Woods model. Most people are actors, or actresses, like me, or singers. Oh and of course, you have my sorta boyfriend, kind-of friend, who's in a band," she smiled sheepishly.
"Ooo! A boyfriend!" May gushed, leaning across the table. "And he's in a band? Look at you!"
Jo giggled, shaking her head in some attempt to stop the blush that spread across her cheeks. "He's really sweet. Not like the other stuck-up, Hollywood guys you'll see around here," she confessed. "Trust me. You'll see a lot."
"Not looking forward to that," May admitted, but held up her smoothie as if she was proposing a toast. "But I got the beaches, a new job, and a great new friend, so I'd say I'm pretty alright," the two girls clinked their plastic cups smiling.
"Cheers to that," Jo said, happily.
By three o'clock, Jo was off to a table reading for an acting job, and May strolled back to the Palm Woods, smoothie still in hand. She waved to the Jennifers, who were waiting for a ride in front of the intricate building, and glanced down to her phone every few minutes to check her scuttlebutt account.
When she finally entered into the lobby, eyes still focused on her phone, she stopped suddenly— sensing a weird tension. Snapping her head to the right, she recognized James and Carlos, along with two other boys, holding tangles of wires and pressing themselves against a supply closet door.
"N-new girl," James pointed out, nervously, gesturing to May who obviously heard him.
While the two boys she didn't know looked shocked, Carlos gave her a smile, waving enthusiastically. "Hey May!" He greeted, adjusting the wiring that draped over his shoulder.
"Hey, Carlos?" She responded confused, observing the group of boys carefully. "Whatcha doin there?"
Not catching the memo, that maybe he was supposed to lie, Carlos shrugged casually. "We trapped music review blogger, Deke, in the supply closet, and disconnected the wifi so he couldn't post a bad blog about us," he confessed so easily, causing the other boys to slap him.
"Wait... Deke?!" May said hesitantly. "Deke's in there?! What is wrong with you guys?" She urgently pushed forward, attempting to let him out, before the blonde boy grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the door.
He shook his head insistently, motioning with his arms to not let the boy out of the supply closet. "No!" He begged her. "We just need to keep him in there until we get to spend the whole day with him, and prove we're not a bunch of phonies!" The boy leaned into the door, saying it loud enough for Deke to here.
"You're out of your mind!" May argued back. "You think he's gonna want to write a good review about your band after this? Who even are you?"
"Thank you!" Deke yelled from inside. "Finally, someone with some sensibility. Now... let me out!"
James kicked the door, almost telling him to shut up, while grinning charmingly at the girl. He crossed his arms, trying to lean on the wall cooly, but slipped up and almost lost his balance.
"Who am I?" The blonde continued. "Who are you?"
"I'm May," the girl responded, crossing her arms at the boy. "I'm new here. And believe it or not, I am not a fan of locking bloggers in a closet!" She quipped.
"Wait... did you say you're new here?" A shorter brunette questioned, who also had wires tossed around his body with a carelessness. Before sending a look to Carlos and James, like he finally believed them.
Carlos jumped in between the blonde boy, and the model girl, pointing at him. "Ha! I told you," he beamed. "I told you so, I told you so, I told you so," he kept singing, and caused May to shake her head in despair.
"Look. Are you gonna let Deke out, or not?" May was getting fed up at their, obviously, not well thought out plan. "Cause I don't feel like having a murder wrap on my hands tonight."
"No one's gonna die!" The boy argued back, rolling his eyes, and shoving Carlos who was still celebrating in being right about something. "We just need to make Deke realize that we weren't being ourselves out there, and the real Big Time Rush is awesome!" He yelled to the door again.
"Big Time Rush?" May questioned, eyebrows knitted together in some type of recognition. "Ohhh," she nodded like it had been clarified in her brain. "You're Kendall," she smiled, finally being a little kinder.
"Yes, I—- wait," Kendall cut himself off, holding a hand up to the girl. "How do you know who I am?"
May giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "Jo," she said simply, sitting down on the bench next to the supply closet. "You see, it's all starting to make a lot more sense now," she confessed, Kendall blushing sheepishly in the thought that Jo had talked about him.
"Okay, well this doesn't solve our problem," the shorter brunette motioned wildly with his hands, signaling to the predicament they were in. "We still have an involuntary imprisonment to deal with!"
"And you must be Logan," May sent him a knowing glance, causing Kendall to snicker. "Why don't you guys just ask Deke to try again and interview you through the door?" She questioned shortly, picking at her manicured nails.
"You don't think we've tried that!" Logan exclaimed, throwing his head back in childlike temperament.
May looked around at all their faces. Carlos looked worried, lips down turned only slightly, as he stared longingly at the door. Kendall's hand was under his chin, miming his thought process, as his forehead wrinkled in careful contemplation. Logan was a nervous wreck, legs wobbling like they might betray him, as he whispered under his breath. And James... he was dead staring at May, and only looked away quickly when she had caught him.
Brushing him off as only, probably, being socially awkward, May tried to be optimistic. "Well... did you ask him nicely?" She tried, causing the boys to groan, and slump in dejection. May supposed they did, and kept her hands carefully folded in her lap.
"There goes selling our first album," Carlos shrunk sadly, sitting next to May on the bench, as he stared at his shoelaces.
Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, May frowned instantly. She knew about people's dreams getting crushed in Hollywood, of course she had, but after Jo had talked so admirably about the band, and she grew a small, but noticeable liking toward them in only one short day, she supposed maybe she could make Deke do the same. "Don't give up so fast," she told Carlos, before going to stand in front of the door. "Deke, I think you're making a big mistake," she started, glancing back to the boys who stared at her with an interest.
"There's a lot of phonies in Hollywood, and a lot of artists that definitely don't deserve the recognition they get," she confessed, playing with the bracelets on their wrist. "But if you don't try, you might never actually get to know who they really are."
The boys leaned forward, trying to see if maybe her words had infiltrated him even a little, and cheered when Deke finally said. "Fine. I'll interview you through the door."
"Yes!" Kendall jumped up, followed by Logan and James. "Whoo!"
And Carlos gave May a short hug. "Thanks, May!" He said gratefully, and the girl saluted them, finally breaking away from the group and heading for the media room.
She knew that Logan and Carlos had unplugged all the modems and wifi routers in the Palm Woods, but she also needed to try to get online somehow, to email back her manager about a job opportunity.
It was seeming like a total bust, as the page kept buffering and sending her to a loading screen, no matter how many times she refreshed. And she was ready to give up, knowing that the wifi would be up and running as soon as the boys finished that stupid interview.
But, it didn't seem like that would be anytime in the near future, as she saw the vent above head pop open, and short legs dangle out. That was Deke, she knew it, and panicking, she pushed the recycling bin underneath the airway to trap him when he fell.
She wasn't sure why she did it, after all, she was so against trapping him in the closet, but she got nervous, and the adrenaline kicked in. As she slammed the lid shut, the four boys bust through the door, looking around wildly before settling their gaze upon the girl.
"Yeah... so, I trapped Deke in the garbage pale," she squeaked out, motioning to the lid she was leaning all her weight on. The boys celebrated for a moment, high-fiving each other at the effort to stop the blogger from escaping, and Kendall came over and locked the metal master lock on the bin.
It took two of them to roll it out, and May huffed, following after the boys as she realized she was now an accomplice to this, basically, crime. "Good one, May," Carlos held out his hand for a fist bump, but the girl only shook her head as a response. She wasn't going to cheer about doing something that went against all her morality.
They wheeled him back out to the pool, not sure where else to go, and eventually, everyone sat around the fire pit, trying to think of the next course of action. "Now what?" May asked them, leaning her head into the palm of her hand, as her elbow rested on her knee.
"You are kinda the one you trapped Deke in the bin," Logan pointed out. "So you should be the one that comes up with the plan."
May rolled her eyes. "I trapped him because..." she tried to figure out what she wanted to say, but ended up with a shaken explanation. "I panicked, alright! Trust me, I know how negative reviews can ruin your career. I guess I just didn't want you guys going through the same thing I did," she slumped sadly, looking down.
"You got a negative review?" Carlos questioned, curiosity getting the better of him, and causing May to sigh loudly.
She nodded shortly, averting her stare back to the pale where Deke struggled to get out. "Yeah, I did," she said lowly. "It was my first runway in New York when I was fifteen," she started to confess. "Had an interview and everything before— my manager prepped me on what to say, and I didn't know any better. I would have just been better off being myself."
Kendall nodded, like that was the point he was trying to make this whole time. "Exactly!" He chimed now. "We need to just be ourselves."
"Why does he think we're phonies, hmm? He should like us," James spoke for the first time around May, like really spoke, and the girl felt herself flush at hearing his actual voice— not the panicked, nervous version.
Part of her wished he would have said more to her the other day, part of her wanted to know more about him. It was strange how he said the least to her, yet she found him the most interesting.
"Why would he like us?" Kendall challenged. "Because I've got to be honest: I don't like us right now," he approached the garbage bin that Deke had been confined to. "Worse than that, since when did we start caring about what people think about us? It's what we think about ourselves that matters"
"I think we might have let the marketers put words in our mouths."
"I think Mr. Fong's biscuits may have caused temporary insanity."
Though May shot a confused glance at Logan for that last statement, she shook her head in slight humor as Deke chorused— "Ho ho, finally a true statement," causing May to smack on the bin, because he was ruining the sentiment of the moment.
"And do you guys realize we never even questioned these outfits?" Kendall joked, making the girl and three boys snicker.
"I think... we look good," James disagreed, fixing his blazer, but not everyone agreed.
Deke called out, muffled but still audible, "it's a little overdone," he defied, causing the girl to quickly place her mouth behind her hand to hide the giggles that threatened to come out.
"Quiet, you," James yelled back, quickly glancing to May with a sheepish grin, almost embarrassed.
They made eye contact, for once, and held their stare there for just a minute too long. It felt like everything might have stopped, like the world had frozen in that very moment, until James had gotten too shy once again and feigned a cough to find an excuse to avert his gaze.
"We are not four hockey players from Minnesota anymore. We are four Anakins who went to the dark side!" Kendall continued.
"So what are we going to do?"
May shrugged, getting ready to head back to her apartment. "Maybe let him go. And apologize," she suggested— to which the boys all agreed, rolling Deke away from the pool to let him free.
"Good luck, guys," May bid her farewell.
"Thanks May!" Carlos smiled, waving her goodnight, the rest following shortly after.
The Palmwoods was proving itself to be more and more strange.