"in the middle of a perfect day
i'm tripping over words to say.
cause i don't want to keep you guessing
but i always end up getting
stuck, stuck
but i'm never getting up, up..."
big time rush was performing a song for some people at the palm woods on a nice friday evening, when a loud, scraping sound interrupted them. everyone turned to see a table moving across the ground and into the lobby. the doors slammed shut and everyone screamed in fear, running and fleeing from the horrifying scene they just witnessed.
——
"carlos, it wasn't a ghost," logan told carlos as the band and olivia walked into their apartment.
"then what was it?!" carlos asked.
"it was the air conditioner, which kicked on in the lobby, created a back draft, and caused the doors to shut," logan explained.
"so, how do you explain the ghost table?" james asked.
"i will tell you that later," logan remarked and olivia sighed.
"i'll tell you what it was. it was a ghost, and it could be after us!" carlos exclaimed, frantically.
"there is no ghost that is after us," kendall objected, before a loud knock was heard and james, carlos, and olivia screamed, moving away in fear.
"guys, chill, there is nothing terrifying behind this door," kendall assured the four scared teens, before he opened the door to reveal gustavo standing there.
"hey, my mansion is flooded and i need to stay with you dogs tonight," gustavo told them and olivia grinned at kendall
"you were saying?"
the four boys screamed in horror as olivia laughed.
——
"don't you think you'd be more comfortable in, like a five star hotel that's not here?" kendall asked after gustavo had been welcomed in by mrs. knight and getting a cup of tea from her.
"yeah, i can't stay in any l.a. hotels," gustavo remarked.
"why not?!" james asked with irritation and olivia kicked his leg.
"well, james, i am a member of the hotel unwelcome list," gustavo informed. "along with russel crowe, all the members of aerosmith, the original host of blue clues, and bryan fernow."
everyone looked at olivia, who chuckled nervously.
"don't ask, just don't," olivia said, remembering how he got on that list.
gustavo picked up the tea bag in his mug and tossed it onto the table, which made the guys and olivia cringe.
"the 90's were a wild time, boys," gustavo added on.
"well, of course you are welcome to stay-"
"mom!" kendall yelled, interrupting his mom and she looked at him. "did you see that thing in the bathroom?"
"yeah, in the bathroom!" the boys agreed and all spoke at once, rushing to the bathroom and pulling mrs. knight with them.
katie and olivia shared a look, before looking at gustavo. it was kind of silent while the guys spoke to mrs. knight in the bathroom until gustavo got up and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.
gustavo knocked on the door second later, "plus, he pays your rent!"
the guys moved away from the door and logan opened it to see gustavo right there.
"now, when's dinner?" gustavo asked, lifting up the tea bag and katie and olivia popped their heads in, shaking them with disgust.
——
dinner rolled around and olivia had stayed to eat with them. her father was doing important business work, so she didn't have to be home until after he finished and he usually doesn't finish until late. so, this allowed her to stay and eat dinner with the boys, katie, mrs. knight, and gustavo as well.
it was fishstick friday and olivia loved fish sticks. she spends as many fridays as she can over at their apartment to have fishsticks with them.
the boys and olivia cheered as mrs. knight sent down the platter of fish sticks and tatter tots. everyone grabbed a handful of food and put it on their plates as gustavo was confused.
"fish sticks? really?"
"it's fish stick friday," katie told him.
"with tots!" the band and olivia smiled.
"i actually prefer my fish poached with lemon and my potatoes au gratin," gustavo mentioned and olivia gave him a look as mrs. knight threw down a lemon and a piece of cheese with a smile on her face.
gustavo looked at her, before slowly putting the fish stick in his mouth and everyone watched with anticipation to see his reaction.
he took a bite and shrugged, "not bad."
everyone sighed with relief at this.
"so, what else do you dogs do on fish sticks fridays?" gustavo asked.
"i guess sometimes we play dome hockey," kendall remarked.
"and then a little swirly slide action," carlos added.
"then we play biohazard blast 4: rise of crotchy," james continued and olivia smiled at this.
olivia doesn't play many video games, but that's one of her favorites and she destroys the boys whenever she plays.
"oh, well, you can count me out of those festivities," gustavo chuckled.
——
olivia watched from her spot on the couch as the boys and gustavo played dome hockey. she opted out from playing because she didn't have much room to play, which left james to team with him. besides, gustavo got so enthusiastic that when they ended up winning he chest bumped james, who got flung back and olivia winced at his pain.
"oh!"
——
next, they went on the swirly slide and the boys and olivia went down it just fine, but gustavo got stuck mid way and they had to pull him from it. olivia was worried his pants would get pulled off, but she was relieved they didn't.
——
lastly, james, carlos, kendall, olivia, and gustavo all we're playing biohazard blast 4. olivia for the first time did not win and gustavo ending up beating everyone and won, because of his aggressive behavior.
"bam! i battle blasted all four of you! taste the shame!" gustavo exclaimed and the four tossed their controls down.
"yep, you sure showed us," kendall said with annoyance.
"i liked it better when olivia beat us," james sighed and olivia nodded.
"hey, where's logan?" carlos asked, noticing logan wasn't here and the five looked around for him.
"i haven't see him for a half hour," james mentioned, before muffled shouted was heard and gustavo stood up to reveal logan was underneath him the whole time.
"oh my gosh!" olivia gasped with the boys when they saw him imprinted into the couch.
"oh!"
"eww!"
logan stood up with horror and disgust from being under gustavo's butt for thirty minutes.
"how did that even-" kendall asked as logan shuddered and walked away without a word spoken.
"my bad," gustavo said before mrs. night walked out.
"okay, guys, time for bed!" mrs. knight said, carrying a pillow and blanket.
"yes!" carlos, james, and kendall cheered.
"olivia, time go home," mrs. knight added and the guy pouted.
"awww..."
olivia smiled at them, "it's okay, i'll be back tomorrow."
she hugged each of the guys and began to leave.
"bye!" she waved and the others waved back as she left the apartment.
——
knock! knock!
olivia trudged up to her front door in the middle of the night and opened it to reveal big time rush standing there with tired looks much like hers.
"what?!" she groaned as her sister walked out with the same expression.
"go away!" opal grumbled and olivia smacked her arm.
"gustavo snores like an earthquake, can we stay here?" kendall asked.
olivia groaned, rubbing her face and sighed.
"my dad doesn't allow boys staying over so, no," olivia denied and went to close the door, but the guys protested against her and she groaned.
"go sleep in the lobby," opal told them, ignoring james' flirty yet weary smile at her.
"the ghost is down there," carlos told her and olivia looked at her sister, who shrugged and walked away.
"you better be out before six am, because that's when my dad gets up and he can't catch you," olivia told them and boys cheered, but olivia scolded them and they stopped.
"you can sleep on the couch," olivia offered and the guys all hugged her, which made her groan. "ahhh, get off."
the guys got off and smiled with her, before she walked away.
"goodnight olivia!" the guys told her and she waved them off, shutting her bedroom door.
——
the boys had left by six am and didn't get caught, which relieved olivia a lot. her dad is a deep sleeper, so not much wakes him up and opal didn't rat them out, because she finds the boys cute. she has a small thing for james.
olivia, carlos, and logan were in the lobby, trying to catch the ghost that's been haunting the palm woods. logan doesn't believe it, olivia's 50/50, and carlos is the reason they're here.
"now, we run the lobby cam 24/7 for evidence of ghostly activity," carlos said as he was checking the lobby cam he was standing in front of.
logan shoved carlos out of view and moved into frame.
"day 1, three minutes into the investigation. paranormal prognosis," logan whispered and looked behind him to not see anything. "carlos is stupid."
carlos hit logan out of frame and olivia giggled lightly, before a huge crowd came storming in, complaining to bitters about the ghost. carlos moved the camera to film bitters, trying to calm down the crowd.
"palm woods is not haunted!" bitters told the crowd.
"my sister and i do not like hearing strange noises and lights flickering, while she writes her music," opal complained and olivia rolled her eyes at her
"opal..."
"we're having an electrical problem with the plumbing and it will be fixed today," bitters explained to the crowd and logan hit carlos' helmet.
"it's a ghost!" opal called and the crowd began to complain all at once again, while bitters tried to calm them down again.
"no, no, no, no, no, no! there is not ghost!" bitters exclaimed, "but i will be offering a free in-room movie for any inconvenience," bitters offered with a smile and the crowd mumbled with disappointment as they walked away from him.
opal waved at the three and olivia gave her a look.
"that was unnecessary," olivia told opal, who made her way to the elevator.
"nah, it really wasn't."
olivia rolled her eyes as opal went into the elevator and bitters approached the three with panic.
"what is taking so long? we have to catch that ghost," bitters muttered to them.
"ghost hunting takes patience and poise," carlos explained. "so don't pressure me!"
bitters rolled his eyes and stood behind the camera as logan stood in front of it.
"it's 2:03 and there are no such thing as ghosts and carlos is still stupid," logan whispered and carlos shoved him out of frame.
"get out of here," carlos mumbled and olivia giggled. "okay, no we just press record and look for anything unusual."
carlos pressed record on the camera and the four watched footage for a few moments. it didn't take long until a green ghost like figure zoomed by in the back and the four leaned back with shock as carlos yelled. the four then screamed in terror and fled from the scene with horror.
——
-the next day-
carlos, logan, and olivia were back and trying to catch the ghost, now believing it exists from what they saw yesterday. as they were doing this, gustavo ran by them with kendall and james following him. they stopped and turned to the three.
"hey, we need help getting gustavo back to his mansion," kendall told them.
"yeah, well, we need help getting rid of a ghost," carlos remarked.
"there is no ghost! there is no ghost!" bitters called out.
"yes, there is!" opal protested, walking up to them. "you're just in denial."
she walked away after that and olivia waited for the guys to say something about her.
"olivia's sister. nice," kendall and james smiled, before groaning and running off to catch gustavo.
"we have to get rid of that ghost!" bitters mumbled with worry.
"don't worry, we'll catch it..." carlos said and picked up a large fishing net. "tonight."
"with a fishing net?" logan asked.
"an ecto-net," carlos corrected.
"fishing net."
"an ecto-net."
"fishing net!"
"ecto-net!"
"it's a fishing net!"
the two boys began to argue over what the net was and olivia sighed, before her and bitters walked away from them.
——
-that night-
at around 11 pm, carlos, bitters, logan, and olivia were in lobby, going to sleep to try to catch the ghost. olivia didn't like this, she was scared and wanted to be in her own bed sleeping. not at risk of getting murdered by a ghost.
"okay, it's day two. 10:53 pm. me, bitters, logan, and liv are gonna sleep in the lobby in hopes to catch the ghost," carlos smiled at the camera and olivia sat up.
"if i get murdered, i'm taking you with me," olivia threatened carlos.
"i'll take that risk," carlos told her.
"there are no ghost," logan protested, before he laid back down.
suddenly, bitters let out a large fart and olivia groaned, covering her face.
"dude!" logan said and bitters sat up.
"did you hear that? it was the ghost," bitters said and olivia rolled her eyes, turning away from him.
"bitters just ripped one," carlos told the camera, before going to his sleeping bag and going to sleep.
——
about thirty minutes later, at 12:21 am, the doors in the back hallway of the lobby slammed shut and the four sat up from their sleep.
"what was that?" olivia asked before all four of their sleeping bags were pulled off their bodies and they screamed in fear. thunder clapped in the background and paper flew around their heads as the green ghost figure slowly emerged from bitters office.
the four turned and saw the ghost behind them, which made them all get up and flee from the scene in terror.
——
olivia ran down the hallway yelling in fear to get to her apartment, but she stopped when she saw big time rush standing in front of their door.
she grabbed carlos instinctively and he wrapped his arms around her.
"ghost! i don't like ghost!" she cried and james, kendall and logan all grinned at carlos, who was enjoying this way to much.
"i don't either, liv," carlos said, tightening his grip on her and smiling. "i got you."
kendall, logan, and james gave carlos a thumbs up with a smile.
——
the guys had come up with a plan prior to olivia running up to them and olivia was a part of it. olivia was confused when she saw the four boys wearing vacuums on their backs and wasn't.
"vacuum cleaners," she smiled, holding her stuffed panda to her chest. "how's that gonna work?"
"these are ecto-vacuum cleaners," carlos corrected.
"vacuum cleaners," logan mumbled and carlos smacked his head.
"they trap dust mites, stale odors, and ghosts," james explained.
"where's my vacuum?" olivia asked, noticing she didn't have one.
"oh, you're the ghost bait," kendall told her and olivia gave them wide eyes as the guys smiled at her.
"what?!" she gasped, "why not logan?!"
"because in the movies the girl is always the bait and gets saved by the guys," james explained.
"i hate those movies," she scolded, before james picked her up and moved her into the lobby with the others following, ignoring her calls.
——
2:53 am
olivia was now laying in the lobby alone, holding her stuffed panda in her arms.
"there better be turns, because i'm not staying here all night," olivia called to the boys, who didn't answer and this scared her. "guys? guys?"
the ghost suddenly walked into view as olivia was turned away, looking for them.
"guys! please, i'm alone and scared don't make me do this!" she cried out, but stopped when she heard groaning beside her and turned to see the ghost. she yelled out in fear and scrambled to her feet, moving behind kendall, who had walked in from the pool. james, logan, and carlos all appeared next to kendall and they pointed their vacuums are the ghost.
"stop right there!" kendall warned the ghost, "wow, you're a really freaky ghost."
"ecto vacuums go!" james called and the four boys turned on vacuums, trying to suck the ghost into them. the ghost managed to escape and carlos called out as the four boys and olivia chased after it.
"get it!"
the scene turned into a similar scooby-do moment with the guys and olivia chasing the ghost all throughout the lobby as 'city is ours' by big time rush played in the background.
soon enough, the four boys and olivia bumped into the ghost. the boys blasted the ghost with the vacuums while screaming and olivia was hiding behind them. soon, the drape covering the ghost was pulled off to reveal opal under it wearing a helmet with a fake head.
"opal?!" the five gasped and olivia moved past them to see her sister.
"you were the ghost?" olivia asked her sister, who nodded with a grin.
"and i would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling, cute, hot guys, and little sister of mine," opal remarked with a smile and james waved with a wink as the others smiled, besides carlos.
"you little, ughhhh!" olivia groaned, "what the heck!"
"why would you do that?" kendall asked her.
"my sister is such a star and i love her, but my dad focuses a lot on her and i want to be actress, but don't have money, so i decided to make a no-budget horror movie ," opal explained and olivia raised her eyebrows at her sister. "and i kind of used you guys as my cast. say hi to the cameras."
around them, there were a few cameras on the ceiling and walls and the boys and olivia waved at them awkwardly.
"are you guys mad?" opal asked.
"yes," olivia said and opal gave her a look. "you should've told me about this, then i could've helped you. i'd do anything to get dad of my back."
"i was too nervous to ask you. i'd thought you'd say no," opal shrugged and olivia sighed.
"you're my sister, i wouldn't say no," olivia smiled and hugged opal, who smiled and hugged her back.
"are you guys mad?" opal asked the guys as the sisters pulled away.
"nah," carlos, james, and kendall shook their heads.
"yes!" logan said.
"please don't tell!" opal begged, "my dad will take away my license and i broke a lot of bitter's stuff in the lobby."
"sure, we won't tell," kendall agreed, taking her ghost hand away. "on one condition."
——
gustavo was still at the apartment and wouldn't leave, so the boys asked opal to scare him away with her ghost costume. while gustavo was sleeping, thunder clapped and opal was controlling the ghost costume that stood above him, while kendall spoke into a microphone with a spooky voice.
"gustavo! rah!"
gustavo woke up and gasped at the sight of the ghost.
"return to your mansion now! go to your piano... and-and write some song! uh...uh... d-dance songs some dance songs!"
gustavo yelled in fear.
"return to your mansion now and write some songs!"
"GHOST!"
gustavo screamed with terror and got up from his bed, fleeing from the apartment.
"and cut!" opal smiled, standing up from behind the bed and holding a string that was controlling the ghost. "that's s wrap!"
the boys cheered, standing up from behind the counter and olivia cheered from next to opal.
"what is going on? it's 3:30 in the morning!?" katie scolded as she walked out with mrs. knight.
"katie, let me handle this," mrs. knight told her daughter." what is going on? it's 3:30 in the morning?!"
"mom, you remember opal, olivia's sister?" kendall asked his mom, who nodded in confusion.
"yes..."
"she's the palm woods ghost," logan and carlos told mrs. knight.
"hey," opal chuckled, waving the ghost hand at her and katie and mrs. knight waved.
"she helped us scare gustavo back to his mansion!" james cheered and the boys cheered with him as katie and mrs. knight did a subtle fist bump.
"so, what happens?" katie asked, "gustavo writes a song, and you guys do a music video?"
——
'a shot in the dark'
(kendall)
i promise i would be there
i swear i'm on my way
i know you may not hear me
but that's the price i'll pay
(kendall and james)
i don't know, how i would
ever go, all alone, walking on my own
like angels, you were floating to me
and that's how it should be
(all)
cause I don't wanna waste another moment
i don't wanna pay for things unspoken
i just wanna race with arms wide open
take a shot in the dark
to be where you are
i don't wanna watch the world keep changing
when i'm not with you
my heart keeps shaking
cover up my eyes and just stop pacing
take a shot in the dark
to be where you are
(carlos)
i promise you i'm gonna be there
i wanna be there
no matter what happens
no matter how tragic
(logan)
because the clock is ticking
the world is spinning
our lives are passing us by
(all)
i don't wanna watch the world keep changing
when i'm not with you
my heart keeps shaking
cover up my eyes and just stop pacing
take a shot in the dark
to be where you are
take a shot in the dark
——
-the next day-
"well, looks like everything's back to normal," kendall mentioned as he was chilling at the pool with his band, jo, olivia, and opal.
"gustavo is gone," james smiled as he rubbed sunblock on opal's back.
"and so is the ghost," carlos smiled and olivia grinned from her spot next to carlos.
"then we can all relax again by the palm woods pool again," jo added, before a loud, scraping sound was heard and they all turned to see the same table moving across the ground.
logan sat up and smiled at opal.
"opal?"
"not me!" she said with her hands up, before everyone began to scream in fear and run around besides opal, who stood up for her chair. she watched everyone run away as katie stood up from behind a bush and laughed.
"man, i can't believe how much fun you can have with a fishing line!" katie said, holding a fishing line and opal laughed.
"i told you so." opal said and fist bumped katie as they watched everyone scream and run in terror.
——
Up Next: big time dance
finally! i'm at the chapter i've been dying to write. the dance chapter!
we are gonna get major carlos and olivia fluff in this one and a little bit of drama as well. i'm so excited for this, can't wait for you guys to read it.
also, we get to officially meet opal, olivia's older sister. i know stephanie is supposed to be here, but since she played as carlos' love interest and this is a carlos story, i changed it with opal, and it worked out pretty well. idk if opal and james will be a thing or not, just something to keep in mind. sorry i took out stephanie, she doesn't play a huge role and stays for two episodes and that's it. so, i decided to replace her with opal.
remember jackson rivers from the cast chapter? well, he's making his first appearance in this chapter and some drama will happen. get excited.
see ya in the next chapter!
songs used in this chapter: Stuck, and
Shot In The Dark
by Big Time Rush