Carlos sighs as he walks through the lobby. He's been missing Stephanie lately. She's been gone for months, but he really hates that he can't see her anymore. They were together for several months and, truthfully, Carlos had feelings for her. If she had chosen to attend college in LA, they could have stayed together. But he knows that he should be supportive of her. He's not the brightest person in the world, but he has heard that NYU is a great school for people interested in film. This was a huge opportunity for her and Carlos wants her to do what makes her happy. It's just too bad that he's now the only single member of the band. He's had some girls flirt with him, but none of them are as good as Stephanie. She had both looks and personality, which are two things that Carlos likes in a girl. She should be pretty, but she also needs to have a good personality.
He's deep in thought when his eyes land on the front desk. is talking to a new guest. She's wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a black blazer. Blonde hair straightened, green eyes, cute smile...Carlos still thinks of Stephanie as the only girl he wants to have a serious relationship with, but a little flirting might help him get over the pain of losing her. He doesn't know who this girl is, but he feels a strong urge to go over to her and say "I'm Carlos Garcia! Would you like to hang out with me by the pool?"
He's about to do that. That is, until a man approaches the desk and wraps his arm around the girl's waist. The guy looks like he could be about twenty six years old. He's tall, has brown hair, and he has a little bit of scruff. He's wearing jeans and a white South Pole T shirt. Well, he has no chance of talking to the girl now, because she's obviously taken. She certainly confirms it when she kisses the man right on the lips. Yeah, she's got a boyfriend. Carlos listens in disappointment as hands them their key, saying his signature phrase "Have a Palm Woods day" before letting the young couple head to the elevator.
Once they're gone, Carlos approaches the desk. He may not have any chance with this girl, but he at least wants to know who she is. There's no reason that he can't ask about her. It's not like he's planning on asking her out or anything. She's new to the Palm Woods and Carlos is curious about her. Once again, he's aware that he cannot ask her out.
"Who's the new girl?" He asks.
"McKenna Leighton, 22 years old, from San Diego, recently snagged a guest spot on New Town High, and she's engaged to Greg Cooper. They're getting married toward the end of December." says boredly. "Don't ask her out because One:She's too old for you and Two:She's taken."
"Trust me." Carlos mutters as he walks away. "I don't plan on it."
Twenty two? She does not look twenty two. Carlos assumed that she was about eighteen or nineteen. But he's eighteen and some people think that he's fifteen, so it's possible to look a little younger than you actually are. McKenna is a little on the short side (About five foot five,) so it's hard to guess that she's actually in her twenties. But whatever. Carlos will just keep thinking about Stephanie and the fact that all of his friends are in happy, committed relationships. He's really depressed now, so he's just gonna lay down and mope around.
The parking garage entrance dings and Carlos turns to see who's showing up this time. It's James, who must barely be getting back from Santa Monica. This is exactly why Carlos feels down sometimes. Even James has a serious girlfriend and he has always been the player of the group! Yet sweet Carlos Garcia is all alone, with no one to go on romantic getaways with. Heck, Carlos won't be surprised if he sees an engagement ring on Jenna's finger in the next couple of years. He wants James to be happy, but he has always hoped that he would get married before James.
"Hey, how was your getaway with Jenna?" He asks, pretending to be interested.
"Fun." James smiles as they walk to the elevator. "We spent, like, three hours at the beach today. Man,I love that girl."
"That's great." Carlos says, faking a smile. Yeah, James really loves Jenna. Carlos doesn't have anyone to love. He can understand Kendall and Logan having serious relationships because they've never been the type to play with girls hearts, but James has always been the one that never stayed in a relationship for more than a few weeks. Now that he's finally settled down with one girl and Carlos has no one, Carlos is starting to feel sort of jealous. Seeing James kissing Jenna, giving her hugs, hearing him talk about her all the time...Is it wrong for Carlos to feel bothered by this?
James must notice a change in Carlos's demeanor because he gives his friend a confused look. Ugh, Carlos hopes that he won't say anything. The shorter boy is in no mood to discuss his personal issues. He rarely has any issues. In fact, he's a very positive and upbeat person, but even he can have bad days. Today is one of them. It didn't really help that Jo came over and begged Kendall to watch some romantic comedy film with her. Somehow, Carlos ended up joining them and as the film continued, he started thinking about Stephanie.
"Um, you okay?" James asks him.
"Yeah." Carlos lies as they leave the elevator.
"No, you're not." James laughs humorlessly. "You sound like you're mad about something."
Okay, James is definitely onto him. Well, he might as well admit his concerns, even if James does end up getting angry with him. Should he be scared? If they mention his dad, he ends up freaking out on them. Carlos doesn't know if he should mention his jealous over James's first serious relationship. Jenna is special to James and he loves her, so Carlos isn't being a very good friend by being jealous, but since James is asking, he might as well tell the truth.
"Fine." He sighs. "I think it's great that you have a girlfriend, but I don't understand how I ended up being the only single member of the band. You've always been the player of the group. I guess I just feel left out because you're finally deciding to settle down with one girl. You and I use to have something in common because, while Kendall and Logan were with Jo and Camille, you and I would hang out because we didn't have girls tying us down."
"So you're jealous because I've finally found someone that makes me happy?" James says quietly, hurt filling his eyes.
"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Carlos says desperately.
"You're making it sound like I should have to be alone for the rest of my life!" James says angrily. "Well, it's time for a reality check! Maybe I don't want to date every single hot girl I see! Maybe I like having just one girl in my life! I know that you miss Stephanie, but that doesn't mean that I should have to give up my happiness! As my friend, you should want me to be happy. I love Jenna and she makes me very happy, so I would appreciate if you would just deal with it. Whether you like it or not, Jenna is a part of my life. And that's how it's always gonna be."
Suddenly, Carlos feels pretty angry himself. James is totally twisting his words around! He doesn't expect James to be alone for the rest of his life. He just wishes that James would wait a few years, so they could be single together. They could keep being the Hollywood Super Party Kings Of Hollywood that don't need girlfriends to have fun.
"You are getting way too defensive about this!" He retorts.
"No, Carlos, I know what you're saying! You don't care about my happiness! You just expect me to stay the same for the rest of my life!" James says, practically yelling now.
"Well, I'm sorry if I expected you to turn out just like your dad!" Carlos says, using the same tone. "Like father, like son, right?"
A moment of silence follows as Carlos realizes what he just said. No...No, he did not just go there. He just hit forbidden territory with those words. No one has ever had the heart to say something so horrible to James, yet Carlos finally did. His heart breaks as he stares at James's face. It's ashen, broken, his hurt on full display. How could Carlos be so horrible?
"I'm-I'm gonna go out for a while." James murmurs, walking back to the elevator.
"Carlos, why were you and James fighting?" Logan asks from the doorway.
"Oh...Um, I'll tell you later." Carlos sighs, walking to his room.
James holds back tears as he parks in front of Jenna's house. He can't believe that Carlos compared him to his dad, the man that has done nothing but hurt James. Everyone says that he's nothing like his dad, but if Carlos says he is, then he's not so sure. Maybe Carlos sees something that no one else does. What if he really is like his father? He needs to talk to Jenna. She'll be able to comfort him. He just prays that he won't break down in tears in front of her. He doesn't feel like crying in front of his girlfriend.
He wipes his tears away as he walks to the porch, sniffling. He looks at his reflection in the glass window next to the door. For a brief moment, his expression becomes tearful and he almost starts to cry, but he quickly regains his composure and rings the doorbell. He takes a deep breath as Chris answers it, giving her a weak smile.
"James? I thought you went back to the Palm Woods." She says in confusion.
"I need to talk to Jenna." James says softly, walking into the building.
"She's in the living room." Chris says worriedly.
James sighs as he enters the living room, seeing his girlfriend on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. When she sees him, he tries to give her a smile. She sits the bowl on the coffee table and walks over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugs her tightly and buries his face in her hair, kissing the top of her head. Why does Carlos not see that Jenna makes James happy? He loves her so much and his own best friend is jealous. It really hurts him.
"Jay, why are you back?" She asks as Chris walks to the kitchen. She squeezes James waist and looks up at his face, frowning when she notices the saddened expression on his tired face. "Jay?"
She reaches up to touch his face, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Come on." She says, guiding him to the couch. They sit down and James rests his head on her shoulder. She strokes his cheek and becomes even more concerned when a single tear falls. He never acts like this unless something has seriously upset him. She wants to know what's wrong, but he seems too upset to speak. She wants him to talk to her.
"Do you think I'm as bad as my father?" He asks softly.
"What?" Jenna whispers in disbelief.
"My dad use to date a lot of girls and I use to be like that until I met you." James says softly, finally lifting his head from her shoulder. "Me and Carlos were arguing and he said that he expected me to turn out just like my dad. And before you ask why we were arguing, Carlos was feeling down about Stephanie and being single, so he started feeling jealous of me."
"Jay, baby, you are nothing like your dad." Jenna says, cupping his face in her hands. "You are a wonderful person. You may have dated a lot of girls, but you never meant any harm. Like you've said before, you only broke up with them because they wanted to move too fast. Your dad was a heartbreaker, but he was a jerk. On the other hand, you are a very sweet guy. I love you and I don't think Carlos meant what he said. He was just tired and stressed out, so he took it out on you. You're much better than your dad."
"You think so?" James says tiredly.
"Yeah." Jenna says, kissing his cheek.
"Thanks for the comfort, baby girl." James says, pulling her into a hug. He gives her a short kiss and lets his hand cup her cheek. He feels kind of bad for Carlos. Maybe he should play matchmaker or something. You know, set Carlos up with a pretty girl. That would surely help him get over Stephanie. It's been five months and he really needs to move on. There are a ton of hot, single girls looking for a boyfriend.
"Go home and make up with your best friend, okay?" Jenna urges. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay." James says, smiling as Jenna gives him a kiss.
"I love you." Jenna grins, kissing his cheek.
"I love you, too."
"You compared him to his dad?" Kendall says in disbelief, pacing in the middle of the living room. "Carlos, I know you were feeling upset, but still! You know how sensitive that subject is! Whether you're feeling jealous or not, you cannot say things like that. For all we know, he could be out drowning his sorrows in alcohol! Not that I think he's that kind of person or anything, but you never know! Or what if he went out for a drive and he got into a car accident? What if he's laying in a hospital bed right now?"
Carlos cringes at the thought of his best friend being hurt. Sometimes Kendall can make a person feel better, but sometimes he can make them feel worse than they already do. Carlos already felt bad enough, but thinking about something happening to James before Carlos can apologize makes the boy feel really guilty. He already feels bad enough.
"Kendall, calm down!" Logan says quickly before taking a deep breath. "Carlos, when James gets home, just apologize to him."
The door opens and James walks into the apartment. Kendall and Logan look at each other, then awkwardly leave the room. Reluctantly, Carlos stands up and approaches James. He's scared to face his friend, but he needs to apologize. He knew as soon as he spoke that he had said the wrong thing. He had screwed up big time and now he needs to fix his mistake.
"James, I'm sorry." He says. "I was mad and I said the first thought that came to my mind. But I should have considered your feelings before I said anything. I'm happy for you and Jenna. You guys are an amazing couple and you're going to have an amazing future together. Truthfully, I got jealous because I want to find someone special, too. My best friends have already found the girls that they want to be with, while I'm alone."
"No, you're not." James finally says. "You may be single now, but you're going to find someone special someday. Your dream girl is out there. You just have to find her."
"You're not mad anymore?" Carlos asks hopefully.
"No." James sighs. "But you know why I've dated so many girls, right? They all wanted to take our relationship to the next level. You know, they wanted to get married right after graduation, but I didn't want that, so I dumped them. My dad broke hearts for the fun of it, but I didn't."
"I know." Carlos insists. "I was just being stupid."
"Yeah." James says with a soft smile.
"Forgive me?"
"Sure." James grins.
"Wanna hear about the new girl?"
"There's a new girl?"
"Yeah, but she's taken."
"I have no interest in asking her out." James says, smacking his friend behind the head. "When a new kid comes to the Palm Woods, I like to know who they are. So stop making jokes and just tell me about the girl."
"Fine." Carlos says. "Her name is McKenna, she's blonde, she's an actress, she's super hot, and she's getting married next month."
"How old is she?" James says slowly. He certainly hopes that she's not too young. Some may beat the odds, but many people that get married young end up getting a divorce. That's why he thinks that people should be at least twenty one before they decide to tie the knot. He supposes that twenty is okay, too. But he doesn't think that anyone should be getting married when they're younger than that.
"She's twenty two."
"Okay, then."
"Think she would consider a friendly date with me?" Carlos asks hopefully.
"Dude, that's wrong on so many levels." James says, shaking his head. "First of all, find someone your own age. Second of all, I don't think she's gonna go on a "friendly date" with an eighteen year old when she's engaged to be married to the love of her life."
"I know." Carlos says in disappointment."I just really want a girlfriend."
"You'll find someone." James assures him.