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bunnyfern · 1 month ago

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Chapter 5

Phases Of The Moon

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ 𝄞

Like clockwork, the five teens were at Rocque Records working tirelessly in the studio. The band was recording one of the new songs Gustavo wrote, which Crowe helped in finishing. For once letting someone besides himself write some lyrics and add opinions of their own.

She’s been trying for days on end to get Gustavo to use another one of her songs for the band, from leaving the journal wide open for him to see ‘by accident’ and hoping he finds it. To just straight up giving him the recent song she’s so close to completing. But of course, he never budged. He would barely skim the pages over before handing it back without another thought. Ignoring any kind of suggestions from anyone on his next song.

Big Time Rush, aside from the singing, went over the new choreography they learned from Mr. X a few days ago. Getting better with each practice, even if they still have some fumbles with the moves. Even improving on their singing skills, Big Time Rush getting better with every practice. Kelly sat next to Crowe on the left, both of them jamming along. Crowe glanced to her right at Gustavo for some kind of reassuring input, yet he didn’t seem pleased with their work. In the countless days they’ve been here, it’s been hard to get his approval or give the band a single compliment.

She’s used to the attitude and used to being frustrated in not knowing if anything was ever good enough. Except this time caring more about him showing some kind of positive feedback for the guys, rather than her.

When they finished a clean practice, Logan cheered and threw his hands back. Right square in Carlos’ face and knocking in down. None of the guys helped him up, letting him do it himself. Crowe winced and followed the producer into the dance studio with Kelly in tow.

“Gustavo, the song is great.” Kendall said his praises. “Um, of course, it’s great. I wrote it.” Gustavo was always giving himself a pat on the back, never thinking about anyone else. “With my help.” Crowe chirped, standing next to Gustavo. Practically frowning when he didn’t acknowledge her one bit and continued, “But the band isn’t great. What’s missing is the secret rock and roll ingredient.” He went down the row, passing the boys while they each took a guess, except for Kendall who cared less. Taking a glance at Crowe to see if she knew, only shrugging as a response.

“Hair mousse.” James’ hair-related guess. Of course.

“Chocolate mousse.” Carlos’ food-related guess. Sounds good.

“Spandex? Please don’t say spandex.” Logan’s odd outfit guess. Why would he? Raising an eyebrow at his misplaced worries.

But Gustavo had something completely different in mind. “The bad boy.” The wave of his hand showed the, possibly fake, enthusiasm he had. Shaking Logan he explained further, “The ill-tempered rebel with a flair for synchronized dance. One of you has to be it.” Gustavo went down the line as he wanted to make the band excited about who it was going to be. But Crowe grew suspicious of where he came up with the idea and more importantly, why.

Each boy smiling to themselves and waiting to be singled out. “I say it’s Kendall.” Gustavo grinned at the boy and Kelly backed him up, apparently knowing the plan already. Kendall was in disbelief but Crowe thought otherwise, usually he was the one pulling the others into his plan. So it did fit his personality, it's just Kendall didn't want to admit it.

He can’t pull off looking like a bad boy though. Attitude, yeah maybe. But I don’t know about the rest. Head tilted, she eyed each one down. Trying to envision them wearing a darker and edgier look, but it wasn’t going to be any better than their looks now. Logan had the nerdy type of look, so no on him. Carlos is the more fun one instead of dark and broody. And James…maybe if he wanted to he could. He had the attitude to compare but the looks, not so much.

Kendall instantly fought against it, “Gustavo, why do we need a bad boy?” Gustavo snapped a finger at Kelly, holding her phone up so everyone could hear a message and showing a printed out photo of the crazed CEO. “Gustavo, it’s Griffin. The band needs a bad boy. Bye.”

Clearly annoyed, Crowe sighed at the culprit while Gustavo made his known. “He’s driving me crazy!” He swiftly took his sunglasses off, reverting back to calm. “But he’s also right, because the bad boy is a rock and roll tradition.” He had the group follow him to where all of his previous hit bands posters resided, in a hallway they've passed by basically everyday.

She mumbled to herself, “Are they rock and roll though?”

The first one was ‘Boyquake’ on the left wall, “Notice the back turned to the rest of the band.” Singling out the one dressed in an orange jumpsuit and bandana on his head, “Bad boy.” Going across on the right was ‘Boy Blast’. “Notice the back turned, the dark clothing, and the scowl.” This time wearing a leather jacket, with sunglasses and a bandana.

She read aloud the poster as it had one of their hit songs written on it, “‘Girl U R my world’?” She laughed at the title but Gustavo scowled at her and she turned the laughing into a coughing fit. “Some- something, uh. It got- got caught, in, throat.” Crossing her arms and backing up closer to the band, between Kendall and James to easily hide.

Gustavo didn’t miss a beat, “Bad boy.” It was Kelly who recalled a failed band, “But there can only be one bad boy per group, as learned from the bad boys experiment of ‘95.” revealing a hidden poster behind the previous one, showing each of the members back turned and not seeing a single face.

What’s up with the fucking bandanas?

Gustavo showed the disappointment he had with it, “Didn’t sell a single cd.” Crowe found it hilarious but refrained from laughing so as to not get scolded again.

“But we’re best friends. We never turn our backs on each other.” Kendall stated as the other three friends agreed with him. He wasn’t going to let Gustavo, or Griffin, turn one of them into something they’re not.

Don’t jinx yourself.

Gustavo had a knowing smirk, “Then let me let you in on another rock and roll secret.” Pointing from him to the teens who looked at each other curious. “The bad boy is also the most popular member of the band,”

I guess that’s true. Reminiscing the past crushes on bad or alternative boys she’s had.

“Makes the most money,”

I don’t think that’s, right? Pursing her lips in wonder, and maybe some disbelief.

“And dates the hottest models.” Gustavo knew he won the teens over. Or at least three of them.

James, Logan, and Carlos started to shove the other, literally turning their backs and letting Gustavo know that they could be ‘bad’, but Kendall wasn’t having it. Tired of their act and how frustratingly easy it was to convince his friends. Crowe giggled to herself, “Or they could be emo instead.” but Kendall overheard, looking down at her with a frown. She quickly covered it up, “Or no. Bad idea. Yeah, bad idea. Definitely. Who would’ve thought of that.” Silently missing her heavily accessorized emo look and style from a couple years ago. All thanks to the hand-me-downs from Luka.

“Let’s go.” Kendall nodded to Crowe, dragging the other three down the hallway. She just looked at him leaving then to her bosses. Kelly freed her of anymore work and told her the time they should come by tomorrow.

Having one last thing to say before letting her leave, “Oh,” Kelly beamed in excitement while Gustavo retreated to his office. “You have your first acting gig soon! Are you excited?”

Crowe gulped, “Already?” Feigning the same excitement. “Don’t I need to like, have an audition or whatever. H-how do I already have a gig?” Pulling on her bag strap, a nervous habit that she needed to quit. “We were able to work something out and got you a part. Well, more like an extra but it covers what the A.S.A.P needs so it all works out.” Kelly opened her binder and pulled out a piece of paper. “This covers everything you need for next week.”

Taking it in her hands, it had a list of things the extras, now including Crowe, had to wear for the scene’s she would be in. There were other things too, like the times for shoots and things Crowe didn’t really care enough to know. She was too focused on the paper before registering, “Next week?” Ruining the edges of the pristine paper.

Kelly nodded, ending the conversation with an answer from her ringing phone. Going back to work as Crowe stood frozen. Nodding to herself then catching up to Kendall and the three new idiots. Back into the fresh breeze and hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Logan, Carlos, and James were walking ahead of them on the sidewalk, Crowe noticed Kendall’s defeated look. “You know?” She wanted to take her mind off the gig. He glanced down at her, “What?” She smiled up at him, this being the first time she’s initiated a conversation. “I think tomorrow’s gonna be fun.” Kendall laughed, he knew it too but he had to live with them and she didn’t. Meaning he was going to suffer their act longer and it was certainly going to be a long, rough night.

She slowed the walk down to a stop, “What are they doing?” Pointing in the direction of the three. At one of the street corners near the Palm Woods, a sunglasses stand was displayed and a worker was selling a pair to each boy. After that they kept walking, entering the lobby where there was another change of looks from the boys.

Both Carlos and James took off their shirts, Crowe covered her eyes, flustered, but Kendall reassured her they had another shirt underneath. She awkwardly laughed it off and rubbed her neck. Logan didn’t exactly do the same thing, all he did was undo the top button of his shirt, leaving Crowe to shake her head at the embarrassing display.

At least when they were in the elevator the act was put on hold. For those very few seconds Kendall had to cherish them, expecting the act to remain for days. Once the elevator beeped, the bad boys went back to the over dramaticness. She fell behind the four and just zoned out, thinking, stressing out.

Next week?! Why does it have to be so soon? Am I even ready for next week? I need more time.

Logan burst through the apartment door as the other two bad boys shouted their heys at Mrs. Knight, the only two sane ones entering last. Unfortunately, they upped their antics once inside the ‘safety’ of the crib, with Carlos jumping on the couch and mooning people outside by the pool. Crowe had to hope that none of them would complain and it led to them getting kicked out.

James thought he was being tough by crushing an empty water bottle on his head. And Logan was hitting the hockey dome like it was a drum, that almost being the tipping point for Crowe to burst out laughing from the sight. A sad display of what they thought being bad was, she could think of multiple things way worse they could do.

“Gustavo says one of us has to be the bad boy.” Kendall explained their actions to his mom. “But you’re all nice boys.” Mrs. Knight didn’t believe in the facades. Then in an instant she grabbed Kendall and Crowe’s shoulders but mostly directed her fear at her son, “Oh, I am so glad you’re here. There’s an axe maniac on the loose!” She shook the two. Crowe could see Katie further back by the sink with a sign that said ‘NO there’s NOT!’ and so did Kendall, telling his mom they would be extra careful.

“We want pizza! Now!” The three bad boys yelled at Mrs. Knight. Crowe stared at them wide eyed, with Kendall looking at them like they’re crazy. Mrs. Knight turned to stare them down and didn’t say a word before they all frantically apologized to her, stumbling over their words.

After that display, Crowe thought it was a good time to head out. She whispered to Kendall, “Good luck with them, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Before she could take a step he stopped her, “What? You’re leaving already, why?” He was hoping that she could make things a tiny bit tolerable.

“Yeah,” She dragged it out, slowly stepping towards the door. “I’m not gonna deal with them. I need to keep my sanity. Or what’s left of it.” Crowe shrugged and gave him a lopsided grin. She tried to leave again but failed, arms blocking the path. “Oh come on, I thought that maybe we could hang out. Watch tv or something.” Her eyes darted between him and the floor, “Why? We don’t need to.” Adding a forced chuckle at the end.

Now Kendall looked confused, curious on why she thought that. Thinking maybe if it was just him, and Katie, then she would want to stay, since James wouldn’t necessarily be around. But now it seemed like she didn’t want to be here at all, he wanted to ask but couldn’t as a crash came from the living room. A groaning Logan was on the floor, unsure of how it happened but deciding to ignore it.

“If you need me, I’ll be next door.” Crowe took that chance to finally slip out and into the hallway.

Unlocking and softly shutting her door, doing her routine like normal. In a completely new-new place, still finding it hard to believe she lives here. It took a few days to get comfortable with the looks of it all.

⟡

The night after the remodel when Katie left, Crowe spent it laying in bed thinking and talking to someone from back home.

When Mrs. Knight asked for her parents number, she went ahead and called someone completely different. But in her defense, this someone did take care of and gave her a job at the Snowdrop Ice Rink back in Minnesota. So it was only plausible that he would be the one to call if something ever happened to Crowe.

And after five rings he picked up, saying his usual vulgar line whenever he got an unknown number.

“Ugh, I don't miss you cussing at everything.” Crowe put her phone on speaker while putting the journals away in the cramped box.

A very loud gasp came from the other end, “Cece? You finally called! What took you so long, punk? Busy with Hollywood celebrities and huge parties?” He laughed knowing she didn’t have a social bone in her body. “Haha, maybe I should just hang up. I have important things to do. And don’t you have work, Luka?” She always gave him sarcasm, it's never a rude thing, sometimes, and he knew it.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m about to close.” Reminding her about the time difference now between them. “How’s LA treating you? Bosses, co-workers, anyone else you met. And whose phone are you calling me on?” Luka wanted to know everything and he didn’t care that he was in the middle of working at the ice rink. Crowe also knew how quickly he could close, so she went ahead and rambled.

Failing at stuffing the books back in, pulling everything out and scattering it about. Her bed soon became a colorful mess.

Talking about the first couple of days they got there, not mentioning the fact she got fired and was extremely close to returning home. Getting her first phone thanks to the company. How the producer she’s raved about is an ill-tempered man who calls them dogs. Luka seemed concerned with that expression but Crowe reassured him it wasn’t anything bad, considering he surprised her with a revamped place. Bragging about how much nicer it is than her old bedroom.

A crumpled piece of paper fell out of one of the journals, freezing time with it. Staggering her breath, Luka’s voice turned to a ringing.

My list? I thought I threw it away. Why is it..?

Forced out of her mind with his grounding laugh. Sliding the childish thoughts to the side.

Bringing up the band members, describing them in almost vivid detail. The pranks that they've already pulled and her getting dragged along into their plans, freaking out every time. Briefly glazing over the single band mate she has a slight distaste with and he immediately teased her.

“Hmm, sounds like someone I already know.” Laughing so loud it was like she was next to him. “Cállate, at least I’m tolerable.” He kept laughing and she buried her face in blankets.

Coming back up for air, “Oh, guess what? Guess what?!” Practically screaming into the phone and blowing his eardrums out. “Qué pasó?”

“I have a friend! Like, a legit friend, she even said so herself.” Luka found her gushing sweet and reassuring that Crowe wasn’t completely alone in LA. “What about..” He sighed and strained the question, “The guys? Did you ask to be friends with them?” She snorted at his attitude. “No,” she laid on her back, staring at the dull ceiling with the phone on her chest. A mental note to buy glow in the dark stars. “I’m not sure they want to be friends with someone they work with.”

He hummed, knowing how particular she is due to a certain blonde back in Minnesota. “Just ask, no harm in that. They might say yes.”

⟡⟡

Crowe woke up and did her routine, double checking if she had everything stuffed in the bag. The old wrinkled paper on the bedside table taunting her, wanting to be checked off for completion.

Shutting the front door and knocking on the next one, yawing at the day ahead of her.

Kendall, awake and annoyed already, greeted her inside. “Why don't you use that door?” Pointing to the easier, accessible one in the middle of the apartment. “I forget it's there.” Staring at it while the two sat at the dining table.

The other boys were nowhere in sight, leaving Crowe to ask if they were still asleep. Before Kendall got a chance to answer, the three emerged from their bedrooms. The sudden sight made her blink multiple times to make sure it was real, knowing the best part of this would come later.

When the five got to the studio, they could see Gustavo and Kelly sitting behind a desk placed in the middle of the hallway, in front of his office. Crowe got flashbacks from the audition to how similar it looked, but this time she wasn’t going to make a foul out of herself. It would be the three boys.

Crowe sat on one of the white chairs across from the table, leaning over with her hands on her chin. Kendall took the armrest of the same chair as they all waited to see the ‘bad boys’ in action. Kelly and Gustavo stared in astonishment, curious of what’ll prove them as bad.

First up was Carlos. Dressed in all black with a leather jacket, combat boots, baggy pants, and a shirt that had a flaming skull on it. Oddly enough, his helmet matches the look nicely.

He held a wooden board up to his head, wasting no time and splitting it in half, successfully breaking it. Impressing them for a second. But he was overconfident, falling to the ground from the impact like he broke it directly on his forehead even though he had his signature helmet on. No one moved to help him up, leaving the first contender on the carpeted floor.

Second to try was James. Wearing oversized jeans, with silver designs on the left leg. His pants being too long on him it was hard to tell what shoes he was wearing, but it was easy to tell what adorned his head. Another bandana, this time in a bejeweled silver and black color. Everything James wore there was a hint of flashiness to it.

Hopping around and singing a horrible short rap about how he was bad, ending it with showing off a shiny silver grill set. Flaunting it to the judges with a, literally, bright grin. “Really, a grill? Logan!” Gustavo was the least bit interested in him or his bit, wanting to get this over with already. It was a fun time for Crowe, having a blast from the antics. But Kendall was done with everything they were doing, annoyed at his friends for acting this way and his boss who gladly accepted it.

Crowe chuckled at James, finding it hard to look at him directly without wanting to laugh her head off from the gaudy outfit. He was less than happy he didn’t get picked, joining the two on the chair and taking the other arm rest. Kendall laughed at James as he crossed his arms like a kid pouting.

Lastly, it was Logan’s turn. In the same style as the other two. Oversized jeans, jacket, sunglasses and hat. Throwing the shades off to the side once he started. It was hard to tell if he knew what a bad boy was since he went with dancing, very badly. When Gustavo said bad boys had a thing for dancing, this was the last thing he had in mind. Flinging his legs around and snapping his fingers, back to wildly throwing his arms in the air, while repeatedly asking ‘you like that?’ and making Kelly and Gustavo stare at him with blank expressions. Ending his bit with an over dramatic pose and knocking his hat off, skillfully putting it back on.

“No.” It was an easy elimination for Gustavo, getting up and walking over towards the group, “Ok, so Kendall is the bad boy. You’re gonna need to start wearing black clothing and talking deeper, and slower.” He changed his tone to match what he wanted Kendall to do, clapping it over and walking away. Moving on and talking to Kelly about the next task.

But Kendall thought of it differently, “You mean be fake.” Gustavo stopped in his tracks and James acted like Kendall was right, as if he didn’t change his entire appearance to fit the mold. Crowe rolled her eyes at his act. “I can’t. Besides, I’m terrible at faking.” Kendall stood up, going against the idea. Setting his foot down about the stupid changes for the band, taking his position of leader.

“No, Kelly is terrible at faking.” Gustavo was pointing fingers at his co-worker. From the years they’ve worked together, they were bound to find flaws in each other. “I can always tell when she lies to me.” And he was right, Kelly tried to prove him wrong but she couldn’t form a sentence without awkwardly chuckling and looking around the room.

Logan kept his arms crossed while James was just mimicking Kendall’s movements as he explained his reasoning, “Gustavo, we just don’t want anything fake about our band.” Logan and James stood and backed him up, aside from the unconscious Carlos. Crowe remained seated since it wasn’t her place to disagree or add input, the only thing she had to do was her job.

“Your band?” Gustavo stepped towards Kendall, he wasn’t allowing anyone to call the band anything but his. “Your band?” He started to yell, “This is my band. Are you telling me that you’re gonna ignore me, and Griffin, and the record company and not be our bad boy?” He squared in on Kendall, but with the way he said it Crowe knew where he was headed. And Kendall fell for it, “Yeah, pretty much.” James was happy about his friend rejecting the position.

The producer pointed at him, “Bad boy.” Kendall, and James, stomped in frustration. In a round-about way it was what he was looking for, just not with the look he was hoping for. “He’s got you there.” Crowe shrugged her shoulders. Kendall looked back annoyed, “Really?” he huffed at the situation and lack of help.

Before Gustavo left he told Kelly to get Griffin over here since they finally had their bad boy. Kelly promptly left to do just that, leaving the band in the hallway. Crowe looked at the two, and one on the floor, bad boys. “You guys need to change. It’s a bad look.” Smirking at the joke. The two looked offended, at her comment and the pun, but went to change anyway, helping Carlos off the floor.

Kendall turned to face Crowe, throwing his arms out. “You’re supposed to help.” Confusion struck her and stood up, “Why am I supposed to? It’s Griffin’s idea, he’s a weird man. And it's not like I can change Gustavo's mind.” If there was a way she could help then they would have to find it.

But what kind of situation would this happen to any normal person?

“You’re our assistant. Back us up, not them. We can’t let Gustavo or Griffin do this.” She rubbed her neck, it was clear he needed help since he pushed the issue on her. Usually him being the one in control and directing the others, now she was involved. Again.

This time she had to take his place, “Look, as your assistant, I can try to help with not changing your look. I can think of something.” Beginning to pace, “I mean, what can Griffin do if you don’t want to be the bad boy? The others can’t do it, they suck. He would just have to deal with no changes to the band. Right?” Hands on her hips at the end of the odd speech, not up to par with Kendall’s, but it was better than nothing.

Once the three came back in regular clothing, they headed to the studio where Gustavo and Kelly were waiting for the crazed man. Crowe stood by Kelly at one end as the boys formed a line across from them. And they didn’t have to wait long as Griffin showed up not a minute later, bringing in more heavy tension to the room and people waiting.

“Why isn’t his back turned to the rest of them?” Griffin asked Gustavo, wasting no time with chit chat, disappointed in the lack of appearance of one bad boy. “Because he won’t do as I say! Which makes him the bad boy.” Gustavo pointed out, to which he was sort of correct. So in a way they did have a bad boy and Griffin got what he wanted.

“And I don’t turn my back on my friends.” Kendall stated plainly. Gustavo threw his head back and mumbled to Kelly his annoyances. Except Griffin didn’t like things not going his way, going up to the frontman. Crowe wasn’t sure what he was about to do, he’s an unpredictable man and it bothered her so much. “That’s good. I respect that. But I said I wanted bad.”

Crowe knew that kind of tone, like he had a backup plan in case this one failed. And once the rest of the band heard their CEO wanted a bad boy, they went back to playing the role. Abandoning the morals that Kendall tried to put up for the band. With James putting the fake grill back on, Logan had his sunglasses, and Carlos pulled out another board from behind his back.

Where did he get that? Knowing what was about to happen.

Carlos screamed and broke the board on his head, falling to the ground for the second time today. That caused Logan and James to take off the stupid accessories and go back to normal, or as normal as they could get. Kendall smiled as he found it funny, a sort of payback.

Everyone looked at the boy on the ground and then continued on. “A bad boy is someone parents would never let their daughters date,” Griffin turned back around to face Gustavo, walking over to Crowe and putting an arm around her. “And I would let my daughter date any one of these boys,” Indirectly making it seem like they could be related, and definitely not in the looks department.

Pointing his other hand in the direction of the band. “Which is bad.” The boys, Logan and James, looked disappointed in themselves when Griffin said that. “Do something about this, or I will. Wait. I already did.” He took his arm off Crowe and happily introduced someone to their dismay.

The slight possibility of them getting no bad boy went down the drain to zero.

“Say hello to Wayne Wayne.” In less than a second, an overhyped boy wearing a black and gold outfit came in. He pushed Gustavo out of the way and barged to the middle of the studio singing.

“What? What? Yo, yo I’m Wayne Wayne from the mean streets of Detroit, I’m bad-bad as my bling-bling.” As he continued his rap about himself, Crowe was having trouble composing herself. Holding laughter in so much that she started actually coughing.

I gotta stop doing that. Gathering herself before turning her attention back.

The boys looked at each other, already uneased at the newcomer. “Give him the contract.” Griffin motioned to his worker and did as he was told, slamming the contract into Gustavo’s stomach. Griffin placed his arm around the new bad boy, “Isn’t he bad?”

“Bad.” Kelly didn’t hold back her opinion, Crowe bit her lip to hide the forming smile. Everyone looked at Kelly and she tried to quickly cover it up but failed, “But great. I mean, really, really bad, but, like, in a good way.” Gustavo waved his hand to silently get her to stop as she was just making it worse.

“Wayne Wayne, blow it up.” Griffin gave him a fist bump and ‘blew it up’, “Later later, Griff-Griff.” Griffin and his team left, leaving the new boy to the band. Crowe was having the time of her life, this was the most fun she’s had in forever.

She went over to check up on Carlos as he was still lying on the floor, squatting down to see him. Lightly poking his face for any kind of reaction. Gustavo and Kelly were quickly going through the multiple pages of the bound contract, trying to find a reason to void it.

Wayne Wayne jumped to face the band and James tried to be friendly and introduce himself, sticking a hand out. “Yo, Wayne Wayne, I’m-” But was immediately stopped as Wayne Wayne took over and slapped his hand away. “Wasting your time-time. Look, I ain’t here to make friends, ok?” Crowe glanced up at the boys, curious of what else the new recruit had to say. Wayne Wayne stared each one down, making sure they all knew, “I’m here to take Big Time Rush to the next level.”

How is he gonna do that?

“The Wayne Wayne express is leaving the station. So you fools step on..or step off.” He backed a step up, before showing off his huge ‘W’ bling out rings to the three. “Wayne Wayne out-out.” Leaving but not before shoving Gustavo out of the way again. Proving the act to be true.

The boys were quick, “We don’t like him.” Crowe was also quick with a laugh, “You mean you don’t like-like him?” Everyone turned to her, not finding the same amusement as she did. “I’ll shut up.” She crossed her arms and stood up, staring at her boots instead of the judgmental faces.

“Yes, you do.” Gustavo yelled at them, not liking the situation any better but having to suck it up because of the crazy CEO. “You all do. He’s the bad boy,” Carlos popped back up confused, startling Crowe. Putting his dazed state on her. “And he’s staying at the Palm Woods. So be good boys and make friend-friends with Wayne Wayne.”

Carlos was lost, “Who’s Wayne Wayne?” Gustavo was done, he and Kelly left while letting the band and Crowe head back to the hotel. “Why does he get to make the jokes?” Talking to no one in particular. Kendall was the one who led the group back to the Palm Woods, not saying a word while Logan caught Carlos up to speed.

Having another day of Wayne Wayne ahead of them.

⟡⟡⟡

The next morning, the boys went straight past the lobby and headed out towards the pool with Crowe following after them. Sitting on lounge chairs and judgmentally watching Wayne Wayne across the pool, lifting the three Jennifer's up on a single chair. Showing off his strength to them and anyone else watching him. The girls cheered out Wayne Wayne’s name then laughed once he brought them back down.

Crowe cocked her head, “That’s kinda impressive.” The band looked at her, offended at her compliment to the new group member. James rolled his eyes and started to complain about him, “First he joins our band without our permission.” Carlos continued, “Now he steals our girls-” Who got interrupted by Crowe, “Who has no interest in you guys.” He went on, “But it’s still not fair.”

Wayne Wayne was just sitting with the Jennifers, talking and laughing. Crowe didn’t think he’s too bad if the Jennifers liked him, but then again she didn’t know the Jennifers well enough to trust their judgment. And it wasn’t necessarily his fault that he was put in the band, it was Griffin’s idea to have a bad boy and he just so happened to get the role.

“And that’s why we’re gonna get rid of him.” Logan said, before whispering to the boy next to him. “Kendall, get rid of him.” Pushing it onto him.

“Why me?” Kendall was confused at why he had to be the one to do it. “Because he scares us.” James answered for the group. “Not me.” Crowe said, finding him more funny, in a way, than scary.

Kendall shot up and faced the four, “We are a band. And we’re gonna do this together,” Unbeknownst to him, the boy he was bad mouthing walked right into earshot behind Kendall. “Because we are not afraid of some loudmouth, backwards-hatted, droopy pants wearing-” before he got any further, the boys tried to discreetly get him to stop. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

And he was, making a furious face at the slightly taller boy. When Kendall turned to face him, he backed up as Wayne Wayne was closer than he thought.

“You want trouble-trouble, Ken-dork?” He got up close and personal, “Bring it, bring it.” But Kendall wasn’t backing down and the boys got up to literally back him up, with Carlos bringing Crowe with them. “Yeah, we’ve decided that there’s only room for four members in Big Time Rush.”

Crowe stood next to Kendall, nudging and shaking her head at him to not make things worse. If he wanted their assistant to help then he shouldn’t push his luck.

“Great-great.” The bad boy pulled his phone out and dialed, “Yo, Griff-Griff. The guys agree with me, five in the band is too many.” Once Crowe heard who he called, she was worried what their CEO would say, probably agreeing and making things even worse to the point where they can’t fix it. Wayne Wayne turned the phone so everyone could hear, “Sounds fresh, Wayne Wayne. I’ll stop by the studio to see which one goes. Griff-Griff out.”

James shrieked at the response, it was pretty easy to tell the guys were freaking out too. “You see…my contract states that I’m guaranteed to front a band, and I picked this band.” Now Crowe was slightly freaked out, knowing how real everything was turning out to be. But it was apparent that the boys could care less about it, or just simply not know how much weight it held, “Ooh, a contract. We’re so scared.”

She mentally facepalmed, figuring out how dumb they can be sometimes. Especially Logan since he was supposed to be the smart one out of the group.

“My contract also states that I get a posse.” Wayne Wayne snapped his fingers and three guys in gold and white outfits came out and stared the band down. “Scared now?” He taunted them.

The band backed up and agreed, mumbling about how those guys were bigger than them. Crowe stood in her spot, from fear or carelessness, she didn’t know. And if they tried to do anything, she knew how to defend herself, thanks to Luka and his annoying over protectiveness.

Wayne Wayne looked her up and down, “And who are you? You their friend-friends?” He motioned to the cowering group of boys behind her. “I’m their assistant.” Correcting him and almost instantly regretting it, the band looked hurt by it. Except for James who just seemed offended.

Logan, Carlos, and Kendall looked at each other, seemingly wondering the same thing but not asking. Kendall wanted to put the pieces together, he thought they were friends but she denied it. Not directly, but to them that’s what it seemed like.

“So that means you're my assistant too.” He stated it matter of factly instead of asking. Crowe shrugged, “Uhh, I guess so?” Unsure if it was true or not herself.. “Then get me a coconut, I’m thirsty.” Wayne Wayne smirked at the girl. She raised her eyebrow, looking him up and down. He leaned closer to the girl and whispered so no one besides her could hear, “Please?” Leaning back and putting the facade back on. Crowe shrugged, “Yeah, alright.” The boys were shocked from the betrayal as she went to get the drink for the unwanted guest.

She waited in line for 5 minutes before getting the coconut, grabbing a straw and placing it in. The bad boy moved over to another lounge chair, but it was easy to spot him in the ridiculous get up and posse surrounding him. Especially the one fanning him with a ridiculously giant leaf.

Crowe walked up to him and handed the drink over. He took it and sipped, “Thanks.” It was a small surprise that he thanked her, thinking that he isn’t as awful as he made it out to be. Having her mind think of him differently than a few minutes ago. “No problem. Uhh, let me know if you need anything else.” Giving him a weak wave and leaving to find the boys.

And it was easy to find them with the make-shift tree hats sticking out of the bushes. When she got close enough she could hear Logan say ‘mean’, what context that was in she didn’t care too much about.

“What are you guys doing?” Kendall pulled on her sleeve so she was squatting next to them and gave her a questioning look. Darting his eyes back and forth between her and the boy sitting across from where they’re spying.

He didn’t say anything but she figured out what he meant, “What? Oh. I don’t know. He said please.” Mumbling to him as he rolled his eyes. Kendall went back to their previous conversation they had before the girl arrived, “Nobody’s breaking us up. We’re a team.” James snarked, whisper-yelling out loud but mostly focusing on the girl, “Not everybody thinks so.” She rolled her eyes at him, it was like he was picking fights with her but she wasn’t going to entertain him. Staying quiet about her own remarks.

The three, literally, in the middle of it looked at each other. Kendall pushed on, ignoring the two. “We’re not afraid of Wayne Wayne or anybody else.” It was like the world wanted to put it to the test as Camille popped up wearing a neon pink and black wrestling outfit.

“Hey, guys.” Camille cheerly said. Screams came from the four boys as Crowe perked up. If she was really a dog then her tail would be wagging from the sight of seeing her friend. “Hey, Camille.” Her friend returned her smile then calmed the boys down, “Oh relax, I didn’t get the part. Maybe throwing the casting director in a flying headlock was a bad idea.”

“You gotta show me that.” Crowe was shocked at the strength her friend had. “Camille, we’re in an urgent save-our-band mission right now.” Kendall pointed across the pool to where the problem was sitting. Camille turned to see what it was, turning back just as quickly, “Hey, when did Wally Dooley move to the Palm Woods?” The name confused the five, asking for clarification. She said the name again, “Yeah, he must be up for a bad boy role. We worked together on ‘The Magic Middle School’. He played Towel boy.”

The five screamed “What?!” prompting the now unmasked girl to head into the lobby and show them.

Camille typed into the computer and found exactly what she was looking for. She clicked the video, a clip from the show as it showed the ‘bad’ boy dressed in a white shirt tucked into red shorts. Three basketball players entered the locker room where Towel boy was, teasing him and using their magic to lift two hoses up and spray him with water, soaking him. Towel boy turned the joke around, saying he was the one who needed a towel rather than the players.

Not bad. Nodding at the clip and look of Towel boy.

“So Wayne Wayne didn’t grow up on the mean streets of Detroit.” Logan sounded happy at the revelation. Camille explained even more, “He grew up in a mansion in Dallas,” Crowe’s eyes widened at that, wondering why he was wasting his time here rather than the huge house he lived in. “His dad invented toast on a rope.”

Kendall had enough of the act, “And he’s gonna kick one of us out of the band?” He backed up to face the five again and they all faced him, the girls standing next to each other. “Well, we’re gonna kick him out of the band, cause we don’t need no fakey-fakey, poser-poser,” And once again the person he was bad mouthing snuck up on him, the boys warning him to quit it. “He’s behind me again, isn’t he?”

Camille revealed herself to the boy and waved, “Hey, Wally.” He took his sunglasses off and nicely said hi back, going back to beating the boys down. “Oh, and news flash: this town is full of phonies, and nobody cares!” Bringing the contract back out to remind them. “Hey, what do you guys think of the name Wayne Wayne Rush?” Showing the giant rings again to emphasize his decision.

Ew. Disgust clear on Crowe’s face.

Carlos was surprisingly the one to fight back, “Dude, once Gustavo finds out that you’re a phony-phony,” James butted in, “You are out-out.” The threat didn’t scare him one bit, laughing in their faces, “You guys, Gustavo is a joke, ok? Griffin has the power, and he’ll get rid of whoever I say. And I say…” Wayne Wayne put his sunglasses back on and closed in on Kendall again. “It’s you.”

And sadly, he was right, Griffin had the power that Gustavo flaunted in front of the band. Showing who was really in control.

Kendall gulped and glanced at his friends next to him, scared of what else he had to say. “And there’s nothing you can do about it, because you can’t stop the Wayne Wayne train.” Crowe fully lost the persona he was putting up as he backed away, him and his posse acting like a train leaving the station and making the sounds along with it. “Ok, stop this, it’s not cool.” The four stopped, with Wayne Wayne giving Kendall the sign that he was watching him.

After he disappeared around the corner, the band bolted near the entrance. The two girls looked at their retreating figures then to each other, Crowe sighed, “It’s been, an entertaining few days.” Camille laughed, “You gotta tell me about it later.”

Crowe’s tail wagged again, “And you gotta show me that move, I wanna do it.” The other girl nodded and Crowe knew she had to follow after the boys, but she also wanted to share the news of her role.

“I’ll,” It’s better not to, “Text you later? And see when we can hang out?” Starting to back away but still faced her friend to see her response. “Yep, see ya!” Camille waved and smiled, heading towards the elevator to presumably change her clothes. I don’t want to rub it in her face.

Crowe caught up to the boys as they waited for her, impatient, “What?” she questioned. “What took you so long?” Logan asked as the five began walking, two in front and two in the back. “I was saying bye like a good friend,” Biting back the smile. “Now where are we going?” Being in the middle of the four, Kendall spun around, “Tell Kelly we need to see Gustavo in his office.” She didn’t ask anymore questions and pulled her phone out, sending Kelly a message.

“She said ok.” Crowe let the four know and switched the phone for her journal, an idea striking her thanks to the changing facade of the ‘bad’ boy. Biting her pen cap and chewing on it while she wrote, flipping to the previous page with her current song she was working on.

‘Any kind of guy you want..if you decide to change your mind’. Hmm, maybe something like, ‘changing my point of view, every day, something new’. Yeah, this is definitely a love song. She grabbed a sticky note and stuck it to the page, ‘send Camille text later’ adding below it, ‘love song’.

After she put her things back, they arrived at Rocque Records and headed straight to Gustavo’s office.

“What?” Gustavo was already annoyed at the teens, his default mood. Logan waved his arms around worried, “Wayne Wayne is a total fraud.” James included the mentioned boy’s threat, “He wants to kick Kendall out of the band.” As Kendall threw his hands up in defeat.

“Really? I would’ve bet on Logan.” The producer gave his opinion, which Crowe thought was wrong. And apparently the other boys agreed with that sentiment, but Logan laughed and shut it down, “Well, you would have lost!”

“Wait, whoa.” Kelly was on the same page as the teens, “We can’t let Wayne Wayne kick Kendall out of the band. Gustavo, what are you gonna do?” Wanting him to come up with something to save the band. “Nothing.” He gave them a static look, then left the room.

Crowe was shocked at this outcome, she thought he might have come up with something but he didn’t. All of them rushed after him complaining but Kendall was the one who got him to talk. “Gustavo, you can’t let this poser tell you what to do with your band.”

Gustavo turned and looked disappointed, in himself the most. “It’s not my band, ok? It’s Griffin’s. Look, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t had a hit in a while.” She felt for her easily angered but surprisingly, very few times, kind producer.

Gustavo gave her and the boys a shot, but how long would it take Griffin to notice how far they can go. Never giving them a chance to get their footing right.

“This band is my ticket back to the top, and until I get back there…what he says goes.” Kendall was quick to compromise in teaming up but he denied. James ignored him and kept listing off what they needed, “We’ll need cool code names. I’ll be the falcon.”

Ugh, falcons. Of course you would pick that. Crossing her arms from the unfolding event.

“I’ll be the snowman.” Logan added his code name. “And you’ll need a tree hat.” Carlos pulled one out of thin air and confused Crowe again on how he keeps getting these things. Carlos rushed over and put it on Gustavo.

Except he ripped it off and threw it to the ground, shouting his disagreements at the five. “Gustavo, we can come up with a plan.” Kendall was insistent on this idea and even Kelly agreed to it.

Gustavo was heated, staring at the five teens dead in the eyes. “I don’t want you hockey heads pulling any of your schemes or shenanigans that are gonna get me in trouble with Griffin and the record company.”

“Now, here are your lyric sheets for the song you’re gonna sing for Griffin in one hour.” Gustavo took the sheets and a marker from Kelly, going down the line to give it to the boys.

“James.”

He was giving up, none of them could believe it.

“Logan.”

They all thought that he might’ve had a plan in mind, but maybe he didn’t.

“Kendall.”

This is it, they’re done for.

“Carlos.”

But why was she included in this?

“Crowe.”

Gustavo handed her one too. Looking down she realized that he spelt her name completely wrong. Taking a peek at Carlos' paper next to her and noticed it was the same, then a look further down revealed the reason why it was like that.

“Study them. Learn them. Got it?” Gustavo didn’t directly tell them, probably because he knew that Kelly could potentially mess things up if she was included.

The five remained somber, “Got it.”

⟡⟡⟡⟡

They only had an hour before Kendall would permanently be kicked out, so they had to think of something quick. The teens stayed in the building but went to the floor below them.

“So, what are you guys gonna do?” Crowe asked them as she didn’t have a clue and knew they could come up with something. Only being included since Gustavo wanted her to help. Wondering if this counted as part of her job description. They were huddled in another dimly lit room that contained even more music equipment and replacements for it. Making sure no one could eavesdrop on them. She didn’t know who would want to but left it alone, wanting this to be easy.

Kendall never gave a straight answer, “Griffin wants a bad boy, right?” Logan and Carlos nodded along while James pouted, “And it can’t be one of us. And definitely not Logan.” At this point they made it seem like Logan wasn’t even regular boy band material and he was over it.

“Sooo, that means..?” The girl looked at Kendall, hoping he would spell it out.

He nodded, “Yep, I need a new look.” Snapping his fingers at the group. “Crowe, you help me with the outfit. Sorry, James.” She smirked while James huffed, “Oh come on, why does she get to help?” Throwing his hands in dismay.

Crowe bit back, “Cause I don’t have bad fashion choices.” Referring to his bandana idea and earlier bad look. “Seriously?” James said, looking towards Kendall then back to her, “At least I don’t look sad or devoid of any happy colors.” Knocking her sense of style down.

She stumbled in her words, “That’s exactly what he needs to look like.”

James didn’t like her one upping him, deciding the next best thing, “Fine, let bird brain do it this time.” Getting under her skin. Which worked in his favor. “Bird brain?!” Flaring up and balling her fists.

The three boys knew it wasn’t a good idea to say anything to get caught in the crossfire.

Logan and Carlos didn’t think much about it, Kendall on the other hand was constantly thinking about it. Maybe this was the reason why she didn’t consider them friends, because his friend would always pick a fight with her. And he wanted to find out his reason too.

Crowe clicked her tongue, “I’ll do a better job than you, hairball.” James shrieked, in defense of his hair. “I am not a hairball-”

“Quit it!” Kendall hushed the two, “We don’t have time for this.” Ending the argument with that as neither of them said anything else.

Crowe faced Kendall, “I know just the look. We just need to find it.”

Trying to remember where the clothes were located the very few times she went to the department. Her eyes lit up, “And makeup!” she lightly bounced on her heels, already coming up with different outfits. But Kendall was hesitant, “I don’t think we need makeup.” The other boys laughed at the idea of their friend having to wear makeup and Crowe doubled down. “Yeah, yeah, alright whatever. What else do we need?”

From there, while she looked for the right room, the four boys started to sort out everything Kendall needed to do. Crowe wasn’t paying attention since she didn’t have to worry about that, instead leading the band down corridors. The girl could hear one of the boys mimic crashing and breaking sounds, something she was excited about seeing.

Further down the hall she noticed a red staircase, leading them down. A sign saying exactly what she wanted, turning the knob on the door. And finding it locked. “Fuck.” Groaning.

Crowe turned back, “We need keys.” How could she forget something so simple, knocking herself down for not thinking it through and letting them down. “Oh, we can look for some.” Logan took the chance and grabbed James along with him, gracing Crowe with the absence of the annoying boy.

Once they left, Carlos wanted to help as well, “Or I can break it down.” He backed up a few steps and crouched into position, putting his helmet on and waiting for the two to move out of the way. And they did, letting him have a go at it.

He rammed as hard as he could, but unfortunately ended up the same way when he tried to break a board like before. Luck not on his side and falling on his back unconscious, the two looked down at him and back at each other. Small laughs came from them. Crowe didn’t know how long it would take the other two, so it was time to try her method.

Digging around in her bag, she tried to fish out a small black pouch. Kendall just stood next to her with his back on the wall, thinking of something to get her talking.

It was the first thing he thought of, something he could ease into his questions. “Thanks for helping us with this, you didn’t have to.” Taking extra attention in knowing how she responded.

“It’s not like I had anything else to do. Plus, my job is to make sure none of you guys are kicked out of the band. I guess, for now. Or at least still have one.” Crowe grabbed two picks from the pouch, crouched down and inserted it into the lock.

If that happens I might go crazy. And who knows when I’m next, I really don’t want that. I don’t need to get fired.

She sheepishly added, “And you asked for my help.” Kendall picked up on the tone. “Yeah, that’s true. Even if it is Griffin’s fault we have to do this. I’m just glad you haven’t bailed on us yet, Katie always reminds us how we’re ‘too much’.” Kendall remembered all the times his little sister would complain about them being too rowdy that she would get headaches. So who knows how annoying they’ve been for her. They’re still getting to know her and finding out how much she can deal with it. And she’s trying to find that point too, only used to one person annoying her.

Crowe focused on notching the right parts. “Yeah, some of you aren’t too bad,” He knew who she was referring to. “It’s fun working with you guys, I haven’t done anything this fun or exciting in a while.” A soft click was heard, she turned the knob and pushed it open.

Kendall looked to the side to see what she was up to, noticing the door was now unlocked and they could go in. “How the hell?” He asked the girl who was standing up properly and putting the pouch back in her bag. “How did you do that?” He was stunned, but Crowe moved inside the room and patted the walls to find the light switch.

“Help me find the light.” Crowe didn’t bother to elaborate but Kendall really wanted her to. “Sure, but..how?” He copied her but on the other side, finding it then promptly flipped it on. She shrugged, “I forgot my keys most of the time back in Minnesota, I had to pick the lock to get back inside.” Focusing on the rows of clothes in front of them.

Yeah, that sounds reasonable. And definitely not because I didn’t have keys to the house until I made a copy. Or anything else.

Amazed by the countless varieties of clothes, even if this was the third or fourth time in here, she could barely comprehend how much was packed inside. “Now, let's find you the right bad boy outfit.” Getting excited at the different variations of ideas she had in mind.

Dark and ‘scary’ is definitely the look I wanna go for. Maybe a hint of emo, who doesn’t like that?

They went up and down the racks, pulling out mostly dark colored shirts, different types of jackets, and jeans with various designs. It was a few minutes later that they heard voices outside, worriedly looking at each other. Neither of them were able to reach the switch in time to turn it off. Kendall was inches away before pulling back and hiding in hopes of not getting caught.

“Kendall? Crowe?” Logan’s head popped inside, scanning the room to see any sign of life. Crowe separated the clothes down the middle and felt relief at the sight of the boy. Kendall did the same, going to the door to check on them.

She went back to sorting through the shirts while the boys talked amongst themselves, trying to overhear their conversation. They weren’t saying anything exciting, mostly about the trip they took to get the keys and why Carlos was on the floor. Kendall did mention how she was able to pick the lock, which caused the two to look in her direction.

Crowe tried to focus on anything but the suspicious, or maybe curious, eyes on her, except she couldn’t handle it and glanced over. Logan went back to going over the plan with Kendall, it was James who held eye contact. A chill ran down her spine, avoiding all contact and shuffling away completely from the boy’s staring.

James focused back on his friend's conversation that was circling back to the girl and both of them wondering what else she knew how to do. He was less than interested to join so he went back out in the hallway and woke up Carlos on the floor. Sitting in one of the seats near the wall and talking.

Kendall noticed his friend's attitude towards Crowe and told Logan about his concerns, “I don’t think she likes us.” Logan was caught off guard, unsure of where this came from. “Why do you say that? We’re friends, aren’t we?” And Kendall thought the same thing, then he clicked the pieces together.

“That’s the thing,” Kendall whispered so it was only them, catching Carlos up later. “I don’t think, that she thinks that we’re friends. But I can’t figure out why.” He racked his brain for an answer but the girl was giving him dead ends. Logan was skeptical, “She hangs out with us so I think she likes us just a bit.”

“But she doesn’t hang out with us,” Logan raised an eyebrow and looked at Kendall then back to wherever Crowe was hiding, silently telling him that he was wrong. “Outside of work.” Kendall huffed, his friend was supposed to be the smart one and figure this out. He just needed a little bit more help this time. “Yeah, she does.”

Kendall’s face fell flat, “Oh really, when?” He gave the shorter boy a chance, “Uhhh, oh! When she helped us with the crib. Crowe was with us the whole time.” Logan crossed his arms triumphantly but Kendall rolled his eyes. “Cause we dragged her with us. If we didn’t then she probably would’ve been with Kelly or Gustavo the whole time.”

Logan still wasn’t convinced by his baseless theories, “But she could’ve left and she didn’t, so that’s something.” Kendall sighed and listed off the one that bothered him the most, “What about when we invited her over for dinner, and she said no every time. All like, twenty times probably.” Logan knew he was exaggerating.

“Didn’t she eat with Katie one time?” Logan recalled the night she went next door, mostly because of Mrs. Knight sending food over. “In her apartment. And that’s all. We’re the ones who drag her with us because she doesn’t like us enough to actually hang out with us!” Kendall was close to yelling his frustration out to the public but Logan calmed him down as much as he could. “Why are you so worked up about being her friend anyways?” Logan had trouble finding the cause of this, unsure when it even started. It bothered him to see his friend this worked up when he’s usually the levelheaded one.

Kendall sighed and collected his thoughts, a previous talk with his little sister bugged him.

When she came back from dinner, Katie told him about her ‘findings’. Family pictures, or lack of, aside from two. One of possibly her mom holding her as a baby, and the second with her grandparents, as they seemed too old to be her parents, and her celebrating a birthday. And when they redid the crib, she was helping Crowe unpack and didn’t find any more family pictures. Kendall wasn’t one to judge about that, but when she told him that Crowe freaked out over a box Katie almost opened.

It was kind of obvious she was hiding something. He just wanted to figure out what, his own bad habit of trying to fix things.

Logan’s concerns grew when he was quiet, afraid of it being an over ridiculous reason. Like him wanting everyone to like him, like how James is. It was known between all four for James to not like someone just because they didn’t like him back, it was hard to understand that logic. But he also knew it was bothering his friend, which bothered him in return.

Except that Kendall wasn’t able to say anything when Crowe walked over to the two carrying a pile of clothes. “Ok, I found some stuff but you have to try them on.” Handing off the pile to the taller boy and glancing at Logan. “And we don’t have a lot of time left so we gotta hurry.” A quick check of the time revealed that half an hour had passed and they were cutting it close to finish on time.

Logan pushed Kendall back into the room as Crowe talked, “There are three different options that you can choose, so pick whichever one you feel is the best.” Logan added his own thoughts, “Which means pick the one you hate the most.” Laughing in wait for his friend's new identity. “Ha ha, I already don’t like this.” The girl added more insult to injury, “Don’t forget, I gotta put some makeup on after you’re done.” She smirked knowing she was making it worse but what can she do, they needed to complete the look.

Before Kendall could protest, Crowe closed the door on him and sat on the floor to go through her bag. Logan went to the other side of her, away from the door and sat down. “What all do you keep in there?” Thanks to Kendall, he too grew curious about knowing if she thought they were friends. Wanting to think about this more logically than just random guessing. And little did either of them know, she was debating on asking them to be friends. It’s just been hard for her to find the right words to ask.

She shuffled things around and took some items out to show him, “Lots of things. Like my journal, bandaids, pens, sticky notes, tissues. Oh, and lots of other random shit like scissors, candy, change. Sewing stuff, my lock picking kit, and some trash.”

“Don’t tell Katie you know how to do that. But, why do you have all of that?” Logan took a pair of scissors out of her hand, they were smaller than normal, gold and had markings but he couldn’t make out what it was. “I’m always prepared for the worst, or anything really. It comes in handy a lot more than you might think.” She had to learn things by herself and being prepared was one of those things, unfortunately. From times of fixing her old clothes or her wounds, to using the scissors and lock picks for past bad intentions.

She remembered all the times in her, what Crowe called it, ‘rebel’ phase of getting five finger discounts. They weren’t some of her best moments but it was one of the only things that got her adrenaline pumping. It took awhile before she stopped, thankful it never got to the point of getting caught.

“And what is this supposed to be?” He handed it back to her and took a peek into the bag. “It’s a crane. See?” She took it and held it to show the beak where the blades were, snipping air then slipped it back into a zipped pocket. “You really like birds huh?” Logan grinned, finding out at least one thing she liked. Even if it did seem obvious.

Crowe softly smiled, “Yeah, I mean, I call myself Crowe. It just made sense.” It was hard not to like birds, her mom was fascinated by them so she is too.

Shuffling things around for the eye pencil and nail polish, noticing a folded paper sticking up. Shoving it deep inside to disappear. Finding what she needed and ignoring it, like usual.

Logan saw her open up a bit and was glad that he was proving Kendall wrong, even by the tiniest bit. Maybe from here it’ll help the others to get her to open up to them. Even if one of them could care less, the other three wanted to.

A door creaked and out came a newly dark attitude boy emerged, causing all of them to stand and take in the new look. “I really don’t like this.” Nothing on Kendall’s face showed amusement but it certainly showed for the rest. His friends laughed, “This is gonna be awesome!” Carlos jumped in excitement but James had to remind him to not break character later and ruin anything.

Crowe tilted her head to get a better look at Kendall, “Not bad, I picked some pretty good clothes.” Squinting her eyes at James who rolled his eyes and gave Logan his attention.

“We need to take the keys back.” With that he left with Logan trailing after him. Paying no mind, Crowe went into the room to find a chair of some sort. “What are you doing now?” Carlos poked his head inside as she brought a stool over and placed it near one of the vanities, waving for Kendall. “Come here, I need to do your makeup and nails.”

That scared Kendall, backing up and holding his hands up in defense. “No way. I think this is good enough.” Placing himself behind Carlos to separate them. “We need to finish the look, you just look plain like that if I don’t add at least one of these.” Shaking them to emphasize the point but he compromised.

“How about just the pencil thing? No nail polish.” If he had to choose, then the one easier to wipe off was his best choice. Crowe shrugged her shoulders to get this over with, the time cutting down even shorter now. “Fine, now get closer.” Once Kendall stood in front of her, a buzz from her bag stalled her.

Chills ran through her. “Fun, Kelly needs you guys in the studio in 10 minutes.” Typing out a quick response and shoving the phone into her jacket pocket.

It was perfect timing as James and Logan arrived and heard it, the tension grew but no one decided to acknowledge it. “That’s fine.” Kendall snapped everyone into place, Logan nodded. “We’ll head there now and Kendall, I guess you show up a few minutes late?”

“Yeah, that’ll show them that you’re a bad boy.” Carlos was way too optimistic in Crowe’s eyes but was thankful for the brightness he had. “Ok, then I’ll sneak in before you arrive,” pointing to Kendall. “So Griffin doesn’t catch on.” Crowe nodded to the boys, staying calm for once and letting the boys handle the distraction for as long until she got there.

They shut the door to close the remaining two in and get to work. The small step stool helped Crowe in gaining some height to reach Kendall’s eye level. Taking the clear cap off the pencil and hovering, afraid of getting closer. “You’re not going to poke my eye out, are you?” Kendall chuckled and made sure he was standing comfortably so he wouldn’t move around to where it might happen. She swallowed a lump and exhaled, “I’ll try not to.” Crowe’s words didn’t make him feel better, so she tried to fix it. “I mean, I don’t poke my eyes that often so you should be good.” Her eyes darted anywhere besides where she needed them to be.

I hope so.

Kendall noticed her hesitation in moving. “You can get closer, you know.” Leaning in as she warned him, “Just, keep your eyes open and look to the ceiling, please.” The second part wasn’t necessary but it would help her in the long run for unwanted accidents. Steading her hand, smoothly drawing the pencil along his lower waterline and going over enough times for it to really stand out.

“One done, now the other.” Sighing and fixing herself over and waiting for his go ahead. Kendall blinked a couple times, getting used to the feeling of makeup near his eye. “Ok, I’m good.” He smiled and widened his eyes, looking up away from the pencil.

It didn’t take long to complete the look, stepping off the stool and taking a final look at her work. Satisfied was the best way to put it, the black combat boots along with the dark jacket made it seem like this was made just for him.

Everything was in place but there was something that bugged Crowe still, like he was missing something. Kendall saw his reflection in the mirror, doing a double take at his new appearance. “I don’t want to look like this forever. So this better work.” He saw the girl in the reflection, lost in her own thoughts. Crossing her arms, she drummed her fingers while darting her eyes over him, trying to find the missing piece. It dawned on her what it was, “Jewelry.” It's a staple of any bad boy look to include any kind of jewelry they had, but for the time being they had to settle.

Pushing her left jacket sleeve up, she slid a small studded bracelet off and handed it over. Kendall took it and questioned her, “Do you always wear this?” He led the two out the room and into the hallway. Crowe made sure to turn the lights off and locked the door to not leave a trace that anyone entered. Heading to the floor above them to start the show. “I used to, with all the bad boy talk I wanted to wear that one again.”

He fiddled with the bracelet, “Oh, then don’t forget to remind me to give it back.” Crowe waved it off, “You can keep it, that’s my least favorite one and I broke it dozens of times. It’s on its last leg.” Fond memories washed over her skin, it was years ago that she dressed differently then she does now. Albeit it’s a bit toned down now but her roots were still there and easy to see. “So you’re telling me that you used to be a ‘bad girl’.” He air quoted the reverse of what he was, interested in how the girl acted before meeting all those nights ago.

“Ehh, kinda but not really,” washy over how much she should reveal, “More like sad emo, than bad girl. Even if, I did do some, bad things.” Crowe was pushing her luck, not wanting to trudge up the past.

They climbed up the stairs and down the hall as Kendall continued their small talk. “What kind of bad things did you do? Did you and your friends ever get caught? Is that how you got that scar?” He was being generous, thinking she had more than one friend back in the cold state and pointing to her arm.

Bringing her sleeve back down. “Just like, the usual bad stuff. Breaking things, sneaking out, stuff like that.” An old ‘friend’ of hers came to mind, “We did that for like, months.” Her tongue naturally lied.

Shrugging and remembering how she got the injury. “And I got the scar from falling on my ass.” Kendall was shocked from the first part, “Really? I would’ve never thought, you don’t seem like the type.”

What does that mean? Having trouble figuring out if that was rude or not. Making a mental note to ask Luka or Camille later.

Before they got any closer to the studio, Crowe stopped. “I’ll go in first and see what’s going on. Hopefully they won't ask where I’ve been.” Peeking around the corner showed no signs of life, the only thing that did was inside the studio where they could hear faint noise. “Wait like, a minute before you show up. Then you can do whatever you guys planned.” She waited until Kendall nodded and quietly snuck around, making herself smaller and shuffling to the side of Kelly as Griffin was talking, catching the end of it.

Something about Logan again and him retaliating in anger. Crowe signaled to the boys that Kendall was ready, now they just had to wait for the right moment. “Let’s hear my new bad boy band.” Griffin smirked to himself, happy with the outcome of his idea. Kelly didn’t ask Crowe about her whereabouts luckily, giving her relief of not having to come up with an excuse.

There was a small back and forth with the boys teasing Logan and Gustavo was stalling the best he could until Kendall arrived. They didn’t have to for long as the boy sauntered into the room and did the lamest pose Crowe could think of, dramatically crossing his arms over his body so it looked ‘cooler’ than usual. The same thing Logan did when he tried to take the role.

It caused everyone to stare at him in, what Crowe thought, bewilderment. She made sure she looked somewhat shocked as well, not wanting to reveal anything. It was good acting practice too.

Kelly was the only one who seemed afraid of what was about to happen. Kendall and Wayne Wayne met each other in the middle, facing off one another. “Ooh, it’s a bad boy off.” Excitement came from Carlos as the other three teens joined him in wanting to see it. Both Kelly and Gustavo shook their heads, not wanting either of them to do something stupid. But Griffin grew curious, “A bad boy off? That sounds interesting. Doesn’t that sound interesting?” Crowe had to agree with him on this one, she wanted to know what the breaking point was.

“You know, one thing I know about bad boys is..” Kendall grabbed a mic stand from the side of the room and crossed over to where all of Gustavo’s records lined the wall. “They like breaking stuff.” Taking the stand and smashing it against an encased gold record, shattering the glass and causing it to fall. That caused Gustavo and Kelly to scream and for everyone else to lean over to see the damage, Griffin found it amusing, “He’s right. Bad boys do like breaking stuff.”

Gustavo ran into the room, yelling at what he did with everyone flooding in after him. Crowe stood next to him with her mouth agape, but Gustavo’s was for a different reason, “You smashed one of my platinum records?!”

This time Wayne Wayne took the lead, copying Kendall’s moves but doing more damage with all the records he could reach. And after each record he broke in the row, a vicious scream came out of Gustavo.

Throwing the mic stand to the ground in victory. Kelly jumped on Gustavo’s back to stop him from possibly killing both boys, Crowe stepped back to not interfere. “Ooh, round one of the bad boy off goes to Wayne Wayne. Someone ring a bell.” And one of his assistants did just that, bringing out a bell and a small mallet to ding it.

“That is so cool.” The gold shined off the bell, Crowe wishing to ring it herself. Griffin pushed for the next round, having her, her bosses and Wayne Wayne’s posse crowd into the recording studio, where Wayne Wayne entered first with Kendall nowhere in sight. Crowe stood next to Griffin’s assistant and kept glancing at him, trying to gain the courage to ask. She wasn’t paying attention to Wayne Wayne or whatever he was doing, going on her tiptoes and whispering. “Uhh, do you think I can, or, am I allowed to ring the bell? If not then that’s totally fine. I completely understand that. You don’t have to. I don’t want you to get fired.” Rambling off.

Cowardly chickening out and regretting asking almost immediately. But he nudged her shoulder and held the tiny golden mallet to her, smiling and nodding that she had permission to. Crowe gladly took it and gripped it with both hands, bouncing on her heels. James peeked over Carlos to see what she was doing, caulking it up to something boring and ignoring it.

Just then Kendall rammed Wayne Wayne out of the way onto the ground and started to sing, or rap, his bad boy song.

“Your rhymes are weak, mine fit like a glove, Gustavo’s got a face only a mother could love.” Gustavo certainly didn’t like that, shooting up to get him but Kelly held onto him and pushed him down back into his seat. Griffin was still beaming, “Round two goes to Kendall.” His assistant looked to Crowe, signaling for her to ring the bell. She happily did, hitting it twice and shivering from the sound.

“I can’t wait for round three.” Griffin clapped his hands together, turning around and heading out to the hallway. Crowe gave the mallet back, thanking him and following the group out.

Kendall left and went straight to Gustavo’s office, having everyone wait on him. They huddled together while Kendall locked himself in the office, hearing crashing and breaking just seconds after. Crowe stood next to Kelly, wincing at the sounds and wondering how far Gustavo allowed him to go.

And it was hard for her to know if Gustavo was acting or not, pushing through the crowd and sounding worried. “That does not sound good.” Griffin glanced at Gustavo then back to the locked office as Gustavo screamed, going to his door and trying to pry it open. “He locked it.” Kelly looked annoyed herself, he sarcastically nodded and fumbled for his keys as the sound quieted down.

When Gustavo was able to unlock the door, a puff of smoke flowed out along with electricity crackling. He flinched, going into the mess to see the damage. Crowe tilted her head in wonder. How did he do that?

It really looked like a storm had passed through his office, the group amazed as well. Bad boy Kendall came out with a sledgehammer, throwing it behind him before fully exiting the room. Then he posed again, leaving Crowe to wonder why he thought that looked cool at all.

The boys were smiling at him, being proud of their friend. “He destroyed my office,” Gustavo bolted out the room, “My music awards, and he used my drawer as a bathroom.” That made Crowe’s face turn to disgust quickly, hoping they weren’t serious. But if anything, it might’ve been true and she never wanted to find out. “Bad boys go where they want.” Kendall popped his jacket for emphasis, making the boys smile brighter and Crowe shake her head.

“That’s a new one.” Griffin looked at Logan when he said that, turning back to Kendall. “Original. And very, very bad.” Griffin and everyone else knew who won but Wayne Wayne wouldn’t allow it, pushing through the crowd and getting next to Kendall to look inside the office, screaming ‘no’ over and over. He kept looking back and forth in a panicked disbelief, “I’m the bad boy. Me!” Carlos stepped up, “Dude, he went in his desk.”

“So gross.” Crowe thought aloud and Kelly overheard her, nodding in agreement. Wayne Wayne pointed at Carlos furiously, “I’ll show you,” he turned to Kendall and then to everyone, “And I’ll show you, and I’ll show all of you. I’ll-I’ll-” He kept turning, trying to come up with something worse than Kendall. Except it wasn’t his best idea, deciding to square in on Griffin and kick him below the belt.

Causing Crowe to cover her mouth, from both shock and amusement. The boys gasped as Griffin fell forward, “Kumbaya.”

Wayne Wayne took that as a victory but Griffin thought otherwise. Bringing a finger up and having his assistants grab Wayne Wayne, and his posse wasn’t going to get caught in the middle of this so they ran off. Griffin popped back up just as quick like it was nothing, fixing his suit. “You’re right, Wayne Wayne. Big Time Rush should only have four members.”

“You can’t fire me.” Wayne Wayne yelled back, “You know why? Cause I have..” he pulled the contract out. “You have to put me in the band.” It was clear that he was desperate, the boys and Crowe could easily see that. And she hoped Griffin could gain some sanity and do something right, “I have to put you in a band, just not this one. They already have a bad boy.”

Once they heard that, Kendall pointed to himself and showed off. Griffin’s assistants dragged Wayne Wayne to the back as Kendall broke his persona, “But I don’t want to wear these clothes all the time, and I won’t turn my back on my friends.” The boys and Crowe were glad to hear that, she was impressed that he stood up for himself and the band.

“Fine,” Griffin stepped closer and dragged Crowe next to him, “And you can still date my daughter.” She had to blink a few times, confusion on her face as he continued. “But I want you nowhere near my desk. Griff-Griff out.” He fist bumped Kendall then left, Wayne Wayne dragging on the floor behind Griffin and still yelling out.

The four boys and Kelly waved him bye as Crowe just stared at the sight. Each day with them being more chaotic than the last, and she was fine with that.

They disappeared around the corner as Gustavo yelled, “You!” The six turned to face him as he took his sunglasses off, “Nice work.”

She was surprised he complimented them but was appreciative nonetheless. The boys and Gustavo celebrated, doing an odd hand shake of some sort, but Crowe didn’t join. That was until Carlos took one of her hands and shook it so she was included, giving her hand back when they were done. Kelly was more than baffled, “Wha? But he- he smashed, and you..” She was struggling to form a sentence from the events of today, going into his office to see if anything was staged. Looking at Gustavo for an explanation. “I teamed up with the hockey heads, cause they do have good plans.” They all shrugged, Crowe subconsciously being in sync with them for once.

“I was here the whole time. When did you plan this?” Kelly asked the group. The band pulled out each of their sheets from earlier, as did Crowe. The five put it together as Kelly read it, “‘Let’s get rid of Wayne Wayne’? Hey, I could’ve helped.” She put her hands on her hips in defense. “I’m part of this team, too, you know?” Directing it mostly at Gustavo as he explained again, “Yes, you are. But you’re still a horrible faker liar actress.” The five had to agree with him, which made Kelly try to show off her skills with fake crying. It only added to her being horrible at acting as she over exaggerated then immediately stopped a second later, “Yeah, you’re right.”

With that, the boys threw the sheets in the air and celebrated again. “Alright, dogs. We’re done for the day.” Gustavo gave them the go ahead to leave, but Kelly also informed them on needing to arrive on time tomorrow to start recording. The five nodded and began to leave Rocque Records, cheering about their plan working and no one having to leave the band.

Once they were outside, Kendall slowed his walking to match Crowe’s. “Oh here, your bracelet.” He almost took it off but she held up her hands, “You don’t need to. Like I said, that’s not my favorite one.” The three in front heard, “Favorite what?” Carlos hopped back next to Kendall.

Kendall held his arm up to show off the old bracelet. Logan questioned her too, “That’s yours?” Crowe hummed and nodded. And Kendall wanted to add the fact he learned earlier, throwing an arm around her. “She used to be a bad girl. That’s how she knew what look to go for.” They were just as surprised, thinking and asking the exact same things Kendall did.

Which didn’t surprise her in the slightest but all the questions made her embarrassed, her past making her embarrassed to be more specific. It was her own fault in talking about herself, feeling the heat rise to her face and all through her body. Deciding to bite her tongue and speed walk ahead of the askers all the way to the hotel.

The five got to their apartment and this time Crowe followed them inside. “Hey mom, I’m a bad boy.” Kendall said happier than the usual bad boy. Each of them said their hi’s to Mrs. Knight, who held a frying pan, being careful not to step on the unconscious maintenance guy that was lying face down on the floor.

All of them took a seat on the couch with Kendall plugging in the receiver to the tv and taking a seat himself. “Let’s check out Wayne Wayne’s new band.”

Crowe stood behind the couch and covered her mouth from shock, smiling at the former bad boy Wayne Wayne’s new look. He was in an orange shirt and orange pants, along with three others behind him in different colors. On a children’s program and singing about how yummy eating bananas are. They found it hilarious, James and Kendall fist bumped, “He is really bad.”

Katie and Mrs. Knight walked over next to Crowe as the program got interrupted by breaking news. A news anchor announced a warning for anyone on the freeway, as a police chase is in progress. Showing a close up shot of a girl in a car and trying to wave the camera’s away from her sight.

“That’s Molly!” Katie yelled, making the teens confused. Continuing on about her being 20 and a con actress who disguises herself as an 11 year old, trying to land jobs in Hollywood.

The maintenance man from before, joined them with a fresh brewed cup of coffee and a whisk. “I told you she was weird.” Katie told her mom with the maintenance man agreeing. “Mom?” Kendall lifted his hand to point at the tv, “Is that your rental car?” Mrs. Knight sighed, “Yep.” With that, Mrs. Knight left for the other room to grab her phone and called the rental service for a replacement vehicle.

“Why do you look like that?” Katie leaned on the couch to ask her brother. Kendall caught her up on the events they did, bringing up Crowe’s help with the outfit and makeup. Crowe rubbed her hands in avoidance and said her bye’s for the day to everyone, stepping closer to the connecting door. Katie followed her and asked if she could come over, Crowe was about to accept before Mrs. Knight, still on the phone, said no since she still had homework to finish.

Katie, just like Kendall, compromised and said she’ll do it at Crowe’s place. Mrs. Knight thought for a second and looked to Crowe for her approval too. Nodding her head as they both agreed, making her promise the work will be done when she comes back. Katie promised, taking her bag and going into Crowe’s place first and taking a spot on the couch.

“How much work do you have?” Crowe cooled down, taking her bag and jacket off. “Just two sheets of math,” Katie brought her supplies out and began working. “It’s easy so it won’t take long.” She took over the coffee table and Crowe used the kitchen counter for her own work. Taking two things out.

Skimming the pages of her journal and sheet of paper, thinking of which problem to figure out first. Both included finishing what she started, the song and the list. Choosing the second one since she had to ask Camille for help on the first, sending a short text.

Moving onto the list while waiting for a response. Crowe silently groaned and kept tapping the pen on the paper, marking a jumble of dots. Picking at the mess of stickers at the bottom of the page, sticking and sturdy as ever. And impossible to figure out what the last thing had said. Even flipping it to the back wasn’t helpful since it was heavy, almost cardstock like paper. Her memory wasn’t any better, forgetting all about it.

She didn't realize how long she was zoning out until Katie piped up, finished with her work.

“You want a snack or drink?” Crowe opened the fridge and reached for some water, grabbing a second one for Katie. They laid on the couch and flipped the tv on, talking over it instead of watching. “So you knew that Molly person?”

Katie threw her head back, exasperated. “Yeah, cause mom wanted me to make a friend. Since the guys ‘don’t count’.” Crowe looked at her puzzled. “And I kept telling her she was crazy, but she didn't believe me until now!” Throwing her hands up as Crowe questioned Mrs. Knights motive. “Why don't they count? And does it matter?” Fiddling with the bottle cap as Katie shrugged.

“She wanted me to have a ‘girl type’ friend. I don't know why though, I'm fine by myself.” It was an odd comfort to Crowe, seeing a part of herself in someone else. But that also caused worry in her, afraid she could end up like her. But there was already something different about Katie than Crowe was at her age.

“I get it,” Scared of admitting it, “When I was around your age I didn't have an-a lot,” switching the words, but Katie caught it. “Of friends.” Crowe swallowed the fear and pushed forward, not giving herself a second to think, “But, we can be friends. If you want to.”

Static was ringing in her ears, fizzing down when Katie smiled. “Yeah, I thought we were already friends.”

Crowe froze. Blinking like it’ll change her hearing, smiling like an idiot from her vanishing worries.

⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡

It was hours later in the middle of the night. Cicadas singing, buzzing cars passing by, moonlight sneaking in through the window.

And a restless Crowe was awake on the couch. Staring out at the pool, in her normal state of over thinking. The paper laid on the table, finally getting the attention it deserved after all these years of neglect.

Maybe a part of her was glad that Luka kept it instead of throwing it away. A fond memory of when they first met, at the ice rink after her first time horribly skating. Gaining long term injuries that still adorns her skin. And some on her heart.

‘Cece’s list to making it BIG’ Red hearts and pink stars decorating the sides. She didn’t pick yellow because, in her younger self's words, ‘it doesn’t look good’. And yet, for whatever reason, the blob of stickers all the way at the bottom, wasn’t considered the same thing.

At least the first thing can be checked off.

‘Go to LA’

#big time rush #fanfic #btr #btrtv #james diamond #carlos garcia #kendall knight #logan mitchell #katie knight #calliope crowe #a field of blooming tulips fic

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