Sparks Fly

Ellie shut the door behind her, a silly grin on her lips. Sophie was right in front of her, completely awake now.

“WHAT HAPPENED!” she demanded, pulling the door open and peering outside. “Bye Carlos!” she yelled, while Ellie peeked out the window at the top of the door to see Carlos' car pull away with a honk. “Ellie” Sophie whined, tugging on her older sister's hand desperately.

“Well Soph, Carlos is leaving.” Sophie's face fell, and she pulled Ellie over to the couch where they sat down together.

“Forever?”

“No, just until Christmas.”

“PHEW” Sophie exclaimed. “That's still a really long time, Ellie.”

“I know it is. But Carlos told me to tell you that you can call him, any time you want.” Sophie squealed and grabbed Ellie's purse, fishing out her phone and finding Carlos' number. She held the phone up excitedly to her ear, shushing Ellie.

“Voice mail” she muttered, frowning and putting the phone on speaker.

'Hi! You've reached Carlos' phone, sorry I didn't answer. I'm probably on set, or out with the guys. Please leave me your name and phone number and I'll call you back as soon as I get more free time. Thanks!' An automated voice told them to leave a message at the beep, and then the beep beeped.

“Hi Carlos!” Sophie said, putting the phone in front of her on the coffee table. “It's Sophie and Ellie. Say hi Ellie!” Ellie smiled and leaned down by Sophie.

“Hi Carlos. I'm guessing you're driving home right now, but Sophie wanted to call and say hi.”

“Carlos you have to come back soon cause my ice skating class is doing a show on” Sophie looked at Ellie. “I forget when, but you gotta come!”

“It's December 21st at 6pm.” Sophie smiled and nodded at the phone.

“Also if you don't come back soon then Santa might miss your house. Bye!” She hit the end call button then leapt up from the couch.

“And now it's bed time” I announced, but Sophie just groaned and flopped down on the floor.

“BUT IT'S SATURDAY” she whined, blinking up at Ellie with puppy dog eyes.

“Fine” Ellie gave in - it was just past 9pm. Their parents would be home soon though. “But go put on your pajamas at least, Mom and Dad will kick my butt if they catch you awake." Sophie squealed delightedly and ran to her room, pounding down the stairs seconds later.

“I wanna watch TV!” she announced, dragging Ellie to the basement where the TV was. Sophie picked up the remote and flipped through the channels, looking for anything good.

“Only one show, okay Sophie?” She groaned, flipping over to the kids show category. She clicked Nickelodeon, scrolling through the options. “Wait, stop.” Ellie grabbed the remote from Sophie, clicking on the selection that said 'Big Time Rush'... Carlos' stupid band?

“What's Big Time Rush?” Sophie asked, squinting at the description.

“I don't know... but Carlos told me before he left that his band was called Big Time Rush. Maybe it's a new show.” Ellie looked at the cast list: James Maslow, Kendall Schmidt, Carlos Pena, and Logan Henderson. “And that is definitely Carlos' name.” Sophie took the remote back and hit play. They watched the few previews, and then, there he was. Wearing the hockey helmet he'd had on when he arrived at the restaurant. Sophie was just staring at the screen, mouth hanging open.

“Carlos is famous!” Sophie proclaimed, squirming around to the musical intro. Carlos was in a band, called Big Time Rush, like he'd said. A band that had a TV show about them.

“That's what his voice mail meant when he said he was on set” Ellie mused. “And that's probably why he'll be gone for so long, because he's on a TV show. On Nickelodeon.”

“Maybe I could bring Carlos to school for show and tell!” Ellie laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at the television.

“This is just too weird. I can't believe he didn't mention this earlier.” Sophie frowned.

“You would've freaked out!” That was true. Also, it would have sounded a little cocky if Carlos had told her straight off that he was in a band. On television.

They finished watching the episode then Sophie went to bed, despite her protests. Ellie promised that they could watch the rest tomorrow, because 'Carlos is funnier on TV and that one has pretty hair'. Ellie finished up her homework for the night, and their parents came in as she was about to go to sleep. She heard her mom check on Sophie, then her own bedroom door cracked open to reveal her mom's face. Tired lines were etched into her features from too many long hours at work.

“Are you still awake, Ellie?” she whispered.

“Yeah, I was just about to sleep.”

“You and Sophie have a good day?”

“Yeah mom, we had fun.”

“Okay.” She smiled wearily. “I love you.” They didn't see much of either of their parents, of course, but they knew they really did love them. They paid Ellie's college tuition, there was always food in the house, and they always managed to take off work for special days. It wasn't a normal family, but it was a functional one.

“I love you too, mom.”