Aim High, Never Rest

I flushed slightly, stepping on Carlos' foot for like the twentieth during this dance. As you can all see, I'm not much of a dancer. For better terms, I'm a terrible dancer and will probably get sued for sucking so bad. 

"Come on, don't get discouraged. You can do it! I believe in you!" Carlos didn't mind. He's still smiling big, spinning me around. I stumbled a bit into his arms and I seriously felt the awkwardness now.

"Sorry" I mumbled, more embarrassed than ever.

"Don't worry Hannah. We're supposed to have fun!" he exclaimed loudly, gaining weird looks from people around us. So much for killing the slow, romantic atmosphere.

"Hey, is that Kendall dancing with Maxine?" Carlos pointed out, a terrified expression on his face.

I followed his finger to Kendall dancing with that dark nightmare. Kendall actually smiled as his arms remain snaked around her waist. They looked kind of adorable in matching color outfits. If Maxine wasn't a pessimistic bitch, they would have been the perfect couple. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Jo and Kendall looked even better together.

"Her hair isn't as good as mine" some girl mumbled to other, grabbing my attention away from Kendall and that thing.

As I studied them, I notice they were glaring at James and Carley. The pair looked perfect in their dance. But there's some part of me that tells me it won't ever work out. James doesn't seem like the guy who would be committed to just one girl. 

"Jealous bitches" I mumbled, turning back to Carlos.

"You okay?" Carlos dropped his super optimism to study me more carefully.

And I just feel my heart sink at the disappearance of Carlos' cheery face.

"I'm perfectly fine. Just a bit embarrassed that I can't dance.
Plus, people are so ignorant" I shook my head. I'm such an idiot sometimes. I tend to intervene in other people's business at times.

"Don't worry about other people. And don't fret over your weaknesses. Just approach everything positively, be reckless, and go nuts! Oh, and eat tons of Mama Knight's food! You'll be set for life!" 

I laughed at his Carlos-ness. From the time I've spent with Carlos, I noticed that eating was his passion. If he wasn't pursuing a career in the music field, he'd either be casted in Jackass or become a competitive consumer. I can definitely imagine him winning some hotdog eating contest. 

The slow song finally ended, meaning I don't have to embarrass myself any further. A sigh of relief came out of my mouth.

"Let's eat!" Carlos shouted as a totally upbeat song came on. Kandi got super excited, pulling the guy she was dancing with to the center of the dance floor.

Damn, this girl really likes dancing.

Carlos dragged me back to the food table to get some more corn-dogs and some fish-sticks.  

I politely decline Carlos' offer to grab some more food and followed him to a completely empty table. 

We sat there in silence for a few minutes after I instructed Carlos to not talk with his mouth full. His eyes glowed with complete happiness as his teeth sinks into the corn-dog. I've never seen a teenage boy so happy with food before in my life. Carlos is unique and one of a kind. I have to give him that.

"Eat some!" Carlos held the fish-sticks out for me to grab, still talking with his mouth full to my dismay.

"No thanks" 

"Eat some!" he instructed again.

"Carlos!" I whined.

"Hannah!" he mocked me, accidentally spitting some food at me from his mouth. I wasn't disgusted and he didn't seem to mind.

"Fine" I took the fish-stick and quickly ate it, fighting back the tears that's threatening to come out. 

I can't stand another minute of thinking negatively of myself with every single encounter about food. Why am I so fat and unattractive? Why is Cassie so damn gorgeous and skinny while I'm ugly and a complete fatass?

Lucky for me, Carlos is so into his food that he didn't notice some tears flying down from my eyes.

I quickly wiped them all before he looked up from his plate. And again, he didn't notice.

"Any news from Cassie and Bitters?" he asked, still mouth full. Don't he know table matters?

"Nope. Kendall convinced Cassie to keep going with the date"

Carlos just nodded, turning back to his food.

A seat beside me moved and I turned.

Logan sat down in the third seat at the table and dropped his head on it, exhausted.

"What happened to you?" Carlos asked.

"I'm tired. I've been dancing all night long!" he explained, out of breath.

"I can totally see that" I gave him a look. 

And for the rest of the party, Carlos, Logan, and I just remained at the table because I admittedly told them that I hate dancing. Logan was exhausted anyways so he rested his head on the table. Carlos didn't care, as long as he kept eating. We all benefited from this. 

Everyone was exhausted by the time the DJ got out the booth. He took a plate at the snack table and grabbed some remaining snacks.

Kandi danced with Collin and then with Guitar Dude. It's a bit surprising to see him without his guitar. Did Kandi teach him to let go occasionally? I surely hope so. 

Maxine and Kendall danced for a bit more after that slow dance until Kendall decided to dance with Jo for the remaining time. After Jo, Kendall danced with Camille. 

Kendall must enjoy this party very much. All the freaking chicks wanted to dance with him except not really. It's like he gets to dance with so many girls tonight that I'm starting to feel a bit jealous. James didn't dance with as many people since he was so distracted with Carley. 

But I'm still super jealous of Maxine, Camille, and especially Jo. Jo gets to date Kendall and Kendall's just so damn gorgeous. His personality is exactly what I need and both our personalities would fit perfectly together if we ever went out.

"Hannah, hurry up and help end the party!" Kendall was at my side, something I completely didn't notice due to my head being in the previous events.

"Why?" I stared at him dumbly. 

"Cassie just texted me. They're coming back in half an hour!" 

"What? Crap!" I looked around cluelessly. People were still eating. The pool was a mess. The place was trashed and it takes a while to clean up. 

"Help me!" Kendall shouted. 

"Sorry!" I snapped out of my helpless daze and helped him take off the decoration on the ceilings. 

"Guys! Help us!" I groaned, tired of cleaning up already.

In the next fifteen minutes, Kendall and I got everyone who stayed at the pool to help. With a bunch of helping hands, we managed to get the pool cleaned up. 

Kendall, Carlos, James, Logan, Collin, and Tyson carried the tables to the lobby.

Kandi, Carley, and Jo already completed their mission of stacking all the chairs together.

The least I can do now is help them.

So I did. 

We brought the chairs back to the hotel dining room, displaying them properly by the tables. They were almost exactly the way they were before the BTR guys 'borrowed' them for this party. 

"Good work everyone!" Kendall held his hands up, high-fiving the guys. 

My phone buzzed and I checked the text message. Cassie's warning us about them getting back to the hotel.

"Everyone move out!" I yelled, making several people jump.

We all piled out of the dining room and closed the door behind us so Bitters won't suspect a thing. 

"Bye Kendall" Jo and Kendall shared a quick kiss before she pressed the button on the elevator. 

In the next few minutes, everyone left besides me and the four dudes. 

We sat casually on the sofa and that's how Cassie and Mr. Bitters found us when they got back from their dinner date. 

"You idiots!" Cassie screeched, stomping over to the elevators and pressed the button.

"She hated the date" Bitters shrugged, taking his place behind the counter.

"Don't blame her" Kendall mumbled quietly.

"Shh" I hissed at him.

"Well, we tried, so bye. We gotta go!" James got up and ran for the open elevator door just as Cassie got in. Kendall, Carlos, Logan, and I got the message and ran in the elevator before the door closed. 

"That was amazing!" Carlos cheered, putting his hockey helmet back on. I have no idea where he randomly pulled them out of. Well, he isn't any normal person after all. He's Carlos.

"You guys better enjoyed whatever the hell you guys did because you guys promised to star me in your next music video" Cassie rolled her eyes in disgust and crossed her arms. 

"Kendall!" the trio shouted, glaring at their friend.

Kendall held his hands up, "that's the only compromise I could make under the pressure of five seconds!" 

"How would we convince Gustavo to star her in our music video? He's going to kill us!" Logan questioned, shaking his head at his idiot friend. 

"Hey, we got this!" Kendall defended.

The elevator dinged, throwing itself open for us to access.

"You guys better keep your promises or I'm telling Bitters you set him up" Cassie warned as she threw our apartment door open. 

The guys assured her that they'd keep that promise and we each entered our respective rooms. 

Mom was sitting on the sofa with a magazine in hand.

Dad was nowhere to be found.

"Where have you girls been?" mom shot us a super suspicious look, frightening me slightly.

"I was with some friends I made!" I said, semi-truthfully.

Mom smiled, obviously happy that her advice came to good use. Then she eyed Cassie.

"And you...?"

I walked behind mom to face Cassie. She shot me a look. 

I gestured towards the ceiling, symbolizing fame and bright lights. A evil grin appeared on her face and her head moved up and down in a nod.

"I went on a date. The guy was a total jackass" Cassie flipped her beautiful blonde locks back before strutting to her room. 

"So where's dad?" I asked mom, completely changing the subject.

"He went applying for some jobs. He won't come back until eleven" 

"That's late" 

"Yeah, but what other choice does he have? He needs a good job so he can raise this family" 

And then something hit me.

What if dad can't get a excellent paying job? What if Cassie can't get a modeling job? 

We as a family, will be screwed.

Unless I step in to help.