Lost in Paradise

“You guys are going to be the death of me, you do know that right?” I asked as the guys worked on the water pipe. They were trying to start the sprinklers and flood out the girls’ field hockey team. “And if I miraculously don’t die, I’ll only have Katie left after you guys are all gone,” I continued, referring to Kendall’s little sister.

Logan was the only one to agree with me that it wasn’t a good idea. “Guys, Jean is right. We do this, and we’re going to die. James won’t ever get to live his dream of being famous!” he said, trying to plead with the rest of the guys. I cleared my throat, reminding him about me. “Sorry. And neither will Jean! Do you guys really want her to die? She’s our only friend that’s a girl!” he said.

All three sighed. “Are you going to help us or not?” Kendall asked.

“Please help us, Jean Bean?” James asked, giving me his famous pouty face and puppy-dog eyes. It was almost impossible to say no to that face, but I was determined not to get my ass kicked this time.

I groaned and backed away. Logan sighed and said, “I need new friends.” And with that, they turned the crank a final time, letting the water flow onto the girls’ field hockey team.

We heard screams coming from the field, and the guys started laughing. “You guys might want to run,” I muttered as the team started running at us. They flew past me, and I shouted, “Give James the helmet!” as the team ran past me. I had no part in the flooding, so why would they do anything to me? Exactly; they didn’t touch me.

The guys were chased through allies all over, until they were finally stuck at a dead end. I just laughed as all four got the shit beat out of them; James wearing Carlos’s helmet, of course. When the beating was over, I was nice enough to help them all get back to Kendall’s house.

“I hope you guys learned your lesson,” I said as we relaxed at Kendall’s house later that evening. “But in case you didn’t learn from today, girls don’t exactly like getting soaked.” I wasn’t even looking at them as I was talking; we were watching Tarzan, and I was zoned in on the TV. Then ‘Son of Man’ started playing, and both James and I jumped on the table and started singing along.

Before I knew what was happening, I was being tackled to the floor behind the couch; James following behind me. “Carlos!” I yelled. “That hurt! Your helmet hit me in the head,” I mumbled as I rubbed my head.

Carlos ruffled my hair as he stood up. James then freaked, as did I, and tried to fix my hair. “That’s what you get for doing that,” he said as he took his seat back on the couch. “You and James never shut up; it gets old,” he finished, Logan and Kendall nodding in agreement.

“Are you in Minnesota?” the TV asked, and both James and I shot up. “We’re in Minnesota,” we said in unison.

“Do you want to be famous?” the man on the TV asked. “We want to be famous!” we said excitedly, hugging each other and bouncing in place in excitement. Then the man said that Gustavo Racque was holding auditions to find the next big thing in music. “We have to go!” we shouted. We all loved to sing, just me and James loved it the most. The two of us wanted singing to be our careers; Logan, Kendall and Carlos didn’t. But, needless to say, they were of course willing to help us.

All five of us stood up. “Wait! How are we going to get there?” Kendall asked.

I rolled my eyes. “I have my license, remember?” I shouted over all of the talking. I then picked up my keys from the table and we all piled out the door and into my car. “This is so exciting!” I squealed.

“Just keep your eyes on the road and try not to get us killed before we’re famous!” James shouted from the passenger seat. I just shot him a glare as I sped down the street towards the theater. He knew that I hated when he criticized my driving; he knew that I was a good driver and nothing would happen to him. We were all 18 now, and I was the only one with a license; there was a reason for it! “Love you!” he replied, holding up his hands in the shape of a heart.

As soon as we got there, before I could even turn the car off, all four guys jumped out and ran into the building. “Wait for me!” I screamed as I turned the key and unbuckled my seatbelt. Just then my car door flew open, I was dragged out of the car and thrown over someone’s shoulder. I could tell it was James; his shoulder was hard and uncomfortable. “Put me down!” I shouted, kicking and thrashing, trying to get out of his grip. He put me down and we sprinted inside.

As soon as we got inside we rushed to the scout that was handing out numbers and clipboards. “We want to be famous!” we shouted, and she slapped numbers onto our chests. She then proceeded to slap a reluctant Logan, Carlos and Kendall as well.

As James was filling out his clipboard, she slapped him again. “810 is next,” she said before walking back into the auditorium. James then freaked out, ripped off his number and switched it with mine. I did the same, switching my number with Logan’s.

“But I don’t sing!” he exclaimed. Then the light bulb went off; “I’ll beat-box!” he said and headed into the auditorium. He came back a few minutes later, face white, about to burst into tears. “He’s Satan!” he exclaimed as I curled up into the fetal position on his chair.

The scout then came back through the door. “811 is up,” she said and disappeared. James, yet again, freaked out and switched numbers with me. I then turned and switched with Carlos. He sighed, but stood up. He put on his helmet, gave it a few taps like he always does, and headed in.

Not even 2 minutes later he came back in, a big smile on his face. “Well, I’m not going to Hollywood!” he exclaimed, high-fiving Kendall.

Then the scout came back yet again. “812. 812 is up.” James freaked and switched numbers with me again. But instead of switching with Kendall, I found my balls and stood up. I took a deep breath, got a hug from James, and walked through the doors.