CEO Arthur Griffin was a weirdo. 

A rich weirdo. 

Way back when, the boys found out Griffin owned a massive mansion on the beach up in Malibu. Griffin couldn't get them to drop it, so he struck up a deal:

The boys get the house for a day if they get a number one record.

And what an exciting beach day it would be. 

Emily stood with the boys facing Griffin and his team enter through the narrow hallway. 

"Ah, it's the boys I own," he greeted. 

"Griffin, do you remember the deal you made with us?" Kendall asked. 

"The one where you catch and destroy my clone and I buy you all jetpacks?"

"No," Carlos said. 

Emily gaped in shock. She had never heard of this deal before, and quite frankly, was offended she wasn't included. 

Logan shook his head, "The deal where we get to use your Malibu beach house for the day if we get-"

James pulled out a frame from behind him, holding a gold record in place, "A number one record!" He handed it over to Griffin as Gustavo and Kelly came out from the booth. 

"It's true," Gustavo confirmed, "Big Time Rush officially has a number one record."

"In Kerplankistan," Griffin mentioned. 

Emily shrugged, "You never said where it had to be."

Griffin narrowed his eyes, "Well played."

The teens cheered to themselves, fist bumping.

"Now, there are three rules in my beach house," Griffin said. "One, don't go near my priceless Ming Vase collection. Two, don't even look at my car collection." He turned, pointing to Emily specifically, "Three, you have to have fun." 

Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes in confusion, "What does that mean?" The boys snickered to themselves while Gustavo and Kelly guiltily stared up at the ceiling. The girl clapped her hands loudly, "Hey!" 

"You're a little tense," Carlos spat out. 

"Only when you're stressed," Logan defended. 

"Which is always," Gustavo muttered, not-so, under his breath. Emily narrowed her eyes, unable to believe she was being singled out right now. 

"Or when you're trying to be responsible," Kendall pointed out. 

"Which is always," Kelly coughed out into her fist slyly. 

James shrugged, telling her how it is, "You need to do something reckless and stupid."

The girl scoffed, "Okay, whatever, I'll do something wild, can we go?" She shrugged off, turning to Griffin in haste to change the subject. 

He pulled out the keys, letting them dangle in the air, "Have fun, or don't. I don't care."

The keys landed in Emily's palms as she felt the boys crowd around her, staring intently at the thing that would get them to the beach. 

They all backed up, closing their eyes and going into their fantasyland. Carlos was showing off his muscles. Kendall was making out with himself. James seemed to be surfing. And Logan was holding an invisible stick making beeping noises. 

Emily turned, disturbed but not surprised, watching them make fools out of themselves. 

"How long do they do this?" Griffin asked. 

"It's hard to say," Kelly told him.

Emily nodded back, "They once did it for three hours."

***

Emily had taken two minutes to get ready for the beach. 

She had been waiting outside for the boys by the bus for 20. 

Luckily, they invited more friends and she wasn't totally lonely. Camille was coming, and the Jennifer's. Jo was suppose to, but in the middle of packing got a call to come in for reshoots on her tv show. 

"I could fill a water bottle with sea water and give it to Logan," Emily suggested. 

"He'd figure it out," Camille told her. 

After being harassed, Emily made it her beach day mission to do something reckless that affected the boys and proved she could really let loose and be stupid like them. Filling Kendall's shoes with shells was a no, giving Logan salt water was out, and the Jennifer's just about smacked her when she suggested giving Carlos formal invites to sit with them on the beach. 

"Well what do I do? Every thinks I'm lame," Emily complained. 

Blonde Jennifer shook her head, "Honey, you aren't lame. 

Curly-haired Jennifer smirked, "You're smart."

"Or you could just surprise James with a kiss and call it a day," brunette Jennifer said, making the others and Camille laugh but intensely agree.

Emily looked around, shushing her friends, "Keep it down!" She whispered. 

"Best beach day ever!" 

Big Time Rush caught their attention. She turned seeing the guys run out of the building, finally ready to leave. 

James held up a clipboard, "Alright, Camille."

"Here!"

"Jennifers."

"So here."

"Guitar Dude."

"Today, it's Ukulele Dude."

"Em."

She furred her eyebrows in confusion. "I have the keys," she reminded them, confused why they put her on the invite list. 

"And our Malibu chauffeur," Carlos said. 

Buddha Bob popped up, "Here. Just remember, if anybody asks, I'm taking ya to the airport." He ran up into the bus, getting the driver's seat situated. 

Emily smirked as she noticed Jo come out, layered in winter clothing for the reshoots. Jo smiled apologetically at Kendall while Emily blew her a sarcastic kiss, knowing she was coming by later tonight. 

"All aboard the Malibu Beach Party Party Bus," James called. 

"You said 'party' twice?" Logan pointed out. 

"You bet I did."

***

Griffin's house was massive. There was an open patio with a large staircase draping down the hill to the sand with an infinity pool. 

His house overlooked the ocean besides massive rocks creating a cliff formation. 

Emily forced Camille to walk the beach with her until she figured out what to do to prove she could let loose. 

"I surf while doing a handstand!" 

Camille frowned, "Can you surf or do a handstand?"

Emily tucked her head down, "No," she mumbled. 

"Then no."

The girl's bare feet kicked sand up in frustration, "Then what am I supposed to do? Everything the guys do is practically centered around tricking other people," she rambled. "I have nothing to gain here."

Camille shrugged, "I know Logan is looking for treasure with his metal detector."

Emily shook her head, "I don't have real treasure or fake treasure." The girl perked her eyes up in despair, "Maybe I'll take Jo's spot on that beach blanket and sulk with Kendall."

Camille stopped her, "No, you're going to go up to that house," she demanded, pointing back up the hill, "get a drink, dance it off, and not care about "letting loose" because that's the last thing anyone will expect." 

Emily sighed, "It's a really long hike."

Camille snapped, "Go."

Emily made a small whining noise as she slugged off through the sand back towards the house. Kids were dancing in every room or outside grilling. 

As she stepped off the wooden path onto the solid home foundation, Kendall startled the girl, running up from behind her. 

"Best beach day ever," he grumbled to his friend sarcastically. 

Emily scoffed, "What's your damage?"

"I met this girl who's a pretty big fan and took some pictures, but she wouldn't get off the beach blanket and my mom just attacked me with sunblock!"

"Kendall!" A perky voice squeaked from behind Emily. The girl jumped again, the second scare in a minute for her. "I did it. I broke up with my boyfriend so we can go out!" 

While Kendall expressed exasperation, Emily narrowed her eyes in accusation, "I'm sorry, what?" She snapped at the girl. She had a red ribbon in her hair that bounced every time she talked. 

The girl jumped onto Kendall, wrapping her legs around him, repeatedly kissing his face as Kendall tried to pry her off. 

"Sandy. Sandy, no. Sandy, off. Off. Off," Kendall repeated, giving Emily pleading glances.

Emily stepped in, slipping her arms between the two and roughly shoving them apart earning a harsh glare from Sandy. "Dude, get off," she told the girl. 

"Sandy," Kendall said gently, "you're a really sweet girl, but I already have a girlfriend."

"I know, me!" She cheered. "Check out your Scuttlebutter page."

Emily hesitantly pulled out her phone, skipping the part where she checks Kendall's profile and focused on the five missed calls and 11 angry texts from Jo. 

"Oh, this is bad," Kendall and Emily both muttered. Hearing the other, they turned to each other, about to question what they meant. Emily looked over, seeing Sandy had posted a status update claiming Kendall got a new girlfriend with photos. Kendall figured out what Emily was upset over when Emily's phone rang with another call from Jo.

She passed it off to Kendall, and stood back as he answered, biting her lip. 

"Hey, you," Kendall smoothly answered. 

"Who's that on the beach blanket kissing you?" Jo asked.

"Not my new girlfriend, because you are my girlfriend. Me only like you-"

Sandy snatched the phone from Kendall, "He loves me now, Jo. Bye," Sandy rudely spat, hanging up on Jo. 

Emily gaped at the girl in bewilderment. How could one person be so delusional? She stepped in front of Kendall, staring her down. 

"Yeah, I'm gonna need my phone back," she calmly said, grabbing her wrist to pry it away. Sandy yanked her wrist back, allowing her arm to swing back as she harshly tossed Emily's phone into the large pool.

Kendall grew a horrified look, knowing Sandy was very persistent, and also afraid of the scene Emily would cause.  

"I am going to rip that ribbon out of your hair and strangle you with it," Emily threatened, bouncing on her heels. 

Kendall gasped, taking off running, not feeling guilty in the least for trying to ditch Sandy by letting Emily kill her. 

Sandy screamed, running after Kendall, "Kendall, I love you!" 

Emily turned hot on her heels, chasing Sandy who was chasing Kendall through Griffin's house.

Running through the kitchen, Kendall spotted Carlos and Logan, "Help!" He begged. The two boys watched in confusion as a random new girl chased him, but realized part of the problem when a furious Emily followed. 

Logan stepped out into the line of fire, catching Emily as she ran past, pulling her back. 

"I have to kill her!" Emily complained, breaking out of Logan's hold. 

"What did she do?" Carlos asked. 

"She broke my phone!" She told them, not even remembering how she was harassing Kendall. 

Logan and Carlos shared a glance, looking down, giving Emily a "really?" nod. The girl stepped back, taking a deep breath as she realized this was predictable of her and not letting loose. Letting loose would be not caring about her phone being destroyed. 

Carlos gasped, pointing to a treasure map, "Wouldn't you rather help us find buried treasure?" 

Emily grumbled, shaking her head, "No," she told them, wandering off back outside to find Camille and complain about everything to her. 

Walking outside, she spotted a tall James waving to her. She perked up, "Hey, what are you-" Emily got cut off when James reached her as he bent down and lifted her up, throwing her over his shoulder. "What the actual heck, James?" She screamed at him. 

Back inside, he gently set her down, frantically bouncing in place, "What would you say if I told you the girl who saved my life earlier today was a mermaid?" He laughed, before seriously watching for her reaction. 

Emily scoffed, about to make fun of him for believing for a second she was a mermaid, until it hit her. Sending James on a wild goose chase to expose a "mermaid" is totally unexpected, and she gets a good laugh out of it. Emily took a breath, "Well, Camille was in Mer-teens 4 and it does make a strong case about mermaids."

James jumped, spun Emily around, pointing out a blonde sitting outside eating raw clams through the window. 

"So how do we find out?" James asked, focused on finding a live mermaid. 

Stuttering, "W-well, getting wet means a mermaid's tail is exposed right away."

"So, all I have to do is get her down to the beach and get her wet," James realized, a plan forming in his mind. 

She nodded supportingly, secretly hoping James wasn't interested in this mystery girl. 

***

The best parts of James trying to get this girl wet were when he didn't. 

The first bucket of water hit a massive muscle man who immediately chased James down the beach. The second hit the same man when he was jogging. 

Sure she felt bad, but they did tell her to do something stupid. 

After coaxing James down, convincing him the body-builder was gone, they ran into the other guys on the beach in a crowd. 

"You owe me a new phone!" Emily snapped, pointing harshly at Kendall the second she saw him. 

Kendall rolled his eyes, "Sandy is crazy!" 

Carlos scoffed, "You know what's crazy?"

"Finding buried treasure," him and Logan sang together, wiggling their fingers together. 

Just then, Emily and the boys were all pelted with streams of sunblock. The girl cowered away, shielding her face but feeling her legs being soaked in it. 

"Mama Knight!" They cried, seeing Kendall's mom had soaked them with a water gun. 

"Well, my work here is done. If you need me I'll be on a beach chair catching up on my reading," she said, having been chasing them since they left the Palm Woods and purposefully ditched the sunblock. 

"Can this day get any worse?" Kendall cried, as his mom left the beach. 

"Kendall!" An old man shouted, running up. "There you are. I just remembered what I forgot. A bad guy always shows up halfway through the movie to beat you up."

Emily and James shared a confused glance as Kendall wanted to drop, "What?"

The sound of rumbling turned the teens around to see three red dirt bikes riding up. 

A blonde ripped off his helmet as he and his friend dismounted the bikes. "So, you're the dead man that stole my Sandy." Emily snapped her head over to Kendall. "Prepare to get pummeled!"

"I told you this was a magical beach," the old man told Kendall. 

Sandy ran through, attaching herself to Kendall as she stared down her now ex. "Look, Tad, it's over. Kendall and I are in love and are going to make a life together." 

Emily deeply rolled her eyes and Kendall snapped, assuring Tad that wasn't the case. "You're psychotic!" Emily snapped at Sandy, still furious about losing her phone. 

"Hey," Tad snapped, "don't talk to her like that," harshly pointing his finger at Emily who couldn't comprehend why he was defending this girl. 

"Don't point at me like that."

"Don't point at her like that."

James and Emily both said, then turning to one another, silently biting their tongues as they basically said the same thing. 

"It's time for Tad to get bad!" The boy shouted. He stepped forward, going to attack Kendall. Logan laughed at him while Carlos stepped up, defending Kendall. Emily put herself in front, ready to attack Tad instead, but James lightly picked her up, turned around and dropped her in the back of the group all while the old man separated the brewing fight. 

"Hold on, gang. You gotta settle this like men," the old man said. Emily stepped around by Carlos, elbowing James in the side. "With a surf contest, or a dance off!" Seeing both sides stare blankly, uninterested, "No?"

They shook their heads. 

Tad shook his head, going to climb back on the bike, "This isn't over, Hollywood," he told Kendall. 

Emily scoffed, "He's from Minnesota!" She shouted back. 

James sighed, patting her shoulder, "Okay, you showed him. Good job," he mumbled, desperately trying to calm her down. 

"I had him," she told James, upset he ruined what would've been a great fight while Carlos and Logan ditched Kendall who was still trapped with Sandy.

James shook his head, "We have a mermaid to catch, this can wait," he told her. The boy went over to Kendall, "If you need me, I'll be in love with a mermaid," he told his friend, sending a stab into the blonde's gut beside him. 

She knew he wasn't actually in love, but she definitely didn't want him interested in her. 

***

James and Emily were found by Camille who was quickly filled in by a passionate James on their current quest. 

They leaned on the kitchen counter, watching the "mermaid."

"I don't care if she's a mermaid. She's sweet, she's got feet, and I could fall for her," James said. 

Biting down harshly on her trembling tongue, Emily sighed, "Then go be with her," she shrugged, not meeting James' eyes. If she did, she might've realized that's not what he wanted her to say. 

Nonetheless, the boy went over to Annie, the mermaid, thinking Emily wasn't interested. With James gone, Camille comfortingly rubbed Emily's shoulder. 

"Why'd you say that?" She asked. 

"He obviously likes her, " Emily mumbled. "Why did I do any of this? Now I'm stuck here, watching this happen."

Camille looked up seeing what Emily didn't want to, which was James and Annie leaning in to kiss. So she took off running, separating the two apart, despite confused shouts from Emily who embarrassingly followed. 

Camille pushed them apart, "Hey, yeah, you guys look cute together," she said. "I have to talk to James," she said, yanking the boy off where Emily was. 

"Uh, yeah," James said, "I was just about to make out there!" 

"I just remembered the end of Merteens 4," Camille told them. "If you kiss a mermaid, you turn into a merman!" 

James gasped. "What?" Emily questioned, fearfully shaking her head at Camille to drop it. 

Then James yelped when Annie appeared. "Hey, my dad just called, and he needs my help at The Ocean Floor, so maybe I'll see you later?" She asked James. Emily sighed, knowing the hole just got deeper because James absolutely thought she meant the literal ocean floor instead of the restaurant down the beach Emily noticed on the drive in. 

Annie went in for a kiss, but James dodged it, shaking her hand aggressively, "Great! That would be awesome. Let's meet up later," he nervously said. 

"Bye," Annie waved, skipping off to help her dad. 

"What do I do?" James shouted at the two girls. 

Emily heavily sighed, "James, you would really give up everything to live in the ocean as a fish?" She questioned, rubbing her face in exhaustion. 

"Maybe," he shrugged, challengingly. 

Camille nodded, getting an idea, "No, this is good. We have to see if you can handle being a merman before making any decisions," she told James. 

James nodded in agreement, "Ooh, that's good. I'm gonna go make a tail!" He shouted, jumping off through Griffin's house. 

Emily turned to Camille, gaping, "Why'd you do that?"

"You need a distraction, obviously, and continuing this charade is the best option for you," Camille pointedly told her friend. 

"But then wouldn't I just be manipulating the situation because I like him?"

"Would you rather come clean now and possibly have him go for it with her?" Camille asked. 

Emily shrugged, "No," she admitted. 

"I'm back!" James shouted, running back over. He had two large flippers on and his wet suit, except the top half pulled down and tied around his waist, exposing him shirtless. He handed Camille a rope to tied his legs together.

Emily, however, froze, finding herself thoroughly interested in James' appearance. She cough, acting like she didn't care and she falsely looked around. 

Finished, Camille jumped back up, "Okay, before you surrender yourself to a life under the sea, we have to see if you can handle it."

James nodded, starting to balance on his "tail." He started jumping back and forth, "Yeah, I can do this. I think I like having a tail," he said too soon, before he lost balance and crashed, his legs flying up like a massive flipper. 

After safely moving James outside in a standing position, Emily took out his Kuda Man Spray from his bag, "There's no Kuda in the ocean," she reminded him. James nodded.

Camille then showed her can of 'fish smell.' "So you're going to have to get used to smelling like fish," Camille said, before spraying him. 

James' eyes widened in horror, "Oh! It's hideous!" He screamed, trying to back away, only for the boy to fall over again, tripping over his homemade tail. 

Then the girls got him into a chair. Emily placed a plate with a cheeseburger in front of him, "Mermaids don't eat cheeseburgers." 

James shook his head at the burger. "Are you prepared to give up this, for this?" Camille asked, showing him a bucket of raw clams.

James shrugged, biting into a clam. "Hm. That's a good shell," he said. "I could totally-" then he spit it out, gagging on the taste. "Who am I kidding? I love cheeseburgers! And man spray and my feet," he sighed. 

"Then you have to tell Annie it can't happen," Camille advised. 

"We're just from two different worlds," James said, his face stuffed with cheeseburger. 

Emily felt like she couldn't breathe. 

She pushed her stool back, hopping off, "I'm gonna go for a walk," she told her friends, abruptly leaving the conversation. 

This didn't feel like a harmless prank on James anymore. She was messing with a potential relationship for him. No matter how badly she didn't want him spending the beach day with another girl, that wasn't her decision. And losing him as a friend wasn't an option either. 

Emily found herself sitting by the water when she noticed a familiar blonde running back. Annie. 

Something surged through her as she got to her feet, "Annie!"

The girl looked over, slightly recognizing her. "You're James' friend, right?" 

Emily nodded, "Yeah, um, I should tell you something." Annie nodded, unsure what she had to say. "I convinced James you're a mermaid. And it kinda escalated because you guys were going to kiss and I have a thing for him-"

Annie cut off the rambling girl before she told her too much, "Woah, girl. First, impressive on the mermaid thing," Emily did a small curtsy in response, "second, I just met James a few hours ago. We barely know each other, so please don't worry that we're going to run off and get married or something." 

Emily sighed, slightly at ease knowing she cleared up one side of the mess she made. "Okay, good. Because he's going to break it off because he can't devote himself to living in the ocean," Emily said, drawing an amused smile from Annie. 

"I'll try to be strong," Annie dramatically said. 

Emily snickered, "I'm sorry, again. I just wanted to watch James act like an idiot today."

"Maybe you still can."

***

Emily had met back up with James and Camille who were on their way down to the beach to find Annie. 

She didn't dare try mentioning to Camille that she talked with Annie, much less what she knew. 

"Just break it to her gently," Camille said, as the group noticed Annie on the beach in front of them. "And don't get caught up in the moment and kiss her. I know you do that sometimes," she mocked. 

"No problemo with mermaido," James assured them. 

"Hey!" Annie called. James ran over to her. 

Camille and Emily watched as James broke it off with Annie. Emily started shaking her leg in anticipation, knowing what was going to go down. 

Annie kissed James. 

Camille screamed, while Emily hid a smirk. 

James dropped into the sand. "The mermaid's kiss! The transformation is upon me!" He cried. Emily tried to hold in her laughter as James rolled in the sand, screaming, as if he was getting a tail. "It's metamorphosis! Both beautiful and terrifyi- how long is this going to take?" James asked Annie, pausing his performance on the ground. 

Annie stepped back, truly shocked at what she witnessed as Emily and Camille ran down to them. 

"She's not a mermaid," Emily told him, holding back laughter. 

"What?" James snapped, getting to his feet. "No, no. You said you grew up in the water," he said to Annie. "You ate a clam shell and all! And you said you just talked to your dad on the ocean floor!" 

"I've been a competitive swimmer since I was three," Annie explained. "I ate the clam shell and all because it's a trick my dad taught me-"

"Who owns The Ocean Floor," Emily interjected. "You know that restaurant we passed on the drive in?" 

"Oh," James realized. Then realized again, "Wait, you knew she wasn't a mermaid?" He questioned Emily. 

"Gotcha," she smirked, internally hoping he wasn't upset. As the boy stuttered at a loss for words, "Was that stupid enough for you?" She asked. 

James remembered what happened this morning, "You orchestrated all this because of that?"

"No," Emily responded, pointing to Annie, "You meeting her was just good luck."

James turned to Annie, "Did you know?" Annie smirked, nodding. "Then why did you kiss me?" 

"Emily found me earlier and told me everything. And we knew you'd do something amazingly stupid like this if we kissed," Annie explained.

Camille turned to her friend, shocked, "You planned for them to kiss?" She questioned, incredulously. 

Annie nodded, as Emily avoided answering, "Yeah, she said it wouldn't bother her if she knew it wasn't real."

Emily's heart dropped at Annie's fatal mistake. 

She exposed Emily. In front of James. 

"Hold up," the boy intruded. "Why would us kissing bother you?" He asked Emily, who cursed a million times in her head, slowly looking up at Annie who realized in horror what she said. 

Annie stuttered, giving Emily an apologetic look, trying to cover up, "He believes in mermaids, but he caught onto that?" She cried. 

Camille nervously nodded to Annie, waving her over to give them space to talk. 

"Earth to Em?" James rhetorically asked the girl who's face was now buried in her hands. 

"Yes?" She responded, muffled. 

"Can you please look at me?" He sighed. 

"No."

"Emily," he said, taking her hands off her face himself. Emily winced, feeling this embarrassing heat run down her back in panic. 

"I like you," she mumbled. 

"What?" He repeated, not hearing. 

She took a deep breath, looking up to meet his eyes, steading her voice. "I like you," she told him. James froze. And she didn't have the current brain capacity to read his thoughts and kept talking, "And you flirt a lot and I never know if it's serious and we work together and we have the same friends and I couldn't bare something going wrong and the entire dynamic falling apart, including ours. But... but I still like you too much to see you with someone else."

Emily was no longer looking at James. She took interest in the sand her feet were seeping into. 

James couldn't stop staring at her though. 

"So, instead you lead me into believing in this 'becoming a merman' charade so I wouldn't kiss another girl?" He repeated. 

Emily slowly lifted her head, "Yeah. And it was stupid and unlike me, and I'm sorry," she told him, sincerely. 

"Super stupid," James agreed, Emily nodding with him, her eyes wide as they stared at each other. Then a small smile grew on his face, "but you're lucky you're cute," he told her as he stepped in closer, and pulled her in. 

Their lips met in the middle. Emily found herself lost at first, before allowing her arms to fall forward, looping around his neck. Camille and Annie cheered to themselves in the distance, as the two allowed to kiss to remain simple and sweet. 

They pulled away, the kiss having grown into a smile from them both. Seeing each other again, Emily laughed as she blushed, looking down, and James laughed to himself, not expecting this to be his beach day. 

"We should come to this beach more often," James said.

"Oh!" A voice behind him shouted. James turned, throwing an arm over Emily's shoulder as they saw Guitar Dude run up with a crowd. "Not if Kendall loses that drag race you're not!" And ran off. 

Emily and James questioningly looked at each other. Realizing neither one of them was going to get answer by staring at each other, they ran off after Guitar Dude and his crowd, down the beach. 

On the other side of the house on the beach with a large sign for racing with Kendall in a blue suit on a blue bike underneath. 

"Kendall, what's going on man?" Logan asked, running up from the other direction with a whole other group.

"Drag race," the old man explained. "If Kendall wins, you kids can stay at the beach, and Tad has to leave. But if Tad wins, you have to leave and never return."

Emily and James glanced at each other, before turning back to Kendall, "We can't leave this beach!" They shouted, along with others. While the other kids began explaining their reasoning to Kendall, James and Emily decided to keep their news quiet for the time being. 

"I have no choice!" Kendall said as Tad rode up with his own group, including Sandy, who must've taken him back. "Now, are you going to stand there and criticize me or support your best friend, who's in a drag race?" He shouted. 

"It's time for Tad to get rad!" Tad cheered.

Emily narrowed her eyes in confusion, still not understanding this boy's brain. 

Her and the others shouted supportive words to Kendall as they ran back behind the hay barrels as Sandy crossed out, ready to signal.

As soon as she threw her ribbon down, Tad took off. And Kendall remained in place. 

"Put it in gear!" Emily yelled, wishing she was racing instead. 

Kendall took off in a flash as soon as the gear switched. Everyone nervously jumped in place, as they watched Kendall round the corner and catch up with Tad.

They cheered when he got ahead. Then a mysterious man walked out into the middle of the course. 

Emily leaned over to Carlos, "Why do I think that's Gustavo?" 

"I think it is," Logan responded, her and the boys looking ahead. 

Then Kendall ran him over. They all winced in shock. The Jennifers had grabbed onto Carlos, getting a feel of his biceps. "Not bad," they gushed to him. 

Emily turned to James, who just shook his head, focusing back on Kendall. 

"He's losing, he's losing!" Logan cried when Tad cut him off. 

Kendall started to gain, going around Tad. Then Tad slammed his bike into his, throwing Kendall off the course. 

"He knocked him out of bounds!" James cried. 

"Who's the ref?" Emily demanded, looking around for someone to blow the whistle and declare Tad disqualified. But that didn't happen. 

Kendall flew up a ramp, jumping over Tad, getting back on the course, and in the lead, just as he passed the finish line. 

Seeing Kendall come to a stop in front of them, winning the race, everyone cheered. Emily broke out into a loud scream, jumping over the hay, and running over to Kendall, high fiving him. 

"That was awesome!" She screamed. 

"Kendall!" 

Everyone crowding Kendall stopped cheering as Sandy ran over, smiling. "I know you raced to impress me and I will totally take you back."

Emily deeply rolled her eyes, beyond ready to fight this girl. Especially seeing Jo's beach blanket in her arms. 

"Sandy, there is nothing between us," Kendall told her. "Jo is my girlfriend. And she's the only one I want sitting next to me on that blanket."

"Really?"

Emily leaned over, seeing Camille was on a call with Jo. No doubt about her and James. 

"She called me to see what was going on," Camille smiled at Kendall, passing off her phone. 

"Don't leave that beach. I'm on my way." 

Kendall looked up at Sandy as him and Jo hung up, smirking at her. 

Emotional, "Clearly this is not working out," Sandy said. "So, I'm going back out with Tad." She turned, storming off. 

"I'll take that blanket back," Emily shouted after her. Sandy stopped. Slowly turned. She threw the blanket harshly at a smirking Emily, and stormed over to Tad to drag him off the bike. 

"See, I told ya kid," the old man said to Kendall as Emily hugged the blanket to her. "Everything works out in the end. Now all we need is a big-ending beach song."

On time perfectly, Katie walked over, wearing a black suit, "Hey! How would you guys like to rock Russell Brand's beach party tonight?"

Emily's jaw dropped looking over to Logan and Carlos and turning back to Kendall, then looked back at James who were all as gobsmacked as her. 

Thank god Jo made her pack an extra outfit. 

***

She had changed from her swimsuit and jean shorts, sand soaked clothes to her light blue sundress with tiny white flowers, exposing her shoulders and back. 

Emily convinced the boys to cover a Beach Boys song at the party. Luckily they opened with it. 

Dancing with Camille to Dance, Dance, Dance, Jo finally arrived, running over to them, happily accepting the beach blanket from Emily. She then leaned in, "You kissed?" She screamed. 

Emily laughed it off, holding up a small finger to her lips to keep it on the DL as she continued dancing, leading them closer to the stage. 

Emily motioning a finger at her friends to follow her as she ran up onto the stage, crowd members following her, dancing behind the guys as they performed. 

"Dance, Dance, Yeah!" The guys sang, the crowd erupting into cheers. 

"Best beach day ever!" The band cheered. 

Emily ran up, pushing Carlos, tipping him into the pool below. The other guys laughed, running up to jump in, the dancing crowd following. 

Emily turned, seeing James laughing. He then picked her up, ran to the edge and jumped into the pool holding the girl who couldn't contain her joy. 

***

Well, well, well.

That's all I'm gonna say. 

But you HAVE to leave comments and let me know ALL of you thoughts so I know exactly how to handle this going forward. (Don't get me wrong, I got the whole plan. But I also gotta take notes you guys.)

<3