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❪   CHAPTER ONE !   ❫
-ˏˋ BIG TIME OPPORTUNITIES ˊˎ-

"OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THIS COME ONCE IN A LIFETIME,"

Kendall started, pulling a scheming smirk as he stared down at the sight in front of him.

The boy was wearing regular blue jeans, brown combat boots, and a dark gray jacket that had a white fur collar. Under that he wore a thin red and blue plaid flannel and a light gray button down t-shirt. His blue beanie sat on top of his head, his blond locks not visible. Just like three of his other friends, his blue hockey bag was slung over his shoulder.

Kendall's four best friends stood next to him—Carlos, Aurora, Logan, and James. The teenagers were outside of their school in Minnesota on a Friday afternoon, staring at a T-bar in a sprinkler valve that was left behind on the field. A school bus was parked a couple of feet behind them.

All five of them had completely different reactions spread across their faces. Kendall was smirking. Carlos looked at the T-bar with a devious grin. Aurora had her arms folded and narrowed her eyes. Logan had an eyebrow cocked up and an agitated frown, and James was zoned out in his own world, running his comb through his hair.

"...and when they do, you gotta grab it and turn that thing big time."

Kendall finished proudly and pointed to the T-bar.

Logan turned to him while his other friends stood the same. "Turn it, and I predict a ninety percent chance of bodily harm."

"And I'm talking about us," Logan pointed to himself. "Not them."

Logan wore a very thin navy blue and black plaid jacket over a dark gray sweater that had a slight turtleneck. Unlike the rest of his friends who all wore jeans, Logan wore loose silver khaki pants that could almost pass for school uniform bottoms. He had forest green mittens on his hands, but his fingers were visible. His sneakers looked almost new, them being perfectly black with white soles.

Aurora cocked her head to a side, looking in front of her as if she was deciding something. "Make that one hundred percent." She added, "Pissing off the second most fiercest females in school doesn't seem like a great plan."

Aurora wore a thick gray t-shirt that was tucked into a pair of light blue high-waisted jeans. On top of that she wore a pink plaid jacket with a white fur collar, similar to Kendall's. She wore thin white winter gloves and white combat boots.

Her long hair was a soft brown, like the bark of an oak tree, not dark but simply gentle in the sunlight. It was straightened as usual and sprawled over her shoulders.

Logan removed his gaze from Kendall and onto Aurora. "Then who's the most fierce if it's not them?"

Aurora met his gaze and smirked, "Aurora Luna Mendoza Davis."

Logan could not disagree—she was probably right.

"So...?" Kendall dragged, seeing if his friends would take part in his little scheme.

James fixed his hair again, still not listening.

"I'll pass." Logan declined. "I would highly enjoy going home with all of my limbs attached to my body."

Carlos turned his head and rolled his eyes at Logan. His green hooded sweater hugged his figure tightly. He let his duffel bag slip off of his shoulder and onto the grass.

"Wimp!" He spoke loudly, fixing his helmet onto his head and giving it two quick taps. He leaped forward onto the T-bar, his black sneakers making a soft noise in the grass. Carlos groaned as he tried to turn the bar, but it did not budge.

He gave up and breathed out, "It's stuck."

James began to speak before anyone could say anything else.

"I had my pop star dream again last night." He rambled. "This time, I was wearing my lucky white v-neck," James moved his brown scarf and thick black jacket aside to point to the white shirt. He also wore dark boots and black and white striped mittens, similar to Logan's.

He continued, "—and I sang a Smokey Robinson song."

Aurora shut her eyes in annoyance, knowing where this was going. Logan looked at Kendall who simply blinked his eyes multiple times. He shook his head a little, his blue beanie moving on top of his head.

"Tracks of my tears, ey, ey..."

James sang but began to trail off when he noticed Carlos hunched over the T-bar.

"What are we doing?" He stopped singing and spoke, confused.

"We've been standing here for five minutes talking about this, where you not listening to anything we were saying?" Aurora shook her head.

James shrugged and smiled proudly. "Nope."

Kendall pulled at face at his vain friend. "A janitor left the t-bar in the sprinkler valve, and do you wanna help us soak the girls' field hockey team?"

Without hesitation, James agreed and dropped his bag, "Yeah!" He tucked his comb into his pocket.

Kendall dropped his bag as well and the two of them rushed over to join Carlos at the t-bar. They looked back at Aurora and Logan who both gave them displeased anxious looks.

"I still don't like this plan." Aurora stated.

The same devious smirk from earlier returned on Kendall's face.

He taunted, "What, is Minnesota's fiercest female scared of a few girls?"

Carlos and James smirked as well. Aurora glared at Kendall before giving him a defeated look and dropping her small yellow school bag.

"Fine, move over."

Aurora took a few steps forward swiftly and moved into the small space between Kendall and Carlos. Once she grabbed onto the T-bar, the four kids turned around to look at Logan who was the only person left.

Logan shook his head and flung his bag onto the ground, "I gotta get new friends."

He lunged himself forward and Carlos and James made space for him. The five best friends all groaned as they used their strength to turn the valve. Once it did they all smiled, hearing and seeing the sprinklers go off. Carlos laughed and pointed at the girls as they got soaked.

The sound of water was followed by high-pitched shrieks, and the teens all gulped as they saw the girls' team start to approach them in anger.

"And now, we run."

Kendall declared, right before him and his friends began to take off. The four boys all stumbled over the bags that they had previously dropped at their feet, running in the direction that led towards Kendall's house. Aurora, taking a different approach, ran behind the school bus that was parked behind them.

She peeked her head in front of the bus to see her best friends still running down the street with the crowd of girls hot on their heels.

Aurora huffed, "Idiots."

She walked out from behind the yellow bus and headed back to where her and the boys were previously standing. She lazily picked up her school bag plus the large blue hockey bags the boys had dropped on the ground, almost falling over in the process. She scowled as she realized she would now have to walk to Kendall's house by herself while carrying the four heavy bags.

Aurora let out a sigh, her breath blowing a few strands of her hair away from her face.

She struggled as she began to walk in the same direction the boys previously ran off to.

Every day after the boys finished hockey practice, Aurora would walk home with them to Kendall's house. Usually they would play video games, watch a movie, or even play hockey outside until the rest of them had to go home.

Ironically, the five of them all lived around the same area. Kendall, Aurora, and James all lived on the same block, their houses right next to each other. Carlos and Logan lived on the same street as each other also, about two or three blocks away from the others.

After a long ten minutes of walking in the cold, Aurora made it to her block. She walked passed James' house, then passed her own, and made a right turn once she got to Kendall's.

Aurora walked up the two steps in front of the door to the house and stopped just before the 'Welcome' mat. She flew the duffel bags down, letting out a sharp breath. She knew Mrs. Knight nor Katie were at home, so she lifted up the welcome mat and picked up the spare key that was underneath it.

Aurora pushed the key into the door knob and pulled it out once it clicked. She opened the door and forgot to place the key back under the mat. She pushed it into her pocket instead.

The teen picked up the bags and squeezed through the doorway whilst holding them. She waddled inside and rested the boys' belongings all on the hard wooden floor right beside the doorway. She pushed the door closed.

She took her gloves off of her hands and pushed them into the pockets of her jacket. She then peeled off her jacket and hung it on a coat rack that stood next to the door.

Aurora walked over to the kitchen and quickly scanned the counter, searching for a specific snack. Once she found the chocolate covered pretzels she grinned and grabbed them, heading out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Aurora picked up the remote that sat on the small coffee table in front of the long couch. She rested her school bag on the floor.

She turned on the television and plopped down onto the middle of the brown couch. Not surprisingly, a musical channel appeared on the screen once the television turned on. The channel was in the middle of the music video for the song 'Womanizer' by Britney Spears. Aurora smiled and began to sing along to the song, opening her bag of chocolate covered pretzels.  

"Boy, don't try to front, I-I know just, just what you are."

She sang, pushing her hand into the plastic bag. She grabbed a pretzel with her fingers and brought it up to her lips, putting it into her mouth.

Aurora chewed her pretzel while humming to the music. She rested the bag onto her lap and leaned over to open her school bag. She pulled out a tan journal that had a white pencil inside of it, saving one of the pages.

She moved the pretzel bag from her lap to the spot next to her on the couch. She grabbed another pretzel before opening the journal on her lap to where the pencil was.

On the page was an unfinished poem that she had began to write sometime earlier in the day. She picked up the pen and stared down at the page.

The funny thing about the poem was that Aurora could not relate to it—since she was a heart-breaker after all. Aurora always had a different arm-candy at school almost every month. She was the kind of girl that could make any boy fall in love with her just by sending a smile in their direction.

The 'popular' girls in her high school had asked her to join their clique quite a few times, but Aurora denied them each time because they were a little too bitchy for her. Plus, she loved her boys—she's known them since she was little after all.

She just had a charm, Carlos often referred to it as her superpower. Both Kendall and James had even developed crushes on her at different points in time.

James made his crush very clear to Aurora. The first time was during the middle of seventh grade, when Aurora was finally starting to hit puberty. The second time was near the end of Freshman year when Aurora performed as the lead in the school's musical, Beauty and the Beast.

James tried to ask her out both times and she politely declined, making James upset for only about two days before quickly getting over it.

Kendall's crush however was a bit more recent and secretive, only his friends, Katie, and Ms. Knight knowing about it. In the present, he was trying to get over his crush.

Aurora continued to stare down at her journal, biting her lip. She lifted up her pencil and pressed it onto the page.

Aurora heard the doorbell ring before she could put any words down.

She sighed and dropped the pencil into the book and rested it on the couch. She hesitantly got up and walked over to the door, not sure if she wanted to answer it since it was not her house.

The person decided, instead of ringing the bell again, to give a hard and quick knock on the door as Aurora approached it. Once she heard a familiar soft groan escape from the person's lips after their knuckles touched the door, she knew it was Kendall.

Aurora shook her head. His keys were most likely in his duffel bag that he did not have with him, and tried to use the spare one, but Aurora forgot to place it back under the mat.

She opened the door to find her four best friends with their clothes torn, different bruises spread across their bodies. Kendall stood directly in front of the door, his beanie now fitted sideways on his head. Logan had some dirt on his face, and James was wearing Carlos's hockey helmet. Carlos rubbed his head in pain.

Aurora laughed, "You guys look terrible."

Aurora reached into her back pocket and gave the spare key to Kendall. He pouted and rubbed his elbow before taking the key from her hand.

"Thanks." He uttered sarcastically. He bent over and placed the key back under the mat, groaning when he tried to stand up straight again.

"Ow."

Kendall whined.

Aurora shook his head, moving aside from the doorway so the boys could walk into the house. They dragged themselves inside, whimpering and whining in the process. They took off their coats and jackets slowly and hung them on the coat rack.

"You shouldn't have messed with a bunch of girls." Aurora stated. She closed the door once they all came inside.

Logan made a face while taking off his gloves. "Hey, you helped us turn that valve!"

"Why'd they attack us and not you?" Kendall questioned as him and his friends dragged themselves to the living room.

"I have my ways." Aurora grinned. She followed her friends into the living room.

Once the boys got into the living room they all made their way to the couch, plopping down and groaning at the same time.

"Ow!"

Aurora stood by the coffee table and cringed at the sight in front of her. "I'll go get some ice packs."

Carlos's face lit up. "And some of your famous hot chocolate?"

Kendall smiled and dazed at the thought. "With whipped cream?"

"And sprinkles?" Logan added dreamily.

Aurora snorted. All she did was mix some cocoa powder into milk, add some sugar and toppings and her friends thought it was heaven.

"What's the magic word?" She teased.

"Please."

The four boys all chimed.

"I was actually looking for 'Aurora is the best person in the world,' but I guess that'll do."

✧∘ଂ ࿐ ཾ

"OW, THAT HURTS!"

Logan whined, pulling away from the wipe that Aurora held up to his face. Aurora pulled a face, "I didn't even touch you yet."

Aurora stood in between the coffee table and Logan, who was seated on the couch. The rest of the boys all sat on the couch as well. They stared at the television with scrunched up faces, ice-packs pressed up against different parts of their bodies, and cups of hot chocolate in their hands. The music video for the song 'When I Grow Up' by the Pussycat Dolls played on the television screen.

Logan pouted and cringed as Aurora wiped the smudges of dirt on his face. He took a sip of his hot chocolate, feeling a little bit better. He used his other hand to press an ice-pack on his temple. His friends all groaned around him.

Kendall turned to face Aurora. "Aren't you supposed to be with your boyfriend right now?" Kendall remarked with a small amount of sass. "What's his name? Trevor?" He smirked, purposely getting his name wrong.

"Travis," Aurora corrected. "And no, I broke up with him yesterday."

Kendall spoke sarcastically, "What a surprise." He looked back at the television screen.

Aurora ignored her friend and continued to clean Logan's face until he pushed her away, sucking his teeth. "Okay, okay, thanks mom, that's enough."

Logan moved the small ice-pack away from his temple and onto the spot on his face Aurora was previously cleaning. Aurora sighed quietly and dropped the wipe onto Logan's lap. He picked it up and threw it back at her. She chuckled and walked away from him, the wipe landing somewhere on the floor.

"Pussycat dolls make the pain go away." Kendall commented.

Before sitting down on the couch, Aurora noticed that her poem book was still rested on its same spot on the couch. She quickly took it and pushed it inside her school bag that still remained on the floor before any of the boys could see it.

Writing poems was a private thing that Aurora enjoyed doing, and she did not need her friends to make fun of her for doing so.

After putting the book away, Aurora sat down on the couch in between Kendall and James. Logan threw his ice pack onto the coffee table.

James pointed to the television screen when Nicole Scherzinger was singing alone. "I'm gonna marry her someday." He insisted.

Everyone ignored James's remark except for Logan and Aurora. They both turned to face their friend. Aurora looked down at James's lap to see that her chocolate pretzels were sitting there. She snatched the bag back, sending him a glare that he did not pay attention to because he was too busy watching the woman on the television. He took his feet off of the coffee table and rested his cup of hot chocolate down.

"You're gonna marry Nicole Scherzinger." Logan repeated in disbelief. He scoffed, "How?"

Carlos, Kendall, and Aurora all cringed.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

They spoke at the same time, wishing Logan had not asked such a question. They did not feel like listening to the banter that James had given them over a hundred times. Logan turned to Carlos and furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"I'm gonna be famous." James got up from his spot on the couch and hopped onto the table, the hot chocolate in his cup shaking and almost spilling. James faced his friends and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Sing to sold-out arenas, Have, like, five houses,"

James continued.

Kendall gave him a bored expression and rolled his eyes. Aurora shoved a pretzel into her mouth, pretending to seem interested.

"Make the girls go crazy," He sang and spun around on the table.

"And then," James shrugged his shoulders, "...marry Nicole."

Logan had a look of concern and annoyance on his face while Carlos stared up at the ceiling.

Aurora swallowed her snack. "Are you done?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Please be done." Logan continued.

"No," James tilted his head. "'Cause here's the part where I shake my booty!"

James jumped off of the table and onto the couch in between Logan and Aurora. He squatted down slightly and began to shake his butt in Logan's face.

"I'm gonna be famous," James sang. "Gonna marry Nicole."

Aurora blinked numerous times as Logan hit James's lower back and turned his head away to shield his eyes. Carlos face palmed himself.

Kendall shook his head and smiled slightly. "Carlos." He signaled.

"Got it." Carlos said without another word shared. He sat up and picked his helmet up from the couch. He placed it on his head and gave it two quick taps before getting up and groaning, charging at James and tackling him off of the couch.

Kendall, Aurora, and Logan all gave each other a look and laughed slightly at their friends. The Pussycat Dolls's song concluded and the news came on the screen quickly instead of another music video.

"Do you wanna be a pop star?"

A man rhetorically asked on the television. Everyone turned their heads to face the screen, already interested in what the man was going to say. James and Carlos had stopped hitting each other and James's head popped up from behind the couch almost as quick as the speed of light.

"Yes."

James answered quickly and glued his eyes to the screen. Carlos wrapped his arm around his friend's neck.

"Well, today's your chance if you're in Minnesota." The man continued, "Are you ready?"

"I'm in Minnesota." James spoke softly and stated the obvious, getting intrigued.

The television switched to what seemed to be a live feed streaming somewhere in Minnesota. An excited blonde girl jumped up and down as she held a large sign in her hands.

"I'm gonna be the next Gwen Stefani!" She shrieked in excitement, and the five teenagers recognized who she was.

"That's Jenny Tinkler from homeroom." Kendall pointed out, getting up from his spot on the couch. Aurora and Logan did the same, Carlos and James hopping over the couch to stand next to their friends.

"Gustavo Rocque, nineties mega-producer of bands like Boyquake, Boyz in the Attic, and Boyzcity is lookin' for his next Pop superstar."

The live feed continued to play, and two different people came up on the screen. One of them was the recognizable Gustavo Rocque who wore a leather jacket and gloves to match. He had his signature orange tinted glasses on and he held a latte in his hand.

The teenagers did not recognize the pretty woman who stood next to him. She had silky dark skin and seemed to be slightly more prepared for the weather than Gustavo was. She wore a moderately thicker gray leather jacket and a white winter hat. Her and Gustavo waved at a crowd that stood in front of them.

The five friends all looked at each other, knowing this was a great opportunity for James.

"...but he's even more famous for his quote in 'Rolling Stone,' when he said... 'I could turn a dog into a pop-star.'"

James laughed lightly and smiled, pointing to himself.

"I-I sing better than a dog!" He stuttered.

"Sign-ups are until 5 pm."

Everyone snapped their heads to look at the clock, seeing that it was just about four-thirty. Their eyes widened.

"So if pop stardom is on your list of things to do—"

Kendall interrupted the television, "Call all moms, now!"

"You still have time." The man concluded before another music video began to play.

The boys reached into their pockets and pulled out their phones, looking for their mom's numbers. Aurora did not bother taking out her phone, for she knew there was no way her mom would agree to anything.

"Mom," The boys spoke out quickly in unison, all leaving messages for their mothers who did not answer their calls. "Call me when you get this message. We need a ride real bad."

The five sat back down onto the couch after the boys hung up their phones and settled them down on the coffee table. They stared at the four devices, anxiously waiting for at least one of the devices to ring. Carlos tapped his lap with his fingers and Logan rubbed his hands together.

"Ring!" James shouted as he already began to feel impatient.

Carlos's phone rang suddenly, piercing the tense silence. The teenagers all leaned forward, reaching out to grab the phone. They fought as each of them tried to grab it, but Carlos managed to pick it up. They all stood up around Carlos who jumped and stood on top of the couch. He put his free hand on James's shoulder to steady himself.

"Hello?" Carlos answered the phone excitingly and his friends watched him intently. "Yeah. Uh-huh."

Carlos smiled.

"Okay, great. Get here as fast as you can!"

Carlos jumped up in excitement and hung up the phone. His friends smiled around him and James bounced eagerly.

"Your mom's coming!" James cheered.

Carlos smiled widely, "No, but this nice lady's sending her crew over to give us a free estimate on aluminum siding!"

Carlos's friends all frowned.

This time, it was James that yelled and tackled Carlos over the couch. The two fought aggressively and began to break a few things, throwing them at each other. Logan, Aurora, and Kendall all cringed, but did nothing to stop them.

Logan and Aurora's eyes widened as they both ducked and moved out of the way of a red vase that flew through the air. The vase hit the fireplace behind Logan and shattered into pieces. Aurora began to feel bad for Ms. Knight, who would most likely be cleaning all of this later.

Logan looked at the broken vase before turning to look back and forth between Kendall and Aurora. "Guys!" He looked at them for ideas.

Aurora shrugged as Kendall nodded and pushed past her, wrapping his arm around Logan's shoulders.

"Logan has a learner's permit!" He announced, and the boys stopped fighting. They popped up from behind the couch on their knees and held objects in their hands, seemingly ready to throw at the other person.

Logan debated, "But, I need an adult in the car with me!"

"And a car." Aurora added. Logan nodded in agreement.

James sucked in a breath and pushed Carlos to the floor, standing up. He flipped his hair out of his face, "Aurora, Kendall, do something!" He begged.

Aurora and Kendall both scrunched up their faces.

"What are you lookin' at us for?" Aurora complained.

Kendall continued and clarified, "Logan's the genius." He pointed to the boy under his arm.

Logan argued back and squeaked, "What! I panic under pressure, and then one of you always comes up with the answer!"

"What?" Kendall and Aurora pulled a face and spoke in sync. "That is so not true."

James raised an eyebrow at the two.

"And—"

Kendall continued to speak but cut himself off in the middle of his sentence. His voice went down a few octaves as he looked off into the distance somewhere, coming to realization.

"I know how to get there."

✧∘ଂ ࿐ ཾ

STARTED WRITING: May 4, 2019
PUBLISHED: July 11, 2019
WORD COUNT: 4427