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❪   CHAPTER FOUR !   ❫
-ˏˋ BIG TIME SANDWICHES ˊˎ-

AURORA SAT IN BETWEEN MRS. KNIGHT and Carlos on the couch in the living room. Logan sat next to Carlos, and James sat on the far end of the couch. Kendall sat on the other side of his mother, Katie sitting on top of the armrest next to her brother. Gustavo sat in a chair directly in front of the group and Kelly stood by his side. Gustavo had his fingertips pressed against each other in front of his face, ready to explain why he had come to the Knight's house.

Kendall gave the man an unimpressed look. He knew Gustavo was here to offer him a free ticket to fame and fortune, and he already knew what his answer was going to be. He did not want any part of Gustavo's deal. He had a slouched posture while the rest of the group on the couch sat up straight. They stared at Gustavo, interested in what he had to say.

"Mrs. Knight," Gustavo broke the silence. He took off his glasses with leisure. "I wanna take your family to Los Angeles and produce some demo tracks with Kendall."

Kendall's friends' jaws all dropped, and Ms. Knight's eyes widened. James closed his mouth after a few seconds and a frown made its way onto his face. Aurora's lips curled downwards so vaguely that anyone could miss her slight saddened expression. She still secretly wished that she could have auditioned, and that she would have been able to go with Gustavo and Kelly.

Kendall pressed his lips together in an attempt to stop himself from bursting out into laughter, right then and there. He shook his head and replied in disbelief, "You can't be serious."

"Well, you did knock him out of his seat." Aurora added. "Literally."

Kelly spoke up, "It'll take three months. We'll take care of all of your expenses." She stated exactly what was quoted on the audition forms the teenagers were given.

Kendall turned to his friends. Carlos and Logan had their eyes fixed on Gustavo, but Aurora and James returned the gaze. Kendall shook his head at the two, showing them without words that he was not going. James simply scoffed and rolled his eyes. Aurora's frown became fully visible, this time frowning at the fact that her friend was passing up on such an opportunity.

When Kendall did not respond, Gustavo continued to talk.

"Kendall, you have a gift." He spoke slowly, impatience being very noticeable in his tone of voice. "You have the fire." Gustavo wiggled his fingers in front of his face.

Mrs. Knight's brows furrowed at Gustavo's hand movement.

The man continued, "You also have anger management issues." He began to speak in a calm voice, the impatience starting to fade away.

"Some people say I have anger management issues, but I also have five houses!"

Gustavo spoke, shouting the last part of his sentence. Startled, Logan's eyes went round. James started to sing before Gustavo could say anything else. He hands went into closed fists, determined to change Gustavo's mind.

"People say I'm the life of the party, becau—"

Gustavo's brows drew together. He lifted his hand up at James and interrupted, "Stop it."

"Okay." James spoke softly and looked down at the floor.

"Please. Don't ever do that again." Gustavo directed. James responded with a soft, "Yeah."

Gustavo put his hand down. "Thank you."

Kelly shook her head, now impatient. She raised a hand and spoke, "Kendall, we've traveled to twenty-two cities. We've auditioned over 20,000 people, and Gustavo's picked you."

Gustavo pointed finger guns at Kendall and smirked.

The boy scrunched up his face, "But, I'm not a singer." He stated dryly.

Katie almost scoffed at her brother. She mirrored his expression and turned her head to face him. "You sing all the time!" She testified.

"In the car, at the table." Katie counted the evidence on her fingers. Kendall looked at her and she added, "You sing to me when I can't sleep at night."

Kendall made a face again. He denied, "No, I don't."

Mrs. Knight leaned over and rested her hand on her son's arm. "Yes, you do, honey." She professed.

Gustavo picked up the saucer and teacup filled with the tea made by Mrs. Knight. He looked over to Kelly with a shocked and interested expression.

"When you shovel the driveway." Katie continued carelessly. She threw her arm up in slight annoyance. "When you answered the door two minutes ago."

Aurora shifted her body to face Katie and Kendall. She added with an exaggerated smile on her face, "When you harassed Gustavo after James' audition."

Mrs. Knight's eyes grew large. "Harassed?" She questioned in shock and turned to Kendall for an explanation.

Kendall scoffed and avoided eye contact with his mother. He knitted his brows and pulled the face he makes when he lies. "Pfft, no." He insisted.

Mrs. Knight elevated her brows and turned to look at Aurora. The girl mouthed an inaudible, "Yes."

Kendall shook his head, getting back on topic. "But, that's not singing." He claimed. His mother turned back at him and mimicked her actions from seconds before. "Yes, it is, honey."

Katie faced Gustavo. "And, he's always singing along to the nineties channel."

"Katie!" Kendall raised his voice slightly. He shut his eyes in annoyance.

Gustavo opened up his arms, the teacup and saucer still in his hands. He believed that since Kendall already enjoyed singing, he had to say yes to his offer. He spoke, "So, what do you say, kiddo, huh?"

He placed the teacup on top of the saucer, but still held a grip onto it. "You wanna go out to L.A. and be molded and shaped into a big old star by The Gustavo Rocque?"

Once again, Kendall looked around at his friends and family. James had a weird expression on his face. Kendall could tell he was upset that Gustavo had not picked him, and he also looked like he would murder Kendall no matter how he responded to Gustavo's question. Logan, Carlos, Mrs. Knight and Katie all gave him intrigued glances, hoping he would take the offer. Aurora gave him a sad smile, already knowing his answer since he had confirmed it earlier.

Kendall turned back to Gustavo and let out a dry and obvious, "No."

Gustavo crushed the teacup in his hand and everyone flinched. Carlos burst into a fit of laughs, immediately stopping once receiving an icy stare from James. Gustavo rested the saucer that was now carrying the bits of the old teacup onto the table. He lifted up his fingers and tried to contain his anger, "I'm gonna need to take a minute." He stood up out of his chair. "Ima take a min' right now."

Kelly reached into her bag as Gustavo walked towards the door and left the house. Kelly grabbed a card and a few twenty dollar bills from her purse. She smiled as she placed a bill on the table. "It's for the teacup." She explained.

Kelly sighed as she heard a loud crash come from right outside the door. She heard a muffled shout from Gustavo, "I'm gonna destroy this state!"

"And the planter outside." She placed another twenty on the table.

"This state owes me a latte!"

The group heard a larger crash and a car alarm go off. Kelly pressed her lips together and placed the rest of her money on the table. She reached over towards Kendall and handed him the card.

"Here's my card. If you change your mind, call." Kelly stated, fixing her purse straps on her shoulder, getting ready to head out. She gave a gentle, hopeful smile and told the boy, "You should think about this, Kendall. We leave tomorrow at two."

On that note, Kelly trailed towards the door and left. The room fell silent, and Kendall and his mother looked down at Kelly's card.

Kendall grimaced once Katie gave him a hard smack upside his head.

"Idiot." She growled at her brother. She hopped off of the couch's armrest and walked towards the table. She grabbed one of the bills from Kelly and insisted harshly, "I'm takin' a twenty."

Katie walked out of the living room and headed up the stairs, most likely to her bedroom.

The group fell silent once again. Kendall was so lost in thought that he did not notice almost everyone in the room was now staring right at him, waiting for him to say something. He did not say anything, instead he stayed slouched down on the couch.

The only person who was not staring at Kendall was James. His eyes were giving the floor a glare so deadly that it looked like he could melt the carpet if he stared at it long enough.

James huffed and got up from his spot on the couch suddenly, causing everyone to avert their gazes towards him. Kendall was snapped out of his thoughts and he sat up a bit. James avoided making eye contact as he walked around the coffee table and headed straight for the door.

Kendall stood up quickly. "James, where are you going?"

"Home." James spoke bitterly, not turning around or stopping.

Kendall moved away from the couch and jogged to catch up to his friend. He testified, "James, wait."

James finally stopped in his tracks, causing Kendall to almost bump right into his back. James turned around with swift and moved his face close to Kendall's. "I'm not talking to you."

Carlos, Logan and Aurora each pulled a face. "You just did." They spoke in unity.

James opened his mouth to protest, but shut it closed when he figured he should not say anything else. He gave his friend a glare before rushing out of the house, closing the door aggressively behind him.

Kendall sucked in a breath and took a step towards the door. He grabbed the doorknob and was about to twist it open before his mother protested.

"Let him cool off." Mrs. Knight instructed, "You can talk to him tomorrow."

Kendall hesitated before letting go off the knob and turning back around to face the group of four. "Okay." He gave up.

Carlos leaned forward in his seat and looked at Mrs. Knight. "Can we still get those sandwiches, please?"

Mrs. Knight turned and gave him a smile. "Four sandwiches, coming right up." She spoke in a cheerful voice. She got up from her spot on the couch and asked, "Butter or mayo?"

"Mayo." The teens chimed their preference. Mrs. Knight smiled again and began to walk towards the kitchen.

"I'll help." Aurora insisted, getting up and trailing behind the woman.

Aurora noticed that the bag of sliced bread was already placed on the counter along with a tall stack of blue opaque plastic plates and six white cups. Mrs. Knight placed five of the plates across the counter and stored the rest of them in a cupboard on the wall.

Aurora walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. She scanned around for the mayonnaise and grabbed it once she found it. She picked up the turkey and cheese as well. She was going to close the door before Mrs. Knight stopped her.

"Can you grab the butter for me?" Mrs. Knight asked, holding two butter knives. "Katie usually prefers her sandwiches with it."

Aurora picked up the butter and tried her best to hold the four different items. She closed the refrigerator with her foot and turned around to face the counter. Mrs. Knight rested down the knives and let out a soft giggle as she saw Aurora slightly struggle with the items in her hands.

Mrs. Knight grabbed the butter and cheese from the girl's hands. "Thank you."

After resting the turkey and mayonnaise down, Aurora went ahead and washed her hands quickly. Mrs. Knight began to place two slices of bread on each plate.

Aurora returned back to the counter, this time walking to the opposite side. She picked up one of the butter knives. She grabbed the mayonnaise and cracked it open, pushing the knife inside the jar. She began to spread the condiment onto a slice of bread whilst Mrs. Knight did the same with the butter.

Mrs. Knight rested the knife down once she was done and glanced up at Aurora. She looked overly concentrated while gliding the knife onto the slices of bread, and Mrs. Knight figured that something was going through her mind.

The woman glanced down and grabbed a single slice of cheese before looking back up and asking, "Why the long face?"

Aurora was snapped out of her thoughts by her words. She paused and looked up from the slice of bread to look at Mrs. Knight. She pressed her lips together and her eyebrows twitched.

She resumed her task. "I just...I don't know." Aurora slid the plastic plate away from her and grabbed another one, pushing the knife inside the half empty jar. "I just kind of wanted to audition."

A line formed in between Mrs. Knight's brows. She took the slice of cheese out of the packaging and placed it onto Katie's sandwich. "Well, why didn't you?"

Aurora answered, "I was supposed to, after James." She continued to move down the line of plates. "But after his audition the whole fight broke out and I never got the chance to."

"I know you like to sing, but I never knew you wanted to be a singer." Mrs. Knight made a confused smile. She placed pieces of cheese onto some of the slices of bread Aurora had already covered.

Aurora began to spread out the mayonnaise onto the last two slices of bread. "That's because I don't." She affirmed.

The smile on Mrs. Knight's face faltered, leaving her with a plain look of confusion. She stopped in her tracks. "Then why'd you want to audition?"

Aurora stood quiet, but did not stop her task. Her silence revealed her answer to the woman.

Mrs. Knight raised her head in realization. "Because you would get to spend three months away from home." She answered her own question.

Mrs. Knight knew exactly how Aurora's mother acted. Hell, she even knew more about Aurora's life then Ms. Mendoza did herself.

The girl pressed the tip of her tongue against the inside of her cheek and rested the knife down. She reach over to grab the package of the sliced turkey. She lifted her eyebrows once. "Bingo." She responded.

Mrs. Knight watched as the girl on the opposite side of the counter avoided eye contact with her. Aurora placed a slice of turkey on top of each slice of cheese.

Mrs. Knight exhaled and turned around to open the refrigerator, grabbing the jug of apple juice. "Well," She started. She opened the juice and poured it into five of the glasses on the table, leaving one empty since James was no longer there.

"I know it's nothing compared to three months in L.A., but you're always welcome to stay here or sleepover whenever you like." Mrs. Knight sealed the cap on tightly. She smiled at the girl even though she was not looking at her. "Kendall and Katie would sure enjoy the company."

Aurora finally looked up and made eye contact with Mrs. Knight again. She closed the turkey packaging and began to top off the sandwiches with the second slice of bread. The corners of her mouth turned up and she gave the woman a grateful smile. "Thanks, Mrs. Knight."

Mrs. Knight continued to smile. "You're welcome, sweetie." She replied. She went into one of the kitchen drawers and grabbed a proper, sharper knife. She began to cut into Katie's sandwich, dividing it into two triangles.

"Boys!" The woman shouted. "Your sandwiches are ready!"

In a matter of seconds the boys rushed into the room, Kendall being first, Carlos being second and Logan being third. They had not eaten since they had lunch at school, which was around twelve in the afternoon. The only thing they had some time recently was Aurora's hot chocolate. The boys quickly walked over to the counter, waiting for Mrs. Knight to finish cutting the sandwiches.

Mrs. Knight handed Kendall Katie's sandwich and a glass of apple juice. "Can you bring this upstairs to Katie?"

Kendall leaned forward and took the plate and glass out of his mother's hands. He gave her a smile. "Of course." He raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Logan and Carlos each took a plate and a glass from off of the counter. "Thanks, Mrs. Knight." The two spoke in unity with glee, turning around and heading to the living room."

Aurora pretended to clear her throat.

"And Aurora." The boys corrected, causing Aurora to smile innocently at them. They continued their path back to the living room.

"And don't put crumbs on the couch!" Mrs. Knight called out, even though the boys were no longer in the room. She opened the refrigerator and began to put the items on the counter back into the fridge.

Aurora tapped her fingers on the counter before asking, "When you got home from work, did you happen to see a bag of chocolate covered pretzels laying around?"

The corner of Mrs. Knight's lips curled up as she placed the cheese and turkey into the refrigerator. She moved towards a cupboard and opened it, taking out the half empty bag of pretzels. She handed it to Aurora over the counter.

"Thank you." Aurora chimed. She placed the bag under her arm and picked up a plate and a glass. She made her way towards the living room as Kendall jogged back down the stairs and into the kitchen again. He grabbed the last sandwich and drink before quickly saying, "Thanks, Mama." He trailed behind Aurora.

Logan and Carlos were already sitting down in their previous spots on the couch. Their glasses of apple juice were rested on top of the coffee table and their plates were on their laps.

Aurora looked at the clock in the living room, seeing it was just about a quarter past six. She exhaled before plopping down on the couch. Kendall sat down next to her.

"Okay." Aurora spoke out. She rested her drink on the coffee table. "How about we watch a movie?"

Kendall took a sip of his drink. "And what do you suggest?"

Carlos inputted before Aurora could answer.

"We could watch Iron Man!" He said with excitement, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Logan shook his head. "We watched that yesterday." He argued. Carlos frowned and kept chewing.

Kendall chirped, "Mamma Mia?"

"We watched that on Tuesday." Logan debated again.

Kendall pouted.

Carlos spoke with food in his mouth, "Up?" He suggested.

Logan scrunched up his nose. "We watched that on Wednesday."

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere!" Kendall spoke in frustration. Aurora looked back and forth at her friends before smirking.

She theorized, "I know what we could watch." She shoved a chocolate pretzel into her mouth.

Aurora was confused when the three boys all pulled the same annoyed expression.

"Please don't say High School Musical." The three boys spoke simultaneously, groaning.

Aurora's brows drew together and she chewed with a look of confusion. "You guys love High School Musical."

"No," Kendall denied, facing her. "You love High School Musical."

Aurora defended the movie, "It's a Disney classic."

"I honestly prefer Nickelodeon." Logan shrugged. He leaned back on the couch. Carlos nodded harshly at Logan's statement.

Aurora narrowed her eyes into slits. "You do realize that Up is a Disney movie...?" She retorted to Carlos. The boy shook his head. He replied, "No, it's a Pixar film."

"No," Aurora stressed with one raised eyebrow. "It's a film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney." She reached into the plastic bag and grabbed another pretzel, bringing it up to her lips. Kendall took the snack out of her hand. Aurora turned to him, about to protest, but Kendall smiled and ate the pretzel.

"Well, that doesn't mean Disney is better." Carlos replied to Aurora's comment.

Aurora continued to glare at Kendall while him and Logan spoke in unity, "Agreed."

"Disagreed." Aurora objected. She rested her plate on the coffee table next to her glass and stood up. "We're watching High School Musical, and you're gonna have to deal with it."

She walked past Kendall and made her way towards the television, going into the small cabinet underneath it.

"Can we at least watch the second one?" Logan asked quickly. "We watched the first one last week."

Aurora paused and turned around to face Logan. She smiled at him and said, "High School Musical 2, coming right up."

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AURORA WAVED LOGAN AND CARLOS goodbye as she walked towards her house. Her school bag was slung on one of her shoulders and her jacket was in her hand---she did not bother putting it on since she did not have to walk that far from Kendall's house to get to her own.

She looked up at the top floor of the Diamond's house on the other side of hers. She noticed that the light in James' bedroom was on, and she could almost picture James sprawled out on his bed with a frown on his face.

Aurora felt sorry for him, his dreams did just get crushed, plus he got insulted in the process. She hoped that he would get back to his normal self sooner rather than later.

She thought about Gustavo. She believed that he made a mistake for not picking James, but he was one hundred percent right about Kendall. He was talented, no doubt. He was also stupid for not taking up on that offer, and Aurora prayed that Kendall would miraculously change his mind by tomorrow.

Aurora stood in front of the door to her house. She stuffed her hand into a pocket on her jacket, in search for her keys. She usually never needs them, since her mother would always open the door for her. She did today however, because her mother was working her night shift just like she does every Friday. Aurora did not feel her keys anywhere, so she searched through a different pocket.

When she did not feel them again, Aurora felt her heart sink a little. She shook her jacket in hopes that she would hear the pieces of metal clinging somewhere, but she heard nothing. She let out a huff in frustration, knowing she had forgotten to take her keys this morning.

Great.

Kendall was right, she was terrible with keys.

Aurora threw her head back, thinking of the pros and cons of her options. She could wait outside in the cold until her mother returned home sometime after two in the morning. There were definitely no pros for that option, and the con was that she would have to stay outside her doorstep for almost seven hours.

Another option was walking a couple of blocks down and stay at her grandparents' house. The pros for that were she would not freeze to death and would get some proper sleep, but the con was that a long walk was not something Aurora was feeling up to.

Her last option was to stay at one of her friends' houses. Carlos and Logan lived near her grandparents, so Aurora discarded those choices. James' mother just about scares the life out of Aurora, so she eliminated that choice as well.

Kendall's house it is.

Aurora sauntered away from her doorstep and made her way next door. She rang the doorbell once she got there.

In just a few seconds the door opened, revealing Mrs. Knight wearing two rubber dish-washing gloves. She cocked her head to a side.

"Hi, sweetie. Did you forget something?" Mrs. Knight questioned, wondering why the girl had come back so soon.

"Remember when you said I'm always welcome to stay here or sleepover whenever I like?" Aurora quoted. She fiddled with her fingers. "Yeah...now would be a really good time to do that."

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STARTED WRITING: July 3, 2019
PUBLISHED: July 11, 2019
WORD COUNT: 4016