Written in the Stars

23: Puppy Love

❝you say you're fine, i know you better than that / hey, what you doing with a girl like that?❞

- you belong with me : taylor swift

Ever since Carlos began dating Jennifer, his friends barely saw him. He just wasn't quite his usual goofy self. It had gotten to the point that Kendall invited Kit to play hockey with them. Just in case. She had been given one of Logan's old jerseys from their high school team in Minnesota and talked into wearing it for a game in the Palm Woods Park. Though there were two number 5's on the field, it was pretty easy to tell which one was actually Logan. Kit's was one he had grown out of, but it was still pretty baggy on her.

As they set up for a game, Kit set aside her borrowed hockey stick and the old gloves that she'd repurposed. She jogged over to stand next to Logan and James, recognizing that Kendall was stalling. Kendall held onto his and stood in front of the goal, addressing the others:

"Okay, we need to talk about Carlos."

James and Logan shared a confused look. Kit nodded, tilting her head curiously.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because," said Kendall. "Ever since he rescued and started dating blonde Jennifer, he seems... different."

The boys paused to consider this. In the short amount of time since their camping trip and Carlos's first kiss with Jennifer, there had been a few incidents that should have been a cause for concern.

The first time, the three boys, along with Penny and Kit, had all gotten snacks out by the pool. Each carrying their smoothie, they walked across the pool deck to give Carlos his usual corn dog. Kendall held it up, "Five smoothies and one corn dog." Carlos had taken it from Kendall, but didn't immediately bite into it as he normally did. He rocked back on his heels and rolled his lips, informing them: "I don't eat corn dogs anymore, guys."

James pulled his straw away from his lips, shocked, and the other boys eyed him suspiciously. Penny grimaced, looking to Kit with concern.

"Jennifer says they make my breath smell like corn dogs."

His friends merely nodded at the obvious statement. Penny parted her lips to suggest that he simply brush his teeth afterwards but lost the words as the girl in question strolled up next to Carlos, plucking the snack from his hands and tossing it into the trash can by Logan with a fake smile.

Her eyes lingered briefly on Penny, who she seemed surprised to see. Jennifer nodded once in greeting towards her and Kit. She offered the boys another, more forced grin, then hooked her arm around Carlos's wordlessly and dragged him away. She waved to the girls as she did so. The teens watched the new couple walk away, returning to their smoothies as they did so.

Then, he had ditched the boys on their plans to have an epic water gun fight. The three boys waited for him in the Palm Woods Park, guns at the ready, but soon realized he wasn't coming. Logan lowered his water gun:

"Okay, where's Carlos? We said water fight at high noon!"

The dinging of a bicycle bell answered him. Carlos paused to explain, "Can't make it."

Kendall, James, and Logan gaped at the bright red bike taxi that Carlos was pedaling Jennifer around in.

"Jennifer wants to go biking."

She smirked at them over her straw as she sipped at her smoothie. Logan threw his water gun to the ground in defeat.

The one that really should have gotten it through James's thick skull had been the latest odd encounter. He and Penny were sitting side by side in one of the pool chairs, talking, when Carlos caught their attention. James tried waving him over to them, but Carlos would only come close briefly. He looked around the pool deck once before he approached them, clasping his hands together.