I'm A Big Bad Tiger

Carlos' Problem

Me, Mal, Jay, Evie, Carlos and Time are walking through the school grounds. Every girl in school has a huge crush on Time after his makeover and he has become one of my best friends. And Jay is really romantic and I love that about him. I brought it up because he always wraps an arm around me and pulls me closer to him so he can kiss my cheek.

"Hi, Time." A girl smiles.

"Hey." Time loves the attention.

"Time."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hi."

"Why do you torture them? Just pick someone to take to Cotillion already." Carlos doesn't have a date yet. Well, technically, neither does Time.

"I'm going solo. That way, I can dance with all of them." That's what I mean by technically. Time doesn't have a date so he can dance with every single girl.

"Ah! You're the expert." The three boys laugh. Time stops. "Um, Time...if you were gonna ask someone, what's the best way to go?"

Time puts a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, all you got to do...is look like me." Me, him and Jay laugh.

"Oh, ha-ha." Carlos rolls his eyes.

"Mal." Jane walks up to us with Lonnie. Carlos as a big ol' crush on Jane. Lonnie has a massive crush on Time and Time likes her back.

"Hey, Jane." Carlos smiles.

"Hey." Jane smiles back.

"I was wondering...uh..." Carlos looks at us then back at Jane. "If you liked the....carrot cake last night."

"I had the pumpkin pie." Jane smiles.

"Oh, cool. Um, uh-"

"Smooth. Come on, Jay!" Time walks away with Carlos.

"Bye, babe." Jay pecks my lips and walks away. Lonnie joins us girls.

"I have an opening for a fitting at three. Who wants it?" Evie asks us.

"Me! Sorry." Lonnie looks at Jane.

"Perfect. I'll take you later." Evie walks away with Lonnie and me.

"When are you doing me?" I ask her.

"I've done yours." Evie smiles.

"Since when?" I ask, shocked.

"Since the day you said you would do my makeup." Evie rolls her eyes at me.

"Can you do mine?" Lonnie asks me.

"Sure. I have an empty space at..." I take out my notepad and look through it. "Three thirty on the day."

"I'll be there for then." Lonnie squeals.

"Good." I hug her. We walk up to Mal.

"I can hardly wait to see what your wedding will look like!" Lonnie tells Mal.

"Me, too. Wait! What?!" Mal looks surprised.

"The Royal Cotillion is like getting engaged to be engaged to be engaged." Jane explains.

"I knew it!" Evie smiles.

"Well, everyone knows it." Lonnie says as if it's obvious.

"I didn't know it!" Mal starts to panic. "How come nobody told me that? Is my entire life just planned out in front of me-"

"Hi, Mal." Ben walks up behind her.

"Hi, Ben." The others smile. I roll my eyes.

"Let's go. I need to find papa." I drag Evie and Lonnie away. Mal follows us.

"Why is your dad out here?" Evie asks.

"He can't stay in a dorm all his life." I scoff. "And we have a competition to see who can write the best parody of a song for a dinosaur."

"There he is!" Lonnie points to him. He's scaring everyone around him. I run to him.

"Papa!" I hug him. Everyone is looking at me as if I'm crazy. "Don't leave my side again!" I slap him. He growls and pounces on me. I pin him down. "Don't." I let him up. "And I have a new Dino song." He sits down. "This is how I chew it. T-Rex does it like no Dino does. This is how I chew it." I cross my arms over my chest. He looks at the floor. "Admit it, that was good."

"I will never understand you two." Lonnie sighs.