Chapter 12

James was nervous. Their third grade teacher, Mrs. Roberts, was passing back their math test from the day before.

He wasn't nervous because he cared about the grade; he couldn't care less what he had gotten. But if he didn't get a B or an A, Brooke would be angry.

And he knew more than well enough that he should never make Brooke angry, ever.

James grabbed the test with shaking hands. He glanced at the paper. B-.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had just barely gotten a B. He had escaped the wicked witch this time.

"What'd you get?" Kendall asked curiously. James showed him his score.

Kendall grinned. "I got a B. That's better than a B-." He bragged.

James shook his head. "Nuh uh! I got a 32 out of 40!"

Kendall grinned harder. "I got a 34 out of 40! See? I'm smarter than you!"

James pouted, turning around to look at Carlos. "What did you get, Carlos? At least you won't be mean like Kendall."

Carlos frowned. "I didn't do so good... but that's because I don't understand math." He admitted. James glanced at his paper. Carlos had gotten a 28 out of 40. He'd gotten a C.

James was glad he wasn't Carlos, or else his... stepmom would be really angry. James still didn't like calling Brooke his stepmom, but his daddy had told him to, and James still loved his daddy.

Kendall saw too. "You only got a C?" He blurted out, snickering. Carlos's face turned a bit red and he looked down at his hands embarrassingly. James shook his head at Kendall. Kendall was always so inconsiderate of other people; he was mean. Well, he wasn't mean, but he said mean things without thinking.

Kendall's face fell a bit. "I-I'm sorry, Carlos. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Carlos smiled a little. "That's okay. What did you get on the test, Logan?" The three turned towards the pale boy, who looked a bit embarrassed at the attention.

"Um, I-I guess it doesn't really matter." He began. James snatched the paper out of Logan's hands. He knew Logan had done good on it. Logan was really smart.

He gaped at the sheet. "You... you got a hundred percent?" He gasped loudly. Kendall and Carlos's eyes widened.

Logan blushed, his face turning beet red. "Y-yeah... Can you not tell the whole world?" He shot back sarcastically. James grinned. He loved Logan's sarcasm.

"You're so smart, Logan!" Carlos gushed. "I wish I were as smart as you!"

Logan shrugged modestly. "I can teach you... if you want." He offered hesitantly.

Carlos grinned. "Yeah! Can you?" He asked innocently.

Logan nodded. "Sure." Carlos hugged him tightly, and Logan looked so uncomfortable James and Kendall had to laugh. Carlos let go of Logan, grinning.

"Don't you like hugs?" Carlos asked sweetly, his eyes big. Logan rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not wanting to hurt Carlos's feelings by saying no.

"U-uh, I, uh, I guess..." He stammered, not able to get out another word. Carlos giggled at that, causing James and Kendall to burst into laughter too. Logan blushed, his cheeks red as a tomato.

"Kendall, James?" The two loud boys looked up at their teacher. "Is something wrong?"

Carlos bit back his smile. Kendall and James stopped laughing and shook their heads. "No, nothing's wrong." They replied in unison, which always seemed creepy to Carlos. How did they do that?

"Logan?" The teacher asked sternly. Logan glanced at Kendall and James.

He shook his head. "No. Nothing is wrong." He responded, a smile on his face.

line line line

James took a deep breath, shifting the backpack on his shoulders. Kendall, Logan, and Carlos watched him apprehensively. They were all supposed to stay at the Diamond's house today until the peewee hockey game that night.

But they all knew that James's stepmom was... well, crazy.

"I really hate your mom." Kendall blurted out bluntly. James looked at him with wide eyes.

"You can't say that to her! She's going to kill you!" He responded, looking seriously scared. Kendall stopped and widened his eyes in fear, too.

Logan rolled his eyes at them. "She is not going to kill you if you say that, Kendall. She's going to get arrested and then go to jail, and I highly doubt that she would want her gorgeous face and her luscious hair to rot in an old mildewy jail cell." He explained bitterly.

James turned to look at him. "You don't like her either?" He asked, genuinely surprised. He didn't understand a lot of those words, but he knew Logan had a bad feeling about Brooke too.

Logan shrugged. "Why would I? She's a she-beast." He admitted. Logan was such a good child... Every adult liked him.

Kendall smirked. "I thought you weren't capable of hating a mature adult, since you're so adulty and stuff." He pointed out.

Logan smiled a bit. "Well, she's evil. And I'm not as much of an angel child as you think." He grinned at that.

Just then, the door opened, and the she-beast herself stood in front of the four boys. "Hello, boys. Come on in." She smiled.

The four boys took off their shoes (Brooke had a strict rule about 'no shoes in the house') and walked in. They put their backpacks in the designated 'backpack area' and sat down in the living room couch.

"So, how was you day at school, boys?" Brooke asked. There was a chorus of "okay" and "fine". Brooke just nodded. "And how did you do on your test, James?"

James pulled it out of his backpack. "I got a B-." He bragged. Brooke furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.

"A B-? You can do better than that, pumpkin." She shook her head disapprovingly. James's shoulders slumped.

"But you said a B was good!"

Brooke shrugged. "It is, sweetie, I'm just saying you could do better than that." James relaxed, knowing she wasn't mad at him.

The woman turned towards the other three boys. "And how did you three do on this test?"

Logan shifted uncomfortably, Carlos shrunk back in his seat, but Kendall leaned forward. "I got a B. I did better than James did." He bragged, his blonde hair falling into his face.

Brooke winced. "We'll have to cut that hair of yours some time, Kendall." She muttered, seeming to make a mental note. Kendall glared at her through his blonde hair, but she didn't see.

Brooke turned to the next boy. "Carlos? I'm hoping you did just as average."

Carlos gulped, wringing his hands together nervously. "Uh, not really... I-I got a C."

Brooke's eyes darkened. At least, that was what it looked like. "A C?" She practically hissed. Carlos whimpered a bit and grabbed onto Kendall's shoulder. "If I were your mother, I would spank you 5 times over. But since I'm not... I'll just be expecting something better next time." Carlos relaxed a bit, but he looked like he had been utterly scarred.

"Uh, well, Logan got a hundred percent." James offered, hoping to get his stepmom's attention away from Carlos. Logan blushed but didn't deny it.

Brooke smiled. "You are a smart boy, Hortense." Logan cringed at the name but said nothing. "You should all be more like him." She said. "Well, I'm going off to get my hair done. I will see you boys tonight at the game!"

"Bye." The boys chimed in unenthusiastically. The door slammed, announcing Brooke's exit.

"You know what, Logan?" Kendall started. "She is a she-beast."

James nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess she really is. I don't know why my dad wants to marry her." He admitted. "I'm sorry she scared you, Carlos." He added.

Carlos shrugged. "That's alright, I guess. Now I really need Logan to teach me. She's even scarier than my mom when she's angry."

"Scarier than my mom, too." Logan added. "I'll tutor you if you want."

Kendall stood up. "We need to do something about this. No offense, James, but Brooke is not our mom or stepmom, so why can she treat us like she is our mom?" No one could answer that one.

"But no one can say no to my stepmom, Kendall. Not even you, remember?" James reminded him. Kendall blushed at the memory.

"Okay, I guess you're right. But I am not cutting my hair just because she says so." He said stubbornly.

"Well, it is getting a bit long..." Logan pointed out. Kendall glared at him.

"I am not cutting it!" He stomped off into the bathroom.

Logan smirked. "See? I'm not an angel child at all."

A/N- Hello again! Summer vacation is here, and I just got back from a vacation! I hope you liked this chapter; I made Logan not an angel child hehe.

I started a poll about this new story I've been thinking about. It's like a BTR version of 'Switched at Birth'. I've been in love with that show ever since I started watching it this summer. So vote if you want to!

Review, please? Please tell me what you guys thought of the chapter! And if you have any ideas, please tell me!

Peace, Love, and Giraffes

Anonymous Srktle