Big Time Girlfriends - Carlos & Sammi
this isn't one of my favorite episodes but it does have my fav btr song in it! (boyfriend is one of their best, i will die on that hill!) but carlos' plotline always bothered me (james' and logan's plot really bothered me as well but that's another rant post for a different day) so this is what i came up with to make it a little better. enjoy!
@witchofinterest @myloveforhergoeson @raging-violets @partiallypearl
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Red, gold, and white lights spun and flashed from nearby attractions, begging passersby to take their shot at winning the large, stuffed prizes hanging off stalls. Beneath the inky black sky wafts of thick, heavy fried-scented air hovered over the milling crowds, luring in kids begging for treats to hold in their sticky hands. Excited shrieks and screams punched through the mechanical whooshes and grinding from nearby thrill rides and attractions, but Sammi blocked all the background noise out. Her eyes remained focused on the basketball hoop in front of her, the tip of her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth.
She eased out a breath, her fingers gripping the small rubber ball. The bumps and grooves pressed into the pads of her fingers; her pulse jumped faintly in her fingertip. You got this; you can do it! Pulling her tongue back into her mouth, her mouth formed a line, her muscles tensed, and she shot the basketball out of her hands with a little hop. It arced through the air…and bounced off the rim.
“Aw, man!” she groaned, her nose wrinkling and her arms falling to the side.
“Close but no cigar,” the stall attendant said, his mustached mouth stretching into a Cheshire cat grin. Sammi’s lip curled in as she suppressed the urge to rip his sharpie-marker mustache off his face. Really, did he have to say it every time she missed the shot? Twenty times was twenty times too much. And that mustache was so outdated! “Come on, try again. I’m sure you’ll get it this time.” He tossed the ball to her. She caught it and tossed it back, shaking her head.
“Thanks, but no thanks.” Besides, she already dropped thirty-five dollars on the dumb game. She couldn’t justify spending any more, no matter how much she wanted that giant stuffed bunny.
“Just try one more. I hate to see pretty girls walk away empty handed.” He flashed a smile, popping the ball atop his finger. With a push, he spun it along the tip. The colors flashed by in a bright smear against the golden tint of the booth’s bulb lights. “Waddya say?” She wanted to say where he could shove that basketball, and it wasn’t going to be through a netted hoop.
Instead she drew herself up, lifted her chin, and held his gaze. "I hate to see desperate guys." He blinked and she lifted her eyebrows, waiting for his one-track mind to switch gears and catch up. She'd said all she needed to say. When it finally did, she smirked as he jerked upright, fumbling the ball in his hands. Brushing her hair over her shoulder, she turned and sauntered off, pausing to add, "By the way, get used to pretty girls walking away from you! That's the only direction they'll be heading!"
Man, did that feel good. Nothing quite beat the exhilaration and satisfaction of putting guys like that in their place. Honestly. She was pretty, she knew that, she made sure others knew that, but that didn't mean she could fold and roll over just because someone else acknowledged it. Where was the effort in men nowadays? Not that she'd give in a chance otherwise, she was already happily taken.
Carlos, however, looked as if his happiness had been taken away from him, judging by the long look on his face anyway. It was a stark one-eighty from the cloud he'd seemed to be riding on for the past couple days. Hands on her popped hips, Sammi glanced around. Where was that Sasha girl anyway? The two were glued at the hip in the van ride over to the fair. It was almost disgusting how much they giggled and batted their eyes at one another. Where was they mystery? Where was the chase? Where was the effort?
"Okay, what's wrong?" Sammi peered down at Carlos from the other side of the picnic table he slouched over. Two corndogs sat in his hands.
"Me and Sasha broke up," he said.
"Sasha and I," Sammi automatically corrected. She couldn't help it. The world would be better if people were on point at all times. Speech couldn't slip through the cracks; annunciation and word choice went a long way when it came to molding people's perception.
Carlos looked up at her, eyebrows furrowing. "You were dating her too?"
Sammi brought her hand up to the side of her head. This boy. Easing a sigh, she carefully sat on the other bench, scooping her skirt beneath her thighs and crossed one leg over the other. The bright lights nearby illuminated her heels as if she were bathed in a spotlight. She grinned. She knew she picked the right shoes; her sisters didn't know what they were talking about when they tried to talk her out of them. She was a 10 at all times, from her head to her feet. Literally. She couldn't afford anything else.
"Why did you break up?" Sammi asked.
"She doesn't like corndogs. Actually, she hates corndogs."
"....So?"
"I love corndogs. We wouldn't work."
Sammi snorted. "Is that the only reason?"
This made Carlos sit up straight, eyes blazing. "Is a big reason!" She hummed. Why couldn't he apply that energy to his dance rehearsals? Or anything not gross?
"So any girl you want to be with has to like corndogs? No matter what?"
"I can't just give them up!" He took a hearty bite out of one as if to prove her point. Her nose wrinkled at his following sigh, showing a glob of chewed hot dog and cornmeal mush. Plucking a napkin out a canister with two fingers, she held it out to him. The least he could do was cover his mouth.
"Why would you have to?" she asked calmly.
"I mean...isn't that the point? To have a girlfriend that likes what I like?"
"The point of a girlfriend is to have someone you like around and to spend time with." Well, there was more to it than that but he was just dipping his toes into the dating water. He'd splash and flail too much if he dove in headfirst. "They don't need to like everything you like." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Jo doesn't like hockey but Kendall's still into her. In fact, I remember all of you clamoring over each other like idiots when Jo moved into the Palm Woods. Would you have dumped her if she chose you because of that?"
Carlos blinked. "I guess."
"Wow," Sammi said following a scoff. "Rude much?"
"I mean...wouldn't it be easier if we liked the same thing?"
"Maybe. But then you wouldn't have anything to talk about. Too much of the same is boring." Carlos made a noise. "Take it from me. My boyfriend's a farmhand. Literally. His family works on a cattle farm, provides meat and produce and stuff. He's very into agriculture and the environment. I'm...not so into it." The mud, the sweat, the smell, the mud? Not her idea of a good time, thank you very much. "But Jay? He puts his heart and soul into it. And he has so much passion for it. He wants to make the world better, more sustainable. I don't get it but I get that it's him and I like him. Warts and all." She paused. Did he have warts? Her mind reeled back, remembering all the expanses of his skin she'd been able to touch. His nice, tanned, strong, smooth skin... She frowned, whipped out her phone, and quickly sent a text. If he had any blemishes she needed him to take care of it right away. "My point is, differences are okay. It makes things fun."
"Yeah but..."
"But what?"
"They make it all look...so easy." He motioned with the bite-size of his corndog to the others nearby. Kendall trying to win Jo a stuffed animal from a skeeball game, Camille dragging Logan by the hand towards some dance game, and James.... Sammi blinked, leaning forward. Why was James carrying a plant? But then she pushed the thought away. She didn't want to touch that one. "They've had girlfriends. Or at least girls interested in them. Especially James. I just don't get it. It's like they know some...some secret code or something."
Sammi's head tipped back as she laughed, good and hard. "Carlos, c'mon, the rest of them aren't that perfect! Kendall's clearly got jealousy issues; honestly, I don't get how Jo's just fine with that but whatever." She waved her hand, batting them away. "And James kissed Logan's girlfriend so he's not winning points there. And Logan's kinda possessive. They don't know what they're doin' either and from my point of view, you're the one comin' out great."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw you runnin' around the Palm Woods with that girl"—she didn't earn the right to be called her name anymore—"she may have been set up by Uncle Gustavo—which I will have a conversation with him about—but you were very sweet and kind and were willing to make a lot of compromises for her happiness. Any girl who actually ends up your girlfriend would be very lucky. Don't sell yourself short."
"Really?" His dark puppy dog eyes almost made her coo at him.
"Yeah." Her shoulders bounced in a light shrug. When he wasn't being so...uncouth, he had some good qualities the right person would appreciate. That Girl certainly wasn't one of them if she could willingly go along with Uncle Gustavo's stupid boy-brained plan.
"Thanks. You know, your boyfriends very lucky."
"I know," she said with a smirk. Then her eyes dropped to the uneaten corndog in his other hand and she took it from him, teeth sinking into the cornmeal in a satisfying bite. "What?" she asked when he gaped at her. "I love corndogs." Holding her hand in front of her mouth as she chewed, she continued, "You should try the korean kind though. Some have cheese in them and some have cereal coating. They're super good. "
He snapped his jaw shut and twisted the stick of his corndog around in his fingers. "Do you...um...I mean, if you weren't dating him...do you think we...would you have—?"
Reaching across the table, Sammi patted his hand. "You wouldn't be able to handle me, Carlos," she said.
He grinned. "Yeah, maybe not."
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