Title: Game On
Summary: Kendall Knight likes to win. So, when James Diamond gets the solo in music class, he's not too thrilled.
Author's Notes: Kendall and James are in second grade. In canon, Logan is the last to join the friend group, but I changed that for the purposes of this story. It's my first Big Time Rush fic!
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Kendall Knight likes to win.
So, when James Diamond gets the solo in music class, Kendall's not too thrilled. He's even less thrilled when James tells him that his voice sounds like a dying loon. Kendall's not quite sure what a dying loon actually sounds like, but he's sure it's awful, so he promptly tackles James and gets sent to the principal's office.
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The next day, James gets to practice his solo in front of the whole class and everyone is, like, super impressed. Their eyes widen and they just kind of stare at James in awe because, even as a second grader, he's pretty striking. Not to mention he oozes confidence and this "I'm-so-awesome" attitude and Kendall kind of hates him.
Except not really because Kendall thinks James' voice is like liquid gold.
That doesn't stop him from loudly singing the wrong lyrics and totally messing James up.
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James hums the song in math class and Kendall's glad for the distraction because adding up big numbers by hand is no fun and his pencil broke a minute ago anyways. But then James keeps humming louder and louder and Kendall is pretty sure he's taunting him. He makes a move to get out of his seat, sees Logan shake his head from the corner of his eye, and reluctantly sits back down. His raises his hand like a good boy instead.
"James won't stop humming and it's really annoying," Kendall loudly proclaims when the teacher calls on him. James feigns innocence. Kendall glares, shooting invisible daggers.
When class is finally almost over Kendall has only completed three of the ten problems, but whatever. He doesn't like math and it's not his fault that James is obnoxious. He sees Logan talking to the teacher about next week's work and Carlos bouncing up and down in his seat and starts to pack his stuff up.
There's only a minute left until the bell rings when James starts humming again. Kendall turns around and throws his pencil at him. James throws an eraser back. The both get sent to the office.
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Kendall's not quite sure what he's trying to accomplish, but he keeps sabotaging James' singing. James keeps egging him on, though, so it's kind of, sort of, basically his fault in the first place.
Not that it matters whose fault it was when they're both sentenced to indoor recess.
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After lunch Carlos runs outside, yelling something about jumping off the tallest slide on the playground and Logan sprints after him, praying that he's wearing his helmet.
Kendall looks longingly after his friends and the sunny outdoors and then walks back to his classroom, head down low. James follows. Their teacher tells them to get to know each other, to settle their differences, but Kendall's not really listening. He's just mad. Indoor recess is horrible.
After about five minutes of refusing to look at James, Kendall starts banging on the desk out of boredom. He tries to get a rhythm going and is really grooving out when he hears James bang on the desk too. He's about to shoot James a death glare but, hey, it sounds kind of cool. So they keep drumming the desks while their teacher watches, torn between amusement and vague annoyance.
Then James starts to drum out the rhythm of the music class song. Kendall glances at him quickly, then joins in. And then James starts to sing and even with the loud and not quite melodic desk banging, his voice is perfection. Kendall starts to sing softly and James' voice grows louder, so Kendall raises his volume until they're both belting out the song in sync, still banging out the rhythm on the desks.
The bell rings and they both look at each other and then burst out laughing. They laugh so hard that they're doubled over in their chairs and when they're done, Kendall's whole face hurts, but he doesn't care.
Class starts, but before he goes back to his seat, James whispers, "You don't sound like a dying loon". Kendall grins.
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After their indoor recess, Kendall thinks James is significantly cooler. He even joins the boys for recess games of tag, kickball, and Carlos' favorite, "what's-the-tallest-thing-you-can-jump-off-of-without-getting-hurt".
As cool as James is though, Kendall's still a little bummed about not getting that solo.
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The music class performance is only a couple days away and even though he hasn't gotten in trouble in days, Kendall feels a small pang of jealously whenever James gets to sing his solo. He can't help it; everyone thinks James is so awesome and Kendall wants them to think he's awesome, too. He kind of pouts a little and James must have noticed because when class is over, he stops Kendall from leaving.
Before Kendall can ask what he's doing, James marches up to the music teacher and promptly asks, "Can Kendall sing my solo with me?" Kendall is shocked.
He's even more shocked when the teacher says yes. The two boys leave the classroom and Kendall throws his arms around James, hugging him tight. James pats his back and smiles awkwardly while Kendall mutters, "Thanks".
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The performance is a success. Kendall and James sound awesome together and Mrs. Knight takes all four boys out for ice cream afterwards.
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Kendall Knight likes to win. But, sometimes, occasionally, he doesn't mind getting even instead.