Crossroads

New Decade

Disclaimer: None of this reflects the actual start of the Janoskians. In other words, this is utterly un-factual (fictitious, for my fellow English nerds). Enjoy.

Saturday, June 11th, Sometime in the Afternoon:

Jai didn't know what he was looking at.

Luke was pinned under Beau, who was covered in spots of blue, green and orange paint as he cursed his younger brother out. Daniel lay out on the ground beside the pool in the fetal position, clutching at his groin area whilst calling out for the 'good lord' to save him. While all of this was going on, James dealt with Hamlet, who was chasing after the tall boy wielding a paintball gun.

"Hamlet! It's okay!" James tried to reassure the dog, but Hamlet only continued to growl at the weapon in his hands.

Jai cleared his throat, hoping to catch the brawling quad's attention but also to avoid harm of any form.

"Jai!" 

James was the first to notice his presence. He dropped the paintball gun and darted towards Jai, who stood completely still, like a deer stuck in a pair of headlights.

"Jai, nice of you to stop by," Beau continued to wrestle Luke down, who eventually reached his arm and hand from under his bulky brother to tap out against the patio.

"Yes!" Beau exclaimed. "Little bitch," he laughed, finally easing up on Luke, who immediately gasped for air. As everyone caught their breath and regained footing, Jai cautiously approached the crew. 

"So, you ready?" Luke asked Jai, brushing off some grass and dirt that had collected on his shirt.

"Sorry, ready for what, exactly?" Jai shook his head, thinking about the text Luke had sent earlier about 'filming.'

"Don't you remember?" Luke's expression dropped off his face.

"Not even in the slightest," Jai reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I remember very little from last night, honestly." He supposed he ought to be embarrassed by his apparently low tolerance for alcohol, but that was the least of his concerns right now.

"Ditto," Skip raised a hand. Jai frowned, wondering if Skip remembered seeing Ava at the party. He didn't want the depressing responsibility of telling his neighbor that the boy she was crushing on ever so slightly had no idea they had hooked up, even if it was just for a second.

"Right, well," Luke clapped his paint-covered hands together. "Last night we were all talking, and you said you want to join us in making a YouTube channel."

Jai's jaw dropped. The proposition jumped far beyond the lines around his comfort zone.

"I amaze myself," he mumbled to himself.

"It'll be fun, dude," James slapped a hand down on his shoulder. "We're going to fuck each other up so bad."

"What he means by that, is," Beau interfered with James' graphic description. "We're going to get famous as a group—doing pranks and stunts and shit."

"I know what I meant," James grumbled. "We're going to fuck each other up," he repeated.

Jai thought over the proposition. The whole idea of a YouTube channel revolving around pranks and other shenanigans explained Luke's personal channel, where he regularly dumped ice and flour into the shower while Beau was in it for his viewers.

"Don't you already have a YouTube channel?" Jai looked over at Luke, who was currently trying to locate the source of a thick stream of blood on the back of his leg.

"Yeah," Luke looked up with a grin. "Only a couple thousand subscribers—nothing huge."

"Oh yeah nothing huge," Skip mocked with a snort and roll of his eyes. "Only eighty-thousand. Nothing huge at all."

"Shut up," Luke laughed, slapping Skip in the arm. "What can I say, I'm ridiculously good looking."

"You just complimented Jai," Skip fired back.

"Shit, yeah, I guess I did," Luke shrugged. He looked back at Jai. "So what do you say, mate?"

"I..." Jai hesitated. He glanced around at the rest of the boys, who were relatively unaware of the current mental battle Jai was in.

He'd never wanted to be in any type of spotlight. His life had been so balanced before; it had been so normal. It was so...plain.

It was then that Jai realized how much of a bore it would all soon become. His life couldn't be balanced anymore; it would be so boring compared to everything the rest of the boys had introduced him to in just two short days. Not to mention, he had already been thrown way into the spotlight the moment he and Luke made eye contact with each other at James' party.

There was no going back now.

He watched his new friends (and siblings) rough each other up, smearing leftover paint on each other's faces and limbs as Jai made his decision. He had already missed two decades worth of screwing around with the boys in front of him, and he was determined to make up for it the best that he could. He shook his head with a genuinely happy grin as he caught everyone's attention.

"So what are we going to call our channel?"

A/N: Hiiiii! I am so so sorry it's been over a month since the last update. You guys must hate me! Here's something short to satisfy your hunger (maybe, if you're not done with me). I had to finish up with school and finals as well as start work for the summer, I know you all understand my pain on some level. Anyways. Let me know what you all think!!

xx