Goodnight, Peaceville

by RigatoniNoodles_Plz

Summary:

After saving the world, things are going well for Grojband. Trina and Mina’s bestie breakup is leading to a consistent flow of angsty diary lyrics, and Peaceville always has a weird gig opportunity for the aspiring band to play at.
However, not all in Peaceville is peaceful. Corey and Trina are forced on their own journeys of self-discovery as their past and present collide.

A Grojband season 2 fic inspired by blog posts by Neptoon and personal ideas.

Chapter 1: Prologue: After the Almost End

Summary:

Grojband, having just saved the world from an asteroid, decides to go shopping for the upcoming school year. Both Laney and Corey come to some surprising revelations about themselves and their relationship. Meanwhile, Trina and Mina are having relationship issues of their own.

A steady rhythm thundered through the stadium as the hulking drummer finished his count. The smooth sounds of the piano quickly followed as the slim pianist’s fingers glided over the keys. A strong bass was next to start blasting through the speakers. The bassist's eyes were closed, her fire-truck red hair banging to the beat of the drum as the music took over. The chanting from the crowd got louder as the blue-haired frontman approached the center of the stage, a smirk on his face as he grabbed hold of the microphone. His voice boomed over the cheers. 

“Are you ready to rock?”

The thunderous commotion from the crowd started to synchronize, a loud chant spreading throughout the colosseum. 

“MINA! MINA! MINA!” 

Corey, now awakened from his slumber, quickly shot up, his bedtime beanie nearly slipping off at the sudden jolt. Remnants of his dream still on the forefront of his mind, the young musician sat in bed, confused for a few seconds before another screech echoed through the Riffin house.

“MINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

Ah. Corey relaxed as he realized it was just his harpy of an older sister, Trina. It was not the first time her loud screaming had woken him up, and with her attitude, it would not be the last.

Although this wake-up call had been happening every morning for the past two weeks. After Trina and Mina returned from the Orb’s spaceship, Trina’s hissy-fits had become routine. 

Right, the whole ‘Asteroid almost destroyed the planet but a local band saves the world’ thing. That was awesome! But that was also two whole weeks ago! And Corey doesn’t like to dwell on past gigs too much. 

Thankfully, Peaceville had a fast news cycle. The whole asteroid event was already old news. 

Still, the people of Peaceville loved Grojband. According to Kate and Allie, there were even some new members to the Groj-fan-club.

As for Trina - Neither Grojband nor Mina (nor Nick Mallory, but he was frozen, so Corey doesn’t think he even remembers) told anyone about Trina purposefully sabotaging Grojband to let Earth get destroyed. 

Nevertheless, after their ‘fight,’ Mina has been absent from Trina’s side, which means no one is at Trina’s beck and call. So, now Corey has to suffer through a very irritated, very shrieky, pink demon of an older sister.

The blunette let out a long sigh as Trina loudly screeched her best friend's name again before the thirteen-year-old hopped out of bed. His usual optimism returned as he remembered what day it was.

The new school year starts tomorrow, so the gang is going to the mall for back-to-school shopping. Usually, they would try to do it sooner, but there was a lot of cleanup after the town went apocalyptic, and despite the band’s best efforts, a few stray meteorite shards still hit parts of Peaceville.

Corey was excited for the new school year. While he wasn’t the biggest fan of classes, Elementary High provided numerous competitions, events, and parties, which meant a lot more gig opportunities in addition to the random Peaceville festivities.

Corey exited his room, only to spot Trina leaving her lair. The two siblings made eye contact before Trina bolted towards the bathroom, Corey hot on her heels, until he came to a screeching stop right before Trina could successfully slam the bathroom door in his face. Trina’s victorious cackling drowned out Corey’s chuckles as he leisurely made his way down the stairs to the ‘groj-bathroom,’ a dingy little half-bathroom in the garage where he had moved his bathroom supplies a while ago. 

Trina could be so predictable sometimes. 

Despite not having to use the upstairs bathroom, the bluenette still liked to terrify his sister into thinking he would claim the bigger bathroom. 

Plus, letting Trina win usually resulted in her starting the day in a good mood. And, when she ‘won’, she would always take longer getting ready in the morning, so more time for the twins to arrive for a ride to the mall. 

The plan was for Corey and the twins to meet up with Laney at the mall. Her cousin, Chloe, had recently gotten her license, and, in Laney’s words, “wanted to show off her sick new driving skills.” Corey couldn’t help but smile wider as he brushed his teeth, remembering Laney’s deadpan voice as she had followed up the comment with “pray for me.”

Corey finished his morning routine in the bathroom before heading back up to his room to change into his usual outfit, a black and white concert tee, and orange commando shorts. He switches out his bedtime beanie for his signature orange beanie.

By the time he exited his room, the door to the upstairs bathroom was now open. Figuring Trina must now be in her room doing her usual half-hour routine of picking an outfit, only to go with what she wears every day, Corey headed downstairs to the garage, where he plopped down on the couch. He pulled out his phone to text Kin and Kon a reminder to hurry up.

Just as the message was marked as sent, the garage door started loudly banging. Hopping up, Corey went to lift the garage door, revealing the excited faces of Kin and Kon Kujira. 

“Corey!” The twins excitedly shouted, before tackling the blunette into a hug. The trio tumbled across the garage floor before ending up in a pile, with the large drummer crushing the two shorter boys.

You would think the twins hadn’t seen the guitarist in years, given how they were acting, even though they had just hung out with him the day before.

“Hey, Kin. Hey, Kon.” Corey greeted, easily sliding out from under Kon in the dogpile. Kin was still stuck under his larger brother, unsuccessfully trying to claw his way out.

There was a bang from upstairs as the older Riffin slammed her door open. “Ugh. You two,” The girl snarled upon spotting the twins.

“Morning, Trina,” Kon happily replied, rolling off his brother and getting back on his feet.

“Hey, Trina. You don’t mind if Kin and Kon join us on our ride to the mall? Dad said you have to bring us back-to-school shopping.” Technically, their dad had said at dinner the night before that it would be nice if Trina brought her brother shopping. But knowing Trina, she wouldn’t even bother to remember the specifics.

“Ugh. Fine. But no weird experiments, or farting, or burping, or shaving, or breathing in my car,” the pinkette snapped before getting into her beloved vehicle, Pinktastic.

The boys piled into the backseat. Trina slammed on the accelerator and tore out of the garage.

~ To the Mall Transition ~

After a terrifying ride courtesy of Trina Riffin, the twins, now looking a little green, stumble out of the pink sedan. Corey casually saunters out after them, already used to Trina’s reckless driving. Although it did seem like Trina’s driving skills were worse without Mina in the passenger seat.

As the boys, plus Trina, approached the entrance to the Peaceville Mall, they easily spotted two distinctive redheads waiting outside. 

The taller ginger, Chloe Penn, had apple red hair, pulled back by a pink headband. She donned a black and white baseball tee and green shorts. She was texting, her eyes glued to her phone, but she was still animatedly talking to the smaller girl beside her.

The more petite redhead was the last member of Grojband, Laney Penn. Her firetruck red hair always made her easy to spot in a crowd. She wore her favorite green and black striped blouse with yellow sleeves and red leggings. Upon spotting the boys, she waved, a small smile spreading across her face.

Corey and the twins jogged over, waving their arms excitedly.

“Lanes!” Corey shouted before wrapping Laney up in a side hug. A goofy smile made its way onto the now red-faced bassist. 

“Hey, Core.”

“So,” Corey said in a much more hushed tone. “How was the drive?”

“Better than expected. How was your guys’ drive over?”

“Somehow worse than expected.”

Chloe, who had finally slipped her phone away, turned to the group of young teens. 

“Hey Grojband, how’s it going?”

“Pretty good, how’s it going with you?” Corey asked, releasing Laney to fist bump the older ginger. Laney tried to ignore the disappointment at the contact ending. Kin and Kon gave their greetings to the older teen. 

Chloe finally turned to the pinkette, who had arrived after trailing behind, bleating on her phone. 

“Trina.” Chloe grimaced.

“Ugh. Chloe.” Trina replied. 

The pinkette flipped her hair before coldly staring down at her brother, “I’m going to Eternally Eighteen. I’ll leave the mall whenever I want. And if you’re not in the car, you’re walking home!”

And with that, the pinkette sashayed away. 

“Well,” Chloe piped up, “I’m meeting up with Meesha and Bess at The Big Squeeze. Laney, text me when you're done, and we can meet up. If your sister leaves you boys here, I can give you a ride.”

“Nah, it’s fine. We got it covered.” Corey reassured. The tall ginger shrugged before entering the mall.

“We got it covered, right, Kin?” Corey asks.

“Yep! The tracker is successfully on Trina. It should alert us when she nears a mall exit.”

“How’d you pull that off?” Laney questioned.

“By being super sneaky and smooth,” Kin said.

“Like a ninja!” Kon exclaimed. The twins started shouting “ninja” repeatedly while they pretended to battle each other.

Laney shot Corey an expectant look.

“We snuck it into her purse while she was in road rage mode on the drive over.” The guitarist supplied.

“So! Where to first?” Kon asked, the twins were done play-fighting… for now. 

Before Corey could speak, Laney piped up, “Shoe store.” 

Upon seeing the boys' questioning looks, the ginger further elaborated, “Guys, we’ve walked around the sewers a lot this past year. Way more than any band should. Our shoes are practically coated in toxic waste and sewer water at this point.”

The bassist’s observation prompted the boys to look down at their shoes, only to see that their footwear had indeed seen better days. Plus, Kon had sworn his shoes glowed in the dark, when they really shouldn’t.

“To the shoe store it is!” Corey exclaims, leading the pack into the mall.

“Yikes,” Laney hissed out as soon as they entered. The blunette let out a whistle in surprise.

While the cleanup from the end-of-the-world riots had made progress, there was still a lot of rubble scattered around. Slapped onto every shop window were sales related to damaged goods that were much better than any back-to-school sales would have been.

“Oooh! Post-apocalyptic!” The twins squawk together. The two were clearly enjoying how the mall resembled a movie set.

“Dudes! We should check out the music store while we’re here! With deals like these, they have to have some stuff we could snag!” Corey excitedly observed.

“Clothes first, music store later.” Laney reminded.

“You’re right, Lanes,” Corey said, slinging an arm around her shoulder, missing how red the girl's face turned from the contact. “To the shoe store!” He dramatically pointed.

~ Shopping Shop Transition ~

After a successful trip to the shoe store, Corey and Kin each bought new Converse shoes in dark blue and murky orange, respectively. Kon bought some steel-toe work boots in the hope they would help next time he dropped something on his foot. Laney traded out her fraying black leather boots for some proper combat boots.

They were exiting Barney’s Shoe Barn when they bumped into their worst enemies—the Newmans.

“Uggh. What are you doing here, Groj-bland?” Carrie growled.

“Duh, same thing you five are. Shopping.” Corey mockingly said, then paused. “Wait. What? Five?”

Standing near the back of the Newmans was a bespectacled teal-haired teen. While Corey knew Carrie and Mina’s relationship was a lot better than his and Trina’s, it was still surprising to see the older girl with her younger sister’s band.

“Hey,” the older teen waved, before she started to look around nervously. “Trina’s not with you guys, is she?”

“Nah,” Mina visibly relaxed at the statement, until Corey continued, “Well, she is here at the mall, but I think she’s still battling it out over the sales at Eternally Eighteen .” Corey scoffed at the store. 

The teal-haired girl’s eyes were now darting around anxiously, her shoulders hunching up as if to protect her from any potential pink-haired monsters. Carrie cast a concerned glance at her sister before snapping her fingers to get her band and Mina’s attention. 

“Newmans. Sis. Let’s hit up the thrift store across the street. At least there doesn’t have Groj-stink all over it.” Carrie pause. “Plus, thrift shopping is more environmentally friendly.”

The Newmans, quickly understanding that their band leader was trying to get her sister out of the mall, all quickly chimed in agreement.

“Later, Groj-nerds,” Carrie said, flashing an ‘L’ on her forehead before stalking off. Larry quickly followed. Kim cast the rival band one last glare before trailing after. Konnie and Mina waved politely to Grojband as they passed.

“Yeah, well - see you never, uh - rude-mans!” Corey pathetically countered. 

“Nice one, Core,” Laney sarcastically voiced.

“Is it just me, or was that pretty tame compared to how our interactions with them usually go?” Kin said.

Kon shrugged, “Maybe after sharing a body with them last time, it gave them a new perspective? And made them nicer?”

“Nah. The Newmans are still the worst,” Corey huffed, Laney reassuringly patting him on the shoulder. “Let’s go to the next store.”

Kin and Kon raced ahead, and Laney was about to follow; however, her new combat boot slipped on a tiny piece of rubble. The redhead found herself falling backwards, a shout of surprise escaping her. Until Corey quickly caught the smaller bassist. 

Emerald met blue as the two stared at each other in surprise.

“Hey, Core,” Laney finally squeaks out. Her heart hammering away in her chest while her face turned as red as her hair.

“Hey, Lanes,” Corey smiles before straightening up, getting Laney back on her feet. The tips of his ears felt unusually warm underneath his beanie.

The blunette took a step back.

“You really gotta watch where you’re going,” He playfully punched the redhead in the arm. “Bro.”

As soon as that accursed term left Corey’s mouth, Laney felt like she'd been doused with a bucket of cold water. The previous warm, fuzzy sensation was replaced with a gaping hole. As if her heart was ripped from her chest and curb-stomped in front of her.

Yeah. Bro. The girl internally lamented. I’m - I’m just one of the guys to Core.

Feeling her eyes becoming watery, Laney quickly panicked, looking around for a distraction. She did not want the boys to see her cry.

“Oh! Look! Scalding Object!” The ginger pointed to the alt fashion store.

“Ooooh!” The twins cooed, making a beeline for the store. Corey following. Laney took up the end, walking considerably slower to try to compose herself before they entered the shop. She pushed that feeling of despair back to be addressed later in the privacy of her own room.

~ Wicked Cool Transition ~

After visiting several clothing stores and finding that the music store disappointingly didn’t have any significant sales, which didn’t stop Corey from excitedly buying a box of guitar picks and several packs of guitar strings. 

The frontman was even more ecstatic since he found a pair of ‘cool’ lightly tattered cargo pants, and was hyped to have more pockets.

“More pockets means more picks,” the blunette had countered when the fashion-conscious keyboardist had questioned his shopping choice.

As they were exiting the music store, Kin’s pocket let out a loud, ear-piercing beep, earning the teens some curious looks from other mall-goers. The pianist dug around in his pocket before pulling out his handheld tracker tablet.

“Oh no! Looks like Trina is nearing the exit close to where she parked!”

“Gasp! Then we gotta go! I don’t wanna walk home!” The drummer cried before he started jogging back to where they had come from, Kin hot on his heels.

“Later, Lanes! I’ll text you if we make it!” Corey shouted and ran after the twins.

The ginger waved goodbye to their retreating figures before pulling out her phone to track down her cousin. 

The guitarist quickly caught up to the ravenettes, spotting his sister already reaching for the exit door. If Trina saw them, no doubt she would bolt to her car and drive off, leaving them in the literal dust of Pinktastic. 

“Guys! We need a distraction!” Corey huffed. The three boys looked around anxiously before spotting a very familiar figure.

“Oh my gosh!” Corey loudly exclaimed, grabbing everyone’s attention, including his sister’s. “Is that Hunky Nick Mallory?” Kin and Kon faking gasps and pointing to the Abs & So Fetch store. 

The exclamation caused a mob of teenage girls to stampede toward the shop. Trina swooned before joining in the squealing mass, pushing and shoving her way to the front. As she finally elbowed her way to the mob’s head, she found her face pressed against the glass of the store’s display, only able to spot Nick’s shoes. The pinkette huffed, annoyed. 

If Mina were here, she could be a meat shield. Or a step stool. Trina’s annoyance at her friend’s avoidance doubled. But first, Nick.

It wasn’t until her eyes trailed up to the face that she finally noticed it was just a mannequin wearing an outfit eerily similar to the Peaveville heartthrob's.

“What?” The enraged Riffin screeched, popping out of the top of the horde of girls. “That’s not Nick!”

Trina failed to see Corey, Kin, and Kon leisurely making their way out of the mall's exit to wait in Pinktastic while Trina fought her way back out of the group of ignorant, frenzied ladies. The boys threw their stuff in Pintastic’s trunk, grateful that Trina usually kept her car unlocked. 

After all, who would dare to steal from Trina Riffin? 

Only those with a death wish.

After settling into the back seat of the car, the trio spotted the older girl stomping her way out of the mall, shopping bags in hand.

They ignored her groans of frustration after she opened the trunk only to see the boys' stuff back there before shoving her bags on top. The pinkette loudly slammed the trunk, throwing Corey a nasty glare as she headed to the driver's side, where she forcefully opened and shut Pinktastic’s driver door, sliding behind the wheel. She let out a growl before starting the car and slamming on the accelerator, cutting off a vehicle that had been slowly going down the parking lot row.

Kin and Kon held each other for dear life, preparing for the nauseating rollercoaster that was Trina’s driving. 

Corey just rolled his eyes at his sister’s overdramatics. The bluenette fished his phone out of his pocket to message Laney that they had successfully secured a ride back from the mall from Trina. 

His phone dinged from the ginger’s response.

Hehe, nice. Corey read, You getting that ride didn’t have anything to do with the Nick Mallory stampede near that entrance, did it?

Corey chuckled, messaging back a cheeky I’ll tell you tomorrow before staring out the window. The green hills of Peaceville reminded him of his earlier encounter with the bassist. The greens of her eyes were as bright as the lush Peaceville grass. The guitarist felt his ears start to feel unnaturally warm again as he thought of the girl longer. 

It felt weird. But in a good way.

~ What’s Laney Up To ~

Meanwhile, in the Penn car, Chloe excitedly rambled to her younger cousin about the great deals she scored while shopping. Loud Frank’s Radio blasted in the background. Laney offered the older redhead some smiles and grunts of acknowledgment as she barely listened, her mind preoccupied with that earlier interaction with Corey. As Chloe paused, Laney finally spoke up.

“Hey, Chloe…. How do you know if a guy just isn’t… into you?”

Chloe, surprised, lowered the volume dial and shot her cousin a confused glance. 

“What do you mean?” before a loud gasp was let out. “Is this about Corey?”

Laney's face turned beet red at her cousin's mention of her crush, her mouth turning down into a frown, but she still nodded her head. Chloe shot the younger redhead a concerned look before refocusing her attention on the road. The older girl quickly realized this was a serious conversation. She paused to consider her response.

“Well, I guess it kinda depends on the guy. Like, what makes you think he’s not into you?”

Laney hesitated, sucking air between her teeth, before unleashing all the Corey-crush drama.

“So, there was that time where we fake-dated, you know, so we could eat that giant wedding cake, but Kin and Kon kept interrupting the date, and Corey didn’t seem to be all that into the date, which I just thought was because the whole ‘fake dating’ thing made things awkward. But then the band broke up, and we sang a duet, but that was to try to convince Kin and Kon to rejoin the band. And then there was the Queen Bee pageant, where Corey said I looked cute, but then he called me ‘bro’ afterwards. Like, c’mon, ‘bro’? Seriously?”

Laney quickly shot an angry look towards her cousin, who was supportively nodding along to her rant. 

“Oof. Seriously?” the older girl echoed, “What is up with that?”

“Thank you!” Laney shouted, feeling vindicated, before continuing. “He keeps referring to me as ‘bro,’ or ‘guy,’ or ‘fella’ when he knows I’m a girl! And I know it’s just Corey being Corey, but I thought with how he keeps nose booping and hugging me and putting his arm around me that ‘hey, maybe he likes me too’ but then he ruins it by calling me a guy. And don’t get me started on when we accidentally kissed during that weird second new years -”

Laney's tangent came to an abrupt halt as Chloe slammed on the brakes. Ignoring the angry honk from the car behind her, the older redhead swiftly turned her head towards Laney, her mouth hanging agape.

“Tell. Me. Everything.”

Laney, shocked, nodded - then remembered they were in a car on one of the main streets in Peaceville.

Geeze, Laney thought. It's no wonder she failed her test the first two times.

“I will. As soon as you get off the road and park.”

Chloe blinked, confused, before remembering she was driving. 

“Oh, right,” she giggled, “One sec.”

Chloe quickly restarted the car’s movement before pulling into the nearest shopping plaza. She properly parked her vehicle towards the back of the lot before fully turning to face her cousin, a look of pure anticipation on her face. The intense stare caused Laney to become increasingly self-conscious, but she continued nonetheless.

“It was an accidental kiss. You remember how all those white flakes were raining down right before the cube dropped?” An excited nod of confirmation allowed Laney to continue her story, her face getting as red as a tomato, “Well, Corey and I closed our eyes when we tried to catch some, and we ran into each other… And our faces accidentally squished together…”

“YOU TWO KISSED!!!”

Ignoring her cousin’s squeals of excitement, Laney tried to get back on course, “Yes, it was awesome, and it tasted like cotton candy-” another squeal interrupted her, “but he apologized about it,” Laney ignored the sound of disappointment her cousin made, “and he gave me this look when we were singing,” Laney, again, ignored the gasp of elation, “but when I tried to kiss him after we finished the gig, he just ignored it and went on to do his speech.”

Laney, surprised at the lack of noise, looked at her cousin only to be met with Chloe’s devastated face. As if you had just taken her favorite headband and shredded it right in front of her. The look quickly changed to one of pity, which only fueled Laney's anger.

“There’s more.”

“WHAT?”

“Ok, so, when we thought the world was going to be destroyed, I kept trying to tell him how I felt, but I couldn’t! Like, first it was just Kin and Kon’s silly prediction, but then a literal asteroid was being hurled at us! And we went on a suicide mission to save the world, and all I could say to him was ‘it’s been a pleasure rocking with you.’” Laney mockingly quoted herself before taking a breath and continuing in a more somber tone. Her frustration giving way to sad resignation, “I thought the world was ending, and still couldn’t tell him how I felt… Even today, he caught me when I fell, and I thought we had a moment, but he just called me ‘bro’ and acted like it didn’t even happen.”

The young ginger couldn’t help but let out a sad sniffle at the last confession, her eyes feeling watery as she now realized how hopelessly unrequited her crush on Corey was. He was never gonna see her as more than a bandmate. As more than a friend.

A gentle warmth surrounded her as Chloe awkwardly leaned over the car console to hug her cousin, leading Laney to start crying. Chloe’s embrace tightened as the young ginger began to bawl. 

After a good ten minutes of non-stop crying, Laney’s sobs had returned to sniffles, and Chloe loosened her grip to look at the younger cousin. The petite redhead’s mascara-streaked face broke the older girl’s heart, and she released one arm to rummage through her purse for tissues and make-up remover wipes. Laney let out a weak “thanks” before loudly blowing her nose into a tissue.

Eventually, the two cousins separated, and Laney, still letting out tiny hiccups, used the passenger flip-down mirror to start cleaning her face. Chloe stared into the distance for a bit before breaking the silence.

“Maybe…” She looked at the younger girl to see if she had her attention; continuing after a glance and a nod, “Maybe it’s time you try to move on? Like, I had a crush on Nick Mallory for years, but I accepted a long time ago that’s never gonna happen, and now look at me! I am in an awesome relationship with Dan! Sure, there were a few not-so-great relationships along the way, but I’m happy now. And I want you to be happy too.”

Chloe gave Laney a meaningful look, “And I don’t think you’ll be happy if you keep hanging onto a will-they-won’t-they relationship with Corey Riffin.”

Laney broke from her cousin’s gaze, looking down at her lap as she contemplated this proposal. A few minutes of tense silence passed before Laney finally looked back up.

“How do you move on?”

A proud smile stretched across Chloe’s lips, the ginger already feeling reenergized at her younger cousin’s question. The older girl lightly clapped her hands, her usual positivity coming back in full force.

“Yay! Ok, so, you can try hanging around him less - which I guess you can’t do since you’re in a band together…” Chloe’s face contorted into a pensive look before brightening, “You could try making new friends, that way it’s not always you, him, and the twins. You could - GASP - you could try dating someone else!”

“What?” The bassist shot a disapproving glare in the direction of the bubbly ginger.

“No, no, no. Listen. One of the best ways to move on from a guy is to start dating another guy! Meesha told me that’s how her cousin got over her ex!”

Laney shot her cousin a skeptical look. Meesha was one of Chloe’s best friends, but the girl was just as much of an airhead as the older Penn.

“You heard that from Meesha about her cousin?”

“Yes, but I also have heard similar things from others!”

“What others?”

“TV.”

The two cousins sat in silence for a bit, staring at each other — one in disbelief and the other in awkward embarrassment. 

Laney's chuckle finally broke the silence, causing Chloe to giggle. The car was soon filled with therapeutic laughter. After the giggling died down, Laney turned to the older girl and smiled.

“Thanks, Chloe.”

“Anytime, little Laney.”

“You said you’d stop calling me that!”

“I said I’d stop calling you that in public!”

Chloe restarted the car and continued the drive to their grandparents’ house, the radio acting as background music as the two redheads continued to bicker like siblings.

~ That was Pretty Heavy ~

Back at the garage, surviving another one of Trina’s road rage episodes, Corey, Kin, and Kon were happily munching away at a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches they had made as soon as they arrived at the Riffin house.

“So then I was like, why don’t you have an emergency screaming monkey - Corey! Are you even listening?” Kon asked the blunette who was still munching on his last grilled cheese, a faraway, dreamy look on his face. 

At the frontman’s lack of reaction, the twins exchanged worried looks.

“Kon,” Kin started, a serious look on his face, “time to go with emergency plan C.”

The large boy gasped, “Not plan C!” Kon’s expression quickly morphed to befuddlement, “Uh - which one is that again?”

The bespectacled boy sighed before reaching down and lifting his brother’s left pant leg enough to expose his sock, which Kin used his other hand to reach into before pulling out a wedge of cheese. Very, very stinky Limburger cheese.

“Oh!” Kon exclaimed, “Right! That plan C! Hehe.”

Kin gave his brother an unimpressed look before gesturing over at Corey.

The twins got up and went behind the couch, directly behind their guitarist, attempting to muffle their giggles. Kin handed Kon the piece of cheese, which the drummer quickly shoved under Corey’s nose.

“OH! SICK!” The reaction was instantaneous. Corey quickly jumped up and scrambled off the couch, flopping onto the floor before scuttling across the cold cement to escape the rancid smell. The twins burst out laughing. Upon realizing what had happened, Corey quickly joined in with them. 

“Haha, dudes, you got me. What is that?” He pointed to the offending cheese.

“This, my good sir,” Kon started in his best fancy accent, “Is a wedge of Limburger, a semi-soft German cheese.”

Upon seeing Corey's still confused expression, Kin further iterated, “It’s a well-known stinky cheese that Kon keeps in his sock for emergency snacking—or for an emergency smell.”

“My sock helps keep it moist,” Kon said before popping the cheese into his mouth and swallowing it in one gulp.

Corey couldn’t help but laugh at the twins’ antics, “Haha, dude, you can always count on Kon to have the coolest snacks.”

The boys finally settled down from their earlier antics and resumed their positions on the couch.

“So, seriously, Corey, what was up with you zoning out like that?” Kin asked.

Corey sighed, flopping his head back into the groj-couch, “I don’t know, man. I think I’m getting sick or something.”

The twins gasped in horror at the thought of their frontman getting sick. Corey never gets sick! Well, save for the one time he got the chickenpox. 

Corey curiously watched as the two ravenettes scrambled around the garage, clearly looking for something. Kon let out a victorious exclamation from within a stack of cardboard boxes they had shoved into one of the garage’s back corners. Kin, upon hearing his brother’s cry, jogged over before diving into the pile to join his twin.

The brothers emerged now donning white doctor coats. Kin had a stethoscope hanging around his neck, and Kon’s headband now had a head mirror attached. 

Man, Corey thought as he grinned at the twins. Lanes is gonna be disappointed that she missed this.

“So!” Kin said, holding the stethoscope to Corey’s chest as Kon flashed a light in the blunette’s ear. “What are your symptoms?”

“Uhh,” Corey thought for a moment about his weird reaction when he caught Laney earlier. “I guess my stomach feels upset or something? Like there’s something crawling all around. And my face gets all warm and stuff. And my heartbeat, like, totally ups the tempo. And my brain feels all - bwoosh!” Corey mimed his head exploding.

“Mh-hm, mh-hm,” Kin nods along as Kon doodles on a clipboard. The twins then go over to the computer before typing all the symptoms into the search engine. The blue-haired boy shrugged and picked up his grilled cheese again.

“So,” Kin started, “according to the internet, it sounds like you have… a stomach bug!”

Corey and Kon gasp in horror. Corey eyed the remainder of his grilled cheese, his mouth still open to take a bite out of it before snapping his mouth closed and putting the food back down. Kon then picked it up and ate it.

“Hey!” Corey exclaimed.

“Sorry, you snooze you lose.”

“Anyways,” Kin interjects before the two can start arguing. “How long have you been experiencing these symptoms? And have you had diarrhea? That’s also one of the signs.”

The guitarist shrugged.

“No diarrhea from this guy. And to be honest, the symptoms kinda come and go - It’s mainly when I’m around Laney. Or thinking about Laney. But, like, not all the time I’m around her or thinking about her… I think.”

“Hmmm,” Kin stared back at the screen, trying to find something else that lined up, “I’m not seeing anything that is a perfect match… Experiencing symptoms around one specific person is unusual - Maybe it’s fear? Laney can be pretty scary sometimes.”

“I don’t know, dude, sounds like you have lovesickness.” Kon piped up.

There was silence in the garage before the three boys burst out laughing. 

“Yeah, right, dude.” Corey wheezed out between laughs.

“Kon, you have been watching way too many romance movies.” Kin gasped out.

“Yeah,” Kon snorted, “It’s not like you stay awake at night thinking of Laney or something.”

Kin laughed so hard that he fell out of the chair at that comment.

“Ha, yeah right. Like that will ever happen.” Corey confidently said.

Corey then turned towards the audience.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” the blunette waved before shutting the garage door.

---

It was late at night in the Riffin House, and two of the three occupants were currently sound asleep. 

In a blue room at the end of the hall, lay a boy in his twin bed. Despite having changed into his pajamas and his bedtime beanie, his usual nighttime rituals completed hours ago, the blunette couldn’t fall asleep. 

Corey stared up at his bedroom ceiling before glancing at his clock.

2 AM.

The blunette tried to close his eyes for the hundredth time that night, only to be flooded with thoughts of bright red hair, emerald eyes, black lipstick, and the taste of cotton candy. The boy let out a groan of frustration as he felt his heart speed up once again, as the images floated through his mind. Blue eyes popped open.

“Oh, " the boy finally said, a look of realization dawning on his face before quickly turning into horror. “Oh no.”

Notes:

Wah! That was a lot to write! I promised I'd have a new chapter a week or two after I finished the last fic, but even I didn't think it'd end up being so long! It was fun thinking up parody names for stores! Couldn't help but sneak in a 16teen reference though... it is the mall after all.

Excuse the story formatting. I'm a sucker for scenes that happen after the episode should be over, so there's gonna be a lot more scenes after the garage door closes in future chapters.

Additionally, for those unfamiliar, Chloe Penn is a canon character and can be found on the Grojband wiki. Apparently, there were plans to make her Laney's sister, but they didn't get a chance to work that into the show. There are contradictory blog posts by Neptoon, stating that Chloe is Laney's sister, yet also claiming that Laney is an only child. I decided to compromise and make her Laney's cousin.

BWAHAHAHA, and yes. Prepare for some romance angst and misunderstandings between Corey and Laney. Don't worry, they're still endgame, but I want you to read for it.

It may take me two weeks to a month to complete the next chapter, but I'll post it as soon as I'm satisfied with it.

Leave kudos or a comment if you're interested in more!

Chapter 2: When Summer Ends

Summary:

Grojband starts their first day of eighth grade together, and Corey’s already scored them a gig. If only he can stay awake till then. To make matters worse, their rival school, Private Academy, was destroyed by space rubble, so now Elementary High has some new, but familiar faces. Meanwhile, Trina’s actions are catching up to her in a way she never anticipated.

In a red house on the east side of Peaceville, the early morning rays seeped into a certain orange and blue bedroom. The current occupant, who was a lump under the covers of the twin bed, shifted as light bled in through the shades.

“Uuuuugh,” the very tired frontman of Grojband groaned. 

The young teen hadn’t gotten a lick of sleep that night. Every time he tried to close his eyes, his thoughts filled with images of his friend and bassist, Laney Penn.

I have a crush on my best friend. Corey thought before letting out another groan. My best friend, who is the coolest girl I know. Who probably won’t have a crush on me in a million years. 

Memories of Laney's eye-rolls, lectures, and scoldings flashed through his head.

Yeah… Lanes definitely doesn’t feel the same. Corey moaned, slamming his face into his pillow.

Oh, how wrong our oblivious guitarist is. 

Corey, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to squeeze in any sleep before he had to get ready for school, sluggishly got out of bed. He exited his room, heading towards the main bathroom where he took a quick shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he snagged Trina’s dryer and used it to try to dry his mess of blue hair. He completed the rest of his bathroom routine using the spare bathroom amenities stored under the vanity, since his usual supplies were downstairs. 

Once done, he retreated to his room, carrying his pajamas and bedtime beanie under one arm. 

Corey got dressed in the new clothes he got the day before. Slipping on the orange cargo pants with a ripped hole at the left knee, a white three-quarter sleeve shirt, which was then covered by a black Grojband-branded hoodie that he had roughly cut the sleeves off of yesterday with the twins' help. He grabbed some socks before putting them on and slipping on the new, blue Converse shoes he had purchased the day before, ignoring how stiff the new footwear felt.

Finally, he plopped his signature orange beanie over his mostly dry hair before making his way to the central area of the house to snag some breakfast. 

Upon entering the kitchen, Corey was surprised to see his dad at the breakfast table, sipping coffee with the newspaper opened in front of him. Corey must be up really early to catch his pops before he leaves to open the store.

Tre Riffin was a thirty-seven-year-old man and the adoptive father of Corey and Trina. The top of his hair was dyed a light purple, with his natural dark brown hair starting around the tips of his ears. His left arm was heavily tattooed, with images of instruments, music notes, and Rock-lore beasts spanning his skin. A cartoonish snake tattoo encircled his neck. Under his right eye was an old scar; the story behind it changed every time Corey asked about it. He wore a black shirt with " Riffin’s Rarities " on it, the name of the family's pawn and antique store.

The older man raised a pierced brow.

“You’re up early,” his father put down his coffee, raising his now free hand to scratch at the stubble on his chin near his snake bite piercings as he observed the bags under his son’s eyes. “Did you even sleep last night?”

Corey sheepishly chuckled.

Tre let out a long sigh, “Corey. We’ve talked about this—no video games after nine. I know it was the last day of summer, but now you’re gonna be tired at school all day-”

“I wasn’t playing video games all night! Promise!” Corey interrupted. “I just had… a lot on my mind last night. Couldn’t get any sleep.”

Corey cast a look at his dad’s mug. “Maybe some coffee could help me…” The blunette reached towards the cup, opening and closing his hand in a grabbing motion.

The older Riffin snatched the mug, holding it out of his son’s reach. 

“Absolutely not. Not after the last time you ‘accidentally’ drank some.” Tre shivered at the memory. 

The living room ceiling still has footprints from the incident. 

“Do you need to stay home today? We can say you’re sick.”

Corey debated for a moment. It was probably the only time his dad would offer this, since the first day of school was filled with syllabus overviews and icebreakers rather than actual learning.

“Nah,” Corey responded, starting to gather what he needed for cereal. “I need to go today. I have an idea for a gig. They have the back-to-school assembly at the end of the day, and I’m sure I can convince Principal Stricts to let Grojband play.”

“Oh?” Tre said, intrigued. “Do you at least need a ride to school? I’m sure your sister would drive you-”

Yeah, right, Corey thought. The blunette was surprised Trina had been able to keep up the ‘Daddy’s Precious Princess’ act all these years.

 "-But I’m about to head out, and can drop you off on the way.” Tre finished.

“Tanks fer dah offer,” Corey said around a mouthful of sugar flakes before loudly swallowing. “But I’m planning to take the bus today. I want to arrive with the band. Plus, if I take the bus, I’ll still get there early enough before the first class to swing by the Principal’s office.” And I won’t have to sneak into Pinktastic’s trunk to gain a ride from Trina.

“If you say so.” The man got up, closing the newspaper on the table and placing his mug in the sink. On his way to the front door, he stopped by his son, placing a hand on the young teen’s beanie and ruffling around the headwear. “Good luck with the gig. Call if you need anything. I’ll see you and your sister tonight.”

“Hey!” Corey shouted at his dad as he exited. He had to take his beanie off before putting it back on properly. 

The guitarist finished scarfing down the rest of his cereal, chugging the remaining chocolate milk in the bowl. He noisily placed his dishes in the sink and headed to his room to grab his backpack. While passing by Trina’s room, he heard her alarm finally going off and the pinkette’s grunts of frustration. 

He snuck past her room on the way back, backpack slung over his shoulder. 

The youngest Riffin didn’t want to deal with Trina today. At least not yet. There’ll be time for that later, when he needs lyrics. 

But first, Grojband needs to secure that gig.

He exited through the garage, walking to the end of the driveway before leaning on the Riffin mailbox, where the bus usually stopped. The rest of the street was empty save for the occasional passing car.

Eventually, the twins emerged from their abode across the street. The two looked both ways before crossing the street to join Corey.

“Morning, Corey!” They said in sync.

“Morning, guys. Lookin’ good,” Corey complimented.

Kon’s usual outfit hadn’t changed much. He was still wearing his favorite Grojband black and white shirt, but now he donned a dark purple, plaid vest over it. He wore a newer pair of blue jeans and had on his new, brown, steel-toed boots. His signature red headband accented his spikey black mane.

Meanwhile, Kin had changed his outfit a lot. He now wore a white, short-sleeved button-down with a Grojband pin on the right side of the collar. Over that was a black vest with shiny red buttons. Orange socks with a hazard tape pattern peeked out from murky-orange Converse shoes—the footwear contrasting nicely with the dark jeans the scientist wore.

“Aw, thanks,” Kon said, jokingly fluffing his hair. 

“You’re here early. Where’s Laney?” Kin asked. Corey tried to ignore the flip-flopping in his stomach at her name.

“Huh. I don’t know. Weird. Lanes is usually here by now.”

The redheaded bassist was the early riser among the group. It was odd for her not to beat the twins to the bus stop, especially when the bus’s scheduled arrival was any moment.

“Let’s go see what’s keeping her,” the frontman said, pointing towards Laney’s house to the right of his own. The trio made their way to the tan home, Corey going up the front porch while the twins hovered at the walkway. Corey loudly knocked.

No response.

Huh. Corey thought before ringing the doorbell. When that too got no response, the blunette started continuously pressing the button.

The bassist, alone in the house and up in her room on the second floor, was still asleep. Subconsciously, she faintly heard the bell, but it wasn’t enough to wake her.

“Uh, Corey?” Kin anxiously called, making the guitarist turn towards the twins. Behind them, the guitarist could spot a bright yellow vehicle making its way down the street.

“The bus, dude! The bus!” Kon shouted.

“Shoot! Uh - Kin, Kon, you try to distract the bus driver! Don’t let it leave without us! I’ll find a way to check on Lanes!”

The two ravenettes saluted before making their way back to Corey’s mailbox, waiting for the bus to stop. Corey quickly made his way to the side of the Penn’s house, where he knew Laney’s bedroom window was. 

He dug around in one of his pockets before producing a handful of guitar picks. Using his free left hand, the young teen took a pick and flicked it at the window. Still no response. He repeated this three more times, until a very groggy ginger finally opened her window.

“Core? What are you doing?” Laney asked, rubbing at one of her eyes. 

“Lanes! Bus!” The boy shouted, pointing at the bus in front of his house. 

The redhead slowly turned her attention away from her best friend and over to the giant vehicle. Upon seeing the bright yellow blob, her eyes snapped open, panic overcoming her previously tired face.

“Oh shoot!”

The redhead quickly turned back into her room, loud noises echoing out of her still-open window. Corey made his way back to her front door, hopping around anxiously, eyes darting between the brown door and the bus as he waited for Laney.

After three minutes, the door slammed open, Laney bolted out, closing the door behind her before taking a surprised Corey’s hand and dragging him with her over to the bus.

The twins were finishing up a magic trick for the unamused bus driver, Rhonda. The two ravenettes made sure they were half on the bus, half on the street, to ensure Rhonda wouldn’t just close the bus doors and drive off.

“Boys, that’s a really impressive trick you got there, but I have a schedule to keep. So either you’re getting on the bus, or finding a different way to school.” Rhonda threatened.

“Uhhhh,” The twins looked at each other, until they felt a sudden force from behind.

“We’re getting on the bus!” Laney announced, shoving Corey into the twins and marching the three boys up the steps. 

“Thanks, Rhonda!” the four chimed as Laney continued to push them towards the back of the bus. Thankfully, they were one of the first stops on the route, so they had free rein of the seats.

The twins plopped down together in one seat, with Corey and Laney taking the seat across from them. 

The ginger finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks for that, guys. I’m sorry, I guess I forgot to set my alarm last night.” She had been so emotionally exhausted that her alarm slipped her mind.

Laney looked towards her bandmates, only to be met with surprised looks.

“What?”

“You’re not wearing makeup!” Kon exclaimed, drawing attention from the few students who were also on the bus. Laney shrank down in the seat to avoid the curious gazes. The redhead’s cheeks turned pink.

“I was in a rush this morning. Okay?” The girl hissed towards the twins.

“It’s just, we haven’t seen you without makeup since you were eleven.” Corey supplied.

“Kon and I have known you to wear makeup longer than we’ve seen you - well - not,” Kin added. 

“Ugh,” Laney rolled her eyes, before turning her backpack upside down. The girl unzipped the secret bottom pocket of the bag, pulling out her emergency makeup kit.

Thank you, Chloe , Laney thought, grateful that her cousin had recommended she have one. The redhead opened up the makeup bag, pulling out the compact and a tube of black lipstick. She started to apply the lipstick, knowing she had limited time before the bus hit its usual bumps.

She failed to notice the blunette staring intently at her beside her. Corey couldn’t help but gulp as she started applying the lipstick, certain memories of his dream coming to the forefront of his mind. 

With the bassist distracted -  and trying not to focus on her lips - Corey's eyes slid over Laney’s appearance.

Much like Kin, Laney had changed entirely from her usual wardrobe. She wore a black tank top overlayed by a yellow, cropped, off-the-shoulder shirt featuring the Grojband logo. She replaced her red leggings with red shorts; the rest of her legs encased in black and green striped tights. Her black combat boots were left unlaced, likely due to her rush this morning. The yellow hair clip Corey had given her was still taming her bangs, but her hair looked different.

“Your hair is poofy,” Corey blurted.

“Huh,” Laney turned towards him, the tips of Corey’s ears feeling hot again as his focus shifted towards her now black lips.

The bassist reached a hand up to feel her hair and realized, to her horror, that it was indeed wavy. She had prioritized brushing her teeth in her rush and had only lightly run the brush through her hair. 

While it wasn’t curly as it usually was when she woke up, it still wasn’t the usual straight bob she painstakingly brushed it out to. 

Panicked, the girl turned towards the twins. “Kon, please tell me you have your comb.”

The drummer shook his head, a look of confusion on his face at the higher tone of her voice.

Seeing Laney start to spiral, Corey spoke up, “No - I just meant that it’s just different than normal. It looks good! Like, really good!”

Laney turned back to Corey, green meeting blue. Both young teens felt their hearts speed up as they realized just how close their faces were, before both quickly turned their heads away. Corey turned his attention out the window, and Laney looked down at the black aisle.

Pretty… Corey thought. Wait, no! That’s your best friend. It’s just Lanes. Just be cool. JUST. BE. COOL. COREY!

Bad, Laney! Bad! You’re trying to move on! You can’t let this phase you! Laney internally scolded. The girl then raised a hand to her hair again. Does he really think it looks good?

The twins watched this awkward exchange with raised eyebrows.

Suddenly, Laney’s eyes squinted as a realization dawned on her. 

“Wait a minute,” The girl turned back around, grabbing Corey’s face and turning it back towards her and the twins. Corey felt not just his ears but his face heating up at this.

“Core,” Laney glared. “Did you stay up all night playing video games? Again?”

“What?” Kin popped up behind the redhead’s left.

“Without us?” Kon cried, popping up on Laney’s right, a look of betrayal on both twins' faces.

What? Corey thought, until realization dawned on him that Laney must have noticed how tired he looked. 

Huh, Deja vu, he thought, remembering his breakfast conversation with his dad.

“Why does everyone think that?” The blunette whined, face still being squished by Laney. “I didn’t stay up all night, playing video games! I just couldn’t fall asleep! I was thinking about stuff!” 

“What stuff, Core?” Laney questioned, suspicion lacing her voice, clearly not believing his claim of a videogame-less night.

Corey cleared his throat, removing his face from the bassist’s hold as he leaned back to look at all three of his bandmates. The chill from the window soaked into the back of his shirt as he tried to put distance between himself and the ginger.

“It’s a surprise,” He said dramatically, wiggling his fingers at his friends. 

There was no way he was going to tell them what actually kept him up. 

The blunette tried changing the subject, “By the way, there’s something I need to do once we get to school. I’ll meet you guys over by the lockers.”

The rest of the band nodded, already used to Corey going off on his little “side quests,” as the twins dubbed them.

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful. The quartet chatted amongst themselves, Corey returned greetings as more people piled on the bus, and Laney tried to keep a steady hand while applying her eyeshadow.

As soon as the bus arrived at Elementary High, the guitarist bolted out of the bus and started to head towards the administrative section of the school.

The remaining members of Grojband moved at a much slower pace, leisurely making their way up to the second floor of the main building, where the junior high section of the school was located. They stopped by their neighboring lockers.

The trio continued to chat as they unpacked and hung out by the lockers. The twins were discussing their latest conspiracy theory with the redhead until the brothers got into an argument about who was right. Laney, feeling a headache from their petty squabbling, threatened to shut them up with violence. Corey arrived just before the petite ginger could advance on the two ravenettes.

“Hey, guys! Guess who got us a gig?” Corey pointed at himself, a proud smile on his face.

“Oooh! Oooh!” Kon excitedly raised his arm. 

“Kon?” Corey played along.

“Was it Laney?”

The other members gave their drummer a concerned look.

“What - no! It was me!” The guitarist huffed.

Choosing to ignore Kon, Laney turned her attention back to the blunette, “So what’s the gig, Core?”

“We are going to play the ‘Back-to-School’ assembly at the end of the day!” 

Grojband loudly cheered, drawing attention from fellow students passing by. 

“Ugh, it’s first thing in the morning, and already Riffin and his lame band are being too loud,” A familiar, nasally voice interjected. 

Corey groaned, “Bleh, shut it, Carrie - WAIT? CARRIE?” Corey jolted back in surprise, loudly slamming into a locker. The rest of Grojband turned, surprised to see the Newmans standing nearby.

It seems, much like Grojband, the Newmans had a successful shopping trip.

Carrie wore a white, three-quarter-sleeved turtleneck with a black, lacy camisole over it. The rest of her clothes consisted of a faded denim skirt and white cowgirl boots with blue stars on the sides. Her signature orange beanie was pulled far down on her head.

Larry, hovering behind Carrie as always, was wearing red, plaid pants, a dark green shirt, and black cowboy boots with thick green socks poking out. Most noticeably, he was wearing a faded, black leather jacket with gold accents.

Kim’s red bandana now acted as her headband, the end of the fabric sticking up like bunny ears. She wore a black shirt with a dark teal vest over it and a red skirt. She also donned knee-high white socks with dark teal edging and black Mary Janes.

Konnie had a shredded, white, off-the-shoulder shirt with the Newmans logo on the chest. She wore a faded denim skirt, much like their guitarist, and black Mary Janes, like her sister. The drummer also wore tights that resembled thigh-high cat socks.

“What are you guys doing here?” Grojband’s frontman hissed, shoving a finger in the female guitarist's face. “Don’t you guys go to Private Academy?”

Carrie smacked the rival guitarist’s offending hand away, glaring as she spoke, “We did , but then one of those asteroid bits ended up completely smashing the school! Thanks for that, by the way,” her voice dripped in sarcasm, her glare sharpening.

“So, now everyone has to attend this poor excuse for a public school.” Carrie stuck her tongue out in disgust, “Why Bee has been going here willingly is beyond me…”

As Corey was about to respond, the warning bell went off, ceasing any sort of argument between the two rival bands. Carrie flipped her hair before turning around to stalk off to homeroom, the rest of the Newmans following behind.

The guitarist angrily grunted, turning towards his locker to unlock it and hastily unload his backpack. After shoving his last book in, he slammed the locker before starting the trek to the classroom, his friends close behind.

“Okay, Grojband. Real talk,” Corey turned around, walking backwards to still talk to his friends. 

“Should we get leather jackets? Cause as much as I hate him, Larry’s jacket looked really cool.”

Kon clapped his hands. “That’s what I was thinking!” The large drummer whisper-yelled.

“I can see if we can order matching ones online,” The pianist offered, his slim fingers already typing away at his phone.

“Guys, no,” Laney admonished. “While I admit matching jackets would be awesome -”

“Yeah!” The boys excitedly nodded their heads.

“- We don’t want to look like we’re copying the Newmans. It’s bad enough that some people think Corey dyes his hair to look like Carrie!” Laney finished. The three boys sulked, Corey’s frown even deeper. How Beff was able to convince people of that stupid rumor was beyond him. Everyone remembers that before the sixth grade, Carrie was a brunette. Corey’s blue hair is natural!

“Plus,” Laney said, regaining the boys' attention. “Don’t you think we should be focusing on something a bit more pressing? Like lyrics? Y’know for our new gig?”

“Relax, Lanes,” Corey sidled up to the redhead, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “We have lunch time with Trina. We just need to do something to make her go diary, and we’re golden!”

As Grojband entered their homeroom, they let out loud groans upon spotting The Newmans seated in the front row. The rival band returned the gesture with eye rolls and looks of disgust.

This is going to be a long day , Corey thought as he slid into his seat beside Laney. The young teen plopped his head on the table, his eyes suddenly feeling heavier as his sleepless night was catching up to him.

~ Sleep in Class Transition ~

Trina Riffin’s day was off to a fantastic start. She didn’t have to deal with her grody younger brother this morning; she arrived right before the first bell rang, and her new look was turning heads.

Her new pink cardigan, which she dubbed Pinkalicious, complemented her bubblegum pink hair perfectly. The white button-down she had snagged at Eternally Eighteen - literally, snagged from the hands of another shopper - emphasized her chest, and her new, purple, plaid skirt fluttered just perfectly over her legs, the dark purple standing out even more with her cute, new, white tights. Even her dark pink stilettos clicked nicely upon Elementary High’s tiled floors.

Despite her good mood, the pinkette was on the hunt. Since their ‘fight,’ Mina hadn’t contacted her once. Trina had to reach out to the mousy girl herself, and still that ingrate didn’t reply. 

The nerve! Trina huffed, her pink eyes combing the hallways like a hawk. 

Trina had tried to confront Mina between classes, but those attempts had failed. The bespectacled girl had disappeared as soon as class ended, and popped right back up as soon as the next class was about to start. 

If Trina didn’t know any better, she would think Mina was avoiding her. Her . The most popular girl in school. The only friend that loser has ever had. Trina shook her head. There’s no way Mina would be avoiding her. She doesn’t have the guts.

Trina entered the lunchroom, scanning over the tables. She pouted as she realized Hunky Nick Mallory’s table was already full, the heartthrob casually eating a sandwich as the table of girls swooned. 

While Nick may have rejected her, it didn’t mean she was done. People change. And Trina was determined to change Nick's feelings towards her.

Her pout morphed to a devilish smile as she spotted a familiar head of teal hair seated at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. 

The pinkette stalked over, the tapping of her stilettos the only warning of the approaching predator.

~ Changing POV Transition ~

Mina Beff’s day was off to a rocky start. The poor girl had been having stomach pain all day from the anxiety of running into her bestie. 

Or was Trina considered her ex-bestie? 

Were they ever even besties? 

Had Trina just been her bully the whole time? Ever since they first met when they were four years old? 

Well, actually, Trina hadn’t been a bully the whole time. 

Their first meeting, the pinkette had been nice. Really nice. But that was back when she was still calling herself Katrina… 

Ugh! Mina didn’t have the brain energy to go down that rabbit hole. Whatever her relationship with Trina was!

The sixteen-year-old was so nervous she hadn’t even slept a wink last night! To try to take the edge off, she had thrown herself into working on projects. 

She had started by sewing the patchwork jeans she was currently wearing. When Mina completed that, she moved on to knitting a sleeveless white turtleneck that her sister later convinced her to wear, even though white shirts were a ‘hashtag trina exclusive,’ as the pinkette put it. And when she had finished those two projects, she even embroidered blue stars on her sister’s thrifted boots.

Mina was way too quick at crafting - another habit she had picked up as a result of being at Trina’s beck and call. 

But Mina was done being treated as Trina’s servant!

Honestly, Mina was feeling done with Trina in general, which is why her stomach felt as twisted as a pretzel.

She was going to talk to Trina and separate herself from the girl!

However, she was absolutely terrified about how Trina would react. 

The pinkette could summon pillars of fire when she got angry! Who wouldn’t be scared of that?

The bespeckled teen was broken out of her anxiety-induced spiral by a warm hand on her shoulder.

“You okay, Big Bee?” Mina looked over to see the worried blue eyes of her younger sister. The older teen was currently sitting with the Newmans at a lunch table hidden in the corner of the cafeteria. All four members of the band were looking at her with concern.

“I’m fine, little Cee,” Mina gave her sister a weak smile, which, judging by the blunette’s deadpan stare, she didn’t believe.

“It’ll be okay! Just do as we’ve practiced the last two weeks! The girls and I will be right behind you to back you up!” 

“Not a girl,” Larry piped up, turning his attention to Mina. “But yeah, we’ve got your back. Don’t worry.”

At their reassurance, Mina was finally able to relax, her shoulders sagging as a genuine smile came over her face. 

“Awe, thank you-”

“Mina!” A shrill voice screeched. The teal-haired girl's shoulder immediately went up, her spine straightening, her heart beat spiking. She turned around to see a very angry pinkette stomping her way over.

Mina let out a squeak, her body moving on autopilot as she hopped up and faced Trina at attention. 

There was shuffling behind her as the Newmans stood up behind Mina.

The pinkette leveled a glare at the teal-haired girl, her arms crossed over her chest, stiletto impatiently tapping the tiled Cafeteria floor.

“Mina! What has been up with you? I have been calling and texting you for the last two weeks! Two weeks! And you just leave me on read? What the heck, Minsky?” Trina’s eyes flashed an angry red before returning to their normal pink.

“I - uhm I - I,” Mina stammered, feeling a lump in her throat. Even her sister’s reassuring hand on her shoulder didn’t help. The cafeteria had gone silent, fellow students watching the exchange with bated breath.

“Ugh, ‘I - I - I,’” Trina mocked. “Well what about me - me - me? Gosh, Mina! Can’t you think of anyone but yourself? You’ve been, like, such a terrible friend lately!”

Unbeknownst to the pink-haired Riffin, that was the worst possible thing to say to the mousy girl. The pinkette’s words replaced Mina’s previous fear with burning hot anger.

“I’ve been a terrible friend?” Mina hissed out, shaking off Carrie’s hand and stomping until she was mere centimeters from the pinkette’s face. Trina flinched in surprise. 

“Trina, you’ve been a bad friend for a long, long time! I have done everything for you! I have done your homework for years! I have been acting as your personal wallet! I have broken laws for you! Heck, I changed my name for you!”

Trina, hoping to gain some space, started to back up, not expecting Mina to continue advancing, matching her step for step. The shorter girl’s dark brown eyes boring holes into Trina’s soul.

“And how have you treated me? By berating me! By walking all over me! By taking, and taking, and taking from me!” Mina emphasized each sentence with a harsh poke into Trina’s chest. “And then- then you abandon me ! All for some stupid boy!”

Trina gasped in shock.

“Excuse you! He is not stupid! And I have been an amazing friend! I have been repaying you with friendship! With popularity!” Trina countered, her face flushing with embarrassment as she heard people around her start to whisper. “You would be nothing without me!”

“Well, maybe I’m fine with that! I’d rather be nothing than be stuck with you!”

Trina stumbled back in shock, a hurt expression overcoming her visage, then Trina’s face contorted in anger. 

Outside, storm clouds ominously circled over the school. Items on nearby lunch tables started to shake. Trina let out an ear-piercing screech, her eyes turning red before her figure shot up into the air. A song that sounded like the screams of the damned filled the Cafeteria. Scattered papers, food, and miscellaneous school supplies rose and began to circle the pinkette. Shaking items in the cafeteria started to spew pillars of flames; older students casually leaned away from the spewing fire, used to these occurrences. 

Out of Trina’s backpack, a fuzzy pink book and a pink pen flew into the awaiting red-eyed teenager’s hands. She opened the diary and started to write viciously, a trail of flames left behind on the page as the words burned in.

Trina finally lifted her pen, her anger and frustration now gone. The girl, now physically and mentally exhausted, dropped to the ground like a rock. Her diary still aloft in the air.

Grojband, who had just entered the cafeteria after struggling to awaken Corey after class ended, blinked in confusion as Trina’s pink diary landed in the groggy blunette’s hand. They turned to see the cafeteria a mess and Trina sleeping on the ground. 

Corey stumbled forward, grabbing his unconscious sister’s ankle with his free hand before attempting to drag her over to an empty table. His bandmates rushed to help, Laney taking her other ankle while Kon lifted her upper body. Kin picked up her pink backpack as he trailed behind. 

They maneuvered Trina into sitting at an empty table. The pinkette sat upright for a second before pitching forward, her head thunking loudly on the table as she faceplanted, yet she continued to snooze away.

Grojband took up the remaining seats at the circular lunch table, taking out their lunches, ignoring the stares from the other students. 

Mina stood as still as a statue in shock. The pained look Trina had given her before her freakout was etched into her mind. 

She had hurt Trina.

She had hurt Trina .

It… it didn’t feel good.

Why didn’t it feel good? She stood up to her bully. She had finally voiced years of pent-up anger and resentment.

Hurt, pink eyes flashed through her mind.

The bespeckled teen was awakened from her trance by her sister jumping on her, encircling the older girl in a hug.

“Bee! That was awesome! Better than any practice!” 

Random students swarmed around, complementing the bespectacled teen. Even Nick made his way over.

“Standing up for yourself. Nick Mallory thinks that’s very cool, Trina junior.”

Mina felt a flutter in her chest. Nick Mallory, the most popular boy in school, just complimented her!

“Thanks!” The teal-haired girl excitedly said. “But, uhm, my name isn’t Trina junior… or Mina. Please, just call me Bernadette.”

~ Good For Bernadette ~

Meanwhile, back with Grojband, a tired Corey bit into an apple as he flipped through Trina’s diary, his eyebrows raising as he discovered a new entry. He leaned his tired head onto Laney’s shoulder as his eyes skimmed over the page, not noticing the ginger tensing at the contact.

The bassist was internally panicking, not appreciating the way her heartbeat raced at the contact. She tried to continue chatting casually with the twins while her emotions raged inside. 

Does she push him off? Chloe said to try to distance herself. Did she mean that literally? Laney had to admit that Corey’s lack of personal space was not helping dull the fluttering of her chest.

Corey, oblivious to his best friend’s inner struggle, was enjoying the heat emanating from the ginger. The blunette’s ear rested on her bare shoulder, allowing him to hear her heartbeat. Laney’s touch always gave Corey a pleasant buzz. 

Huh, Corey thought. How did I not realize I like-like Lanes sooner?

A content smile tugged at the edge of the blunette’s lips.

Corey slipped his ratty, old, blue lyric notebook out of his bag and started to write, inspired by Trina’s diary entry. 

The blunette, done reading, slipped the fuzzy pink diary into his backpack in case he needed it for reference later.

Corey moved the blue notebook in front of Laney to double-check, closing his eyes while she read. Laney let a hum of approval, passing the notebook to Kin, who moved it between him and Kon. The rest of lunch, the three worked on what melody they had practiced over the last two weeks would work best, Corey piping up now and then, his head still resting on Laney’s shoulder with his eyes closed.

Upon hearing Trina’s groans as she started to regain consciousness, the band quickly stood up. The quartet cleaned the table, stuffed their bags, and bolted before Trina could fully awaken and start screeching about them being in her vicinity.

Outside the cafeteria, they bid each other goodbye as they started heading to their next lesson. Corey headed off to his photography class. It was one of the few art electives the boy hadn’t already taken.

The blunette plopped into an empty seat near the back, turning towards his new seatmate, a boy with curly, dirty-blonde hair.

“Hey, I’m Corey.” The guitarist introduced himself with his usual charismatic smile.

~ End of Day Transition ~

The entire school was gathered in the auditorium, with elementary and junior high students occupying the lower floor, while high schoolers took the second-floor balcony to watch the stage. 

Several acts had performed during the back-to-school event, promoting clubs and sports. There was a minor mishap with the cheerleaders' performance; apparently, a few girls were still recovering from injuries sustained that one time Trina took over. Otherwise, everything had been going smoothly. 

Principal Stricts, a tall, gangly man in a well-pressed suit and slicked back hair, approached the mic.

“Thank you, everyone, for your patience with today’s performances. Our last act is by local musicians, Grojband.” The man waved his long arm dramatically before briskly walking offstage. 

The curtain rose, smoke pouring off the stage. In the audience, several students started to cheer, the loudest members being Grojband’s biggest fans, Katie and Allie. Carrie, Larry, and Kim huffed in their seats, unimpressed, while Konnie straightened, intrigued.

Kon’s count echoed through the auditorium, and Grojband launched into their new song.

 

It’s been a long, long time coming.

The beat just keeps on drumming. 

Things are changing. My heart is racing.

My past, I keep on chasing - 

No going back!

 

Keep running forward, can’t turn back time.

No way - I can’t escape my crimes.

But I won’t accept my fate,

Yeah, there’s no time to wait!

No going back!

 

This fear is crushing me.

Demons won’t let me be -

Bit off more than I can chew,

Starting to see things different - like brand new!

No going back!

 

Things are changing, but that’s okay.

I’m starting to like it better anyway.

I will march on with time.

My destiny will be mine!

I won’t go back!

 

Grojband panted from exertion, and thunderous applause echoed through the school. The frontman looked back at his band, a bright smile on his face as the students chanted, “Grojband! Grojband!”

The quartet exited the stage, where Principal Stricts was waiting.

“Excellent performance, boys,” the older man said, missing Laney’s growl. “Would you be interested in playing at the next school assembly?”

“Thanks, Principal Stricts, but no thanks.”  Suddenly, a spotlight shone on Corey. “Grojband doesn’t want to be a school-affiliated band. When you work for the system, there are more restrictions and regulations put on you. And when that happens, it feels like you’re putting us in a box. And we don’t like boxes, because they’re basically just squares. And squares have too many sharp edges. We prefer circles, because when you drop them, they roll forward, and we’re all about moving forward.”

Principal Stricts gave the blunette a confused look. The spotlight fading away.

“Oh! But we would appreciate it if you kept us in mind for any school dances!” The blunette added.

“...Okay then,” The man gave an awkward, forced smile before shuffling away. Muttering under his breath, “The English department's complaints about his essays are making a lot more sense now…”

The guitarist turned back to his bandmates.

“Nice speech, Core. Maybe we should start writing them down for lyrics instead of using Trina’s diary. It’s looking a little full,” Laney commented, flicking through the fuzzy pink book, noting that there didn’t seem to be that many blank pages left.

“Psh. C’mon, Lanes,” Corey said cheekily, “the system is working fine as is. And if Trina fills up this diary, we just get her a new one.”

Blue eyes glanced over at the ginger, still seeing a worried face. Corey slung an arm around Laney’s shoulder, enjoying the tingle under his skin at the contact.

“Don’t worry, Lanes. We got this.” The guitarist gave her a surprisingly serious expression, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

He flashed her a charming grin, attempting to break the sober atmosphere.

“Plus, it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.”

Laney gave a weak smile back, “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Corey turned to the audience.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” the guitarist waved before shutting the garage door.

---

On the first floor, near the back exit of Elementary High, a random female student attempted to open the bathroom door, only to find it locked. The student squeaked in fear upon hearing the ominous noises coming from behind the door, before running to find a less haunted lavatory.

Inside the restroom, a certain pinkette hunched over the sink, soft sounds echoing throughout the empty bathroom. 

Trina lifted her face to stare at her tear-streaked expression, a gasp of horror escaping her as she saw how awful she looked. The pinkette’s face was a blotchy red, clashing horribly against her now messy pink hair. Her tears created thick mascara streaks on her cheeks, making her eyes appear sunken. The upward slant of her eyebrows caused deep lines in her forehead. Snot bubbled out of her nose.

The teen crouched as she huddled in on herself, her hands vigorously wiping at the continuous stream of tears.

No, Mina/Bernadette/whatever the traitor was calling herself - there to comfort her. 

The pinkette couldn’t even find her diary in her bag! She muttered curses as she realized she must have left it at home.

Trina was all alone.

The sobs got louder.

Notes:

Oof. I finished this chapter like a week ago, but have spent the last week editing and tweaking it over and over.

Bum-ba-da-dum! Introducing Corey and Trina's dad, Tre Riffin! If you haven't read part 1 of this series, check it out, as there will be minor references to events in that story throughout some of the chapters here.

Anyways! I'm really excited about this chapter! Lays the groundwork for future chapters/storylines! I do wish I had done a better job of dragging out the argument between Trina and Bernadette, but the chapter was already getting so looooong.

Anyways, yeah, had to make the Newmans be part of Elementary High, but in the episode "Rock the House" (the curling episode) it seems like they go to a different school, hence Private Academy (Peaceville's local private school, which was destroyed by asteroid debris). Hehe, prepare for a future Newmans-heavy chapter >:)

Will try to get the next chapter out in about three weeks.

Leave kudos or a comment if you're interested in more!

Chapter 3: Video Killed The Rock Star

Summary:

A Film Festival is going on in Peaceville. Despite their failed attempt at a music video last time, the band recruits a new friend’s camera skills to help them incorporate digital elements into their latest gig. Meanwhile, Trina is struggling without Mina around and hopes a trip to the Film Festival will help improve her mood.

It was the weekend, and in a certain garage in Peaceville, Canada, three figures were having a heated debate.

“Kon, I swear to the Rock Gods if you keep going on about this theory, I. Will. End. You,” the petite bassist threatened the drummer. 

“But, Laney! Do you have any proof that the Barneys are one person, like you claim? Doesn’t it make more sense for them to be twins, or duodecaplets in this case?” Kon questioned, pulling out the band’s chalkboard, which depicted a sketched line-up of twelve Barneys with different hats. 

“Kon, don’t be ridiculous,” Kin admonished.

“Thank you, Kin!” Laney exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air before falling back into her yellow beanbag, happy that the boy was on her side.

“Clearly they’re clones that the original Barney created to work as managers at all his franchises!” Kin countered.

The ginger let out a groan in frustration, drawing the twins' attention to her. 

“C’mon Laney! Your theory is completely unrealistic!” Kon whined.

“Yeah, I mean, one dude working at all these different stores? Barney Barnley is a billionaire. Why would he work at his stores himself? And all at the same time?” Kin questioned.

“Well, have you two seen any of the so-called clones and/or brothers at the same time? How can you say they’re different people if you haven’t seen them together?”

“Well, no. But we have an explanation for that!” Kon defended. Laney raised an eyebrow in question.

“They fought, and now they aren’t on speaking terms!” Kin explained.

“Brothers ripped apart! When they just need a heart-to-heart!” Kon cried. The twins wailed together before hugging. 

“Oh, brothers,” Laney rolled her eyes at the two’s dramatics.

It was at that moment that the loud rattling from the door turned the three’s attention to the now open garage, where their frontman stood, excitedly bouncing up and down.

“Morning, Corey!”

“Morning, Core.”

“Morning, guys! Guess who scored us a gig today!” 

The twins excitedly rushed over to the bluenette, picking him up in the air and tossing him up and down.

“Corey! Corey! Corey!” The ravenettes chanted.

“That’s cool, Core. But what’s the gig?” the bassist shouted over her bandmates' cheering.

“Grojband is gonna to perform at a Film Festival!”

The twins gasped, accidentally dropping Corey onto the cold, cement flooring. The guitarist let out a groan of pain.

“Dude, don’t you remember the last time we tried to combine our music with video?” Kon whimpered. Memories of breaking Trina’s brain, having to go inside her mind to save her, and almost getting destroyed by Mirageband flashed through the four friends' heads.

“We almost destroyed the world! The world! The world!” Kin echoed the last word a few times to emphasize his point.

Corey, who dusted himself off after the drop, slid between the twins, slinging his arms around them.

“Relax, you guys. We’re not making a music video,” the twins sighed in relief. “Well, not technically a music video.” The twins side-eyed their bandleader, their worry returning.

“Core, can you just explain before the twins start freaking out?” Laney requested.

“Ok, so we’re the opening act at the film festival, so we don’t need a music video. But, I thought with all the screens there, it would be cool if we had some visual thing going on,” Corey explained, backing out of the garage till he was back in the driveway. “So! I asked my new friend-,” Corey reached over to the side before pulling a new person who was waiting outside into the band's view. “-Cam, here, to help with that! Dude’s a camera genius!”

The new teenager looked to be around the same age. He had curly, dirty-blond hair and tanned skin with dark freckles. He wore a plain black shirt with a dark blue overshirt and faded, light-colored jeans. Most notably, a camera was hanging around his neck, and a large, black case was in his left hand. 

“Hey,” The new boy smiled, revealing dimples. “I’m Cameron Bergman, I just moved here from Cinema City. And, uh - what was that about almost destroying the world?” A concerned look on his face as he glanced at the hyperactive bluenette beside him.

The blonde looked like a terrified rabbit who would bolt at any second.

“Don’t worry about it,” Corey replied, though his words didn’t help the fearful look on Cameron’s face. 

“It’s nothing,” Laney interjected before the boys could say anything else and scare the new kid away. “It’s just that we made a very, very bad music video last time. We just kinda meshed together everything we thought was cool… it was a bit of a hot mess.” She gave a meaningful look to her bandmates, “And that’s all it was.” The last bit came out as a growl in warning.

The three boys obediently nodded.

At the band’s reassurance, it seemed the blonde finally relaxed.

“Oh. That’s all?” Cameron chuckled. “You guys had me worried there for a second.”

As Cameron went to put his bag down on the coffee table, he missed the silent exchange between the band members, with Laney making numerous threatening gestures at the twins and Corey miming the two ravenettes to tone it down.

“So,” Cameron spoke as he started pulling equipment out of his bag. “Corey had me listen to some of Grojband’s stuff during our free time in photography - your songs are awesome, by the way - so I have a couple ideas on what to do for the video.”

The blonde jumped when he turned around, the band hovering behind him, looking at the equipment with interest.

“Oooh! What does this do?” Kon reached forward to touch a shiny-looking lens until Laney smacked his hand away. 

“Don’t touch that!” Laney scolded. “Kon, remember the rule. Think before you poke. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

Corey, Laney, and Kon shivered, remembering how that experiment blew up.

“So much fire,” Kon whispered, a haunted look in his eyes.

“In Kon’s defense, Kin shouldn’t have made that button so shiny.” Corey chimed in. 

Blantanly ignoring his bandmates’ call back to his last failed invention, the scientist turned to Cameron, “Are you gonna have enough time to film and edit everything?” 

The bespeckled boy was Grojband’s designated tech expert, so he knew the process better than his bandmates. And knew how time-consuming it was.

“Well, probably not. However, the idea is to opt for a rougher video format, as it would better match the vibe of your band. You guys are an indie band, right?”

Corey opened his mouth, about to launch into a speech about Grojband, until Laney cut in. 

“Technically, yes. Grojband is an indie band since we produce and perform our music independently. So yeah, the video doesn’t have to be perfect. Especially since it’s meant to act as a video accompaniment rather than be the primary focus.”

Corey pouted. In truth, he was hoping for a perfect video to accompany his awesome band, but he knew that Laney had a point, especially given their current time constraints.

“Can I have you guys play through your song? I want an audio recording,” Cameron requested, digging through his bag to pull out a recorder.

Corey nervously laughed.

“Yeah, about that. We don’t, really, have lyrics at the moment. They’re currently a… work in progress,” Corey gave an awkward smile.

“Oh! Well, that’s fine. As long as the melody stays the same, lyrics aren’t important for my editing.” Cameron reassured the band as he started setting up his larger camera. “But you guys know the film festival is set to start at four, so there’s only six hours to do everything… Not to mention getting to the festival.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. We got everything figured out,” Corey nodded to the pink sedan in the garage. “Let’s start practicing so you have video to work with.”

As the band launched into their new melody, they failed to notice the figure in the upstairs loft glaring down at them.

“Ugh,” Trina muttered. “They’re multiplying.” The pinkette glowered at the blonde.

Cameron shivered, sensing someone watching him, but by the time he glanced up at the upper floor, Trina had already retreated to her room.

After entering the pink bedroom, Trina paced around. 

“Hmm, the Film Festival… There should be some talent scouts or film directors there or whatever,” The pinkette stopped in front of her full-length mirror, examining her reflection. “If I go to the festival, I’ll like, tots get discovered.” Trina fluffed her hair, posing to accentuate her figure.

“Don’t you think so, Minsky?”

When no reply was given, Trina turned around, realizing she was alone in her room. A look of pain flashed over her face, but was quickly replaced with a scowl.

“Right. Whatever. Who needs her,” Trina tried to convince herself.

The pinkette pivoted back towards her reflection.

“I’m going to be made into a movie star,” Trina squealed, flipping her hair one more time before starting to dig through her closet to put together a celebrity-worthy outfit.

~ Back to Band Transition ~

Grojband was taking a break after playing for two hours straight. Cameron, having gotten a decent amount of film, was now sitting on the couch working on his computer.

“So, how’s it going?” A feminine voice broke Cameron’s focus. He looked to his left to see Laney seated next to him, casually sipping at a can of cherry soda. Her hooded green eyes stared at the computer screen. 

The young blonde’s cheeks turned a pink hue at the redheaded girl’s proximity.

“Oh! Uhm, you know - just adding a filter, Corey said he wanted it to look like a black-and-white movie. Also working on smoothing out the transitions, I want to, uh, make it go along better to the beat.”

“Oh, cool. Is that why you wanted an audio recording at the start?” Laney questioned, her eyes shifting from the screen to Cameron’s face. The boy nodded, and seeing that she was intrigued by the process, launched into an explanation, happy to have someone to talk to about his passion.

Corey, who had been retuning his guitar on the stage, looked up, spotting Laney and Cameron sitting close. The guitarist felt a weird pang in his chest. The corners of his mouth turned down, and his left leg started to bounce aggressively.

He huffed, placing down his guitar before getting up and circling around to the back of the couch, picking up a wooden box on the way. Corey slid the box behind the Groj-couch, using it as a step stool to help him lean over the back of the sofa, squishing his face between Laney and Cameron.

“Whatcha doing?” Corey sang-songed, the bluenette placed his hands on their shoulders, not expecting the two to suddenly jolt away from him.

“Ouch!” Both the ginger and blonde shouted, Laney dropping her near-empty cherry soda onto the garage floor, and Cameron fumbling with the laptop before successfully catching it. The commotion drew the twins' attention.

Corey stared at the two in confusion as they rubbed their respective shoulders where he had just placed his hands. 

“Core! You shocked us!” Laney exclaimed. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you two that badly,” The guitarist jokingly held his hand up in mock surrender.

“No, I mean you literally shocked us! With electricity!” Laney elaborated.

“Oh!” Corey gasped, realizing what he had done. Strange, he had only walked on the wooden stage and the concrete floor. He shouldn’t have conducted any static electricity. “Sorry,” the boy apologized, letting out a sheepish chuckle as he ducked slightly behind the couch.

There was manical laughter that filled the garage. Everyone turned their attention to the source of the noise, Kin. The boy was on the fuzzy, green carpet in front of the stage, shuffling his feet. 

“Zap fight!” The bespeckled boy shouted, before poking his brother, who tensed from the shock, the drummer’s gravity defying hair turning even spikier.

“Oh, it is on!” Kon shouted, joining his brother on the carpet, shuffling his feet before poking the pianist, successfully zapping him.

“Heck, yeah!” Corey let out a laugh at the twins' antics, circling the couch and grabbing Laney’s hand, the girl letting out an oh in surprise, before dragging her over to join.

“Fine! But no zapping Cameron’s computer!” The ginger warned, already shuffling her feet on the carpet before zapping Corey as payback - the boy letting out a laugh at the shock. The ginger giggled.

“C’mon, Cam!” The blunette waved the blonde over. 

Cameron hesitated, glancing at the laptop. There wasn’t much time before the film festival…

Cameron glanced back over to the quartet, their loud laughter helping fuel him to close the laptop and safely place it down on the makeshift coffee table before going over to join the band on the carpet.

~ Zappy Zap Transition ~

Grojband, along with Cameron, were crammed into the backseat of Pinktastic as Trina drove them towards the film festival in downtown Peaceville, near the local movie theater. Despite no longer having Bernadette in the car to take the passenger seat, Trina still refused to share the front with Corey or any of his friends.

“So, Core,” Laney whispered, squished between the guitarist and the drummer. The girl frowned at herself as her heart still hammered away at being so close to Corey. “What are we gonna do about lyrics?” 

The girl cast a worried look at Cameron, seated on the other side of the seat, past the twins. She didn’t want the boy to overhear their conversation. However, the blonde seemed too terrified of Trina’s driving to pay attention to anything else at the moment.

“Hm?” Corey, who had been enjoying how close the bassist was, snapped out of his trance at Laney’s question.

“Don’t worry, Lanes,” Corey whispered back. “I got a plan. Trina seems to think that she’s gonna be discovered at the festival. So, there’s gonna be a lot of diary opportunities. We just gotta introduce her to a director or some attractive actor, and play by ear. Fifty-fifty chance either she’ll make herself look bad and go all rage mode, or she thinks she’s been discovered and goes all happy mode.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” Laney said. Trina was known for her vanity and ego, and a film festival seemed like the perfect place to use her conceitedness to their advantage.

“Really?” Corey happily asked, feeling bubbly as Laney gave her approval to his plan. “Yes!”

“Corey! No talking!” Trina shouted from the front seat, having heard her brother’s last exclamation over her blasting pop music.

“Hehe, oops. I mean, ‘yes.’” Corey whispered to Laney, who fondly rolled her eyes. A tiny giggle escaped her lips.

I got Lanes to approve my plan AND laugh? This gig is off to a good start! Corey thought.

The rest of the ride, the bandmates whispered amongst themselves, trying to keep their volume below Trina's hearing level. Cameron tried to keep his lunch in, appreciating Kin and Kon’s advice and reassurance, the two having picked up some tricks from their own reactions to Trina’s driving.

Trina finally pulled into the downtown parking garage and parked Pinktastic. The sixteen-year-old dramatically stepped out of her car, flipping her perfectly curled, pink hair to draw attention to her new outfit: a tight, heart-neckline, dark pink gown with a leg slit and white pumps. The older girl started strutting towards the festival, leaving her brother and his friends to stumble out of Pinktastic on unsteady legs.

The young teens made their way over to the main road, which had been closed to traffic for the festival. Right past the roadblock, the city had set up a stage. While the movies were set to play inside the theater, the electronic billboard displays were flashing through promos for the featured films. In the blocked-off street, a long red carpet was laid out, with several backdrops lined up, and multiple local photographers taking pictures of the posing festival goers. Across the street from the photo shoot setup were several buffet tables.

“Oooh! Candy!” The twins cooed before lunging at the complementary snack table. 

“Guys, focus!” Laney shouted after the two. “We need to get our equipment set up first. We have more stuff to do to make sure the video is properly set up for our performance.”

“Then you can go crazy on the candy,” Corey reassured.

“Aw, but all the good candy will be gone by then,” Kin moaned. Kon, worried by his brother’s observation, started stuffing chocolates into his vest pockets.

Laney rolled her eyes before grabbing both twins and starting to shove them over to the stage. Corey and Cameron followed until Corey spotted a very familiar figure further down the snack table. 

A figurative lightbulb went off over the blunette’s head. 

“You guys go ahead. I got something to take care of,” Corey winked at Laney, trusting her to take over. The ginger gave a nod, continuing to push the twins away from the snack table, and started asking Cameron video-related questions to distract him from Corey’s exit.

The guitarist checked for his sister in the queue for the photography line, before jogging over to the figure he had spotted, who turned, revealing themselves to be Nick Mallory.

“Heya, Nick,” Corey greeted as he slid up next to the older teen.

“Hey, Corey Riffin,” the heartthrob nodded back to the blunette, the plate in his hands loaded with food.

“So, Nick, have you had the chance to take some pics yet?” Corey questioned, pointing towards the photoshoot queue.

The brunette shook his head. “Not yet, Corey Riffin. Nick Mallory was going to grab some food first.”

Corey faked a gasp. “But Nick, if you wait too long, the line will just grow longer! If you want - Trina’s already in line, and I bet she’d be cool letting you join.”

Nick Mallory seemed to perk up when Corey mentioned the word “cool.”

“Sure. Nick Mallory had been meaning to talk to Trina Riffin.” Nick placed his plate onto the table and started walking over to join Trina in the line. The heartthrob’s abandoned plate was quickly attacked by some ravenous fangirls, which Corey took as his cue to secretly follow the older teen. 

The frontman hoped that Nick joining his sister would make her happy enough to go diary. 

“Hey, Trina Riffin,” the pinkette grumpily looked up from her phone as someone called her name, only to swoon as she came face to face with Nick Mallory. 

“Hey, Nick,” Trina giggled out, a silly smile on her face as she dreamily stared into Nick’s sapphire blue eyes.

“Can Nick Mallory join you?” 

“Sure!” The pinkette replied far too quickly and loudly, but the girl was too excited to care.

Squee! Trina thought. Hunky Nick Mallory wants to take pics with me! Ahhh! Uber romantic!

“So, Trina Riffin, Nick Mallory has been meaning to talk about what happened when the town thought the world was ending.”

Trina’s smile became more forced, a nervous giggle escaping her. 

“Uhm, like, can you be more specific? There was, like, a lot that went on that day,” The pinkette‘s nervous tick of overusing ‘like’ popping up. Trina worried that Nick remembered she had aliens kidnap him and freeze him to make him all hers.

Apparently, that’s a turn-off for some guys? Trina had realized since the incident.

“Nick Mallory is talking about Trina Riffin’s confession.”

Oh, thank goodness . Trina internally sighed in relief, before a swarm of butterflies rampaged in her stomach. Omg, omg, omg. Did Nick realize he made a mistake? IS HE GONNA CONFESS?

The two reached the front of the line, where they were then waved forward to start going down the red carpet. The two walked forward to the first “X,” where they posed for the camera.

“Nick Mallory thinks he handled it wrong.” The brunette explained between dramatic poses. 

“Oh really?” Trina coyly asked, her smile growing creepily big, her eyes practically turning to hearts.

Corey, who was doing his best to listen in on the other side of the backdrop, couldn’t help but fist pump. As much as Trina annoyed him, he did want his sister to be happy - after all, a happy Trina is a nicer Trina. And it sounded like the conversation between the two was going as the blunette hoped. Corey climbed up some conveniently placed boxes to peer over and see his sister’s reaction.

“Yeah. Nick Mallory realized he should have been a lot gentler with his response.” 

Trina stopped posing, a look of heartbreak overcoming her face. The cameras continued flashing.

Corey, from his hiding spot, couldn’t help but grimace in pity. He hadn’t expected the conversation to take this turn. The blunette quickly shrugged that feeling off, hoping Trina would still go diary. 

It was Trina after all. She always bounces back quickly.

“While Nick Mallory finds Trina Riffin fun, Nick Mallory just can’t see Trina Riffin in a romantic light. However, Nick Mallory hopes that he and Trina Riffin can continue to be friends.” The brunette paused, finally noticing the pinkette hadn’t followed him to the next marked photo spot.

Trina, sensing eyes on her, forced an obviously fake smile on her face, her pink eyes glassy. Awkward giggling escaped her. 

“Are Nick Mallory and Trina Riffin cool?” The heartthrob asked, clearly not picking up on the girl's pain.

Trina barked out a forced laugh before responding, “Like, tots. The coolest.” Pretending like her heart hadn’t just been reshattered by the boy.

“Cool. Fumps up?” The brunette raised his fist in the air, which, after a pause, the pinkette weakly raised her fist to bump into the boy’s awaiting hand. The two reached the end of the red carpet. 

“Later, Trina Riffin,” Nick waved as he made his way back to the buffet table.

“Yeah. Later,” Trina meekly replied, trying to hold back her tears.

“Here are your photos!” Chipper, a curly-haired redhead who was working at the festival, popped up. Upon the pinkette not moving, the freckled girl awkwardly shoved the photos into Trina’s hand before rushing back to work.

The pink-haired teen slowly lifted the photos to look at them, the forced smile still plastered on her face as she examined the image taken when Nick rejected her, again. The smile started to crack, and her eyes began to water. Until he noticed a familiar orange beanie at the top of the photo, sticking out over the edge of the backdrop.

Storm clouds started circling overhead.

“Corey!” Trina screeched, turning around to see her brother trying to sneak away. 

The only thing worse than getting rejected by the guy you like - getting rejected by the guy you like and your annoying twerp of a younger brother being witness to your humiliation.

The pinkette flushed from embarrassment.

“Ugh! Like, learn some hashtag privacy!” Trina let out an ear-piercing screech, her eyes turning red as her brother nervously chuckled. The pinkette shot up into the air like a rocket. A strong gust of wind forced photographs, popcorn, and candy to follow her up. Heavy metal music echoed down the busy road. Thunder started to strike, and manhole covers launched into the sky as pillars of flames blasted out of the sewers. Festival goers oohed in interest, believing the spectacle to be part of the event.

Inside of Pinktastic, where Trina’s abandoned purse lay in the passenger seat, the pinkette’s fuzzy pink diary and pink pen shot out through the conveniently opened driver's side window—the two items gravitated towards Trina’s open hands. The diary opened, and Trina started to write, the pen leaving a trail of fire on the page. 

Upon completing her diary entry, the pinkette finally lifted her pen, the words burning onto the sheet. 

A final lightning bolt hit a nearby building, overloading the power grid. The street lights shut off, and the only source of light was the setting sun in the distance. The pinkette fell like a stone, crashing into one of the buffet tables, the unconscious teen now coated with food.

The fuzzy pink diary fell into the hands of a grimacing blue-haired guitarist.

“That… did not go as I hoped,” Corey commented, before shrugging. The guitarist jogged to meet his band, who were waiting in front of the stage.

“Was that a performance piece or something?” Cameron questioned - the new boy had not yet learned that Peaceville doesn’t live up to its name.

“Sure,” the twins replied together, not wanting to go into detail about Trina’s freakouts.

“Hey, guys!” Corey greeted with a smile on his face. “Guess who just scored us some lyrics?”

“Nice, Core,” Laney complimented. “But we have bigger things to worry about now. Trina knocked out the power. Again,” Laney motioned to the now black electric billboards. “What do we do?”

Upon realizing that the power was out, people looked around, confused and uncertain whether the festival was still on. A few individuals had already started to head back to the parking garage, figuring things were called off.

Grojband’s frontman looked around, examining the festival and the surrounding stores. A confident grin overcame his face.

“Guys. I have a crazy plan that just might work. Kin and Kon, I need you guys to grab some of that red carpet. Lanes and Cam, I need you two to go to Outdoor Barney’s and get a generator. I’m going to go talk the mayor into convincing people to stay.”

The other band members nodded, Cameron looking confused, before separating. Corey headed towards the nearby Mayor Mellow, the twins ran to the photoshoot, and Laney dragged Cameron with her to Outdoor Barney’s.

However, the locked store door thwarted the ginger and the blonde.

Laney cursed under her breath, looking around before spotting Hotdog Barney. 

The bassist rushed over to the hot dog cart, while Cameron, still befuddled, stayed put in front of the store.

“Hey, Barney! I really need you to open up Outdoor Barney’s, please,” Laney bluntly requested as she came up to the hot dog stand.

Barney, slightly taken aback, but still used to Grojband’s antics, replied, “I’m sorry, kid. I can’t help you. I don’t run Outdoor Barney’s.”

Laney groaned, really not having time for this. She looked around, confirming no one was watching. The girl purposefully widened her eyes, rapidly blinking to make her green orbs look more glassy, and put a sad pout on her face. 

“Please,” the redhead begged, hoping this worked on Barney like it worked on her dad.

The things she does for Grojband.

“Awe,” Barney cooed, the girl’s face reminding him of his daughter’s. “Look, kid. I can’t open it myself, but I can ask if he can.” 

The ginger, dropping the act, looked at Hotdog Barney, perplexed. The man pulled out his phone, his fingers quickly typing on it. After Hotdog Barney hit send, there was an awkward pause before his phone chimed. The older man broke out into a smile. 

“Seems he was working in the back, and he’s willing to open up for you and your band- oh! There he is.”

Laney turned around, still confused, only to see a different Barney opening up Outdoor Barney’s. The ginger turned her head between the two Barneys, before groaning. 

The twins were right.

“Thank you, Hotdog Barney,” the ginger called out as she raced to the now open door, grabbing Cameron who had been obediently waiting, and dragging him into the store, thanking Outdoor Barney as well as she entered.

Less than a minute later, the two teens were pushing out a generator that Outdoor Barney had kindly lent them after hearing about their situation. The ginger and the blonde wheeled the machine behind the stage where Corey and the twins were waiting, the three boys having finished laying out the carpets.

“Core! We got the generator! But it doesn’t have any power!”

“It’s alright, Lanes! That’s what the carpets are for,” the blunette waved to the red rugs.

The other four gave the guitarist a confused look, clearly needing more clarification.

“We’re gonna do what we did earlier today, and rack up enough static electricity to charge the generator!”

Laney gave their frontman a deadpan look.

“Core! We won’t be able to get enough static electricity to power a generator!” The ginger scolded.

The blunette shrugged.

“It’s the best bet we got right now - and don’t hate until you try!” Corey replied, already shuffling his feet on the carpet. “Remember! Grojband never quits!”

The other boys nodded before joining Corey on the red rug, figuring the frontman’s plan was their best bet.

Laney let out a sigh of resignation before heading over to Corey to start shuffling her feet as well. The girl rolled her eyes as the blunette cockily grinned, the guitarist happy she was helping.

Despite her annoyance, a fond smile made its way onto the bassist’s face.

The five were rapidly dragging their feet along the carpet when Kon, who was trying to speed up, accidentally tripped. The five of them fell like a house of cards. The drummer stumbled into his brother, the pianist then fell onto Cameron, who pushed into Laney. The bassist then toppled into Corey, squishing the guitarist between her and the generator. The blunette’s hands slapped onto the machine as he braced himself.

Corey, wincing, opened his eyes only to find himself staring into Laney’s bright green orbs. The two’s faces were only a hair's breadth away. 

Corey felt that warm feeling at the tip of his ears again. Laney’s body, currently pressed flush against Corey, was causing that usual pleasant tingle to escalate into a soft buzz throughout the blunette. The ginger’s face was as red as her hair.

Corey gulped. A sudden hunger for cotton candy filled his mind.

The guitarist glanced down at Laney’s black lips. The gentle buzz transformed into a strong, steady thrum as his heart began to speed up. 

It would be so easy to just lean down…

A sudden roar jolted the blunette back to attention, his chin smacking into Laney’s forehead, resulting in pained hisses from both, effectively ruining the moment. The five teens scrambled away from each other, recovering from the human domino pile.

Corey glanced at the generator, the source of the earlier roar, and was thrilled to see that the machine was now running.

“Yes!” Corey cheered, happy his plan worked out. The blunette missed the curious look that Kin gave the generator, the bespeckled boy spotting two palm-shaped singed marks on the metal surface.

“C’mon, guys! Let’s get this set up! Quick!” With that command from the frontman, the band jumped into action, plugging in what they had previously set up into the generator before rushing to the stage. Cameron stayed behind, ready to help in case any technical issues arose.

Festival goers who were leaving stopped as a blinding light flashed through the darkness. People turned around to spot the bright stage. Four shadowy figures holding instruments came into focus as people’s eyes adjusted, revealing the members of Grojband. A projector hummed to life, a film countdown now displaying on the curtain behind the band. The hulking figure of the drummer banged his sticks together, his count echoing down the street, in time with the film. The band blasted into their new song as their video started to play.

Fans are all here for the movie debut.

So, trust me and get a clue -

I’m a star in the making,

You’ll find me breathtaking.

Don’t look away. Don’t look away.

 

Gonna love me more and more,

Not a second with me is ever a bore!

I’m gonna be a star, gonna be on screen.

I wanna be the only one you‘ve ever seen! 

Don’t look away. Don’t look away.

 

I’m getting closer every day.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now my dreams don’t seem too bizarre,

Soon I’m gonna be the biggest star!

Don’t look away. Don’t look away.

 

You’ll remember me! My face etched in your brain.

I’ll live on in your memories - a permanent stain.

Thoughts of me will haunt you in your dreams, 

SO ALL EYES ON ME!

 

As Grojband struck their final chord, the streetlights flickered back on. The previously black electronic displays turned blue before resuming their slide shows. 

Somehow, the power had been properly restored just at the right time. 

The audience burst into applause, chanting “Grojband” excitedly, the cheers continuing even after the band had retreated backstage.

“Guys, that was awesome!” Cameron exclaimed as the four returned to the blonde.

“Thanks, Cam. But to be honest, I think Grojband is good on film for a while,” Corey said before a spotlight shined down on him. “Mixing music and movies is like mixing together carpets and socks. When you shuffle your socks over the carpet, you start building up electricity, and everything feels so wild and energized! But too much, and you can end up overloading the system and causing a blackout! You gotta be careful about how much you charge up, or else you’ll just end up burnt out.”

The spotlight faded.

Cameron just gave the guitarist a confused look before leaning over to Laney, Kin, and Kon. 

“What was that all about?”

“Just Core, being Core,” was all Laney could supply, the twins nodding along.

“You get used to it,” Kin reassured.

“Eventually,” Kon piped up.

Corey turned to the audience.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” the guitarist waved before shutting the garage door.

---

“Finally,” Corey huffed. “Back at the garage.”

The five collapsed onto the cold concrete flooring, their instrument cases thunking as they were set down.

Trina left before the group had noticed, leaving the five to have to walk back to the Riffin house. It generally wasn’t too bad a walk, but they had been weighed down by their instruments and Cameron’s film equipment.

“Who wants pizza?” The frontman grunted out. Everyone's hand shot up in response. The twins hopped back up on their feet, reenergized with the promise of cheesy deliciousness.

“I’ll order it!” Kin said, already pulling out his cellphone.

“Oh! I’ll get some soda for the wait!” Kon volunteered, already heading towards the central area of the house before anyone could object.

The drummer happily walked down the hallway, approaching the kitchen, until he heard some odd sounds.

Kon slowed his pace, peeking into the kitchen only to see Trina, now dressed in a fuzzy pink robe and silk pajama pants, her pink hair wet. The pinkette was staring intently at the microwave while it heated some leftovers. 

The young teen couldn’t help but notice the older girl’s eyes looked puffy, her newly applied mascara slightly askew. The pinkette sniffed again, bringing a hand up to rub at her eye.

Trina, sensing someone watching her, quickly looked to the side, noticing the chubby ravenette hanging by the kitchen doorframe. The older girl glared.

“Ugh. What do you want?” She hissed.

“Sorry,” Kon squeaked in fear. “I just came for some soda.”

The younger boy tentatively approached the fridge, keeping his eyes on Trina like one would a wild animal. Trina rolled her eyes, shifting her focus back to the microwave.

Kon rummaged through the sodas in the fridge, placing the chosen ones on the nearby breakfast table as he grabbed everyone’s favorite (and what he assumed Cameron would like). After closing the fridge, Kon was about to grab the sodas and bolt, but not before glancing at the pinkette again. 

She looks so… sad… The drummer observed. Oh! I know!

Trina’s focus was once again taken away from the microwave as she heard rustling from the drummer. The boy had dumped two pockets full of chocolate onto the breakfast table.

Dark green met pink as the two locked eyes. Trina gave the younger boy a questioning look.

“Uhm, my mom likes to have some chocolate when she’s not feeling great,” Kon sheepishly supplied, before quickly scooping up the five sodas and dashing back to the garage.

“I hope you feel better!” The boy shouted as he left.

Trina stood there with a look of confusion on her face, her eyes still locked on the doorway where the boy exited. Pink orbs shifted over to the pile of chocolate. The microwave finally beeped, signaling her meal was ready, but the pinkette ignored the sound and approached the breakfast table instead.

She picked up a chocolate. It was just a regular, cheap chocolate that you could easily buy at any store. If anything, it felt misshapen, as if it had been accidentally warmed.

“Ew,” Trina scoffed, looking at it with disgust. Nevertheless, the pinkette looked around, checking no one was watching, before unwrapping the candy and popping it into her mouth. 

Oh , Trina thought as the candy melted in her mouth. It’s… It’s actually really sweet.

Trina felt another tear slide down her face.

Notes:

Wow! Wrote this chapter a lot faster than I thought I would!

Introducing in this chapter! Heartbroken Trina and jealous Corey! While the jealous Corey was only for a bit, Trina's angst is still going strong. Sheesh, girl. First, your bestie breaks up with you, and then like a week later, the guy you're obsessed with friend-zones you? Yikes...

I'm a little worried I overdid it with my OC, Cameron, in this chapter, but had to introduce him since he plays an important part later in the story >:)

This chapter was a lot more like a Grojband episode setup than I planned, but dang, it was fun to write. I had the Barney-Clone theory in my head as just a fun conversation between Laney, Kin, and Kon, but it actually ended up circling back.

Slight Kon/Trina at the end if you squint. The interaction was mainly to highlight how nice Kon is, though.

The next chapter will definitely take me longer, though, since that's the Newman-heavy chapter and there's going to be a lot of different storylines going on. Look forward to it, dear readers.

Leave kudos or a comment if you're interested in more!

Chapter 4: Newmans On The block

Summary:

In an attempt to promote school unity, Principal Stricts decided to have students pair up and write a report on a subject of their choice. To each band’s horror, members of Grojband get paired with members of the Newmans. Will they be able to survive this project? And with a passing grade no less?

MONDAY

It was a regular school morning, and three members of Grojband were casually chatting together in the eighth-grade English classroom before the first bell.

Their last remaining member, the band’s frontman, slid into the classroom, the door clicking shut behind him.

Corey walked over to his seat with an extra pep in his step. Flashing his friends a bright smile as he plopped down next to Laney. The blunette playfully bumped shoulders with his redheaded deskmate.

“Hey, guys! Guess what I did this morning!” Corey urged his bandmates, leaning forward.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Kon excitedly exclaimed, waving his arm in the air.

“Yeah, Kon?”

”You had chocolate milk with your cereal!”

“No- well, yeah, I did. But that’s not the thing!” Corey refuted.

“You finished your science homework on your own?” Kin questioned.

“What? No!” Corey shook his head before stopping, a thoughtful look on his face. “…By the way Kin, can I borrow your science homework real quick?”

Kin nodded before taking the paper out of his bag and passing it to Kon, who slid it over to Corey and Laney’s table, where it was promptly snatched up by the guitarist and stuffed into his bag to go over later.

The three boys turned their expectant gazes to Laney, signaling it was now her turn.

Before the redhead could continue their game, a sudden loud bang echoed through the classroom as the door burst open, revealing a furious blue-haired girl.

“Corey Riffin!” screeched Carrie as she stormed into the classroom, stomping towards the rival guitarist. The remaining Newmans trailing behind her.

“Sup, Carrie,” Corey offered, a cocky smirk on his face. 

The female guitarist’s frown deepened.

“How the heck did you manage to score the gig for the Book Fair before me?” Carrie snarled, pointing an accusatory finger in Corey’s face. “It was only announced today!”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that’s what you did this morning,” Laney sarcastically interjected. The blue-haired boy shot the ginger a smile and a wink before turning his attention back to the fuming Carrie.

Corey simply shrugged, his grin widening at his counterpart’s frustration. 

“Ya snooze, ya loose, Carrie.”

“You little-“ the female guitarist raised a fist, ready to punch the boy in his smug face, her band lunging forward to grab hold of her. 

Corey yelped, stumbling out of his seat and taking refuge behind Laney.

The redhead just rolled her eyes.

“Core, stop egging her on. At this point, you’re asking for it,” Laney warned.

It was at that moment that their English teacher, Mrs. Lit, walked into the classroom, causing all students to pause. The teacher took in the sight of Carrie, fist raised, restrained by her bandmates, and the hiding Corey, who offered the teacher a forced smile.

Mrs. Lit sighed.

“Students. Seats. Now.” The older woman commanded, irritation clear in her voice.

There was a silent pause, followed by loud shuffling and the screech of metal against tile as students raced to their chairs.

The teacher took a deep breath.

“Well, students, that scene at least serves as a good segue. In preparation for the Book Fair this upcoming Friday, Mr. Stricts has proposed a special project to foster community. Mainly due to some… incidents that have popped up since the beginning of the school year,” Mrs. Lit looked between Corey and Carrie in particular, clearly referencing the food fight last week.

“He started it!” Carrie exclaimed, her chair screeching as she suddenly stood up to point a finger at Corey.

“What?” Corey shouted, offended. “No! She started it!”

“Why you -” Carrie growled.

“I do not care who started it. Mr. Stricts is dead set on ending it - sit back down, Ms. Carrie -” The female guitarist plopped down in her seat. 

“Now then, for this assignment, students from Elementary High will be partnered with our new friends from Private Academy -” There were groans throughout the classroom. A hard stare from Mrs. Lit’s dark brown eyes quickly caused the students to fall silent.

“Partners will have to write a paper together on a mutually agreed upon topic. You will have free range over the subject matter and even the type of paper. As long as it’s at least three pages long, double-spaced. You can make it a report, a scientific paper, or even a narrative - as long as you write it together !” Mrs. Lit emphasized.

“Should any students not be willing to participate in the assignment, they can explain their reasons to Mr. Stricts…” Several students perked up.

“Over a week-long detention.” Mrs. Lit finished. All the students slumped in their seats, a collective groan echoing through the room.

“Additionally, to ensure everyone takes this assignment seriously, the paper will be worth over fourty-percent of your semester grade.” 

Even louder groans filled the classroom.

Mrs. Lit shook her head at her students' dramatics. 

“I am now going to start announcing the partners - so everyone - pay attention!”

“This sucks,” Corey whispered to Laney, the redhead nodding in agreement.

“Okay. The first partners are Carrie Beff and…” Mrs. Lit adjusted her thick glasses, squinting to read the next name.

“Oh no,” Corey cursed, sliding down in his seat. The blunette had a sneaking suspicion of how this was gonna go.

“Laney Penn!” The teacher finished.

Grojband’s frontman blinked in surprise. 

That’s an… interesting combo. 

He thought that Mrs. Lit was simply going to pair up the Grojband and Newman counterparts together. 

The blunette glanced at Laney, noticing the worried look on his best friend’s face.

The bassist really didn’t like the idea of being partnered with the most outright hostile member of the Newmans.

Corey reached for her hand under the desk and gave her a reassuring squeeze. 

The boy failed to notice the pink tinge now on Laney’s face.

Carrie merely glanced back at the petite redhead before rolling her eyes and scoffing. The Newmans’ leader hated to be stuck with a Groj-nerd.

… But, she was at least thankful she wasn’t partnered with Riffin. 

Back when they had been fused, Corey’s procrastination and hairbrained antics had caused her enough anxiety for a lifetime. 

Carrie shivered. 

No way was she going through that again.

Mrs. Lit’s announcement of the next partners brought everyone back to attention.

“Corey Riffin and Konnie Kagami.”

Corey looked over at Konnie, making eye contact with the drummer. Konnie offered a smile and a friendly wave. The guitarist awkwardly nodded back.

Although being partnered with a Newman stinks, at least he was paired with the “nicest” Newman… or at least that’s how Kon described her after the fusion incident.

But Kon could befriend anyone.

Dude was practically pen pals with the bear at the zoo!

“Kim Kagami and Kon Kujira.”

The tiny ravenette looked back at the chubby boy, an icy glare on her face. Kon excitedly waved, to which all Kim offered was sliding her finger across her throat.

…Okay, maybe Kon could befriend almost anyone.

“Kin Kujira and Larry Nepp.”

Larry felt a chill run up his spine. 

The redhead remembered the rumors of the “weird twins” a couple of years back—especially the whispers about how the smaller one would use kids as guinea pigs for his experiments.

The Newmans’ bassist glanced at his assigned partner.

The evil chuckling and wide smile plastered on Kin’s face were not helping to alleviate the wimpy redhead's fears.

Larry gulped, shrinking down beside Carrie.

Carrie glanced at the ginger, noting his stress, before tapping her boot against his from under the desk, drawing the boy's attention. Larry looked at her, confused. The female guitarist shot him an impish smirk. 

Carrie repeated the action. 

Larry let out a small chuckle.

The two Newmans proceeded to engage in a silent game of footsie while Mrs. Lit continued to announce the other partners.

Larry’s worries were momentarily forgotten.

Of course, his anxiety quickly returned when Mrs. Lit requested that students sit with their partners to start discussing their project plans. 

Larry reluctantly went over to join Kin, moving his chair as far away from the slim, creepy teenager as possible. Kin tried his best not to burst out laughing at the redhead’s obvious discomfort. 

Kon joined Kim, the boy trying to talk to the four-eyed ravenette who had slumped down in her seat, glaring at the front of the classroom.

Konnie took Laney’s now-empty seat, offering a greeting to the blunette, which the Corey returned. The two extroverts quickly launched into random conversation.

Laney went to join Carrie. The blue-haired girl wrinkled her nose as the petite ginger sat down. 

Laney let out a sigh.

“Look,” Laney started. “I don’t like this anymore than you, but can we at least work together to get this project over and done with?”

Carrie rolled her eyes, letting out a huff in frustration.

“Fine,” the blue-haired girl drawled. “But we’re working at my place today. I refuse to walk with Riffin .” Carrie fake gagged at the mention of Corey.

Laney rolled her eyes. 

Meanwhile, on the floor above, the elder Riffin sibling was having some partner issues of her own.

“Ugh,” Trina moaned as she strutted down the hallway. “Why did I end up with you as a partner for this stupid project?”

“Oh! My! Gosh! I was just thinking the same thing!” Chloe Penn sarcastically replied in a fake chipper tone. 

The redhead rolled her hazel eyes. 

Returning to her normal voice, Chloe continued, “We got stuck together because we were the only two people who weren’t there when project partners were assigned. Duh.”

Their year had far more Elementary High students than Private Academy kids, so quite a few of the usual classmates were paired together. 

Additionally, their English teacher, Mr. Paige, had assigned partners on the spot. And, since both Trina and Chloe were absent, they were paired together—much to their mutual displeasure.

Trina glared.

“Well, duh! I only missed it because I slept in!” The pinkette mentally cursed her brother for not ensuring she was up before he left for the bus. 

“What’s your excuse?”

“I was busy doing… stuff,” Chloe slyly grinned. The redhead and her boyfriend, Party Danimal, had gotten a little too into their morning makeout session beneath the football bleachers and had missed the sound of the first bell.

Worth it, Chloe thought, until she glanced over at her partner for the week. The girl grimaced. Well, maybe worth it.

“Like, sigh or whatever.” The pinkette dismissed, taking out her phone to start bleating about the ridiculousness of the situation. 

“Just don’t do anything too nerdy for the project, and remember to add my name to it. Otherwise, I don’t care what you write the topic about.” Trina waved at Chloe with her free hand, shooing the ginger away without making eye contact.

“Excuse me?” Chloe hissed out. “I am not writing the paper for you! I am not your pack mule!”

The party girl paused, a mischievous grin quickly appearing on her face.

“...Though I would be more than happy to tell Mr. Stricts that you’re being uncooperative about the project. Y’know, the one that he wants us to do. I’m sure he would love to have you in detention for the rest of the week,” Chloe cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Trina’s fingers stopped typing. 

Despite her lack of interest in school, Trina was very much concerned with maintaining her flawless student record. Which she had been easily achieving with her own smarts and by having Mina Bernadette do the annoying homework for her. 

But a detention? 

That would be a permanent stain on her record, and something she did not want to have to explain to her dad.

She was cornered.

The pinkette glared at the redhead.

“Touche, Penn. Touche.”

Chloe grinned.

“Meet at your house after school, then?” 

“Fine,” Trina grunted out before flipping her hair and stomping away.

~ Gonna be a Long Long Week ~

“Where are you going?” Carrie’s snarky voice cut through the looming silence that had persisted throughout their walk to the Beff household.

“Your house?” Laney said, though it came out more like a question. The petite ginger motioned to the rustic farmhouse in front of them.

“Ew. No way am I letting you get your Groj-stink all over my house… Plus, Bee and her partner already called dibs on the living room, and I am not letting you into my room,” Carrie huffed. 

The blunette nodded her head to the side of the house before starting to walk. She called from over her shoulder, “C’mon already! We’ll use the practice room!”

Laney reluctantly followed, kicking up dust as she shuffled her feet. Upon rounding to the back of the house, the ginger looked up in surprise. 

It was an old barn, its red exterior faded and decayed over the years. The left side of the building was covered in graffiti - a lot of which looked like “The Newmans” written over and over again in different colors and fonts. Empty spray cans littered the dry dirt near a torn, blue tarp.

“ This is where you guys practice?” Laney asked, staring in awe at the structure in front of them.

“Well, yeah,” Carrie replied, opening up the left door to the barn. “Where do your band practice?”

“In Core’s garage,” Laney answered, taking one last look at the exterior of the building, before following the blunette inside.

The bassist’s green eyes flicked around the interior. 

Even though Laney would never admit it, she actually liked how the Newmans decorated. The fairy lights shaped like skulls, the posters on the walls (many of which featured bands Laney likes), the patchwork furniture, and the-

“Is that an air hockey table?” Laney asked.

“Hmm?” Carrie looked up from her backpack, which she was rifling through, her icy blue eyes following the redhead's pointed finger. “Yeah. Why? You wanna play a round?”

“Sure,” Laney said, shrugging. She figured a game would be a good way to help them both relax a bit.

“Fine, but I get to start. My house, my rules.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the other members of Grojband and the Newmans were just arriving in front of the Riffin household.

Corey and Konnie waved to their friends as they crossed the street, off to the Kujira house. Konnie offered a reassuring smile to a scared Larry, who was being dragged along by an agitated Kim.

The guitarist raised an eyebrow after spotting Chloe’s car - a bright yellow sedan - in the driveway. However, any questions Corey had rattling around in his brain were quickly answered after he opened the garage door and heard muffled shouting coming from Trina’s room upstairs.

Ah. The blunette realized. Chloe must be Trina’s partner for the project . Corey sucked in air through his teeth. 

Sucks to be Chloe.

Suddenly, Corey began to feel a lot better about who he ended up with as a partner. 

A loud gasp from the Newmans’ drummer drew the boy’s attention.

“Is that a ping-pong table?” The blonde asked, pointing at the folded-up table pushed to the side of the garage.

“Yeah,” Corey cockily replied, feeling pride that the Newmans’ drummer seemed impressed. He paused, noticing just how excited the girl was. “You wanna play a round?”

“Heck yeah!” Konnie vigorously nodded.

Corey chuckled, walking over to unfold the table.

“Fine, but I get first serve.”

Across the street, things were not going so well with the Kujira twins and their partners.

Kon and Kim had claimed the dining room table to work at, yet not much work was being done. 

The only one talking so far was Kon, who kept bringing up potential topic ideas, only for Kim to shut them down harshly.

She even turned down writing about cheese for their report. 

CHEESE! 

Who does that?

Currently, the two were sitting in silence, Kon thinking hard about what else to say, and Kim mindlessly scrolling through Bleater on her phone.

What to talk about? Kon drummed his fingers against the wooden table as he thought hard about something the pianist might like. Konnie mentioned Kim was into weird science stuff… oh! I know!

“Do you wanna see my back nipples?” Kon asked.

Kim slowly blinked, trying to register what the boy had just said. 

“Your what?” The ravenette finally put her phone down and looked at Kon.

“My back nipples!” 

Nope. I heard right. Kim scrunched up her face in bewilderment.

Nevertheless, Kim was a woman of science, and the curiosity of what Kon was talking about had piqued her interest.

“...I guess so?” Kim slowly replied, leading the chubby boy to smile.

Kon proceeded to turn around before lifting the back of his shirt high enough to expose the pair of nipples on his back.

“Ta-dah!” Kon sing-songed.

“Gross,” Kim muttered, yet her eyes held a certain sparkle at the oddity.

Kon pulled his shirt back down and turned back towards Kim.

“Back nipples!” The drummer said, doing jazz hands.

“How do you have nipples on your back?” Kim questioned before excitedly gasping. “Was it an abnormality that occurred early on in the fetal development?”

“Nope! Or at least I don’t think so?” Kon tilted his head, trying to remember his brother's science-y explanation. “Kin and I are actually conjoined twins! Or were, I guess. The doctors separated us at birth, so the only proof we really have is the back nipples,” 

“You two must have been conjoined foetus twins!” Kim realized, then paused in thought. “Does that mean that Kin doesn’t have nipples?”

“Yep!”

“Fascinating,” Kim muttered.

“Were you and Konnie not conjoined?”

Kim let out a disappointed huff.

“Sadly, no. We were born naturally separated. I wish we were born conjoined. That would have been a lot cooler.”

At Kim’s confession, Kon suddenly had an awesome idea.

“Why don’t we write our paper about twins! It’s something we both have in common! And we both think the topic is interesting!” 

“That’s -” Kim started, ready to shut down the idea -  but then the girl pressed her lips together in thought. It would be a fun topic to write about, and since she had already done extensive research on the subject, it should be relatively easy.

“Actually not a bad idea,” The girl finished, causing Kon to clap in excitement. 

The bespeckled girl fought the smile tugging at the edge of her lips. Kon’s personality reminded her way too much of Konnie.

At that thought, the small girl couldn’t help but frown.

Meanwhile, down in the basement, a very nervous Larry was rethinking all his life choices that had led him to this situation. 

The redhead felt like a throwaway character in a horror movie. 

That one, dumb character whom the audience is shouting at for following the killer straight to their gruesome demise.

The Newman’s bassist shook his head, trying to rid himself of such thoughts. 

I can do this! This is no big deal! It’s just Kin, Grojband’s keyboardist! Kin’s not going to hurt me!... Probably. Larry rationalized.

Just as Larry finished pumping himself up, Kin popped up from around a shelf with a white, ghoulish mask on. 

Larry wasn’t even able to let out a scream. The redhead just opened his mouth, and a tiny squeak came out. He stumbled back a little before painfully falling on his butt.

Kin removed the mask, letting out a laugh, before noticing how silent Larry now was. Kin approached, his well-tuned ears catching the short, shallow breaths the bassist was barely able to gasp out. 

The ravenette quickly realized something was wrong, kneeling next to the hyperventilating redhead. 

Larry was able to weakly point towards his backpack, gasping out, “In-huff-hail-huff-err.”

Kin quickly rushed over, opening and rifling through the bag, the ravenette panicking with each failed attempt to find the darn thing, until finally his fingers brushed up against the plastic casing. 

Of course, it’s located in the side pocket. Kin cursed, removing the cap and shaking the medical device.

The bespeckled teen quickly rushed back over to Larry and slapped the inhaler in the bassist’s hand. Larry tried his best to exhale and brought the inhaler up to his mouth, taking a deep breath as he pressed down.

Kin fretted nearby, his phone out and Peaceville’s emergency hotline typed in, ready to call, while Larry tried to regain his breath. The two let out sighs of relief when Larry finally took the inhaler away from his mouth.

“Dude,” Kin finally broke the silence. “I am so sorry.”

While Kin had enjoyed the bassist’s blatant fear of him, he was hoping a tiny jumpscare would help break the tension.

When Kin had tried the same trick on Katie and Allie, the two younger girls hadn’t so much as blinked!

Even the old ladies he and Kon had tried to scare merely beat them up!

But Larry? The poor kid almost died!

Kin felt guilt gnawing at him.

“What the heck, dude !” An agitated Larry turned towards Kin, snapping at the keyboardist’s casual apology. “You have no idea what it’s like to live like this! If it’s not my asthma trying to kill me! It’s my allergies! I’ve had medical issues since I was born, and I don’t need jerks like you trying to trigger them!”

There was a painful silence after Larry finished. The redhead’s light panting was the only sound as Kin stared at the bassist in shock.

The bespectacled boy awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck, sitting down next to Larry.

“I-I’m really sorry,” Kin weakly said, breaking the silence.

Larry let out an annoyed huff before glancing at the other boy. Seeing Kin look so guilt-ridden softened the redhead’s features.

“It’s- it’s fine. Really,” Larry reassured. “Thanks for helping get my inhaler.” The bassist muttered.

Still seeing the guilty look on the ravenette’s face, Larry nudged his arm against Kin’s - as Carrie would do if she were trying to cheer him up.

“So, uhm, what’s with the creepy basement?” Larry waved to the dimly lit room.

“It’s my lab,” Kin explained, thankful for the change in conversation. The ravenette stood up to show the glassware scattered on the shelves. “I do most of my invention testing at Corey’s, but I still like to delve into personal projects here.”

“Oh, kinda like Kim!” Larry said as he got up, ignoring the grimace Kin made at the comment. “What are you currently working on?”

“Well,” Kin started, holding up a glass with a peeling label on it. “I’m trying to create something that will force someone to say what’s on their mind, so if they’re asked a question they have no choice but to tell the truth.”

“Like a truth serum? Why would you make something like that?” Concern evident in Larry’s voice.

“Not like a truth serum!” Kin exclaimed, clearly offended. “Those are completely unrealistic. This is the Spill Your Guts Drink and it works by-.”

“Kin,” Larry interrupted. “That name is absolutely terrible. And no science talk until you explain why you would make something like that.” 

While Larry was curious about what would push the boy to make something so dangerous, he didn’t want to get trapped listening to a science lecture. He gets enough of that from Kim.

The bespectacled boy pouted.

”Someone ate the last slice of cheesecake over the weekend that I called dibs on.” Kin explained, a frown on his face. “I suspect it was Kon, but he keeps saying it wasn’t him. This will ensure I get the truth… and then make him get me a new slice of cheesecake.”

Larry just stared at the ravenette, perplexed, before letting out a snort. Then a chuckle. 

Soon, the redhead was letting out short, wheezy laughs.

What the heck is up with that? Larry thought - the boys' earlier fears of Kin were now nonexistent. It’s hard to be scared of someone so ridiculous .

“So, you wanna get to work on the project?” Larry asked, wanting to get back on track.

“Yes,” Kin nodded. “But first, can you tell me a little more about the allergies you mentioned?”

~ Be Careful Who You Scare ~

Around the same time, at the Riffin household across the street, a furious Chloe stormed out of Trina’s room.

For the past two hours, the two had been engaged in a heated argument.

It had started as a discussion about the project, but the pinkette took great offense to Chloe turning down one of her ideas. In retaliation, Trina made a snarky comment about Chloe’s headband.

Things got out of hand, and it quickly turned into a screaming match.

The Penn girl stomped down the steps leading to the garage before angrily taking a seat on the Groj-couch. 

Chloe let out a loud huff. 

She looked over to the other two occupants of the garage, only to note that Corey and Konnie hadn’t so much as looked up from the computer screen. 

The girl’s frown deepened.

“Hello?” Chloe said, yet still no reaction. “Angry redhead over here! Aren’t you guys gonna ask what happened?”

“Huh?” Corey muttered, turning his head toward Chloe, while his eyes remained glued to the screen. “Yeah, one sec. We’re watching a video.”

“Oh! Click that one next!” The drummer requested.

The older teen gave them a deadpan look and let out another loud huff before getting up to check out what they were watching.

“ Top 10 Worst Stage Dives of All Time ?” Chloe read the MeTube video title out loud. The three then uttered a sympathetic “oof” of pain as number eight featured someone getting squished by the stage diver.

“Shouldn’t you guys be working on your paper?” Chloe admonished. Yet, the older girl found herself unable to look away from the video. 

“Well, we turned the computer on to start researching potential topics,” Konnie started, the three breaking out in laughter at number six’s epic fail.

“But then we saw RockMojo uploaded a new top ten video, and we kinda got sidetracked,” Corey finished.

“Huh,” Chloe grunted out, the girl’s eyes searching the screen. She pointed to a video entitled " Top 10 Fashion Disasters ." 

“Play that one after her pick.” The redhead requested, her earlier frustration at Trina entirely forgotten.

Two hours later, Kim and Larry made their way over to retrieve Konnie, only to pause at the sight of three figures seated towards the back of the garage. 

“Uh, Konnie?” The smaller twin called, reaching her hand out to grab her sister’s shoulder. 

Both Kim and Larry gasped as the blonde turned around, revealing red, sunken, unfocused eyes.

“What?” Konnie mumbled out. “What time is it?”

“Uh,” Larry looked down at his watch. “Seven?”

“Oh! Is it that late already?” Konnie grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

“Yeah,” Kim stated, looking at her sister with concern. “We should probably start heading home soon. It’s almost dinner time.”

Konnie turned around, pausing the video, making Corey and Chloe let out disappointed whines.

“Sorry, guys. But I need to head home. It’s getting late,” The drummer explained.

“Oh! I should probably start heading out too,” Chloe cast a look up at Trina’s room. The pinkette hadn’t exited her room once while Chloe was hanging out with the younger teens.

Chloe rolled her eyes in annoyance, remembering their earlier argument. 

“You guys need a ride?” Corey heard Chloe ask the Newmans before he shut the garage door.

The blunette made his way back to the computer to resume the video, but before he could hit the play button, a thought struck him.

We didn’t start on the project at all. Corey realized. The guitarist shrugged. Well, Konnie and I can start on it tomorrow.

Corey hit the play button, leaning back in his chair, intent on continuing to doomscroll until his dad called him for dinner.

~ Procrastination Passes the Time ~

Back at the Beff home, Carrie and Laney were both silently researching. The two had quickly come to an agreement on their paper: Female musicians and their role in shaping the rock industry.

The two were actually getting along better than either of them had thought.

Until the incident.

The Newman’s frontwoman mindlessly took off her beanie to better alleviate the itch on her scalp that had been bothering her, forgetting the other occupant in the room wasn’t one of her bandmates.

“Woah,” Carrie snapped up Laney’s voice, seeing the redhead staring at her with wide eyes. The guitarist, realizing her mistake, quickly slapped her beanie back on her head, sending a dirty look at the other girl.

Laney, on the other hand, was still trying to make sense of the different shades of blue and teal she had spotted near Carrie’s scalp. 

It was like a color palette had thrown up on her.

“So,” the ginger awkwardly said, curiosity getting the better of her. “What’s that about?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carrie curtly replied.

“Seriously, Carrie?” Laney raised a brow at the guitarist’s childish response. “What’s up with your hair?”

Carrie’s icy blue eyes glared at the rival bassist.

“What’s up with your hair?” The blue-haired guitarist snarked, waving her hands at Laney’s head, clearly referencing how wavy the redhead’s mane now is.

Laney flushed.

“I think it looks nice,” she said, a dorky smile spreading across her face as she played with the tips of her hair, echoing Corey’s comment on the first day of school. 

Laney shook her head, returning her focus to Carrie.

“Now you. Spill,” The bassist demanded, waving her hand. 

“I never promised anything like that,” Carrie huffed. 

“Carrie,” Laney scolded, giving the blunette a disapproving look.

Carrie turned away, refusing to answer.

Laney let out an annoyed huff. But then something occurred to her.

Carrie is like Corey’s counterpart… just a lot snarkier, Laney thought. So getting her to spill should follow the same logic as Corey .

The redhead had to fight the smirk curving the corners of her mouth.

“Fine,” Laney groaned out, spotting the smug smile Carrie now sported. “I get it. You’re too afraid to say.”

Carrie stopped, her smile now gone.

The guitarist slowly turned her head towards the bassist, a look of pure mortification on her face. 

There was no way she was going to let a Groj-nerd call her scared!

“Fine,” Carrie drawled, annoyance clear in her voice. The blunette missed the snort that came from the redhead.

“You know how Bernadette and I don’t look that much alike?” Carrie questioned.

Laney blinked, surprised at the random question.

While the two sisters shared the same face shape and hair type, they didn’t look too similar otherwise.

The ginger shrugged. 

“I guess.”

Carrie heaved a melodramatic sigh before continuing, “Well, I decided I would dye my hair to match hers, maybe a few shades lighter, so that way we’d look more alike. So, Kim offered to create a custom dye. And, let’s just say, the finished product was… different from what we expected.”

The guitarist held up a bright blue lock.

“The different colors at my roots is so we can get the color right this time, but it always seems a little off from what I want.”

“That’s… actually really sweet,” Laney finally said, a small smile on her face. “You must really love your sister.”

“Pfft. That goes without saying. Bee is the best big sister ever,” Carrie bragged, puffing her chest in pride. 

However, upon remembering who she was talking to, the guitarist turned red from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had just told Laney Penn one of her secrets. 

Carrie faked a cough.

“Now get back to work!” The blunette demanded.

The rest of the evening, the guitarist refused to speak to the redhead, only grunting when Laney decided it was time to leave.

The bassist sighed on the walk back to her house.

Well, this is off to a great start. Laney sarcastically thought.

 

TUESDAY

It was the evening of the second day of the partner project, and Grojband was jamming out in their garage. The two bands had agreed to meet up after their practice sessions. 

While both groups disliked being paired with their rivals, they did appreciate that they had similar schedules.

Corey just finished playing his guitar riff when he heard banging on the garage door. The blunette placed down his instrument before hopping off the stage to open the garage. The door slid up to reveal Chloe, Konnie, Kim, and Larry waiting in the driveway.

“Oh! Hey!” Corey greeted. “Funny you guys got here at the same time.”

“Chloe gave us a drive over,” Konnie explained.

“They were on the way. And they’re super fun to jam out in the car with,” The redhead commented, making her way through the garage to the stairs. 

“Thanks, again, Chloe!” The Kagami twins said together. The two girls' voices drowned out Larry’s much weaker “Thanks.”

“No probs! Oh! And, Laney!” Chloe called from the top of the steps. “Your project partner is over at your house! Apparently, Uncle Leo used to teach her or something?”

Laney raised a brow. 

I thought Carrie didn’t want to be anywhere within a five-mile radius of Core? Laney thought. Why is she at my house?

The petite redhead quickly packed up, waving at her bandmates as she headed back over to her house.

Just as she was about to open the front door, it swung open, revealing the tall figure of Leo Penn.

“Oh, hey dad,” Laney greeted.

“Hello, my little Laney bug!” Leo exclaimed, scooping his daughter up in a hug.

“Dad,” Laney whined, embarrassed. Yet she still returned the hug.

While her father’s overaffection was a bit much in her opinion, Laney still appreciated how sweet her usually sour father was to her and her mother. 

Could do without the nickname, though. At least she got him to stop calling her “princess.” That nickname was even more humiliating.

The burly redhead finally put his daughter back down, the girl brushing herself off.

“I have to head back to work, but your friend is over. It was nice to see one of my students still so in love with music,” Leo bragged, earning an eye roll from Laney. 

Leo moved around his daughter, making his way out of the house.

“Good luck on your project. And - Oh! Your friend is upstairs waiting in your room.” The door clicked shut.

Laney’s bag loudly dropped to the ground.

Carrie was in her room.

Her room, which even her bandmates had never seen. Not even Corey.

Her room, which was filled with girly stuff she didn’t want anyone else to know she owned. 

THAT ROOM? 

The ginger bolted up the steps, nearly tripping twice, before reaching the landing and racing to her open door. 

Laney stopped in the doorway, spotting the blunette perched on the edge of her bed, fiddling with something in her lap. The guitarist looked up at the sudden intrusion, looking like the cat that caught the canary.

“Oh. Hi, Laney,” Carrie drawled, hopping back onto the carpeted flooring. “Cute room you got here.”

The blunette picked up a nearby chinchilla plushie before dropping it on the ground.

Carrie’s smile widened as she saw Laney flush with embarrassment.

Ha! Carrie thought to herself. You know my secret, now I know yours!

“Hardy, har har, Carrie,” Laney hissed out. “You’re hilarious. Now can we go back downstairs and work on the project?”

Carrie pouted, annoyed she didn’t get more of a rise out of the redhead. 

It was a good thing she had discovered plan B.

“Awe,” Carrie cooed. “But I was in the middle of a very interesting read.”

Laney was about to roll her eyes until Carrie held up her left hand, showing a very familiar black leather book with a rose stamped on it.

Laney felt her heart stop. 

Oh no . The color drained from the bassist’s face.

“Ooh?” Carrie purred, waggling the book. “What’s wrong? Is this your diary or something?”

“No!” Laney shouted, bolting over to try snatching the book out of Carrie’s grasp, but the blunette merely raised it in the air. 

The redhead cursed her short stature.

“Then why does it have a lock on it?” Carrie teased. 

The blunette’s smug grin was promptly wiped off her face when Laney stomped on her foot. The guitarist let out a yelp of pain, dropping the diary as she crouched down to try to soothe her poor toes.

Laney quickly snatched up the black book, holding it protectively to her chest.

The two glared at each other.

“Whatever,” Carrie grumbled. “It’s probably just full of you gushing over Riffin, anyways.”

For the second time in under two minutes, Laney felt her heart stop.

“Wha-what? What are you talking about?” Laney sputtered.

The guitarist just rolled her eyes. 

“Laney, c’mon. Me and like half of Peaceville know you have a mega crush on that idiot.” Carrie casually commented.

“What?” Laney shouted. The guitarist gave her a confused glance.

“Yeah? Like, you’re not really subtle. It’s obvious,” Carrie shrugged.

…Somehow, that felt more insulting coming from Carrie of all people, seeing how the blue-haired girl was still in the dark about Larry’s feelings.

“I- I don’t have a crush on Core!” Laney squeaked out. Carrie just rolled her eyes again, shooting the girl a look of disbelief. 

Laney felt herself shrinking from embarrassment.

“Well… at least I’m trying not to have a crush on him anymore,” Laney murmured, looking down at her feet. 

Carrie perked up, intrigued.

“Seriously? I thought you were totally ga-ga over him since, like, the fourth grade,”

Laney sat down on her bed.

“I was,” Laney sighed. “I am… But he doesn’t see me the same way. He just thinks of me as one of the guys.” Laney let out a sniffle, bringing her knees up to her chest and uncomfortably squishing the book against her stomach.

The bassist missed the look of pity that flashed across Carrie’s face. Tense and on edge as she was, Laney couldn’t help but flinch in shock when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and a dip in the bed. 

Laney turned to see Carrie now sitting next to her, awkwardly looking off to the side.

“Look, I-,” Carrie struggled before sighing. “I’m sorry or whatever. I was being insensitive and junk. I was kinda trying to get back at you for yesterday.” 

Carrie sheepishly scratched at the back of her head, the soft yarn of her beanie helping calm her. Carrie looked Laney in the eyes.

“I’m sorry. I took it too far,” Carrie offered an awkward smile. “For what it’s worth, Riffin is an idiot and you can do a lot better than him.”

Laney let out a weak laugh.

“Thanks, Carrie… I think.”

The two sat in silence for a beat.

”This is so weird!” Carrie groaned out, flopping back onto the bed. “Can we please just get to work on the project?”

“Rock gods, yes. Please,” Laney choked out, grateful for the subject change. Being comforted by her rival was just as off-putting for both of them. 

“Awesome!” Carrie brought her legs up before swinging them down, catapulting herself off the bed. The blunette eagerly jogged out of the room.

Ha! I can’t believe Riffin is too dumb to realize his best friend has a crush on him! Carrie internally gloated. And he treats her like one of the guys! What a massive idiot! 

Before leaving her room, Laney shoved her diary underneath her nearby unicorn plushie, then followed Carrie back downstairs to work at the kitchen table.

~ Hey, Plushies are Pretty Cool ~

“Ok, so be honest,” Trina looked up from the clothing rack she was browsing to see Chloe exit the changing room in her recent pick.

“Do these pants make my butt look big?” Chloe did a spin.

Trina glanced down, examining the bellbottom jeans the redhead now donned, before looking up with a condescending smirk.

“Ew. Absolutely ginormous," The pinkette snarked, flipping her hair before sashaying over to look at the nearby mini-skirt display. 

“Good,” Chloe preened, posing. The Penn’s smile grew at the scowl Trina shot at her, annoyed that her comment didn’t hurt the redhead.

The two project partners were at the Peaceville Mall, an idea proposed by Chloe to give them a change of scenery. And to hopefully ensure that they don’t have a repeat of yesterday’s fight.

“Oh no,” Chloe moaned, causing the pinkette to pause.

“Ugh,” Trina groaned, throwing her head back dramatically before turning back to the redhead. “What now?”

“The front pockets are fake,” Chloe whined, rubbing her fingers on the fake pockets to emphasize her point.

“Seriously?” Trina deadpanned. “Just use a purse to hold your stuff. It’s not like front pockets hold much anyway.”

“It’s the principle of the matter!” Chloe exclaimed before charging back into the changing room, switching back to her original outfit: a black and white baseball shirt, pastel green pants, and black leather boots. 

The redhead hummed thoughtfully as she went to join Trina, now by the sweater section.

“Hey, maybe we could write our paper about purses,” Chloe jokingly snickered.

“That’s totes a stupid idea,” Trina automatically answered, barely listening to her companion as she rifled through the clothes pile. “Like, what would we even write about or whatever?”

“I guess the purse conspiracy?” Chloe shrugged.

Trina paused, putting down the pink sweater with white hearts before turning towards the party girl with a confused look.

“The what now?” The pinkette spat out.

“The purse conspiracy,” Chloe repeated. Trina just raised her eyebrows higher, so the redhead elaborated. 

“There’s, like, this whole conspiracy about how purse companies and jeans companies are besties. And the primary reason why women’s jean pockets are so small is so that we have to use a purse to carry our things. We could write about that!” The redhead gestured to the surrounding stores. “We’re practically doing research right now!”

Trina pursed her lips in contemplation.

“I guess it’s, like, not your worst idea… Though I guess that means we totes have to go to Carriage after this, to look at the purses there,” Trina shot the redhead a smirk. “You know - for research.”

“Oh, totally! For research,” Chloe smiled right back.

~ Research Can be Fun ~

“I can’t believe we’re writing our paper about unusual allergies,” Larry commented as Kin took a break from explaining how someone was allergic to glazed donuts.

The young pianist shrugged.

“Hey, you agreed to it yesterday,” Kin pointed out. “Besides, it was your allergies that inspired this project in the first place.”

“Yeah, but I never expected you to find such weird cases online! I can’t believe there are people out there allergic to Crunchitos chips!”

“Uh-uh-uh,” Kin tutted. “Remember, they’re only allergic to the NachoFlare flavor . It’s because of a byproduct of the compound they use to make the flavor dust-”

“Kin! I know that already!” Larry interrupted. “You just explained it not even an hour ago.”

“Oops,” The bespeckled boy chuckled.

Back upstairs, Kon and Kim were working in awkward silence. 

Whenever Kon tried to start a conversation, Kim would only give half-hearted responses and grunts.

The tense atmosphere was starting to take its toll on the poor boy.

“Uhm, Kim?” The drummer asked, nervously tapping his fingers on the dining room table.

“Hm?” Kim grunted, refusing to look away from her laptop’s screen.

“Did I do something to make you mad?”

The pianist paused, her fingers hovering over the keys. Just as quickly, she continued her typing.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Kon's fingers drummed faster on the table.

“It’s just that you don’t seem super excited to be here with me,” Kon continued, a concerned tone to his voice. “And Konnie always goes on about how you-”

Kon was interrupted by Kim loudly slamming the space bar. The girl turned to shoot him a scalding glare at the mention of her sister.

The large boy shrank back in fear. 

“Shut up,” the bespeckled girl hissed out.

She turned back to her computer, the loud clicking of her keyboard filling the room as she typed aggressively.

“Do… Do you not like that I’m friends with Konnie?” Kon weakly muttered.

The petite ravenette huffed, slamming her laptop shut before fully turning to Kon.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Kim growled. “You and my sister are not friends.”

Kon’s lip jutted out in a pout.

“I’m pretty sure Konnie and I are friends,” Kon argued.

“No, you are not! Just because you two got along when we were fused for a few hours doesn’t mean you two are friends!” Kim’s voice got louder as she berated the drummer.

“But we are friends! We don’t hang out, but we text!”

Silence settled between them.

“...You guys text?” Kim murmured, a hurt expression on her face. 

“Mainly memes, but yeah!”

“Konnie-Konnie didn’t tell me that.”

“Well, maybe it’s because you can be a scary meanie about me,” Kon huffed, crossing his arms in indignation and turning his head away.

Kim let out a sniffle.

“Konnie- Konnie never told me about that,” Kim repeated. Kon turned back towards her, confused, only to jump in surprise upon seeing tears streaming down the girl's face.

“Wh-Why didn’t Konnie tell-tell me about that?” Kim hiccuped.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Kon reassured, his hands fluttering about in panic. “Maybe she just forgot to tell you?”

“Oh, yeah? Cause who doesn’t forget to tell their twin about something like that?” Kin snarked, before starting to wail.

“Kon-Konnie doesn’t like me any-anymore!” The keyboardist cried. 

“But Kim!” Kon interrupted. “Konnie absolutely adores you! Here, uhm,” the chubby boy quickly got out his phone and navigated to his text chain with the blonde.

“Look!” Kon shoved his phone in front of Kim. “Konnie talks about how amazing you are constantly!”

Kim glanced down, struggling to read through the tears in her eyes.

The drummer sat in patient silence as Kim scrolled through his phone. The girl skimmed through weeks of text messages.

There were a lot of them where the two drummers would start arguing over whose sibling was cooler.

Eventually, a small smile tugged at the corners of the girl’s lips as she read a particularly sweet message where Konnie gushed about one of her inventions. 

As she kept reading, Kim let out a giggle.

Then a full-on laugh.

Kon sighed in relief.

“Better?” Kon asked.

“Better,” Kim sniffled. “I-uh. I guess I was a bit more insecure about you and Konnie than I thought… Sorry. It’s just that you both can make friends so easily. And I just… can’t. People find my personality off-putting.” Kim let out a weak chuckle.

“Well,” Kon smacked a short rhythm out on the table before pointing at himself. “You just made another friend, right here!... If you want.”

Kim let out a giggle.

“Yeah. I would like that,” The bespeckled girl agreed. A look of guilt flashed over her face. “Sorry for being a jerk to you all day.”

“Enough apologies!” Kon requested as he got up to head towards the fridge. “Let’s celebrate instead!”

The drummer looked around, checking that his brother wasn’t nearby. Kon then opened the freezer before pulling out a plate of cheesecake.

“Don’t tell Kin, but I kinda hid this in case of emergency,” Kon conspiratorially whispered as he dropped the cake off at the table before going to get utensils.

“This counts as an emergency?” The petite girl raised a brow.

“It’s a friend-emergency!”

Kim laughed at that. 

Meanwhile, across the street at the Riffin house, two musicians let out pained groans.

“Hey, Konnie?” Corey called from his position lying on the Groj-couch.

“Yeah, Corey?” Konnie replied, the drummer spread-eagled on the cool cement flooring in front of the stage.

“... I think we overdid it on the sugar,” The blunette moaned, his brain feeling like mush as his sugar crash started to hit him in full force.

The two had been struggling to think of a research topic, so Konnie had proposed they have some sweets to fuel their brains. The girl had quoted Kim about proteins or something, and Corey couldn’t see any flaws in the logic.

However, all it led to was them getting a sugar high and bouncing around the garage for over an hour, shouting unintelligibly.

“Nap time? Then work on the project?” Konnie asked.

“Nap time, then work on the project,” Corey echoed, already closing his eyes. 

Corey weakly turned his head towards the audience.

“Thanks for coming out everyone!” The guitarist waved before slamming the garage door shut, revealing the words To Be Continued spray spray-painted on the door.

Notes:

Whoo! Sorry, this chapter took so long!

I meant to put it all in one chapter, but things just got so long I had to split it up. Be prepared for a new chapter in like two weeks.

Also! Guess who has a beta reader now! This writer! >:) Gotta update the tags.

Anyways, yeah, was super excited for this chapter because of The Newmans! It was fun trying to delve into their characters, while also staying true to what the show has given us (all 7 episodes made appearances...).
Thought it would be more fun to mix up the grouping from their usual counterparts since we got to see that in Kon-fusion, and decided to pair them with characters who are counterparts of those who get along well (Corey and Kon, Kin and Laney, Corey and Laney, Kin and Kon, etc.) Tbh mainly wanted to pair Carrie and Laney together - love strong-headed girl rockers!

Thanks for reading! And leave a kudos or a comment if you're interested in more!

Chapter 5: I Lore Rock and Roll

Summary:

Corey and Konnie finally decide on a topic!... And then immediately get too distracted to write about it. Meanwhile, Trina and Chloe get into another heated argument.
The Riffin siblings can't catch a break with this project.

Wednesday

Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the Kujira basement. A flickering LED light highlighted the figure of a scrawny, bespeckled, black-haired teen holding a vial with a suspicious yellow glow.

The mad scientist let out another bark of evil laughter.

“Are you done yet?” Larry deadpanned from behind a science magazine. His dark green eyes glanced up at his companion, clearly unimpressed.

Kin shot a disgruntled glare at the redhead, unhappy that the boy ruined his “evil genius” moment.

“Can’t you marvel at my amazingness a little more?” Kin grumbled.

“Oh, sorry - Oh my Rock Gods, Kin! You’re a friggin genius,” Larry sarcastically replied. The freckled boy tossed aside the magazine.

“Thank you,” Kin gloated, purposefully ignoring the male bassist’s sass.

Larry rolled his eyes.

“Tell me, genius , how do you plan on getting your brother to drink that ?” He gestured to the ominously glowing vial.

“Simple, my dear friend, to get Kon to digest the Spill Your Guts Drink -”

“I still think you should change the name.”

“To get Kon to digest the SPILL YOUR GUTS DRINK ,” Kin reiterated, not willing to budge on the name. “All I’ll have to do is add one drop of it into a glass of lemonade and give it to Kon. Then, for the next half hour, Kon will have no choice but to say whatever comes to his mind! And I will get him to admit he ate my cheesecake!”

Kin burst into yet another round of crazed laughter. Larry let out a tired sigh, thankful he was an only child.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Kim and Kon were sitting at the dining room table, diligently working on their project.

Kim raised an eyebrow as she overheard the squawking laughter again. It sounded like a dying seagull.

“Is your brother usually this loud?” the small girl asked before plopping a Cheese-Bit into her mouth.

“Not usually,” Kon inhaled a potato chip. “He only does that laugh when he makes a breakthrough on something.”

Kim let out a thoughtful hum, her curiosity piqued.

“...We’re almost done. Do you wanna take a break and go bother them?”

“Oh - Heck, yeah!” Kon picked up the tray of food and made a beeline to the basement door. Kim shook her head, chuckling as she trailed behind.

Kon is really like Konnie , Kim couldn’t help but think. And for once, that comparison made her smile.

While the Kujira twins and their partners were almost finished with their reports, the same could not be said for their bandmates across the street in the Riffin garage.

A blonde, bubbly girl sat on the Groj-couch, happily swinging her legs and whistling an unknown tune. On the wooden stage, a blue-haired guitarist paced around.

“Okay! Konnie!” Corey burst out, stopping and pointing at the drummer. 

Konnie perked up at her name, raising her right arm in the air and waving her hand. “Present!” She shouted back.

“We need to start working on our project today! And I mean ultra, super, need to! So, uh - you got any ideas for a topic?” Corey sheepishly smiled, the blunette not having any ideas of his own.

“Uhm,” Konnie shook her head. “Should we use the computer to look up project stuff, again?”

Corey grimaced, bringing his hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

“Probably best not to. Last time we did that, we got distracted by MeTube for the rest of the day.”

“Okay. Okay. Okay,” Konnie nodded. “Maybe we could talk about stuff that we like and try to see if we can make a topic out of that?”

Corey snapped his fingers, shooting finger guns at the blonde. “Yes! Dude! That’s an awesome idea!”

Grojband’s frontman leaned back in thought. 

“So, I like guitar - specifically electric guitar. I also like music. And singing. And listening to music. And grilled cheese. And roller coasters. And messing with my sister. And… Oh! My band! I love my band!” Corey couldn’t help his bright smile as he thought of his bandmates. The tips of his ears warmed, and his smile grew a tad wider as Laney flashed through his mind. 

“Awe!” Konnie cooed. “I like a lot of that stuff too! Except for messing with my sister. I love Kim! She’s the absolute best! Though she can be scary when she’s angry,” Konnie whispered, a haunted look on her face. “And I love, love, love the drums! And - uhm - what else…?”

Konnie brought a hand up to her head, closing her eyes as she tapped her fingers against her temple in thought.

“Oh!“ Konnie exclaimed, a figurative light bulb going off over her. “And Rock-lore! I love Rock-lore!” 

Corey perked up at that.

“Dude! I love it when Kin and Kon tell Rock-lore stories!” 

The guitarist gasped. 

“We should do a Rock-lore story for our project!”

Konnie took a long, dramatic inhale, slapping her hands to the side of her face. The girl’s brown eyes sparkled.

“Corey, that’s friggin genius!”

The two high-fived, happy to have finally chosen a topic.

“So,” Corey started. “How do we research Rock-lore exactly?”

“Oooh! Okay,” Konnie excitedly rushed over to the computer, the guitarist hot on her heels. 

The drummer completely ignored the open MeTube tab and redirected the page to SeenIt forums. 

“So, Rock-lore is a bit of a difficult topic to research. Most of it has been passed down by word of mouth, so some of the facts can be a bit iffy - But! There is documentation about ancient Rock-lore! Stories about the Rock Gods!… Well, kinda-sorta documentation.” 

Konnie turned the computer screen towards Corey. The guitarist’s brows shot up in surprise at the pictures of old stone tablets, clay pottery, and cave drawings that littered the webpage.

“The best way to get stories about the Rock Gods is through songs! And all these old thingies have music hidden in them!” The drummer explained, pointing a calloused finger at the screen.

“Whoa,” Corey muttered, squinting his eyes at a picture of a vase, seeing that it did include a faded music score on it.

“This,” Konnie clicked on a pinned image of a cracked slab that looked like it had been painstakingly pieced back together. “Is the oldest Rock-lore song to date! Its only just recently been deciphered.” 

The girl scrolled to the next image, which included a neatly written translation of the damaged music sheet.

“Man! This is sweet, Konnie!” Corey complimented, causing the chubby blonde to puff her chest in pride. “Hey, can you drop me a beat? I wanna give this a shot.”

“Heck yeah!” Konnie exclaimed excitedly, then brought her hands up to her mouth and began to beatbox. 

As Corey started bobbing his head to the rhythm. The blue-haired musician refocused his attention on the screen, breaking out into a rap. 

 

Monsters came from beyond the skies

Spreading chaos with destruction and lies 

To rid them, you must seek

Two demigods, blue and pink.

The demons will hunt them, so you beware

For they seek to destroy the pair.

The only way to save them is to lie low,

And earn the kids some time to grow.

Tune and lyrics will be their all

So they can bring their nemesis downfall

For in these children of the song,

Are our last hopes to right this wrong.

 

The two sat in silence after Corey finished. 

“Konnie,” Corey finally muttered. “That was awesome! What other songs do they have?”

The two spent the rest of the evening scrolling through the Rock-lore forums and jamming to any songs they could find (Corey was sure Kon wouldn’t mind Konnie using his drum set). 

By the end of the evening, they failed to write a single thing down - too caught up in their excitement.

~ Rock-Lore is Super Cool ~ 

“Ugh,” Trina groaned as the music from the garage seeped into her room. 

“Corey’s playing his terrible music again! It’s so annoying!” The pinkette whined, throwing her head back.

“You think so?” Chloe questioned. “I like it. It’s def not as polished as their usual songs, but it makes good background music.”

“Chloe! No! My brother’s music is the absolute worst- Hey! Watch it!” Trina scolded as the heat from the curling iron got too close to her ear.

“Oh hush, you big baby- And stop moving!” Chloe snapped back, using her free hand to redirect the prissy girl’s head forward.

The two teens were taking a study break and had decided that makeovers would be a good way to re-motivate themselves.

“Gotta look your best to do your best,” the duo had reasoned.

Hence, their current situation: Trina sitting in her desk chair, with Chloe standing behind her, styling the pink harpy’s hair.

“Why do you hate your brother’s music so much?” Chloe asked as she continued working.

“Because,” Trina drawled. “Corey and his loser band, like, suck and junk.”

“But, Trina- they don’t suck. They’re one of the most popular bands in Peaceville. Plus, my cousin is in it!” Chloe argued, Trina letting out a hiss of pain as the party girl accidentally tugged a strand. “Oops, sorry about that- Anyways, Trina! Have you ever, like, actually listened to their music?”

Trina opened her mouth, prepared to give a scathing retort, before pausing. 

The eldest Riffin sibling had technically never listened to one of her brother’s songs—at least none of the finished ones with lyrics. Corey and Garboj-band only ever practiced melodies in the garage. Whenever they played at a concert, Trina either missed the performance or tuned them out completely. 

“Done!” Chloe’s exclamation broke Trina out of her musings.

Bubblegum eyes glanced up at her computer monitor, which had the camera turned on to act as a mirror. 

Trina moved her head from side to side.

“Not bad,” Trina murmured, fiddling with a now perfectly curled pink ringlet. She ignored the smug smile that the shorter girl flashed her.

Figuring it was time for them to get back to work, Trina stood up, preparing to return to her laptop on her bed.

“My turn!” Chloe cheered, sliding into the chair and holding the curling iron towards Trina.

The elder Riffin sibling raised a brow.

“What?”

“My turn!” Chloe repeated, waggling the iron. The redhead looked at Trina, expectantly.

“Y’know, I scratch your back, you scratch mine?” Trina’s mouth shaped an o as it finally struck her what Chloe was asking.

“I don’t do… helping,” She spat out. “Like, do it yourself.”

Chloe frowned.

“Dude! What the what? That’s so not cool!” The Penn girl whined. “I just spent the last hour working on your hair! The fun part about makeovers is doing stuff together! Otherwise it’s only fun for one person! And that just sucks!”

“Well,” Trina smirked. “Sucks to suck then.”

Chloe huffed, hazel eyes narrowing.

“I’m not sharing my research notes with you, then!”

Trina’s head shot up at that.

“Like, what?” The pinkette screeched. “The topic was your stupid idea! You were the one who did all the research! I can’t write a paper without it!”

“Curl my hair, and you get the notes,” Chloe tauntingly waved the styling tool around.

Trina's face flushed red with anger. 

Outside, storm clouds started circling above the Riffin house. “What gives you the nerve to treat me like this?” Trina roared.

Chloe glared at her. The usual laid-back, party girl had a serious expression.

“Don’t like it, huh, Trina? News flash: when you act mean towards others, you shouldn’t be surprised when they act mean back. People don’t like it when their kindness is kicked aside like that,” Chloe failed to notice the other girl clenching her fists, her eyes turning an unnatural red. 

Trina felt her anger reach a boiling point as Chloe, of all people, lectured her . Objects around the room started shaking. Chloe, unfazed by the strange happenings, held a steady gaze on Trina.

“If you are always mean to everyone, you’ll just keep driving people away,” Chloe muttered in a much softer tone.

Trina flinched— Mina’s Bernadette’s furious face flashing through her mind. 

“I’d rather be nothing than be stuck with you!”

Trina was overcome with embarrassment, remembering how Bernadette humiliated her . She tried to look away from Chloe, only to glance at the corner of shame she made for her former bff.

A strange pain came from her chest. Like icy claws suddenly dug into her heart. The taller girl’s attention was brought back to Chloe as her high-pitched voice continued.

“The worst part is, you can actually be nice! Sorta! Like, I had fun with you yesterday! And I honestly think we can be friends! Just… not if you keep being so mean. Can you - Can you please just give being nice a try? Please?”

Pleading, round eyes looked over to see that Trina had a deep scowl on her face. Her eyes had lost the red glow. The pinkette stomped over until she was towering over the shorter ginger. Furniture and stuffed animals in the room were now lying still. The storm clouds outside dissipated. 

Trina held out her hand.

“Fine or whatever,” Trina grumbled. “But I’m only doing it for the research notes and not because of your stupid speech. Which by the way, was, like, super lame! And totally all over the place! I’m def gonna have to edit whatever you write for the paper and junk.”

Despite the rude comments, Chloe shot the girl a bright smile, delicately handing her the curling iron before rotating the chair away and fluffing her red mane. Trina contemplated letting the curling iron burn Chloe’s precious hair, but ultimately decided against it.

She’d probably make an even bigger stink about it . Trina rationalized. 

If Chloe’s later squealing about how Trina did such a good job made her feel a little warm inside… Well, that was Trina’s secret.

~ Wicked Nice Transition ~

Carrie Beff did not have a good night last night. 

And she entirely blamed Grojband for that! 

Specifically, Laney Penn and stupid, dumb, idiotic Riffin!

It all started when the Newmans had bid each other goodbye yesterday. 

Carrie said her usual, “Good night, girls!” and Larry gave his classic, joking response of, “Not a girl!” 

It was something so routine at this point. But it made Carrie pause. Like a song she’s heard a million times, only to just now notice the lyrics.

Carrie’s earlier conversation with Laney about the female bassist moving on from Riffin because he always treated her like “ one of the guys ” started roaring through her head like a crescendo.

The rest of the night, the poor guitarist’s brain hadn’t quieted down. 

Did Larry secretly resent her for treating him like one of the girls? 

Carrie thought treating her best friend that way would help him since it must be awkward being the only guy in a girl band. She even got Kim and Konnie involved to try to ensure Larry didn’t feel left out… Was-was that a mistake ? 

Oh, Rock Gods! Was Carrie as bad as Riffin ?

No, Carrie had to reassure herself. There’s no way I’m that stupid!

Like, her relationship with Larry was totally different from Riffin’s relationship with Laney!

Carrie and Larry had been teasingly flirting for the last couple of months or so - enough for even the twins to comment on it to her! 

…But what if she messed that all up by treating him like one of the girls?

What if Larry now only ever saw her as a friend because of that? 

WHAT IF SHE WAS DRIVING LARS AWAY?!

Before she could spiral any further, Carrie resorted to sneaking into her sister’s room and calmly waking Bernadette up, where the two then had a very civilized discussion. 

… Carrie totally did not frighten the daylights out of both her sister and their pet cat by suddenly letting out an ear-piercing wail as she burst into tears and tackled the sleeping older girl in her bed. As if! Carrie Beff was way too cool to do something as inconsiderate and pathetic as that!

It was thanks to Bernadette’s reassuring words and Dr. Purrs’s cuddles that the youngest Beff finally conked out, emotionally exhausted.

“..ie? Carrie!” Laney’s shout broke the blue-haired girl from her thoughts.

“Huh? What?” 

“Are you okay?” Laney gave the guitarist a concerned look. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for the last five minutes, but you’ve been pretty zoned out.”

“Oh, uh, yeah! Just mentally planning out what we’re gonna do today,” Carrie lied. 

Laney shot her a look of disbelief, but shrugged it off. It clearly was something Carrie wasn’t keen on talking about.

The two finally arrived at the Beff property, and Laney started to head towards the side of the house.

“Where are you going?” Carrie’s nasally voice stopped Laney in her tracks. 

The redhead had a vague sense of déjà vu.

“To the barn. Y’know, for us to work on our project. Like last time,” Laney shot the guitarist a confused look.

“No way,” Carrie grabbed the bassist’s wrist and started dragging the girl towards the front door. “We’re gonna work in the house today.”

Laney just blinked in surprise. That was quite a change in tune since Monday. 

Nevertheless, the petite ginger followed the taller girl inside.

As soon as they entered, Laney noticed the beige walls of the long hallway were crammed with paintings and framed photos. The old hardwood floors creaked slightly with each step, yet shone like new. A window at the end of the hall cast dull lighting into the space.

Carrie guided Laney further in, the redhead glancing in each open room as they went. There was what looked like a painting studio - which explained all the wall art - a laundry room, a living room with Bernadette and Nick Mallory, an old-looking kitchen with dark cabinets- 

Wait . Laney paused just past the living room. Bernadette and Nick Mallory?

The bassist peeked back into the room, spotting Carrie’s older sister and the most popular teen in Peaceville sitting around the coffee table. Papers and books littered the wooden surface. The blushing older girl nodded and loudly giggled at every word the heartthrob said.

Huh. The redhead thought. They must be partners for the project .

“Oh. Hey, Bee,” Carrie poked her head in above Laney’s. 

“Nick,” The female guitarist greeted with a suspicious glare.

“Oh!” Bernadette’s mouth shaped an ‘o’ in surprise, the teal-haired girl snapping out of her Nick trance. “Hi, Carrie! Hi, Laney!”

Nick waved, flashing the two younger girls a perfect smile. 

The two rockers rolled their eyes.

“Bee, Laney and I are going up to my room to study. Is it cool if we take Dr. Purrs?”

“Sure,” Bernadette motioned behind her.

The bassist blinked in surprise, just now noticing the orange tabby resting on the couch.

Carrie walked over and picked up the cat, Dr. Purrs letting out a small meow of protest, but a quick scratch behind the ear made him start snuggling the younger Beff sibling.

Carrie walked back over to Laney, holding out the cat in offering.

Laney really should text Core about the Bernadette/Nick situation - it seemed like great Trina diary material…

But Dr. Purrs just looked so cute! And docile! Any time Laney tried to pet Wheelie at the Riffin house, he always broke out into a hissing fit and attempted to claw her.

…Okay, Core can wait . Laney thought, scooping Dr. Purrs into her arms. The tiny ginger broke out into a bright smile as the tabby started to purr louder.

“Let’s get going, Laney. Call us down for dinner, Bee!” Carrie shouted over her shoulder as she started heading to her room.

Five hours later, Laney let out a yawn as she finished typing and closed her laptop. The ginger snuggled deeper into the orange beanbag chair, closing her eyes as she shuffled her feet on Carrie’s carpet.

Laney leaned over slightly to pet Dr. Purrs, happy with their additional study buddy.

“Whelp,” Carrie spoke up, turning off her computer. “I’m done with my part. How about you?”

“I just finished as well,” Laney shot the girl a peace sign with her free hand.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Carrie raised her watch, noting it was almost 10 PM. “... Do you wanna sleep over or whatever?”

Laney paused at that, removing her hand from the fluffy cat, and slowly turned to the other girl, surprised.

“What?”

Carrie flushed.

“You heard me. I’m not repeating myself,” Carrie huffed, turning up her nose to hide her embarrassment. 

In Carrie’s opinion, the past few days of working with the Grojband bassist had been - dare she say it - enjoyable. 

Laney was quick-witted and snarky, able to playfully match Carrie’s trash talk. And their conversations about music and rock bands were enjoyable (especially gossiping about how Candy Jams is such a poser).

Carrie could actually see herself being friends with the redhead. 

… Terrible company that Laney keeps aside. Carrie’s nose scrunched up at the thought of the blue-haired Riffin.

“That’s -uhm,” Laney awkwardly stuttered. The redhead quickly realized that the offer was Carrie extending the figurative olive branch… But still! They had been enemies no less than three days ago. And now she’s asking for a sleepover?

“I guess,” Laney slowly said. Carrie perked up. “But I didn’t bring anything with me.”

The bluenette slouched down, disappointed, before an idea occurred to her.

“That’s fine! You have your backpack, so you don’t have to worry about being ready for school. And we have extra stuff in the bathroom you can use.”

“But what about pajamas? And clothes for tomorrow?”

“You can borrow some of my pajamas to sleep. And we can throw your current clothes in the wash,” Carrie shrugged. “No one’s gonna care if you wear the same outfit two days in a row. Heck, everyone wears the same clothes everyday anyways.”

“That - That is actually a good point,” Laney conceded. “Sure. Let’s have a sleepover.”

“Awesome!” Carrie hopped up from her desk chair, walking over to the small TV in the room. “You wanna watch a movie?”

“Sure. Whatcha got?” Laney made her way over. Dr. Purrs got up and stole the redhead’s previous seat.

Laney looked through the DVD cases, stopping on one that caught her eye.

“Papa Pia ?” The redhead questioned.

“Oh,” an embarrassed Carrie mumbled. She forgot she had that there.

“That’s one of Bee’s movies. It’s, like, so lame,” Carrie lied.

In actuality, it belonged solely to Carrie - but she didn't want the rival bassist to know she was into a pop musical! That goes against her cool punk rocker image! It was just a comfort movie she likes to watch with her sister! 

… And sometimes Carrie has it play as background noise when she’s working on assignments.

“It's a musical with songs by BAAB. The story is about a girl who invites three guys who are her mom’s old flames and are potentially her dad to her wedding. Like I said: lame.”

Carrie forced out an awkward laugh.

“Sounds dorky,” Laney giggled. “You wanna watch it?” The bassist waved the DVD case.

The blue-haired girl blinked.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why not? If it’s as lame as you say it is, we can just make fun of it the whole time… Unless you don’t want to watch it,” Laney started to slide the case back where she found it.

“No!” Carrie shouted, snatching the case out of the shorter girl’s hand. Laney looked at her wide-eyed, taken aback by the guitarist’s actions.

She coughed, trying to downplay her reaction. “I mean- like, you’re the guest. We should go with your pick or whatever.”

About an hour later, Carrie and Laney, now decked out in pajamas, were dancing around Carrie’s room, singing along to the blasting TV. Upon the completion of Jiving Queen , the two collapse onto the ground, giggling their heads off.

“Not that lame?” Carrie asked.

“Not that lame,” Laney agreed.

~ Musicals are Awesome! ~

THURSDAY

“I just can’t believe you had a sleepover with Carrie, Lanes!” Corey whined to his redheaded friend, whom he was currently tightly hugging, a look of betrayal on his face.

Laney just let out a sigh. She did not enjoy the feeling of the plastic cafeteria chair digging into her thigh as Corey’s weight practically shoved her out of her seat.

“Core, as I already told you: we got caught up working on the project, and before we knew it, it was late. Me staying over just seemed like the best option,” Laney explained to her best friend, who, in her opinion, was acting like a neglected toddler.

Corey pouted, shooting a glare towards Carrie across the lunchroom. 

Stupid Carrie hogging Lanes, Corey cursed.

“It wasn’t as fun as our sleepovers, though, right?” Corey grumbled, his pleading, wide, bright blue eyes turned towards his redheaded friend.

Laney fondly rolled her eyes.

“No, Core. Grojband’s sleepovers are still the best,” Laney reassured, trying (and failing) to pry the clingy blunette off. Meanwhile, Corey was now smiling brightly at her words, feeling too giddy to notice what she was doing.

What she said wasn’t a lie; the band’s sleepovers were awesome… though watching an entire movie uninterrupted by her bandmates was a nice change of pace.

“Anyways,” Laney said, attempting to change the subject. “How is your report going?”

Corey grinned, finally releasing the bassist as he pumped his fists in the air.

“Good! Yesterday, Konnie and I decided to write about Rock-lore! We ended up having a jam sesh to study some Rock-lore songs!” Corey bragged.

The frontman looked up to see his friends staring at him with concern.

“Core, you’ve done more for the project than just pick the topic and jam out. Right?” Laney asked in a nervous tone.

“Uh,” Corey trailed off, refusing to meet Laney’s worried green eyes.

“Dude!” Kon shouted. “The project is due tomorrow! Even Kim and I have almost finished!”

Kin nodded, “Yeah, Larry and I are completely done.”

“Look, we tried working on it all week!” Corey defended. “We just ended up getting off topic, once or twice.”

His bandmates exchanged worried looks.

“Did Mrs. Lit accidentally pair up the two most distractable students together?” Kin murmured, horror dawning on all four of them.

Kin, Kon, and Laney stood up, dragging their guitarist along with them as they headed over to the Newmans’ lunch table. The rival band looked up at their arrival.

“What’s up?” Carrie raised a brow, glancing up at Laney. Her voice lacked the usual hostility.

“It seems like Core and Konnie haven’t worked on their project. At all ,” Laney explained. 

“What?” Kim shouted, turning towards her sister. “Konnie! What have you been doing the whole week?”

“Oh - uh, watching MeTube videos, beating Corey’s butt in ping pong-“

“I still say I won that last game!” Corey interjected.

“- jamming out, telling Rock-lore stories,” Konnie looked up in thought. “Oh! And taking power naps to fuel our brains!”

The blonde proudly smiled at her concerned bandmates. Larry let out a sigh.

“Well, what do we do about the situation then? We can’t just sit back and let Konnie fail,” Larry gestured to the drummer.

“We’re going to have a large study session to ensure Core and Konnie actually work on the project,” Laney instructed, pointedly ignoring the pained groans from Carrie and Corey. “Anyone who completes their project early can try to help them. We all meet up at Core’s after school?”

“Nooooo,” Carrie whined. “Why do I have to help babysit Riffin?”

“Hey-,” Corey grumbled, glaring at the female guitarist.

“Because,” Laney loudly interrupted before the two could launch into an argument. “You would also be helping Konnie.” Laney gestured to the blonde.

Carrie glanced at Konnie. The chubby girl sheepishly waved, a hopeful look on her face.

“Fine,” Carrie drawled out, flopping her head back. “For Konnie.”

“For Konnie,” Larry and Kim echoed.

“For Corey!” Kin and Kon shouted, high-fiving.

Corey raised a finger, ready to argue about the Newmans (mainly Carrie) being invited to his garage, when he felt a soft bump to his arm.

“For Core,” Laney shot a teasing smile up at the blunette.

Corey felt the tips of his ears warm up again, and his chest fluttered as his blue eyes stared into Laney’s emerald greens. Any insult he prepared for the Newmans died in his throat.

“Fine,” the slightly flustered frontman grunted out. “…and thanks, fella.” He lightly nudged Laney back.

The frontman failed to notice the wince the petite bassist gave at the word “fella.” Nor did he see the look of pity Carrie shot at Laney.

“Yay! Study buddies!” Konnie wrapped Kim and Larry up in a bone-crushing hug.

~ Study Buds Transition ~

“Ew,” Carrie said as soon as they entered the garage. The female guitarist’s lip curled in disgust as she spotted candy wrappers, random cheese slices, and half-empty drinks littering the practice room.

I hope this trash-fest doesn’t mess with Lars's allergies , Carrie thought.

“Well, Beff ,” Corey mocked. “If it’s too much for you to handle, you know where the door is.”

“Why you-,” Carrie raised a fist.

“Stop!” Laney scolded. “Both of you - BEHAVE! Remember we’re here to study! Not to fight!”

Both blue-haired musicians pouted, glaring at each other. The two grumbled.

“Sorry, Lanes.”

“Whatever, Laney.”

“Good,” Laney said, going to take a seat on the Groj-couch, Corey quickly sitting down next to her. “Now, Core, Konnie. Have you guys decided on which Rock-lore story you’re gonna write about?”

“Nope,” Corey responded, leaning back into the couch.

“Nu-uh,” Konnie shook her head.

Laney sighed.

“Well,” Larry piped up. “What if you guys tell us your favorite Rock-lore story?”

“Nice thinking, Lars,” Carrie slugged the redheaded boy in the arm. Larry had a goofy smile on his face as he rubbed the sore spot where she had punched him.

 Kon let out a loud gasp.

“We could tell the story of how the first band was made!”

“Oh my Rock Gods! Yes! That’s one of my favorites!” Konnie did a little bounce, excited by the idea.

“Not a bad idea,” Kim agreed. Kin nodded as well.

Grojband’s drummer and keyboardist clambered onto the stage.

“Rock-lore time!” Kin and Kon shouted, doing their signature fist bump. 

Before the two could launch into their tale, they were suddenly squished together by Kim and Konnie, the two girls pushing the Kujira twins off to the side.

“No! It’s my project, so we get to tell the story!” Konnie exclaimed, Kim nodding in agreement.

“But it’s our garage!” Kin and Kon whined in unison, attempting to push back.

“Can’t you guys just tell it together?” Corey interjected.

The four pause.

“Fine,” Kin and Kim reluctantly agreed. Kon and Konnie clapped in excitement.

“Rock-lore time!” The four said together. 

~ Story Time Transition ~

A long, long, looong - (“Okay Kon, we get it! On a bit of a time crunch here!” “Laney! Let me tell the story!”) time ago, there were two brothers. The God of Rock, Zonatus, and the Lord of Silence, Restafus.

Two figures sat on matching thrones. One was a large, muscular man with a spikey mane of dark purple hair donning a white toga and a gleaming golden belt. The other was a smaller, slim man with pale, white hair wearing dark sunglasses and a black toga with red accents.

The two brothers always got along well. Zonatus’s sick music notes and Restafus’s perfect timing helped create awesome melodies!

Together, their rocking tunes charmed everyone on Mount Rocklympus and in the Mortal World!

But one day, something changed. 

Restafus changed. 

No one is quite sure why. Some say the loud music of Rocklympus drove the timid god to madness; others say that he became jealous of his brother getting all the attention for their songs.

Whatever the reason, Restafus wanted to bring about the end of Rocklympus! To silence his fellow Rock Gods for good and leave himself as the only one! 

The Lord of Silence went for his brother first. 

Zonatus survived, but his powers were weakened, leaving him no match against Restafus.

Desperate, Zonatus gathered the Gods of Rocklympus together, creating an army to go up against his brother. 

One by one, the Rock Gods challenged Restafus. 

One by one, the Rock Gods fell. 

Since his betrayal, the lord of Silence possessed a strange power. A power that allowed him to drain his opponents of their energy, leaving them weak and helpless, barely able to move, let alone lift their instruments. 

Soon, only a handful of Rock Gods were left. 

Their morale was low; the remaining gods were the weakest of the bunch. And gods much stronger than they had already fallen.

What hope did they have?

That’s when she appeared.

A tall, curvy figure stood in front of the cowering gods. A wreath of orange lilies rested atop her spiky hair.

The woman was Harmony, one of the oldest Goddesses of Rocklympus and the Master of Musical Structure.

She called upon the remaining Rock Gods and proposed that instead of them challenging Restafus one by one, they join together to create a song to defeat him. 

Under the leadership of Harmony, the remaining gods were able to combine their music and create a fresh, new tune that blasted Restafus away, banishing him from Rocklympus forever. 

And so, from the ashes of the battle between the God of Rock and the Lord of Silence, the first band was made.

~ End of Tale Transition ~

The two sets of twins mirrored each other - chests heaving from exertion and arms open wide, waiting for applause.

Corey, Carrie, Laney, and Larry sat in stunned silence.

“That,” Corey spoke first, pointing at the four onstage. The boy had a sparkle in his bright blue eyes, his body practically vibrating with excitement. “I wanna write about that.” The blunette declared.

Laney raised a brow. 

“I don’t know Core. Can you really write a report on it?”

“Don’t worry, Lanes,” Corey threw an arm over her shoulder, pulling the redhead close. “Mrs. Lit said we could write about whatever we want, so a short story should be an option. All we gotta do is take what the twins told us and stretch it out.”

“Let’s get this report done!” Corey shouted, pumping his fist in the air. 

A few hours later, Corey tiredly flopped his head onto Laney’s shoulder. The petite redhead had finished editing her report and was now helping her friend with his story.

“Lanesssss,” the blunette whined. “I’m hungry.”

“Coreeeeee,” Laney mockingly echoed, getting a smile out of the boy. “Your dad should be here soon with the pizzas.” She looked around, making sure no one was paying them any attention. 

“Finish this paragraph before then, and I’ll help you get more slices than Carrie,” She whispered to Corey, getting a snicker out of the guitarist.

Meanwhile, the mention of dinner reminded Kin of his plan for his brother.

“Speaking of food,” Kin announced, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I think we should all be pretty thirsty at this point. I’ll go get us some lemonade.”

The keyboardist shot a look over to the stage where Larry and Carrie were leaning against each other.

The male bassist raised a brow, confused. Kin waved his hands, requesting support.

A look of realization came over Larry’s face as he remembered the bespeckled boy’s plan to use his creation on Kon.

“Oh, that sounds great, Kin,” Larry replied, his voice sounding awkward and forced. “Thank you.” 

The others echoed “thanks” and grunts of acknowledgement. 

No one paid attention enough to notice the evil smile Kin had as he entered the main house.

Grojband’s keyboardist moved quickly around the Riffin kitchen, filling a large pitcher with homemade lemonade, grabbing eight glasses, and filling them with ice. 

Kin cackled as he pulled out the yellow glowing vial from his vest pocket. He added a drop into one of the empty glasses - a light, dim glow was the only indicator that it was the “special” cup. 

The scientist started looking through the drawers to find Kon’s favorite silly straw, intending to use it to keep track of which drink was meant for his brother. He cursed under his breath when he couldn’t find it. Kin headed back to the garage, figuring it was left there from earlier in the week.

Just as Kin left the main house, Tre entered through the front door, three pizza boxes precariously balanced in his right hand. The man let out a yawn as he stopped by the couch to pet the sleeping Wheelie with his free hand, before continuing the trek to the kitchen.

The brunette tiredly blinked as he noticed the pitcher of lemonade and the glasses scattered over the countertop. He dropped the pizzas on the breakfast table, letting out a sigh as he figured Corey got sidetracked while making drinks, again. 

Tre went over and poured the lemonade into the glasses. His sleepy mind did not even register the faint glow from one of them.

He went over and nabbed two slices from the box and a beer from the fridge.

“Corey! Trina! Dinner!” He shouted down the hall and quickly made his way to the living room couch as the stampede of teenagers burst through the hallway door and stomped their way to the kitchen.

Kin froze upon entering the kitchen, getting shoved aside by a fighting Carrie and Corey. The skinny boy stared at the now-filled lemonade glasses in shock. 

The keyboardist was brought out of his trance by Larry, who lightly elbowed his side.

“Dude,” Larry whispered. “Which one is Kons?”

“I… I don’t know,” Kin weakly muttered out.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Larry hissed out, dragging Kin into the hallway. 

“I mean, I don’t know,” Kin whispered back, glancing over his shoulder nervously. “I put a drop into one of the glasses, and went to find Kon’s usual straw,” The keyboardist held up a purple silly straw. “But by the time I got back, they were filled!”

“Then get rid of them all! I don’t want to accidentally drink it!” Larry, with surprising strength, shoved Kin into the kitchen. The bespeckled boy raced over to the lemonade, grabbing two glasses, intending to throw them into the sink.

Kin turned around, coming face to face with his brother.

“Oh! My straw! Thanks, Kin!”

The large boy plucked the silly straw and one of the drinks out of the keyboardist’s hand and started sipping at it. 

“Move over, Groj-nerd,” Carrie commanded before hip-bumping Kin out of the way. The blue-haired girl picked up a cup before walking off, but paused upon seeing the glare Laney shot at her. The frontwoman groaned and turned towards Kin. 

“And thanks for the drink… or whatever,” The female guitarist scoffed. Kin forced a smile. Yeah, you might not be so thankful about it later. 

The keyboardist felt himself start to sweat as more people came up and grabbed drinks. Larry awkwardly shuffled over and grabbed the last drink, the two exchanging panicked looks. 

Everyone went back to the garage, pizza and lemonade in hand, and sat down to start eating.

Kin waited for what felt like an eternity for Kon to get halfway through his cup before starting his interrogation.

“So, Kon,” Kin drawled, as his brother inhaled a slice of pizza. The keyboardist’s gaze hardened. “Did you eat my cheesecake?” 

“Oh, yeah. Totally,” The drummer admitted around a mouthful of food.

“AHA!” Kin cast an accusatory finger in Kon’s face. The chubby boy shrugged.

“Sorry about that. I needed it for an emergency.”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay then,” the keyboardist easily replied, sitting back down. The bespeckled boy missed the judgmental look shot at him by Larry. 

That’s it? Larry questioned. All that work for just an okay? Sigh. At least Kon seemed to be the one to drink the truth serum.

Larry finally took a sip of his lemonade, deeming it safe.

“Just buy me a new slice as an apology,” Kin requested.

“Oh, for sure, bro,” Kon nodded. The drummer then leaned over to Corey and Laney.

“Psst. Laney,” Kon waved at the redhead. “Can I borrow five bucks?”

Corey couldn’t help but laugh as the bassist paused mid-bite to glare at the chubby-cheeked boy.

Friday

“Finally,” Corey groaned out, slumping down in his seat. “Done with that stupid project.”

“C’mon, Core. It wasn’t all that bad.” Laney nudged her knee against his, happy to be back in her usual seat. 

Corey hummed, glancing over at Konnie.

“Yeah, I guess. Konnie was pretty fun to hang out with,” Corey conceded. 

And she still owes me a ping-pong rematch. The blunette internally grumbled.

“Larry makes a surprisingly good lab assistant,” Kin added, letting out an evil chuckle. 

A few rows ahead, a chill of fear ran through Larry. He shivered.

“Well, I had fun! I made a new friend!” Kon gloated, turning to wave at Kim. The petite girl rolled her eyes, but still waved back, offering the drummer a small smile.

The other three members of Grojband looked at their drummer in shock.

Kon really can befriend anyone .

“Uh, anyways,” Laney was the first to recover from the revelation. “Now that the whole project is over, isn’t there something else we should be focusing on? Like our Book Fair gig? Which is this afternoon? Which we still don’t have lyrics for?” Laney raised a brow.

“Oooh! Not gonna lie, almost forgot about that,” Corey admitted.

“We have a gig today?” Kon questioned.

“Yeah, don’t you remember that Corey mentioned it back on Monday?” Kin looked at his brother in concern.

“Hey! That was like a whole chapter ago! A lot has happened since that dialogue!” Kon defended.

“Relax, guy,” The frontman slung an arm around Laney, not noticing the frown on her face at the word “guy.”

“Everyone is going to be at the Book Fair. Trina included. We just have to make her go diary, and we got lyrics. Easy peasy.”

Laney let out a sigh. 

“As vague as that plan is, I have something that could help us make Trina lose it. Nick Mallory and Bernadette were project partners this week,” Laney nudged Corey. “You know nothing makes Trina go diary faster than learning Nick’s been around other girls.”

“Lanes! That’s perfect!”

At that exact moment, the bell rang, signalling that it was the end of the school day. The sound of metal scraping against tile filled the room as students rushed out the door, including Grojband.

“Laney! Wait up!” A nasally voice called out, stopping the redhead and her friends in their tracks. Laney looked back to see Carrie and the Newmans running to catch up. 

Corey stepped closer to Laney and let out a grunt in frustration at the approaching blue-haired girl. 

“Hey, Carrie. What’s up?” Laney greeted, unaware of the pout on Corey’s face.

“Do you all want to go to the Book Fair together or whatever?” Carrie looped an arm around Laney’s. The taller girl bent down to whisper, “I heard they have the new book by Ronnie Voth.”

“Seriously? Sure, let’s go!”

Corey frowned, not liking how the two seemed to be such good friends now. Laney was his best friend. Nevertheless, he quickly forced a smile and then snaked his arm around Laney’s free one.

“Yeah, Lanes !” Corey tugged the petite bassist closer to him. His contact with Laney was already helping calm the weird emotions swirling inside of him. “Let’s go!”

The blue-haired boy started dragging the two girls behind him, their other friends lightly jogging to catch up. Caught up in the twister of unfamiliar emotions swirling inside him, Corey completely missed the confused look shared between Laney and Carrie. He only let go once they finally got to the library.

For the Book Fair, Elementary High’s library was decorated with displays of books on study tables and atop bookcases. Streamers were stretched across the ceiling, and a large poster showed how the school’s fundraising goal had already filled in some of the thermometer. Lastly, a little stage was set up near the front entrance.

Corey glanced around, spotting Trina with Chloe and her friend group. And nearby them were Nick and Bernadette.

Perfect and perfect, Corey thought, maliciously rubbing his hands together. He glanced back, noting that his friends and the Newmans were too distracted checking out nearby book displays to notice him sneak away.

“Hey, sis. How’s it going?” The younger Riffin sibling popped up next to his sister, a devious smile on his face. 

Trina shot him a nasty look.

“Ugh, like, buzz off, twerp,” Trina hissed, shooing him away.

“Sure, whatever you say- oh my gosh!” Corey faked a gasp. 

“Is that Bernadette and Hunky Nick Mallory? Together?” He pointed in the direction where Bernadette and Nick were standing next to each other, surrounded by other students.

Bubblegum pink eyes glanced over. As Bernadette let out a giggle at something Nick Mallory said, a scowl carved itself into Trina’s face. The pinkette’s breathing became uneven as storm clouds started to circle above the school.

Well, looks like she’s having fun . Trina seethed, her eyes turning red. Her anger spiked as Bernadette said something that got the group around her laughing.

“Since when has she been popular?” Trina hissed out. Bookcases started to rumble.

“I don’t know,” Corey shrugged, a cocky grin on his face. “It probably helps that she and Nick Mallory were together all week. Alone .” 

“WHAT?!”

“Shhhh,” a little librarian popped out from behind a random shelf.

But it was too late. “ HER and Nick?! ALL WEEK ?!! ALONE ?!?!?!” A heavy metal song blasted through the library. Pillars of fire shot out of students' bags, and books flipped open, scattering loose pages everywhere.

The older Riffin sibling started to rise into the air, her eyes completely red. A strong force pulled books off nearby shelves, where they began to circle the girl.

A fuzzy pink diary and pink pen flew out of Trina’s bag and into her awaiting hands. A perfectly manicured hand clutched the pen and started aggressively writing in the diary, a trail of flames left behind on the page.

The girl finally lifted the pink pen as the music dimmed.

Trina’s eyes returned to their natural pink before rolling back. The exhausted girl fell to the ground with a loud thump. 

Across the room, Bernadette instinctively stepped towards the unconscious teen before stopping. While she hesitated, Chloe approached the unconscious girl, lifting her with help from her friends and carting Trina out of the library towards the Nurse’s office. Bernadette sighed and turned her attention back to Nick Mallory, trying to ignore the worry rolling around in her gut.

Corey, diary in hand, made his way back to his band.

“Let’s go, guys!” Corey shouted.

The lights dimmed, leaving only a single spotlight focused on the tiny stage. Corey sat on a stool, his usual guitar missing. Instead, the blunette held a microphone in one hand, his other hand snapping to Kon’s slow beat. Library patrons could hear a slow, smooth rhythm reverberate throughout the Book Fair.

 

I can’t stop this emotion I’m feeling.

It is my breath, you keep on stealing.

I think that you’re my weakness.

Around you, I’m simply speechless.

 

I can’t wax poetry like Shakespeare, 

But for you, I’ll try it, my dear.

Perhaps I’ll try to be like Poe - 

Great, now I’m drowning in woe.

 

What’s between us feels like a mystery -

We just have way too much history.

It’s like it was written by Sir Doyle,

But, baby, I love that you’re my foil.

 

I’ll try to be as funny as Mark Twain -

Until you think I’m such a pain.

Maybe a book can answer my plea

I’m sorry, words just tend to fail me

 

The spotlight faded, and the lights turned back on. Students and teachers clapped and snapped in appreciation. Grojband left their gear and headed back over to the Newmans. 

“So,” Corey drawled, a mocking smirk on his face. “Thoughts on the song?”

Before Carrie could give a snarky comeback, Larry spoke up.

“It was really good,” The redhead blurted.

Seven heads turned to him in surprise. Even the boy himself seemed shocked by what he said.

“Me too! Me too!” Konnie cheered. “I liked it!”

The blonde nudged her sister, and the tiny keyboardist rolled her eyes in response.

“I did like some of the references in it,” Kim admitted.

Carrie scrunched up her nose.

“It was… not completely horrible,” Carrie hissed through gritted teeth. The blunette looked like the words physically hurt her. Corey blinked in shock. Behind him, Laney shot Carrie a grateful smile.

“So, Core,” Laney said, snapping Corey out of his confusion. “You learn anything from all this?”

“Yes!” A spotlight shone down on the frontman. “I learned that your enemy today can be your friend tomorrow. You never know what you might have in common with someone else. Whether that be a rockin’ taste in music, or a love of ping-pong. Sometimes you find common ground in the most uncommon places. The most important thing is to remain open to possibilities and you might just gain a friend.” Corey fist-bumped Konnie.

The spotlight faded.

“Except for Carrie,” The blunette added. “She’s still the worst.” 

“Excuse me?” Carrie screeched out, her frustration at the boy back in full force. Her bandmates quickly grabbed her as she clawed in Corey’s direction.

Corey, panicked, turned towards the audience.

“Thanks for coming out-!” the guitarist waved about to shut the garage door until Carrie suddenly body slammed him, throwing him offscreen. Corey let out a yelp of pain.

Carrie turned towards the audience.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” the blue-haired girl snickered before slamming the garage door shut.

---

“Bwahahah! Lars, did you see the look on Riffin’s face when I pushed him over? Priceless!” Carrie’s laughter echoed down the empty hallway as she and Larry headed towards the cafeteria. Kim and Konnie had bolted off, leaving the singer and bassist behind.

Larry chuckled along with the blue-haired girl—a slight flush to his face.

“It was pretty awesome,” Larry confirmed. 

And you looked hot when you knocked him down , the redhead thought.

Carrie stopped. She turned to Larry, surprised. 

“What?”

“What?” Larry blinked in confusion.

“You just called me hot!”

“What!” Larry’s face turned as red as his hair. “No I didn’t! I thought it - but I didn’t say it!”

Larry slapped a hand over his mouth.

I did not mean to say that! Larry felt his lips move against his palm, powerless to stop.

“Lars, why are you covering your mouth?” Carrie poked him in the arm. Larry shook his head in response.

Carrie pouted.

“Fine, then,” Carrie then proceeded to push Larry up against the lockers before grabbing his wrists and pinning them beside his head. 

Somehow, Larry turned even redder. The boy was hyperaware of how close the blue-haired songstress was. He gulped as her icy blue eyes left him temporarily speechless.

“Lars. Talk. Now.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say it out loud! I don’t know why I can’t help but say everything-“ Larry gasped. “Kin! Kin made a drink that’s like a truth serum! He gave it a terrible name though… And now I think I accidentally drank it! So, anything I think of I automatically blurt out and I can’t help it and-“

The bassist was saved from his hopeless rambling by Carrie slapping a hand over his mouth.

”Let me get this straight. Right now, you can’t help but tell the truth? No matter what?”

Larry nodded his head.

Carrie smirked. 

Larry gulped.

“So, Lars ,” Carrie purred. The bassist felt his heart rate spike the way she said his nickname. “What do you think about me?”

Carrie removed her hand from his mouth, keeping the flustered boy pinned to the lockers.

“Care, I think you’re awesome. Like, the most amazing person ever. I like how headstrong and confident you are. As scared as I get about your plans, I also love them because you thought of them. Your voice is absolutely enchanting and I’ve never heard someone shred on the guitar as good as you. I’ve loved you ever since we were seven and you saved me from that group of bullies. And-“

Larry was cut off again by Carrie, smashing her mouth into his. The redhead tensed in surprise, but quickly melted into the kiss.

Carrie finally pulled away. Her dark blue lipstick leaving a mark on Larry’s mouth. 

“Well, what do you think about that, Lars?” Carrie drawled, a coy smile on her face as she stared down the red-faced boy.

Larry let out a squeak before sliding down the lockers till he was sitting on the floor.

Carrie couldn’t help but giggle.

“C’mon, Lars. The twins are probably wondering where we are.” She started to head towards the cafeteria, but soon stopped, realizing her companion hadn’t moved.

Larry was still sitting on the ground, his hand clutching at his chest.

“Lars?” The guitarist exclaimed, racing over and kneeling next to him. She quickly noticed his breath coming out in short gasps.

“Shoot,” she dug around in her bag before pulling out the emergency inhaler she kept for Larry and gave it to the redhead. 

Larry shook it and took a puff. His breath eventually returned to normal.

“Hey, Care?” He finally gasped out.

“Yeah?”

Larry let out a wheezy chuckle.

“I guess you can say: you leave me breathless.”

The two burst out laughing.

Notes:

Hey~! Sorry, this chapter took longer than expected! Much like Corey and Konnie, I got distracted by some stuff and kept putting of writing the chapter. Thankfully, my beta reader came in clutch with the editing T^T

So yay! Trina character development! Let's go!!!! It's a baby step, but a step in the right direction. I love the headband friendship... but we did get a sad/jealous little Bernadette at the end >:3

Speaking of jealousy, Corey is not excited about Laney making friends with Carrie. I love a jelly Corey. And, btw, the Mama Mia reference was 110% necessary.

But the biggest thing in this chapter was some Rock-Lore drops! It went a little ham, lol. That's all I'm going to say about it for now... but more Rock-lore to come in later chapters.

Thanks for reading! And leave a kudos or a comment if you're interested in more!

Chapter 6: Canadian Idiot

Summary:

Peaceville is hosting the Battle of the Bands, with a special judge and special new opportunities. Grojband is excited for the chance to make it big, and even Trina is dragged to watch the competition by her new friend. But of course, when the Riffin siblings are around, not all goes to plan...

In a certain house on the east side of Peaceville, three figures sat around a makeshift coffee table in the garage.

“Go fish!” Kon shouted, pointing at the redheaded girl. 

Laney sighed.

“Kon, for the last time: we are playing Uno ! And you can’t get out of drawing a card by pretending you don’t understand the game,” She scolded. “And Kin! Stop adding your cards to Kon’s hand!”

The keyboardist let out a nervous chuckle, bringing his hand away from his brother’s deck and placing his card back.

Laney thumped her head against the table. 

“Why do I play games with you two?” The bassist‘s muffled voice moaned. “...And stop trying to peek at my cards.”

The twins, who had crowded around Laney, exchanged glances before quickly returning to their original positions, whistling innocently.

The garage door rattling caused all three to look over at the entrance.

“Guys! Guys! GUYS!” Corey burst into the garage. “Turn on the news! Now!”

“Yes!” The twins cheered, throwing their cards in the air and racing each other over to the computer, their guitarist hot on their heels. Laney heaved a resigned sigh, placing her cards on the table before getting up and shuffling over.

The screen flickered to life, showing two reporters behind a large desk.

“I’m Chance Happening,” The black-haired beauty greeted, shooting a dazzling smile at the camera.

“And I’m Buzz Newsworthy,” The chiseled man introduced before roughly shoving his co-host out of her seat. 

Chance growled before pushing Buzz out of the shot. “And I’m here to tell you-oh!” Chance gasped as her chair was suddenly kicked out from under her by Buzz.

“That the annual Battle of the Bands - sponsored by - ugh!” Buzz was suddenly pulled off-screen by a cane. Chance popped back up.

“Sponsored by CC Records , is being hosted this year in Peacevi-lle!” Chance yelped as she was suddenly elbow dropped by Buzz. The chiseled man, now sporting a black eye and multiple scratch marks on his face, stood back up and dusted himself off. 

“The battle of the bands is happening today at five, so bands better sign up quic-uck!” Buzz gasped out as Chance reappeared and put him into a choke-hold.

“Sign up quick, and get the chance to perform for CC Records's owner, Chip Chunkly himself, who is guest judging the event!” Chance finished, smiling at the camera, revealing she was now missing a tooth. Buzz’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he started to fall backwards, Chance letting out a shout in surprise. 

The news feed cut out from there, and the members of Grojband moaned in disappointment.

Just when the news was getting interesting!

“So,” Laney was the first to speak up. “A Battle of the Bands. What’s the catch? We have to race down speeding curling stones again?”

“Or perform a drum solo while also jousting an opponent over shark-infested water?” Kon asked, picking up a nearby broom and miming fighting an imaginary opponent with it.

“Or our instruments with our feet while our hands are disarming a paint bomb?” Kin smiled, an evil glint in his eye as he held up a steel briefcase with an alarming amount of wires coming out of it and a ticking sound coming from inside.

“Nope,” Corey shrugged. “It’s just a plain old Battle of the Bands. We perform a song, other bands perform a song, and the best band wins.”

The three bandmates gave their frontman confused looks.

“That doesn’t sound right,” Kin mumbled, throwing the briefcase out of the garage. There was a loud bang followed by faint screaming outside as the green paint bomb went off. 

“Thats it? Are you sure, Core?” Laney asked. It wouldn’t be the first time Corey skipped over some details in his excitement… Or purposefully neglected to mention stuff because he thought it would be more fun to reveal later.

“Suspicious!” Kon dramatically shouted, pointing a calloused finger in Corey’s face.

“I know, I know, it’s weird- but guys!” Corey defended, pushing Kon’s hand away. “This isn’t a run-of-the-mill Peaceville battle of the bands! It’s being hosted by Chip Chunkly! The Chip Chunkly!”

“The same Chip Chunkly whose approval is known in the music industry for making or breaking a band?” Laney raised a brow.

“ That Chip Chunkly?” The twins loudly shouted together, and the two boys started lightly slapping each other’s arms in excitement. 

“Yes!” Corey threw his arms in the air and waved his hands. Kin and Kon also threw their arms in the air and started to race around the garage, squawking excitedly at each other.

Laney made her way over to the guitarist, nudging him to get his attention.

“Core, this is awesome,” Corey smiled. “-But,” Corey’s smile faltered a bit. “This is also a big deal. If Chip Chunkly doesn’t like our song, Grojband’s reputation could be totally ruined!” The bassist rubbed her arm, something Corey knew she only did when nervous. He caught Laney casting a worried glance at the celebrating twins and felt a weird warmth in his chest at her concern.

She really cares about us. The blue-haired boy thought, his heart fluttering.

“Lanes, Lanes, Lanes,” Corey tutted before slinging an arm around her shoulder and pulling the girl close. He gave her a lopsided smile as the tips of his ears started to heat up from the contact. “C’mon! Look at the positive! If Chip Chunkly likes our song, Grojband could take off! We could even get world-famous! Just picture it, Lanes!” Corey parted from her for a second before grabbing Laney’s shoulders and pulling her close, their noses practically touching. “You! The bassist/manager of the world-famous Grojband! Sold out concerts! Crowds cheering our names!” 

The guitarist looked meaningfully at Laney, his bright blues clashing against her emerald greens as he looked at her hopefully. His hands trailed down her arms until he was holding her smaller hands in his own.

“Wouldn’t that be awesome?” He murmured in a much quieter tone, rubbing his thumbs along the back of her freckled hands.

Laney’s face softened. She couldn’t help but internally curse as the butterflies in her stomach ran rampant from Corey talking so passionately about his dreams… and it certainly wasn’t helping how close his face was to hers. 

Bad Laney! Bad! Laney scolded herself. He doesn’t mean anything romantic! Remember! It’s Corey! And, gosh! He’s such an optimistic idiot!… But I guess I’m an idiot too, then.

“…Yeah, that would be pretty awesome.” Laney whispered, causing Corey to shoot a bright smile at her. The bassist fondly rolled her eyes, slipping her hands out of Corey’s and taking a step back, earning a slight pout from the boy. The redhead crossed her arms, giving her band leader a deadpan look. “But first, we need lyrics.”

At that exact moment, Trina burst out of her room. Her pink eyes glared around before landing on the shouting twins. The older girl started screeching at Kin and Kon about “Hashtag: volume control, losers!” (Ironic considering her usual voice level). 

“Speak of the devil,” Corey smirked. “Don’t worry, Lanes. I got a crazy plan that just might work.”

~ Got a Plan Transition ~

“Trina!” Chloe Penn shouted, the short redhead excitedly jumping and waving to get the pinkette’s attention. Next to her was her boyfriend, Party Danimal, who offered a more relaxed wave.

Trina rolled her eyes and let out a huff. Nevertheless, she had a slight bounce in her step as she made her way over to the party girl, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Like, I heard you already. Take a chill pill… and thanks for inviting me or whatever.” Trina cast a glance at Peaceville Stadium. Her lip curled in disgust. “BTW, why did you invite me to a Battle of the Bands?”

“ Because ,” Chloe grabbed both Party Danimal and Trina’s hands before starting to lead them into the stadium. “It sounds like you haven’t been to a lot of concerts and today a bunch of bands from nearby towns are coming to perform. So, there has to be at least one band whose music you’ll, like, totally love!”

Chloe paused.

“Plus there’s gonna be plenty of eye-candy.” The ginger waggled her eyebrows at Trina. The pink-haired girl raised a brow and glanced between Chloe and Dan.

“Aren’t you two, like, dating or whatever?” Trina asked.

“Yeppers!”

“Yeah, dude.”

Trina’s confusion increased. She turned to Dan, who looked as calm as ever. “Then, like, shouldn’t you be getting majorly jealous or junk when she says stuff like that?”

Dan, perplexed, tilted his head and slowly blinked. “Should I? Someone would have to be majorly insecure to get jealous over something like that, dude. Plus, I know a lot of the musicians performing today from some parties, and they are hot.”

“Aw, babe,” Chloe stopped. She let go of Trina’s hand and advanced on Dan. “I love how cool and collected you are.” The redhead purred. 

“And I love how fiery you are,” Dan growled back. The party critic snaked an arm around Chloe’s waist and pulled her close. The ginger giggled as a flush came over her cheeks.

Next to them, Trina looked at them in absolute horror before starting to fake gag. She turned around before the couple could start making out in front of her. That’s when she spotted a flash of teal in the crowd. Trina stood on her tiptoes to peek over the sea of people to spot her ex-friend Bernadette.

Her ex-friend, Bernadette, with a very familiar , very hunky heart throb!

“Trina?” Chloe’s high-pitched voice spoke up, the party girl noticing the shift in atmosphere around her new friend.

“Nick and Bernadette are here. Together . Alone ,” Trina hissed out, her face in a deep scowl. Her hands were practically white from how tightly she clutched them at her sides.

Chloe and Dan peeked out from behind the Riffin girl, spotting Nick and Bernadette over to the side of the crowd. The two were standing close, and Bernadette giggled at something Nick said.

Chloe grimaced. While she and Trina hadn’t been friends for long, everyone knew about the blow-up that happened between the mean pinkette and her teal-haired lackey on the first day of school. And everyone knows that Trina has (had?) a major crush on Nick Mallory.

The shorter girl reassuringly nudged the enraged pinkette. “Hey, c’mon! You don’t know if they came together! Like, they could have just bumped into each other and are being friendly.”

Trina relaxed a bit, her shoulder slumping, and she unclenched her fists. The tense atmosphere around her eased a little.

“Yeah, like, I guess or whatever…” Trina mumbled, appreciating Chloe’s reassurance.

“Ohhhhhh!” Party Danimal gasped, slapping a hand to his forehead. He turned to Chloe. “Babe! That’s what I forgot to tell you! Yeah! Nick mentioned they’re dating now.” 

The spacy party animal stared into the distance, a content look on his face as he felt accomplished for remembering that tidbit of gossip. Dan didn’t notice the look of disbelief his girlfriend shot at him. Nor did Dan see the inhuman speed at which Trina’s head snapped in his direction.

“What?” Trina roared, her eyes flashing red. Above the stadium, dark clouds suddenly appeared in the clear skies. Heavy metal started thundering through the hall - a few patrons bobbing their heads along. The tops of trash cans popped off, spewing pillars of flames. The ground began to shake slightly.

Trina rose into the air. Random trash followed in her wake and started circling the girl. A pink diary and pen burst out of her bag, and the girl’s perfectly manicured hands promptly snatched them up. She opened the book and started writing.

Back at the ground, Chloe let out a sigh at Trina’s dramatics. Party Danimal nodded his head to the music.

“I rate this eight awesomes!” Dan shouted over the music. “I feel like it needed some more buildup, but overall, it has a good beat!”

“I give it a six,” Chloe muttered. “She did the same thing, for the same reason, last week .” The party girl looked up at her floating friend in concern. 

This can’t be healthy . Chloe thought. 

Across the hall, Bernadette looked up at Trina, worry evident on her face. Nick took a casual sip from his soda as he stared at the floating girl. The handsome brunette’s face was devoid of any emotion.

“Nick Mallory needs to go meet with the other judges, but will catch Bernadette Beff after the show!” Nick shouted over the blasting heavy metal.

“Oh! Uh-yeah! Sure!” Bernadette awkwardly replied, glancing at the teenage heartthrob before returning her concerned gaze to Trina.

Nick shrugged before walking away. As he passed by a fiery trash can, he touched its side, and the flames instantly died out. Ice crept out of the edges of the bin. Nick tossed his empty soda into the trash before continuing on his way. The music died down, and a distant thud sounded behind him as Trina crashed down to the ground. Nick spared a glance behind him as he kept on walking.

Meanwhile, Grojband had just entered through the main stadium entrance after dropping off their equipment. The four young teens paused as their frontman stopped and started looking around for his sister.

“So, Core. What’s the plan?” Laney inquired.

Corey turned towards his friends, rubbing his hands together evilly and cackling. “Get ready, guys, cause this might be my craziest, bestest, most awesomest plan yet! First, we gotta - ouch!” Corey let out a yelp of pain as something fell from the sky onto his head.

“What the -?” Corey rubbed his beanie in pain and looked around before spotting his sister’s diary on the ground nearby. The guitarist bent down, nabbed the book, and began to flick through it. He cocked an eyebrow as he spotted a new diary entry.

“What is it?” Kon peeked over Corey’s left shoulder.

“New lyrics?” Kin popped up on Corey’s right.

“So it seems,” the blunette murmured, looking around for his sister. He spotted her bright, bubblegum pink hair farther down the hall, near the concessions area. A short redhead and a tall brunette were helping her unconscious form. 

“Well, that was easy. C’mon, let’s get backstage and start writing some lyrics.” Laney motioned towards the exit.

“But-but my plan!” Corey whined, gesturing in his sister’s direction.

“Dude,” Kin raised a brow. “We already got the lyrics. And now we've got more prep time before the show.”

“But it was an awesome plan,” Corey grumbled. Laney reassuringly patted him on the back. 

“I’m sure it was, Core.”

“Do you still want to do it?” Kon asked, not liking how disappointed his friend was.

“We can get two diary entries to choose from then,” Kin added, tapping the shiny heart on the book’s cover.

“Noooooo. It’s not the same,” The frontman groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation. He started shuffling towards the exit, his bandmates following behind like ducklings.

“Hey, Corey?” The guitarist flopped his head to the side to look at Kon. “Is- Is everything okay with Trina? She seems… off lately.” The chubby boy worriedly rubbed his hands.

Corey blinked in surprise.

“Now that you mention it, getting her to go diary has been a lot easier. That could be because she’s been under stress lately.” Kin adjusted his glasses. 

“Uh,” Corey rubbed at the back of his neck. “I haven’t really noticed anything different. Lanes?” He looked hopefully at the bassist for support.

Laney hesitated, rubbing her arm before glancing away from Corey. “...Well, somehow Choe and Trina are friends now… and Chloe did mention that Trina seems a bit down… or something.” The bassist mumbled the last part, looking towards the ground.

Corey paused. He grimaced as memories of Bernadette’s missing presence and Nick’s rejection of his older sister flashed through his head.

“Pssh,” Corey shrugged. “Trina’s fine. And even if she has been a bit off lately, she’ll just get even angrier if we start asking her questions… Hey! Maybe we can use that to get her to go diary!” Corey joked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Laney offered him a weak smile. Kin shrugged, but refused to meet Corey’s eyes. Kon was busy glancing over his shoulder towards where Trina was. The drummer still looked concerned.

It’s fine—Trina’s fine . Corey tried to reassure himself… But even to him, it felt like a lie.

“Uuuuugh, fiiiiiine. I’ll bring it up during dinner tomorrow. She won’t blow up at me in front of Dad,” Corey grumbled, his bandmates visibly perking up at his promise. “Now, let’s forget about Trina and focus on the gig!” He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“... Wow, that made me sound like Lanes.” Corey laughed, booping Laney on the nose. The petite ginger tried to fight down a goofy smile at the gesture.

That joke at least got a chuckle out of the twins and a fond eye roll from a flustered Laney.

“You wish,” the bassist teased, nudging Corey as the band exited through the main entrance of the stadium. The quartet pushed and poked each other jokingly as they made their way towards the rear entrance, where an intimidating bouncer stood guard.

Corey dug around in his pants before pulling out their passes. A few guitar picks fell out of his pocket, which the twins happily picked up. The buff bouncer looked over the passes, sparing the band a glance from behind his dark shades before nodding and opening up the door. The four friends quickly shuffled inside.

They entered into a white, windowless corridor. Grojband flattened themselves against the right wall to avoid the rushing crew members who were finishing preparations. The teens snuck their way over to the stairs and headed down. As they reached the lower level, they were met with another windowless hallway, though this one had a much more relaxed atmosphere. Milling about were several other musicians ranging from early teens to late fifties.

Grojband made their way to their assigned dressing room, which they were sharing with another band. Corey waved and nodded at some other rockers he had made quick friends with when dropping off their equipment. Laney stuck close to their blue-haired leader, keeping an eye on the twins to ensure they didn’t wander off. Kin and Kon trailed behind, gawking at other bands in awe, admiring the cool clothes, piercings, and tattoos.

Grojband finally made it to their dressing room, where they closed the door behind them, all four letting out a collective sigh of relief.

“Ugh, Riffin ,” a nasally voice loudly groaned.

Corey let out a whine of, “Nooooooo,” before turning to see the Newmans sitting on the beaten-up couch over by the wall. 

Kim sat in front of the couch on the ground, her eyes glued to her phone, with Konnie perched behind her, the blonde playing with her sister’s hair. The keyboardist glanced up, letting out a grunt of acknowledgement before looking back at her device. Konnie offered a bright smile and a tiny wave before getting back to work on Kim’s hair. Meanwhile, Carrie and Larry were huddled up next to each other. The blue-haired girl practically draped over the flustered boy. 

“ Carrie, ” Corey hissed out. He tensed, ready for their usual verbal sparring.

“Oh! Laney!” Carrie exclaimed upon spotting the petite girl. Corey nearly faceplanted, not expecting this reaction from his rival. The blue-haired girl hopped off the couch, quickly making her way to the female bassist and grabbing the tiny redhead’s hands. “That band we talked about, Wicca Women , is here today!”

“Seriously?” Laney glances at the closed door behind her, her green eyes sparkling. Next to her, Corey scowled, not liking how close the redheaded girl was to Carrie. 

“We were about to go talk to them! Do you wanna join?” Carrie asked, the Newmans nodding along behind their frontwoman.

“Heck, yeah!” Laney exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Corey agreed, snaking an arm around Laney’s shoulder and pulling her close, successfully causing Carrie to let go of his bassist’s hands. He shot a smile at the Newmans’ frontwoman, his eyes slightly narrowed. “That sounds awesome! We would love to go meet them! Right, Kin? Kon?” The blue-haired boy looked at the twins expectantly. The brothers exchanged confused looks before shrugging and nodding in agreement.

“Uuugh. Don’t you have, like, last-minute lyrics to write or something, Riffin ?” Carry hissed out.

“Hardy-har-har,” Corey’s smile became more forced. “That’s what makes them last-minute, Beff . Duh.” He missed the incredulous look Laney shot him.

The one time we get lyrics early! The ginger thought.

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Fine, or whatever,” The female guitarist smacked the blue-haired boy’s arm off of Laney, causing him to yelp in pain. Carrie looped her arm around the girl. “Kim! Konnie! Lar-bear!” Carrie gave her boyfriend a teasing smile as his face turned as red as his hair at the sound of the nickname. “Let’s goooo!” Carrie whooped before starting to drag Laney along with her as she headed towards the catering room. An agitated Corey let out a shout of protest before running to catch up to them. Their remaining bandmates exchanged looks of confusion before following behind more slowly, both sets of twins starting to tease Larry about the pet name. 

~ We’re Gonna Start the Show ~

Trina was finally waking up. The first thing she registered was that her head was killing her. Next, she realized that everything felt too hot, and the cushion under her head was too firm for her liking. The pinkette let out a few grunts as she started to move, the feeling returning to her limbs.

“Oh! Hey! You’re finally awake!” Chloe’s annoyingly perky voice caused Trina to snap her eyes open, her bubblegum pink irises almost blinded by the sudden light.

Trina squinted only to see Chloe’s face hovering above her. 

“Ugh, move,” Trina grunted, shoving Chloe’s head away, earning a yelp of objection from the ginger. The prissy pinkette sat up. Apparently, the weird cushion was the shorter girl's lap.

“Rude,” Chloe scolded, hazel eyes narrowing into a glare.

“Like, sorry or whatever,” Trina rolled her eyes. Despite not sounding sorry at all, the embarrassed flush and childish pout were enough to signal to the disgruntled redhead that Trina did mean it. Chloe flashed her a bright smile.

“Anyways- Trina! I didn’t realize your Heavy Metal Moments knocked you out for, like, almost half an hour!” Chloe exclaimed. “I was worried you’d miss the start of the show!”

“Major respect for the craft, dude,” Party Danimal piped up from his girlfriend’s right.

Trina shot them both a confused look. “My what?”

“Your Heavy Metal Moments ! Duh!” Chloe tilted her head to the side in confusion as Trina continued to stare at her like she had grown a second head.

“Y’know, those moments when you play that heavy metal song and rise up into the air? And summon pillars of fire? Totally heavy metal!” Chloe stuck her tongue out. The couple both made “rock on” signs with their hands, Party Danimal miming headbanging to emphasize Chloe’s point.

“...Chloe, are you on drugs or something?”

“What?!” The Penn girl shouted, her face as red as her hair as she glanced around. “OMG-NO! Trina!” She shoved the pinkette.

“Yeah, dude,” Party Danimal piped up. “I’ve seen you go into your Heavy Metal Mode as well.”

Pink eyes narrowed. Trina looked Party Danimal up and down. 

…That doesn’t really discourage the drug idea. Trina thought as her lip curled in disgust.

“Well, I have no idea what you two are talking about.” Trina huffed, flipping her hair. She pulled out her phone, hoping to end the conversation.

The couple exchanged confused looks.

“Trina,” Chloe started, her voice concerned. “Seriously? You’ve been doing this, like, weekly - since we were thirteen! How do you not know?”

“Chloe, look,” Trina sighed, flopping her head back in exasperation. “I have, like, zero clue what you’re talking about. Now, unless you have some proof of these ‘ Heavy Metal Moments ,’ as you call them, I’m not interested in continuing this tots weird convo-“ Trina was cut off by Dan shoving his phone in her face.

Trina flinched as a song that sounded like the screeching of the damned started blasting from the device. On the cracked phone screen, a shaky video showed a pink-haired girl levitating in the air while pillars of flames blasted around her. 

Like, what the what? Trina thought. There’s like, no way that’s me. The outfit is mine, but it’s gotta just be a copycat or something. There’s tots no way I would ever do something as hashtag embarras-

Trina’s eyes widened as a familiar fuzzy pink book with a dark pink heart flew into the raging girl’s hand.

For once in her life, Trina was left speechless. All she could manage was to gawk in horror as the pink-haired girl in the video started writing in the diary. Trina subconsciously moved a hand to her bag to feel the familiar fuzzy surface of the book, only to feel the satin lining of her purse.

No, no, no, no! Repeated in Trina’s head like a mantra as she looked into her purse, panicked. I swear I, like, tots put my diary in here this morning!

Trina stood up from her seat, about to go looking for her book, when suddenly the lights in the stadium dimmed. Everyone stood up in anticipation, effectively blocking Trina’s path. The pinkette felt a tug on her arm. 

Chloe let out a gasp. “Trina! It’s starting!” The party girl excitedly shook Trina. The taller girl groaned. 

Uuuugh. Noooooooo. Why nowwwwwwwwwww? Trina thought.

The screens around the stadium lit up and started a countdown, which stopped at four before Peaceville’s favorite new reporting duo, Chance Happening and Buzz Newsworthy, stepped in. Both smiled brightly at the camera despite the bandages and bruises on their faces. 

“Hello, Peaceville!” Chance started, earning some cheers from the crowd. “Welcome to the Battle of the Bands! Sponsored by CC Records ! The Battle of the Bands will begin shortly, but first, let’s meet our judges! Buzz, care to introduce them?”

“With pleasure, Chance!” Buzz happily responded. “Our first judge, and owner of CC Records , is Chip Chunkly!” Buzz waved to a table where three figures sat. A spotlight revealed the form of a rugged, middle-aged blonde sporting a cowboy hat.

“Howdy, folks,” Chip Chunkly’s thick, southern accent boomed through the speakers as he tipped his hat to the camera. “I’m Chip Chunkly, and, boy, am I excited to see some fresh talent here today!”

“And next, we have Peaceville’s beloved mayor!” Chance’s chipper voice announced before another spotlight revealed the middle figure at the table: a short, stylishly dressed man with a framed picture of his mother on the table in front of him. 

“Hello! It’s me, Mellow!” The short man adjusted his orange tie. “I am excited to be here, and I want to hear some cheer!” The stadium was filled with loud applause at their beloved Mayor’s words.

“Lastly,” Buzz’s voice echoed through the stadium again. “We have local celebrity, Nick Mallory!” A final spotlight unveiled a handsome teen with shining, light brown hair and eyes that glimmered like sapphires. 

“Nick Mallory is honored to be included as a judge today,” The hunky heartthrob flashed his perfect smile and winked at the camera. Loud squealing could be heard coming from the audience.

“Now, let’s get this show on the road!” Chance waved to the stage.

“Our first band is The Wicca Women!” Buzz mirrored his cohost’s pose. The stage behind the two newscasters lit up. Fog rolling off the edges of the stage, a three-woman band rose from the smoke and launched into their song. 

Trina huffed, plopping back down in her seat. She would have to wait a bit for the audience to calm down before she could retrace her steps and look for her diary. She wished she had someone to elbow people out of the way for her. She glanced at Chloe, who was jumping along to the blasting music. Trina frowned, annoyed. Nevertheless, even the angry pinkette couldn’t help but tap her foot to the beat.

Half an hour later, Trina’s scowl had gotten deeper with each performance. The bands were good, even by the eldest Riffin’s standards, but Trina was barely paying attention. She was still worried some loser had found her diary.

The pinkette got up and prepared to force her way out of the crowd when the next band was announced.

“Now, introducing: Grojband !” Buzz Newsworthy’s deep voice boomed throughout the stadium. Next thing Trina knew, Chloe had her arm in a death grip and was squealing loudly in the pinkette’s ear, along with the rest of the crowd. 

Corey and his lame-o friends entered the stage. Her brother waved and smiled as he approached the microphone, his stupid guitar in hand.

“That’s my coooousin!” Chloe pointed down at the short redhead on stage, but the cheering audience drowned her shout out. Trina rolled her eyes and tried to tug her arm out of the shorter girl’s grip, but the ginger had a surprising amount of strength so the pinkette just gave up and growled under her breath.

Corey’s chubby friend banged his sticks together, shouting something Trina couldn’t hear from their seats, before the band blasted into a song.

 

We were the best of friends!

But then it had to end!

Used to be someone to adore!

But now, I don’t need you anymore!

 

I swear we’re really through!

I know I should hate you!

So why’s there a pain in my chest?

There’s something I gotta confess!

 

Wish I could press renew!

But I can’t undo all I’ve done to you!

No! I swear I’m right all along!

You’re the one who’s in the wrong!

 

Used to be best friends!

Please, don’t leave again!

You were always right there by my side.

Tell me, was it all a lie?

 

The one to blame is you, not I!

Now you’re the reason why I cry!

Hate what you’ve done to me!

My heart and mind simply can’t agree!

Now I say goodbyeeeeeeee!

 

Trina stared in shock as her brother's band finished their performance. The roar from the crowd sounded muted to the pink-haired girl, who was having an existential crisis.

Her brother, Corey, can write songs for real? And, like, actually decent ones?! Trina laminated. The lyrics had oddly tugged at her, the pinkette finding them weirdly relatable.

Trina felt as if the rug had just been pulled out from under her, and she was now falling into a bottomless pit.

Everything suddenly felt like too much. Too much noise, too many lights, too many people. The eldest Riffin sibling stood up on shaky legs, swaying a bit before turning to start shoving her way out of the cramped aisle.

“Trina?” Chloe’s voice called out. Trina turned to see the ginger looking up at her with concern. “Where are you going?”

“I-uh am, like, tots feeling, like, a migraine coming on or whatever.” Trina lied. “Gonna go home and sleep it off.”

“Oh,” Chloe seemed to visibly deflate. The party girl forced a smile on her face. “Take care! And get lots of rest!” She commanded.

“Whatever,” Trina waved her hand dismissively, but the corners of her mouth twitched up at Chloe’s concern. She roughly shoved and pushed her way to the steps and exited back to the concession hall. The pinkette sashayed past the food stalls, her eyes quickly darting around as she attempted to spot anything bright pink and fuzzy as she briskly walked to the main exit.

She slowed down as she finally made it outside to the parking lot, a frown forming on her face.

Uuuuugh. I could have, like, asked Chloe to help look for my diary; the dummy and her weirdo boyfriend probs would have dropped everything to help too! Trina massaged the side of her head.

… Mina would have helped without me even asking…

Trina shook her head at the thought. Mina, Bernadette - whatever that loser is calling herself nowadays - left her ! Trina was better off without that Nick Mallory stealing TRAITOR !… Right?

… Then why did her chest hurt whenever she thought of the teal-haired girl? 

Distant cheering sounded behind her, causing Trina to glance back at the stadium. She tugged her cardigan, Pinkalicious, closer. The empty parking lot suddenly felt cold and lonely.

Trina huffed, flipping her hair and stomping the rest of the way to Pinktastic. Bubblegum pink eyes narrowed in suspicion as she spotted her diary in the passenger seat. That was not where she left it.

~ Feeling Sus Transition ~

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Corey whooped as he ran around in circles, attempting to exhaust his performance high. He stopped and turned to his bandmates. “Guys! I think that was our best gig yet!” He leaned in to his bandmates before whispering conspiratorially, “We totally won this thing!”

“Heck, yeah, we did!” The twins shouted, drawing attention from nearby bands. Laney quickly shushed them, giving the curious rival bands an apologetic smile. “I mean, yeah!” The twins whisper-shouted.

“C’mon, Lanes,” Corey playfully poked the bassist. “Even you have to admit we did awesome!”

Laney tried to keep a serious face, but that quickly melted away at her friend’s expectant gazes. The redhead giggled. “Yeah, we did do awesome.” The boys cheered. “-But!” Groans of disappointment came from her bandmates. “We gotta keep our cool. We don’t want people thinking we’re unprofessional.”

“Pfft,” Corey scoffed. “We’re super professional, Lanes. Right, Kin? Kon?” The frontman turned around, only to find the drummer and keyboardist paused, mid-joust with some random mops they had found nearby. Both Corey and Laney squinted at the two ravenettes.

“I want in!” Corey declared before grabbing a nearby broom and rushing at the twins.

Laney sighed and rolled her eyes at her friends’ antics. Though after a quick check to ensure no one was paying them any attention, the tiny redhead also grabbed a nearby mop and joined her bandmates.

However, before the girl could take a swing at Kin, the backstage speakers crackled to life.

“The judges have finished their deliberations and are now ready to announce the top three bands,” a high-pitched voice, that Grojband quickly recognized as Chance, announced. The four promptly dropped their cleaning supplies and rushed over to the area where several other bands had gathered at the edge of the stage. 

“We have Chip here to make the announcement. Chip?” Buzz nodded to the blonde cowboy. 

“Thank ya, Chance. Buzz,” Chip tipped his hat to the reporters before turning to face the crowd. “Howdy, folks. Thank y’all for coming out here tonight. We’ve had a lot of great bands perform, but this here is a Battle of the Bands, so there are winners and there are losers. Now, startin’ off with third place - Can I get a drumroll, please?” 

Kon excitedly bounced, holding up his drumsticks. Corey quickly grabbed a nearby bucket before sliding it to Kin, who placed it in front of his brother. Kon started loudly drumming away.

“Haha! Thank you kindly, little man,” Chip flashed Kon a smile. “In third place, we have… Heart Trade !”

A trio of forty-something-year-old adults wearing ’80s glam costumes walked onto the stage, their frontman shaking Chip's hand before the band was directed to the side of the stage.

“Second place goes to…” Members of the crowd started to stomp along to Kon’s beat. “ Monkeyz !”

An odd-looking quartet made their way across the stage, waving to the cheering crowd. Their blue-haired keyboardist gave Chip a fist bump before the band headed over to join Love Trade .

“And, finally, first place goes to…” A thundering drumroll came from the crowd. Chip chuckled, enjoying the energy the Peacevillians displayed. Corey grabbed Laney’s shoulders and started shaking her excitedly.

“ The Wicca Women !”

There was loud cheering from the audience as the eco-goth band strutted across the stage. Although backstage, Grojband stood quietly. 

“We- we didn’t win,” Corey weakly muttered. The usually optimistic frontman looked devastated. He slumped forward, his arms hanging uselessly by his sides. The usual spark in his bright blue eyes: gone. “We didn’t even place in the top three…”

“H-hey, Core,” Laney concerningly nudged her blue-haired best friend. In their seven years of friendship, she had never seen Corey look so… so heartbroken . The bassist turned to Kin and Kon for help, only to see them just as sad as Corey. Laney rubbed her arm as worry clawed its way into her. 

This is what I was afraid of. Laney thought. The girl let out a puff of air and steeled herself. She turned to her bandmates, forcing a smile on her face.

“C’mon, guys! We did our best out there! Kon, your beat got so many people out there dancing! Kin, I’ve never seen you play so fast before! And Core! Your voice sounded absolutely amazing! We didn’t win, but we sure as heck rocked the audience’s socks off!”

The twins were preening at the rare compliments from the redhead. Even the corners of Corey’s mouth twitched upwards at Laney’s words.

“Aww, stop,” Kon giggled, blushing. “... Keep going.” He whispered, earning a fond eyeroll from the shorter girl.

“We were pretty awesome.” Kin bragged, his fingers lightly dancing over his keyboard.

“Yeah… I guess,” Corey mumbled. The blunette sighed before looking at Laney, the light returning to his eyes. Corey smiled brightly. “Thanks, Lanes!” The guitarist swooped the petite girl into a bear hug, holding the bassist close. Laney squeaked in surprise as Corey’s taller height lifted her off the ground.

“Now, folks! Time for some honorable mentions.” Chip’s voice suddenly boomed over the speakers.

“Some honorable what-nows?” Corey perked up, his attention diverted. As he turned, he accidentally dropped the bassist, who landed painfully on her butt. Laney let out a hiss in annoyance before standing up and dusting herself off.

“Our first honorable mention goes to Peaceville’s own Grojband ! Their song, depicting the struggle of denial and acceptance over a relationship- well let’s say that really tugged at the old heartstrings! Amazing job, Grojband !” Chip subtly winked at the young band.

“Chip Chunkly liked our song! He liked our song!” Corey cheered. The blue-haired boy quickly swept Laney up in a hug, again, tightly embracing the girl as he lifted her and spun her around.

“Wait, Core!” The petite redhead shouted, before breaking out into a fit of laughter. The relief of Grojband getting a win and her bandmates' complete and utter joy made Laney feel like she was on top of the world.

Corey placed her gently back down onto the ground, his arms loosely wrapped around Laney. As he stared into her eyes, it was then that he noticed just how close he was to the redhead. His gaze flickered down to her lips. Corey gulped as he felt his face become hot.

C’mon, Corey. Perfect chance! If she gets angry at you, you can just try to pretend it was an ‘in the moment’ thing! Corey reassured himself as he started to lean in. 

The moment was quickly interrupted when Kon grabbed them and lifted the two into the air. Kin was already on Kon’s shoulders as the twins chanted, “We got an honorable mention!” over and over as they spun around.

Corey smiled, trying to hide his disappointment, but quickly joined Laney in laughing at the twins’ antics.

“We did, huh, Core?” Laney shouted over the two ravenette’ loud cheering.

“Eh, kinda depends, Lanes.” Suddenly, the surrounding area dimmed, and a spotlight highlighted the blue-haired boy. “We got an honorable mention, but what’s honorable about being mentioned? We don’t want to be mentioned, but to be the main topic of conversation! We may have lost the Battle of the Bands, but we haven’t lost the battle of music. The battle of life. And the best thing about life is you’re always growing, so tomorrow, we may be better versions of ourselves than we are today. And Grojband will continue to grow from there. You never know what the future holds.” The spotlight faded.

“That was… an actual coherent speech, Core.” Laney gave the guitarist a teasing smile. “Maybe you should write some of that down for lyrics.” 

Corey let out a bark of laughter. “Ha! Nah, that’s future Corey’s problem! Right now Corey wants to CELEBRATE!”

“In that case,” Kin michevously smiled. “I believe there’s supposed to be an afterparty for the bands and CC Records to mingle.”

“Oh, yeah!” Laney snapped her fingers. “I think Chloe mentioned that. Party Danimal got invited, so she’s going as well.” Laney dug her phone out of her pocket and quickly scrolled to her texts. “Yep. There’s an after party… and Chloe also mentioned Trina left the Battle of the Bands early?”

“Seriously?” Corey pulled out his own phone and checked for any messages from Trina, but found nothing. Corey huffed in frustration before grumbling, “She’s supposed to be our ride, but never texts when she leaves!... Oh, well. At least now we don’t have to waste time trying to convince her to drive us home after the party.”

“I wonder where Trina went?” Kon worriedly glanced out at the crowd.

“Ah, she’s fine, dude. It’s Trina, after all.” Corey slung an arm around Kon. “Now let’s PARTY !” The guitarist whooped.

~ Missing Sis Transition ~

Trina cursed at the universe for her brother’s band having - ugh - talent.

She was currently sitting at her desk. On her computer screen was a MeTube playlist by the account: #1Grojfans-K&A .

The videos were set to autoplay, the pinkette sitting in silence as each song blasted out of her speakers. Trina unconsciously started to tap her manicured finger along to the beat. The longer she listened, the more she found Corey’s lyrics frustratingly relatable. 

Pink eyes narrowed, and she paused the current video. Her right leg started to bounce as a creeping suspicion itched at her brain.

…A little too relatable.

Trina went over to the playlist and scrolled back up to "My Secret Is Out ."

As the song played in the background, Trina pulled out her phone and clicked on the link to the video Chloe had sent her. 

The pinkette winced as she watched herself shoot into the air, her diary and pen following her up. 

After she fell to the ground, Trina paused the video, about to rewind it to the beginning, when she noticed something interesting in the background.

Trina pressed play, squinting to get a better look at the out-of-focus shot.

The pinkette let out a loud gasp.

“Corey,” Trina hissed, her eyes flashing red and her phone creaking in protest as she tightened her grip.

~ Back to Band Transition ~

“That was awesome!” Corey cheered as the band got back to the Riffin house. Even if Trina had left early, they were able to score a ride from Chloe, whom they had bumped into during the afterparty.

“Thanks, Chloe,” The four shouted as the elder Penn cousin waved before driving off.

“Guys! Can you believe it! We actually got to talk to Chip Chunkly! And got his assistant’s number! Grojband is gonna take off from here! I’m calling it now!” Corey whooped before opening the door, revealing a dark garage.

“Huh, weird. I thought we left the lights on,” The guitarist muttered. Right after he said that, there was a click, and a floor lamp turned on, revealing Trina sitting on a pink, floral armchair - one that Corey recognized from the living room - the older teen petting Wheelie on her lap.

The four bandmates exchanged confused looks. 

“Uh - Hey, Trina. What’s up with the dramatic entrance?” Corey rubbed the back of his neck, confused that his sister was willingly spending time in the garage without them there to annoy.

“Corey Jaron Riffin,” Trina hissed out. “You are, like, in so much trouble.”

The guitarist flushed a bit at the use of his full name. Even their dad only reserved the ’full name card’ for when he broke something at the shop. 

Kin and Kon snickered at their friend, the two letting out teasing “ooohs.” Laney, on the other hand, felt something was off. The bassist’s gut churned, a chill running down her spine. She shuffled closer to Corey.

Corey rolled his eyes at Trina.

“Look, if this is about dropping your toothbrush on the ground, I’m sorry… I thought the five second rule still applied.”

“WHAT?” Trina screeched, breaking her unsettling facade and standing up. Wheelie let out a loud meow as he was unceremoniously dropped, landing on his skate wheels. The disgruntled cat let out a hiss before carting himself back to the main house.

Trina let out a sigh of annoyance as she flopped back down into the chair. She made a mental note to dunk Corey’s toothbrush in the toilet later.

“Not that, you pest! And BTW, that’s - hashtag - disgusting!” Trina gagged. “Corey! I know !”

“Know… what? What are you talking about, Trina? You’re being weirder than usual right now-”

“I know,” the pinkette repeated, interrupting her brother. Trina’s glare sharpened as she stood up again.

“I know you’ve been using my diary for lyrics.” Trina shoved a perfectly manicured finger at Corey.

Time seemed to slow. A chill ran through the garage. Corey felt his heart pause before starting to drum away. A cold sweat breaking out over his body. 

A warm, freckled hand slipped into Corey's, helping to ground him. He glanced back to see that it belonged to Laney. Kin and Kon, now realizing the seriousness of the situation, were huddled comically behind the tinier girl. All three of his bandmates looked terrified. Corey felt his resolve harden at the sight of his friends' fear.

The blunette turned back towards his sister and forced out a nervous chuckle.

“Trina, what are you talking about? Using a diary for lyrics? That’s super weird.” Corey lied, flashing an awkward grin. He gave a reassuring squeeze to Laney’s hand.

“Oh, really?” Trina drawled before pulling up her phone, which was paused on a video. 

“Then explain this.” The older girl hissed out, pointing to the background of the video, which showed a blurry Corey holding an unmistakable diary.

Corey gulped.

“Pssh,” Corey scoffed. “So I caught your diary after one of your freakouts. Big deal! You’re welcome, sis. I just made sure no one else got it.”

“Mmhmm.” Trina hummed, tapping away at her phone screen. Suddenly, Grojband’s song "My Secret Is Out " started blasting from her phone. Trina reached behind her and conveniently produced her diary.

“Dear Diary,” Trina started, loudly talking over the song. “Like, OMG, you won’t believe it, but Mina’s annoying little sister read my diary out loud to everyone, exposing my biggest secret. In front of hunky Nick Mallory, no less! Don’t worry, though; I played it off. There’s no way I’m going to let Nick or Mina see me cry about my secret being out. I’m totes going to get back at Mina’s sister for what she did, though. Like, what kind of monster reads someone else’s diary?” Trina looked up, shooting a glare at her brother. 

Corey couldn’t help but wince.

“Thanks for listening, diary,” Trina finished, slamming the book shut. All four members of Grojband shrank under the older girl’s fierce glare.

“Look, Trina,” Corey tried to reason. “I think this is all just some big misunderstanding. Like, what? A couple of words from one diary entry-”

“Oh, no. Not just one, diary entry,” Trina interrupted. “I listened to, like, all of your terrible songs, and realized that all of them have lyrics that match a bit too well with certain stuff in MY DIARY !”

Trina aggressively stalked closer to her brother, and Corey backed up until he bumped into his bandmates. The four cowered as the older girl loomed over them.

“Well, newsflash, losers : consider this your last day of free lyrics.” A malicious smile curled onto Trina’s face; she mockingly waggled the fuzzy, pink book. “Because I’m never writing in my diary again.”

“Wait, what?” Corey shouted, springing forward and dropping Laney’s hand. His previous fear was overridden by panic. “But- But Trina! You can’t do that!”

“I can and I will!” Trina taunted, before turning around and strutting off towards her room. 

“Oh, and Corey?” The older Riffin sibling paused before entering her lair, looking down at her brother in the garage below. “Good luck with your band!” The pinkette cackled, slamming the door behind her.

A silence settled over the garage.

“Core?” Laney weakly murmured. “What are we gonna do now?”

“I… I don’t know, Lanes.”

Corey turned to the audience.

“I-uh, sorry you had to see that?” Corey rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced behind him towards Trina’s room.

“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” Corey gave a half-hearted wave before quickly slamming the garage door shut.

---

Trina continued to cackle even after she closed her door, the click of each lock sliding into place sounding like music to her ears. A victorious smirk carved onto her face.

“Bwahahahaha! The look on Corey’s face! Like, totally priceless!” Trina gloated. “Bye-bye, Garbaj-band! BWAHAHAHAHA!” She wiped a tear of joy from her eye. 

“Ah, this is too good!” Trina grabbed a pen from her desk and opened her diary, about to start writing about her victory over her stupid brother, but paused.

Oh. Right. Trina realized. I can’t write in my diary anymore, or else I’ll just be helping Corey and his loser band.

“Ugh! Whatever,” Trina groaned out, slapping the pen back on the desk and tossing her diary on her bed. 

The pinkette felt an abrupt pang in her skull and started to feel her temple lightly throb.

“Of all the times to-” Just as she was complaining of her starting headache, a melody began to play from her bedside drawer. Trina felt the mental pain intensify. 

“Uuuuuuuugh. Like, you again.” Trina groaned before stomping over to the end table and opening the drawer, revealing a music box with a glowing blue star on the lid. A tiny tune played out in greeting.

Trina rolled her eyes. 

“I thought I finally got you to shut up,” Trina grumbled, pulling out the box. “Do I need to, like, get the blowtorch, again?” 

A panicked, high-pitched note screeched out. 

There was a tiny pause before a much calmer melody played, causing the pinkette to grunt in frustration. 

Bubblegum pink eyes rolled. “Like, I told you last time , blowing up Mount Peaceville sounded fun at the time, but that would destroy the mall. And I like the mall… Though it could tots use a hashtag makeover at the moment.”

The music box played a song in protest. 

“Uuuuuugh,” Trina felt like a pickaxe was swinging at her skull now, the argument with the stupid, blue box making her headache worse. “Shut up already! You’re so annoying!”

Music box in hand, Trina grabbed her diary and stomped over to her closet. After unlocking the industrial-grade safe door, Trina entered her small walk-in closet and opened one of her drawers. She shoved aside some sweaters before stuffing both the music box and the diary towards the back of the drawer, covering them up with clothes.

The box screeched a muffled note in objection, which Trina ignored. She exited the closet and closed the door, cutting off any noise.

“Ah,” Trina cooed, content. “Hashtag, silence.”

The older Riffin sibling headed towards her pink bed and flopped down onto it, closing her eyes.

Later that night, a haunting melody played from inside the drawer. A song too quiet to hear through Trina’s steel closet door, but loud enough to leak through the thin wall into the room next door. 

Corey tossed and turned in his sleep as a creepy tune whispered in his ear.

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait. Things have been hectic, so the chapter took longer than expected :,) Next chapter will probably take another 3 weeks to a month...

Anyway, a lot happened in this chapter! Hehe, so excited what's in store for Grojband now that their Trina diary lyrics have come to an abrupt halt.

Also! Bonus points for people in the comments who point out all the pop-culture references I sneaked into this chapter >:)

Leave a comment or kudos if you like it!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Thank You, Peaceville