"Dad, this means everything to me!" Charlotte yelled, following her father into their kitchen.
"I guess I'll go now..." her best friend Dana said, sensing an argument beginning. She grabbed her cell phone and left the house.
"And your future means everything to ME. Did you turn in those applications?" Ric responded, grabbing an apple from the fridge.
"Yes. Stop changing the subject."
"Where did you apply?"
Charlotte sighed.
"NC State."
"I said applications. With an s. Where else did you apply?"
"I'm not applying to get into any other schools. If you're making me go to college, I at least want to go to the only school I like."
"What if you don't get into NC State?"
"Good!" Charlotte shouted.
"Good!? Charlotte do you realize how blessed you are? There are kids, damn smart kids, who want to go to college, but they can't, you know why they can't Charlotte? Because their parents can't afford it. And you're gonna have college entirely paid off, and you're complaining!?"
"Why don't you go and find one of those kids and pay for their college instead?"
"And now you're back-talking me!?"
"No, I wasn't just being a smart ass, I was serious. If there's so many kids that want to go to college, why don't you find one and pay for them instead of paying for me when I don't even really want to go."
Ric sighed, taking a bite of the apple.
"Because you're my daughter, and I want you to be successful."
"Look Dad, all I need $83 for the vintage guitar down at the music shop, so I can perform at the big open mic on Saturday, I don't see what the big deal is!"
"The big deal is, I'm not spending money on this silly dream of yours. I'm spending my money on things that'll help you in life. College. Dresses, for job interviews."
"It wasn't a silly dream when you did it, what's the difference?"
"The difference is, I didn't join a band because I wanted to, I joined a band because I was broke, and I knew some guys with some instruments. And we got lucky. Really lucky. I'm not gonna have my daughter's future depend on luck. And I don't want you in that lifestyle."
"That lifestyle is the reason you're rich!"
"Do you know how the Four Horsemen ended?! We made one successful album. One. Then, we split up. I was out of my mind! I had an ego that weighed a ton, and I was on every drug imaginable. Ole is homeless. Arn basically disappeared off the face of the earth. JJ became a pastor. And Tully is where I almost ended up. In a hole, 6 feet in the ground with a headstone. I'm not supporting you getting into this industry."
Charlotte sighed once again.
"...so I'm really not allowed to perform at the open mic?"
"...I never said you weren't allowed."
"What?"
"Go, perform at the open mic, buy a guitar. I just said I'M not paying for it."
"But how am I supposed to get money?"
"Get a job." Ric shrugged.
"Get a job? It's Thursday, the open mic is in two days!"
"Well then it looks like you're not getting that guitar by Saturday." Ric said, leaving the room. Charlotte sighed, sitting at the kitchen counter. Just then, her phone rang.
"Hello?... Hey Seth, what's up?... Nah, I'm... I'm not doing anything tonight..."
Charlotte's smile lit up.
"Sure, I'd LOVE to go to that party... Pick me up around 8:30?... Sounds like a plan... Alright, see you then... Yeah that's fine... bye."
"She said yes." Seth smiled.
Dean looked at him and rolled his eyes, while Roman smiled.
"Atta boy, Seth!" Roman said.
"Dean, what's your problem?"
"What the hell does a rich pretty girl like that want with you?" Dean asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you ain't rich, and you ain't pretty. Opposites attract I guess."
"I beg to differ, I AM pretty." Seth said with a laugh.
"Roman, Seth look pretty to you?"
"He's not my type." Roman shrugged. Dean and Seth laughed.
"I think I know what's going on here. You guys are just jealous because I got a date to the party."
"I got a date too." Roman said.
"Who?"
"...Nikki."
"Nikki Bella? You asked her and she said yes!?" Seth asked.
"...no, but I'm gonna see her at the party, and I'm gonna ask her for a dance, and-"
"And she's gonna say no, dance with John Cena, and he's gonna be plowing her at the end of the night while you watch porn." Dean said, opening his backpack.
"And who's your date exactly?" Roman asked.
"I got something a little more important than a date."
Dean pulled $2,000 cash out of his backpack.
"Okay, where the hell is all that money from?" Seth asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'm hungry. Why don't us three guys hit up Five Guys?"
Seth and Roman suspiciously looked at each other for a bit. Everyone stood up.
"You paying?" Roman asked.
"Nah, I'm broke." Dean said, putting all the money back into the backpack except a $100 bill. Roman and Seth laughed.
"Oh look, Keith and Becky are already home!" a woman, with dark brown hair said, from the driver's seat of her SUV. Her daughter Bayley was in the passenger seat. She slowly pulled into the driveway.
"Mom, I'm really glad that you finally found someone that really makes you happy and all, but Becky..."
"Bayley, we already discussed this. Becky's your sister now, you're family."
"Not yet." Bayley said, as her mother turned the car off.
"What's your problem with Becky?"
"She's just... really weird and annoying. And she over steps boundaries. And she tries to talk my ear off every night about the weirdest most irrelevant stuff and I'm trying really really hard to like her and be nice to her, but I don't know how much longer I can take this."
"You know that saying." Bayley's mother laughed.
"What saying?"
"Something like, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your family."
"...Mom first of all, no one says that. Second of all, you did pick this family. You got engaged to Keith, and it was your idea for him and Becky to move in."
"Look, we'll discuss this later. Our show is coming on and 5 minutes, Keith and I always watch it together!"
"It's 1:55 in the afternoon, what show comes on at 2 PM?"
"The Braxton Hills. It's a soap opera."
Bayley rolled her eyes as she entered the house with her mother. She walked up the stairs and opened her bedroom door.
"BECKY WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM!?" Bayley yelled.
Becky chuckled, sitting on the bed, which was now on the opposite side of the room as before. Bayley's keyboard, TV, computer, and mirror were also in different places.
"I told you last night that I didn't like he vibe the room was putting out. With the bed over here and the computer in that far corner, it makes the room feel more open and spacey, ya know?"
"MOM!...MOOOOOOM!" Bayley yelled.
Bayley's mother sighed and ran over to see what was going on.
"Bayley, what's the ma...oh my god! This is the first time I've seen your room cleaned in months!" Bayley's mother smiled.
"THAT'S the first thing you notice!?" Bayley asked, angrily.
"What?" her mother asked, obliviously.
Bayley looked back and forth between her mother and Becky in disbelief.
"My room has been the same for 17 years. 17! And then all of a sudden, you think you can just come in here, and change everything around without asking me!?"
"Bayley, honey..." her mother said, putting a hand on Bayley's shoulder. Bayley shook it off.
"Don't 'Bayley, honey' me! Do something about this!"
"You two share this room now, Bayley."
"That doesn't mean she can just-"
"HONEY! IT'S STARTING!" Keith yelled, from the bedroom. Bayley's mother immediately ran back into her bedroom.
Bayley sighed, looking around at the new room.
"This, is not cool. At all."
"Bayley, I'm sorry. I should've consulted with you first. I was just gonna move the keyboard and mirror out of the way, but then I got more ideas and I got carried away."
"What'd you do with my clothes that were on the ground?"
"I threw them in the washing machine for ya."
"YOU WHAT!?" Bayley yelled, running downstairs. Becky came running down behind her.
"BAYLEY, WHAT'S WRONG!?"
They both ran into the laundry room. Bayley tried to open the washing machine, but the lid was locked, because it was in the final rinse.
"DAMMIT!" Bayley yelled.
"What!?"
Bayley unplugged the washing machine and opened the washer. After fishing through the soapy water, she grabbed a soaking wet pair of blue jeans. She reached into the pocket and unfolded a fragile, mushy piece of paper, with unreadable smeared ink all over it. Tears began to form in Bayley's eyes.
"It's gone." Bayley said quietly, and sadly.
"What's gone?" Becky asked.
"My song... I wrote a whole song on this piece of paper. And now it's gone."
"...I'm so sorry Bayley...do you remember it?"
Just then, Bayley's sadness turned into anger, as she turned around to face Becky.
"I hadn't memorized it yet. I came up with it last week and never touched it again. That's why I wrote the notes down, so I wouldn't forget it. If I memorized it, then why would I be running down the stairs in a panic to grab the notes to it before they're gone forever!?"
"Bayley, I... I didn't know, I... I was trying to do something nice because... I know you don't like me, and I really really want you to." Becky said, sadly.
Bayley sighed.
"You wanna do me a favor? Here's a favor you can do for me, stop doing me favors and leave me alone." Bayley said, dropping the smeared paper and leaving the laundry room.
Becky frowned, silently watching her leave. When Bayley was gone, Becky picked up the piece of paper. She looked at the unreadable ink smears for several seconds before sighing and slowly closing the washing machine again. She plugged it back in.
Near downtown, a slightly tanned girl with blonde hair, and a very light brown-skinned girl with pink hair walked down the sidewalk.
"And you really need this money, Sasha?" the blonde girl asked.
"Yes."
"Like... you NEED it?"
"Alexa, why do you keep asking me this? Yes. I really want and need this money, and fast. The guitar might not even be at the music store by tomorrow."
"And you need this guitar for?" Alexa asked, texting away on her phone.
"For the open mic."
"Oh, on Saturday? Yeah I heard there's a cash prize of like $800 or something."
"I'm not worried about the cash prize. I'm worried about impressing AJ Lee!"
"...who?"
Sasha stopped walking.
"Are you kidding me? You don't know AJ Lee!? She's only the greatest female guitarist that's ever lived! You know what, forget female. She's the best guitarist that's ever lived."
"And she's gonna be in town? How do you know?"
"Because I know things. And I'M gonna impress her."
"And then what?"
"And then she's gonna love me and take me under her wing!"
Just then, a car pulled up to the corner ahead.
"That's our ride." Alexa said, walking over to the car. Sasha reluctantly followed. They got into the back, and older man was driving.
"Hi, Vince! This is my friend Sasha!" Alexa said. Sasha smiled and waved, as Vince looked at her through the rear view mirror. He simply chuckled.
Eventually, the car pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. While Sasha looked around, trying to figure out what she had gotten herself into. She told Alexa that she desperately needed fast money, so Alexa invited her to come with her, but she never explained any details.
The three got out of the car and entered the hotel, before entering the elevator. They made it up to the third floor and got off.
The two girls followed Vince to room 316, and walked in, as he locked the door behind him.
"This is a nice room." Sasha said, looking around.
"Make yourself comfortable." Vince smiled, as she sat down on the bed.
Vince handed Sasha $500, then did the same to Alexa. Sasha's eyes got huge as she looked at Vince in confusion.
"This is Sasha's first day on the job." Alexa giggled.
"Hmmm. Then maybe we should ease her into it." Vince smirked. Alexa took off her shirt.
"Woah, woah, wait. What the fuck is this?" Sasha asked.
"What do you mean?" Alexa asked, beginning to undo her own bra.
"Are we... ARE WE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SEX WITH HIM!?"
"Uh... duh?" Alexa said, with a laugh.
"Dude... I'm out." Sasha said, standing up.
"You said you needed the money!" Alexa said.
"Not THIS bad."
"You can't leave! I paid for TWO girls!" Vince protested.
Sasha took the $500 out of her pocket and sat it on the bed, before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
She stopped for a brief second in the hall.
"I really need that guitar..." She said, thinking.
She stood still for several more seconds.
"...nah fuck that. I'd steal that guitar before I'd become a call girl slut." Sasha said, walking back into the elevator.
Bayley sat on her bed, watching the television, and trying to get used to the new room's layout.
All of a sudden, Becky cracked the door and peeked her head in.
"Bayley..."
"Yeah?" Bayley said, with a sigh.
"A girl named Charlotte's downstairs for you."
"...blonde tall chick?" Bayley asked, confused.
"Yeah."
Bayley slowly got up as Becky walked in and sat down on the bed. Bayley walked downstairs and into the living room, to see Charlotte sitting on the couch.
"Hey Bayley! Long time, no see!" Charlotte smiled.
"How do you know where I live?" Bayley asked, suspiciously.
"We used to ride the same bus in Kindergarten. I got on before you, so I saw it pick you up from here before."
"Ok, new question. Why are you at my house?"
"What's wrong with me being here?"
"Charlotte, we went to school together from Kindergarten to 12th grade and we've had like 2 conversations ever. And I'm pretty sure one was when the teacher said 'turn and talk to the person next to you' after we read something in class."
"Well... I want to talk to you, about making $400."
"How?"
"Easy. You still play keyboard, right?"
"Yeah."
"I sing. We can do something at that open mic and win. You just have to help me get this guitar tonight."
"Help you?"
"Yeah, how much money do you have?"
Bayley looked at Charlotte confused.
"Why are you asking me for money?"
"I need it."
Bayley chuckled a bit.
"You need it?"
"What's so funny about me asking you to help me buy a guitar?" Charlotte asked.
"Your dad is Ric Flair. You're telling me that daddy's little princess wants a guitar, and he won't buy it?"
"He thinks pursuing music as a career is silly."
"...He was the lead singer of-"
"Yes, I know." Charlotte said, cutting her off.
"How much is that guitar?"
"$83."
"Well, I have $4 and 21 cents left from Taco Bell, so we only need $79 more dollars."
"What? You don't have a job?"
"Not a well paying one. And besides, I get paid again on Sunday. You know how it is at the end of a paycheck, you're all out of money."
"...no...I don't. I've never paid for anything in my life, I'm kinda new to this." Charlotte said, slightly embarrassed.
"I know a way we can make some money." Becky smiled, walking down the stairs.
"Were you eavesdropping!?" Bayley asked.
"I... uh... That's not the point. The point is, I know where we can get $83."
"I'm listening." Charlotte said.
"My boyfriend Xavier performs downtown all the time, and people just walk by and give him and his friends money. I can ask him to let US have the spot for the day, and we'll make $83 dollars by like 7 o'clock."
"Us?" Bayley asked.
"Yeah, the three of us. Charlotte sings, you play keyboard, I play drums." Becky shrugged.
"You play drums!?" Charlotte asked, excitedly.
"Yeah, my drumset's right in the garage."
"Bayley you should've told me your sister plays drums!"
"Woah, woah, wait. First off, I didn't know. Second off, did she tell you she's my sister? She's not my sister."
"Well I'm gonna be pretty soon, so you might as well get used to saying it." Becky said. Bayley looked over at Becky, before looking back at Charlotte.
"What do you get out of it?" Charlotte asked.
"I get to perform with you guys at the open mic." Becky smiled.
"Deal."
"What? No! You seriously wanna let Becky in on this?" Bayley asked.
"Why not?" Charlotte asked.
"Because now we have to split the money 3 ways."
"Ok, whatever. 2 hundred and something dollars is still more than you have now. The important part is getting the guitar tonight so we can practice. Bayley, grab your keyboard, Becky, grab your drums and your sticks. We're going downtown right now."
Becky ran into the garage as Bayley sighed.
"What are we even gonna perform?"
"Every song you know how to play. We're not leaving until we have $83."
Bayley sighed and slowly began walking up the stairs.