INSIGHT

A/N: I know I told you guys I was going to stick to a trilogy, but here's another piece for my "In The Band" series. This takes place after Busted, specifically after Angelica *static* Please read the other stories first. For quick reference, there are links towards the bottom of my profile for the pieces.

Angelica sulked up the sidewalk as she walked towards school. She wanted to beg one of her parents to take her, but she was currently just as mad at them as she was at Johnny. She felt like her parents started this by always having meetings, always dragging her away from practice. Now because of them, Susie had kissed her man, and she'd been dumped for supposedly overreacting.

She wasn't used to being dumped, ever, especially from guys like Johnny. She knew it was a possibility with him. He was brave and knew what he wanted. He wasn't like the other guys at school who let people walk all over them. His four years there had improved him, not convinced him that juvenile behavior was okay. She loved that about him, but it came back to bite her in the end, and she had to blame someone. Susie, her parents, anyone but herself.

As she entered the school, she heard the cheers. Banshee had made the paper over the weekend for their third place win. They beat out a few seasoned bands that had rough nights, she knew, but it was hard to be happy knowing that was also the night her plan failed. She forgot how smart Dr. Carmichael was, despite seeing what her daughter could do both academically and as lead singer. It was obvious she was well-trained by someone, but Angelica didn't think the woman would see through her plan and actually forgive her daughter. Add in the break-up and Angelica wanted to forget that night.

But it wouldn't go away.

I know what you did, Angelica.

Johnny's tone was biting, and hearing the words again in her head almost brought tears to her eyes. She shoved her head into her locker and pretended to thumb through notebooks in case they did because the replay of that night didn't want to stop.

Flashback: Night of the Battle of the Bands

"I don't know what you're talking about," Angelica smiled, wrapping her arms around Johnny's waist. Within seconds he'd pulled her arms apart and shoved her away. Angelica scoffed, "Look, you're going to have to tell me what this is about, otherwise you're just being a jerk!"

"You know exactly what you did! Why are you trying to play stupid when it's obvious you already know?" Johnny yelled, turning away from her. Once he'd composed himself, he turned back around, "You know, when people found out you were with us, they started pulling us aside, warning us about you. We decided not to listen. Boy were we wrong."

"What is this about?" Angelica demanded, slowing her words for effect. She knew, and she knew Johnny knew, but she had to hear it from him.

Johnny groaned in frustration, "What do you think? Inviting Susie's parents out even after you promised all of us you wouldn't tell? Do you remember that?"

"I had every right to. I saw you. Why would you do that to me?"

"It just happened! She had no idea we were even together because you were always running off, and I didn't know what was happening until it was over. Maybe if you would've asked, you would've found out it was a silly mistake. But no, you let petty revenge get in the way of things, and now, well, I am going to go out with her instead of you. She's not a raging bitch!" Johnny screamed, turning and walking away.

It was then that Angelica noticed the bandmates nearby waiting for the host to quiet the crowd so the results could be read. They'd heard everything, and just like that, Angelica knew her life with the band was over.

End Flashback

Angelica shut her locker and looked around the halls. She'd had so many relationships go by the wayside, but none were this nasty, namely because she wasn't in the driver's seat. Heck, she wasn't even in the car. She was the speed bump, being thumped and pounded by passing cars. She felt it in her gut, and she knew this was what she made other guys feel like over the years. She ripped their world to shreds, often because she'd grown bored with them. She made them feel total loss, and now she'd done it to herself.

When the bell rang, Angelica sulked towards class, her head high but her eyes following the bricks just above people's heads, or the tops of lockers when she passed by. Despite this, she knew Johnny when she saw him, and she knew who he was walking side by side with. She could only see the backs of them as they turned down a crowded hall, away from Johnny's first class, which meant he was walking Susie to hers.

Angelica swallowed and wondered if she could ever apologize, if she could ever win him back. As she found her desk and sank into it, she knew she shouldn't bother. This was losing, and losing meant there was no winning to be had. The game was over, and there were no mulligans. She'd have to live with her choices, and hopefully learn from them.

~End

Theme 104: Losing

A/N: Theme from my Infinite Theme List Challenge, which you can find on my profile. Let me know if you want to attempt them so I can check out your responses.

So, I wasn't going to do anything else with the trilogy, but I decided to go random (make a numbered list of characters, then use a random number generator to pick a character and a theme number. I got Angelica and 104, Losing). My first thought was to take you guys back to that moment when Angelica lost everything. I'm tempted to do more along these lines but we'll see.

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and if you have any ideas, talk to me and I'll see if I can bring them to life.