Because there is not enough Grojband fanfiction on this site (seriously. I checked Wattpad and it has more of it), I've decided to add more contributions to the archive. But, because it's me, this is going to be a long author's note. Again.

I guess the most logical place to start would be why I suddenly started writing Grojband again less than a year ago. The reasons behind that are simple; it became available on Netflix and I spent weeks binge-watching it over and over. Also, it's a good show. Yes, it's by the same animation company that made Total Drama, and yes, it's one of those summertime flash cartoons Cartoon Network released back in the early 2010s, but it was too cheesy for me not to like it. The characters were fun, the stories were interesting, and I loved a lot of the music. Not the rap, hip-hop, or country music episodes—those songs can go into Dante's Inferno's nine circles of Hell.

Now, onto the story itself.

This story is actually one I've wanted to write for a while now. I listen to a lot of Green Day, Bowling for Soup, and various other bands, so naturally, loving a show about a rock band and listening to rock music would inspire some creativity. How long have I had this idea? Since June. Yes, I've been holding onto this idea since June of 2016. I don't know when this story's going up, but as of the initial start to the project (and I am going to finish this one), it's November 13, 2016. That means it's been almost six months since I had the initial spark of inspiration.

Now, this story is supposed to be a musical, but I can't write songs, so I will be using lyrics from songs that are already copyrighted. I don't claim ownership, which is an issue I ran into with my previous songfic, "Sk8r Boi". This story will also be clichéd as all hell, which you can expect from me at times. Other times, I like to break the mold. This story may do both.

The plot is simple and, like I said, a bit clichéd.

It starts with Corey and his band doing typical stuff that you see them do on an everyday basis, such as planning their next concert. Then, Laney makes a couple of remarks that make Corey a little nervous—like, talking to your crush nervous. This first chapter—and yes, it is a multichapter fic—will consist of that and our first two songs. The first song will be about Corey realizing his feelings for Laney in Green Day's "She's a Rebel" and the second will introduce our antagonists/villains with a Bowling for Soup song, "Smoothie King". Trina will have a large role in the story, but not as our bad guy. The Newmans will appear, but not as villains, either. It's OCs all the way, baby!

Enjoy this story I've been trying to write for six months!

The day Corey's life changed both for better and for worse (no, he did not get married) started out like any other day. He was in his garage practicing with his best friends, and they sounded better than ever.

"Wow! Great rehearsal, guys!" he commented.

"You say that after every rehearsal, Core," Laney laughed. For some reason, her laugh made his stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot.

"Yeah, but it's always true!"

"Hey, guys!" Blair greeted them, running into the garage followed by her sister, Misty. She had her tablet in hand, as usual.

"What's up, Blair?" Corey slid to a stop in front of their band manager.

"I just booked you at the annual Battle of the Bands. The normal one, not the one where you have to do something else at the same time."

"Awesome! We'll get started practicing."

"Actually, in case you forgot, Corey, today is the second Saturday of the month." She pulled down a calendar for emphasis and tapped the day's date. "And you know what that means!"

"You get Laney for the afternoon for a girls' day," he sighed.

"Oh, that's right!" Laney slid off the stage and over to her girl best friend. "Sorry, Core, but Blair and I do need some girl time."

"It's fine!"

"Yeah!" Blair agreed. "I was thinking spa facial for you, Laney. Ooh! You'll look so pretty!"

"Thanks, Blair." She waved to the boys. "See you guys tomorrow!"

Corey sighed as Blair and Laney left. Misty was sitting on the couch and looking at him.

"What's wrong, Corey?" she asked.

"I dunno… it's just been kinda weird hanging out with Lanes lately. I can't put my finger on it, but…"

"You like her!"

"Of course I like her! She's my best friend!"

"No, I mean you like her. How does it feel?"

"Well, for starters, whenever she laughs, I get this feeling in my stomach, and my heart went a hundred miles per hour when she accidently touched my hand, and I can't stop looking at her, and—"

"Doctor Misty, do we have a diagnosis?" Kon asked the younger girl.

"We do, indeed. Our patient is in love!"

"What do you recommend?" Kin inquired, adding to the joke.

"I recommend 20 ccs of hardcore confession!"

"Pfft!" Corey scoffed. "No way am I in love with Laney! It's not like I lay awake at night, thinking about her. How pretty she is. How she makes me laugh. How her singing is one of the most beautiful sounds on the planet. How awesome she is on the bass…"

"Corey, you are in love with her! And you can tell her that! She's not like most girls."

"Yeah. She's a rebel.

Background music began playing.

"She's a rebel," he sang. "She's a saint. She's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous."

"She's a rebel, vigilante," added Kin and Kon. "Missing link on the brink of destruction."

"From Chicago, to Toronto, she's the one that they call 'ole Whatsername'," all four sang together.

"She's a symbol of resistance, and she's holding onto my heart like a hand grenade!" Corey continued, running out of the garage with his friends right behind him. "Is she dreamin' what I'm thinkin'? Is she the mother of all bombs gonna detonate?"

"Is she trouble?" residents of Peaceville asked as Corey came by.

"Like I'm trouble, make it a double-twist of fate or a melody that she sings a revolution, the dawning of our lives! She brings this liberation that I just can't define! Well, nothing comes to mind!"

People cheered Corey and the other three on as they had a dance break in the musical number. Then Misty, Kin, Kon, and the rest of the crowd echoed the first part.

"She sings a revolution, the dawning of our lives!

"She brings this liberation that I just can't define! Well, nothing comes to mind! She's a rebel. She's a saint!"

"She's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous!

"She's a rebel, vigilante! Missing link on the brink of destruction!"

"She's a rebel! She's a saint! She's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous!"

"She's a rebel, vigilante! Missing link on the brink of destruction!"

"She's a rebel! She's a rebel! She's a rebel!"

"And she's dangerous!"

"She's a rebel! She's a rebel! She's a rebel!"

"And she's dangerous!"

The musical number ended, and everyone except Misty, Corey, Kin, and Kon dispersed.

"So, you're in love with Laney?" Misty asked.

"Yes. I can say that now."

"So you're going to have your first kiss with her?"

"We sorta already did. By accident. On second New Year's."

"Why do you never tell us the important things?!" Kon yelled.

"Like I said, it was an accident! Besides, she doesn't like me back. She's too awesome."

"You're kidding me, right?"

He looked to see Trina walking towards him.

"She totes loves you, Corey!" his older sister scoffed. "Denial is more than a river in Africa!"

"How do I know you're not lying?" he asked.

"Puh-leeze! Everyone knew! She was so obvious about it!"

"I'm that dense?" He turned to Kin and Kon. "Did you two know she has a crush on me?"

"Uh… no!" Kin blurted.

"Yeah, it's not like she wrote about you in her diary, or her eyes turn into hearts whenever you touch her, or—" Misty elbowed the larger twin.

"So it's true. I'm an oblivious jerk."

"Corey," Misty sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know much about love. I've never had a crush on anyone, and I probably never will. But one thing I do know about love is that it's unexplainable. You can try to reason why you love somebody, but it's impossible to know for sure. You may be an oblivious jerk, but Laney loves you because she loves you, and vice versa. What's important is that you tell her how you feel. That's the surefire way to kickstart your relationship."

"You're right!" Corey patted the eleven-year-old's head. "Thanks, Misty. Now, where's the spa?"

"Oh. They're closed today. I forgot to tell Blair."

"So, where would they go on Girl's Day besides the spa?"

"The Peaceville Mall! They like to check out the music store and a couple other places before they go get lunch in the food court." The others stared. "What? I just don't go on days they go to the spa!"

"To the mall!" Corey yelled.

TO THE MALL TRANSITION!

"So, any luck with Corey yet?" Blair asked Laney as she pulled a copy of Duality by Set It Off out of a stack.

"No, not yet," Laney sighed. "He still treats me like one of the guys. I can't figure out how to make that hard head of his see me as a girl!"

"It's all a matter of timing! Romance is a lot like comedy: timing plus delivery equals success!"

"I don't think that applies in this situation. Maybe it's time to move on, you know? Start looking into other options. Like your twin?"

"Okay, first of all, if you think I'm gonna let you date Justin, then you're insane. Second of all, why give up on Corey? You two are meant to be together!"

"He's not interested! Why keep hope alive when it's not gonna happen?"

"'When the world says, "Give up.", hope whispers, "Try it one more time!"' Do you know who said that, Laney?"

"No…"

"Neither do I, but it's true."

"Let's just grab our lunch and then hit the theater."

In the food court, the stage that had been put up just a month earlier (Grojband had been first to perform on that stage) had instruments on it. Sound equipment, too.

"Was there supposed to be a performance today?" Laney asked her best friend.

"Not as far as I know. Grojband and The Newmans are the only bands in Peaceville who play venues like this."

Barney got onstage and said into the mike, "Hello, food court! We have a very special group with us today! Please put your hands together for Peaceville's newest group, Heart's Fire!"

Four supercute boys walked out onstage and picked up the instruments. Blair and Laney made their way through the crowd to the front row just as Corey and the others walked into the food court.

"Hello, Peaceville!" the lead said into the mike. He had shaggy brown hair and a mischievous grin. "We are Heart's Fire, and I'm Alexander! Today, we have a special performance for you!" His eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Laney. "I'd like to dedicate this song to the pretty red-haired girl up here in the front row."

Laney giggled nervously. Corey looked through the crowd for Laney as Heart's Fire began to play a smooth intro. Alexander grabbed the mike.

"She don't even know exactly where she wants to go. Is that a double-negative? Oh, never mind let's go to the next line of the story. I met her at the Smoothie King, she said Seattle's best. She may be right; think I remember coffee on her breath. She smoked cigarettes… I chewed bubble gum. I know I shouldn't take it but I think I kinda like it when she tells me that I'm dumb. And this may sound pathetic but I think that we can make it. We'll go on and on and on and on!"

"Love songs suck and fairy tales aren't true," the rest of Heart's Fire sang with him.

"And happy-ending-Hollywood is not for me and you! So add it up! Break it down! It's not that hard to figure out you're crazy and I'm crazy about you!"

When the song ended, the crowd went wild and Laney and Blair went to get their lunch. Corey was still looking for Laney.

"They were pretty good, huh?" Blair asked Laney as they sat at their favorite booth.

"Yeah!" Laney replied. "They'll probably do some stupid stunts, though. They're talented, but they're pretty boys."

"And you're a pretty girl."

She turned to see Alexander and his group standing nearby.

"Uh, hi?" she greeted him tentatively.

"Hey." He gave her a smile. "My name's Alexander, but you knew that already. I'd like to know your name."

"Laney."

"Pretty name."

"Are you just here to hit on me?"

"No. I came to ask you out."

Corey had just entered the restaurant (he'd seen Laney) when he heard Alexander say that.

"W-wow! I'm not used to people just asking me out!"

"You can't have known too many decent guys, then. I'm surprised. So, you in?"

"It depends. What would we be doing?"

"Just seeing a movie. I pay, you pick."

"Okay."

"Meet me at the theater at six."

"See ya then!"

Alexander left and Corey felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

"Oh, Corey," Misty sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," he murmured. "She can go out with whoever she wants."

"You okay, buddy?" Kon asked.

"I'm fine, Kon. I'm just going home. Laney's out of my league."

And with that, he walked out of the mall.

And that concludes chapter one.

This story will have a new feature: suggest a song! Here's how it works: I give you guys the story rundown for the next chapter, and you suggest songs!

Here's next chapter synopsis:

Laney goes on her date with Alexander while Corey's trapped in a spiral of self-pity. He rouses from it when he finds out what Alexander's really like and plans to save Laney.

Leave your suggestions in the reviews!

So long and thanks for all the fish!