Chapter 1: Battle of the Bands
The dressing room for The Mystics was in total chaos. Makeup covered every inch of the dressing table, hairspray fumes clung to the air making it impossible to breathe, bodies raced from one end of the room to other; and it was all because of one thing. The thing that could make all their dreams come true. The finals for the Battle of the Bands.
The gang had worked their asses off to get through the elimination rounds. But this was the one that counted. If they won the competition not only would they get a record deal but they would also get a national tour! Just imagine, four weeks touring the country, hearing the crowds scream your name…
"Hey Caroline, have you seen my drum sticks?" Tyler said breaking Caroline out of her reverie.
"Umm yeah they should be in the bag with all the spare guitar strings. If not there is always a spare pair in my suitcase" Caroline smiled and looked around the room. Everyone was still getting ready for the show, Damon was adjusting his strings on his guitar and Matt was doing the same with his bass. Bonnie was going over her piano chords while the twins, Elena and Katherine, were still warming up their voices and applying makeup.
Caroline was always ready way before everyone else. She was a control freak and everyone knew it. She needed to know that things were going as planned otherwise she would start stress cleaning, and that was never a pleasant sight. But tonight was Caroline's time to shine, and that meant that Caroline needed to have everything in order more so than ever. She was tired of living behind Elena's shadow, even though she loved the girl to bits, but she was just tired of just being the back-up singer and maybe tonight would be different. Maybe tonight she would prove not only to the country or to the band or to a record company but also to herself that she had what it takes to be a lead vocalist even though she would still be singing back up tonight.
As soon as everyone was ready, Caroline double checked that her blonde curls were in perfect order before she followed the band up to the green room where they were met by Jeremy, Elena and Katherine's brother and Lexi who was the band's PR. Surprisingly the green room was actually green. All the way to the very last detail; shades of lime and emerald enveloped Caroline's eyes. Is this what Dorothy felt like in the Emerald city? Caroline wondered.
"So you guys ready? I got notified from the tech guys that you guys are performing last and The Originals are the first to perform out of the five once the show starts. So go out with a bang!" Lexi explained.
"I'm sorry but I'm confused. Why are The Originals competing in this? I thought the Battle of the Bands was for new upcoming bands. Aren't they already uber famous?" Katherine queried cynically.
Oh Katherine, always the one to question their rivals, Jeremy thought as he rolled his eyes "Calm down Kat. They only won last year's title-" It's part of the rules; it pulls the crowd in. To see what bands can outperform last year's winners - "
"Yeah and their family also owns Mikaelson Records. Why are they even here if they have free access to a record company and are already doing shows?" Katherine cut in.
"They're here because it's the shows rule to have a defending champion, so people will be interested if they can win a second time or if a new band will take over." Jeremy replied.
"It grabs the viewers." Lexi agreed.
"Well shouldn't someone complain? What's the point of trying to win a record deal when they own a record company?" Katherine argued again
"As much as I agree with you Kat, there's nothing much we can do about it now. The shows about to start and besides it isn't very sportsman-like. If we want to win this, we'll have to do it fair and square" Elena said.
"Since when have I ever been sportsman-like or ever done things fair and square?"
"She has a point you know" Damon added.
"Oh look at all these dumbfounded amateurs. Having doubts are we? Think it's a little unfair that we have an advantage of performing on an actual stage? No need to worry darlings, there is no way you are going to win this competition"
The whole room turned towards the new voice. Everyone stared as The Originals, walked through the door. Caroline had heard of The Originals more than enough times at band practices from her friends. They were a rock band that consisted of family members and were considered the bands greatest rival even though they had not met yet, at least not until now.
Caroline examined the band as they made their way to the centre of the room. In the front stood Rebekah Mikaelson, the only girl and sister of the group whose unofficial band name was 'Man-eater'. She had long blonde hair sleeked back into a ponytail and smoky eye shadow to highlight her green eyes. To the left of her stood man with boyish charms, his face always set in a smirk but from what Caroline could tell, he was a big flirt. That must be Kol Mikaelson she thought also known as 'The Lady-killer'. Behind Kol stood a stoic man who wore more formal clothes than the rest of his band mates. That has to be Elijah 'The Rock' Mikaelson, the eldest brother. Next to Elijah stood a tall man who said and did very little. Caroline deduced that he must be Finn Mikaelson, nicknamed 'The Silence' for obvious reasons. Now the last member who stood to the right of Rebekah must have been Klaus Mikaelson, "The Hybrid". She had to admit that he was even more handsome in the flesh with his curly hair and full lips than in the pictures she had seen. What am I doing? Caroline thought. She can't be thinking about Klaus Mikaelson that way, especially not now! He was practically their enemy and she was with Tyler for god sakes.
"Now, now little sister. No need to tease the competition. We can't have them wetting their pants before they go on stage. What challenge will that leave us?" Klaus smirked as he stepped forward from behind Rebekah. "Ah, The Mystics. The large band from the small town of Mystic Falls. A pleasure to finally meet you all at last. I hear you're the only band who has a chance at beating us." He said as he scanned and identified each person with his eyes straying just a second too long on the blonde, who stood at the back of the group. There was something about that girl that was different from the brunette twins at the front of the group. There seemed to be a light that flowed through her and shone out.
"That is if you can withstand our musical performance. I'm sure it will do more than just rock your socks off" Kol added as we waggled his eyebrows at Bonnie who scoffed at his immature gesture.
"ATTENTION ALL PERFORMERS THIS IS YOUR 5 MINUTE BEGINNER'S CALL. CAN THE OPENING ACT PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY BACKSTAGE, THANKYOU" A male voice called out from the overhead speakers.
"That seems to be our queue to leave. Please excuse us and good luck with the competition" Elijah said as he led his family out the door.
"We should probably get going too. We'll see you guys out there and don't worry you are going to absolutely great. I'm sure you'll win" smiled Lexi as she and Jeremy made their way to find their seats in the crowd.
As The Mystics were making their way backstage to grab their instruments that they would need onstage, Katherine pulled Elena, Stefan and Damon off to the side away from the rest of the gang before they would even notice that they were missing.
"You guys know that we will never stand a chance against The Originals if we do our sunshine and rainbows cover of 'Kiss Me' that we always perform when we have a gig" she said.
"But Kat, what else could we do? That's our best song, everyone knows that" Elena spoke.
"That's exactly why we should change our song. Everyone will be expecting us to perform it. Why not shake things up a bit with a surprise song?"
"Well little evil twin, what do you suggest we do?" Damon implored.
"I suggest that we do an original song for our finale. More specifically Caroline's song"
"Are you sure? We've only practiced her song a handful of times and we should ask Caroline first, I mean it is her song after all" Stefan added.
"Oh please. Caroline will thank us for performing her song and showing it to the world. We need to tell everyone the change of plans before it's too late. The Originals are about to perform in any second which leaves us about less than 5 minutes to find and tell everyone the change of plans before we get hauled onstage"
"Okay. I'll go let Caroline know that she'll be performing lead vocals tonight instead of me." Elena said as she was about to leave the exclusive conversation but Katherine grabbed her arm at the last second.
"No. Caroline hasn't had much experience with lead vocals"
"Kathrine's right. Caroline has had limited experience being in the glorious spotlight. Who's to say that she won't choke tonight? It is a large crowd plus this is broadcasted live on television. We can't afford any kind of mess up or it'll cost us the competition and make us the Battle of the Bands joke of the century; and I for one do not want to lose to someone as stuck-up as The Originals or Klaus Mikaelson for that matter." Damon agreed.
Elena was torn. On one hand, she wanted to win this competition just as much as the next person, maybe even more and not just for herself but for everyone and all the hard work they've put into getting this band here. But on the other hand, she didn't want to hurt Caroline's feelings by performing her song without letting her perform it herself. She knew how much the song meant to Caroline, could she really do this?
"Hey, I know that you might feel bad for overtaking Caroline's song but don't be. She wrote it for the band anyway, and what better way to promote her great song writing skills than through this competition?" Stefan said as he pushed a lock of Elena's hair behind her ear. Elena gave him a small smile in return.
"I know" she replied "I just feel bad because I know that she wanted to debut the song herself"
"Elena, there is a reason why you're the lead vocalist and not Caroline. We all agreed that you are the better singer. As much as I love her, Caroline's use is better off doing backing vocals and shaking a tambourine in the background. Besides it's only for tonight, to win this competition. Once we get on tour she can sing the damn song however she wants" Damon added, getting annoyed that they now have even less time to notify the others.
Elena reluctantly nodded. A sacrifice had to be made for the good of the team.
"Great" Katherine concluded. "Now we can get this show on the road and kick some Mikaelson ass. But before we go, I feel as though this song would improve a hundred times more if it was sung as a duet. So Stefan, since you have the sexier singing voice would you do the honour of singing this song?"
Stefan sighed but agreed, ignoring the annoyed expression from his elder brother. Once everyone was ready, they continued down the corridors until they met the rest of the band in the wings behind the stage, waiting for the show to start.
A/N: So short chapter to start off. Sorry if my writing skills aren't top notch, this is my first fanfiction and first actual big writing thing I have ever done… EVER. Please let me know what you guys think of it!
P.S. Klaroline fanfiction is the best fanfiction out there! Like 99.9% of fanfiction I read is Klaroline!