"So, Riffin, you finally decided to embrace your true self, huh? Or is it this ugly little boy that's entering?" Carrie smirked. Laney was about to snap at her when Corey stepped in.
"Back off, Beff! Lanes is going to cream you in this pageant. She's a million times prettier than you'll ever be." He seethed.
This time it was Lenny who jumped in, "Hey, Riffin. Back off yourself. No one in the world is more beautiful than Carrie."
"Please, Lanes is the prettiest girl in the entire universe, and way cuter than any Newman."
"Watch it, Riffin, I'm about to beat your ass." Lenny glared as he defensively put an arm in front of Carrie as if to shield her.
"I'll be the one to do the beating."
"Core!"
"Larr!"
The two girls stared down their respective men.
"I'll be disqualified if you get in a fight." Laney started.
"I appreciate you defending me, but I'm a big girl, and big girls-" Carrie turned to glare at Laney.
"Fight their own battles." The two shared a glare before looking away from their death match to grab hold of their partners.
"Come on, Larr. I need to find my dressing room. Dressing room 12, right?"
Laney spun around with wide eyes, "Room what?"
"Room 12. What's the big deal, boy?"
"Room 12 is my room." Laney glared at her, "If you touch anything in there, I swear I'll-"
"Relax, man. I don't need to cheat to beat you. Your ugly clothes will stay as they are." Carrie flipped her hair and walked away with Lenny close behind. Laney growled.
"I really hate her."
Corey placed a firm hand on her shoulder as they began to walk to the stage, " We all do, but all we have to do to break her is beat her in this pageant."
Laney looked up at him with nervous eyes, "You really think I can beat her, Core? As terrible as she is, Carrie actually has a figure and some hefty packages up there, both of which I lack big time. It'll be tough beating that."
"Lanes," Corey abruptly quit walking, "Do you really think any of that matters?"
"Doesn't it?" Laney quirked an eyebrow, "Half of Peaceville still confuses me for a dude, and no one likes to see a dude in a dress."
Corey moved so that he could look into her beautiful eyes. His grip tightened gently as his eyes became slightly softer, "Lanes, that doesn't matter. You are beautiful inside and out. You're eyes sparkle in the cutest way when you're excited, you get a fire in your soul when you're mad, and you make the cutest faces. You help people when they're down, and you'll never give up on someone until they reach their full potential. You're going to win, there's no way you can't."
Laney looked up the blue haired rockstar in shock. He really thought that of her? He really thought she was beautiful, that she could win?
She quit thinking when she saw that passionate spark, the same one from before, flash in his eyes. On a pure instinct of what stirred inside of him, he leaned down ever so slowly. The girl softly closed her eyes. Her heart beat was out of control as she felt his breath tickling her face. They were so close.
"Guys! We need to-" Kin's voice came through before pausing, "Oh, uh, never mind!" He ran away swiftly back to whence he came.
Instantly, Corey let go of Laney and put space between them, "I didn't mean to- I just sorta- Ah, uh, Kin!" He sputtered out before running off to where Kin had left.
Laney stood there in shock. He did it again. He willingly almost kissed her. Did he like her back? She wouldn't normally keep her hopes up, but Corey seemed to be acting so different. It wouldn't be so crazy of her to think he might have a crush on her after he nearly kissed her twice in the same week.
Her heart thumped loudly in her chest at the thought. This was her chance. She could confess with no fears. She could finally say those five agonizing words, 'I love you, Corey Riffin.', without any doubt. All she needed was the right moment and-
"What's with the red face, dude?" A small laugh came from the end of the hall. The source was a smirking Carrie Beff, "Did someone tell you looked pretty? Sorry, but they were lying."
"Go away, Carrie. I don't want to deal with your-"
"Whatever, you ugly little boy. Is the director of the pageant around? He probably wants to talk to the winner."
Laney smirked, "I'll wave to you when we talk."
"HaHa," Carrie laughed dryly, "You think you and your evil band are just so great, don't you? Today is finally the day I can get back at you for all those years of humiliation and stealing gigs. Today is the finally the day I can crush you."
Laney quirked an eyebrow," Evil? We may have taken a few gigs from you guys, but that's what rivals do. You shouldn't have let it happen."
"You think I wanted to have my cake catch on fire, and destroy half of the buffet, or have all of our clothes be eaten by moths? It's not like we let anything happen. Grojband made all of those things happen behind our backs. The town may see you as good guys, but I know."
"I'm sorry we had to go overboard, but Core-"
"And he's the worst. You're stupid little boyfriend is the one making us seem terrible. He's the truly evil one." Carrie growled.
"Stop right there." Laney snapped, "Core is not evil. He's sweet, adorable, and a way cooler person than you'll ever be."
"Please, he's just like his sister, evil and manipulative." Carrie seethed.
Laney felt something inside of her snap. Comparing Corey to Trina? That was simply going to far. Without another thought on the matter, she smacked Carrie, the force turning her head to the side.
Carrie blinked, taking in what had just happened. Slowly, she turned her head back to face to Laney, "You wanna fight, bitch? Trust me, you won't win this war." She began to move for a simple attack when a pair of hands wrapped around her own. Her eyes lifted to see her best friend, Lenny.
"Stop it, Carr. You don't want this anymore than she does. Quit trying to act like a badass." Lenny tightened his hold of her hands.
"I'm not acting, Larr. She's from Grojband anyway, so-" She struggled against his grip, but to no avail.
"So nothing. No one is buying your front, Carr. Drop the act, and save the fights for the catwalk. I'm not letting you get hurt because you want to act tough."
"Who says I would get hurt? I could beat that-"
"Carr," Lenny sighed, placing one of his hands on her shoulder and looking deeply into her eyes, "You'll be disqualified if this continues."
Carrie stared at him for a few seconds before giving an angry huff, "Fine, Larr, you win, happy?"
"Good. Now you can apologize."
"Wha-but, Larr-" She protested, but Lenny's stare made her stop, "Fine, I'm sorry for acting bitchy. I'm just mad at your band, and your boyfriend's evil satan spawn of a sister."
Laney fought smile, "No problem. I'd be insanely mad if all of that happened to me, and trust me, we hate Trina more than you do."
"Hard to believe that." Carrie scoffed, "She slave drives my sister."
"By making her nearly destroy our gigs, and ruin our lives."
"True." Carrie pursed her lips, "I guess I can attempt to be nice to you for today, but I will destroy you on the catwalk."
Laney gave in and cracked a competitive smile, "I look forward to it."
Carrie gave her one last look before dragging Lenny in the other direction, "Come on, gal pal, I still need to get my jewelry from Kim's."
Lenny sighed in response, "Still a boy."
Laney smiled at the pair, and walked onto the stage. Maybe the Newmans weren't so bad? She scoffed at the thought. There was no possible way a Newman could be anything but bad. They were probably just stuffing her into a blanket of false security. Her best option was keeping her guard up.
Loud bursts of laughter interrupted her massive web of thoughts. Laney scanned the massive room she was in until she spotted none other than Corey Riffin being tortured by his twin bandmates in the gargantuan rows of viewing chairs.
Laney looked away from the scene before they noticed her stare. A bright red now colored her face as she remembered the almost kiss in front of Kin. She didn't know whether to bribe him into never telling, or bash his head in for interrupting the special moment.
It seemed every time Laney saw that passion in Corey's eyes and they were literally two centimeters away from a kiss, they were interrupted by the outside world. Just once she would like to have her princess moment, a moment where it was just her and her beloved prince charming sharing a blissful kiss of love and-
"Hey, Laney," Kon smirked as he glided his way over to her, "I hear you and Corey totes made out in the dressing rooms. That's so sweet. I mean, how much more adorbs can you two be without exploding or something?"
Laney's tranquil and loving mood turned to one shock and embarrassment, "What?! We did no such thing! It was just- I was- He kinda.." Her words faded off as she stared at the ground, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. She could barely make out any words, and what she could didn't help her situation.
Kin walked over to join in on her torture, "Laney and Corey sitting in a tree-"
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G~" He and Kon sang. Laney felt an anger begin to bubble inside of her.
"Do you two idiots want to wear your instruments around your necks?" She seethed, "Because I'm about to assist you."
The twins replaced their giddy smiles with expressions of terror as they slowly back away from the red-head. Laney gave a frustrated sigh, and frowned.
"So are we gonna practice or what?"
"Great idea, Lanes!" Corey shouted eagerly as he ran onto the stage, grabbed his guitar, and plugged it up to the amp, "Let's practice until it's time for you to get on stage! Yeah, nothing else but practice."
Laney gave him a questioning glance before wordlessly strapping on her bass. Corey seemed weird suddenly. She wondered if it had to do with the almost kiss. She rolled her eyes at herself. Of course it was the kiss. There was nothing else it could be.
She smiled as she walked up to the microphone. It felt like a massive weight had been lifted from her chest knowing he returned her feelings, and she could now sing her song with more force and confidence than ever before. Now, the only thing to do was plan her confession, to plan when she could finally say those five simple words that had haunted her for so long.
"Count us in, Kon." She smiled as she said the familiar words.
