Alright guys, let's get this next update up and ready to go! My college year finally ended, so now, I'll have more time to update for you guys! ;D I hope you all enjoy!

It was the next day, and both bands were in Carrie's garage. Corey and Carrie faced their bandmates sheepishly, while they stared at the two blue heads with hard glares. After all the arguing, Corey and Carrie had finally realized that time was limited and they needed to spend it working together, rather than against each other.

That's why they were there that day.

Larry and Laney told their respective friends if their leaders were simply going to bicker even more, they would practice at Larry's house without Corey and Carrie. Luckily, it didn't come to that conclusion. Kim tapped her foot at Carrie, her arms crossed with her glare digging into Carrie's eyes.

"And you're serious about working together with Corey now?"

"Yes! I will work with Corey!" Carrie cried, almost desperately. Corey looked at her, shocked somewhat, but she ignored him. "I know I-...we...Acted like a bunch of immature brats because we couldn't get over this stupid pride of ours..."

"And that we need you all in order to fix this stupid mess we're in!" Corey looked at Laney, pleading for her to forgive him. The female bassist simply blinked slowly, her expression frozen in place. Carrie placed a hand on Corey's shoulder, reflecting that guilty look in her own blue eyes.

"What we did was selfish and stupid...We totally excluded you guys and spent more time snipping at each other, rather than solving this problem," She sighed, looking down at her feet. They shuffled slightly, and her bandmates loosened their expressions. Carrie never did that. Larry stared at Carrie, starting to feel guilty himself. 'Carrie must be serious about this...She's really willing to work with Corey in order to get out of this.'

A smile worked its way up to Larry's face. It was about time! He looked at Kim and Konnie, who still seemed unmoved. They looked like they were expecting something. Konnie put her hands on her hips, standing beside her sister. "We believe you, Carrie, and we're glad that you and Riff-...Corey, finally realized that arguing get's you nowhere, and this was hindering us from practicing."

Kin and Kon looked at Corey, almost sympathetically. "We almost wanted to practice without you guys."

"You and Carrie were arguing so much, Larry and I agreed with both twins to practice at Larry's," Laney said, her expression softening at her best friend. Both guitarists flinched and glanced at each other, slightly red in the face. The embarrassment was plastered right on their faces. While the two felt a little offended, they knew that they were in no position to speak up. It was their fault after all, and they would have deserved it if they didn't stop and think the night before.

Corey rubbed the back of his neck, removing his beanie from his head. "I can't say I'd blame you, Lanes...I'm really sorry, guys...It was totally uncool of us."

"Me too, Larrs..." Carrie had removed her beanie as well. "...And I'm sorry. To you, Kim, and Konnie...I'm sorry." She looked up at Larry, who completely abandoned his angry demeanor. She was serious about this. The both of them were. There was no doubt anymore. Instantly, Kim and Konnie grinned and tackled Carrie into a bone crushing hug.

"Aww, Carrie!"

"We forgive you, girl!"

"No doubt about it!" Larry said, playfully elbowing his best girl friend. He was glad everything was back on track. There was a cry of pain, but the Newmans relaxed when it was Kon crushing Corey in his own hug.

"Corey, we forgive you!"

"Kon, easy, you're gonna break his spine!" Laney cried, grinning at Corey's face. The male guitarist had an exaggerated pained look on his face. He couldn't tell if Kon got stronger or if he was really that excited. Either way, the drummer was suffocating him. "Kon...Can't...Breathe!"

"Oh, sorry!" The drummer dropped Corey, and the boy fell to the floor gasping for air. Laney let out a laugh before helping up her best friend. Corey smiled at her and gave the bassist and noogie. "Ah, Core!"

"What would I do without'cha, Lanes?"

"Lose the band, that's what!" Laney smirked back, playfully punching him in the arm. Corey let out a small laugh and put his beanie back on his head.

"Guys!"

The two bands looked up the stage, and Kin and Kim held out a list. "Kin and I came up with plan to help us organize what we can do on stage!"

"Wow, you guys were on top of this!" Carrie seemed pleasantly surprised. Kim arched up a brow with a wry smile as Kin laughed. "Well, someone has to!"

"What's the idea?" Corey asked, a familiar twinkle in his eyes Kin smirked and handed a copy of the list to his rocking leader. "It's simple, really! Each band does three songs! Two can be a traditional rock and roll song, and the third one can be any kind of genre!"

Konnie looked at her sister, worriedly. "But the festival's in one week! How are we going to come up with three songs, plus an opening, in one week! It takes at least three days to make one song!"

"And not to mention, we don't even have a theme or outfits for the festival," Kon said, rubbing his neck. "We can't go on stage in our usual clothes. We kinda want this to show the world big things happen in Peaceville."

"And that we're serious about being rockstars!" Corey fist pumped, grinning ear-to-ear. Laney poked her friend's shoulder, "Uh, Core, even if we do get cool outfits for the festival, we don't have time to make lyrics! We're all stumped here! If anything, we might have to do cover songs for the entire time we're playing!"

"I think that would work," Larry said, brushing his hair away from his eyes. "The only thing we've done, besides bickering, is practicing cover songs. If we all decide on which songs to do, and how to do it, we might have a chance!"

"But say we do three cover songs each, Larrs," Konnie tapped her chin, in deep thought. "What are we going to do for the opening? Do we work together, or have a quick battle of the bands or solos? We need to keep our audience entertained throughout the whole thing, or we kiss our savings, instruments, and summer vacation good-bye."

The group of eight went silent after that. It was true. Even though Grojband and the Newmans were Peaceville's most successful bands with their diverse knowledge in song writing and instrument playing, nothing could prepare them for the fury of their parents and Mayor Mellow if the festival was still broken down. To say the least, it would be hell for the two groups if this went unresolved.

Kim clapped her hands together, getting the attention of the others. "C'mon, let's not get stressed out. I think we should split into our usual groups and decide from there."

The Newmans and Grojband all exchanged glances, then nodded. Kin then stood next to Kim and pulled out a notebook. "But while you guys are doing that, I'm going to look for some inspiration for clothes."

"Wait, we're really going to dress up for this?" Laney looked pretty surprised. Kin nodded, grinning eagerly. "I think it's a good idea! It'll improve our images for our bands even further, and we'll feel more pumped if our respective bands differ in themes!"

"That's a great idea, Kin!" Kim grabbed Kin's shoulders, pulling a Corey by invading his personal space. "It should be a mix and match theme! Where each of our bands do one song that we originally wrote for the opening, two songs where it's all girls and another two for the boys, and then something spunky for the ending theme! You're a genius!"

Kin blushed, his heart hammering in his chest. "Uh...yeah, you too, Kim!"

"Wait, what?" Both Larry and Laney looked dumbfounded. They both got the opening and the ending, but the middle. Corey wrapped an arm around Laney, pulling her close. "Don't worry, Lanes! You got this!"

"But Core, I don't even understand what Kin and Kim meant," Laney freed herself, feeling slightly uncomfortable in his grip. She had a love interest, and it wasn't him. Corey, however, had a quick offended look in his eye, but it dispatched before Laney could see it. His big, goofy grin worked his way back up to his face. "Didn't you hear, Lanes? You'll be the bassist for the Newmans!"

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yeah, why not?" Carrie had her arms open with a smile on her face. "Riff-...Corey and I spent so much time bickering, the least we can do is go along with your plan! So far, I think this is the best thing that could happen for both of our bands!"

Laney smiled a little at Carrie. She wasn't so bad. At least, not now. The female bassist turned back to Corey, looking up at him. "And you're sure you can survive two songs with Larry?"

"Sure I can!" Corey waved the question off as if it were nothing. "I mean, what's so dangerous about him? He'll give me one of his looks? This'll be so epic!"

Larry looked at Corey with his trademark 'I'm just one hundred percent done with today' expression. While Corey, Kin, and Kon were gushing about how awesome this gig was going to be, he dreaded being a part of the Grojband group. No offense to Laney, but he pondered how she could stand being near these guys? Corey more than Kin and Kon; the twins were just male versions of Kim and Konnie.

"Yeah, great..."

-About three hours later-

The group of bands were still sitting in the garage, planning their songs. Even though they had a clear idea of what to do and who to cover, the hardest part was picking and choosing which songs to do and in what order. Even though the bands were playing together, they organized their parts in different areas of the garage. Kin said that if the group had the same plan, it would be boring, so they decided to stick with the opening and three covers, but keep it all a secret. That way, the audience was more entertained. They wanted to rock out hard, and the gig was slowly becoming a battle of sexes in small degree.

Carrie, Laney, Kim, and Konnie were debating on which song to use from either Garbage or Paramore. "So, what about this song?" Konnie asked as she clicked on a song by Paramore. The girls leaned in and listened, taking in the beat, notes, and lyrics. It was catchy, but it wasn't really close to what they were looking for.

Carrie shook her head, taking out the earbud in her left ear. "No, not that one. It's catchy, but not really what we're trying to accomplish." The girls sighed, tired. Even with their experience from rocking out on Peaceville's numerous gigs, something about this had stumped them clueless.

Meanwhile, Corey, Larry, Kin, and Kon tried to find some common ground on how to go in order of their songs. They found their songs they wanted to cover, but it was getting difficult to set them in order. Corey insisted that they should start playing the more hardcore rock first, then tone it down with some upbeat pop/rock mix. Kin and Kon seemed to agree that it was the better option, but Larry had a different viewpoint.

"If we do the harder rock first, the audience will expect something like that the further we go into the gig. I say we use the lighter beats first, and then the hard rock!"

"But if we do that, the crowd will want to keep it that way because there's going to be little kids there," Kon said, rubbing his neck. "If we do the hardcore stuff last, we might scare half our audience away."

"And that's the last thing we need," Kin said, nodding in agreement with his brother. The notepad he had was on the desk, barely touched. His head was empty for designs, so he asked Kim to do it. Luckily, she obliged and she planned to do it with Konnie once they got the first problem solved.

Larry was about to say something, but closed it. He opened it again, then shut it. There was no point in disagreeing. He knew Kin and Kon had a point. But what he couldn't stand was that the two agreed with everything Corey said. It was if he had them under mind control or something. Didn't they ever think for themselves?

However, Corey gave Larry a pat on the shoulder, making his ex-rival look at him. "I understand where you're coming from, Nepp, but we all want this gig to be successful. I'm not criticizing you or your friends and you might do it differently with the girls, but here, we all need to work together."

Larry stared at Corey, looking into the Grojband guitarist's eyes. He was being pretty serious about this. Under normal circumstances, this sort of thing would have caused Larry to snap, but after all that has happened, the male bassist didn't feel like being the instigator. Nor did he want anything to hinder their progress even more. Corey had a point, and he knew it. There was nothing else to say or do. So, with that last thought, Larry nodded at Corey and the other boys grinned.

"Awesome! I'm glad we actually got to see eye-to-eye!"

"Yeah," Kon said, almost relieved. "This is going to be so epic!" Larry smiled at Kon. 'He and Konnie are perfect for each other. Hopefully Riffin won't mind me suggesting them to get together after this whole ordeal blows over.'

"Hey, Corey!"

Corey looked up at the group of girls, who smugly looked back at them. "We're just about finished. How about you?"Corey looked at his friends before facing the girls. Although this was a unlikely event, the boys did manage to find common ground. They were ready, and they knew it. The onky thing was left was the practice, the outfits, and the festival. Corey smirked, looked back at Carrie, and nodded.

"So, you girls ready to rock?"