The hall was filled with the numerous voices of its guests, yet Corey Riffen remained silent. He sat, alone, in the back of the hall and sighed sadly. He had not only lost his bassist and Grojband's one shot to be on worldwide television, but also pushed away the most amazing and beautiful girl he had ever met. Thus, guilty and disgusted, Corey hid himself from the rest of the world.

"Is this seat taken?"

Corey raised his head, surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Carrie?"

The lead singer of the Newmans shifted uncomfortably. Corey noticed a large smear of makeup running down under her eyes.

" Can I sit down or what?" Carrie grumbled.

Corey, unable to respond due to shock, simply nodded his head.

"Thanks"

Carrie slowly sat down next to her gender bent rival, and sighed. Corey glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"You look like you've been crying Carrie. Did something happen?"

Carrie nodded, whipping a smear of ruined make-up from under her eye.

"Lenny quit the band," she muttered.

Corey frowned, suddenly gravely reminded of his own situation.

"Laney left us too" he scratched the back of his head,

An awkward silence fell between the two rivals. Corey shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"He had a crush on me," Carrie suddenly said.

Corey raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"He did?"

Carrie nodded, a fresh set of tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Yeah. And what did I do? I insulted him, pushed him away, and probably made him hate me" Carrie pulled her legs up to her face and began crying.

Corey stared at her with sympathy and confusion. Carrie was his biggest rival, he should be happy that she was so miserable. Yet, his heart knew exactly how she felt, and it reached out to her.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Lanes had a crush on me too. All throughout today I've been getting closer and closer to her, loving every step of the way. But when I saw you guy's play tonight, and how the crowd seemed to love your song, I guess I got a little selfish. I was so worried about losing the competition; I lost track of what was really important. Now she's gone, and I've got nothing left"

Another silence feel between the singers, the roar of the crowds voice echoing throughout the hall.

"We were both idiots" Carrie whispered, her voice strained from crying.

Corey nodded sadly. He was pouring out his problems to his biggest enemy, it didn't get much worse than that. Wanting to lighten the mood, Corey gestured to Carrie's dress.

"You look nice tonight" he tried to comfort her.

Carrie sniffed, her legs slowly beginning to descend from her face. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Thanks. You look nice too," she said.

Corey smiled. He gestured to the beanie atop his head.

"Yeah, but my hat kind of contrast with it" he joked.

Carrie felt her own hands drift up to her head and grasp the orange beanie that lay there. She gave a small, saddened, smile.

"Lenny gave me this," she said softly.

Corey raised his eyebrows.

"Really? How did that happen?" he asked her.

Carrie drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She carefully removed the beanie from her head and laid it gently on her lap.

"When I was younger," she began, "I simply adored my sister. She was my idol, role model, and hero all rolled into one. I wanted to be just like her all the time. For a while, I did everything she did. Dressed like her, talked like her, even followed her around town. But about five years ago, I wanted a change. I was just beginning to discover how to be my own person, to be independent. So, I changed everything"

"Except your hair" Corey suddenly commented.

Carrie nodded, running her hand thru her scalp.

"I just couldn't part with the one thing my sister and I had in common. Lenny and I were best friends at the time, so I told him about my problem. When I finally finished telling him about it, he gave me smile and told me that he had something he thought would help. The next day, I see him there with a dorky grin, holding a box in front of him. I open it, and there, sitting neat and folded, was the beanie"

Carrie stopped for a moment, her mouth curving into a smile.

" 'Here Carrie, now you can be your own beautiful self' he told me. And whenever I'm feeling sad, or think of just giving up, I clutch this little beanie in my hand and replay those words. And I don't keep it to be independent anymore. I wear it because my best friend, someone I truly care about, told me I look beautiful with it"

Corey remained silent as Carrie finished her story. He smiled at her.

"It sounds like you really care about him," he said.

Carrie nodded, holding the beanie a little closer to her heart. Not wanting her to cry again, Corey hastily began telling his own beanies origin story.

"Not many people know this, but when I was three, Trina and I were adopted by our dad"

"You were adopted?" Carrie suddenly interrupted, her voice cracking with surprise.

Corey chuckled.

"Yep, surprising huh? Anyway, when we finally arrived at our new house, our Dad gave each of us a gift. To Trina, he gave a hair band that would expand as she grew older. You can still see her wear it today. And to me, he gave this little orange beanie. It was the first thing I ever received from him, so I made a habit of wearing it. Unfortunately, as I grew older, people began calling me out for wearing it all the time. They called me names, refused to play with me, and even tried to steal in once and awhile. I was just about to quit wearing it for good, when a little red haired girl walked up to me one day at recess"

"I'm going to guess that it was Laney" Carrie said

"Good guess. Anyway, she asked me why I always wore the beanie on my head. I was tired of always making up excuses for it, that I just blurted out the truth to her. I remember feeling so afraid that she was going to tell everyone, and I would become even more of an outcast. But she smiled at me, and commented on how stupid most of the people who bullied me were. She asked if I wanted to play tag with her, and we've been friends ever since. I still wear my beanie today because it's my good luck charm. Without it, I never would have met the coolest and most awesome girl in the world"

He suddenly sighed.

"But now she's gone, and I don't blame her for it. I really screwed up this time"

Corey suddenly felt a supportive hand on his back.

"We both did. And right now, we need to find a way to get them back" Carrie smiled at him.

Corey nodded in agreement. This stupid thing all started because he still wasn't able to write his own lyrics.

"Wait a second" a light bulb suddenly appeared in Corey's mind.

"What is it?"

Corey turned to Carrie, his face brimming with excitement.

"Your right Carrie, we do need to get them back. And I know just the way we can do it, and tell them how we feel"

"How?"

Corey smiled.

"With a crazy plan that just might work"