It was 7:30 AM. The 4 sleepless girls in the middle of Dana's living room all sat on the floor, Indian style, with a CD player in between them. Each girl held a pencil and a notebook.
Charlotte hit rewind, and play, for what had to be the thousandth time.
As the CD quietly played, Becky began lazily beat boxing the rhythm in her notebook. Dana struggled to stay in key while humming the bassline that Bayley wrote for her. Bayley hummed louder than her. Partially to help her hum in key, partially to drown her out for everyone else's sake. Charlotte sat silently, reading her lyrics in her head.
"You should just sing it." Bayley said, trying to peek into Charlotte's notebook.
Charlotte immediately closed it.
"I'm not sure if I like it yet."
"Well, my part is finished." Dana said, standing up.
"You're welcome." Bayley said, standing up as well. Becky stood up too.
"Where are you all going?" Charlotte asked.
"To sleep. The party is in like 16 hours." Bayley said, laying on the couch.
Becky yawned and made her way to the loveseat sofa and curled up into a ball on top of it.
"Wait!" Charlotte exclaimed, just before Dana began making her way up the stairs.
"Shhh!"
"Sorry. Come back, I... I'll sing it out loud and see if I like it."
Dana sighed and walked back to the center of the room, as Charlotte hit the rewind button and the play button once again.
Becky was half asleep, and began tapping her rhythms on the sofa, almost subconsciously.
Dana began humming her bassline. Charlotte looked over at Bayley's sleeping body, almost begging her to join in and correct Dana's pitch. She didn't.
"Alright, I come in at 3...2...1..."
"Yeah, that one's cute." Alexa said.
Sasha put the shirt into the already full shopping cart and continued pushing it. Alexa followed her, pushing Sasha's OTHER full shopping cart.
"So how much money did he give you?"
"He gave me his credit card." Sasha said.
"To keep?"
"Nah, I have a daily budget of $50,000."
"$50,000!? I get $500 to fuck him and you get $50,000 dollars just to suck his-"
"EXCUSE ME!" And older lady said, covering her child's ears.
"I... I'm sorry ma'am, I... let's go, Sasha." Alexa said, pushing the cart. Sasha sighed and kept pushing.
"You forget. I live with him now." Sasha said, sadly.
"You're right. You're basically dating him."
"Please don't say that."
"'Dating' sounds better than 'being a full time personal prostitute'."
"He told me to get underwear 'for tonight'." Sasha frowned.
Alexa sighed, handing Sasha a blue pill.
"Take it like 10 minutes before."
Sasha simply nodded, still pushing her cart through the mall.
"Hello?" Seth asked.
"Hey." Dean said, sounding worried.
"Dude where have you been the past few days?"
"Solitary. Look, I'm gonna text you a schedule of what I need done for the rest of the month. While I was in the hole, I calculated exactly how much we need to do to get Del Rio his money in the next 15 days. I'll send it right now."
"Alright but-"
Dean hung up.
"What did he say?" Roman asked.
"We got 15 days, and he's sending us a schedule."
"What happens in 15 days?"
"...we got 15 days."
"Alright, think about this. Del Rio wants all his money. He gets three fourths of the profits, we only gotta sell three fourths of the drugs."
"Yeah but how many deals have we done?"
"...like 4."
"Yeah we're gonna have to do a little better than four in the next 15 days."
Seth's phone vibrated.
"Got the schedule."
"What are we looking at?"
"...about 20 fucking deals a day."
"WHAT!?"
"Charlotte's having a party tonight. We can make like 30 if we head out there."
"You're bringing drugs to Charlotte's party that she didn't invite you to?"
"No one's 'invited'. We pay our ten to get in. Everyone that has $10 is invited."
"You haven't spoken to Charlotte since-"
"Since she stood me up for the eight billionth time. She should be glad I'm even going."
Roman chuckled.
"Damn Seth, you grew some balls overnight?"
Seth flipped him off.
"So where'd you get sticks?" Dana asked.
"Found an extra pair in the garage." Becky smiled.
"What time is it?" Charlotte asked.
"Like 7."
"Alright. So when we start, Big E will hit the CD player after Becky finishes counting off." Bayley said, standing next to the CD player, as Becky, Charlotte, and Dana stood in the living room, ready to perform the song.
"1... 2... 1, 2, 3, 4." Bayley hit play on the CD player.
Becky and Dana played along to the first 4 measures.
"I see the way you look at meeeeee... I know you know what we could beeeeee... I wanna say what's on my mind, and we could leave the past behind, but it don't work that sim-pl-yyyyyy... I see the way you look at meeeeee... You know I know what we could beeeeee... I wanna say what's on my mind, and we could leave the past behind, but it don't work that sim-pl-yyyyyy... I'm caught in the moment, and I don't wanna blow it, all I can do is own it, because my heart has been stolen, but, I don't wanna be more than frieeeeends... If that means we'll never be friends agaiiiiiin... They say that all good things must eeeeeend... But this is more than good it's great, and I don't want to make a mistake, no I don't wanna be more than frieeeeends... If that means we'll never be friends agaiiiiiin... They say that all good things must eeeeeend... But this is more than good it's great, and I don't want to make a mistake, oh no..."
Bayley mockingly began playing air guitar, getting a chuckle out of her bandmates, before Charlotte started the second verse.
Sasha slowly started to re-dress herself.
"See? That wasn't so bad." Vince said, putting her arm around her.
Sasha said nothing, fighting back tears.
"Come on, Sasha." He said, pulling her closer.
She pulled herself away, and continued re-dressing.
Vince sighed.
"I have a meeting, I'll be back at 9."
Sasha simply nodded.
Vince gave her a kiss on the cheek, got up, and left the room.
As soon as he left, Sasha began crying.
"How did you get so many people here!?" Bayley asked, watching Xavier collect the money as more people came in.
"I posted about it on Facebook." Charlotte smirked.
Kofi stood behind a counter, serving drinks and snacks, while Big E lingered around the CD player.
"What's up?" a familiar voice said, from behind Charlotte.
She turned around to see Roman Reigns, wearing the burgundy backpack.
"Oh... uh... hey, Roman, how's it going?"
"Good. I figured we'd stop by, ya know, check out the party."
"...we?"
Charlotte looked past Roman, and saw Seth, handing Xavier a $10 bill, and walking into the barbershop.
"Oh my god."Charlotte said, running over to Seth.
"What the hell are you doing here!?" Charlotte asked, angrily.
"I can't be here?" Seth smirked.
"No! You can't be here!"
"Why?"
"Because I don't want you here!"
"But I paid to get in."
"Then get your $10 back and get the fuck out!"
"Nah, I'll stick around." Seth said, walking into the crowd of people.
"Seth! SETH! DAMMIT!" Charlotte said, storming off. Eventually, she found Becky, sitting near the instruments in the corner of the room.
"You, forgot your name, I know it stars with a B, anyway, we have a big problem."
"My name is Becky."
"Right, Becky, we can't do the song, so we have to come up with another plan."
"We... we can't do the song? Why?"
"Seth is here!"
"So?"
"...SO!?"
"...I'm confused."
Charlotte groaned, and went to go find Dana, as Bayley walked over to Becky, and put on the mock guitar.
"Play something." Becky said with a smile.
Bayley rolled her eyes.
"Nah, I'll save it for the song."
"About that. Charlotte said we can't do the song."
"What!?" Bayley said, taking off the guitar and running after Charlotte.
"Charlotte! Charlotte!"
Charlotte immediately turned around.
"Bayley, look, we have to switch the song somehow."
"How can we switch the song?"
"I... I don't know but we have to, I can't sing that song in front of you know who."
"Who is 'you know who'?!"
Charlotte sighed and grabbed Bayley's wrist, dragging her back to the corner with Becky and the instruments.
"The song is about Seth, and he's here." Charlotte whisper-yelled.
"...he might not notice." Bayley shrugged.
"Unless he goes deaf within the next 20 minutes, I'm pretty sure he'll figure it out."
"Do you want new instruments or not?"
"We can just tell people I lost my voice."
"And then they'll want refunds. They came to see us do a song."
"I don't see what the big deal is. Best case scenario, he'll understand and feel the same way, worst case scenario, he gets mad and leaves and never talks to you again." Becky shrugged.
"You don't think that's a big deal!?"
"...it sounded better in my head."
Just then, Dana joined them.
"What's up, guys?"
"Charlotte wants to quit the performance." Bayley said.
"What!? Why!?"
"Seth is here!"
"Ohhhhh. Yeah, that's not okay."
"What do I do?" Charlotte asked, sitting down.
"Make him leave?" Becky shrugged.
"Tried that."
"Perform the song." Bayley said, slightly annoyed.
"Any other options?"
"Write a new one in the next 15 minutes." Dana said.
Charlotte put her head in her hands.
"I swear to god." Paige laughed, walking down the sidewalk with Natalya.
"An entire cake?"
"No, a cupcake, Yes an entire cake!"
"That's... wow... that's Teddy for ya... what's going in there?"
"...that's Keith Lynch's barbershop."
"Why is it so populated? Isn't is closed?" Natalya asked.
"Yeah, it seems sketch."
"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Four Horsewomen!" Kofi yelled into the mic, as the crowd cheered.
"Wait... Horsewomen... That's Number C's band. She plays guitar for them." Paige said.
Paige and Natalya walked over to the front door.
"$10." Xavier smiled.
Big E hit play on the CD as Becky and Dana began playing.
"That kid just hit play on a CD." Natalya said.
"Excuse me?" Xavier asked.
"She's not really playing that guitar." Paige said, nonchalantly.
"I see the way you look at meeeeee... I know you know what we could beeeeee..."
"...SO NUMBER C'S BAND HAS A CD WITH JUST GUITAR ON IT!?" Natalya exclaimed.
Paige and Natalya immediately pushed Xavier out of the way.
"Hey! You owe me $20!" Xavier yelled, after them.
"I see the way you look at meeeeee... You know I know what we could beeeeee... I wanna say what's on my mind, and we could leave the past behind, but it don't work that-"
Just then, the CD stopped playing. Charlotte, Becky, and Dana all stopped, and turned to see Paige, holding the CD.
"So... you guys stole AJ's CD!?" Natalya yelled.
The crowd of teenagers stood confused. Seth and Roman left, counting the money they made from sales.
Charlotte awkwardly stood on stage, and turned to her band mates, who all stared at her. She turned back to the crowd, Paige, and Natalya.
"We... we didn't steal anything!"
"Really? Because it looks like you stole AJ's CD from her studio session, and tried to use it to pretend it was a song you guys wrote." Paige said, twirling the CD on her finger.
"I... the-the CD-we-we didn't-"
"'I-the-the CD', you STOLE the song and pretended it was yours. Do you know what happens to music industry bootleggers in NYC? You don't even deserve this money." Natalya said, snatching the box of money from Xavier and handing it to Paige.
"Hey!" Xavier said.
"Now wait a minute!" Charlotte yelled, as Natalya approached the makeshift stage.
"Wait a minute what!?" Paige yelled back.
"We didn't steal anything! We bought the CD from the music store downtown!"
"So rare unreleased music is just sitting in a random music store?" Natalya asked.
"She's telling the truth!" Dana said.
"You're lucky all we're doing is taking the CD and the money." Paige said.
"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THE MONEY! WE USED A CD FOR THE GUITAR PART, BUT WE WORKED OUR ASSES OFF AND WROTE A DAMN GOOD SONG IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO THAT CD! WE EARNED THAT MONEY!" Charlotte snapped.
"Are you gonna stop us from taking the money?" Paige said.
"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I AM." Charlotte yelled, storming through the crowd, towards Paige.
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! I know how we can settle this!" Natalya smiled, walking behind Becky.
"HOW!?" Charlotte asked, angrily, turning back to the makeshift stage in the corner of the room.
"Simple. Either we leave with the CD and the money, or we leave with the CD and the money, and you'll be cleaning your drummer's brains off of the fucking ground." Natalya said, immediately putting Becky in a headlock and pulling out a gun, holding it against her temple.
"BECKY!" Xavier yelled, as the crowd of teenagers screamed, and began running out of the barbershop. Kofi, Big E, and Xavier stood in shock, unable to decide what to do.
"LET HER GO!" Charlotte shouted, as Bayley and Dana stood, frozen in fear. Becky sat silently, with tears running down her face.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Natalya asked, cocking the gun.
"I SAID LET HER GO!"
"Forgetting something?" Paige asked, holding up the box of money.
"TAKE THE FUCKING MONEY, LET HER GO, AND LEAVE!" Charlotte yelled, at the top of her lungs.
Natalya pushed Becky into the drumset, knocking it down. Paige took the metal box of money and smashed it into a mirror on the wall, breaking it.
"That's not necessary." Charlotte said, quietly.
Natalya grabbed a barber's chair, and threw it into the another mirror, breaking it as well, before slamming it onto the ground, knocking one of the arm rests off of the chair.
"And you can forget about ANY connection between the Four Horsewomen and AJ Lee." Paige said.
"WE DIDN'T STEAL THE CD!" Bayley exclaimed.
Natalya kicked the third and final mirror, breaking it, before throwing the snack table across the room.
"We don't like liars in this industry." Paige said, with a cold stare.
Bayley sighed.
"If you have the other 3 CDs, or you know where they are, I'd start talking immediately." Natalya said.
No one said anything.
"If we find out you have them, we won't just be breaking chairs and mirrors." Paige said, coldly. The two girls left, leaving an eerie silence in the destroyed barbershop.
After about a minute of silence, Becky got up and began running out of the barbershop, still crying.
"BECKY!" Xavier yelled.
Xavier and Bayley both ran after her.
Charlotte, Dana, Big E, and Kofi all nervously looked at each other.
"Thanks for helping with the party, guys. I'm sorry you had to deal with all that." Charlotte said, sadly.
"We should've done something." Kofi said.
"There's nothing you could've done. It all happened so fast." Dana said, looking around the destroyed room.
"So now what?" Big E asked.
"So now, we still have no guitarist, no guitar, an old beat up drumset, that now has a broken cymbal, and AJ Lee is gonna think we're lying thieves... maybe Dad was right..." Charlotte said, picking up the damaged drumset.
It was about 2AM. Becky had been sitting at the train station, alone, for a little over 2 hours.
"You okay?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
Becky didn't even acknowledge whoever it was.
"Hey, you... sitting there all sad... with the orange hair."
"That's Badlass, she's been sitting there for a while." said a voice she recognized as Dustin, an older artist, known as "Goldust".
A girl with long black hair and rather dark brown skin sat in front of Becky, making eye contact with her. Becky noticed that the girl had a backpack on.
"Bad day?" the girl asked.
"Bad night." Becky responded, quietly.
"Paint about it. What colors you want?"
Becky sighed.
"Orange and Green."
The girl took off her backpack, and took out two cans of spray paint, handing them to her.
Becky immediately began working on a picture.
"I need black." Becky said.
The girl immediately pulled out a black can of spray paint and handed it to her. After about 20 more minutes, Becky stepped away from her picture. It was a dying orange rose with a green stem, with the words "life is fragile" written under it.
"Meh. It's alright." The girl said.
"You could do better?" Becky asked.
The girl chuckled.
"Girl, you don't even know the half of it."
Becky looked down at her own picture for about 30 seconds.
"Well if you can do so much better, why don't you-"
Becky turned around to see that the girl and her spray paint cans had both disappeared.
She stood in confusion for a bit, before looking back down at her flower.
"Meh." She said, in agreement, sitting back down in her previous position.