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Chapter II

Four teenagers sat inside a very 'dramatic' room. The four teenagers just happened to be Flatt, Lucks, Cat, and Snitch. And the bedroom just happened to be Flatt's. Posters of Broadway musicals lined the walls and trash and dirty clothes covered the floor. Along with a pizza that they had all ordered. They were all sitting on Flatt's bed, staring at a computer screen. With a 'brrrrrrrring', someone was online. KidthePirate.

"Blinkee!" Flatt exclaimed, inviting him to start webcamming.

With a few moments hesitation, two faces appeared on the screen. One of the faces as equally cheerful as the other, had blonde hair and green eyes. He was in a blue swivelly chair in a bedroom, obviously his. He was wearing a shirt that said, "Too Cool To Be Right Handed". And he had a eyepatch over one eye.

"Flatt! Cat! Lucksies! Snitchers! Look what I found!" The boy exclaimed, grinning at all of them.

"Look what I found!" The boy next to him rolled his eyes. This boy had dark, curly hair, a wide smile full of braces, and big brown eyes. He was wearing a shirt that said something about Yellowstone National Park...

"Mushee!" Lucks exclaimed, grinning.

"Lucksies!" Mush replied.

Blink cleared his throat. "Anyways... look whad Mush found!" He pointed excitedly at his eyepatch.

"Gawd, not dat t'ing!" Snitch laughed. "Ya nevah took dat off when we was liddle, Blink!"

Blink laughed too. "I know! Gawd, I love dis t'ing..."

"Sooo..." Mush raised an eyebrow. Then he smiled cheerfully, his teeth shining with metal. "How was da show... again? Bettah den when I saw it witchoo?"

Lucks shrugged. "Yeah, until aftahwards..." She glared at the computer screen.

"Whoah dere Lucks, don't go all hostile on us now." Blink held up his hands in surrender.

"Whad happened?" Mush asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at all the others.

Lucks stood on the stage. Her blonde curls bouncing with every step. She was dressed in a tight black corset. Her red shreds for a skirt bounced against her legs. She was wearing two fishnet stockings, one black that ran up to her thigh, one red that was rolled below her knee. She had black pumps on feet and her hips swayed with every step.

Flatt stood behind, dressed in the same variation, except green instead of red. She stood behind bars and ran her hand along the side of them. Cat, dressed the same with blue, did the same thing.

Finally, Snitch came on stage. He was dressed in tight, black dress pants. His black button up shirt was sleek and fit him perfectly, and a red tie adorned his chest. He strolled up alongside Lucks, his shiny black shoes clacking on the marble stage.

The musics beat was perfect. The clacking of the shoes ceased and Lucks wrapped an arm around Snitch's shoulder. "Ya know how people have dese liddle habbits dat getcha down?"

"Like Racetrack..." Lucks rolled her eyes.

"OOoooohhh!" Mush and Blink nodded their heads, understanding.

"See, Racetrack, he liked to be a jerk... no, not a jerk... an ass." Lucks told the audience. She recieved laughter. She smirked and rolled her eyes. "So, dis one nigh' I was wawkin' home from a show, an' I was real happy, lookin' fa a liddle excitement,"

"An' dere's Race and his goons, in an alley way, smokin' cigarettes and bein' asses." Lucks explained.

"So, I said ta him, I said, ya say dat woid one moah time... an' he did. So, I cleched up my fist an' I gave him one warnin' blow..." Lucks clenched her fist and pretended to punch Snitch in the face. "Into his face."

"Yeah, it was pretty sweet." Flatt grinned.

"He called you dat?" Mush asked Snitch.

Snitch blushed and nodded.

"I can't believe he said dat." Blink gaped.

"I can't believe he's ya friend." Cat rolled her eyes.

"Ya didn't hafta punch him." Blink shot back.

"Hey!" Lucks protested.

"He had it comin'! He had it comin'! He only had himself to blame! If you'da been dere, if you'da heard it! I betcha you woulda done da same!" Lucks, Cat, and Flatt chorused. Lucks grabbed Snitch's tie and pulled him towards her. Then she pushed him down. He fell to the ground and she stood on his back. The audience applauded.

---

Four teenage boys sat around a computer. Spot was seated in his own blue swiveley chair. Racetrack was behind him to the left in a diningroom chair that they had carried upstairs. To the right of Race was Jack, who was also sitting in a diningroom chair, and to the right of Jack was Skittery.

"Race, did you call Snitch a fag?" Came a voice from the computer. It was Mush, and he sounded serious. It wasn't good when Mush was serious. He even had his sad puppy dog face on.

Race groaned and put a hand over his face. "Ow!" He rubbed his now purple jaw.

"Didya, Race?" Mush asked again.

"Yeah, he did." Jack replied, smirking over at Race.

"Race!" Mush whined. "I told ya dat Snitch gets offended by dese t'ings. I mean evah since..." Mush looked at Skittery, blushed, and stopped talking.

"Yeah, but Flatt was dere, and Lucks was tryin' ta act all cocky again." Skittery pointed out, his cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Yeah," Blink smirked. "And as she tells it, she socked ya pretty good, Race. Let's see da liddle beauty of a bruise ya got goin' on dere."

"Shuddup, Blink." Race muttered.

"Can you believe it? Our own Racetrack got beat up by a goil." Spot snorted, patting Race on the head.

"Shove it." Race growled. "I'm gonna go get some ice." He winced, touching his bruise. Then he grumbled something unintelligent, and unmistakably inappropriate before getting up and opening the door to Spot's bedroom.

Racetrack shut the door behind himself and began to walk down the dark hallway in his socks, plaid pajama pants, and a plain white t-shirt. He walked past a bedroom door, when he accidently ran into something. He heard a shriek and jumped backwards at least three feet until he ran into the other wall.

His eyes began to adjust to the darkness and at first he saw the distinct outline of a girl. She was thin and about the same height he was. As his eyes adjusted more, he could see that she was wearing basketball shorts and a tank-top, both of some dark color. He guessed it was black, but then again, everything in the hallway was black at this point. Her dark hair was long, and ran just beyond her shoulders. He couldn't make out her face, but he could guess who she was.

"Mia?" He called out in the darkness. Mia was Spot's foster sister. She was a year younger than all of them.

"Race?" Mia called back.

"Yeah." Race smirked.

The dark figure that was Mia walked closer to him. "Aw, Racey, I missed you." Mia said, running a hand through his dark hair. She leaned in and kissed him, passionately, pushing him against the wall.

"Mia! Whaddya doin'?" Race grinned.

"Whad does it look like I'm doin', idiot?" Mia asked playfully, kissing him again.

Race smirked into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Mia's waist.

"Juss don' let Spot see." Mia whispered in Race's ear. She kissed him one more time and then she slunk back into her bedroom.

Race had the urge to follow her, but he was interrupted by someone's head poking out of Spot's bedroom.

"Race? Uh... whaddya doin'?" Jack whispered, quite loudly into the darkness. He shook his head. "Anyways, Mush wants us ta come ta his audition tamarrah and we needed a fourth opinion."

Racetrack raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Shoah. We ain't doin' anyt'in' else, are we?"

Jack shrugged. "Are we doin' anyt'in' else?" He whispered back into Spot's room.

"No."

"No." Jack whispered back to Race.

"Okay, thanks." Race whispered, mimicking Jack. Then he headed downstairs to get ice. He knew Mia would get in trouble if Spot found out about what she had just done... or Race would get in trouble more like... But Mia had done that to Race for the past three months, everytime Race spent the night over there. It was 'their little secret'.

---

The next day...

---

Lucks and Flatt, who were always first to auditions, were standing on the stage of Irving Hall. The pianist was playing their warm-ups. "Do, do, re, do, do, re, mi, re, do, do, re, mi, fa, mi, re, do, do, re, mi, fa, so, fa, mi, re, do, do, do re, mi, fa, so, la, so, fa, mi, re, do, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, ti, la, so, fa, me, re, do..." And so on and so forth.

Lucks was so jittery for auditions that her legs jiggled from underneath her and she was beaming. She always did this before an audition. Her legs bounced, causing the rest of her body to bounce, and finally her hair bouced freely against her face.

Flatt was more calm, but she was still grinning. She was just as excited, but she was preparing herself for the role. Her dark eyes sparkled and she winked at Lucks.

"Hello, ladies." Mush greeted, walking up behind them.

"Mushee!" Lucks squealed, jumping on him and hugging as hard as she could.

"Lucksies!" Mush laughed, hugging her back. "Ya excited?"

"You kiddin' me?" Lucks laughed. She gave Mush a quick peck on the lips before it was Flatt's turn to greet him.

Lucks and Mush weren't going out. They had for a while once. A year before that. They seemed like the cutest couple, but after a few months, they had decided that they'd make better friends than a couple. Now they were closer than ever.

"Didya bring Cat and Snitch?" Mush asked, looking out at the crowd.

"When haven't we?" Flatt laughed, pointing at her two friends in the audience. She waved and they waved excitedly back.

Mush laughed.

"Did you bring Blink?" Lucks asked, skipping up to them.

"Uh... yeah..." Mush smiled softly. He almost looked apologetic.

"Wheah?" Flatt looked around the audotorium. It was a big audotorium...

"Righ' dere..." Mush pointed to Blink, he was sitting in the second row, five seats from Snitch.

Lucks grinned and waved at Kid Blink. Then she saw the beastly creatures to Blink's right. First in line was Jack. He waved at Lucks, grinning and batting his eyelashes. Next to him was Spot. Spot smirked devilishly at her and raised his eyebrows. Next was Skittery. He smirked at Lucks and gave her the thumbs up.

Lucks sneered at all of them, rolling her eyes. Then, the last in the row was Racetrack Higgins himself. Race had a large bruise on his jaw bone, near the right hand side... well, his left, but Lucks' right. She smirked and this time, she waved with mock flirtatiousness at him. She was replied by a lovely middle finger belonging to Mr. Higgins. Lucks smirked and blew him a kiss before wheeling around to talk to Mush.

"Whad da hell were you t'inkin'?" She hissed.

Mush shrugged. "I figyahed you guys could apologize..." He mumbled.

"Ya know, fa a straight guy, ya shoah are sensative." Flatt pointed out.

"T'anks!" Mush grinned.

Lucks rolled her eyes. "Mushee, I apprieciate ya attempts ta get all of ya friends ta have peace..." She put a hand on Mush's shoulder. "But it will nevah happen. Racetrack Higgins moved heah when he was seven. Do ya remembah?" Mush nodded. "Well, our second grade class went ta da pahk and he pushed my off a spinning merry-go-round. Needless ta say, nuttin' has been quite da same since den. I hate him, he hates me. It's juss da way t'ings woik..."

"But-" Mush began to protest.

"Mush! Lucks! Flatt!" A voice called from offstage.

"Medda!" The three of them said in unison as they grinned and ran backstage.

Medda, with her red curls pulled back into a tight bun grinned and gave each one of them a hug. "Break a leg." She winked one of her beautiful brown eyes at the three of them. She was incharge of making sure everyone got on stage safely. Last auditions, three people tripped on their way to the stairs.

"Lucks," Called the director, Michael.

Lucks grinned. Mike knew the three of them by their nicknames and had known them since they first started performing at age five. Lucks skipped onstage.

"Cheerio, dahling." She winked at Michael.

She stood center stage. The piano started and she took a deep breath, looking at her feet.

The crowd was silent, waiting for her first move. She stood there, the spotlight on her. The piano began softly, then grew louder as it went along. Lucks popped her head up, her ringlets moved out of her face. But she wasn't smiling. She looked into the light, a look of helplessness came over her face. She was dressed in rags. From the cabbie hat on her head to the holey shoes on her feet. Then she began to sing. "Heart don't fail me now. Courage don't desert me, don't turn back, now that your here."

Lucks looked over the small crowd of people in the audience. "People always say, life is full of choices... no one, ever mentions, fear." She caught Race's eye, held it for a moment, then looked away.

"Or how the world can seem so vast, on a journey, to the past." She sang out to the audience. The song ended and she went back to looking at her feet, the spotlight slowly began to fade and the audience applauded.

"Brava, brava. Thank you, Lucks. You have a lovely voice." Mike winked at her.

"Flatt!" He called out.

As Lucks jumped excitedly off stage, Flatt skipped on. "Break a leg!" Lucks yelled.

Flatt laughed and jumped on to center stage. "'Ello, Michael." She grinned.

"Hello Flatt." Mike nodded to the pianist who began playing.

Lucks hugged Mush and grinned.

Then the two of them watched Flatt preform.

Flatt stood center stage, the entire crowd watching her intently. She was wearing a blue, plaid dress, much unlike something Flatt would wear in public... or maybe she would... anyways. Her white stockings reached her knees and she was wearing black Mary-Jane shoes. Her dark hair was braided into piggy tails. She sighed thoughtfully and began to sing. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow...Way Up High, There's A Land That I Heard Of Once In A Lullaby."

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow...Skies Are Blue And The Dreams That You Dare To Dream Really Do Come True." Flatt glanced over and Lucks and Mush and winked."Someday I'll Wish Upon A Star And Wake Up Where The Clouds Are Far Behind Me. Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops Away Above The Chimney Tops..."

"That's Where You'll Find Me." Flatt sighed. Then she continued singing. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow... Blue Birds Fly, Birds Fly Over The Rainbow--Why Then Oh Why Can't I? If Happy Little Blue Birds Fly Beyond The Rainbow... Why Oh Why Can't I?" Then the spotlight faded on her, and the audience applauded once more.

Lucks grinned and applauded her friend.

"Magnifica, Flatt. Much unexpected." Mike winked.

Flatt grinned and ran off stage to hug her friends.

---

Fifty auditions later, all fifty three performers stood on stage, watching Mike intently.

"Thank you all for coming. I know it takes a lot of guts to be up on that stage. That's why I'm a director." Everyone laughed. "Well, unfortunately, some of you brave soldiers have to go. We're not going to let you know in front of everyone, but we will call you over the telephone for call backs! Everyone can finally get out of here." He smiled.

Everyone rushed out of the theater like it was on fire, chattering excitedly, jumping up and down. Mush, Lucks, and Flatt ran to hug Medda goodbye before they headed off to be with their friends.

Mush gave Lucks and Flatt one last kiss goodbye before heading off to be with his friends. Lucks and Flatt ran off to see Cat and Snitch.

"You guys did awesome!" Cat exclaimed, embracing them both.

"Wheah's our dear, Mush-ella?" Snitch asked, looking around. "I need ta tell him he was mahvelous." He grinned.

"Oh! Ovah dere!" Cat exclaimed, grabbing the three of them and pulling them along with her. "Mushee! Good job!" Cat engulfed him in a huge hug.

Mush grinned. "T'anks, Cat." He kissed her nose.

"You two did great." Kid Blink grinned at Lucks and Flatt, walking over and giving each one of them a hug.

"Yeah, great job, No-So-Flatt." Spot smirked.

"Spot." Blink warned.

"Aw, come on, Kid. Spot was juss congradulatin' 'em." Jack slapped Blink on the back.

"Yeah, maybe you an' me, Lucks, we can take a 'journey ta da past'." Race smirked.

"Yeah!" Lucks said cheerfully. "An' maybe on da way I can brush past dat alley and give ya anuddah shinah." Her look turned from light to dark in a millisecond flat.

"Come on, guys." Snitch rolled his eyes.

"Oh, go put on some lip gloss." Spot rolled his eyes and lit up a cigarette.

"Spot," Mush said, his eyes were pleading.

"Gawd, Mush, you migh' as well be juss as gay." Skittery glared at Snitch.

Snitch looked like he was going to cry. Lucks was furious. Cat's face was turning red with anger. Flatt was twitching. Mush's mouth fell open in shock. Even Racetrack and Jack looked slightly shocked. Spot had already walked outside to smoke. And Blink was getting a glass of water. He seemed like he didn't here a thing.

"Oh, shoot! My cell phone's vibrating!" Blink exclaimed. He walked over to Skittery. "Will you do me a favor? Could you hold my drink for me? Yeah, thanks alot." He grinned.

Skittery, confused, held his drink. Blink turned around to pick up his cell phone. Then, without any one seeing it coming, Blink whipped around and nailed Skittery in the nose with his fist.

Skittery began bleeding instantly. He dropped the water and his hand went up to his nose. He took one looked at the blood and said, "Ow! Can I have a band-aid?"

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End Note: There's Skitts for ya, glumb and dumb. What's this going on with Mia and Race? Anyone else spot the Blood Drips quote in this one? Brownie points to whoever does! Yay! lol! Well, please review, thankies!