Disclaimer: As usual, nothing close to having any ownership of PR or Charmed. As for this chapter,I have nothing to do with "The Good Kind", "Halo", or "Girl Next Door"; other people get rich off of those songs.
A/N: I should probably give a big warning that this chapter will seem somewhat OoC and AU. Okay, maybe almost completely, but I felt like being silly... and mostly, it's still my story so I write the chapters as I choose. Besides, you guys might actually enjoy the way off-ness of this chapter. Vous-amusez!
A/N #2: I love my new beta!
Chapter 4:
No amount of deep breaths could've helped her. It seemed the past years of meditation didn't help her like it was supposed to; her stomach was still tightening with disquiet and the alarms going off in her head were telling her running would be the best option. She made more than a few slips when meeting her friends again, confusing their names with one another and embarrassing herself in the process, and she had yet to talk with the one person she wanted to most. Could anything help her at this point?
After seeing that Taylor would be fine alone with Eric with their indifferent anger toward each other, Kimberly decided it was clear enough for her to arrive without causing too much commotion. Unfortunately, a small uproar began before she even placed the food on the picnic tables when it was Jason Scott's turn to manage the victuals. When he turned his head and realized Kimberly came, she suspected he didn't have time to think before calling her name aloud and causing a chain reaction. Soon after Jason said it followed Trini, Rocky, Aisha, Billy, and Adam. It was like hearing bells she knew would stop but wished would end quicker. After trying to answer their continuous questions without revealing everything she decided to maintain for her greatest explanation, she opted to take a break and successfully separated herself from her former friends. She met some rangers from all the teams after hers up to the Lightspeed Rescue team and saw an ongoing card game at a table. Seeing Ashley there as well Kimberly joined the next game, playing for entertainment until Taylor showed up and made a complete trio for a definite game with an ante. Eventually, it became a nice source of amusement, but Kimberly couldn't shake the sense foreshadowing and the obligation she had to tell someone the truth over anyone else.
"Sit your butt right down here," Trini Kwan pointed to the seat between her and Aisha when Kimberly came over with a plate of food looking for at least one friendly face to sit beside. It seemed they were more eager to chat up a storm with her rather than raid her with questions and berate her for leaving so many of them unanswered for years.
"As long as you two don't plan on stabbing me with those plastic forks," Kimberly retorted as she took her seat, eyeing both of them in humorous caution.
"No, of course not," Aisha declared, making sure that both she and Trini kept to that promise throughout their conversation. And so they did; the most personal questions they asked were where did she live recently and why she had moved from Florida, both of which she answered with some ambiguity. The rest of the conversation continued in lightheartedness and smiles.
Kimberly was enjoying her talk with her two old friends, gaining a feeling of assurance over the party. Seconds after she gained that feeling, however, she saw Jason, Billy, and Tommy discussing something they were evidently finishing up. She couldn't avoid him forever, she admitted. Hell, she didn't really want to in all honesty. Yet, no matter whether or not she wanted to confront him, Tommy didn't appear to have the same obligation to face her. Guess I'll have to do it myself, Kimberly decided. Excusing herself to Aisha and Trini, she rose from her seat and walked toward Tommy's direction, her confidence dwindling by the second; she hoped she'd still have enough to at least greet him amicably. Once she reached him, she softly tapped him on the shoulder and waited for him to turn around. She didn't find his expression unanticipated, with shock and maybe even dread swimming in his eyes. But she couldn't let that look stop her. She had put this off for too long. Clearing her throat, she took a breath and spoke to Tommy for the first time in nearly nine years. "Hey."
For a quick instant, it looked like he was about to reciprocate the greeting, but instead he turned his head to the right as if he wasn't ready to talk to her after all this time. The act discouraged Kimberly but she knew her sisters would kill her if she did not push herself to continue. "Listen," her voice started shakily, "we need to talk. We have to."
Just when she felt enough courage to carry on, Zack and Rocky stood up on a clear picnic table yelling for everyone's attention with two bullhorns, the sound of which caught everyone's notice. Knowing those two, Kimberly along with several others wondered what they had planned. It would probably just end up being a huge joke everybody would laugh about later.
"Don't worry," Zack began, "We're not the new rangers-in-charge of this little shindig. It's still Tommy and Jason, I guess, so you can all calm down." Many were relieved to hear that.
"But," Rocky started, bringing quite a few worried groans from the vast crowd, "we did have a little idea for some amusement. See, we've all been having fun talking to each other, but Zack and I along with some other people wanted something more musical. So we're going to have a little contest here."
He stopped momentarily when Aisha came up to slap her boyfriend upside the head and Trini had come up to do the same for Zack. "Are you doing the idiot act again," Aisha said, obviously not pleased, "Or are you just asking for some very unpleasant next few days with the rest of us?" For nearly a minute Aisha and Rocky appeared to be arguing over something until Zack pushed them apart and calmed Aisha down before asking her and Trini to step down to wait and see.
"Y'all have to admit, y'all talk a lot," Zack said, earning a few voices of hostile disagreement before he resumed. "I mean that in a good way," he added. "But anyways, we just wanted a little less talking and a bit more singing, or screeching for some of you guys. We have the equipment and everything," Zack finished with one of his goofy smiles as he pointed to Jason Scott and Justin Steward placing a few speakers and microphones as well as a large boom box on the ground near the table. Instantly, words of accusation were thrown around directed toward the two unsuspecting males.
"You guys were in on this?"
"Do y'all really want to see us humiliated that much?"
"We're so going to get back at you for this," and phrases of that nature were made, which did more to confuse Jason and Justin than threaten them; they honestly had no idea what was going on. First Zack and Rocky asked them to get the sound equipment out of Zack's car and then they return and get this.
"Whoa," Justin shouted, trying to get his friends around him to settle down, "What's going on? What did Jason and I do?"
Before any of the angry crowd said anything, Rocky yelled through his bullhorn for everyone to quiet down. "Actually, these two weren't in on this at so you can stop your yelling at them. You should conserve your lungs for the singing contest."
"There isn't going to be one," Aisha screamed up to her boyfriend, "and if you don't quit this, you won't have an arm to defend yourself with when the others and I go after you tonight."
"Oh, there'll be one," Rocky assured, trying to off shake the threat his girlfriend gave him that he took to heart with fear, knowing what the bear spirit was capable of. "You guys will love the stake."
Someone Rocky didn't know yelled out, "What does meat have to do with this?"
"Stake, not steak," Zack corrected, "as in a wager."
"And what exactly did you guys plan on putting up for bets," Aisha asked, still miffed at Rocky.
"The rest of this reunion," Zach began, "is the winner's to control. Wherever this party goes is their choice. And all of us rangers have to obey three general commands the winner gives." Even more groans of dissatisfaction at the unfairness of the gamble spread around.
Adam Park came up to Rocky and tapped him on the shoulder to make his comment on the whole idea. "Ahem, sorry, Rocky, but I don't think any of us are going to take this well. I'm telling you now, abort this thing; nothing is worth embarrassing ourselves in a singing contest."
Billy Cranston came up right after to tell Zack something along the same lines. "This may just be a conjecture," he admitted, "but it seems everyone is not taking to the idea of performing on your whim. At least, not just out of nowhere."
Hearing both comments, the original black Power Ranger added one more thing he was sure everyone would be happy with. Or at least he hoped they'd be happy with it; he really wanted some entertainment in the form of music, hoping that some laughs would come out of it. "Okay, okay, we get it, you don't like it. We will add one more thing: in addition to that, Rocky and I have to serve the winner for the rest of the day."
There was a whole new light on the matter when Zack said that and it gave the group some new considerations, even Aisha. Some people still had their reservations but the part about getting Zack and Rocky to do whatever the winners ordered as payback was more tempting than keeping a low hit of embarrassment. Some had already signed up for the challenge in their minds. But as with most cases, there was one disadvantage for most of the individuals at the reunion that someone wanted to point out.
"Hold on. What about the people who are already professional singers," Carlos Valerte asked loudly, "like Cassie over here?" People around Cassie turned their attention toward her until another guy spoke up.
"And Kira over here," Connor McKnight added. "I don't exactly feel like getting my ass kicked at this thing just because my friend has a contract with a record label."
As more agreements of the inequality in this situation voiced themselves, Zack came up with an idea that he believed would've taken Rocky longer to come up with. "Okay. How about this: y'all have got to sing and dance well in order to win the contest. The humiliation factor stays the same. Plus it'd be fun to see some of y'all fall down embarrassing yourselves."
"How about we see you fall down from running trying to escape the mob with pitchforks and swords going after you, Zack," Katherine Hillard suggested once his last sentence was heard, the proposition not so far from the idea taking place in her mind as well as a few other members of the first few Power Ranger teams.
"I say we go after them now," Tanya Sloan offered, gaining support for her proposal from a lot of teams.
The two guys in charge of the challenge weren't going to put up much opposition with the idea of running, but not before they got their entertainment. "How about we get this contest over with and then you guys give me and Zack a two-minute head start before you guys chase us into oblivion," Rocky asked. By then, most of the crowd didn't have a problem with the proposed song/dance contest with part of the end results already planned for Rocky and Zack. Seeing that there weren't going to many objections, or threats, for the next while, Rocky continued. "Okay, then how about those of you who want to do this, trust me you do, divide into groups of three or four? That's a fun number for a group."
Someone raised the question of who would judge the 'ridiculous contest', as Aisha put it. The objections continued when Zack announced he and Rocky would. "Hey, I think it's only fair that we choose who we have to be servants to for the rest of the day. Now how about we get started, people? You've got about half an hour and I want to see some creativity!" he finished with a clap of the hands and a tone that only director of a movie would use. When he got down, Zack felt Trini slap him upside the head again for the idea in the first place. But to their surprise they could see some people around them actually preparing for the event, although words of hesitation were expressed all around. To give them that extra push, Zack assured everyone through his bullhorn that he and Rocky would do everything the winner said, including never make another suggestion like this for as long as the winners wanted, which seemed more than enough for the rest of the rangers.
Claims for Cassie and Kira Ford as group members were made by their teammates while others were arguing over what to do exactly to win this thing and putting reins over the original black ranger and blue Zeo ranger. Cassie knew she wanted her old teammates but she couldn't seem to find Ashley anywhere. Walking around in search of her friend, she found Ashley talking with the girl she was introduced to as Kimberly Hart. She took a moment to ask Ashley if she was going to join the contest as part of Cassie's group.
"Well, I was actually going to sit this thing out," Ashley said, feeling a twinge of culpability at the half-lie.
"Really," Cassie queried. "But I thought you'd like doing something like this, like we used to do in high school." Ashley reassured Cassie that they didn't need Ashley to win. "But there's that dance thing Zack mentioned, and you were always a great dance choreographer."
"But you already do an amazing job with your singing, I'm sure the dance thing will be totally unnecessary for you guys," Ashley countered encouragingly. After more words, Cassie finally gave in and was convinced that she would do fine without Ashley. "You, Karone, Carlos and T.J. will do a fabulous job, trust me," Ashley added in support when Cassie left to decide on a song. She turned her attention back to Kimberly and was met with a face of incredulity from her sister. "What?"
Kimberly gave another moment before speaking. "You know you want to go and choreograph for them. I know you do."
"No, I don't," Ashley argued, feeling her lies tumbling on her. She knew Kimberly could sense it too, so she didn't know why she was even bothering with the lies. She was ready to say more when Taylor came up to them to talk.
"What's going on?" Taylor questioned the two.
"Ashley here refused to choreograph for Cassie's group even though she knows she wants to do the dance part of Zack's contest," Kimberly declared, earning a momentary glare from Ashley.
"Well, she might as well," Taylor said. "You know you want to do the singing part but you're not going with your old teammates' groups for this thing." The sentence gave Ashley a reason to smile when she realized she hadn't thought of that.
"I do not want to sing," the oldest of them responded, refusing to look at Ashley's smirk.
"You do so," Ashley argued, acknowledging that they sounded like a couple of eight-year-olds.
The three disputed on the fact until Kimberly decided to throw it all out the window. "Why the hell are we even arguing? We all know we're lying our butts off. And besides, we're not even taking part in the contest so we should just leave it be."
Kimberly may have deferred her fight on the subject of the challenge for now, but her sisters had a different idea. "Not necessarily," Taylor said with her signature cross between a smile and her smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"We could always do this little singing/dancing thing," Ashley suggested with a shrug. "Maybe it'd be fun."
Shifting her glance between both sisters twice over, Kimberly couldn't believe they were suggesting this. She shook her head saying they must have been kidding but they continued with their thought, saying that it would be a good idea to join in. "No way," Kimberly responded. "First of all, we'd look like fools. Next, there's no point in doing this because we have no use in winning. Lastly, don't you think our friends would think it's just the tiniest but weird if we three just happened to make our own little group for this thing?"
"We won't look stupid," Ashley said in a try to convince Kimberly, "and there would be a use in us winning."
"What use?"
"You know just as well as I do that something big is going to happen today involving us and our secret," Ashley said acutely, knowing Kimberly would take serious consideration with that indication. "And you know how unlikely it is that everyone here is going to take the news well."
"If anything," Taylor started, "they'll go after us with pitchforks and swords." The comment caused Kimberly to laugh at the idea, though she didn't think it was all that far-fetched. "We could just tell them to shut up and calm down while we run away."
"Or Ashley could just freeze them," Kimberly countered.
"You honestly think I have the ability to freeze a crowd this big," Ashley asked with doubt raining from her voice, a brow raised at the suggestion.
The three persisted in argument, trying to keep the yelling to a minimum to attract less attention. Taylor and Ashley tried to convince Kimberly that it wouldn't be wholly bad for them to participate in the small event, though each had reservations of her own concerning the matter. When Kimberly refused again, and Taylor spotted her mood of slight indecision, she eventually went to plain pleading to persuade her sister to sing. Ashley followed suit, hoping the both of them basically begging Kimberly would induce her into partaking in the contest where they saw a chance of succeeding.
Seeing that she couldn't resist much longer without her sisters outright begging and having everyone around them watch, Kimberly let out a sigh followed by a giggling smile and question apropos the specifics. "And exactly what song do you guys want me to sing oh-so-much?"
The other two girls shared a glance between them before Ashley said, "That depends; do you want to play the guitar while you're at it, or just plain sing to music?"
"Both?" Kimberly said in an unsure tone, lifting her shoulders in indecision, accenting her uncertainty at the detail. In truth, she hadn't played the guitar in more than a few months, which she was positive her sisters knew as well, but her ability to play was something that would always return once the instrument was introduced to her hands again. Yet she also had no idea what songs her sisters had in mind.
Taylor saw Kimberly's unsure expression and decided to put forward a thought she was pretty sure her sisters would like. "Well, I have an idea, but I just want to get something clear. Hey, Ash, you think you could finish the routine you started last week in time?"
"Definitely."
"All right then. As for the singing part," Taylor continued, giving a small shudder at the thought. She may have gotten better at it because of Kimberly but that did not mean she wanted to do so in front of so many people that also included her former teammates. "I think I have an idea that might fly…"
As it turned out, like many expected, the contest did bring out plenty of laughs out of almost everybody, making the harebrained idea seem actually enjoyable. To open the whole episode, Zack and Rocky performed the ever classic 'Baby Got Back' and presented a ludicrous dance of rib movements and hip isolations, a dance that could not be described as anything besides the two strutting their stuff in sync with the music. No one could withstand the display without laughing at one point or another. The whole presentation was followed by Zack executing an uprock with a successful performance of breakdance… until he signaled for Rocky to join, forgetting to check if there was enough room beside him on the stage of the park. His miscalculation instigated the two to fumble and crash, which seemed perfect considering the circumstances. After Rocky and Zack's discomfiture and everyone else's laughter abated, the two announced the initiation of the real contest.
When the small challenge was less than halfway in, it appeared that more rangers were interested in the competition than the preliminary impressions of the crowd. At least a group from every team of Power Rangers took their chance onstage, some excellent, some awfully less than superb, but each group finished their turn with laughs and smiles from the amusing recreation they first thought ridiculous. Kimberly, Ashley and Taylor were amused with the groups from their teams; there was Jason and Aisha's group that sang 'Don't Go Breakin' My Heart' that gave an adorable start to the contest. Cassie's group gave a twist to 'My Boo' that seemed strangely fit for T.J. and Cassie. Then Taylor couldn't help smiling with added chuckles when all her former team members, except for Merrick, performed 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' due to Cole and Alyssa's request. It was evident that it turned out to be a good idea and nearly everybody enjoyed it.
The younger two of the trio couldn't help the queasy sensations in the pit of their stomachs, having almost no confidence to carry through with the performance. Kimberly was the only one with any experience with performing in public but she had to worry about keeping her sisters' minds off their woozy feelings and remind them that it was technically their initiative that brought the three of them to their current position. Thus, the two had no option but to follow when Kimberly pushed herself to walk up onstage after Zack called her name for their trio to perform. With such a mixed trio, they expected the perplexed and bemused faces that their audience gave them. Even the judges were confused, though they were the exception in that they gave a direct question as to why the team that each girl was from happened to be years apart.
"It… just happened," Kimberly articulated the justification with a smile, holding back a laugh that was moments away from breaking out if they didn't start soon. She turned to see Ashley trying to smother her laughs with her hand, and failing to do so, beside Taylor who kept her head down to hide her own amusement. This was going to take a while.
Taking a minute to process the excuse given, Rocky and Zack found it plausible and merely told them to continue. Kimberly took up her guitar and took her seat on a fold-out chair she placed on the stage since she never liked playing the guitar standing. When she turned to her sisters to see if they were ready for this, Taylor asked for one minute to connect the lyric-deprived music mix from her iPOD to the boom box and Ashley took a while to sway Taylor to remove her yellow vest she bought years ago in memory of her ranger days. After some urging, and some yelling from Kimberly in Taylor's head to just do it so they could get it over with, Taylor gave in and threw the article of clothing to the side of the stage. Seeing the partially matched outfits of the three onstage, their friends gave even more puzzled looks. Taylor didn't need to see their faces to feel compelled to turn toward the crowd and say an abrupt, "It was totally by luck," before Ashley told them, "Seriously, no comments, please, or else." Having nothing else in their way, the two gave a small grin to Kimberly as an indication for her to begin.
Strumming a few chords, Kimberly waited a while before singing the first verse that did not seem very familiar to any of the crowd.
Do you want to run away together
I would say it was your best line ever
Too bad I fell for it
And I walked alone
Waiting for you to come along
Take my tortured heart by the hand
And write me off
Once her mouth opened and she let the words come out, Kimberly had a small feeling of relief at completing the first verse. She also felt a small thrill at singing again. The crowd enjoyed her voice more than she expected. She didn't know it but her old friends heard a voice somewhat angelic but with a present influence of pop in it. Most of all, her voice had feeling, something they only knew associated with Kimberly. The music was only heightened when Taylor and Ashley joined in for the chorus.
Do you know I cry
Do you know I die
Do you know I cry
And it's not the good kind
Everyone else may not have heard the song before, but it seemed to fit the moment in time, especially for those three onstage. The song seemed close to their hearts, particularly Kimberly. The only way she could continue was to keep her eyes focused on the leaves of the trees a distance behind the entire audience, which she did with a little tranquil smile before resuming.
You forced me to become strong
When I just craved being weak
And you think you know
And I would like to think so
But do you know that when you go
I fall apart
Do you know I cry
Do you know I die
Do you know I cry
And it's not the good kind
No, it's not the good kind
I'm tired of hiding
Behind these lyin' eyes
I'm tired of this smile
That even I don't recognize
Do you know I cry
Do you know I die
Do you know I cry
And it's not the good kind
No, you're not the good kind
Before finishing the song entirely, the music on the boom box switched melodies and rhythms that denoted the end of the first part of their merged song combo and Kimberly rose to quickly take the chair and guitar to the far left side of stage. Ashley let her voice grow louder and the slightest bit deeper, as the song called for. She surprised her friends with her apparent ability to sing well and the strong emotion she put into the song.
I never promised you a ray of light
I never promised there'd be sunshine everyday
I'll give you everything I have
The good the bad...
Why do you put me on a pedestal?
I'm so up high that I can't see the ground below
So help me down, you've got it wrong
I don't belong there
As before, the other two joined into the chorus once Ashley finished her verse, granting a smile at the attainment.
One thing is clear
I wear a halo-
I wear a halo when you look at me
But standing from here
You wouldn't say so-
You wouldn't say so if you were me
And I… I just wanna love you
Oh, oh I… I just wanna love you
The next verse had Taylor coming up ahead of both her sisters to sing the part she felt perfectly right for her, though she was sure she could have forgone it altogether. But as long as she had to sing it, Taylor would do it well; there was no way she was going to spoil the good performance her sisters already set up now. From the reaction her friends gave from down in the audience, it seemed she surprised the crowd most out of the three with her voice.
I always said that I would make mistakes
I'm only human and that's my saving grace
I fall as hard as I try
So don't be blinded
See me as I really am
I have flaws and sometimes I even sin
So pull me from that pedestal
I don't belong there
One thing is clear
I wear a halo
I wear a halo when you look at me
but standing from here
you wouldn't say so-
you wouldn't say so if you were me
And I…I just wanna love you
Oh I…I just wanna love…you
The bridge was given to Kimberly, her being the one with the most musical experience and that the part was the shortest to sing alone, given her practically solo performance earlier with the guitar. She put her heart into the bridge and didn't care how everyone watching took it; it would be the same to her. But she was happy when the chorus came again and all three finished the song together.
Like to think that you know me
But in your eyes
I am something above you
Its only in your mind
Only in your mind
I wear a-
I wear a-
I wear a-
I wear a halo
One thing is clear
I wear a halo-
I wear a halo when you look at me
but standing from here
you wouldn't say so
you wouldn't say so if you were me
I just wanna love you
I just wanna love you
(I just wanna love you)
Heya hey hey hey…hey hey Halo
Heya hey hey hey…hey hey Halo
Heya hey hey hey…hey hey Halo
Heya hey hey hey…hey hey Halo
The song seemed to call for their swift yet unbroken jumping set onstage as the chorus came on previously, something that looked rightly appropriate for the song. After the end, the three girls had no more qualms about their performance, and thankfully no more unsettled stomach sensations for Taylor and Ashley. The composure seemed quite perfect at the time, for it wasn't even five seconds before 'Pump It' came on and the girls had to break into their dance routine Ashley freely choreographed the preceding week and finished quickly only ten minutes before. They knew their dance performance was, at the very least, startling for all the rangers watching; none of the three were known for any dancing ability, especially Taylor. To own the truth, everyone thought she was overly stringent and too ordered to have any interest in dancing. But she, along with Kimberly and Ashley, impressed the audience, in particular the ones they knew closest, with the dance routine. Some of the steps of movements caused opened gasps of surprises even when the three executed them.
By the finish, each girl glanced at each other with approval over their performance and smiles that couldn't drop from their faces. The same good opinion came from practically everyone applauding them for the unexpected piece; it was already a surprise that those three even knew each other well enough to make a group for this quick contest, let alone make such a great performance so coordinated together. That single thought raised many suspicions and even more questions but Ashley, Taylor and Kimberly did their best to avoid them by eluding their friends and sitting near ranger teams they barely met that day. They couldn't face everyone just yet, and especially over a contest like that.
Sitting at the back of the whole spectators' seating, the three sat in exasperation from their previous edginess and hoped they wouldn't have to do anything else of the same degree before they finally confronted their cherished friends and told them the truth… or before the big predicted and unwelcome bombshell they didn't know about would occur. Ashley had to get up and run hurriedly elsewhere when she saw Cassie and Karone rise from their seats and head toward her direction from rows ahead. The same went for Taylor when she saw Alyssa and Cole searching for her. Kimberly merely orbed behind the stage to join her sisters in their avoidance before anyone looked for her.
That plan went pretty well from their perspective. Until Rocky was preparing to announce the results the three did not want to hear all that much. They were sure they hadn't won anyway; they anticipated for either Kira Ford's group or Cassie's group to win, since those two were the experienced singers of their groups and everyone expected either to win. Unfortunately, Rocky revealed a three-way tie between those two groups and Kimberly's, which actually irritated Ashley and Taylor significantly; an antipathy had grown inside them in the last few minutes concerning going back onstage.
"Would all three groups come back to the stage," Rocky asked aloud after his pronouncement. Taylor shimmered all three of them back to their seats so that they could appear as if they were always there for the last fifteen minutes. It would only raise more suspicions if they weren't. Once all groups were onstage, Zack stated the tiebreaker that he and Rocky had decided on.
"Obviously, since this is a singing contest," he commenced, "it's only fit that the tiebreaker be a quick song battle. So you have exactly 45 seconds to decide on a song to sing starting right… now." Zack appeared as if he was losing more of his mind every time he made some huge announcement.
There were expletives of perplexity from the groups and the audience until Zack reminded the groups they had about 30 seconds left to choose with a quick glare that set the three factions going. While the other two teams were deciding on a song, Taylor scanned her iPOD for the background music to the song she felt perfect for their group, or more specifically, her, despite a common past extracurricular of both her sisters. She had it ready when Zack declared that time was up and that Cassie's group had to go first. Just before Cassie was about to sing the opening verse, Rocky gave a last second reminder that threw all the groups off: only the one slightest qualified with singing could be the lead singer for the tiebreaker. Everyone could barely keep their mouths closed at the statement that Rocky and Zack refused to rescind, putting Cassie and Kira's group in a bind. Eventually, it was decided that Karone would lead sing the chosen song, 'I Wanna Be Bad' which, although it gained much ovation from the listening spectators, didn't sit too well with Andros, considering it was his baby sister performing the music choice that Carlos jokingly selected for Cassie.
Since Kira was exempt from singing, her group put up Ethan as their lead singer for them. Despite the fact that he seemed the perfect choice for 'So Sick' he lacked the musical talent and even brought Trent Fernandez's head down to shame. It was now between Cassie and Ashley's group. Initially, Ashley didn't feel comfortable competing against her erstwhile best friend, yet she told herself that it was not technically her competing against Cassie, or, in light of the new imperative, Karone; it was Taylor. Perhaps Taylor hadn't learned anything from all those nights Kimberly couldn't help but make them learn singing.
Taylor could scarcely believe that she had no choice but to sing because of a stupid tiebreaker and the ridiculous new rule. But if I do it quick enough, she tried to comfort herself, maybe I won't humiliate myself enough to completely ruin me. With that in mind, she waited for the music to come up, looking back at her sisters for last-minute encouragement before remembering to give a small reminder so that anyone in the audience would not be angry with her.
"Just a note," she quickly said into her microphone, "no offense to any cheerleaders or prom queens. Just keep that in mind. Don't worry, you'll see why later." Her remark was met with anomalous countenances, the audience not fully understanding why she said it but knowing it would most likely be explained once she started singing. Taylor opened the song with a smirk before letting her voice intone the words.
Small town homecoming queen
She's the star in this scene
There's no way to deny she's lovely
Perfect skin, perfect hair
Perfumed hearts everywhere
Tell myself that inside she's ugly
Maybe I'm just jealous
I can't help but hate her
Secretly I wonder if my boyfriend wants to date her
When the chorus came, Taylor couldn't help but start shaking her head to add emphasis to the song and the libretto of it, which Kimberly and Ashley started imitating as well when they saw that it would suit the song aptly. She was truly beginning to enjoy the whole performance thing all over again. Even her voice grew louder when she became absorbed into the song as a sign of her amusement.
She is the prom queen, I'm in the marching band
She is a cheerleader, I'm sittin' in the stands
She gets the top bunk, I'm sleepin' on the floor
She's Miss America
And I'm just the girl next door
Senior class president
She must be heaven sent
She was never the last one standing
A backseat debutante
Everything that you want
Never to harsh or too demanding
Maybe I'll admit it
I'm a little bitter
Everybody loves her, but I just wanna hit her
She is the prom queen, I'm in the marching band
She is a cheerleader, I'm sittin' in the stands
She gets the top bunk, I'm sleepin' on the floor
She's Miss America
And I'm just the girl next door
Oh and I'm just the girl next door
I don't know why I'm feelin' sorry for myself
I spend all my time wishin' that I was someone else
There was no helping the shy stance Taylor adopted for the next lines with a smile that matched, odd as it was for someone as her. But she felt that it would correspond quite nicely, even if none of the crowd expected it from her.
She is the prom queen, I'm in the marching band
She is a cheerleader, I'm sittin' in the stands…
I get a little bit, she gets a little more
She's Miss America and...
She's Miss America
I'm just the girl next door...
There was no point in Taylor hiding her smile when she sang the last line. She had fun in the whole musical ordeal and could sense her sisters' enjoyment as they smiled as well. By the magnitude of the applause, they actually had a good shot at winning. Of course, there was going to be some explaining on their part as to why they did this in the first place and where the hell they learned to sing like that, but all in due time.
Ashley was the first to get off the stage, basically dragging her sisters along with her. The glee exuded from her wide grin did not look as if it was going to fade away any time soon. "Oh my god, was it just me or was that whole thing actually fun for us? I loved it!"
Kimberly expressed a restful smile that, considering how much less she conveyed her delight with smiles and laughs in the last half decade, showed that she enjoyed it as much as Ashley had. "I hate to admit it, but I loved it too. Okay, so maybe I don't hate to say it," she mused aloud with a smirk that brought out a similar one in Taylor whose agreement tripled the opinion. So perhaps the experience wasn't as awful or nerve-wracking as they had expected. Now all they had to do was await the results and see if they gained control over the reunion as well as the two judges. Everyone was waiting…
Type in those reviews; it's all us fanfic writers have to live for. ;)