I am so sorry for the long wait! I'm trying to balance my school work with Internet and I'm running behind. In other news, THE REST OF SEASON 1 IS ON CARTOON NETWORK VIDEO! GO WATCH IT NOW!

THE DAY AFTER ALL OF THAT

Taking a break from the mysterious vandalism of the school, the teens got the auditorium set up for the upcoming play. After yesterday, the students have been shaky and scared that something bad would occur again, but the play was proceeding, regardless. Mina had set up the spinning wheel in the prop department for when they needed it.

Corey paced on the stage while reading over his script. Unlike the last rehearsal no one was in costume. Laney sat on the bed on stage as she read through the script. Corey recited his lines again "And forsooth- ok what does that word even mean?! Who wrote this script?!" Corey complained.

"Just be glad you don't have to wear a dress, Riffin!" Larry called out from behind the stage, still sour over his own role.

Corey looked over to the director and pleaded "C'mon can I just add one guitar solo to spice this up?" the director shook his head firmly "This is a classic play, it will not have any rock music in it."

"Well, how about monster trucks?" Corey suggested. The director and Laney both face palmed.

Getting off of the prop bed, Laney walked over to Corey "Don't worry Core. You only have to do it for one night." The play had been scheduled to go on for a few nights, but the strange incidents caused its performances to reduce to one. "Ugh, whose dumb idea was it to sign us all up for this in the first place?!" "Um, yours." Laney reminded him. Corey grinned sheepishly.

Switching gears, Corey skimmed through his script "So, what scene should we practice next?" he asked the bassist. Laney turned away nervously, hiding the blush on her face "We could try… the scene where Sleeping Beauty wakes up." Corey's face turned as red as hers, knowing what the scene entailed "Oh… you mean… the-the kiss scene?" He avoided eye contact as well. "Yeah, we-we never got to practice… that." Laney pulled her script over her face.

The two got in position, Laney laid on the prop bed and Corey knelt down towards her "You sure Lanes?" Corey double checked, wanting to make sure she was alright with kissing him. He really hoped she was. "Yeah…" she dreamily sighed, before catching herself "F-for the play!"

Laney listened to him as he recited his lines. He sounded more rigid than he had yesterday. When it came time for Corey to lean down for the kiss, he was a wreck of nerves. How was he supposed to kiss her on purpose? Would things still be cool between them? He froze completely as the worst case scenarios played out in his brain. Opening an eye, Laney wondered what was taking Corey so long.

A large crash interrupted any moment that would have happened. Corey and Laney spotted a broken spotlight that had fallen from up above, and Kon laying on top of it "Ow, I think I broke my spleen."

"Darn it Kon! You had one job!" Laney shouted.

The director seemed exasperated by the setbacks that occurred "Let's take ten, people!" he directed as he walked off to get something to drink "I gotta quit this job."

Laney went over and helped Kon get up, while Corey stood in place and let his thoughts run wild once again 'Why am I so scared about this? It's only a stage kiss. I should be able to do this! Come on Corey, she knows it too! Lanes is willing to do it for the play, so then why can't I?'

Sometime while he had been lost in thought, Corey had started walking and ended up near the dressing rooms. He took a seat in a nearby chair and rested his face in his hands.

"Wow, who knew Riffin was such a chicken?" great, as if things couldn't get worse for him Carrie had to show up. "Wanna say that to my face, Beff?"

"I saw what happened up there. You totally froze when you two were about to kiss." Carrie snickered "What? Are you afraid of cooties or something?"

Corey stood up and glared at his gender bent counterpart "I didn't chicken out I just… was trying to be dramatic." Carrie rolled her eyes "Wow, that has got to be the worst excuse ever." Corey ignored her retort "What about during the real show, are you going to do a dramatic pause then too? You either really don't want to kiss her or you have a dumb crush on her."

Seeing the look on Corey's face, Carrie realized she hit the nail on the head "Oh, you really do have a crush on her!"

"WHAT!" Corey exclaimed, flustered "No, no, absolutely not! Never in a million years! You've never been more wrong Carrie!" he denied anything she said, he would not let Carrie hold this over him "I mean if it wasn't for this play I would never kiss her!" Corey finally opened his eyes, looking at the shock on Carrie's face.

But she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at the red-haired girl standing behind him with tears in her eyes.

"LANES?! When did you-"

"I heard it all Core-" she answered, her voice on the verge of breaking down into sobs. Corey mentally slapped himself. She had to hear that, she had to hear him say that "I-it's fine, I totally get it-we're best friends… you liking me would be totally stupid right." She turned away, so he wouldn't see her cry.

"Wait! Lanes, I didn't-" Corey tried to explain himself, he had only wanted to shut Carrie up, he didn't mean any of it. Laney wouldn't listen "It's fine Core, I'm fi-" she choked, she wasn't fine, not at all. Her heart had been completely broken. She couldn't fake a smile for him. Laney took off and ran as far away as she could.

Corey had his arm reaching out towards her, his own expression was heartbroken as well "I do wanna kiss you Laney…" he said softly to himself.

BROKEN HEART TRANSITION

Laney didn't know where she was going. She just wanted to get as far away from Corey as possible. She ended up in the prop room and sat on some old blankets from the play "Old Blankets" and brought her knees to her chest and put her head down. 'Corey doesn't feel the same way... he doesn't love me...' Laney felt that her heart shatter, her dream of being together shattered with it.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to lie down. 'Why did I have to fall for him? I wish this pain would go away' Laney thought.

"I can take away the pain if you want me to."

Laney's eyes shot open at the sound of a voice. "Who's there?!" she called. "I am someone who can grant your wish." The voice told her. "Wish?" She repeated, confused. "Your wish for the pain to go away." It responded.

"Great, first I get a broken heart, and now I'm hearing voices. Best day ever." She remarked sarcastically. "Your not imagining me." The voice spoke again.

An odd black mist materialized in front of her. It pulsed with an eerie green glow. "Huh?" Laney looked in surprise. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things clearly, and she was. "Follow me." The voice beckoned. Hesitantly, Laney followed.

The mist went through the room before finally stopping at the spinning wheel. "The wheel?" Laney asked. "Yes, this wheel is magic, that's why it was hidden. If you touch it, your wish will come true." Laney was skeptical. It sounded suspicious.

THAT DOESN'T SOUND LEGIT

Kim was sitting at a computer in the computer station at the library. It was just her. No one else really came in at this time. The main door opened and someone else walked inside. "Hey Kin." Kim greeted. "Hi Kim, just getting a status update about the situation" Kin took a seat beside her.

Kin and Kim had a secret. They were actually really close friends, but that is another story for another day. "Well, I cross-referenced black smoke and revenge flames but didn't get any results that matched our situation. The closest thing was a firework display gone horribly wrong in Jamaica." Kim updated him. Kin looked at the screen, pondering. "Kin?" Kim raised an eyebrow, "Try evil spirit and Peaceville." Kin suggested.

Kim got to typing, and she looked at the results. "Hey, I think I found something!" Kim exclaimed, surprised. "Rumor tells of a story about a brave maiden who trapped an evil spirit somewhere in Peaceville!" Kim read. She scrolled down to see an artist illustration of the famed maiden.

"Holy Rocklympus! She looks like Laney!" Kin gasped.

"She was a brave warrior who slayed evil beings. The spirit slayed her lover, so she defeated it and imprisoned it within a casket so that it could harm no one again." Kim scrolled to a drawing of the casket, one that looked oddly familiar.

Kin paled as he saw the image. Kim noticed "Kin…" she sounded suspicious of him. "Let's say I accidentally found it and picked it up. It might have opened when I dropped it." Kin confessed.

Kim grabbed his neck and shook him "You baka! Do you realize what you have done?!" She let go as read another section of the article. "This box kept the spirit from waking up. A prophecy was written on it that will happen if it is opened!" Kim read out loud.

"What did it say? Something about cursing someone." Kin wondered out loud. "It's been asleep all this time so everyone it hated is already dead." Kim replied, "Yeah, the only one it could go after is Laney cause she looks like the girl who sealed him." Kin said.

A moment of silence.

They both looked at each other in unison "Laney!" They dashed out the door to warn their friend of the danger.