Rosalina POV

Ugh. I felt awful. I opened the door to the auditorium we were rehearsing in, trying to balance the load of coffees and hot chocolates and my bass in my hand. I could hear someone come up behind me.

"Here, let me get that."

"Thanks so much," I smiled at Christa who balanced another cup of coffee on top of the hot chocolate she was holding. As we were handing out all of the drinks, I eyed the last hot chocolate Christa saved for herself. Looking back at her disheveled form, I handed her an extra coffee that Lianna didn't want.

"Here. Take this." Christa looked at the cup critically. "Honestly, it's hard to deal with this kind of morning without a little caffeine. Trust me." She simply nodded in thanks, before whispering under her breath.

"Do I really look that bad, Rosalina?" I looked at her quickly.

"You don't look bad; you just look like you're trying to work through a hangover. Rough night?" I smiled in sympathy.

"Tell me about it. Lianna and Maya got to me and well…" I nodded, also noticing that Christa looked reddened considerably as Nat walked in. I could've swear I heard an 'oh no,' escape from her mouth, but as Nat hugged her she relaxed. I looked away pointedly, trying to find someone else to talk to. In the corner of my eye I could see Quassim, who kept looking as if he had to talk to Christa.

Finally, the rest of the girls walked through the door, Trina holding it open tiredly. Cooper was surveying the room, and I could tell by his facial expressions that what he saw was not a good sight.

"Guys, guys, come on. We have to start rehearsal soon! Not to mention that in a few seconds a couple of reporters will come and take pictures of us practicing together," Alex looked up quickly.

"Uh, Coop? Is that really a good idea? I mean, the press has always somehow twisted everything they report about us…you're just going to let them in on one of our rehearsals?" I handed the girls their lattes before turning to open my case. My phone buzzed next to me, and I looked to see a text from Kevin. Rolling my eyes, I stuffed the phone into my purse and began tuning my instrument.

"Someone, please, tell me whose bright idea it was to have this rehearsal…at ten in the morning?" Cati, ever the morning person, and ever the spitfire, narrowed her eyes at Trina as she sipped her latte. Trina held up her hands in defeat.

"Look, girls. I'm sorry, but we could really use the rehearsal time."

"Man, you're like female Cooper number two." David laughed.

"Number two?" Lianna raised her eyebrows.

"Patty Scoggins, his girlfriend, is like the perfect replica of him." I explained quickly, handing Lianna her guitar. I watched her struggle with the shoulder strap and the latte in the same hand.

"Could we please leave Mrs. Scoggins out of this? We have to start rehearsal soon!" Trina looked over the girls appraisingly.

"It doesn't hurt to freshen up a bit either. Lisa, fix your hair. Cati, your shirt is crooked, and fix the loops on your flats. Lianna, oh no – You just spilled latte on your shirt…um, take this." Trina tossed a glittery shirt from her bag to Lianna, who stumbled off to change. Maya, your makeup is a little smudged; here, take this napkin, Rosalina…" Trina paused to look at me quickly. "You look good…" She looked me up and down again, the question clearly on her lips.

"Did you…"

"Nope. I was a little preoccupied." I could feel Maya's eyes on my back.

"With what?" I rolled my eyes.

"With Kevin." I practically hissed. The idiot had been hitting on me all night, and had constantly tried to take me home with home. Not to mention, there were multiple other text messages I was battling on my phone.

"Who's that? Your new boyfriend?" David and Thomas piped up.

"No." I said flatly. There was absolutely no way I was battling this issue with them this morning.

"Guys, guys!" Cooper intervened. "The photographer just called. She said she's walking into the building. Don't forget, whatever you do. Play nice."

"Well, well! What I coincidence! If it isn't my favorite band of models." I inwardly groaned, before smiling at the woman in front of me.

"Good morning Mrs. Lief. How are you today?" Mrs. Lief's polite smile broke into a grin.

"Such a wonderful group of kids. Such great examples for our future generation." Cooper and the guys, obviously taken aback by the familiarity between the woman and the rest of girls, stood silently. Trina finally managed to regain her voice.

"Mrs. Lief! It's such a nice surprise to see you again. I want to thank you for the dinner, it was simply wonderful." Trina grabbed Cooper's arm, and pulled him forward.

"This is Cooper, he is the manager for the Naked Brothers Band, one of whose members you met last night." Trina gestured to Christa and the guys, and most of them waved back nervously. Mrs. Lief nodded, obviously delighted.

"Yes, well, my brother is a reporter and he was hoping to get some exclusive photos of your rehearsal, and I thought I would stop by, and just say hello! Also," I could feel Mrs. Lief's eyes on me again.

"Kevin was interested in stopping by as well." She motioned towards her son and gently pushed him towards me. I could hear Nat's scoff, and how he quickly covered his displeasure up by coughing loudly. I rolled my eyes, before catching Trina's stare.

Sighing slightly, I turned to face Kevin.

"How are you?" He smiled.

"Just fine. You look like you recovered nicely from my party." I stiffened my smile, before nodding.

"Yes, well, it looks like I better go rehearse, so…"

"We'll see each other later?" I suddenly felt too close to Kevin; his breath was hot on my face and he grabbed my hand quickly. I nodded, before pulling away, tightening my grip on my bass.

"Cati, I think we should start practicing now." She simply nodded, and we began rehearsing our songs. When we were done, there was a short break, and I could tell all of us were trying to "intermingle" as much as possible for the reporters. Every once in a while, he would gesture to a couple of us, and have us stand next to each other for a photo.

During the break, I looked over at Mrs. Lief's entourage. I frowned. Another man had slipped in next to her brother, taking several photos of the band. I looked at Trina and Cooper, but they were too busy trying to keep David and Cati from arguing loudly with the camera.

"Well, alright. I think we have enough pictures, thank you all for your patience." Mrs. Lief's brother – John, he said to call him – left shortly after the guys had finished rehearsing. The other reporter waved his camera at Trina.

"I was wondering, Miss? May I get an interview with your new bassist? My boss heard she went on a cruise as a prize for winning a music competition, and we've heard she's quite spectacular." Trina nodded.

"Go ahead!"

"Actually, I was wondering if this interview could happen in private? We have quite a few questions to ask her, and we wouldn't want them causing any rifts between her and her friends." I narrowed my eyes.

"Actually, I just remembered,"

"Rosalina, please?" I stared at Trina for a few seconds before nodding mutely. The reporter grinned.

"Fantastic. Right this way Miss Tai. It'll just be a few questions." He led me outside, a good distance away from the door. We sat down at a café table.

"So, what do you want to know?"

"I want to know why the Naked Brothers Band hasn't broken up yet." His voice made my blood turn cold.

"Who are you?"

"Now, now, Rosalina. My boss won't like it if I tell him his little helper has been shirking her duties. He wanted to remind you that you made a deal." His grip tightened on the camera as he smirked.

"Do I need to remind you what will happen if you back out?"

"What do you want? Why on earth does he care this much about my-err., that band? What did they ever do to earn his fury?!" The reporter just laughed, before lowering his voice.

"I believe the question is what haven't they done, my dear. Your precious friends have dallied in the spotlight for far too long, and their insufferable ability to escape the press makes it no worse. Let's just say that my boss has…personal business to deal with." My eyes narrowed as I clenched my fists.

"I'm just here to deliver a message, my dear. Don't forget what you promised you would do. It would make his job much easier, and not mention, ease all of your stress. Who knows what how long you've been dealing with this?" With another nasty grin the man left.

"Excuse me, miss? Would you like to order something?" I shook my head at the waitress, and stood up.

So it was the press…? It was someone who lost something when the Naked Brothers Band went famous? I walked back quickly to the auditorium to grab my things.

"Rosalina! You're back! What did he say? Was he nice? He didn't ask about anything personal did he?" I looked at the girls who were waiting expectantly.

"No, he was very nice. He was interested in all of the instruments I played, and like, how I juggled my life and my band and stuff. It was no big deal." Alex's eyes widened.

"Wow. I'm surprised. Normally they're all over you about your relationship with – OW! What was that for Quassim?" He rubbed the spot on his head that Quassim swiped at.

"For being an idiot, Alex." I simply shrugged my shoulders, ignoring the hurt that raced through my heart. I avoided Nat and Christa's gaze as I headed for the door again.

"I'm going back to the hotel. Is there anything else I should know before the gig tonight?" Trina shook her head.

"Just uh-try and get some rest, okay? Actually, that goes for all of us, probably." I nodded simply.

"Alright, by guys." My head ached terribly, and the only thing I really wanted was my bed. But I couldn't ignore the feeling that I was in over my head. I had absolutely no clue what I was going to do.

How was I supposed to save the guys from whatever this guy had planned? They loved being together as a band more than anything. There was no way I was going to let anyone ruin that.