(A/N): Christmas, you're so close, yet, so far away.
"We're doing it!" Lauren yelled as all four bands sat in her apartment. Conner was in between all of them as they argued.
"No way! Our band didn't even get to perform at any prom!" Shawn exclaimed as Lazarus glared at him.
"So! You guys got to do my graduation." Lazarus said as Lauren threw her arms in the air.
"That's because you guys did Derek's and you guys won the talent show his senior year." Lauren said as Derek scoffed.
"That proves nothing." Derek said as Lauren rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"I think we'll just leave it to you guys." Sean said as his band glared at him.
"What?!" Cherry, Henry, and Shina yelled as Sean scratched the back of his head.
"Well…we only had two practice sessions. I don't think we can come together as a band yet." Sean explained as they stared at him.
"Damn, he's right." Cherry said as Shina pouted and crossed her arms.
"Ha, ha suckers!" Roddy said as Henry glared at him.
"Enough!" Conner yelled as everybody became quiet. "We're going to pick by straws." Conner said as he went into Lauren's kitchen. He cut a straw in half before returning with three straws. "Pick." He said as Flash, Topaz, and Lauren picked a straw.
"Yes!!!" Lauren yelled as Hydro, Andrew, and Roddy cheered.
"No fair!" Bolt yelled as Lauren stuck out her tongue.
"Suck it up Solari." Lauren said as Bolt glared at her.
"Ok, do you guys have an idea for a song?" Conner asked as they gathered in a huddle. They dispersed after a few minutes and looked at Conner.
"'Brick by Boring Brick'." Lauren said as Conner nodded.
"Ok, I'll listen to it and come up with an idea and get back to you." Conner said as he left with the rest of the bands.
"We're going to have our own music video!" Lauren yelled as all the guys cheered again. Conner met up with Bold&Pure the next day at the park as he went over his idea.
"That's perfect! But where will we find a little girl?" Andrew asked as Conner fixed his beanie.
"We can always use Nessa. She is a fox after all." Conner said as Lauren scrunched up her nose.
"But she doesn't look anything like me." Lauren said as Conner pursed his lips.
"I'm sure Bianca can get some temporary dye for her. The hardest part is getting the guy." Conner said as Hydro sucked a breath through his teeth.
"Yeah…that's going to be a little hard." Hydro said as Conner sighed. "You need someone who's charming and good-looking, but the good-looking with a dark secret." Hydro said as Julian popped out of nowhere.
"I'm perfect for that!" He said as they all looked at him confused.
"Where did you come from?" Roddy asked as Julian shrugged his shoulders.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that I was made for this." Julian said as Conner and grouped walked past him.
"I was thinking more along the lines of Flash or Shade maybe even Bolt." Conner said as Julian gaped at him.
"Them!? Conner, I'm a born actor." Julian said as Conner raised his eyebrows.
"Bolt and Flash are studying in Performing Arts." He said as Julian groaned.
"Whatever!" Julian yelled as he stormed away making Conner laugh. Everybody gathered at the apartment building on the day of shooting. Bianca and Suzy were doing makeup as Amber did hair and clothing. Brice, Donovan, AJ, and Jeff set up the set as Chrissy, Bolt, Tyler, and Stephan worked with the technological equipment. Conner was buzzing around with his camera filming behind-the-scene stuff while also giving his feedback on things.
"Step away with the makeup!" Roddy said as he backed up in his chair. Bianca rolled her eyes as she came closer.
"Calm down. You're jumpier than a young bronco at its first rodeo." She said as Roddy tried to dodge the makeup brush.
"Conner! Get out of here! I'm not decent." Lauren said as Conner rolled his eyes.
"You just have curlers in your hair." Conner said as Lauren crossed her arms.
"Yes, but I would not like evidence of this." Lauren said as Conner shrugged his shoulders and left her apartment.
"So…who's doing the guy part?" Flash asked as he stood by Bolt and Shade.
"I'm letting Nessa decided since she's the one who one of you are going to be acting opposite of." Conner said as he nudged Nessa forward. Amber put temporary dye in her hair and fur making it beige. Amber put undertones of brown in her hair and waved it. She was wearing a white sundress with ruffles on the chest. The straps were thin and tied into bows on the top of her shoulders. It flowed down to her knees and she had a white flower stuck into her hair.
"No fair! She's going to pick Flash!" Bolt said as Flash rolled his eyes before shrugging his shoulders.
"Everything is just unfair to you." Lauren said as she walked to Amber's apartment for her outfit. Bolt rolled his eyes before looking back at Nessa. Flash and Bolt flashed her cheesy smiles as she looked at them.
"Shade." Nessa said as the cousins looked at her in shock.
"What? Why?" Flash said as Nessa looked up at her father.
"Because he gave me twenty dollars." Nessa said before walking away casually. Bolt and Flash whipped their heads around to see Shade whistling innocently.
"No one said it was against the rules." Shade said before he walked towards makeup. Flash and Bolt looked back at Conner who shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
"Now I'm surfing. Now I'm in the snow. Now I'm falling into a volcano." Garrett said as he stood in front of the green screen as Tyler projected different images.
"Guys, stop messing with the green screen." Conner said as he walked by.
"Aw…" Garrett whined as he moved to sit next to Tyler.
"Ok! Let's get the first take done quickly." Conner called out as everybody started to head outside.
"We just had to do this in winter." Lauren said as she shivered. She was wearing a white dress with tank-top looking straps and ruffles from the chest and down the dress. There was a green belt around her waist and the dress ended about mid-thigh. She had green rubber bracelets on with white rings and a green pendant. She was wearing green low-top Chucks and her hair was curled at the ends with her makeup done flawlessly. Roddy, Hydro, and Andrew were all dressed in white slacks with white button ups. They each had their own flare on it and all of them had the sleeves rolled up. The band was standing by their instruments and in position as Conner stood behind the camera. Since the song didn't require piano Hydro was playing base.
"Action!" Conner called out as they started to mock-play their instruments. The rest of the day went on with filming and soon it ended. Conner thanked everybody as they all headed home together. "I'll have this done by Sunday and my final." Conner said as Donovan looked at him confused.
"Final? What was your final?" Donovan asked as Conner smirked.
"You'll see." Conner said as Donovan shrugged his shoulders. Everybody was at Julian's apartment since he had the biggest apartment and T.V. Everybody was gathered around the T.V. as Conner stood in front of it. "I present you 'Brick by Boring Brick' by Bold&Pure directed by Conner Mondair." Conner said as he sat down and pressed play. The scene opened up to a forest with leaves falling starting to fall from the sky. Everything was in a warm tone like orange or yellow.
"Woo! Cool graphics!" Brice said as everybody shushed him. The video zoomed in passing the trees as you could see in the distance a small girl running. It cuts to Lauren on a swing as the music continued to play. It cut to Nessa running past Lauren who was by Bolt who was digging a hole that looked like it was for a grave. Bolt was wearing working clothes that looked like that were from the 1920s. It cut to Lauren in front of the band as she began to sing.
Well she lives in the fairy tale
Somewhere too far for us to find
Forgotten the taste and smell
Of a world that she's left behind
It's all about the exposure the lens I told her
It returned back to Nessa who was running towards a hill that had a secret opening at the end of it. Nessa slowed down as she carefully peeked through the opening. She waked in leaving the wooden door open. She took a few steps before the door slammed shut. It changed between Lauren by the swing, Nessa, and the band performing.
The angles are all wrong now
She's ripping wings off of butterflies
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Nessa walked forward and it soon opened up to a beautiful garden full of flowers and butterflies. Lauren as kneeling by the hole that Bolt continued to dig up as she sang. The scenes switched from Lauren and Bolt to the band and then back to Nessa who was looking on in amazement.
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Ba da ba ba da ba ba da
Nessa was now walking through hills where Shade appeared dressed in white clothing. Conner altered his eyes to become a bright green color as Nessa looked at him. Lauren was continuously singing as it flipped between her with Bolt digging the hole and her with the band.
So one day he found her crying
Coiled up on the dirty ground
Her prince finally came to save her
And the rest you can figure out
As Nessa came closer to Shade he knelt down on one knee. Nessa smiled a bit as Shade smiled at her. Suddenly his clothes started to fade into black as his eyes became a dark black color. His smile turned into a sickening smirk as Nessa's eyes widened.
But it was a trick
And the clock struck 12
Well make sure to build your home brick by boring brick
or the wolf's gonna blow it down
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Nessa started to take off running as Lauren and the band went into the chorus. She was running towards a giant fairytale looking castle as the scene changed to Lauren singing by the hole and the band performing.
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Whoa, whoa
Nessa entered the castle to see a bunch of floating picture frames. Bolt was still digging as Lauren sang by him and it cut back to Roddy playing the guitar before showing the full band playing. Nessa watched fearfully as the frames started showing disturbing pictures. Like a puppet clown walking closer towards the frame. It showed Ebony with caked on makeup making a creepy smile and then Ruby who was bobbing her head side to side as her face started to distort.
Well you built up a world of magic
Because your real life is tragic
Yeah you built up a world of magic
It then showed Lauren in the frame as she sang the bridge before Nessa took off. The warm colors started to became blacks and blues as she ran out of the castle in fear.
If it's not real
You can't hold it in your hand
You can't feel it with your heart
And I won't believe it
But if it's true
You can see it with your eyes
Or even in the dark
And that's where I want to be, yeah
It flipped back to Lauren singing by the hole before showing Andrew on the drums then eventually the whole band again. The sky started to flash with lightening as Nessa ran farther away from the castle. She walked back into the garden that was now filled with ivy and vines instead of flowers. Nessa turned around and started trying to fight off the growing vines that were trying to latch onto her. A vine grabbed onto her leg and she tripped, but she quickly pulled herself away and started running.
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Ba da ba ba da ba ba da...
The guys sang the first two rounds of the ending before Lauren eventually joined in. Nessa ran out of the garden and started to head back towards where Lauren was. Lauren was sitting by the hole with a solemn expression and Bolt was out of shot. Nessa ran into the hole as Lauren looked down in it with no expression. She sat up and threw a doll in there that Nessa had been carrying. She looked down a little remorseful as Bolt threw in a pile of dirt. It cut to the band standing as they finished the song. The screen went black as everybody clapped and cheered.
"My daughter is a born actress." Ivy said as Nessa blushed a bit.
"I looked good." Bolt said as Flash rolled his eyes.
"You were barely even there." Flash said as Bolt shrugged his shoulders.
"So what's this final you have to show us?" Donovan asked as everybody started to voice his question again.
"Ok, ok. My professor wanted to make a video about something to means a lot to us. So here it is." Conner said as he popped in another disk. Some footage of the clouds showed as Conner began to do a voiceover on the video.
"All people have something different that means a lot to them. It could be friends, their spouse, or a material item. Mine, however, is my friends." Conner's voice said as everybody gaped at the screen. Soon it showed a zoomed in clip of Amber who was apparently eating as she listened to someone who was out of shot.
"This is one of my very best friends Amber. She's super bubbly and cheerful. She makes my day sunny like a personal son in my pocket. She encourages everything I do and doesn't let me fall back when I think I'm not doing great. She has a tough hand on her and isn't afraid to use it. Amber has been there since the very beginning and I hope she's there for the end." Conner's voice said as Amber started to tear up a bit. The clip of Amber showed her laughing as her eyes crinkled and smiled brightly. The clip soon faded into a clip of Julian who was hanging on a tree by his legs.
"This is Julian. He's been my best friend for four years now. He is one of the goofiest, yet, caring people I know. He's a senior planning to take the world by hand with his degree in Business. Despite his serious major he has time to goof off. Plenty of time. I would have never believed Julian to be the family type, but he proved me wrong by adopting his girlfriend's son. Julian is one of the most amazing and funniest people I ever met and I can only wish he feels the same about me." Conner's voice said as Julian held back his tears and turned his head away from the group. It showed Julian laughing his head off as he flipped down on the ground. It transitioned to show Topaz reading a book under a tree.
"That's Topaz, Amber's sister, and one of my best friends. She is quiet and reserved, but I wouldn't have her any different. She has one of the biggest hearts I know and she's very caring. She cares for practically everybody and holds them in her heart where she thinks they belong. Her quiet persona, yet interesting views make a good conversation and she completes the group I have. Without her I don't think we could stick together." Conner said as Topaz wiped a tear away. The clip showed Topaz looking up at the sunlight through the trees with a relaxed smile on her face. The clip cut to Renegade who was playing the piano.
"That's Renegade. Don't let the dark clothes scare away. He's a really cool guy. His sarcasm just brings a nice…light into the group. Even though he doesn't think so he's a good leader. One of the best. Plus, he's a kick ass fighter. I may lose bets to him all the time, but he's still one of my best friends. He's the most talented pianist I know and I know he'll do wonders in his career. Renegade is one of the best people to go to for advice and he'll help you through practically anything. He's a total kid magnet and I know when he does have some of his own he'll be one of the best people for the job." Conner's voiceover said as Renegade smiled softly looking at the video. In the clip of Renegade he stopped playing and started pushing his hand into the camera. The clip faded into one of Tsunami practicing her water powers in one of her classes.
"Tsunami is another one of my very best friends. She's a total kickass. She doesn't let anyone – including myself – mess with her. She handles her own problems by herself. She cares for everybody that's close to her and doesn't like it when she sees them hurt. Tsunami has one of the brightest futures ahead of her and I can't wait until she grasps it and takes it into her own hands. She is one of the best people I know and I couldn't imagine anyone else helping me in a fight." Conner said as Tsunami let a watery laugh. The clip of Tsunami showed her using her water powers to form different shapes before it got blasted towards the camera. The clip faded into Tyler who was sitting on his skateboard rolling back and forth as he read a textbook with a pencil behind his ear.
"This is Tyler. Look up the definition for Skating Genius and you'll find his picture and name there. Tyler is one the smartest and most laid-back person I ever met. He is also probably the person who has used the word 'Dude' the most out of anyone else. He's an amazing skater, but he's putting his work into Business with a minor in Design. He may not become the top pro-skater, but he'll be the guy selling him his boards and gear. Tyler is the most humble person I've ever met and I admire him for that trait. He's in the top his classes, but doesn't really care about that. He worries for his family and friends. Tyler is one of the best dudes I know." Conner's voice over said as Tyler rubbed a tear away before anyone could see it. The clipped of Tyler showed him shutting his book before grinding the rail of a staircase. The film went on to show everybody and Conner's speech for them. He had one for everybody (including new people). His last one was saved for Serenity. It showed Serenity sleeping in her bed with her quills surrounding her.
"This person is the most important person to me. She's my girlfriend Serenity. She's the best person I ever met. She's my best friend. She knows me more than I know myself. She has my heart inside hers and I know she's the best person to take care of it. Serenity's much more than a girlfriend to me. She's my soul mate. I can't imagine my future without having her by my side. She's my rock and without her I'm sure I'll crumble. I love her with every fiber of my being. She is everything to me. I can't imagine a life without her. She's my everything. She's my love." Conner's voice over said as it showed Serenity waking up and smiling; her eyes locking with Conner's behind the camera. The film faded to black as Conner shut off the T.V.
"God Conner! You're such a sap!" Garrett said as he continually rubbed his eyes. Everybody let out a watery laugh as Serenity hugged Conner tightly. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
"C'mon Serenity! We all got to hug him!" Julian said as Serenity laughed. Conner wiped her tears away before he kissed her lightly.
"I can see what you two were doing before the video of Serenity was made." Donovan said as he wiggled his eyebrow. Kim slapped him in the back of his head as Conner glared at him. After everybody hugged Conner and got settled down a soft knock was heard on the door. Izzy went to answer the door and gasped when she saw who it was. Cat was standing out the door wearing a red and white beanie with black t-shirt that said, "Ice Cold". She had a red jacket over it with gray jeans and brown boots. She had gloves that were up to her elbows and her Avengers stone.
"What are you doing here?" Julian hissed as Cat glared at him.
"Julian." Serenity said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her before glaring at Cat and huffing. He walked away with Izzy as Serenity walked outside.
"You're probably wondering why I'm here." Cat said awkwardly as Serenity looked at her.
"I really don't care why you're here." Serenity said as Cat looked at her confused. "Cat, you're my older sister. Our parents told me what happen and I think you have it wrong. They really miss you and they'd give anything to have you back." Serenity said as Cat scowled.
"I'm not going to join your family." She said coldly as Serenity looked at her sadly.
"Cat-"Cat cut off Serenity by raising her hand.
"I don't belong with you guys. I have my own problems and I don't need a family to help me with them." Cat said as Serenity sighed.
"We're not trying to help you. We're trying to have you back where you belong." Serenity said as Cat's hands clenched into fists.
"I don't belong with your family!" She yelled as she glared at Serenity. "I'm not perfect and amazing like you, Ebony, or Shade. I don't belong with people like you. I'm a loner. I'm destined to spend my life in solitude." She said as Serenity looked at her sympathetically.
"It doesn't have to be that way." Serenity said as she reached out to put her hand on Cat's shoulder. Cat jerked her shoulder away as she looked at the ground.
"It's too late for that." She said before storming down the hall. Serenity watched as her sister left before realizing she had something to say.
"Wait!" Serenity said as she ran after her. "What did you have to say?" She asked when she caught up with her.
"It's not important now. Have a very Merry Christmas." Cat sneered as she left the building on her skateboard. Serenity sighed sadly before she returned inside the building.
(A/N): Next chapter will probably be the beginning of Christmas. Anyways, the song for the music video was "Brick by Boring Brick" by Paramore. I based the music video off of theirs so if you want to see it go look it up. The video doesn't make much sense at first, but it's about the lead singer's (Haley Williams) childhood. She had a tough childhood and at the end when the girl falls in the grave and the guy starts burying her it means she's burying her childhood away. So, yeah…just the clear it up if you don't get it. Also Lauren's and Nessa's dress is on my homepage.