Oh my goodness guys, SO sorry for the long wait! I've been working on this chapter for a long time (and I've been busy with school), hope you enjoy. This chapter is dedicated to readinghottie16, demigirl606, DannySamLover20, HideBehindTheMask, Avery Jones, AmandaSimmons95, chickenleg718, Mary-Aly, Rumpr Roc, secretprincess, , FoxandDogchan27, PeetaMellark15, Ampsparz , .Adorable, .7, Vs-for-life, Fallen Emo Angel, LuvPeaceCandy, and Anon (Guest).

I do not own Radio Rebel

10:00 AM

"Give the cage a spin." Barry's words were meant to be encouraging, but they fell flat. Stacy herself didn't move, much less turn the crank. She just stood there, wearing an uncomfortable smile that seemed to be stuck. He was glad his friends at the nursing home didn't look like they were running out of patience, but he wanted to move along with the Bingo game anyway. (He figured Stacy would want to rush through it, since she didn't even want to be there.) "Trust me. Larry's been here as many times as I have. That thing is no stranger to disinfectant."

The group in front of them laughed, but Stacy wasn't so amused. She didn't seem to be worried about catching the flu or anything like that either. She just didn't see Bingo as a two person job. But Barry wasn't after a crown. And he wasn't going to help her get hers if she put no effort into the campaign. So she took her turn, rather lazily. The machine barely went around once.

She went for the ball to call the space, not expecting Barry to do the same. The consequence of that-of course-was that their hands touched. She growled, thinking he'd done that on purpose, despite his look of surprise. He mouthed 'Sorry' as he pulled back his hand and let her call the space.

The letter and number might as well have been the annoyed words she chose not to bark at Barry. He swallowed a laugh and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, unsure of whether he saw that as comical or pitiful. It was like he found the perfect job for her. Or, at least, the perfect excuse for her to yell.

"BINGO!" Someone shouted from the back, sparking laughter from Barry.

"Wow, you're really good at this game. How did you manage to pull off a win when we only called one space?"

While Stacy made a face over Barry's use of the word 'we', the resident replied: "I was just making sure you were paying attention."

Others nodded in agreement. Some even spoke up about it. "That can be a challenge when you're standing next to such a pretty girl, Barry." Even though he had already told Stacy she was beautiful himself, he wasn't sure how to respond to that. He figured he wouldn't be able to hear himself think over the conversation that started up between the residents.

"Stacy might be the one to lose her focus." One woman said, as her way of stating her opinion on Barry's looks. His eyes quickly found the floor, and his cheeks matched the color of his hair in that moment. He seemed flattered yet embarrassed by the words. As opposed to his Bingo calling partner, who looked outright disgusted over what she heard.

Though she didn't sound it. "I never lose my focus. I'm a professional." Tired of the conversation, she gave the cage another spin. The residents looked among themselves, as they seemed to catch a collective chill from her cold tone of voice. Barry sent them an apologetic look.

Stacy called the second space, and was almost immediately answered by another excited shout of "BINGO!" Everyone except her chuckled.

"Do they do this every time?" She asked Barry, making no point to whisper. She wanted the others to see how annoyed she was.

"No, this is new." He told her happily. He took his turn with the cage and called the third space. All the kids heard was the shuffling of Bingo cards and chips. Stacy decided that calling out a false win when she called the spaces was the players' sick form of entertainment. She let Barry call the next one, hoping they were over their little game.

Stacy called the space after that.

"BINGO!" She answered that with a groan.

"Wait, you're serious?" Barry asked. She doubted he could tell. Even if he did know everyone in the room by name, how could he be that good at reading them?

"Of course I am, I want my fifty cents." Came the reply. Barry went and checked the card, awestruck by the quick win.

"What are the odds of that?" He smiled, but Stacy didn't see what was so special about it.

"Must be the lucky hat." The man told him, smiling back. Some of the others chimed in, asking if Barry had any more hats. This had Stacy wondering if the hat at the center of the discussion was a gift. And why would it be? She stood there with her head in her hand, trying to figure that out. More to the point, trying to figure Barry out. Though she stopped after a few short seconds, seeing no point in doing so. It was a waste of time that could be spent doing more to ensure her getting crowned prom queen.

10:03 AM

Larry and Kim's elbows bumped again, causing them to giggle like they had each time before. "Just let me take care of it." He insisted, as he motioned for the plate she was scrubbing. She kept it out of his reach.

"My dishes, my responsibility."

He gave a small shrug, and went back to doing his half of the work. (The process had probably taken so long because they split the workload, getting side-tracked by conversations all the while, but they didn't mind.) The two of them stood there with sudsy sponges, sharing the space in front of the sink. Kim had given up her rubber gloves, figuring it'd be nigh impossible for Larry to stand touching dishes with his hands. They left the dish drain full with their dripping plates, forks, knives and cups. (And of course, the frying pan.) Then they made their way to the car.

She let him drive, and he was happy to since he felt like he'd done nothing productive all day, aside from helping with the dishes. (She was the one who made breakfast.) The two had only been moving along the road for a few moments before something crossed his mind. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Either the mall or the spa." Kim answered.

"Spa?" He echoed. Though it didn't sound like a question to her. It sounded like a suggestion.

"Really, you'd rather go there first? I'm surprised you wanna go there at all."

"I don't actually." He said, only feeling bad about it once he saw the look on Kim's face. A quiet disappointment she tried not to get noticed at all. Larry quickly added to his sentence, in hopes of making it a better one. "I don't actually... see the point in that." He stammered.

So much for wishful thinking.

"Well, it's relaxing." She reasoned weakly.

Larry kept quiet, but his expression argued that 'relaxing' was a relative term.

"Not for you, I guess." Kim realized he would either be bored there with nothing to do, or lost and a little uneasy if he participated in whatever it was she had in mind. "Mall it is." She decided. He smiled. Not only did he know where he was going, he knew what to do when he got there. "You're a really good driver." She told him rather randomly.

"Thanks." From there, the conversation fell into a silence neither of them were used to. It wasn't the least bit comfortable, but for some reason they did nothing to break it.

Kim kept her eyes on the landscape, even though she felt his focus on her at every stoplight. If she would've looked back, she would've seen that he was brooding. Or, as close to brooding as a guy like Larry could get.

When the mall was in sight, he snapped himself out of it. He put on a smile, hoping that it was contagious. (Which, he realized, was probably the first time he hoped anything was contagious.) Either that, or that the shopping trip proved to be fulfilling in some sort of way for Kim. All the negative feelings Larry felt toward this idea were canceled out by what seemed to be the only positive one.

No matter what happened after they walked into that mall, he wanted to see her honestly happy.

12:00 PM

"I think I'm gonna need some of your relaxation techniques to get through this." Gavin admitted to Audrey in between takes of one of the band's last shots of the acting portion of the video.

To her relief, she found herself laughing. "Are you nervous?" Gavin wondered if that was the right word. He hadn't flinched at the sight of the cameras, but he seemed to have a talent for avoiding them. He saw that as a positive thing, though he was the reason most of the shots needed to be redone. At times, the band seemed to be missing a member. "I was." Audrey confessed as she went on, filling in the silence. Gavin hadn't realized he'd left silence to fill until then. Though he felt guilty for that, as if he were ignoring his dare partner. He also hadn't realized his dare partner was the type to get nervous.

"Really, you?"

She almost laughed again, seeing that his reaction reflected Gabe's and hers regarding people who were unexpectedly uneasy. "I forgot how nervous I felt when the cameras started rolling. I forgot there were cameras. And now that I think about it, that's always been easy for me," (Even though getting the jitters out was difficult at the start of the project. Since this one meant so much to her, the band, their fans and Tara.) "becoming my character... this was easiest transition so far." She said, smiling pridefully. "A GGGG's fan? I don't have to act for that." He mirrored her smile, but couldn't find words until she said her next sentence. "Gabe gets nervous too."

This time Gavin was the one laughing. Not because he was making fun of Gabe, but because that was so difficult to imagine. He could barely picture Audrey as an anxious person, much less Gabe.

"He said so?"

That could simply be an observation of Audrey's part-and as a drama queen she was usually an expert at reading expression-but Gavin had never heard that from his bandmate. He saw that act as proof. Had he ever thought to ask if Gabe got nervous, he'd no doubt get a 'yes' in response. Gabe was an honest guy.

Soon after Gabe was brought up in their conversation, he appeared in their line of sight. A smile lingered on his face, over his love for being in front of the camera, they guessed. For a moment, he seemed to be leading the others over to them. Though he just happened to be walking in front. Most of the crew turned, headed for their cars.

Gavin tried to process the sight. "Have we wrapped up already?" While he sounded confused, Audrey seemed downright appalled.

"Why would they leave without saying goodbye?"

When he reached the 'dare pair', Gabe assured: "They're not."

Rob jogged over to the three of them, and as if to back Gabe up, added: "I called in a favor with someone at Lincoln Bay. We're headed there to film a couple classroom and hallway scenes."

Gavin smiled at Audrey. "It's once again your time to shine." She mirrored the smile, but her voice sounded curious rather than thankful when she spoke next. In unison with Gabe.

"Where's Tara?"

Rather than looking at Rob when he answered, Audrey looked at Gavin to see if his eyes lit up at the mention of Tara's name. But what she saw was that his eyes scanned their whole set, as if he was looking for Tara himself.

"She's finding a handheld camera to take on the ride there. She thought an interesting way to get behind-the-scenes footage would be from different people's perspectives." The others agreed that that was a good idea, but had turned their attention to the way the group had divided themselves for the trip over to school: by gender. Each person moved hurriedly.

Gabe chuckled, amused. "What, are we having a race?"

This caused Audrey to swallow her laughter, finding it odd that Gabe had spoken her thought.

"Actually, yeah." Gavin, Audrey and Gabe turned to find Tara behind a camera. "C'mon Audrey." She softly urged. The girls went off toward Cami and Delilah, who were eagerly waving them over to the car they would share.

Gavin made his way over to the rest of the band and the crew, but Rob noticed that Gabe hung back a second. He didn't think that was because he wanted to give the girls a head start. "What's up?"

Gabe looked at Rob and voiced his thought. "Do you have another camera?"

In the girls' car, Tara's cell phone went off. She fumbled to get it out of her pocket. That was a challenge sitting down. As was text messaging while filming, she found. Especially once the car was in motion. "Audrey, can you answer this?" She asked, sounding sorry she had to.

Audrey saw no need for feeling sorry. She was happy to do so. "Sure." She scrolled back through the conversation, to get herself caught up with it. She knew her best friend well enough to answer in a way she would, but decided not to. As she typed her reply, she let Barry know she had taken over the job of texting him for awhile. "Wow, you've both had busy days today. " She commented, seeing that Barry had already been to the nursing home and soup kitchen.

Tara nodded. "Let's just be glad Stacy doesn't care enough to ask what we've been doing with ours." Sad as that sounded, Tara counted it as a good thing. "She'd flip out on Barry if she knew."

"Big time." Audrey agreed, watching her best friend turn to look out the window. She knew that wasn't done just for a shot of the scenery. Tara was hoping Barry's texting wouldn't get Stacy curious enough to ask what it was about. He didn't deserve to be treated the way she treated people when she was in a good mood, much less a bad one.

12:17 PM

"It's not fair." The words were more a whisper than a yell, but Stacy talking through gritted teeth always seemed to give what she had to say more of an impact. Barry wasn't bothered though. He agreed. Though he wasn't on her exact wavelength.

"Yeah. Why get mad at me over a chance you passed up?" He looked at her from the passenger's seat of her convertible but, of course, she couldn't meet his glance. He wasn't sure she would even if she could.

She could feel his eyes on her, and shook off the thought that the look they carried made her choke out her reply. She tried to speak with as strong a voice as (almost) always. "I'm not mad at you," In the same fraction of a second, Barry went from being happy to hear that Stacy could admit her mistakes, to realizing the turn her sentence would take. "I'm mad at Gavin for not being specific enough."

"You shouldn't be." Barry answered. "It's not like you gave him a chance." With that, he could tell there was a dirty look she wanted to throw him, but she didn't take her eyes off the road. "I'm not saying sorry for that one." He was tired of his own constant apologies. He wondered if he'd only said them in the first place to appease her. "Besides, doing the music video would be the wrong angle for you."

"Why?" Stacy asked. She sounded as if she was honestly curious, something he didn't know she could be when it came to him until just minutes ago.

"It's vain. For you, it's too much about looking good."

"How is that not being good? He asked for my help."

"And you turned him down because you already had a plan to help yourself."

"Were you even listening to our conversation?" Stacy asked, matching his tone of frustration. "I said I'd love to help, but made the mistake of letting you plan my day." She huffed over that, since the day didn't feel anywhere near done. And she was headed to the library, where Barry volunteered her to read to children.

"Schedules are just made to keep time. They can be rewritten." He pointed out. Stacy wished she would've know that sooner, but what he said next had her feeling worse. Oddly enough, Barry was criticizing himself. "This one should've been. It was my first." He admitted. "Schedules are more of a Larry thing."

Despite how many times Stacy heard Barry disappointed, this was different. This was directed at himself.

At a red light, she glanced over at him. He didn't notice, too busy adjusting his hat. Putting it back into place. She imagined that it bothered Larry when it wasn't as perfect as possible. And Barry fixed it subconsciously, even though his brother wasn't around to appreciate the effort.

For some reason, Stacy's thoughts traveled back to the nursing home, and the man with the lucky hat. She found herself fighting the urge to ask for his story, even though she felt she should be building up the courage to ask for Barry's.

For once, she thought, she wasn't the reason he was upset.

12:25 PM

"I think I have a new outfit for every day of the week." Kim announced happily as she and Larry walked out of the third clothing store they'd hit that day . She carried her own bags, despite the fact that he offered.

"How come I didn't get to see any of them?" He asked as they sat down on a bench. He didn't sound annoyed, but he hoped he kept how squeamish he felt well hidden under his curiosity.

"The surprise would be ruined." Before Larry had a chance to laugh for not thinking of that himself, she asked: "Why don't you buy something new?"

He shrugged that off. "I was here less than a month ago, I don't need any more new stuff."

Kim shook her head, since he wasn't catching her drift. "No, I mean completely new. Really... coordinated." She seemed to search for a word that would sell him on shopping for something outside his usual style, but all she succeeded in doing was insulting him.

Larry looked at his mismatched clothes, then back at Kim. "I'm fine with what I've got." He insisted. But his tone was hushed. She opened her mouth to say something-to try and repair the damage she could see in his eyes-but he spoke before she could. "I would clean up, but I don't want you fainting." Her jaw dropped a bit, but she didn't know how to respond. She'd never heard Larry talk that way. After he laughed, she found out why. "That's something Barry would say."

With a giggle, Kim said: "He thinks he's hot stuff?"

Larry didn't get a chance to answer, when something caught Kim's eye. He wondered when it got so difficult for them to talk. He followed her gaze, to a makeup counter. "You shouldn't try to be like her." He said, surprising himself. Despite the look Kim was giving him, he finished his thought. "Stacy probably shops so much because she thinks she has to. Like it's expected. Or worse."

"What's worse than that?" Kim questioned, as her eyes moved from the makeup counter back to Larry.

"She's trying to fill a hole." At those words, both their stomachs turned. "Is that what you're doing? Since she's not here?"

"No." At first Kim's voice was borderline venomous. Then she sounded sad and confused. "You said you were okay with this." Both tones made him feel like he could cry.

"I tried to be." After some hesitation, Larry rephrased. "I pretended to be."

"Well don't. I hate that." Kim's voice dropped to a whisper. "I hate being lied to." Words betrayed Larry then, turning into nothing but stammers. Kim ignored that. "I did this because I thought it would be fun. Not because I was trying to be like Stacy."

"Okay," Larry said, locking eyes with her. "but you don't have to change yourself."

For the first words he could manage in a while, they didn't do much help. They made Kim more upset.

"I changed my clothes! That's it. I'm not looking to become a whole new person, I just wanted something a little different." Her tone softened. "That's the reason I agreed to be your dare partner."

He nodded, thankful for that. Then, he explained himself, figuring he owed her that. "I thought you might've done this out of jealousy... or just because you missed her."

"I do miss her." Kim admitted, in a distant sounding voice. Jealousy had nothing to do with it. "She's the one that changed. And I feel like there's only one good thing that came out of that."

Larry was almost afraid to ask what, but he did anyway. Since keeping quiet felt like lying, and he didn't want to do that again. "Which is?"

"I learned that I should never change. Not if I'm unhappy when I do."

1:27 PM

A nostalgic smile spread across Stacy face when she stepped inside the children's wing of the library. But Barry had no way to tell what the smile was about, so he took a guess. "Happy this is our last stop of the day?"

That almost didn't seem possible, and it caused her to echo the words. "This is our last stop of the day?"

He nodded. "Unless you want to go out to lunch."

"I'll pass." She answered rather bitterly, making his smirk vanish.

"Your loss." Barry said, even though it was obvious her harshness bothered him.

"Actually, I'd call that a gain. Since I'd be gaining more free time-"

"To do something that actually matters?" He questioned mockingly. The impact of his words was enough to make her head jerk back slightly in surprise. "Predictable." He informed her. "And I know your time with me holds some value, because I'm helping you with this campaign. You should put all the effort that goes into trying to make me feel bad into trying for this crown."

"You have a point." She admitted, finding a seat in the corner of the room. He followed suit, but sat on the rug beside her.

Barry looked up at Stacy. "I think that's the weirdest thing you've ever said to me." He thought aloud, smiling faintly. He found it odd because it was nice.

"Will you let me finish?"

"Go ahead." He said with a wave of his hand, eager to hear the rest.

"We only spend time together because you're helping me. It's not like either of us enjoy it."

Barry had a chance to respond before the children and some of their parents flooded the room. He just chose not to speak in that moment.

"BARRY!" Four of the children tackled him to the ground in attempt to hug him. Mostly because he let them, but he hadn't been braced for the impact. While he beamed at them, they were shushed by their parents.

"I told you he'd be here." One whispered to the others.

"He's always here." A second pointed out.

"I think he lives here." A third said.

With a laugh, Barry pointed to his left with his thumb. "Guys, this is Stacy."

"Hi, Stacy." They chorused.

Happy to have been spared from being glomped they way Barry had, she gave them a half-hearted wave.

The kids turned their attention back to Barry. "Is Stacy your girlfriend?" The first asked softly. Though the whisper was pointless, since Stacy was directly in earshot. And her ears seemed to be burning from the level of embarrassment she felt.

Barry didn't sound embarrassed when he answered. He didn't sound panicked, annoyed, saddened, angry or like he found that assumption funny. And in contrast to what Stacy expected, he didn't tell them she wished she was. Instead, he replied with a simple: "No."

The kids didn't have time for more questions, even though they could think of plenty. Because it was storytime.

3:00 PM

The acting portion of the music video was almost wrapped up. Tara had a last-minute inspiration, and it surprised her how quickly she built up the nerve to mention it. "Hey, Cami?"

Her fellow DJ looked to her with a smile. "Yeah?"

Tara motioned for Cami to follow her outside the classroom everyone was standing in. (Which just so happened to be the room where Tara and Gavin's classes met for drama.) The two DJ's exited, causing the others to exchange curious glances. Except Rob and the crew members, who were clued into what Tara had planned.

Cami, of course, looked most curious out of everyone. "What's up?"

"How would you feel about being in this music video?" Tara tried to ask that with confidence, because she knew she wouldn't get a 'yes' in answer otherwise.

Simple as the question was, it sideswiped Cami. She felt as if she'd been shoved up against the wall she was casually leaning on. Confusion flooded her eyes. Tara stood in front of the opposite wall, patiently awaiting a response. The response she got was a question. "Aren't we almost wrapped up?"

"Almost." Tara stressed.

"Tara, I'm sorry. I'm a DJ, not an actress." With that, the flicker of excitement Tara had felt was almost snuffed out.

Almost.

Rather than get discouraged and accept that her latest plan would not pan out, Tara walked so that she was standing next to Cami. Her voice dropped to a whisper, but there was nothing shy about it.

"As a DJ, I have to act nearly every day. I act like I'm not afraid to say what's on my mind. Sure, having people not know who I really am makes it easier. But what sold me on sticking to this, was something I heard while try to hide behind a fridge." Tara's eyes basically danced in reaction to the awkwardness of that statement. Cami's eyes shined, and her mouth dropped slightly in surprise. She slowly smiled. "The reason I want you in this music video, is you gave me the courage to do something that scared me. You knew how happy being Radio Rebel makes me." Tara looked back at the classroom, sensing that the people inside were growing anxious. "Now, this isn't much of a big break, but I hope it makes you happy."

After a moment, Cami decided: "Okay, I'll give it a shot." She was beginning to see the true significance of her appearance in the video as the two walked back into the classroom. Tara didn't have to tell her outright. As the crew instructed Cami, Tara watched from the back of the room.

She was glad to have both her best friends involved in a project she came up with the concept for.

Cami felt a camera on her that wasn't operated by one of the crew. She turned to see Gabe filming her, and grinned slightly. She felt like he was preparing her for her role. Up until he asked what was on his mind. In the way that only he could. For a completely harmless question, it got under her skin.

"So, what's the deal with you and stripes?"

The look she meant to send him went unseen as she reevaluated her outfit. She hadn't realized it, but it indeed included a striped pattern. (It was much more dressy than her usual attire though, which is part of the reason Tara got the idea to have her in the video.) It was what she was comfortable wearing. In a way, it was what made her comfortable with herself.

Or, it had. Until Gabe regarded it as something strange. Cami mentally shook it off. She had an obligation to Tara, and didn't need to waste time trying to explain something that was just natural for her. "I like stripes." She said, straight to the camera. She figured Gabe would probe for the reason why. He didn't.

"Alright then."

Cami wasn't sure if he smiled at her before he hurried out of the shot, standing between Gavin and Tara on the back wall. The crew set everything up, and Rob made one last little speech while the actresses took their places. "Alright everyone, this is our last shot of day one. By this time tomorrow the video should be in editing. Think we can do this in one take?"

Cami shook her head, making her curls scatter just slightly. "Not likely. I'm new at this, people." The group chuckled, but they laughed even more when Gabe made another observation.

"This class has really poor attendance." (No extras would be used for the sequence, since it focused completely on Audrey's character and her teacher.)

"Maybe that's the reason I'm failing you." Cami joked, holding up the test paper prop with an 'F' written on top. Audrey took a look at it mid-laugh. It was an extra one found lying around, that she'd lazily filled out the first page of before the shot was set up.

"I actually aced that when it was given." The others cheered, causing giggle fits around the room once again. When the laughter died down, 'Action' was called for the last time that day.

Unlike what Cami thought, the scene was done in one take. The crew packed up, and everyone headed for home. As the group walked through Lincoln Bay's front doors, offering words of congratulations and thanks, Cami asked Tara: "How was it?"

Tara was sort of stumped by the question. "Just your scene, or the whole experience?"

"Everything." Cami clarified, watching Tara turn to her. She wore the brightest smile Cami had ever seen on her when she spoke next, using words that had left a great impression on her.

"All kinds of amazing."

Barry was glad to be done with schedules. He figured Stacy was just glad she didn't have to see him for a few more hours. When she dropped him off at his house and he told her to rest up for tomorrow, she gave him an odd look and drove away without saying goodbye. He flashed a sardonic smile in her direction and went inside.

He walked into the kitchen to find Larry taking the first bite of a rice cake. "Really?" It was a strange sight to be greeted with any day.

"They're good." His twin insisted with a shrug.

Barry took a bite for himself, not bothering to break off a piece first. "No argument there." As he handed the rice cake back to his brother, he noticed the disgusted look on his face. "It's not like I took a bite from the same side, relax."

Larry just shuddered, debating whether or not to keep eating or let Barry have the rest of the 'contaminated' rice cake. He took the third option and just put it back on the paper plate on the counter he was standing in front of. Then he spoke.

"How was your day?" The question came out uneasily, because it was something they never had to ask each other. This was the first time they were seeing each other since they got up that morning.

"Good."

"Really?" Larry asked, in the same manner his brother had used seeing him with his new favorite snack.

"Stacy complained a lot less than usual. Sometimes she was even nice."

Larry looked dumbfounded. Then something crossed his mind. "Did you take a nap on the way home? Because that sounds like a dream."

Barry found that question ridiculous. "Like Stacy would let me sleep in her car and run the risk of drooling."

"Ew." Larry whined at the very mention of that possibility.

Barry laughed silently. "How was your day?"

To his shock, Larry glanced down at his shoes. "Kim thinks I have no sense of style and that I over-analyze things."

Barry didn't speak for a moment. He didn't know what to say. "Stacy thinks I don't like hanging out with her."

"That makes sense. Since you don't."

That was basically true, but Barry wished it wasn't. For some reason, he could only chuckle in response.

Larry didn't find it funny. "Stacy insults you on a daily basis. Just because she decided to put up with you today, doesn't mean things are gonna be different." Barry didn't hear anger in his brother's tone. He actually sounded disappointed, like that should've been obvious. "Stacy insulting you? That's normal. That's just how she talks. When Kim does that, even accidentally... it hurts." Barry looked empathetic, because despite how expected Stacy's insults were, they still packed a punch. "But I'm lucky. Kim's my friend. Stacy's your responsibility."

"Stacy's her own responsibility." Barry argued. Although he didn't sound like he was looking for a fight. "If I didn't like helping her, I wouldn't still be doing this."

Determination had never been something that brought the brothers down. Their refusal to give up made it seem as if this conversation could have no end, so they both silently decided to let it go.

Larry tried to split the rice cake, which resulted in two piles of crumbly pieces. He put his own pile on one plate and gave Barry the other one. This was their truce.

Barry couldn't help but be reminded of when he split a cupcake to share with Stacy. He wondered what she was up to in that moment.

The queen bee was debating whether or not to call her prom date and give him a real apology for missing the music video shoot. And being mean to him.

She decided against it, thinking he was doing what she should've been: resting up.

She went to take the decorative pillows off her bed, but realized that had been taken care of that morning. Courtesy of Barry. She looked at his unfinished fort and resisted the urge to smile. But she had to admit, she was thankful to have less work to do.

Sitting on her bed, she thought she ought to call Kim. They were best friends after all. The phone rang three times before the line opened up.

"Hey." Kim greeted, sounding a bit frazzled.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Kim expected to be told to drop everything and take care of something for Stacy in that instance.

"Taking the tags off some new clothes." She admitted lamely.

"Fun." Stacy teased, but it was. She wondered what kinds of things Kim bought, and was sure she would find out Monday. She asked anyway.

"You'll see." Kim assured her. Then, she got an idea. Even though she had just hung up all her new clothes, she took them all from the closet and surveyed them. Stacy could hear the quiet commotion, and wondered what was going on. "You're in for a surprise." Kim informed her excitedily.

"Is there anything you don't do? Musically, I mean." Gabe smiled at Tara from his usual spot in his garage. "What would people even call you? GGGG's Singer/guitarist/bassist/drummer/pianist?"

"Sounds good." He agreed nonchalantly.

"That's amazing." Tara complimented, as she paced the garage and her eyes scanned all the instruments.

"Not really." Her eyes fell on him then. "Not to me. It's like with you."

"Me?" Tara asked, clearly not seeing things the way her dare partner did.

"For Radio Rebel's fans, what you do is amazing and inspirational. For you, it's a job."

Tara wondered if he had heard anything she said to him in the lounge. True, she didn't see what she did as amazing. But she hoped it was inspirational.

"You don't think you inspire people?" She had stopped pacing, and her eyes locked on Gabe.

"Not yet." That wasn't said as if it was tragic or regrettable. For him, it was a simple fact.

As was what Tara told him then. "You will..."

Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW! Anything you want me to elaborate on? I'm definitely going to expand on the man with the lucky hat, and maybe the kids at the library. Let me know if you have any suggestions for names and things like that. Also, let me know if you have any ideas. (And if you spot any spelling errors, let me know. I always go back and edit, but I don't catch everything.) I'll update ASAP! =]