After Everything Stinks, all of us gathered on stage.
"Okay, everybody," said Jimmy. "The votes are in. Two leave, and two go! Now the two groups that will be moving onto Round Two are..."
The moment of truth.
"Dancing Queen!" Ugh! "And...the A Team!"
We cheered and screamed. All of us hugged.
"Three weeks from now will be the final round of the Big Show Case. Which one of them will be the winner? Also, we have a surprised guest coming to the final round. It is last year's winner, the one, the only, T-Fame!"
T-Fame? Him? I looked at Austin. The look on his face became furious.
"T-Fame will return and perform live! See y'all soon!"
As we walked off stage, Austin stomped to the very back of backstage.
"Is Austin all right?" asked Rosie.
"Yeah," I said. "I'll go talk to him."
I found at the corner. He was angrily pacing back and forth.
"Austin..." I said.
"I can't do this!" He screamed. I never heard Austin get so mad. "Ally, I can't do IT!"
"Aust-"
"He's a fake! Nothing but a fake! I won't perform with him around! He's-"
I grabbed him and forcefully kissed him. After a few moments passed, I stopped.
"Why did you do that?" He calmly asked.
"To shut you up."
"Oh."
"Austin, look. It was a year ago, okay? I know what Trent did, but it happened. Nothing you can do. You can't go back and changed what happened."
"He put me through a shit, Ally! T-Fame ruined me!"
"Ruined you?"
"He took my song! He took my girlfriend! He took my dream!"
"We all have dreams, Austin! You're not the only one who has dreams of making it!"
"Maybe we should just give up."
"Give up? That's it? Just give up?"
"What's the point of all this, Ally? Like we ever had a chance of beating Kira anyways."
"Maybe we do."
"We don't. We never could in the first place."
"Then, why did you form this group together in the first place?"
"To show people what we can really do! I'm tired of being just another face in the crowd. I want to be someone."
"That's it. It's always been about you, Austin. Not me. Not Trish. Not Nelson, Rosie, or Dez." I started to walk away. "I don't even know why I joined this group!"
"Then, why the hell did you do it in the first place?"
I snapped at him. "For you!" A moment of silence passed. I calmly said, " I-I did it for you."
I walked away.
Austin Moon was the most selfish person in the world. He didn't make this about us. He made it about him. It was all about him in the first place.
After I headed to the halls, I found my friends.
Trish asked, "Ally, is everything okay?"
"I don't know," I said. "I just don't know, Trish."
Suddenly, Kira and her Barbie dolls came to us.
"I must say I'm very impressed with all of y'all." said Kira.
"Kira, we're not in the mood for your so-called insults right now," I said.
"Before you go, Ally, I have a present gor you."
She had a bag in her hand. I snatched it from her hand and opened it. It was a pillow.
"A pillow?" I said.
"Yeah. So you won't be tried from lying on your back all day with Austin."
Her and her friends started laughing. I threw the bag and the pillow down.
"Screw you, Kira!"
Kira pushed me. I was going to walk away, but I was going to.
"What are you do about it, bitch?" Kira said.
I charged towards her. We both slammed into the wall and fell on the floor.
"Hey, control that thing!" said Cassidy.
"That's it!" said Rosie. She tackled Cassidy to the floor as well. Trish and Tilly were pushing each other, punching, and slapping.
Kira and I had each other by the throats. All of the oxygen I had left in my lungs was starting to give out. Before the air inside of me disappeared, I slammed my forehead against Kira. Our hands let go.
She started grabbed me by the hair. I started to punch her in the face.
I heard whistling coming towards us.
A pair of arms yanked Kira away from me. Another pair of arms dragged me away.
Some of the security guards were breaking up the fights. It was difficult for them to drag Rosie away. It took three of them to hold her down.
When the fighting stopped, all six of us were escorted to Jimmy's office.
Kira, Tilly, and Cassidy were the first to go in. Trish, Rosie, and I waiting outisde of Jimmy's office.
"Guys, I'm sorry," I said.
"We don't blame you, Alls," said Trish.
"Yeah," said Rosie. "I finally got to kick Cassidy's ass."
"It's just that...Austin wants to give up because of T-Fame."
"T-Fame?" said Rosie.
"He beat Austin last year." I explained. "T-Fame stole his song and Austin just did nothing. It was upset about this. He made it all about himself. It made me so-"
The door opened. Jimmy appeared. "Girls, come in."
The three of us walked in and sat down.
"Listen, girls." sighed Jimmy. "I'm extremely disappointed in all of us. Especially you, Ally. From your school records, you have never gotten in trouble. Except for that one time in third grade, you went to the bathroom without a hallpass."
"I had diarrehea that day," I explained.
"TMI," murmured Trish.
"Girls, fighting is not allowed in this school. I could have y'all suspended."
"What about Kira?" asked Rosie.
"Kira wasn't the one who started the fight."
"Wait. What?" I said.
"Are you saying that Ally started the fight?" asked Trish.
"I don't think. I know."
"That doesn't make any sense. Just because they told you doesn't mean they're telling the truth. Kira pushed me first, so technically, she started it." I said.
"What now?" asked Rosie.
"Like I just said all three of y'all could be suspended."
"No, please!" I said. "Don't blame Trish and Rosie for this. I started it. Could you let them off with a warning?"
"Are you sure, Ally?" asked Jimmy.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Ally, since this is your first time you get in trouble, I won't suspend you. But I will punish you."
"What's the punishment?"
"You will not participate in the final round in the Big Show Case."
"What?" Rosie and Trish said.
My jaw dropped. "No." I said under my breath.
"The end of the final round." said Jimmy.
"Is there-"
"Til the end of the final round. Now go."
We left and headed back to our dorm room.
"Alls, we're sorry." said Trish.
"You shouldn't have done that," said Rosie. "We need you."
"It's okay." I whimpered. "I'll be there cheering you guys on."
"Ally, we can't do it without you." said Rosie.
"Well, Austin thinks so. He never wanted to do it anyways."
"That doesn't mean you can't do it either." said Trish.
"Guys, it's done with. It's over. Jimmy said I can't participate. You guys will do great without me. I'm just gonna take a walk."
I put my jacket on and started walking through the hallways of the school.
Was this the end of the A Team? Maybe it was.
I knew Kira would do anything to win. But I never thought she would go this far. She broke us apart. That bitch finally got what she wanted after all.
My dreams were over. One of the worst things of all was that I lost Austin.
He may have been a jerk earlier, but he has the same dream as me. Austin dreamt of becoming famous and making music like me. We had so much in common. We both love music and we just wanted to prove to everyone here that we can make it.
W-Was I falling for Austin? He was so hilarious, so handsome, so talented, so fun, and so amazing. I could never think of any guy before him.
So it was true. I, Ally Dawson, am in love with Austin Moon.
What about the Big Show Case? Should I do it?
As I walked through the halls, a song came to me. I sang:
She's just a girl and she's on fire
Hotter than a fantasy, lonely like a highway
She's living in a world and it's on fire
Filled with catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh
She got both feet on the ground
And she's burning it down
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh
She's got her head in the clouds
And she's not backing down
This girl is on fire...
This girl is on fire...
She's walking on fire...
This girl is on fire...
Looks like a girl, but she's a flame
So bright, she can burn your eyes
Better look the other way
You can try but you'll never forget her name
She's on top of the world
Hottest of the hottest girls say
Ohhhh oh oh oh
We got our feet on the ground
And we're burning it down
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh
Got our head in the clouds
And we're not coming down
This girl is on fire...
This girl is on fire...
She's walking on fire...
This girl is on fire...
Everybody stares, as she goes by'
Cause they can see the flame that's in her eyes
Watch her when she's lighting up the night
Nobody knows that she's a lonely girl
And it's a lonely world
But she gon' let it burn, baby, burn, baby
This girl is on fire...
This girl is on fire...
She's walking on fire...
This girl is on fire...
Oh, oh, oh, oh ohhhhh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh ohhhh...
Oh, oh, oh, oh ohhhhh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh ohhhh...
Oh, oh, oh, oh ohhhhh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh ohhhh...
Oh, oh, oh, oh ohhhhh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh ohhhh...
She's just a girl and she's on fire
I know what I must do. I have to do it. Kira will do anything to win the Big Show Case. And I'm not letting Kira take us down without a fight.