"Girl, let me love you,

And I will love you,

until you learn,

to love yourself.

Girl, let me love you,

And all your trouble

Don't be afraid,

Girl, let me help

Girl, let me love you,

And I will love you.

Until you learn

to love yourself

Girl, let me love you,

A heart of numbness

Comes back to light,

I'll take you there

Girl, let me love you."

The band waited for a moment, then smiled at each other as they shouted and cheered for themselves, pretending to be the audience in the dark auditorium after play rehearsals.

"Oh my gosh! I love you, Corbin!" Corbin shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth and making a sound as if the audience was screaming.

"Jeromy! You're so hot!" Jeromy shouted while laughing.

"OMG! Kimmy! You're so pretty and popular! I wish I was you!" Kimberly yelled with a grin on her face.

"Gosh, Ashley! You're such a great keyboard player! Your fingers are like lightning across the keys!" Ashley joked.

"OMG Madi! I love you so much! Will you marry me?!" Madi shouted. Everyone laughed the hardest at that one. Kimberly, Jeromy, Leo, Corbin, Ashley, and Madi all stood at the front of the stage, laughing as they pretended to touch the hands of all their screaming fans. Once they had settled down a bit from their first practice with everyone together, they all stood in a circle to talk quickly before going to lunch.

"Okay, we all know that we've got practice after school, right?" Jeromy asked them. They all nodded. He smiled and clapped his hands together. "Okay, then I guess it's time for lunch! See you all at the end of the day."

They all put their hands in the middle of the circle for their signature band-salute to each other. On the count of 'three' they all shouted "Those Awesome Freaks!", then split up to go to lunch. Madi, Kimberly, and Ashley all stayed together though. The two girls had something they wanted to give to the newest member of their band.

"Madi, wait." Ashely said as Kimberly began to dig through her purse. Once she had found what she was looking for, they both smiled at Madi. "Since now you are officially a member of the band, we thought it would be best if you had this."

Kimberly handed Madi a folded black shirt with the letters 'T', 'A', and 'F' covering the front. Madi grinned as she took the shirt and put it on over her own clothes. It matched her jeans perfectly. As they walked into the cafeteria, Madi noticed that everyone looked at her t-shirt and started to clap. Her face began to turn a light shade of red as she, Kimberly, and Ashley bowed to the crowd, then went to get their lunch.

This whole 'band' gig was really working good for Madi and she knew it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 The end of band practice was amazing. Madi fit beautifully into the group, considering the fact that she was the new lead singer. Honestly, she had never been happier in her life ever since her father's death. That night, Madi entered the lair and saw that everyone was asleep.

Just like she had planned. 

Quietly, she tip-toed down the hallway to her bedroom. She grabbed the doorknob and was about to step into her room, when she was suddenly stopped. A bright white light lit up the hallway and she quickly spun her head in the direction it was coming from. Standing at the very end, holding a flash-light in one hand, was Mikey. 

"Madi?"

"What?" Madi asked, her eyes wide as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

"It's nearly midnight, what are you doing home so late?" 

"Uuuhhhhhh...." Madi trailed off.

"And where'd you get that t-shirt?"

"No where." Madi answered quickly. Mikey clicked the flash-light off and gestured for Madi to go back into the kitchen. She sighed, but was thankful that it was Mikey who had seen her and not Raph. Now that would've been an obvious train-wreck.

"Now, you can tell me the truth." Mikey started. "You were out with the TAFs, right?" 

Madi was silent.

"Madi, you need to get your priorities together." Mikey scolded her. "You're being a jerk to the people who care about you most all because of this stupid Halloween dance." Madi scoffed.

"Really, Mikey? You didn't think it was stupid when you thought you were coming with me."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You have a point." Mikey said, giving her those few points. "But you still need to see that being with the TAFs isn't what's going to get you through life. Your family is what should be important to you now."

"What family?" Madi snapped. "I don't have a family, Mikey. My father and sister are trying to kill me. My boyfriend betrayed me. My mother wants to lock me up down here when I just want to live my life. My best friends hate me. My own dog chose you over me. I have no family, Mikey. And there is nothing you can say to change my mind about that."

And with that, she marched out of the kitchen and into her bedroom.

* * * * * * * * * 

OMG. I feel so bad about having Madi yell at Mikey like this. Oh, poor Mikey! Gosh, I feel like a monster! Not really, but you guys get the point!

Thanks again for reading, everyone. You guys are amazing. 

And I hope you enjoyed the update! :)

~Madness