Oh, Brother!

Chapter 16

"Hey, James! Catch!" Carlos threw Riley's guitar to his friend, as Riley tried to catch it in mid-air.

"Hey, Carlos, how about you'll go down and record me throwing the guitar from here in slow-motion!" James told his friend, who nodded and ran down the stairs to be under the window of the class.

"James, no, stop it!" she tried to tell him and take her precious guitar from his hands.

"Yo, James, I'm ready!" Carlos shouted from under the window.

"Alright!"

"No, give it to me!" she managed to put her hands on it, but James pulled it back and punched her shoulder, so she fell on the ground.

"Alright now, 3, 2, 1..."

"NO!" Riley shouted and woke up.

She was sweating. Then she looked up at her wall-clock and saw it was 9:30AM?!

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" she cursed.

"Mom? Mom?!" She shouted as she walked out her room, just to see her mother sitting next to the counter, drinking hot cocoa and reading the newspaper.

"Oh, hey, good morning! I made you one as well," Rachel said as she took another sip of her drink.

"It's freaking 9:30, why didn't you wake me up?" Riley asked.

"Oh, everything is closed because of the snow, so I didn't have to. But why are you all sweaty?"

"It's nothing... I just had a... stupid nightmare," Riley said and hopped on the chair.

*****

Later that day, Riley went outside to find her friends (and boyfriend), and maybe get some inspiration.

"Guess who?" someone came from behind and covered her eyes.

"I really don't kno- Nathan?" she asked unamused.

Nathan laughed and hugged her.

"Oh come on! You could at least try!"

"I did! But I just couldn't!" she laughed as well.

"So, how is my girlfriend doing today?" he asked and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed as he mentioned the word "girlfriend".

"Well, your girlfriend is doing just fine today, especially because there's no school today," she kissed him back, this time on the lips.

"Oh, hello there, love birds," Carolina greeted them.

"Hi," Nathan and Riley said together.

"Ziggy, Stephanie and I are planning on making the biggest snowman ever, and we could use some help. Are you guys in?" the blonde girl asked.

"Yeah, sure!" the couple chorused again.

*****

The kids had so much fun in the snow! And they did build that huge snowman. They were finishing building it, when Sportacus surprised them.

"Hello, everyone!" he greeted them.

"Hi Sportacus!"

"Wow, I think it's the biggest snowman I've ever seen!" He said shocked.

"Yeah, it is. We could actually could use some of your help, mister," Riley frowned.

"Oh, right, I was talking to the mayor. He told me he and Bessie are organizing a talent contest in March, just a couple of months away! Isn't that great?" he said excitingly.

Everybody looked at Riley at once.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Riley, don't you get it? This is your chance to show everyone how talented you are, and on the way kick Amanda's ass," Carolina said and everybody laughed.

"So she wants to kick my ass with her stupid singing? We'll see about that," Amanda said to herself as she heard them talking.

"You really think I can do it?" Riley asked hesitatingly.

"Of course you can! We all heard you singing, and you're amazing," Stephanie said.

"ARG! I hate that girl!" Amanda said madly, as she crashed a snowball she had in her hand.

"Amanda, just leave it, you are way more talented and beautiful than her, and everybody knows it," Chelsea tried to calm down her friend.

"Yes, except for Nathan."

*****

"Oh, mom, that's going to be so great! I will sing, and I will play the guitar, and-" Riley tried to tell her mother.

"Riley, Riley, relax! There are still two months for the contest, you have time to get ready," her mother laughed.

"Oh, fine, you're right... Wait, you're right! I need to write a new song, and compose it, and-and what am I even going to write about?!" Riley began to freak out.

"RILEY, RELAX!" Carolina held her.

"You will be fine. There are still two more months for the contest, and you will be great. Just wait for the inspiration to hit you," she told her friend.

*****

Amanda was sitting with her gang around the fireplace.

"We have to find a good talent that you could beat that Rotten girl," Arnold, her brother, said.

"Are you sure you want to do it this way? You can just participate for the fun..." Richard said.

"Oh, shut up, Richard! She can defeat Riley fair and square because she's the most talented girl in LazyTown," Chelsea told him.

"Oh, no worries, guys. I came up with the perfect plan," Amanda smiled wickedly and took another sip of her hot cocoa.