In the school football field, just behind a tall tower, Finn was making a list of the Mashers who were willing to be in the music video.
"The vast majority of the girls will come," Finn whispered, stunned by the hubbub of almost every woman in the school giggling and gossiping. "Sixth Octave doesn't seem to attract much attention, but still we know nothing about them. Maybe their music is good, maybe Zeth would tell me that I should be better, that we should be better." he sighed, with a hand on his chest. "Where the hell is Zeth when you need him? And where did I leave my pen?! This is too much work for me alone!"
"The rivals are taking a break after filming with their dancers by the pool, they brought a prop statue and synchronized swimming dancers," Frank walked closer, hands in his pockets as he surveyed the crowd that Finn had gathered. Where the hell had this guy been? Finn had already been taking care of everything alone for two hours, and suddenly he arrived relaxed and smelling like roses. "Wow! So many people! You've been busy "
"Frank! Stop spying on those idiots and help me! I can't find my pen and there is still a lot to do!"
"But you did a good job," Frank said, putting his arm around Finn's shoulder, "Oh! Your pen is over your ear. Here."
"And I'm tired!” He snatched the pen, "I already made them sign non-disclosure agreements and a thousand contracts to appear in the video, I also ordered their names in alphabetical order to pay their checks after the shooting! I did everything!"
"Sure you did," Frank snickered. Finn made a sound of outrage and pushed him away, rolling his eyes. "Hey, you know I really like working, whatever it is, but I wanted to spy on the rivals to, you know, get information like Zeth said."
"Evie is taking care of that," Finn pointed towards a castle tower, Frank turned, seeing only a female shadow, athletic and in heels, running and disappearing, quick as lightning, "And her friend is already investigating everything else, social media, background, family, you know."
"Don't you think she's... Perfect?" Frank blushed.
"You wrote 'Femme Fatale' about her," Finn rolled his eyes, "Get over her already!"
"Sometimes I would like to be like her, so agile and deathly, so beautiful...”
"Do you still like her after what she did to you?" Finn raised an eyebrow and Frank nodded wistfully, pointing at the bleachers.
"She gave me my first kiss back there, we were both..."
"You're not helping," Finn complained and then looked back at the group he had gathered. He spotted two girls walking up to him with determined expressions on their faces, “Oh no! Not them again!"
"Hey Finn, we wanted to ask..." the pompous blonde started and turned to look at her brunette friend between laughs. "Do you know if Zeth has a girlfriend?" She asked and turned back to face Finn, her blue eyes sparkling
Finn shook his head.
"Why would you want to know?" He crossed his arms.
"Finn is single," Frank put his hands on his friend's shoulders, wiggling his bushy eyebrows, "He's very handsome, don't you think?" But then he blushed, "I mean... He's a great guy, and he used to be a lifeguard in Hawaii! And did I mention that he's single?"
Finn glared daggers at him.
"Shut up," Finn growled and pulled Frank off him with surprising strength.
"Who cares? Finn is Finn, he's just a decoration. Nobody cares about Finn." The blonde girl dismissed. "What about you, Frank? Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Well, I..." Frank rubbed his nape and looked up at the tower where he saw Evie running a moment ago, then lowered his gaze.
"Hey, quick question," the blonde girl bit her lip and looked down right between Frank's legs. "Are you also made of metal there?"
"Oh well..." Frank turned red as a tomato, covering his crotch. "Girls, that's a little personal, don't you think?"
"So it is made of metal!" The blonde insisted.
"I can assure you Frank Jr is absolutely intact, okay?" Frank was breathing very fast.
"Can we see it?" the blonde asked.
"Oh, Jesus Christ on a stick!" Frank jumped. Finn seemed annoyed, "Girls! We're in a public place!"
"That means we can see it, right?" the brunette asked.
"It's just to make sure you're telling the truth," the blonde one bit her lip. "We can go behind the bleachers, and we can..."
"Can you please stop and go to horny jail?!" Finn rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and turned to face the rest of the crowd once again. "Please be professional, girls."
"Argh! You're a killjoy," the blonde rolled her eyes. "That's why you're the most irrelevant member of the group."
"Yeah, yeah... Whatever!" Finn muttered and then took out his phone, scrolling through it while both girls left among giggles.
"Here comes trouble," Frank nudged Finn, who looked up when he saw a guy wearing a silver suit jogging, a smile on his face as he approached them.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Finn asked as Kevin Visbal finally made it to where he and Frank stood.
"Hey, do you have a minute?" Kevin asked, but Frank shook his head.
"Sorry, we apes don't have time."
"Exactly," Finn lowered the clipboard from his hand and put his phone back in his pocket, then elbowed Frank. "Idiot, you just called us apes."
"You're too cute to be an ape," Frank said, blinking a lot, and Finn's eyes widened, looking at Frank like he'd grown a new head, "I mean..." Then he turned to see Kevin, "What do you want, Visbal?"
"Listen, Anton is a jerk, not me. I came in peace," Kevin smiled, and Finn raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you guys that I'm a huge fan," he admitted and reached into his pocket, pulling out a magazine clipping with one hand. "Actually I was friends with one of you," He offered it to Finn, who took it and unfolded it.
It was an interview where Alex mentioned Kevin, saying that they were old friends.
Finn remembered that interview well because Frank sat in a plastic chair that broke mid-interview and fell into the pool behind them. There were sparks and a lot of static afterwards.
"So you're that ‘Kevin’ Alex talks so much about," Finn returned the clipping to Kevin. "What do you want?"
Kevin's smile got broader.
"Let's go for a walk, shall we?"
They walked towards the front doors of the school building, Kevin looking everywhere but at Finn and Frank.
"This place is nice," Kevin commented, looking up at a statue in a circle of bushes. Zeth told Finn that this place once belonged to the Felinos and that Marquess Zeth Rahman, son of Duke Kade, had claimed it and turned it into a base for the Guardians of Evalon. This muscular man with a beard made of stone, already a little broken, was supposed to be of Duke Kade.
He looked quite imposing to tell the truth, and his stone eyes seemed to be looking at the three of them.
"What do you want?" Finn insisted.
"I hope it's important because Finn has a lot to do," Frank crossed his arms.
"We have a lot to do, in plural," Finn grumbled, "Speak up, Visbal. We don't have all day."
"I want to tell you that I'm on your side," Kevin puffed out his chest. "I hate Anton, and I can be of help to you."
Finn looked Kevin up and down in disbelief. He didn’t know how Kevin could say anything like that, especially with that stupid silver suit and that dumb, stupid smile on his pretty face, which was practically yelling that he was very comfortable with Sixth Octave.
"I appreciate your offer," Finn nodded. "But we're working on a project... Together!" He eyed Frank and spoke louder. "So we can't afford to waste our time on someone who doesn't even care about his own band."
"If you are capable of betraying your own band, what won't you do to us?" Frank crossed his arms.
Kevin frowned and looked down.
"I understand," he mumbled. "I'll leave you alone now."
"Wait!" Frank shouted, and the Sixth Octave boy slowly spun on his heel. "Why would you want to help us?"
"I always wanted to be a singer, but what Anton is doing now, I don't like it. It's unethical," Kevin admitted, with his hands in his pockets. "Whenever I watched videos of you on stage and interviews, you guys looked so close, so happy, like a family, and I thought my band would be the same. But it won't be." Kevin looked up. "I couldn't stand Anton any longer. So I decided to come here to warn you."
"Warn us about what?" Finn cocked his head.
"Anton is capable of anything to steal your success," Kevin said. "Just watch your backs. Don't mess this up."
With one last sad look at the boys, Kevin walked away.