In the main school hallway

The new student, Marcus, is playing an electric guitar while Adam and Chase watch in awe.

"Oh, sweet! Look at your fingers go! It's like each one has a little brain of its own." Adam says, Marcus smiles "Thanks. You know, you guys are the only people who have talked to me at this school. I hate being the new kid." Marcus says.

"Yeah, we used to be the new kids that no one talked to. Now we're just the vaguely familiar kids that no one talks to." Chase says frustrated.

Leo and McKayla walks up to them "Hey, peeps. What's the deal-io?" Leo says, McKayla smiles "Hi. I'm Marcus." Marcus extends his hand "I know." Leo greets him "We have gym together." Leo says, Marcus looks at him as if he doesn't remember.

"And study hall." Leo says, Marcus makes a confused face "And also chemistry... We're lab partners." Leo says, McKayla frowns at Marcus "Oh. I... did not know that." Marcus says his gaze turns to McKayla.

"Nice to meet you Marcus, I'm McKayla" McKayla says greeting him "It's a beautiful name" Marcus smirks "It's a beautiful guitar" McKayla says shyly pointing at the guitar.

"Oh you like it, can you play?" Marcus asks "No, but I enjoy the music" McKayla approaches him, Marcus smiles and plays some chords for her, McKayla looks at him impressed "woah! you're really good" McKayla says in awe.

Chase suddenly takes a step closer to them quickly, making McKayla move away a little "Me too...I play...I-I've always wanted to." Chase says nervous, Adam and Leo exchange confused looks.

"Well, I'm a jammer as well. My rocking is only eclipsed by my rolling." Leo says "Evidently," McKayla says sarcastically "Leo, your mom said you played the clarinet for three weeks until you swallowed the reed." Chase says "I passed it." Leo says irritated.

"Here, Chase. You wanna give it a go?" Marcus says handing the guitar to Chase who quickly looks at McKayla and back to the guitar "W...yeah...yeah. Sure. Why not?" Chase says picking up the guitar.

Chase scans the guitar with his bionic eye and starts playing it at an expert level, jumping from the bench to the floor while shredding it. McKayla looks around confused, this was supposed to be the first time he played a guitar.

Chase stops after a bit and gets off the floor, embarrassed, handing the guitar quickly back to Marcus "Uh... What do you know? Beginner's luck." Chase says awkwardly, McKayla smiles "uh...I would call it a natural talent" McKayla says trying to make him feel less embarrassed.

Chase smiles gently at her "I agree with her" Marcus says "Thanks" Chase says.

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In the school cafeteria.

McKayla is sitting between Marcus and Chase at the table "So me and my dad moved around a lot. I was homeschooled for most of my life." Marcus says "No way! So were we! We are so similar! Do you have a third nipple too?" Adam says excitedly.

McKayla stops drinking the juice and looks at him with a strange look, Chase widens his eyes in confusion and also looks at him "Anyway... That's a pretty sweet guitar, Marcus" Chase says.

"Yeah, and you're a natural, bro! Guys! We should start a band!" Marcus suggests "That would be so cool, guys!" McKayla tells them "I'm in!" Chase automatically says, McKayla galres at him quickly.

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Adam says excitedly, he starts drumming the sticks rhythmically on the table "But what would I play? Oh, I got it! No, I don't got it." Adam says thoughtfully.

"I think you're gonna be our drummer, Adam." Marcus frowns "Hmm. Interesting choice. I had been pondering the French horn." Adam says, McKayla chuckles.

Leo walks over to their table "Hey, Leo, guess what? Marcus and Adam and I are forming a band." Chase says "Well, you guys just met. Don't you think it's a little soon?" Leo says.

"Leo, it's a band, not a wedding" McKayla says "Yeah! a little soon for what? Taking the deeply committed step of jamming together?" Chase says sarcastically.

"Now if we could just find someplace to practice. I live in a pretty small place, so..." Marcus says, "Oh, no, I know a place. The lab." Adam says absentmindedly, McKayla tilts her head thinking "Lab?" Chase slams the table and Leo coughs.

'Oh! L-Labrador Retriever Park. Yeah, the dog park. Nice acoustics. Plus, they have dogs....Saved it." Adam says, McKayla and Marcus look at each other, she shrugs.

"Well, you know, Marcus, we have a pretty big place. We can all just jam there." Chase suggests "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold your horses, cowboy. Come on" Leo drags Chase and Adam out of earshot from Marcus and McKayla.

Marcus slowly looks at McKayla "they're always like that, I don't even care anymore" McKayla shrugs with a smile "Do you think they're hiding something?" Marcus says "No, what could they hide?" McKayla scoffs.

"But I really support you forming this band, I believe you have a lot of potential" McKayla says, Marcus smiles "Thanks Mack, you're really cool" Marcus says, Chase doesn't hear Leo because he pays attention to their conversation, Leo snaps his fingers in his ear.

"Chase, what are you doing? Do you really think it's a good idea to let a total stranger into our very private home?" Leo says, Marcus looks at McKayla and then at them and sighs. "That's okay, guys. We don't have to jam. Not everyone needs a bright spot in their otherwise horrible life" Marcus dramatizes.

"Aw" McKayla says with pity, but she feels a certain exaggeration in his speech, but who would she be to judge, she just met the boy and doesn't know how difficult his life must be, she puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, look, Leo, you're making him feel bad. Don't worry, Marcus. We'll practice at our place later. Come on over." Chase says "Great. See you guys after school." Marcus says.

"You can come too Mack!" Marcus tells McKayla "oh..." "Yeah! I was about to say that, come watch us! You are more than welcome!!" Chase says, Marcus frowns at him.

"I would love to, but I have dance class after school" McKayla stands up "Do you dance?" Marcus asks "yeah! It's what I love most..." McKayla says getting up "Oh that's so cool, my dad always encouraged me to take dance classes but..." Marcus and McKayla leave, talking .

Chase watches the two, he doesn't understand why, but seeing McKayla and Marcus together makes him feel a weird sensation in his chest.

He really likes Marcus' friendship, he seems like a super nice guy, and for some reason that's what scares Chase, what if McKayla, who is also a super nice girl, also sees Marcus like this, The possibilities of what could happen from these facts worry Chase, he frowns slightly because as far as he knows that shouldn't be something that concerns him.

"You guys are making a big mistake. I mean, you've only been in the real world for a little while. There's still a lot of stuff you don't know." Leo says "Look, Leo, I'm not gonna run my playdates past you. Hel-lo! Genius!" Chase says.

"What you have is book smarts. I have street smarts. And I've gotta watch what's happening on the street." Leo says "Oh, Leo! Relax! We are not going to be playing in the street. We're going to be playing in the house." Adam says, he scoffs at Chase "This guy." Adam says.

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In the living room.

Adam, Chase, and Marcus are playing their instruments while Leo watches from behind them.

"Well, it's only our first day, but you guys sound great! I think you both have real raw talent." Marcus says "Oh, well, if our talent is raw, then we better get cooking!" Adam does rim shot on drums.

Leo appears creepily close right behind Marcus "Leo, what are you doing?" Chase asks Just asking Marcus a few questions. Where were you born? What is your birthday? Who is the president of Venezuela?!" Leo says threateningly "I don't know." Marcus says with a confused look.

"Aha! So he's not from Venezuela." Leo says "Okay, that's it. This practice just became band members only." Chase says "Well, then, I guess I'm in the band." Leo says looking at Marcus, with a suspicious look.

"Leo, you don't even know how to play an instrument." Chase says "That's where you're wrong." Leo says

...

Leo plays several instruments for them, including a tambourine, a washboard, maracas, and the bass with sunglasses on.

...

"Like I said, you don't even know how to play an instrument." Chase says "You know what, guys? Let him in. He can play this" Marcus grabs a cow bell and holds it out to Leo, who takes it hesitantly.

"Thank you. I've never played the cow bell before, but let's see what I got" Leo hits it once, he smiled Wow! I'm a natural!" Leo says impressed.

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In the living room.

Chase helps Marcus plug in the speaker wires.

"So Marcus...I saw that you and McKayla were getting along" Chase says trying to act indifferent "Yeah, we talked a lot" Marcus says.

Chase for some reason is curious about this "What do you think of her?" Chase asks "She's really cool, and talented, smart...Pretty" Marcus says taking his guitar.

"Why?" Marcus asks Chase, he clears his throat and looks at his guitar "No reason, I was just...making conversation" Chase says, Marcus shrugs.

Adam slams the barstools so they can get ready to play "And..." Adam, Chase, Leo, and Marcus start to play their instruments until Mr Davenport walks in and unplugs the speaker.

"Hey! Hey-hey! You know, it's not enough to just play notes, you want to get them in the right order." Mr Davenport says, Adam does a rim shot.

Marcus gasps "O-M-G, you're... Donald Davenport!" Marcus says in amazement "Guilty as charged." Mr Davenport says convinced.

"The genius billionaire scientific entrepreneur!" Marcus says in awe "Don't forget multi-lingual mega-star." Mr Davenport says "Oh, gracias." Marcus chuckles "De nada." Mr Davenport smirks.

"Wow, Mr. Davenport, I'd love to hear your theory of plasma gasification." Marcus says "Who wouldn't? Hey, you know, Bree and I were gonna demo the holo-pet for Career Day. But since you guys have a band, maybe we can demo my concert-in-a-can instead! That'll be such a great surprise for her!" Donald says.

"That is good! That is good! What is it?" Marcus says "Uh, it's a can that creates a virtual holographic concert experience. It's something I designed for those of us who would be rock stars if we weren't busy being brilliant inventors." Mr Davenport says.

"You're a rock star to me." Marcus smiles, Donald laughs "I know.... Bree is gonna love this." Mr Davenport leaves.

"Well, I'm gonna go get Mr. Davenport's gigantic mega-amp, because everybody knows louder is better." Adam says walking towards the door, Chase approaches him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That amp is pretty heavy. Don't you think I should help you carry it? 'Cause, um, you know, you don't have the strength of ten men." Chase discreetly tells Adam, he laughs "Yes, I do... not." Adam says nervously as Chase widens his eyes at him.

"I'm frail." Adam says in a thin voice, He and Chase run out of the room

"Wow, Marcus. You on guitar and me on cow bell, it's... magic." Leo says "Don't get used to it." Marcus raises his eyebrow "'Kay, the only reason I let you in the band is so you'd stop sniffing around my business." Marcus says seriously, Leo giggles weakly.

"That's a good one." Leo says, Marcus keeps staring at him "Oh, wait, you're serious." Leo says, Marcus takes his guitar "Hey, what are you...?" Leo is interrupted when Marcus smashes his guitar on the floor.

"What is wrong with you?! Why would you break your own guitar?" Leo says, Marcus shoves the broken guitar into Leo's arms and Adam and Chase walk back in

"What is wrong with you?! Why would he break my guitar?!" Marcus says in a desperate and tearful tone, Leo looks at them confused "No! He...Not...Uh...Ohhh!" Leo says realizing where Marcus is getting at.

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"Leo, why would you break his guitar?" Chase asks "No. No, no, no. That's what he wants you to think. He broke it and gave it to me. He's the breaker and I'm the breakee" Leo says desperate for them to believe him.

"That is crazy! Why would I break my own guitar?" Marcus dramatizes "Look, Leo, I would like to believe you, I really would, but you do break things all the time." Chase says.

"That is not true!... Yes, it's true, but it's not true this time." Leo says indignantly, Adam approaches him.

"Leo, this reminds me of a story of a boy named "Wolf"... Who cried a lot." Adam puts his hands on Leo's face "And after that, his friends never believed him. And then... his grandmother ate him." Adam says, Chase raises his arms in confusion, Adam lightly pats Leo's face and walks away.

"Fine. But this goes deeper than a broken guitar. I will prove my innocence and show you that he's up to no good." Leo says determinedly, he passes Marcus "I'm gonna go all C.S.I. on this one!" Leo leaves.

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Later, In the living room.

Chase and Adam are packing up their equipment for their presentation.

"I'm telling you, Marcus is playing some kind of twisted psychological game, and I can prove it." Leo says, he goes to the kitchen counter where he gathered several pieces of evidence to blame Marcus for insisting on the guitar.

"Exhibit A: I lifted a fingerprint from his guitar." Leo takes a piece of the guitar "Oh, that is fantastic, Leo. You proved that without a shadow of a doubt, Marcus's guitar is.." Chase gasps "his." Chase says sarcastically.

"True, but he then removed said guitar and deliberately...deliberately, mind you!... smashed it." Leo says irritated, Chase raises his arms.

"Exhibit B: Paint chips and a hair." Leo shows a package with evidence "Which just happened to be my mom's. Nonetheless... we know she did not do this." Leo says.

"Leo, are you afraid that by us befriending Marcus there won't be any room left for you?" Chase says, as he says this Chase thinks about himself.

"What? No, are you kidding? I'm awesome. That guy is bad news." Leo says "Oh, don't worry, Leo. You're still our best friend. But you can't have a best friend unless you have a friend who's a not best friend. Okay? So he does fill a void" Adam says.

Chase shakes his head thoughtfully, maybe this is it, he thinks. Maybe this is the conflicting feeling he gets when he sees Marcus and McKayla together, since McKayla is his best friend, he would be afraid of Marcus becoming more important in her life than him, Chase tilts his head in confusion.

So maybe he's jealous, just like Leo is jealous of their friendship with Marcus, and as for Leo, he knows that he is still as important as Marcus in their lives, maybe with McKayla it's the same thing, Chase thinks.

He takes a deep breath, it's just that he's afraid that Marcus is McKayla's new best friend, But he knows that he's her best friend. That's all, Chase closes his eyes and shakes his head assuring himself that it's just that and nothing more.

"That's not what this is all about." Leo says "Look, Leo, we'll talk about this later, okay? Adam and I have to go meet Marcus. We're gonna be late for the concert." Chase says

Adam's phone plays a pre-recorded rim shot "I made it my ringtone." Adam laughs, Chase rolls his eyes.

Adam and Chase leave "Why won't anyone believe me?" Leo says, Eddy appears "Maybe it's because Marcus is such a fantastic liar. And I respect that" Eddy says.

"Wait. How do you know he's lying?" Leo asks "I saw him do it. Hel-lo! Home security system!" Eddy says

"So you have the whole thing on video? Why didn't you say anything, Eddy?!" Leo says indignantly "Because the dim one's right...he does fill a void." Eddy says, Leo galres at him.

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Later, McKayla is walking through the school hallways when she sees Leo walking in with a tablet in his hand, but with a worried look on his face.

"Hey Leo, what's up?" McKayla asks, Leo looks at her with a hopeful look "McKayla!" Leo goes to her.

"You don't think I'm crazy do you?!" Leo asks with his eyes wide open, McKayla frowns "I'm starting to think so" McKayla says taking a step back.

Leo sighs "look there's something weird going on with thsi Marcus, and I need someone to believe me!" Leo says "what happened to Marcus?" McKayla ask.

"Today when he went to rehearse with Adam and Chase, he broke his own guitar in front of me and after that, he told them that I broke it!" Leo says "why would he break his own guitar?" McKayla asks.

"Don't ask me to explain the reasons of a maniac!" Leo says, McKayla thinks and shakes her head "M.C please tell me you believe me" Leo holds her shoulders.

"Uh, of course I believe in you" McKayla says, Leo sighs in relief "I knew that you, with all your kindness and good heart, wouldn't leave me hanging" Leo hugs her.

McKayla pats him on the back "of course, but I still don't understand, why would Marcus do something like that to you, he seems so nice" McKayla says "he's not!" Leo says firmly.

"Don't believe his lies!" Leo says "Leo you need to calm down, they will never believe you if you keep acting like a crazy person" McKayla says.

"I'm not acting like a crazy person, because I have proof!" Leo shows the tablet "does a crazy person have proof? I don't think so!" Leo says.

"But you sound like a crazy person" McKayla says, Leo gales at her "Come on, We need to take off at least one of that two-faced brat's masks!" Leo says, McKayla frowns and follows him.

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After the performance, McKayla and Leo enter the cafeteria.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old friend Marcus." Leo says "Sorry, Leo, you're too late. We've safely packed away all the guitars. Maybe now you can find something else to break." Marcus laughs "Cause you broke the guitar." Marcus makes a point of remembering.

Marcus quickly looks at McKayla "you know about that, he broke my guitar" Marcus whines, McKayla frowns and Leo looks at her with a look that says "do you understand what I'm having to deal with?" McKayla sighs "yeah, I heard" McKayla says.

"Excuse me, I would like everyone's attention right here. I have proof from our home security system." Leo holds up a tablet and Eddy appears on the screen "Hi!" Eddy says, McKayla friendlyly waves to Eddy.

"Now watch, as I...""I have a confession to make!" Marcus interrupts Leo "Oh, no, you don't." Leo says indignantly, McKayla puts her hand on his shoulder.

"I did it. I broke the guitar." Marcus says "That's not fair! I was gonna crack this case wide open!" Leo says "Ha! He got you again!" Eddy says, Leo galres at him.

"What's going on here?" Mr Davenport says "I broke my guitar and blamed it on Leo. I owe everyone an apology." Marcus says "You broke the guitar?" Chase asks.

"Maybe Marcus isn't such a nice guy" Chase thought but he couldn't jump to conclusions, although for some reason McKayla's disapproving face towards Marcus made him feel a certain relief "Why didn't you just say so?" Chase asks "Yeah, why didn't you just say so?" Leo says

"Because I had already cracked the guitar, but if my dad knew that I broke it I'd be in so much trouble because my family is so poor and I just want everyone to like me because I'm always the new kid, so I made everyone think that Leo did it because I'm so scared and it's so hard to make friends and I'm just a dumb kid compared to all of you and my grandma just died!" Marcus starts sobbing.

McKayla makes a confused face, she shakes her head, thinking his reaction strangely exaggerated, something doesn't fit "Are you crying? Is he crying?" Mr Davenport says.

"It's okay, Marcus." Bree says "Yeah, it's no big deal." Mr Davenport says "Yeah, no need to cry" McKayla says "We don't think you're dumb." Chase says "Yeah, and your grandma didn't die." Adam says everyone looks at him in shock and Adam mouths "What? I don't know!"

"Wait, wait! then when you had a cracked guitar, instead of asking for help to fix it, you decided to break it and blame Leo?" McKayla says, Marcus widens his eyes angrily at her and Leo points at her in agreement.

"McKayla!" Mr Davenport says irritated, Leo looks at him and raises his arms indignantly "What? I'm just trying to understand the situation" McKayla says "I know it was a horrible attitude and I regret it, please forgive me" Marcus cries

McKayla and Leo look at each other, she sighs "We understand Marcus, don't worry" McKayla says "Of course we forgive you, we would have understood if you had just said so" Chase says.

"Marcus, why don't you come out and have dinner with us?" Mr Davenport says, Marcus wipes away his tears "Mm-kay. You guys go ahead. I wanna apologize to Leo." Marcus says.

Adam, Bree, Chase, and Donald leave the room, McKayla starts to leave and Leo holds her arm "you didn't really fall for that, did you?" Leo whispers "relax I got you back" McKayla winks and leaves, Leo takes a deep breath.

"Well?" Leo walks up to Marcus "You didn't actually think I was gonna apologize, did you? They totally believed me, seriously Leo, even McKayla did you try to put against me?" Marcus raises his eyebrow.

Leo galres at him "My grandma's not dead-she's in Miami playing shuffleboard." Marcus chuckles"What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?" Leo says.

"It's a long story. But let's just say... you're in my way. Oh-And if you ever try and rat me out again... you're toast... for real." Marcus says threateningly.

"Hey, guys, wait up! I don't want to miss any of the fun." Marcus says to the others and returns to Leo, raising his eyebrows and walking backwards, threatening Leo.

Marcus leaves and Eddy pops up on the tablet again "Whoa, that guy is awesome!" Eddy, Leo shakes the tablet "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey!!!! Puuut meee doooown!!!" Eddy says.

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