CHAPTER THREE

SOMEBODY — LEMONADE MOUTH CAST
We're gonna just let go of everything
Holding back our dreams

THE NEXT DAY went on as Olivia's days normally did. She was on time for all of her classes and she was in a generally good mood. The only thing about her day that differed from the rest was that the song she and the boys wrote in detention was stuck in her head. She couldn't stop humming it and by the time lunch came around, Jason was sick of it.

"What is that stupid song you keep singing to yourself?" he asked as they walked into the cafeteria. He nodded at his friends as they sat down at their usual table.

Olivia sat across from him and shook her head. "It's nothing," she dismissed.

Jason scoffed. "You've been at it all day."

The girl sitting next to him caught the end of their conversation and turned to insert herself into it. "What are we talking about?"

Olivia often prided herself on being a nice person, but if anyone were to make her question it, it would be Christa White. The girl was the lead singer in Jason's band, Harmony Lane, and she never let anyone forget it. Her long hair was constantly flipped over her shoulder in an attempt to seem innocent when really, she was the devil incarnate. Ever since the moment they met, she had been horrible to Olivia without any valid reason. Olivia could be sitting alone, silently minding her own business, and Christa would still find away to belittle her.

Olivia tried to be Christa's friend for the sake of her boyfriend, but every attempt she made was met with a snide comment laced with poison from Christa's sharp tongue. Eventually she stopped trying, hoping that the girl would leave her alone if she kept out of her way, but it only made things worse.

Before Olivia could respond, Jason answered the girl next to him. "Olivia's been humming this annoying song all day," he grumbled.

"Oh, so you're being extra annoying today?" Christa wondered aloud in a sickly sweet tone.

Olivia looked off to the side, trying her best to keep her composure. She inhaled slowly, then exhaled at the same rate before turning to meet Christa's scrutinizing stare. She said nothing, then turned to Jason with a clenched jaw. "Actually I wrote it," she confessed quietly, trying her best to reign in her temper.

"What?" Jason asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"The song I've been humming," she clarified, this time her voice more firm. "I wrote it."

"Since when do you write songs?" he questioned. His tone made her feel incredibly small and she regret saying anything at all.

"That's adorable," Christa exclaimed with a condescending laugh, "why don't you sing it for us?" Her head tilted to the side and she wore a wicked smirk. "If you can get over your stage fright, that is."

Olivia stared at her with deep hatred. "Do you get off on being rude or...?"

"It's not rude if it's the truth."

Olivia turned to Jason with a raised eyebrow. He did nothing but sip from his water bottle. She could see the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a smirk. "Unbelievable," she muttered, standing up from the table. "I'll see you later."

She didn't wait for a response before turning to leave. Making her way to her locker, she though about what had just happened. When they first started dating, Jason was such a gentleman. He was kind and thoughtful, but now he was selfish and arrogant. Sometimes she wondered why she stayed with him. She guessed a part of her hoped that he could revert back to what he once was.

With a heavy sigh, Olivia opened her locker. A folded piece of paper fell out and floated to the ground, landing by her feet. Her brows furrowed as she bent down to pick it up. She unfolded the paper and was met with nearly illegible handwriting. "What the..."

After a few seconds of trying to figure it out, she realized that the note read:

Meet me at Sonny's. 3 o'clock.
— Luke

WHEN SCHOOL LET out, Olivia walked two streets over to Sonny's Diner. She was about to enter when someone called her name. Turning on her heel, she saw that Alex was approaching her holding a small slip of paper in his hands .

"You got one of these too?" he asked, holding up a note identical to the one she had gotten earlier.

She nodded as he opened the door for her. "Do you know what it's about?"

"I have a feeling." Alex's eyes swept the fifties styled restaurant and his gaze landed on Luke. He was sitting in one of the booths next to Reggie and across from them was Bobby. He nodded towards them and the pair started making their way over.

"There you are," Luke said as they approached. "We already ordered."

Olivia got into the booth beside Bobby, and Alex sat on the other side of her so she was sandwiched between them. "Is this about the band? Because we already talked about this," she stated firmly. "It's not gonna happen."

"Sure it is, Liv." Luke shrugged and looked at the two boys flanking her. His arm stretched over the booth behind Reggie. "I talked to Miss Taylor and signed us up for the Halloween dance this morning."

Olivia's eyes widened. "You did what?" A pang of pure panic hit her like a train as the thought of performing pulled into the station of her mind.

"But Harmony Lane is already playing the dance," Alex pointed out.

One of the workers came by with the plates of burgers Luke had ordered and placed it in the middle of the table. Each of the five teenagers reached forward and took one.

Luke nodded, chewing on his food. "And now they'll be playing half a set."

Olivia cringed at his words. She could hear Jason's complaining already. "Just because we played together once doesn't mean we're a band," she said, taking the top bun off her burger so she could put ketchup on it.

"Yeah," Bobby nodded, "we barely know each other."

"Not true." Luke put his burger down and pointed at him. "Alex and I go way back, and I recently learned that Reggie likes country music. Not sure why, but he does."

Reggie looked over at him with a slight pout. "Because it's good?"

Everyone at the table gave him varying expressions of judgement. "Debatable," they chorused.

Luke shook his head, wanting to get back to reason he called them there. "Look, I don't want to be some name in a yearbook or the guy someone vaguely remembers sharing a class with. What we did, playing together? Miss Taylor was right, things like that don't happen for no reason. We can be great. This can be our legacy."

Everyone saw how much he believed in the idea. His eyes were bright with hope and it was hard to look at him without feeling guilty about their opposing thoughts.

"We were pretty awesome," Reggie said slowly. He seemed on board with the idea enough for Luke to clap his hand on his shoulder.

With a wide smile, Luke looked at the others. "See? Reggie's in."

Alex put his burger down and looked off to the side, contemplating his decision. After a moment, he nodded and let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, fine. I'm in."

Luke started to grow excited, practically bouncing in his seat. "Really?"

Alex nodded but raised a single finger. "One practice," he stated firmly. "If it works, cool. If it doesn't, I'm out."

"Oh, it'll work."

Bobby dropped his food onto his plate. "Okay, I'm in too."

"Yes!" Reggie and Luke cheered.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Don't get your hopes up yet." He nodded towards the girl sitting next to him. She was avoiding their gaze and trying to make herself look smaller than she was, sinking into her chair.

The boys shared a look before leaning in closer to her. Luke, who was sitting directly in front of her tried to get her to look at him. When he was successful, he gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. "What about you, trouble?"

Olivia straightened up and with hesitation answered, "I don't know."

"Come on," he pressed, jutting out his bottom lip, "just give it a try."

"Please?" Reggie added, dragging out the E. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Think about how much fun you had yesterday, we could do it again." Bobby bumped her shoulder with his, a smile slowly growing on his face.

Olivia rolled her eyes and bumped him back harder. "What would we even play?"

"You and Luke can write our songs," Alex suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah," Bobby agreed. "The one you came up with in detention was pretty good for making it up on the spot."

Olivia glanced at each of the boys and saw that they were all giving her the exact same look. "What about my stage fright? I'll throw up," she reminded, trying to find an excuse to say no that they would actually accept.

Luke met her eye and raised his eyebrows. "Then we'll have a bucket on standby."

"Come on, say yes." Alex bumped her shoulder the same way Bobby had. "You know you want to."

"Come on, Liv." The four boys started a drumroll on the table in front of them, gaining the attention of the other tables around them. They were about to start chanting her name when she blurted out her answer.

"Fine, I'll do it!" she announced, looking around the restaurant. "Just stop being so disruptive, people are staring at us like we're crazy."

Luke tilted his head to the side with a small grin. "We're all a little crazy, don't ya think?"