CHAPTER SIX

UNPREDICTABLE — 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
And we'll stumble through it all
Let's do something new and unpredictable

THE NEXT DAY, Olivia found herself sitting on the small roof outside her bedroom window with her guitar in hand. Jason hadn't returned any of her calls and after the third time she was sent to voicemail, she decided that he was probably ignoring her.

She understood why he was upset. Besides lacrosse, Harmony Lane was everything to him. His level of excitement stayed the same for every gig they booked, his eyes would light up and he'd jabber on about it like a little kid. He had the right to be upset about their stage time getting cut short. But what Olivia couldn't understand was why he couldn't be happy for her. Harmony Lane was important and she knew that, she just thought that she was important to him too. If he knew how wonderful it was to be in a band, then why was he so opposed to her experiencing it for herself?

Lately it felt like all she ever did was lift him up only for him to tear her down. He was so unpredictable. One second, he'd be very sweet and caring, but the next, everything was about him and she was nothing but an inconvenience.

She had been scribbling in her journal all day. Writing down her feelings always helped and she had a lot of things to get off her mind.

She couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness she felt when she thought about her relationship with Jason. It made her feel incredibly small the way he treated her sometimes, like she was so insignificant that her words held no weight. The last time she had felt so unimportant was when her dad left.

Half written poetry stared back at her as she played around with the chord progression. She wasn't as skilled with the guitar as she was with the piano, but she still had an extensive repertoire of knowledge. She had her entertainment industry father to thank for that. Perhaps he was good for one thing.

Once she found a melody she liked, she started to sing the words she had written, "This is the last time I'm asking you this, put my name at the top of your list, this is the last time I'm asking you why you break my heart in the blink of an eye, eye, eye..."

She stopped and added more lyrics to the song, unaware of the boy standing below her.

Luke didn't mean to invade on what sounded like a personal moment. He was on his way to the front door, but heard the soft strumming of a guitar followed by her angelic voice and curiosity got the better of him.

Olivia had always amazed him. Before he ever spoke to her, it was her skill on the piano that piqued his interest. The way she lost herself in the piece she played was mesmerizing. Finding out how gifted she was vocally and lyrically made his admiration for her grow tenfolds.

Luke waited a few moments before trying to catch her attention to make it seem like he just arrived and he hadn't been listening to her.

"Hey, trouble!" he called, cupping two hands around his mouth.

Startled by the sudden noise, Olivia jumped and dropped the pen she was holding. It clattered against the roof before rolling off the edge and landing at Luke's feet. "Luke?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Me and the boys are here to pick you up," he said, leaning down to pick up the pen, "we're having a band meeting."

Olivia turned and put her guitar back in her room through her open window. "A band meeting? About what?"

Luke shook his head waved her off. "Don't question it, just go get ready."

She nodded, but before she could disappear in her room, she grabbed her journal and pointed to the pen in his hand. He threw it up at her and she caught it, nearly losing her balance in the process.

No more than five minutes later, she reemerged, no longer wearing shorts and a hoodie, but baggy jeans and a cropped t-shirt. Luke helped her climb down from the small roof and together, they walked around her house to the front.

Mikey watched them from inside the house, holding the five dollar bill he got from blackmailing Olivia and promising that he'd cover for her sneaking out. His gaze followed them as they approached their bandmates who were waiting for them in a black BMW.

"Reggie," Olivia could hear Alex say through the open windows, "we're not naming the band after you."

"Why not? The one name thing worked for Bon Jovi!"

Bobby, who was sitting in the front seat, turned and shared a look with Alex before they simultaneously responded, "No."

"Okay, what about The Missionaries?"

"Like from church?"

"Absolutely not." Bobby shook his head. "I'm not playing in a band named after a sex position."

Luke and Olivia approached the car, but before Olivia's hand could curl around the door handle, Luke's shot out and he opened it for her. He smiled and gestured for her to get in.

"Olivia!" The three boys shouted in greeting once she slipped into the middle seat.

Their energy made her laugh. "Hey, boys." She leaned forward between the two front seats. "Reggie, I didn't know you have a car."

"He doesn't," Luke said, getting in the seat beside her, "it's his parents'."

Alex nodded. "He doesn't even have his driver's license."

"What?" Olivia turned around and looked at the boy on the other side of her, wondering if she had heard him right.

Reggie laughed and took the car out of park. "My test is next week, we'll be fine."

Olivia reached for her seatbelt. "Do your parents know you took their car?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "they won't even notice it's gone."

"Alright," she mumbled, leaning back in her seat. "So what's this band meeting about?"

"Well," Alex started, "we thought we could go to the beach and watch the sunset, you know, do some band bonding—"

"Banding!" Reggie interjected, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

Alex looked at him with a blank stare. "I— Okay."

"We also need a band name so we thought we could pick one while we hang out," Bobby explained further.

Olivia nodded, feeling her previously bad mood fade away. She can't remember the last time she hung out with someone who wasn't Jason. This would be good for her. "Sounds fun."

WHEN OLIVIA GOT detention, she never would've guessed that it would lead her to befriend the four boys she was currently trying to corral in the middle of a grocery store.

The boys had the great idea of grabbing some food before watching the sunset, so Reggie parked the car in some sketchy alleyway and they bought hot dogs from the first street vendor they saw. On their way back to the car, Luke spotted a grocery store and demanded that they get ice cream. While Olivia initially agreed, she was starting to regret her position on the matter.

The moment they stepped into the store, Reggie ran towards the carts and got in. He was followed by Alex, who decided to push him around. As they walked to the freezer section, Bobby and Luke decided to hang onto either sides of the metal cart, earning them judgemental stares from mothers who were just trying to get their shopping done. Olivia, who felt like the tired mother of four boys under the age of ten, gave them apologetic smiles as she followed behind them.

As they searched for the ice cream aisle, Luke turned to her. "Hey, trouble!" He called, causing the other boys to look at her as well. "Hop on."

Olivia shook her head and glanced at the people around her. "No, it's okay. I really don't—"

"Come on, Olivia," Alex coaxed, singing her name.

Each of the boys looked at her with mischievous grins, urging her to join in their fun. Olivia couldn't keep a straight face as she stared at them. She eventually nodded and made her way over to the front of the cart. She got on as the boys hollered in the middle of the frozen vegetable aisle and Alex took off running.

Laughter filled the air of the supermarket and adults stared at them like they didn't remember what it was like to be young and free. It wasn't long before an employee came to speak to them. They said they were being too rowdy and if they continued, they'd have to leave.

Luke did his best to sweet talk their way out of the situation and it worked to a certain extent because instead of kicking them out, the employee escorted them to the ice cream aisle with a smile. They picked out two pints of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and checked out, Bobby swiping a pack of plastic spoons as they did.

Their time spent in the store turned out to be more than they thought because when they returned to the car, the sun was nearly setting.

Reggie stepped on the gas, driving as fast as he could without raising suspicion from the cops that liked to hide around the street corners. Their windows were rolled down and Rush's newest album blared through the speakers. In the back seat, Alex, Olivia, and Luke were arguing about the lyrics of the song as each of them heard something different. In the front seat, Bobby and Reggie laughed at them.

Windows down, wind rushing through, and no worries. Olivia wasn't thinking about Jason, Alex wasn't thinking about what excuse he'd use the next time his parents tried to set him up with a girl, Bobby wasn't thinking about his dad's girlfriend, Reggie wasn't thinking about how he'd mediate his parents' next fight, and Luke wasn't angry. The band of five made each other feel something they thought only music could make them feel—peace.

"We're not going to make it in time," Alex stated, looking at his watch.

The car drove onto a ramp, leading up to the side of a cliff that overlooked the beach. Reggie glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Yes, we will."

"No, we won't," Bobby replied.

Luke nodded. "It's gonna be dark by the time we get there."

"No, it won't," Reggie pressed, full of determination.

"We're missing it!" Olivia said with a laugh. She pointed down the street where the sun was starting to dip behind the mountains. "The sunset's already rounding the curve, look!"

Reggie noticed that they were the only car on the road. He looked back at his blind spot before doing an illegal U-turn.

Olivia scrambled for her seatbelt. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm parking." Reggie pulled over on the side of the road closest to the cliff's edge. "We'll just watch the sunset here."

The other four shared a look before shrugging. They all got out of the car and sat on the hood. Olivia sat in the middle and passed the ice cream around while Bobby opened the pack of plastic spoons he stole and handed one to each of his band mates.

"Do you think we can make it big?" Bobby asked, breaking the peaceful silence.

Luke didn't miss a beat. "Definitely."

"Even if we don't," Olivia said, "at least we had fun."

The sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains in the distance, but the sky was still lit up in a pink and golden haze. The light reflected off the ocean below, creating waves of burning red that crashed onto the sandy beach. The five teenagers sat in awe as they took in the view.

They've lived their entire lives in the City of Angels. They've seen hundreds of sunsets and they'll see hundreds more, but no two sunsets were the same and the beauty of the world would always take their breaths away.

"Sunset Curve."

The group turned to Luke. "What?"

"Sunset Curve," he repeated, the corners of his lips turning up, "that can be our band name."

With matching smiles, the other three nodded. "I like it."

Olivia took her spoon and dug it into the ice cream Alex was holding. She held the spoon in front of her and proposed a toast. "To Sunset Curve."

The boys raised their spoons to meet hers. "To Sunset Curve!"

REGGIE DIDN'T DRIVE them home until well after midnight. They spent hours at Sunset Curve and by the time they stopped in front of Olivia's house, they were all pretty tired.

Luke took it upon himself to make sure she got inside safely. He waited for her to say her goodbyes to the others and walked with her around the side of her house where her bedroom window was.

He wanted to ask her about the song she had written earlier that day, but he didn't know how to bring it up without revealing that he was eavesdropping.

Olivia had been lost in her own thoughts as they walked into her backyard. Spending time with the boys was a good distraction from Jason, but once the fun was over, the sinking feeling of loneliness creeped in.

"Hey," Olivia said suddenly, looking up at Luke. "Can I ask you a question?"

Luke followed her to the trellis attached to her house with a slight smile. "You just did."

Olivia shook her head at his cheekiness. She turned and took a hold of the trellis, pulling herself up and climbing onto the small roof. "What happened between you and Jason?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he followed her onto the roof and sat next to her. "Why are you asking?"

She played with the end of her shirt and shrugged. "The person he paints you out to be is very different than who you actually are."

"Honestly, I don't know," Luke answered honestly. "We were super close, and then high school came around and we just stopped talking. He started lacrosse, I didn't. He become a jerk, I didn't."

They both let out a small laugh that rang out into the silence of the early morning.

There was a moment of silence that blanketed them as the heavy feeling in Olivia's chest grew. She looked up at the stars and wondered if she was destined to feel insignificant forever. It wasn't hard think that when both her father and boyfriend treated her like she was.

"It's scary, isn't it?"

"Hm?" Luke looked over at her and tilted his head.

"How someone can just wake up one day and not want you in their life anymore."

Luke thought back to the lyrics of her song. After spending the evening with her, he had no idea how anyone could fail to appreciate her. What's worse was that she sounded used to it.

"When people leave, it's not always a loss." He gave the rest of his response some thought before speaking again. "I think everyone comes into your life for a reason, even if it's not one you expect."

Olivia looked at him. She didn't expect that answer from him. "Yeah?

"Yeah." He nodded. "Whether the reason's good or bad, whatever happens, you'll always grow from it, right?"

She bumped his shoulder with hers and look at him with a teasing glint in her eyes. "That's very poetic of you."

"Well, I am a songwriter," he said, meeting her gaze and bumping her back. "Poetry comes naturally."

They stared at each other in silence, finding that the other's eyes held something more than the cosmos, they just couldn't put their finger on what it was.

Olivia looked away, her cheeks turning pink. "I should probably go before my brother decides to snitch on me or something."

Luke cleared his throat and leaned back. "Yeah, yeah. That wouldn't be good."

"No, it wouldn't." Olivia turned and pushed her window open. She climbed through and leaned half way out of it. She smiled softly at Luke and rested her elbows on the windowsill. "Goodnight, Luke."

Luke matched her smile, unaware of the twinkle in his eye and she mistook it for the moon's reflection. "Goodnight, trouble."