CHAPTER THIRTY

MORE THAN A BAND — LEMONADE MOUTH CAST
Everything changes, but one thing is true, understand
We'll always be more than a band

OLIVIA SPENT THE rest of the weekend sulking in bed. Over the two days of her absence, she had missed one call from Jason, two calls from Bobby, four calls from Alex and Reggie, seven calls from Luke, and eleven calls from her father. All of which went ignored. The only time she touched the phone on her bedside table was Sunday morning to let the Pattersons know she wouldn't joining them for lunch. Emily was understanding enough and thankfully, kept her questions and concern to herself in favour of interrogating her son later.

When the Montez family of three returned home after the Battle of the Bands, Olivia and her mother had to explain to Mikey what had happened to make them leave so abruptly. While he was only twelve years old, he was smart and perceptive, and probably knew too much for his own good. He didn't like being left out and they couldn't keep the details from him if they tried.

Olivia and Sylvia sat him down in the living room, slowly and carefully as if they were about to discuss a bomb. The usually level headed boy was a short fuse when it came to the topic of his father. Olivia was angry after all was said and done, but Mikey felt guilty—as if their father leaving was caused by something he did. Guilt drove people to act rashly and Mikey was no exception.

They told him everything, careful of his feelings, but still telling it how it was. Wires were cut and crossed, the drop of a pin could be heard across the room, a young face contorted in betrayal.

Olivia found that the hardest part of dealing with the fallout of Battle of the Bands wasn't the crushing disappointment that Sunset Curve lost the competition to some indie band from Beverly Hills, it was having to explain to Mikey that the girl who treated her like shit was their half-sister. It was no secret to the boy who Christa White was, having been on the receiving end of Olivia's haughty rants about the girl, and he was rather upset that their father chose to stay in her life over theirs.

Sylvia was equally upset, not only for herself, but for her children. It wasn't fair that they had to endure such heartache and it definitely wasn't fair that she was left to raise them on her own. The kids were still upset when Monday came around, so she allowed them to skip school.

Mikey spent the day playing video games and blasting music on his sound system, stimulating his brain so he wasn't alone with his thoughts, while Olivia, on the other hand, stayed in bed with her mind as her only friend.

As the final school bell rang on Monday afternoon, the boys of Sunset Curve waited at Olivia's locker. None of them had seen her since Saturday and the only time anyone heard from her was when she called Luke's mom to cancel on lunch. But even then, the call only lasted a few minutes and Luke didn't even get to speak with her.

They waited a few minutes as the hallways cleared before concluding that she hadn't been at school at all that day. They dropped off Reggie's car, bought a pint of her favourite ice cream, and made their way to the Montez house to check on her. The entire ride there was filled with concerned conversation about the girl and theories about what could've made her so upset.

"Whatever happened to her happened while we were on stage," Bobby said as the four boys walked up the driveway, "and while I'd be pissed about us losing, I'm more concerned because when has she ever froze mid-song? Oh wait, the answer is never!"

He stopped walking and grabbed a handful of pebbles, passing them along the line as they stood under Olivia's window. "First we had to worry about her before gigs and now we've got to worry about her during?"

Alex sighed, eyeing the pile of rocks in their hands. "Guys, look, I'm worried too, but maybe we should give her more space," he suggested. His eyes glanced up at the window above. The curtains were shut to block out the world. "She's obviously not ready to talk about it."

"She doesn't have to talk about it," Luke said, getting ready to toss a pebble.

Reggie nodded. "Yeah, she just needs to know that she's not alone."

Without a countdown, the three boys started tossing rocks at Olivia's bedroom window. They ignored the judgemental look Alex threw their way and gestured for him to join in. With a heavy sigh, Alex took some rocks out of Luke's hand and started to participate.

"Olivia!" Luke called, his hand now empty. "Can you come out? We promise we're not mad or anything!"

"Anymore," Bobby added.

The other boys looked at him.

"Dude," Luke scolded.

Bobby gave him an incredulous look. "What?" he defended. "We lost the chance of getting a record deal. If you didn't like her so much, you'd be pissed too."

Luke let out a nervous laugh. "I don't like her like that," he said, rather unconvincingly.

"Yeah," Bobby nodded with the roll of his eyes, "and I'm not dating Allie Nichols."

Annoyed by the bickering of his bandmates, Alex turned to the group. "She's not coming out."

The four teens stared at the closed window before Luke shrugged and made his way to the trellis connected to the house. "Then it looks like we're going in." He placed a foot at the bottom and grasped a wooden bar, just as he had multiple times before, and glanced at his friends over his shoulder. "We'll meet you at the car."

"Dude, what are you—?" Alex watched with furrowed brows as the guitarist started to climb. "Okay, I guess that works too."

"Why does it look like he's done that before?" Reggie wondered, noting how quickly Luke scaled the side of the house.

Bobby smirked. "I'm pretty sure he has."

Inside the lavender shaded room, Olivia could see a dark figure move on the other side of her window. Their silhouette projected onto her curtains. She knew who it was—the pebbles thrown at her window were a dead giveaway—but she remained in bed unwilling to let him in.

Luke crouched in front of the closed window and raised his hand to knock. He knew it wasn't locked—it never was, no matter how many times he reminded her to make sure it was. A part of him believed that she kept it unlocked for him.

When there was no response, Luke peered into the room. There was a small crack where the two pieces of fabric met and through that crack, he could see Olivia lying in bed.

"Olivia Juliette, I know you're in there," he said, knocking again.

She ignored him, glancing at the clock beside her bed. School was finished and her mother would be home soon to take Mikey to basketball practice.

"You didn't show up at school today," Luke continued, unwilling to give up. "We've been real worried about you. Can you come open the window please?"

Despite knowing it was unlocked, he didn't want to pressure her into something she didn't want. If she opened the window on her own terms, he'd be there for her. If she told him to go away, he would. It was weird for him to possess the desire to comfort someone. When he was dating Alex, he dreaded the emotional aspect of things, but that wasn't the case with Olivia.

He really hoped she opened the window for him.

Olivia let out a sigh. While the guilt of disappointing her bandmates weighed down on her shoulders, her dread proved heavier. It wasn't fair to completely ghost them without explanation, but the idea of telling them what made her so upset wasn't appealing in the slightest.

"C'mon, trouble," Luke pleaded.

That was the final nail in the coffin. Olivia could never say no to Luke and she knew that he wouldn't let it go.

Wiping her hands down her face, she stood from her bed and made her way to the window. When she pushed back the curtains and opened the window, Luke studied her face. It felt like forever since he had last seen her.

Her face was puffy and she'd obviously been crying. She was wearing pyjamas and it looked like she hadn't changed clothes in days.

"You're never going to use the door, are you?" Olivia said after seeing a look of concern flash over his face.

Luke let out a small chuckle, glad to see that she still that that spark in her. "I'll start using the door when you start locking your window." His smile faded into an expression of adoration as his eyes darted over her face. "You look pretty."

Olivia shook her head. She was far from pretty at the current moment. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red, her face was puffy. She looked at bad as she felt. "You're lying. I look like shit."

"When have I ever lied to you?" He shook his head as he climbed through the window. When he was safely through, the boys below shared a knowing look and returned to the car. "Come on," he prompted, touching her arm as she moved to give him room, "get ready. We're taking you out."

"With a sniper?" Olivia returned with sarcasm. "How kind of you to end my misery." She turned on her heel and sat on her bed.

"No, we're taking you somewhere, smartass."

"I don't want to go out."

"Too bad."

Luke crossed the room and grabbed the piece of clothing that was hanging on the back of her door. It was his sweater, the one that he gave her to save her from the cold after their water fight. He threw it at her, suppressing a laugh as it hit her face. "Get dressed, and hurry because we have ice cream in the trunk."

Olivia saw no point in fighting him, so she picked out a comfortable outfit and left to change in the washroom.

As Olivia left the room, Luke looked around. He felt himself gravitate towards her bookshelf where he knew pages upon pages of unused lyrics sat. He found the notebook he gave her for her birthday sitting on top of the shelf and opened it, knowing she'd probably hit him over the head for snooping.

On the first page was a song. Olivia's handwriting was sloppy and overly looping, but it was neat—a hell of a lot neater than his. The lyrics were far from superficial, words of sincerity and being utterly consumed by someone's presence. He knew what that was like.

For a brief moment, a small smile came over his face as he imagined Olivia writing the song. That moment was gone as quickly as it came once he realized it was a love song he was reading. He read the rest in rising jealousy.

I wonder what it's like to be loved by you.

A single sentence written in blue pen, reflecting both Luke and Olivia's feelings. Not that they would know.

He started to compile a list of people this song could possible about. A lot of people liked Olivia, especially after the band gained popularity amongst the hallways of Los Feliz High School, but she never acknowledged the unrequited crushes harboured in her favour. People sought after her, but she sought after no one. The only people she spoke to on a regular basis were the boys of Sunset Curve.

Oh shit, Luke thought. Was this song about one of them?

It couldn't be Alex for obvious reasons, nor Bobby since he was in a relationship Olivia heavily respected. There was a possibility of it being Reggie, but Olivia seemed to encourage his flirtationships with the girls of their school for entertainment. This only left one person.

Him.

Could this love song, one of pining and wonder, be about him?

He never got the chance to search for answers because the doorknob of Olivia's bedroom began to turn again. In a hurry, he shut her notebook and placed it back where he found it.

Maybe if he took the extra second to flip the page, he would've found the title of the song paired with a small scribbled note.

Wonder — For Luke.

Olivia entered her room to find Luke looking suspiciously nonchalant at the foot of her bed. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing," Luke said quickly. He sent her an innocent smile. "Ready to go?"

"Depends," Olivia answered. "Where are you taking me?"

Luke stood and nodded her over to the window. "Our spot, now come on."

"Our spot?" Olivia mumbled to herself, turning on her heel and walking away from the window. She left Luke with a confused expression on his face until he realized that she was probably going to go through the house. I'm going through the house like a normal person, she'd say to him. And she did, shouting at Mikey that she was leaving and leaving a note for her mom on the kitchen counter.

Luke met her on her front porch and the pair headed towards Bobby's car. The band was waiting for them, leaning against the side of the vehicle expectantly.

"Hi, Livy," Bobby called once they were in hearing distance.

Reggie waved. "Missed you in English."

"Hey, you okay?" Alex's eyes were swimming with concern as he studied her.

Not wanting to get into the topic right away, Olivia nodded. "Yeah," she said before giving a small sigh of guilt. "Look, I'm really sorry for screwing up our performance. We would've won if I didn't—"

"It's okay," Alex assured, always the first to comfort. "We were never mad."

Bobby shot him a look of disbelief. "Yes, we were."

The three other boys glared at him and once Reggie saw the way Olivia's shoulders deflated, he smacked him over the head.

"Briefly, but not anymore!" Bobby exclaimed, rubbing the area where Reggie hit him. "No, we're totally fine with having to get a record deal the old fashion way. It... builds character, makes for a good origin story."

Alex started at him before turning around to open the car door. "Okay, stop talking and get in the car."

The band of five drove to their destination, filling the silence with conversation. Though, it was mostly the boys talking. Olivia was uncharacteristically quiet, reminding her friends of the girl they had first met in detention all those months ago. It was painful to see her revert into her former self after watching her blossom in confidence. Whatever happened to her must've been bad, they concluded.

Arriving at what Luke affectionately called their spot, Olivia should've known that he was referring to the cliff they named themselves after—Sunset Curve.

They sat on the hood of the car, distributing all the treats they had bought (and stolen, but if you asked them, anything under $5 didn't count) down the line.

Olivia sat in the middle, flanked by Luke and Reggie, and beside them on the edges were Bobby and Alex.

"It's a nice day today," Reggie said after a considerable amount of comfortable silence. It wasn't too hot, but it wasn't too cold. The sky was littered with clouds, but it was sunny, and the waves below them were the right amount of white noise.

Olivia laid on the hood, her back against the windshield.

"Yeah," Olivia said, speaking for the first time in a while. Her voice was a little croaky and she tried not to cringe. Her eyes scanned the sky, the clouds making her feel younger than she was. "Mikey and I used to look at the clouds and see what shapes we could find."

The boys copied her actions and laid back to cloud watch.

"We'd lie in our backyard for hours until our mom had to come and get us." Her voice carried into the breeze. Her hand raised with a pointed finger. "See, there... There's a flower in a vase."

Reggie shook his head. "It's an elephant wearing a top hat."

Luke disagreed. "I see a guy on a surfboard," he said as he tucked his arm under his head.

"No, you're way off," Bobby chided. "It's... It's Micheal Jordan dunking a basket."

There was a silence that fell over them as they waited for Alex to share his opinion.

The blond drummer squinted at the fluffy clouds above them, trying his hardest to make out a specific shape. No matter how hard he tried, he only saw one thing.

"All I see is a blob."

The others lifted their heads to look over at him in question.

He sighed, thinking about how his closet was still messy. He always thought he'd clean up after coming out to his family. With his 'shameful secrets' out in the open, he had nothing to hide, but his closet was still full of articles of clothing disguised as trauma. Except this time, the shirts of his issues were his parents' lack of acceptance, not his sexuality. A clean room for a seemingly perfect life, a messy closet for all of his hidden problems.

"Sometimes I think that's all I am," he confessed, watching as the clouds floated by. "I can try, but I'm never going to live up to this idea my parents have of this perfect son. AP classes, role model big brother, not gay... Ever since I came out, they look at me like I'm some stranger living in their house."

There was an air of sympathy that existed among them. They knew what it was like to live with parental expectations, but none of them knew what it was like to live in Alex's shoes, not really.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm some big disappointment," Luke admitted. He didn't know how to comfort anyone unless their name was Olivia, and he hoped that if he shared his feelings (which he wasn't a big fan of doing), Alex would know that he wasn't alone in his thoughts. "My parents look at me like I'm this little kid that needs to be saved. Music's a tough business, I get it, but they have no faith in me. They're always on me about it, I just—" He took a deep breath. "I just wish they'd leave me alone."

"I wish my parents would leave each other alone," Reggie stated, staring at the sky. "They can't go five minutes in the same room without fighting. I feel like I'm the parent most of the time, not the other way around."

Bobby let out a sardonic chuckle and shoved some ice cream in his mouth. "I'd take parenting my dad over his ridiculous girlfriend any day."

"Christa's my sister."

Olivia didn't expect to blurt out what was bothering her, but she felt so safe with her friends that she knew she could speak freely without consequence. It's not good to keep things bottled up, because the bottle will eventually break and leave shards of glass in its place. With glass shards came cut skin, and with cut skin came blood. She didn't want spilt blood over any issue pertaining to her father—her tears were enough as it was.

She sat up, leaving the boys to watch in shock, and covered her face with her hands. She could feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

"Last year, my mom thought my dad was cheating on her, but it turned out to be more complicated than that. We just thought he was working weird hours like he's done since I can remember, but the whole time he was living a double life. He had a whole other family the entire time he was with my mom."

The boys sat up, connecting the dots between what she was saying and the events that conspired at Battle of the Bands. They watched her with worried eyes.

"There was a big fallout and he walked out. He picked them. Two weeks later my mom got the divorce papers in the mail."

The events of last year kept playing in her head like a supercut of all her trauma. The arguing, the look in her father's eyes as he slammed the door, Mikey's guilt about something he didn't cause, her mother's heartbroken sobs. It happened so fast, but the pain lingered like cheap perfume.

"I spent so many nights wondering what his life was like after he left. If he played catch in the yard with his other sons like he did with Mikey, if he took his other daughter out for ice cream when she was sad. I never wanted to know who his other kids were. But if I knew that it was Christa..." Olivia shook her head, unable to continue. She wiped away her tears and planted a smile on her face. It was small, but it was as sincere as her next words. "Which is why I'm so glad to have this, you know?"

"Our friendship," Reggie stated softly. He couldn't agree more.

Olivia rested her head on his shoulder as he continued.

"Promise me that we'll always be friends," Reggie requested. "Even if the band doesn't take off and we end up working 9-to-5 jobs we hate, promise me that we'll still be friends."

There was a hint of desperation in his voice that could be heard by each of his bandmates. They felt it too, not wanting to live a life without each other.

Luke's hand found Olivia's as he nodded. He spoke for all of them as he said, "We promise, Reg."

Olivia glanced down at hers and Luke's interwoven fingers before moving her gaze to her friends. She felt physically lighter after unpacking her baggage and she could tell that they did too, even if they didn't delve as deeply into their problems as she did.

A small smile worked its way into her face and she nodded. "We'll always be more than a band."

Her heavy statement rang in their ears and they all knew the truth. They were more than a band. They were family.

They sat in silence for another hour before their candy and ice cream had run out. Olivia was dropped off first, but instead of Luke walking her to her house alone like he usually did, the boys joined them.

"You know," Olivia started as she unlocked her front door, "if your houses or parents get a little too much, you're always welcome to crash here. The door's always open."

Reggie, Alex, and Bobby gave her an appreciative smile while Luke stifled a laugh. "So is your window," he jested with a sly smirk.

"Dude," the boys groaned, hitting his arm.

"That's not creepy at all," Alex drawled sarcastically.

"What?" Luke defended, flailing his arms about. "I keep tellin' her to lock it, but she doesn't wanna listen."

"Then maybe stop climbing to her window, she's not Rapunzel—or would you prefer to be called Romeo?"

"Okay, Romeo didn't climb balconies."

"Yes, he did," Reggie interjected, "there's a balcony scene."

"He climbed a wall!"

As their friends bickered over Shakespeare, Bobby turned to Olivia with a nod. "See you at school tomorrow, Liv?"

She gave a hesitant smile before nodding. She didn't want to see Christa or Jason, but she knew that she couldn't miss anymore school. "Yeah," she said. "See you tomorrow."

He reached forward to give her arm a reassuring pat then turned to the bickering trio. "Alright, boys," he exclaimed, clapping a hand on Reggie and Luke's shoulders, "time to go, you can fight over your nerd shit in the car."

He guided them down the porch steps, his hands still firmly planted on their shoulders.

With a mischievous grin, Luke stuck a finger in his mouth then jammed it into Bobby's ear. The rhythm guitarist let out a disgusted yelp, releasing Luke from his grasp, and the sleeveless teen ran back to the house where Olivia watched with amusement, kissed her on the cheek, then ran back before anyone could say anything.

Olivia leaned her head against the doorframe with a content look clouding her features. Everything was messed up right now. Christa was her sister, her father was back, and the band lost a colossal opportunity to further their career. It was a mess and there was no guarantee that things would be okay, but watching her friends walk down her yard, she knew that things would start looking up soon.

RAE SPEAKS !
funny how olivia's nickname is liv... will she live? will she die? maybe, who knows?

i wrote their long awaited kiss scene and it's not too far away!! something to look forward to!!