Lemonade Mouth//Scott Pickett

Chapter 11

Harper walked out into the waiting room of the jail and saw her mom sitting in a chair. "Honey," her mom said standing from the seat.

"Mom. I'm so sorry," Harper choked out.

"I'm just so glad you're okay," she said pulling her into a hug.

"You're not mad at me?" Harper asked.

"Honey why on earth would I be mad at you?" she asked, "You have never once gotten in trouble your whole life. When I got the call I thought something had happened to you."

"I'm sorry I scared you," Harper said.

"No I'm sorry," her mom apologized, "I'm sorry that I haven't been around a lot lately. Things are going to change. I'm going to cut back on my time at work. You've taken care of yourself long enough. It's time for me to step up."

"Mom. I know we need the money," Harper said, "I understand that you have to work."

"We'll make it work," she said, "I'm going to spend more time with you even if we have to live in a paper box." Harper smiled up at her mom. She'd been waiting for this day her whole life.

"I love you," she said hugging her mom.

"I love you too."

"Let's head home," Harper said.

"So, is there anything else I've missed out on?" she asked as she walked toward the car, "Any boyfriend I should know about?"

"No, no boyfriend," Harper said. She couldn't help that her mind went to Scott. What was she going to tell him? Did she even like him like that?

"Your face tells me differently," she laughed, "Is it that boy who you tutor? What's his name..."

"His name is Scott," Harper said, "How did you know?"

"I see the way you two interact. I've known that boy liked you since the first time I met him at the house." Harper couldn't help the sigh that slipped from her mouth. "What's the problem?"

"Well, Scott told me he liked me. But I haven't exactly processed how I feel about him," Harper admitted, "I feel like he just dumped this on me and it's just a lot to process."

"Trust me, honey, don't think too much about it," she said, "Whatever your gut is telling you is what you should do."

🎶🎶🎶

The band stood in the wings of the stage watching Mudslide Crush perform. They were all still falling apart and Harper knew this wouldn't go well. She'd be lying if she didn't admit that Mudslide Crush was good. "Top that," Ray mocked as they walked off stage.

"Oh, we will. Trust me," Stella smiled confidently.

"Good luck," Scott smiled at Harper.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"You know I don't mind if you were to date him," Mo said making Harper look over at her.

"You don't?" Harper asked.

"No. Scott and I weren't meant to be," Mo said, "That doesn't mean you two shouldn't give it a shot."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Lemonade Mouth," the announcer said. They all walked out to the stage as the crowd went wild cheering for them.

Wen started playing the keyboard missing a few notes due to his black eye. Olivia strained her voice doing her best to sing the words. Harper and Mo started coughing missing a few notes. Harper even tried to sing but it seemed like her own voice had gotten worse. "I'm so sorry," Olivia whispered as she put her head down.

"Please," Stella said walking over to Olivia, "You can do this."

"I can't," Wen said pointing to his eye. Stella tried to keep it going as she begged Olivia to sing. Mo sat down as everyone gave up. Harper put her face in her hands not believing how much of a disaster this turned out to be.

They all looked at each other as everyone but Stella started to walk off the stage. "Trying hard to fight these tears. I'm crazy worried," someone sang.

"Messing with me head this fear. I'm so sorry." The band started to turn around looking out at the crowd.

"You know you gotta get it out. I can't take it. That's what being friends about." Harper started to gravitate back to her spot on the stage as they all stood watching the crowd start to sing their song.

Harper looked to her left where Scott had walked out on the stage playing his guitar. They stood there staring out at the crowd as more and more people stood and started singing. Harper felt Wen put his arm around her shoulder pulling her into a side hug. She reached out grabbing Scott's hand as he finished playing. No one in the band expected their disaster of a performance to end on a happy note.

🎶🎶🎶

We didn't win Rising Star, but we won something bigger that night.

🎶🎶🎶

Harper walked out of the school building. She stopped when she saw Scott sitting on a bench outside. He waved at her as she walked toward him. "Hey."

"Hey," Harper smiled, "Thanks for helping us out."

"It was the right thing to do," Scott said. He grabbed Harper's hand pulling her to sit on the bench he previously sat on. "So, about our conversation the other day. We didn't exactly get to finish it."

"We didn't," Harper said, "I didn't exactly talk much."

"I know I kind of just threw all of that at you," Scott said, "And I completely understand if you don't feel the same way about me." Harper saw Mo walking out of the school. The girl sent her a smile before continuing to walk away.

"I like you too," Harper said interrupting the boy.

"You do?" Scott asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that and to tell you," Harper said, "This year it seems like so much has happened and my mind has been crazy. But when I spent time with you it's like everything stopped. Like life was normal again."

"It doesn't matter how long it took you to say it," Scott said, "I'm just glad you finally did."

"Me too," Harper smiled. She leaned forward placing a small kiss on Scott's lips. When she pulled back they both had a huge smile on their faces. Harper knew this was the right decision.