Lemonade Mouth//Scott Pickett

Chapter 1

Poets.

Geniuses.

Revolutionaries.

Lemonade Mouth has been called all of these things.

But the real story, the story of how our band came to be is a mystery to them all. I wonder if they'd believe it if I told them it all started in detention.

🎶🎶🎶

"The rules in here are simple," the teacher explained, "No eating, no drinking, no sleeping, no talking, no tapping, no texting. You break a rule, I add another day of detention. Are we clear? Great."

🎶🎶🎶

Stella Yamada, lead guitar

Wen Gifford, keyboard

Mo Banjaree, bass

Charlie Delgado, drum god

Harper Garcia, rhythm guitar and vocalist

And me, Olivia White, future frontman for Lemonade Mouth.

It was this ragtag group of six that started it all.

🎶🎶🎶

"All right. I have decided rather than let you twiddle your little thumbs for the next hour," Miss Reznik said passing out cloths, "We are going to put those thumbs to use. We're gonna clean up around here. We're gonna unpack, and we're gonna turn this storage room into a music room!" Harper looked over at the woman as she picked up the towel she sat on her desk.

"I mean we might as well make the best of it, right?" she asked picking up a guitar, "We've been banished to the basement!" Water running through pipes caught everyone's attention. "Did you hear that? Ooh. You know what? If they spent a fraction of what that new gymnasium cost to keep this music program alive I—"

More noise came from the ceiling and Miss Reznik freaked out. Harper was almost scared the ceiling was going to collapse on top of them. "That is it! That is it!"

🎶🎶🎶

But...if I'm gonna tell you this right, I need to go back to the beginning. The morning it all began.

🎶🎶🎶

Harper's eyes shot open as she looked over at her bedside clock. Her eyes went wide when she saw the time on the clock. She shot out of bed rushing around her room to get ready. There was no way she was going to make it to school on time.

After brushing her teeth and quickly throwing on an outfit she rushed out the door. If she biked fast enough maybe she could make it on time. The teacher she had first hour wasn't the most observant so if she was quiet enough she could sneak in.

Harper parked her bike in the bike rack. The strap of her bag got stuck on the handlebars dumping her bag on the ground. "Ugh! Could this day get any worse," she mumbled to herself.

She gathered all her things and walked into the school. The hallways were empty because everyone was in class. She looked around trying to make sure the coast was clear. If she could just make it to class and not get caught everything would be fine. Harper took a deep breath as she made her way down the hall.

She was so close that her heart rate slowed as she started to relax. Harper turned the last corner running right into someone. She sighed in agony when she realized it was Principal Brenigan. The man didn't say anything before writing on a pink slip and handing it straight to the girl.

She grabbed the slip and walked past the man into class. Harper placed her head down on the desk not believing that she got detention this early in the day. There would have been no use in trying to talk to Principal Brenigan, he wouldn't have listened.

🎶🎶🎶

Harper sat in the new gymnasium as they were forced to watch a video for TurboBlast. Part of the crowd clapped as the video came to an end. Harper couldn't help but roll her eyes. All their principal cared about was sports. "Welcome to our first assembly in our new gym, generously funded by our school sponsor, TurboBlast," Principal Brenigan announced, "Drink of Champions!"

"You the man, Brenigan!" some jock yelled.

"Our assembly today is about...are you ready? Personal empowerment," he said, "That's right. Dig deep inside, and find the power within. Athletes excel not only on the field, they excel in life. A student who's willing to take risks. An empowered student. And by empowerment, I mean going above and beyond what's expected of you. Now, I know it's all within you, and you know it is as well. On behalf of TurboBlast,—"

"My shirt, my decision! Okay?" a girl yelled. Harper looked over to see a girl she'd never seen before standing up on the bleacher holding her jacket open. "Don't let your school take away your rights! Be heard. Use your voice!"

A few people in the crowd started clapping for the girl. Harper even found herself joining in supporting her. "He can't tell you what to wear, who to be! You can wear what you want. We can wear whatever we want! Come on."

"Sit down," Ray, one of the jocks yelled.

"I can wear my own t-shirt! Wear whatever kind of shirt you want! Today, tomorrow, whenever!