Lemonade Mouth

Un-Ray-like

By Ella Lavender

And the winner is…

(^^)

There was something wrong with him.

There had to be.

Ray Beech was not afraid of anything.

But there was something mildly frightening about this feeling. It was exhilarating, terrifying and so confusing it made finding Waldo easy. He didn't know what it was called, he didn't care, all he knew was that this had to stop.

And stop right now.

Those stupid girly fluttering, the un-manly blushing and that irritating stutter when they argued! No one would take him seriously when he was acting like some idiotic twelve year old who just 'discovered' the female species.

These things were all very un-Ray-like.

And it had to stop before he made an absolute fool of himself.

He wasn't a joke and lately that's all he's been since Rising Star ended tragically with the win going to some unknown pink pop princess.

Mudslide Crush hadn't won but then again, neither did those Lemon Heads. He lost Scott as both a friend and guitarist, but in return Scott lost Mo about a month after they got back together (cheaters don't recover after getting caught the first time). Ray and the loudmouth Lemon Head guitar goddess found themselves constantly fighting, and the worst part was: she was winning!

Sure no one seemed to notice this, but he did and he was getting sick of it!

Ray Beech did not do losing, and after missing out on the coveted Rising Star contract, he was losing his mind having a girl beat him! And yet, that wasn't even the worst part of it. The cherry on his Loser Cake was the fact that the person verbally beating him happened to be the very same person that was causing this mosh-pit of very un-Ray-like emotions.

She was to blame, that loudmouthed revolutionary, her half-Asian highness; the guitar goddess herself; there was no one else but Stella Yamada.

But the question was: What had she done?

The answer was simple!

The blonde soccer player released a growl of agitation as he stomped angrily towards the Lemon Heads' usual table in the cafeteria, hell-bent on getting those very un-Ray-like emotions to leave him the hell alone.

"Oi Yamada, I have to talk to you," he declared as he came to a halt at their table.

Four heads looked up; the Lemon Heads as he had dubbed them, looked both confused and surprised.

That was something else he needed to fix, Ray thought to himself, thanks to his rather un-Ray-like behavior he hadn't been as much as a tyrant as he usually was. Freshmen smiled at him! Sophomores greeted him! Juniors thought they could joke around with him! He wasn't even being treated with the usual, silent, terrified respect he had been given before the half-Asian troublemaker landed in Mesa. His scowl twisted.

Great. She'd taken his tyrant crown from him too!

She raised a brow at him, un-phased by his annoyed temper or aura of absolute displeasure. She merely took another sip of her lemonade and asked with slightly pursed lips, "What do you want Beech?"

There it was!

Ray could feel his cheeks stain crimson.

"You did this!"

Her eyes widened at his accusation, her mouth forming into a delicate 'o', the obvious look of surprise on her sweetly formed features caused his flush to darken to a ridiculous hue similar to that of a freshly ripe tomato.

"You did this!" He repeated angrily, "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Dude, what're you going on about?" Wen interjected as he was sitting the closest to the irate blonde and was now treated with a blue eyed glare, its intensity matched with that of a barely restrained hurricane. The orange haired pianist shut his mouth as Olivia gently pulled him closer to herself and away from the angry rival front-man. "Uh…Ray, do you mind taking this fight elsewhere…?"

"I'm not going anywhere until that thing tells me what the hell she did to me!"

"Excuse you?" Stella demanded with a scowl, standing up angrily from her seat, "You just called me a Thing!"

"Well if the shoe fits!"

"Oh, like you're one to talk Mr-I-need-a-whole-row-of-lockers-for-random-shit-I-don't-really-need!"

"Don't turn this on me Yamada! I came here to get answers and you aren't going to worm your way out of them!"

"What the hell are you babbling about Beech, I didn't do anything to you!" Stella retorted, her anger getting more violent as she came around the table to yell at him. "Oh yeah well you-"

"Yeah, like I care you-"

"Please you wish you -"

"Whoa, guys cut it out!" Mo shouted, finally having enough and standing in between the two. "That's enough," she ordered as both teenagers choice to growl at each other. The Indian bassist sighed, rolled her eyes and looked to Ray. "Explaining yourself could help you know, this one's done a lot of stuff, it'd be nice to know which one you're calling her on."

Stella glared. "Nice Mo, I'll remember this when you make me cover for you again."

"Stel," she began warningly to which the guitarist rolled her eyes. "Fine, so," Stella began, crossing her arms and titling her head at the blonde soccer player. "What are you calling me out for?"

For getting in my head? Ray thought to himself.

For making me feel all girly and sentimental?

For making me act very un-me-like? He continued to wonder.

Her brown eyes glistened playfully, the torrent of fire from her argument with him setting her orbs alight, her skin a soft almost creamy caramel, with a blush of light pink from their little repartee and her hair, hanging lowly just above her brow, like a halo of bronzed sun-kissed silk.

Which one should he charge her with? What could he charge her with that wouldn't get him into a deeper grave than he already had?

Luckily he could avoid all that, because he knew what she did to him.

"She poisoned me!"

Her eyes widened.

"I did what?"

"Stella, I thought you were joking about that?" Olivia demanded. "I didn't actually do it!" Stella defended, "Blondie's lost it! I didn't poison him!"

"But you were planning to!" Ray pointed out, "Who's to say you didn't actually do it?"

"I say!" She retorted, "I'd never actually do something that bad! Turn your hair pink, I can do it. Rig your lockers, I can do it. Graffiti your car, I can do it. But I'd never poison anyone!"

"Then why the hell do I feel weird?"

"I don't know? Do I look like a doctor to you?" She demanded, getting more annoyed and confused than ever. What was he going on about? Stella wondered. I didn't do anything more than usual. She thought back, gingerly recalling everything since the morning they ran into each other:

Yelled at each other in the car park, argued in the hallway, glared at each other during assembly…and now this…

"Ray I really don't know what you're talking about," Stella declared, cutting him off from his rant. "Why are you feeling weird?"

"Because I am!"

"Yeah, because that answer isn't vague at all," she stated, rolling her eyes, "just tell me what I did to you?"

He glared. She glared. He glared harder. She glared back just as hard.

But there was something wrong with his glare. Something very…un-Ray-like. There was a flicker in his cobalt blue eyes something comfortable and oddly vulnerable. "Ray?" She began softly. The flicker flashed brighter.

"Uh…Stella…Ray…?" Charlie interrupted as both teenagers stood in silence in front of each other.

"Come on, we're going to talk," Stella declared, grabbing the blonde soccer player by the wrist and dragging him away.

"Uh…okay? Bye guys!" Olivia waved. Beside her, Wen waved as well. "Do you think they're going to kill each other?"

"I have very few doubts."

(^^)

"Remind me again why we're talking about this in a closet?"

"Because every time we're together in public we tend to draw crowds," she explained dryly. "So, do you mind explaining this or what?"

He frowned. "You know what that poison does Yamada, I don't need to explain it!" Stella rolled her eyes. "Humor me."

"You make me feel…funny."

"Funny?" She repeated, "What kind of funny?"

"That funny, awkward kind of funny," he elaborated uncomfortably. "Beech, we aren't in pre-school," she stated, rolling her eyes. "And aren't you on the Honor roll? Aren't you degrading yourself?"

"Shut up, you're making me feel worse."

"What?" Stella asked confused.

"One minute you're arguing with me, the next you're complimenting me."

"I wasn't…complimenting you…"

"Yeah, okay, whatever Yamada," Ray said, mocking her eye roll. She gave a sigh of exasperation. "So are you going to tell me why you decided to accuse me of poisoning you?"

"Because you did," he stated flatly.

"Ray…"

He sighed. Damn it. Why did she have to say his name?

"Just cure me already would you?"

"How can I cure you if I -" She was cut off from her sentence as he leaned over and planted his lips firmly over hers. A small squeak escaped her lips only briefly before her mind flew right out the keyhole and her hormones decided to act on their own, her hands wrapped around his neck as he gently probed her mouth with his tongue, silently asking for entrance.

Beyond the closet door, the rest of Lemonade Mouth looked at each other confused as a low moan and growl could be heard through the barrier.

"What…do you think they're doing in there?" Charlie asked, looking torn between wanting to know and staying ignorant. Mo sighed, patting his arm.

"The Doctor's administrating medication."

FINIS

I was a little disappointed by only having two entries for my competition but hey, it makes picking easier…

I was really impressed with both entries:

Just between us by The Angel of Randomsity

And

Somewhere Only We Know by LindsayR

The winner is: LINDSAYR! Applause, applause!

Of course The Angel of Randomsity's story was pretty amazing too, but I guess I just preferred Somewhere Only We Know. Please review their stories and pick a winner for yourself!

Thanks to these reviewers of my version of Cinderella: Cinderella's Sneakers:

Echotheinferno, The Angel of Randomsity, m'gannfan31, 13SaRaH, Zoe712, DramaQueen127 and Rayella Forever

Thanks for reading guys!

Ella Lavender