Chapter 1

Charlie POV

I park my car and turn off the engine in front of Mo's house. I'm picking her up to go back to school supply shopping for Stella. Wen and Olivia said they would join us at Dante's later since he's giving her horse back riding lessons.

We got back from tour a couple days ago and school starts tomorrow. I can't even describe in words or thoughts how unbelievable the experience of touring with my best friends and girlfriend during the summer was. Not to mention that we were touring around Europe, one of the most famous tourist places in the word.

The door opened, Mo sat down and put her seat belt on. I leaned over to give her quick kiss but she quickly avoided it saying, "my dad is watching, you don't want him to come out and talk to you right?" I nodded in understanding. Although her parents liked me better than Scott, there were still some ground rules.

I drove away from her home and made our way to Walmart since we're meeting Stella there. I think Stella had invited Ray and Shania to come along since they needed some school supplies as well. While we were touring Stella had decided to take Shania under her wing and the two had become best friends. A plus was that she also got to help Ray with the band if anything went wrong since the two were a couple.

We walked up to the department store and Stella waved at us. She was sitting on a bench with Ray and Shania. I guess Ray had given them a ride. We walked over and they got up. "Let's start shopping!" Mo said enthusiastically. Stella groaned and was pulled along. Mo started picking stuff off the shelf and comparing prices before chucking them into the cart I was pushing.

Stella got momentarily pulled aside because Ray wanted to discuss something with her. I could tell by her hand movements and facial expressions that it wasn't a pleasant one. Their voices were slowly rising in volume and Stella had her arms crossed while Ray explained something to her. I looked away as she grumbled and walked over to me. I'm glad Mo and I am not having these problems but I do wish my best friend would stop having so many arguments. Ray and her still occasionally fight but she says it's because of their very different views on things.

During their conversation Shania had gotten a phone call saying she had to leave. Something about emergency at home, she usually had them but we didn't question them because Stella said she was handling it.

She stood beside me and huffed. I looked at her face and she seemed really aggravated so I asked, "How's it going with him?" She turned to face me, "what do you think?" She snapped. My eyes momentarily widened but she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry Charlie, it's just today was supposed to be our alone time but he invited all of Mudslide Crush to Dante's over and UGH."

I put my hand on her back and felt her calm down a bit. I turned around to see Ray glaring at me so I quickly told Stella to check on Mo. She agreed and I pushed the cart towards the end of the aisle.

Stella screamed in shock when Mo told her that she would need all the stuff that Mo had picked out for her. "No way am I buying all of this Mohini! Was my stuff last year not good enough?" Mo rolled her eyes, "you mean taking my notes and studying off of them for exams. NO." Stella huffed, "don't you want to get into University and have a second option after we graduate? We're not going to be in Lemonade Mouth forever you know!" Mo yelled.

That hit home for Stella, I knew because every time I would come by her house I would feel a bit of a tense atmosphere when her mother asked her about University. Stella had no idea what she wanted to do but Mo of course had a back-up plan ready to go. Stella and her mother had gotten better since the start of Lemonade Mouth but still had their bumps. Stella hadn't discussed universities yet because she was scared of Mo's reaction.

I for one also didn't know what I was doing and had no idea which University I'd be going to. I wish I had Tommy here to help me out.

Ray came up behind us and said, "I'll pay for the school supplies that Stella needs, is that okay?" He asked Mo. Stella looked at her boyfriend and had kept her mouth shut as Mo nodded. None of us were expecting that, although we had grown used to Ray being nice he didn't usually buy stuff for Stella.

Stella had thanked her boyfriend so when Mo and Ray went to pay I decided to talk to Stella. "Do you love him?" I asked. I may not be a love guru but I like looking out for her, out of all of us I'm still the most cautious of Ray. Not for the reason of not trusting him it's just I don't like the way they casually have arguments.

Stella looked at me with her eyes trying to decipher my facial expression. I'm sure I had a calm, innocent expression going on. "I think I do, although we have our ups and downs we've been trying our best. I feel that through it all I can still find myself falling for him." I nodded, I had no idea what that meant, for Mo and I it was simple. "Okay, just be warned take caution when it comes to love."

Stella POV

"take caution when it comes to love." Charlie said. I looked up at him weirdly, it was weird for him to be giving me love advice especially since he was the one who took forever to date Mo. I did though take his advice and kept it in my brain. Although I didn't know exactly what that meant I'm sure I'd learn it sooner or later. Right now I have to worry about making sure that Mohini hadn't chosen any pink school supplies for me.

Time Skip

Now at Dante's I was sitting across from Ray with our hands intertwined on the table. Charlie and Mo were right beside us ordering us some pizza. The rest of Mudslide Crush had come in and Ray jumped up to do their handshake. They sat down and I got a text from Shania saying, "Not going to make it, have to baby sit." I know that Shania has a couple jobs but haven't questioned it yet.

The bell rang signaling someone coming in. Olivia and Wen made their way over to our table after Mo waved at them. I smiled at Olivia slightly windblown hair from horseback riding. They sat down and soon enough we were stuffing our faces with pizza.

After taking a slice of pizza I decided to tease Olivia about her 'lesson'. "So, Olivia how was your horseback riding lesson?" She blushed a bit and Charlie joined along, "yeah, learn anything new?" He elbowed Wen and Wen bit into his pizza to avoid answering the question.

Olivia answered, "I learned how to get on the horse and how to put the saddle on the horse. How about you Ms. Yamada, are you ready for school tomorrow?" I smiled at her, "I actually am, because Ray bought all the supplies I need." Olivia looked at Ray as he was talking to Seth.

She mouthed really? To Mo who was beside me and I got up from the table heading to the bathroom. The girls quickly followed as they noticed my quick change in mood. I turned on the tap and a girl was on each of my sides. "We didn't mean to hurt you Stella, it's just Ray has never bought you anything before." Olivia said.

I was overacted I knew this but still I couldn't help but be annoyed at my friends for always thinking that Ray didn't cherish me enough. Just because he didn't buy presents for me or argue at least once a week doesn't mean our relationship isn't strong. I mean before we got into this relationship we already argued so why should it be any different?

I washed my hands and took a deep breath. "Stella?" Mo said. I turned to face them, "sorry I'm being temperamental, and it's just that time of month." They nodded in understanding and said, "c'mon let's get back, our pizza's getting cold." I smiled at them, "yeah, I'll be there in a moment." The door banged closed and took another deep breath. I didn't lie it was that time of month, maybe that's why Ray and I fought more than usual.

Hey, so finally I updated this new story. I'm trying to get better at updating but warning I may not be the best. Are you wondering how Stella and Ray got to this point? Keep reading to find out! :)