Hey again! Back for another chapter. Before you read though, I just wanted to say that the title of this story is from Leona Lewis's song, "I Got You." Love it!
Chapter 2: Jealousy
Stella's POV
Being in Lemonade Mouth just got ten times more complicated.
I can't rehearse with these guys if I have Mo and Charlie staring at each other all day! With each look, my jealousy gets stronger. I can't focus and it affects my guitar playing.
"Stella, you're playing it all wrong! What's up with you?" Wen yelled at me. I paid no attention to his sudden outburst, however, because I saw Charlie give Mo that look again.
"Stella, hello? Earth to Yamada!" I finally snapped out of my trance when I saw Scott wave his hand in front of my face. Yeah, that's right. Scott's still in the band. The reason he and Mo broke up again was just because they felt there was something missing from their relationship. No spark, if you know what I mean. But Scott's happily married now. But still, then Mo just had to go after my Charlie - hold up, my Charlie? Get a grip, Stella, he was never yours and he never will b- Okay, I should move on now!
"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry! I just...I don't know." To be honest, I really didn't. I should be playing my music, I mean, that always makes me feel better. Instead, I keep watching Mo and Charlie stare at each other. It only makes me angrier and I shouldn't be doing it.
"We should probably take a break, guys," Scott suggested.
Olivia nodded, putting her mic back on its stand. "Good idea," she agreed.
I set my guitar down and sighed. "Hate my life," I muttered, thinking no one would hear me.
Unfortunately, Charlie heard. He walked over and put an arm around my waist. "And why does Stella hate her life?"
"Uh...no reason," I replied. Nice one, Stell. Keep going, you're doing just fine! Note the sarcasm. Can you blame me though? Charlie's arm is around my waist. When he touches me, all my self-confidence goes out the window, and I get all mushy inside. And if he wasn't holding me right now, I'd fall because my knees were failing to stay strong.
"Aw, c'mon, we're friends, right? You can tell me. What's on your mind?" Charlie asked. Friends. I officially hate that word. Friends. I want to be more, Charlie!
I bit my tounge to keep that previous sentence from coming out of my mouth, and instead responded with, "It's nothing, Charlie. I just keep screwing up with these songs."
"That's not the reason. I know you too well, Stella. I'll get it out of you eventually," Charlie declared.
"Well then, bring it on, Delgado," I challenged.
Charlie laughed. I just love his laugh. It's so adorable. Wait a minute, Stella never calls a guy adorable! Charlie definitely changed me. "Now, that's the Stella I know and love."
I wish you could just love me the way I love you, I thought.
Even though he could never love me that way, nonetheless, I smiled.
"Let's go. Everyone else is in the house," I said.
In the short five second walk into Wen's house (which was our rehearsal place), I fought the urge to grab Charlie's hand.
Luckily, that feeling was short lived once we got inside, where everyone was drinking our special trademark beverage - lemonade.
"Stella, you okay? You seem out of it today," Mo said.
"Yeah, I'm fine now."
"Guys, I've been thinking. We should probably come up with a new song, don't you think?" Olivia asked.
"Why? We have a ton of them already," Scott stated.
"Yeah," Charlie said, "But it has been a long time since we had a new single. I say we should."
The rest of us nodded. "Great! Wen, you'll help me write it, right?" Olivia glanced at Wen with pleading eyes.
"Sure, Liv," Wen replied. Of course.
But Mo shook her head. "No way! You gotta let someone else write it this time."
"Yeah. If we give you guys more alone time, who knows what'll happen?" I teased. Mo, Scott and Charlie laughed, while I smirked at Olivia and Wen's faces, which turned beet red.
"Ok, not funny! But who'll write it?" Olivia said.
"How 'bout I do it?"
The question came out of my mouth as soon as it popped up in my head. Everyone looked at me as if I had just grown another head - and another. "What?" they all said.
"I'll write a new song for us. What, you don't think I can?" I said, all of a sudden feeling a bit uneasy.
"No, it's just that, you know, it's not really like you," Wen said.
Charlie though, gave me a heart-melting smile. "I think you'll write an amazing song. Like I said, I know you too well."
That statement made my whole day. Charlie just had a way of making me feel great. "Aww, that's so sweet, Charlie," Mo said, giving Charlie a gentle kiss on the lips. That was the first time I saw them kiss. And it sickened me.
Something inside me just wanted to explode, and I couldn't take being there for another two seconds. "I feel sick. I'm going home." With that sentence, I ran out of the house, and straight to my car, ignoring my other bandmates that were calling my name constantly.
She kissed him. It should be me doing that. It should be me giving him loving glances all day, and receiving flowers from him. It should be me being able to call him mine. And Charlie should be with me. In love with me.
I don't know what to do now. So many ideas swarmed around inside my head.
Should I quit Lemonade Mouth? No. Not after all we've been through. I love Lemonade Mouth too much. I can't just quit now.
Should I leave for a little while? No, how would that help? It would only leave me with my thoughts, and I can't be left alone with my thoughts for so long.
Should I just tell Charlie the truth?...I wish I could. But it would hurt Mo, and Charlie would probably hate me and never talk to me again, which would then leave me no choice but to quit Lemonade Mouth.
I finally arrived at my apartment building. I hopped out of the car, and slammed the door so hard I could've sworn I heard the window crack.
I ran up to my apartment, and opened my door, seeing the apartment neat because I had cleaned it before I left for Wen's house.
I took out my phone, which had about 100 messages from everybody. They must be worried sick. I only left the house like 10 minutes ago.
A few from Scott. I only read a couple, which said:
Are you ok?
Why'd you leave?
Wen's basically said the same thing. I also got a ton from Olivia.
What's wrong with you?
Stella, talk to me.
Why'd you just walk out like that?
Is there something you're not telling us?
Mo had about the same amount as Olivia.
Stella, you've been acting weird all day. What's the matter?
You there?
Are you still gonna write the song? Please answer.
Mo's last text made me wonder if they thought I was gonna quit or something. But then, I saw that I got the most messages from Charlie. I decided to read them all.
You ok?
Something's wrong, Stella. And I'm gonna find out.
I hate that you're so upset. Talk to me, please.
Tears started brewing in my eyes at his last message, but I didn't dare let them fall. I threw my phone across the room, and did the only thing I could do to get rid of my anger.
I grabbed a pillow off my couch, and started screaming into it. I screamed stuff like, "Why her?" "I HATE YOU MO!" and some other stuff that wasn't really nice either. I did this until my throat hurt, and then threw the pillow too. I yanked off the other pillows, the cushions, everything off the couch, until it looked like a huge mess.
It didn't get rid of all of my anger though. There had to be something else. So, I took a vase full of flowers off my kitchen table.
I stopped myself though, when I noticed the card that was in it. I recognized this vase of flowers as the yellow jasmines that was just one of the presents that everyone got for my birthday. I set the vase down, and took the card off.
Happy Birthday Stells! Be heard, be strong, be proud!
- From all your fellow bandmates
P.S. This is Charlie. Hope your birthday is the best ever. You're the greatest friend anyone could ask for. :)
Now, I couldn't help it. I started bawling right onto the card. The pain was worse than ever. I started rummaging through the kitchen drawers until I found a pair of huge pliers. I started cutting the buds off the flowers. Is it lame that while I was doing this, I was playing that stupid, "He loves me, he loves me not" game?
I kept going until I got to the two last buds. "He loves me..."
The last one. "He'll never love me..." I whispered. Snap. The last bud was cut off.
I dropped the pliers, and stood there, observing the mess of flower buds that were on my counter. They were scattered all over, but the stems I held in my hand. Those were dropped on the counter as well, and I didn't bother to pick up the pliers off the ground. All that was left was the vase.
With the kiss between Charlie and Mo in my mind, I picked up the vase, and walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. I then proceeded to throw the vase at the nearest wall. It left a mess of glass and water on the floor. That represented what I thought of the kiss. It shattered my heart and made me want to cry a pool of tears.
Then realization came over me. I practically destroyed my own house just because I was jealous. "What have I done?" I whispered.
I can't believe I was so stupid. I've done stupid things before but this, this was just flat out insane. I should've done what those girly depressed chicks do, what do they do? Oh yeah, they watch sappy movies while crying into their popcorn, and occasionally throw it at the tv, yelling, "Liar! You don't love her, you never did!"
Ok, that seems too depressing, so instead I collapsed on the floor. As I laid there, I cried a river while trying to stare at the ceiling, but failing miserably due to the fact that my tears were blurring my vision.
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door, and a muffled voice calling out, "Stella, open up!"
I recognized that voice immediately. Charlie.
I shot up, and not bothering to clean anything or fix my hair or wipe my face, I swung open the door as if nothing happened.
"Hey, why'd you - Stella, what happened?" Charlie's eyes went wide as he walked into the room and saw the big mess.
"I was robbed. Now, why are you here?" I said, growing just a little impatient. It's not like I didn't want him here, but I would like a little privacy for the day. My friends know that when something's up, they shouldn't come to visit. I want to be left alone, and they know to respect my space. Well, at least most of them know.
"I came to see what was wrong. And seeing that you killed your house, I'm gonna say it's a big problem."
I sighed. "Charlie, go away."
"No way. Not until you tell me what's wrong."
"Can't you see that I don't wanna be bothered with? Just go! Go back to the band, go...back to Mo." I mumbled, taking a sudden interest in my shoes as I looked down.
"Mo? Stella," Charlie stepped towards me, taking two fingers and putting them under my chin as he lifted up my face, "What does that mean?"
"It, it means, um..."
Oh no. What was I supposed to say? I really blew it this time. I had to tell Charlie the truth now. I couldn't lie my way out of this one. Why did I have to open my big mouth and say that? Now he's gonna hate m-
"You know what? It doesn't matter," Charlie saved me. Phew. "Just tell me what's on your mind."
What's on your mind, Stella? Ooh! I suddenly had once of those light bulb moments. "Seeing you and Mo stare at each other, Scott and his wife, Olivia and Wen, I feel like a fifth wheel. I feel invisible." It was partially true. But I feel like a third wheel instead of a fifth.
"Stella, do you...want a...boyfriend?"
"Is it really a surprise?"
"Well, yeah."
"Ugh!" I groaned.
"I just mean...you're like a one-woman show. You always liked being single. What changed you?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know."
"You destroyed your apartment because of that?"
"I told you, I was robbed! The guy tried to take my Pillow Pet, I mean, can you blame me for trashing my home because of it?" I said overdramatically.
Charlie chuckled at my random humor. But no, it was nothing like the cute laugh he had years ago, this one was deep, alluring and, dare I say it...sexy. Yes, I dare said it. "There we go. There's the old Stella once again. Are you feeling good enough to come hang out with the band?"
My lips curved up into a smile. "Absolutely."
So we walked out the door, hand in hand, sparks flying everywhere as we did so. And we left behind the mess of glass, cut off flowers, and couch cushions to go eat with our friends. I was bombarded with questions, but I insisted that I was okay and told them not to worry. Then, all was well.
Well, all was well for the rest of that day at least.
"Stella! You ok? What happened back there?" Olivia asked as I sat down.
"Nothing, really," I reassured her.
"Actually, Stella here is lonely," Charlie smirked at me. I hid my face in my hands to hide the shame. And cue the rest of Lemonade Mouth teasing me to no end.
"Stella Yamada, looking for love?" Mo mocked.
"Not exactly looking…" I trailed off. I had already found it, I just didn't know what to do with it. Of course, I wasn't gonna tell them that, was I? Nope, I'll just mope and keep it to myself.
"Well, this is great news! We should totally find you someone!" Olivia squealed. And now let's cue Operation Find Stella A Man. Cause judging by the looks Mo and Olivia were giving me, they were already putting that operation in action.
"Ooh, how about that cute guy that we saw in the street yesterday?"
"No way, he's so not her type. That cashier from Berkley's?"
"He seems depressed all the time. How about Ray? He was mean in high school but now he's so-"
"Hold up! Ray Beech is never gonna get with this," I ran my hands down my body for emphasis. "Wen, Charlie, Scott, distract me from this…..this horror. Talk about football, the internet, Wen, tell us how you secretly write about how pretty Olivia is in your diary, just get me off their topic!"
Wen's face went as red as his hair for the second time today. "I do not write about how pretty Olivia is in a diary, let alone do I have one!"
I raised my eyebrows. "But you admit she's pretty?"
Wen shut up. Olivia looked at him, mouth slightly ajar. She looked at me then.
"Wow," I said, "and you try to find someone for me, when you can't declare your undying love for your painfully obvious crush?"
"Yeah, come on guys, it's time," Charlie backed me up.
"And I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. Mo, come with me!" And with that, she dragged Mo out by her hair, despite Mo's protests.
Wen soon did the same thing. "Scott, we need to talk!"
"Hey what about me…." Charlie started.
"You get used to it. Let's face it, we're outcasts." I sighed dramatically.
"So, we were thinking, since you seemed really down today, maybe we could have a get-together just for fun."
"We have those," I pointed out, "They're called band rehearsals."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I mean, like a hangout."
"Or a sleepover!" I squealed.
"Sounds like a plan!" Charlie agreed.
When the rest of the band came back, we all agreed to have the sleepover take place at Mo's place. Scott's wife would we there, and even Ray, since Mo and Scott swore he's a good guy now. It was to take place this Friday. Sounds like this'll be an interesting night.
So that's it! Sorry this took FOREVER, my computer was messed up. The next chapter will be very….interesting, and better than this one, which I think sucked. Yep, it sucks. But did you like it? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! PLEEEEASE REVIEW! They make the world go round and round like the wheels on a bus…..but faster! (I think.) Now that I'm making no sense, this author's note is over. Bye!