The next few days were the calm before the storm. We went to school, we practiced, everything seemed normal. Until the new issue of TeenLife came out. We all rushed to the store directly after school to see what all the fuss was about. We rushed to the local grocery store and rushed to the magazine article. We skimmed past Tiger Beat, Bop, M, J-14, and Twist before finally coming to TeenLife. There we were staring intently at the camera against a bright pink background.
"So who wants to open it?" Mo asked looking around. "Liv should do it. It was her idea after all," Wen pointed out. "Good idea," Stella agreed handing me a copy. "Wait. Let's buy it and open it at home," I counter suggested. Everyone quickly agreed and we headed to the counter. The cashier rang it up and was about to hand it to us when she suddenly stooped. She looked from us to the magazine then back again in disbelief. "Is this... You?" she asked, eyes wide. We all nodded and made sounds of mock nonchalant conformation. "Oh my God! Oh my God oh my God oh my God!" she squealed. "You're Lemonade Mouth! My brother goes to your school! I keep trying to get him to talk you guys for me but he keeps making excuses," she explained shaking her head annoyed.
Brother? Quickly I took in her blonde pixie cut and sky blue eyes. No way... "Your brother wouldn't happen to be Ray Beech would he?" Wen finally asked. "Yupp! You know him?" she asked. "Uh, sorta," I answered quietly. "So why haven't we seen you in school?" Mo asked changing the subject. "I go to an all girls school outside of town," she answered shrugging. "That's my kinda place," Charlie piped up jokingly. This was met with a collective eye roll from us girls and silent agreement from Wen and Scott who were both too happy in their respective relationships to say anything.
"Anyway," Ray's little sister continued dramatically, "I'm Rachael." We all took turns shaking her hand. "And you're Olivia, Wen, Mo, Scott, Stella, and..." She squinted her eyes at Charlie and concentrated. "Charlie! That's it," she announced looking satisfied with herself. "At your service," he said smiling at her. Rachael blushed and cleared her throat. "I am going to get in huge trouble if my manager catches me talking to you, but maybe you guys can come over this weekend...? she suggested, hopeful blue eyes trained on Charlie's brown ones. "We'd love to," he answered not looking away from her.
"Oh just kiss each other goodbye so we can go," Stella demanded impatiently. I stifled a laugh. "Right. Sorry you guys. See you on Saturday then," Rachael said smiling shyly. "Definitely," Charlie answered. We said our goodbyes to Rachael and exited the store. "Charlie's got a girlfriend!" we teased as soon as we were out of ear shot. "It's about time," Wen teased. "Whatever guys," he muttered in response trying to look embarrassed as he walked ahead.
"Hey guys I just realized something," I said as we walked. "What is it Liv?" Wen asked. "We forgot all about this thing," I pointed out holding up our issue of TeenLife. "We really did," Mo said laughing. "Well at least if there's anything bad in there we can hope other people will forget it just as easy," Scott said. "Oh Scott. Your glass is never half full is it?" Mo asked with teasing disapproval. "Only when you're there," he answered kissing her. "Get a room!" we all begged. They just laughed.