Saturday October 18th at Cat's home
"sorry about not getting to you like I told Tori I would, I'm just so worried about my coworkers, one flat lined twice yesterday because she was bleeding from one ear, I feel like it's my fault" says Robbie
"they were using the employees as bargaining chips with the cops Robbie, if I've learned anything is that if someone with a gun thinks they have a reason to shoot someone they will, whether the reason is based on reality or not, being a Jewish person, you're lucky you weren't the person shot at" says Andre
"I haven't practiced in months, I'm more atheist than anything now, my father was getting a little extreme so I don't like associating with it within my family, that coworker, she's Jewish, she practices every day, she hates that I stopped but was very glad that I was there to call the ambulance when she got shot, the shooter didn't care that I was calling for an ambulance, as he saw it I was distracted and therefore couldn't negotiate with him for the cops" says Robbie
"that's not an easy thing to do even on a good day, you saved lives and that shooter was arrested, you shouldn't feel guilty for not being able to do stuff professionals can do, even they fail sometimes, when you're a hostage there isn't usually much you actually can do, you did the right thing, you saved lives, you won't have to work there anymore, Cat finally gave me a cheque for my time writing music, even though I haven't yet mastered her style yet, the cheque is for fifteen thousand dollars, I wasn't expecting anything like that, I was thinking a few hundred dollars so I could fill my tank and pay my phone bill, do you know why it was so much" says Andre
"Olivia and Mohini are here, mostly to visit while Jade, Selena and Cally take those four kids to the beach for sandcastle contest hour, they talked about life and Cat mentioned how you're working on writing songs for her and Tori, Olivia asked how much she's paying you and Cat said 'well I haven't paid him yet, he hasn't written a proper song to fit my theme', Olivia slapped her and said 'you don't take advantage of people, writing music in your style takes time, if he doesn't have a job then he's behind on bills, pay him or I tell the label what you are doing with his talent', Cat immediately wrote a check, all I heard before Tori ushered me out was thousand, I didn't know how much it was, why do you seem upset about that amount" says Robbie
"because I'm behind on my car payment and my car insurance, they take everything I put in there beyond a certain amount until I'm square, if I deposit this check for ten grand, they'll take all of it and I'll still owe five grand, it will leave me with nothing" says Andre as Trina walks over to comfort him, already feeling comfortable as Andre's girlfriend
"maybe Liv or Mo can do something about it, they're absolutely loaded, they get passive revenue from streams of their old Lemonade mouth songs and they just released a new album in Halloween style, it's actually pretty awesome" says Robbie
"right like I can just ask them for money without them asking for something in return" says Andre not believing it could be that easy
"hey it can't hurt to ask babe, honestly their music is a half step away from Cat's, they're pretty generous, when Cat was starting out they paid for all her equipment so she could record from home, her pear top had been crashing, her microphone was cutting in and out, Olivia and Mo helped her out, that equipment is worth over sixty grand, ooh, here they come, here's your chance to gate money Andre" says Trina as she promptly sits down, pulling Robbie with her
"I was hoping you'd have driven right away to deposit that check, I need to talk to Robbie about Cat stuff" says Olivia
"I'm in debt, I only got to keep my car because Robbie was helping me pay my bills, the car people, by that I mean car insurance and car payment people, they negotiated with my bank that in order to make certain that I can pay them, I get to keep everything under five grand, anything above that they take the majority of, so I can't deposit this check without them taking nearly eight grand, even then I'd still need to come up with another nine grand to pay it off" says Andre
"what company" asks Mo
"Sentinel car and home insurance, the first month was fine then all of a sudden they tripled my rate without giving me an explanation" says Andre
"that car would be the reason, its not a car I would recommend for people without a lot of money or access to it, why'd you get that car anyway, they're high maintenance" says Mo
"my idiot of a brother came down from Portland to visit with our grandmother for the last time before she passed away at the beginning of this year, I told him my car wasn't diesel by any means, not even in the slightest and he still put diesel in it when he topped it up, completely destroyed the engine as he actually drove it around after topping it up, the mechanic said getting a new car would be cheaper than getting a new engine from Canada, the monthly car payments are actually pretty cheap so the insurance is my only problem, Tori was with me the day I got the car, she zoned in on it and said that car would be a chick magnet, at the time I was desperate for something girls would love to be in when I take them out on dates, Trina definitely loves it" says Andre
"what's the policy number" asks Olivia
"I'll write it down" says Andre writing his policy number down and handing it to Olivia
"do they do this often, you act like you do this all the time" asks Trina
"we do it often enough because it's personal for us, we both used to use Sentinel, my bill never increased, Mohini's went up six times what it should be, simply because she's Indian, we'll take care of it, consider it paid, oh and you'll want to find another method of transportation this week as you'll be uninsured but after that you'll be fine, we'll get you on a far fairer insurance company's policy, we'll pay for the first two months but it shouldn't be more than two hundred dollars every other month" says Olivia
"how is that possible, I thought insurance had to be billed monthly" asks Trina
"this company is different, they focus on affordability, I just got Cat signed up for whole home insurance and they aren't charging her more than four hundred dollars every two months, that includes coverage for all the fixes she's had made as well as the pool" says Olivia
"you're dating Mohini aren't you, I see the way she looks at you Olivia" asks Trina changing the subject
"not as far as our fans are concerned, Christians are a hefty portion of our base, and unfortunately some fans views are getting more and more extreme when it comes to sexuality, most of our fans carried over from our lemonade mouth days and the vast majority of them shipped Wen and I, him and I tried to make it work because I did genuinely like him but we clashed on many things and it only made working together on music for the band hard, we had a fight and I crashed at Mo's house, if our fans knew, we wouldn't be able to do what we do with our money, like what Cat wants to do with her money, though someone needs to talk to Ella's mom, it can't be cat" says Olivia
"is the situation that bad" asks Andre
"you have no idea, they think it's a phase and she will break Savannah's heart and 'return to normal' by Christmas" says Mo
"where are they" asks Andre, clearly angry
"beach, spying on Ella, apparently they don't trust Jade, Selena or Cally, based on what Selena has been texting Tori, cops might have been called on Jade for 'kidnapping' Ella" says Olivia
"I'm supposed to be working on getting Cat's style down so I can write music for her, can't Robbie go" says Andre
"Robbie isn't intimidating enough, besides Jade asked for your help specifically, Trina's reps as a lifeguard will help things" says Olivia
"besides we need to talk to Robbie about Cat's mental health situation" says Mo
"ok, Trina, do you mind driving" asks Andre
"you can use my car, technically I work in an hour, I'll go with you but I'd rather you drive, the brakes are quite sensitive, I just had them replaced and I haven't gotten the right pressure down to slow down slowly" says Trina
"fair enough" says Andre as they head to the garage and get in Trina's car
"what's the situation, she was fine when I left the room an hour ago" asks Robbie suddenly worried
"I had to lie so they didn't force you to go, though Jade really did ask for his help, Cat's been resisting her emotions long enough, she didn't think you could fake not being with her and Tori in public, unfortunately they can't hold back anymore, they want you in their bed, making love to them" says Mo
"but Cat's not of age, I could be arrested" says Robbie
"and who do you think is going to rat on you, aside from us the house is empty besides Cat and Tori upstairs" says Olivia
"but what if they regret it, they'll tell their parents, Tori's dad is a cop and I think Cat's mom is a lawyer, how do I know if this is a test or not" asks Robbie
"if it's a test you're failing" says Olivia
"I don't understand, surely it would have been an easy choice for them" asks Robbie
"far from it, they're a tad suicidal, they don't do much these days without careful consideration, even after asking us to come down here to get you, the next words out of their mouths were 'oh god he's going to think we're s*s, he's going to walk away, and hate us for the rest of our lives', they're as terrified as you are, the problem for them is, if they continue to resist, there will be mental or possibly physical consequences for them, now go, we'll be in town all week, we have two local shows but Cat has our number so feel free to ask for our number so we can talk about this stuff further if you have any questions but now we have to go, so seriously go upstairs and make them happy, go slow if you have to but air your concerns, they won't leave you if you don't perform well, they're firmly in love with you" says Olivia as they leave and Robbie heads upstairs now knowing he can talk to someone about his fears outside of the friend group
Meanwhile With Andre, Jade and Trina and the girls at the beach
"you have no right to spy on your daughter, it's not only wrong but it's very creepy and could get you sued" says Andre firmly putting his foot down
"it's just a phase and you know it, we're getting tired of it, Savannah must be blackmailing our Ella, Savannah definitely doesn't have any other appealing parts of her personality" says Mr. White
"chief, they've been taking pictures of Ella in her new bathing suit, would that be classified as child p*n" asks Andre
"without Ella's knowledge" asks Chief of police Jacob Daniels
"she didn't even know they were here, Jade didn't want them to know as it would ruin their day, any pictures of Ella include the others and neither Savannah nor Ivy consent to pictures unless they're holding the cameras or phones" says Jade
"do you allege pedophilia" asks chief Daniels
"yes, Ella doesn't talk about her home life, says it's 'inappropriate' but she doesn't elaborate more than that" says Jade
"that's a preposterous claim Miss West, if we're pedophiles for taking pictures of our daughter then your father is also a pedophile, you've been in many bathing suit pictures for a long time, we've seen them online" says Mrs. White
"there's a difference between taking pictures without asking and getting permission, my dad ALWAYS asked me if he could take pictures at the beach and I ALWAYS got to review them, please take them away chief, I'd like to press charges" says Jade
"other than pedophilia, what other charges would you like to press against them" asks Chief Daniels
"how about forcing her to walk around the house absolutely naked, they're nudists but they never let her say no, my dad's been trying to sue them over that for well over five years, Ella's older daughter just moved out and went no contact" says Jade
"how do you know any of this" asks Mr. White, clearly upset Jade somehow knows everything
"Melissa is a friend of mine idiots, did you really think she wouldn't talk about the naked photoshoots you forced her to do when she turned thirteen then you sent those pictures to your friends" says Jade as Mrs. White is furious as the police chief arrests them
"I'll expect a full list of charges you wish to press against them as soon as possible, they keep good lawyers, I doubt we'll be able to hold them long" says Chief Daniels
"them enjoying the contest right now is all that concerns me, maybe you can't hold them but you can restrict their access to this area, they know where Cat lives, it won't be a surprise as to why this area in particular would be restricted" says Jade
"I can do that but only for a few hours" says Chief Daniels as he leaves with the White in cuffs
3 hours later back at home
"Mel, you're not supposed to be here, who let you in" says Jade, worried Cat's going to get angry
"Tori's dad dropped me off, he saw me walking around with a blanket the homeless shelter gave me, he correctly assumed what mom and dad were doing and why I had a garbage bag with my stuff in it, my laptops probably destroyed, I was using it yesterday and it sparked then shut off, it had all the evidence I needed to put mom and dad in jail, the only backup I have is Ella" says Melissa as Savannah, Ella, Arielle and Ivy head downstairs
"wait are you saying Ella's not a real human, like she's a robot or something" asks Trina
"no, like as in she has perfect memory, some people call it photographic memory but her specific variant of that condition includes audio memories, she's like a literal living and breathing computer" says Melissa
"but she wouldn't tell the chief about what your parents did to you and her, without evidence, the LAPD will be forced to drop the charges I just laid against them" says Jade
"Ella doesn't talk to cops, she doesn't trust them, she's of the belief that if mom and dad were doing anything wrong we'd have been taken from them a long time ago, the inaction on the cops part proves to her they're corrupt and won't help people like us" says Melissa
"could I take a look at the laptop, technology is my specialty" asks Robbie
"you can't touch the data, a high level under cover FBI agent gave me a program to hack into all our homes cameras, both surveillance and phones as well as laptops, if you touch the data, even something as simple as moving a file, the program will destroy all the data, I don't want to have Ella relive everything if she doesn't have to" says Melissa
"what are the chances she's told Savannah anything, because I've caught them breaking rules, Cat specifically told them anything they did in their rooms HAD to be age appropriate and she forbade anything beyond kissing but I've caught Ella touching Savannah, so far I've kept this from Cat but if Cat finds out, Savannah's safe haven here ends, she'll be forced back home and only be allowed to talk to Ella over video chat" says Jade
"mom and dad perverted her sense of what constitutes 'valid' rules, mainly because her 'sexual age' was deemed to be two years older than she physically is, however she wouldn't do anything without Savannah's approval or suggestion, at best she'd play with herself or grope herself, it takes her a significant amount of time to adjust to normal style rules, also unless you reinforced the rules, to her they're just words, if you catch her breaking rules you need to call her on it" says Melissa
"I was going to until you told me what home life was like, that's why I cut them some slack" says Jade
"so is it just touching or are they going further, touching her girlfriend is one thing, making love is another, I need the truth Jadelyn, if she's absolutely out of control no amount of evidence will keep mom and dad out of jail" says Melissa
"just touching but in a sexual type situation, it's hard to explain, the best way I can explain it is they're playing with the exposed skin, while I did give them some rope, I told them that putting their fingers inside would absolutely end this neutral space experiment and the cops would likely send them to mental health facilities like what Selena and Cally were in" says Jade
"since you put that firm line in, has there been any indication that they're pushing past even that" asks Melissa
"they've confided 8n me that they are curious about going further but they swear on their lives they haven't pushed that rule" says Jade as Melissa seems to cool off a bit
"good, that means the conditioning dad was trying on her failed" says Melissa
"what conditioning" asks Jade
"he wanted to amplify the condition to blow past her teenage years mentally so she could act like an adult in bed so he could sell the images online and actually make a profit off of her without her being any the wiser to it, just knowing he failed makes me happy but being with Stella would put me over the moon but that's never going to happen" says Melissa as the power flickers
"I happen to know Stella is in town, she was at the beach today, competing in the sandcastle competition, she treated Ella, Savannah, Ariel and Ivy as equals and she even asked about you" says Jade
"see the thing is, last year I professed my feelings in a letter to her after lemonade mouth was officially done and likely never coming back, she sent me a letter saying 'never EVER contact me again', I don't see why suddenly she'd care all of a sudden" says Melissa
"for as smart as you are Mellie, you seem to miss the entire point of age of consent, last year you were seventeen, she was eighteen, to you it may be just a year but to many legal authorities it's the difference between a minor who is unable to legally consent and an adult, had she done anything other than what she did, she might have been arrested, that doesn't mean she can't come looking for you now, she's had a lot of time to think about and re read your letter" says Jade
"I don't think she can change THAT much Jade, besides she's a social justice warrior, she made it quite clear in her response letter that it would be amoral for her to date someone who is suffering from systematic abuse, something she publicly fights to end, she sees it as something the public would see as a 'media stunt', Robbie, the laptops on the kitchen table, do what you can but don't touch the data, I'm going to have a nap by the pool, don't interrupt me unless you fixed it" says Melissa as she heads to the pool
"Jade, I need a ride to the TechMania store" says Robbie
"how much will it cost me and you haven't even looked at the laptop yet, how can you know what's wrong" says Jade
"just by looking at it I know what happened, that's last years Peartop model, it's known to have faulty batteries that lock out the charge circuit, Pear certified TechMania as it's only approved aftermarket product supplier after the whole battery fault media fiasco, Techmania makes their own batteries, they're so good Pear puts them in their peartops by default now, anything with a battery from Pear this year forward will have next gen Techmania batteries, Melissa said she was on the streets this week, I highly doubt she opened the laptop indoors, it's been very humid this year" says Robbie
"ok so how much will it cost me, Mel is a dear friend, I don't need Cat paying for this" says Jade
"I got it covered" says Robbie
"ok, I have to ask, what was it like in bed with Cat and Tori" asks Selena
"all I'll say is Cat didn't take the pain well, I told her we didn't have to if she was scared, it was like she took it as a challenge, but the pain, she screamed, Tori seemed to be in less pain but again I gave them a choice, they're taking a nap, they'll be up for dinner" says Robbie
"ok let's go, Mel doesn't nap for long and she seemed to really not want Ella to relive whatever happened, are you certain that replacing the battery won't mess with anything" asks Jade as Robbie follows her to her car
"there is a special service mode to link the laptop to the new battery, it's built into the motherboard, the laptop doesn't actually boot up so I don't see how it could unless that FBI software messes with firmware on the motherboard" says Robbie
At TechMania
"Jade where's Mel, it's important" asks a female TechMania employee
"are you the UA" asks Robbie as April Jaylyn nods
"I suspect her laptop battery shorted, she said she tried to use it this week after she fled the house and it sparked, which is typically how a shorted battery presents itself on her laptop as it's last years generation, there was a confrontation at the beach today between Jade and Ella and Mel's parents, with Andre's help the chief arrested them but he can't keep them if there isn't evidence he can present to a prosecutor" says Robbie
"and you're certain its just the battery, because if it's the hard drive all my undercover work will be for nothing, though you should know, it's not just her family, it's a child p*n selling ring her family is the snake head, the LAPD alone can't take them down, it HAS to be a federal case, trust me cops will drop dead if the LAPD handles it, don't get me wrong, the LAPD is an amazing police force for the most part but this is bigger than any one city, it stretches half the country" says April
"is Stella here with a protective detail, because she's the biggest popular person in America bringing light to this, also I have to wonder how you got authorization to give a victim like Mel FBI software, how could you know she'd be able to use it" says Jade
"Stella is actually the one who told me about Mel and Ella's situation, I sent their names up to my superior and alarm bells went off at the LA field office, I mean that literally, the response I got was 'protect and monitor them at all costs, I don't care how much it costs, their parents are the ring leaders' so I got the program to Mel" says April
"so the battery, its for the seventeen inch variant" says Robbie as April yells
"Jeremy I need a previous generation pear top seventeen inch battery rung up" yells April
"on it" says Jeremy
"wait you actually know your stuff, I thought you were just a UA" asks Jade
"my little sister is a tech genius, when I got this assignment she gave me a crash course on electronic product lingo, she is the best, probably even better than you Robbie, her particular electronic science focus is in battery chemistry, so much so that Pear contacted her for advice on how to solve the publicity fiasco, it's why I was placed here" says April as Jeremy walks over with the battery and a remote purchase terminal
"that'll be fifty dollars there Robbie, fixing Cat's laptop again" asks Jeremy
"it's Mel's laptop Jeremy, they say she opened it outside, in this heat and humidity it wouldn't take much" says April
"ugh, always forgetting about extreme moisture that girl, I warned her not to open it outside" says Jeremy
"you know her" asks Jade
"my little brother knows Ella, he protects her like he is her brother, it's amazing, he doesn't bond with anyone else like that" says Jeremy as Robbie sets his debit card onto the mobile terminal and Stella walks in
"Jade can we talk" asks Stella as Robbie and Jade simply walk out, ignoring her as Melissa is technically in hiding
"what's their problem, I just wanted to talk about Mel" asks Stella
"they won't, not in public, they were only here because Mel turned her laptop on and shorted the battery, Jade doesn't talk about those she's protecting, plus your last letter to Mel probably turned Mel against you" says April
"ugh I was wondering why she was glaring at me at the beach, I didn't send that last one, my fan mail manager found out she wasn't yet eighteen and lost it, he said he was going to stop it before I got sued, turns out he had the hots for me and didn't like that I love someone closer to my age instead of him who is twice my age, the thing is, Mel and I literally only talked life, love rarely ever got brought up and sex even less, sure maybe I hinted that something might be possible in the future but I made sure that I made it clear that I was making no promises because of the fact that she wasn't yet of consenting age, he stole from me to pay someone to forge my handwriting, he's now serving ten years for various crimes, among them forging letters to fans, anyway I should probably go back to crying in my apartment" says Stella as she leaves