On the 6th, it was finally time for the show as Cynthia gave Cecilia a little glare, still upset. Cecilia sighed, not knowing what Cynthia liked. Oliver was planning something for Cynthia.
Garrett refused to speak to his friends, or the family for that matter, except for Luke.
"Hmph…" Garrett says as he leaves to meet up with Remy and Beau.
"Well, good luck." Alem tuber tells his step-siblings.
"I'd like to join you, old friend." Someone tells Garrett. Remy gasped.
"My name is Melissa." The girl says.
"Melissa! My God, it's been years!" Garrett says.
"I see you don't have the wheelchair anymore." Melissa says.
"Nope. I can walk perfectly well now." Garrett says.
"You're disabled?" Remy asked.
"No, wait, are you assuming I'm disabled for knowing Garrett in the past?" Melissa asked.
A 12 year old walked in the room and looked for Garrett.
"Hey, Garrett." she says.
"Melony?" Garrett asked as she smiled and kissed Remy on the cheek
"Melony, he's over there." Melissa says.
"Oh, sorry." Melony says.
"Why are you here?" Garrett asked.
"We wanna join your team! Please say it's not too late!" Melony asked.
"They can join." Beau says with a smile.
"Good, cause it's snowing and my feet are still cold." Melony says.
Meanwhile, Lola gave Luke a gift.
"A gift for the best party planner ever!" Lola says.
"Well, this is something…" Luke says, accepting the gift. It was a mini crystal Luke.
"Oh, how delightful, Lola, thank you!" Luke says. He then gets his performance stuff. "Me, Shane, and Penny have to go over our routine one more time before the show, so I need to meet up with them now."
"And me." Sal says.
"Yes, now come. Shane and Penny are waiting." Luke says.
Later, Melony noticed it was snowing and gulped. "Someone carry me." She says.
"You could wear shoes." Remy says.
"Nope." Melony says.
"She's weird." Remy whispered to Beau.
"Totally." Beau says.
Soon, it was interview time as Shane spots Melony trying on one of his outfits.
"Hey!" Shane says as Melony spun, accidentally slapping him.
"Oops…" she says.
"It's okay. Just be careful around here, all right?" Shane says as Penny looked suspicious of Melony.
"She seems weird. She kissed Remy, then slapped you. I bet she's blind, which means she won't see me coming." Penny says and tries to attack, but Melony dodges.
"I'm not blind." Melony says and makes it to the interview room.
"Hey, Luke, did you hear Garrett has old friends?" Penny says.
"Yes. I know about them. I also know Garrett is still mad at our family for forgetting about September 20th." Luke says.
"Not all of them are friendly with Garrett." Shane says.
Remy had a gift and saved it for later, knowing Luke would give Garrett a party.
Oliver and Cecilia were planning together to celebrate Cynthia.
"Ah-hem!" His siblings say.
"What? I have to. Someone ruined her birthday." he says as Cecilia looks ashamed.
"We have to rehearse right now, Oliver." Stevie says.
Meanwhile, Kat and Ana were on patrol.
"So, truth or dare?" Kat asked.
"Truth." Ana says.
"Do you like someone?" Kat asked.
"Not yet." Ana says, blushing. Then had a cheeky smile.
"Truth or dare?" Ana asked.
"Dare." Kat says.
"Ride around on a skateboard across Royal Woods, naked." Ana says.
Kat winced and actually started to take off her clothes.
Meanwhile, Luke was spying on Garrett. He saw Garrett was a bit angry.
Luke noticed a green box and took it and approached Garrett.
"Happy birthday, Garrett." he says, giving him a present.
"So you remember. Finally." Garrett says.
"I'm sorry, Garrett." Luke says. Garrett opens it to show a really cool belt.
"Cool! It matches my costume and everything, thanks!" Garrett says to Luke. "And if you see our other siblings, tell them they're screwed. They should have known my 17th birthday was on September 20th. Yet they chose to ignore it and me."
"Not all of them were friendly with you. I'll tell Leni to make you something, though." Luke says, not sure why his siblings never attended Garrett's stuff in the past, but that may be due to wanting to be overprotective of Luke and not for Garrett.
"After the show, I have a surprise for you." Luke says.
"Sure you do." Garrett says coldly.
Soon, it was show time as Melony was doing vocal warm ups.
"I swear she's blind…" Penny says, wanting to expose her for hitting Shane.
The siblings were decorating for Garrett. Lucy knew this would end badly, knowing he was Luke's brother.
Gemma came on stage with Dave.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Season 8 of America's Next Hitmaker!" Dave says.
"Tonight, we are live from Huntington Oaks, Michigan for our season 8 opener! This season, we have teams that vary in number, but are talented nonetheless! This season, we have prizes for all the finishers in the finals! But our top team will receive the grand prize, which is not only going to consist of $8,000,000 and the Diamond Microphone trophy, it's also consisting of a world tour, a personal recording session with the musical artist or band of their choice, and their own show at the Crystal Tower Hotel in Redshore City, where they will get to work with the new owner, Rhett O'Hara, who you all may know as Commander Colby Franklin from the TV show Cosmic Frontier." Gemma says.
"The Rhett O'Hara! Eeeee!" Shane squealed with excitement. "Cosmic Frontier is my favorite show!"
"Coming up first are the Adventure Kids!" Dave says.
"The theme for this season's season opener is Rock What You Got!" Gemma says. "Meaning it's a freestyle performance show!"
They performed "Zero" by Imagine Dragons. The crowd was delighted by their performance.
Luke was backstage, making sure he was ready to perform. He, Shane, Sal, and Penny prepared quite the performance for this season opener.
The Cosmic Buddies were even in attendance.
The Adventure Kids finished their performance.
"Coming out on stage next, a quintet who truly needs no introduction, but are getting one anyway…The Fox Quintuplets!" Gemma says as the crowd screams for the Foxes.
They appear and do their performance to "Dance Like Yo Daddy" by Meghan Trainor. They really let it all loose with this performance.
The girls screamed for Oliver, Griffin, and Stevie. Boys fainted when they saw Pam and Rachel. Emma was just cheering them on.
Soon, the Foxes finished their performance as the crowd roared for them.
Mona gets ready for her debut. Mugman smiled at her. Mona sees Mugman is dressed in a rock star outfit, noticing how his tank top fits so well on his toned upper body. She turned red, trying to focus on preparing.
"Good luck." Cricket says.
Mona can just nod in response as she thought of getting Mugman in bed after the show.
"Coming up next, making their ANH debut… Mona Pizza, Art, and Deco! And a guy you all know so well…" Gemma starts to say.
"Mugsy! Mugsy! Mugsy!" The crowd chanted and cheered.
"That's right! Give it up for Mona, Art, Deco, and your resident mug, Mugman!" Dave says as the four of them take the stage.
"We love you, Mugman!" The fans cheered.
The group begins performing their rendition of "We Built This City" by Starship.
The group worked fabulously together and Mona and Mugman sang so well as a duet on stage. And when Mugman did his guitar solo, girls were shrieking with excitement.
Soon, they finished as Melony was looking down.
"Are you ready?" Melissa asked.
"Yeah, just this once before I get, well, you know." Melony says, getting ready.
"Remember, no changing the routine." Remy says.
"Garrett had to plan this routine out just right." Beau says. "One screw up could cost us a lot."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Stop treating me like I'm a hindrance." Melony says.
Garrett stormed away. He couldn't stand being scolded while he was under pressure.
"What do you see in them? They're probably just going to be rude to you." Penny says.
"They were never rude to me before. They were always kind to me. They really have changed." Garrett says.
"Okay, answer me. Is this Melony blind? You seem to know her." Penny asked. Garrett nodded.
"I knew it." Penny says. "It was so obvious. But why did you let her be on the team if she's blind?" Penny asked.
"She said she could do this. She's always wanted to prove the world wrong." Garrett says.
"I need to just breathe right now...I hate being told off when I'm under pressure!" Garrett shouted.
"Melony, what did you do?!" Melissa asked.
"They were mocking me and telling me to not change the routine. I'm not deaf!" Melony says.
"Well, your scolding ran Garrett off." Melissa says.
Melony ran over to him. "Garrett, I'm sorry. It's just I try to be tougher than I am and I'm autistic and blind, so I'm overwhelmed tonight. Please don't take what I say seriously. Like you, I'm really under a lot of pressure." She says.
"You don't know the half of it. I know most of my siblings are here for Luke. The real star of the show. I'm not even seen as that in their eyes…what if I do screw up?" Garrett then sheds tears.
"I'm sorry." Melony says, hugging him.
Soon, it was their turn.
"Are you sure you're willing to do this?" Melissa asked.
"Yeah, I am. I'll be fine. As long as I don't touch fire or water, I'm fine." Melony says.
Garrett stood tall on center stage, taking deep breaths. Fans cheered.
"Go, Garrett!" Leni says.
"You got this!" Lola says.
"I love you, Garrett!" Kylie says. Garrett had to smile at her. No matter what happened, Kylie would always be in his corner.
They soon began to perform "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham, Garrett singing lead as Remy and Beau are just smiling and performing.
Luke looked annoyed at Melony. Charity had to remind him of what would happen if he was rude to another contestant. He would be sent to her sister's farm for a month.
The team soon finished as fans mainly clapped and cheered for Garrett, making it clear it was his night and his time to shine.
"How'd I do?' Melony asked, facing a wall.
"Oh Garrett, you did great!" Melissa says. Melony walked away.
Soon, Luke was eating. Lucy had set everything up for the party.
"Hey, Stephen, I need you to bake a nice cake for Cynthia." Oliver says.
"I gave you that cake already." Stephen said coldly.
"Yeah, that was last week, and we forgot to actually do the party. I'm a busy guy." Oliver says.
"Not important. We need to bake a cake for Garrett." Luan says.
Stephen sighed, stressed. "Ugh, fine!" He stomped off.
"Why can't Savannah bake? She's free." Ann suggested.
"Okay, I can bake." Savannah says.
"After the party, we need to head to the Inkwell Isles and finish the reconstruction." Emila says.
Stephen stormed out of the stadium, at his wit's end. He was screaming into the phone at Haiku, who noticed the stress and anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Remy needed me. What's wrong?" She asked.
"WHERE. DO. I. BEGIN?!" Stephen shouted.
"Coming up next, the stars of the show…" Gemma began.
"Luke, Luke, Luke, Luke!" Fans screamed and chanted.
"We want Shane! We want Shane!" More fans chanted.
"We love you, Penny!" More fans say.
"That's right! Luke Huntington, Shane Loud, and Penny Crygor, your star trio! And their new addition, Sal!" Gemma says. "Tonight, they are going to perform a scene from the SpongeBob SquarePants musical, so let's give it up for this amazing group!"
The crowd screamed as the group began their performance of "Hero Is My Middle Name" from the SpongeBob SquarePants musical. Luke played SpongeBob, Shane was Patrick, and Penny was Sandy. Sal was just playing the role of Sandy's lab assistant.
Girls fainted and others screamed for Luke and Shane.
Soon, they finished as the crowd cheered. They were in first place to start off the season.
Later, Garrett arrived at his favorite club as confetti fell on him. "Happy birthday, Garrett!" Everyone says.
Garrett was speechless; there was confetti falling all around him. And there were pictures of him. He smiled at this and couldn't believe this was all for him.
Meanwhile, Cynthia arrived at Oliver's house, unsure, as confetti fell around her. "Happy birthday, Cynthia!" The Foxes, Cosmic Buddies, and Adventure Kids say.
"What?!" Cynthia asked.
"Look, you deserve a birthday party. A real one." Oliver said.
Cynthia smiled at all this. "Thanks, guys." She says.
Later, Garrett and Kylie were dancing. Garrett smiled at Kylie and kissed her.
"You are a wonderful dancer and a marvelous singer, my gorgeous Garrett." Kylie says. "You were amazing tonight."
"You could join us, my love." Garrett says to Kylie.
"I couldn't possibly take your spotlight from you, sugar cookie." Kylie says. "You deserve to be a stage star after all you've been through."
"There will be a dunking contest and a swimming pool." Garrett says, wanting to finally swim.
"Sweet!" Kylie says.
"Has anyone seen a green box?" Melony asked.
"You mean the gift Luke gave me?" Garrett asked as Melony froze.
"That was the gift I made for you." Melony says as Luke gulped. He made a mistake.
"So, Luke didn't get me a gift at all?!" Garrett hissed.
"I did and it's way better." Luke says.
"Hey!" Melony says, offended.
Garrett opens it and gasps with delight. "A basketball! And a soccer ball!" Garrett grinned. "Thank you, Luke!"
Leni got him a new birthday suit. Garrett was surprised by this. He had never gotten a suit before.
He then saw a gift from Luna. It was a guitar in emerald green and it had his name on it.
"I love it!" Garrett smiled at it.
He found a gift from Shane. It was a stage jacket with his name on the back.
"Every star needs something with their name on the back of it. And when I saw this, I knew it was meant for you!" Shane tells Garrett.
He smiled at this and hugged Shane.
With Cynthia, she opens Oliver's gift. It was the newest fashion design kit.
"Thanks. Hey, you think I got a chance at winning?" She asked.
"Considering the odds, no." Teeders says, being realistic.
"Yeah, you can't beat my step-siblings!" Emma says.
She opens Kali's gift to see a new dress. Bill made her a fan as she smiled.
Meanwhile, Lucy reads a poem for Garrett as he smiles. Then Lola did a performance for him.
Then he saw swimming trunks. He soon changed into them and dove into the pool.
"Come on, Melony!" he says.
"I can't swim!" she says.
"You can try." Luke says.
"Fine, but only if someone holds me." Melony says. Melissa sighed and grabbed her.
Garrett was starting to get the hang of it. Kylie smiled at him.
Later…
"Campfire time!" Garrett says.
"Wait, what?" Melony asked as Melissa covered Melony's ears.
"I can still hear." Melony says.
Meanwhile, Oliver was telling some of his best stories.
"Cool." Cynthia says and noticed Ann had bailed on her a long time ago.
"Some friend." Cynthia says.
"Who wants food?" Skylia asked.
"Burgers?" Angry Luigi asked as she nodded.
"So what's next for you cosmic buddies? We heard about your victory. Your first actual victory without help in such a long time." Kali says. They smile sheepishly and shrug.
"Hopefully your next adventure won't have the Foxes in it, right?" David asked as Emma smiled.
"Nope." she says.
"Are you sure?" Skylia asked.
"Yeah, we're sure." Delta says.
At Garrett's party, they brought out the basketball piñata. Garrett gasped at the sight of it. Garrett was given a baseball bat and broke it open as candy fell out. He got a good bit of candy and then ate a few Snickers bars.
"So how about you 2 stay at my house for the night?" Garrett asked.
"Sure." Melissa says.
"Who's ready for pizza and birthday cake?" Charity asked.
Garrett smiled and got the first slice of pizza.
"What is this?" Melony asked
"It's pizza. the thing I told you about." Melissa says.
"I've never had a slice. I've been in the hospital my whole life." Melony says. "Heck, it's where I met Garrett. Other than him, I didn't-never mind." Melony says, not wanting to steal the attention and got her first taste of pizza.
Soon, Stephen reveals the basketball cake with a star drawing in the middle that says "Happy Birthday To Our Sports Star, Garrett Miller!" with 17 candles on it.
"Mine better be better than this…" Luke thought, wanting his cake to be the best cake he's ever seen.
Leni records this moment as everyone began to sing to Garrett. Garrett wished he could win ANH and blew out all 17 candles, smiling.
Later
"My first sleepover!" Melony says, a bit excited. "Please tell me there's more pizza."
Garrett laid across the couch, a bit out of it.
"Who wants to watch a movie?" Leni asked. Garrett raised his hand.
"What movie?" Leni asked.
"I think you know what movie he likes, Leni." Luke says.
Leni plays Space Jam, one of Garrett's favorite movies.
"Epic movie, what do you think?" Leni asked Melony.
"Same as every other movie….The same." Melony says.
With Cynthia, she sees the cake Savannah baked. She smiled as everyone sang to her.
Cynthia wished that she could win ANH.
Meanwhile, Mona was riding Mugman as he was moaning.
"You are a wild one, Mugsy…" Mona says as she could feel him getting close.
"I'm…oh!" Mugman says, reaching his climax.
Meanwhile…
"So, you Louds have powers?" Melony asked.
"Yeah." Lola says.
"Cool." Melony says. "Where's the ice cream?"
"You've never had ice cream? Poor child." Charity says and serves it as a Dessert Storm marathon was playing in the background.
"What's that?" Melony asked.
"Dessert Storm." Penny says, laying against Shane as she watches.
"Oh." Melony says.
"It must suck, being blind." Lola says.
"I bet I could fix it." Lisa says.
"I don't really need to be fixed. I'm just fine." Melony says.
"Are you sure?" Lola asked.
"How can you even perform?" Luna asked.
"I won't slow Garrett down. I don't need to be fixed." She says.
"How does it work?" Leni asked.
"It's my feet. I learned an ancient technique that allows me to feel the vibrations of Earth, so I can feel my surroundings." Melony says.
Later, Leni noticed Melony sleeping on the ground.
Garrett was sleeping on the couch.
She tried to put socks on Melony, but she kicked Leni.
"Ow!" Leni says.
"My feet are off limits." Melony says.
The next day…
"I guess we should be going." Melissa says to Garrett.
"Will you be back for the next show?" He asked as he ate his breakfast of pumpkin spice oatmeal and bacon strips.
"Yeah." Melissa says.
"MY FEET!" Melony says as Melissa froze.
She came to see Melony. Her feet were covered with blisters as the shower head was broken. By this point, Forest had fixed the shower head.
Melissa helped Melony up. "Now I really can't see anything." Melony says.
Lisa puts some bandages on her. "They'll stop the bleeding. I suggest dropping out. This technique is still a hindrance." She says.
Melony kicked Lisa.
"I'll have you know I'm going to win myself." Melony says
"You are not going to kick my kids." Charity says. "And you will not kick Luke, either."
"If he mocks me, I-" Melony was stopped as Melissa had to cover her mouth.
"Sorry, she's really sensitive about her condition and hates it when people think she's weak. She really has changed a bit, but I know she really cares." Melissa says.
After some time, Melony managed to calm down.
"I'm sorry. I understand if you don't want me on the team." Melony says to Garrett.
"That's crazy! You're really good!" Garrett says.
"Tell that to them! They've been talking about me being blind and saying I'd hold you back. Especially the Lisa girl." Melony says.
"I don't want Beau and Garrett to lose. This is important to Garrett now that he can move his legs and feet." Lisa says. "You could really mess up his performances."
Meanwhile, Cynthia yawned, waking up as it was a crazy night.
"Come on, we got to fix the Inkwell Isles." Savannah says.
"Can we help?" Kali asked, wanting to fix Mugman's home.
"Sure." Savannah says as the Cosmic Buddies and the Adventure Kids went without the Foxes, who were just fine with this arrangement as they had a lot of cleaning up to do in their house, anyway.