A/N: To my guest reviewer, the rewrite is only to flesh the characters out a little more! I promise I haven't given up on teenaged Ava, she'll be back soon! :)

"You're young." A man chuckled to himself as Ava entered the music store.

Her dance teacher, Ms. Stevens, had given her the opportunity to perform a solo in her contemporary class.

The older woman had told her to try and find a song or some music that makes her feel something.

Something that spoke to her and moved her.

"You're old." Ava quipped.

"You're quick." He smirked. "I like that. What brings you here? Don't you have to be in, like, kindergarten or something?"

"I'm nine." Ava rolled her eyes, looking through some CDs. "You have any good music? Like…...really good? Not the kind of stuff that all the old people listen to and they think it's good?"

"What do you need it for?'

"Why do you think I need it for something?"

"Because you look like a girl on mission. You've got that look on your face."

"Okay. I need to find a song for my dance class. It's supposed to be a song that means something."

"What do you usually listen to?"

"Britney Spears." Ava shrugged, skipping across a Britney album she already had.

"No wonder you're having problems." The man scoffed. "That's crap."

"Hey!"

"It's not real music!" He insisted. "Of course it isn't gonna mean anything to you. Come here." He walked over to the opposite side of the room and waved her over. "Look through this."

"Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley…" Ava listed off as she looked. "The Beatles…..Sammy Davis Jr…"

"This is music. This means something to people, you know why? Because they had something to say and they weren't afraid to say it." He picked up a CD from the pile. "What kind of dance?"

"Contemporary."

"Good. This'll be perfect for you." He handed it to her. "Listen to it and tell me what you think."

"Okay." Ava nodded and looked at the cover.

It was a Michael Jackson album. Thriller. Ava had heard her mom talking about this album and how great it was, so she figured it was worth a shot. Plus, she recognized some of the stuff that was on it.

"How much?" She asked.

"It's on me." The man shrugged. "Consider it your introduction to great music. You'll thank me one day."

"Uh, okay…thanks." Ava didn't think anything of it and smiled.

She didn't like the guy. He had insulted her taste in music, but he did just give her a free CD. So maybe he wasn't all bad.

"What's your name?"

"Chris Keller."

"Why don't we just call it 'Club Suck'?" Peyton groaned as she, Haley, and Ava held auditions for 'All Ages' night at the new club Karen opened up in the old abandoned warehouse.

So far, all the acts were horrible and Ava was wondering why on earth she had even come to this.

"She's really bad." She scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Hey, thank you!" Peyton called out to the girl who had been singing…or at least, trying to sing. "That was, uh….that was…"

"Really…..something." Haley tried to phrase it nicely.

"Yeah, something awful." Ava muttered, making Haley reach out and pinch her thigh. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Great." Peyton ignored the two and their chaotic exchange. "That was great. Um, we'll….let you know."

The girl look a little put out by the lack of enthusiasm from the girls, but walked off the stage all the same.

"That was the last of them."

"Goody." Ava felt herself relax.

Every single one of those acts that stepped up on the stage, was awful.

Ava had no idea that someone could lack so much talent.

"Havana-Rose, be nice." Haley scolded even though she whole-heartedly agreed. "Well, we can go with the balding wedding band, or the bad ballad guy."

"Great." Peyton smiled sarcastically. "So club no-name has no acts." She fiddled with her laptop and saw that Nathan had sent her an email with an MP3 attached. "Huh, that's funny, Nathan just sent me an MP3."

"Nathan?" Haley furrowed her eyebrows. What was he up to now? She soon got her answer when Peyton began to play the song and she heard the sound of her own voice. "Oh! That's...that's a virus! You don't wanna….." She tried to shut it off, but Peyton wouldn't let her.

"Stop!" Peyton laughed. "Why did we even bother having auditions? Haley, this is awesome!"

"It's—" Haley was cut off when Chris Keller made his way into the room, carrying a crate full of CDs.

"Oh, it's rude record store guy." Peyton rolled her eyes. "Um, can you just put the CDs by the side of the stage? Thank you." She turned to Haley. "How many other songs have you written?"

"I dunno. A few?"

"Alright, well, you're gonna open."

"Uh, NO! I'm not! I have major stager fright!"

"You learned an entire cheer routine in three hours and you rocked the house!"

"Okay, with a group, I can't do it by myself. You're gonna have to find someone else."

"You sing to me all the time." Ava pointed out, biting into a sour gummy worm from the packet that Peyton had given her to keep her quiet.

Obviously, it wasn't doing its job.

"Havana-Rose, that's not the same thing and you weren't supposed to say anything about that!" Haley glared as Chris Keller made his way up on stage.

"I like it when you sing to me." Ava looked up at her innocently. "And I didn't know it was a secret!"

Haley was just about to clobber her sister-in-law when Chris began to strum a guitar and sing along to the music he was making.

And he was really, really good.

"I think you just found your man." Haley spoke after Chris finished singing, walking over to him with Peyton. "Hey, this is Peyton and you're great!"

"Yeah, I know." Chris told her. "When do I play?"

"Um, well…..seven-thirty—"

"You're okay, but we had a lot of really good people show up today. So, we'll call you."

"Whatever." Chris shrugged. "Not emo enough for you?" He asked before he turned his attention to Haley. "Hey, I heard your song, it's not bad. The key of A's kinda crap, but you pulled it off." He looked at Ava. "Hey, kid, what'd you think of the album? Did it change how you listen to music?"

"I liked it." Ava nodded. "I still like Britney, though."

"For now." Chris shook his head and walked away.

"You two know each other?" Haley's jaw dropped. "Havana-Rose, what have we told you about talking to people you don't know?!"

"He was at the record store!" Ava defended herself. "And why do you keep calling me, 'Havana-Rose'? You're making me feel like I'm in trouble."

"Because you are, and I'll get to you in a minute." Haley pointed a finger at her and addressed Peyton once again. "Okay, are you out of your mind? He's clearly the best."

"Yeah, he's good, but he's a jerk! And he's arrogant and self-righteous!"

"Peyton, you're not dating him, just put the club first."

"I don't need him, Haley." Peyton put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "I've got you! Think about it, okay? You can do this."

"I have to get back to the cafe and read this one the riot act." Haley grabbed Ava before she could run for the hills. "I think we need to go over basic safety."

"Okay, Haley." Ava sighed, clearly annoyed as the two ascended the stairs that lead to the apartment Nathan and Haley shared. "I understand."

"I hope you do, no one wants anything to happen to you, Ava."

Haley had lectured her about the importance of not conversing with people she didn't know and going straight to school the way she was supposed to.

And Ava had had enough.

She was nine! She could take care of herself!

Besides, it was just Tree Hill. What was the worst that could happen?

"How were the auditions?" Nathan asked, leaning against the railing in front of the door to the apartment.

"You should not have given that music to Peyton."

"She liked it, didn't she?"

"Yeah! But I'm mad!" Except, she really wasn't.

"Hales, you wouldn't hear it from me. Besides, I'm supposed to believe in you when you don't believe in yourself. It's what you've always done for me."

"Okay." Haley visibly softened and leaned into him. "I'm not mad anymore."

"So then you'll play?"

"I will." She nodded. "Maybe I will…...um, you know, when you get back from camp this fall?"

"Yeah...…about that…..Uh, I didn't get in."

"What do you mean? They said it was a sure thing."

"Yeah, I know, but, it turns out they made a mistake and, uh, there's some other kid they have to give the spot to."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me, too. But hey, since I can't go to this camp, that means you can start playing your music now. Tell me that you will."

"Okay."

"Good." Nathan smiled and took notice of his little sister, who was trying to climb the railing a few feet away from them. "What's this? A sleepover night?"

"Oh, right." Haley gasped as she remembered something she needed to tell him. "I'm sorry, I forgot to call you. Karen called. She's out on a date and she asked me if we could watch her for a couple more hours. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course, I don't mind." Nathan shook his head. "It'll be good practice for us."

"Oh, you're funny." Haley scoffed.

"Cool." Ava's jaw dropped as she looked up in the sky, catching their attention.

Haley looked up just in time to see a meteor zoom across the sky. "Oh, did you see it?" She asked her husband.

"No." He hadn't. He was too busy admiring her.

"Oh my goodness!" Karen jumped after turning the light on in the kitchen once she came home.

Lucas was just sitting at the table as if he had been waiting for her.

"You just took ten years off my life."

"It's one o'clock in the morning." He spoke sternly. "I have been worried sick. Where have you been?" He was clearly mocking the way she had treated him whenever he would come home later than expected.

"I-I'm sorry, it—"

"—No." He cut her off, clearly enjoying this. "After midnight, you call."

"Ha ha ha." Karen shook her head. "I really hope I don't sound like that."

Lucas just shrugged and exercised his right to remain silent.

"How long have you been home?"

"Oh, about an hour."

"Well then, we're both grounded."

"Clearly a rookie, Mom." Lucas smiled and shook his head. "Next time, try sneaking in the window. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good. By the way, I picked the little troublemaker up from Nathan and Haley's place and put her to bed."

"I am not a troublemaker." Ava made her presence known, walking into the kitchen and standing next to her brother.

"Ava, what're doing out of bed?" Lucas asked her. "I just put you to sleep."

"I'm not tired." Ava shrugged. "See?" She widened her eyes to prove her point.

"How about we go into the living room and put on a movie?" Karen suggested, shocking both her children. "It's a special night, so why not?"

"Yay!" Ava cheered.

"Go and choose the movie, and your brother and I will meet you on the couch, alright?"

"Okay!" Ava didn't need to be told twice. The child dashed into the living room with energy that shouldn't be allowed after a certain hour, and began looking through their movie collection.

"What's the occasion, Mom?" Lucas asked, knowing that his mother wasn't usually that lax with curfew.

"It's been a long day and I'm far too tired to wrestle that little monster into bed." Karen laughed. "This way, she'll fall asleep during the movie…hopefully."

"Hi, Cutie." Brooke smiled once she saw Ava at the club's grand opening. "How've you been?"

"Fine." Ava smiled up at her and frowned when she saw that Haley wasn't looking well. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Brooke laughed. "She's just a little nervous."

"A little?" Haley scoffed. "I feel like throwing up."

The decision to play for the opening night was coming back to bite her it seemed. Ava didn't understand why she was thatnervous. Haley had a beautiful voice and it wasn't like she couldn't play piano very well.

She would be fine.

"You'll be fine, Tutor Wife." Brooke caught Karen's eyes. "Hi, Ms. Roe! The club looks great!"

"Let's see the wrist, Brooke." Karen cut right to the chase. Lo and behold, on Brooke's wrist, was a band for those who were twenty-one and older. Which Brooke was not. So she cut it off. "No alcohol." She pointed the scissors she used at the teen. "Are we clear?"

"Yes." Brooke nodded, knowing Karen was a tough cookie.

"Good. Now go have some fun." Karen put the smile back on her face. The smile quickly dropped when she noticed the same wristband on her daughter. "And where did you get this from, young lady?"

"Junk gave it to me!" Ava was completely oblivious to why her mother was less than happy and pouted when she cut it off. "Awwww."

Peyton laughed at the dejected look on her face and shook her head.

"Yeah, 'aww'. If you wipe the pout off you face, I'll pour you a Shirley Temple with extra syrup."

That definitely made her forget all about the silly wristband. "Okay!"

After all, Shirley Temples were much cooler than wristbands.

"This is definitely the first time I've felt like the oldest person in the bar." A man Ava didn't know came over to speak to her mother.

"Second oldest." Karen smiled.

Ava and Peyton shared a bewildered look, before Peyton coughed to get their attention.

"Oh, Andy, this is Peyton. Peyton, this is….my friend, Andy."

"Hi." Peyton shook his hand politely.

"And this is my daughter, Ava."

"Hello, Ava." Andy smiled warmly. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Hi." Ava waved shyly.

She'd never heard of this 'Andy' guy, her mother never mentioned him, which she thought was odd.

But Andy seemed like a nice enough guy. He had pretty blue eyes, a nice face, and he sounded like he was from New Zealand or something.

"She'll get used to you." Karen assured him.

"I don't doubt that we'll be the best of friends soon." Andy winked. "Well, I'll try and keep out of your hair. You didn't happen to bring little Lucas tonight, did you?"

"Oh, well. Yeah, um…..he's wandering around here somewhere."

"My brother's not—" Ava didn't get to finish her sentence, because Peyton slapped a hand over the back of her denim pinafore, effectively shutting her up. "Ow."

She had to remind herself to beat Haley up for giving Peyton the idea to do that.

"What'd you do that for?" The ashen blonde narrowed her eyes at the older girl, giving her a scathing look. "I'm gonna get you back."

"Great." Andy gave them an odd look, hoping to Segway back onto the subject. "I can't wait to meet him."

"Neither can I." Ava giggled when he was out of earshot.

"Little Lucas?" Peyton raised an eyebrow.

"His words, not mine."

"I'm gonna go find Luke." Ava grinned. "I wanna see this."

"Hey, I have an idea." Lucas playfully wiggled his eyebrows. "Go ask Mom for a dry martini with extra olives."

"What's in it for me?" Ava asked, knowing that this might actually backfire and she would have to take the heat for it.

That happened more often than not.

Ever since Ava gained the ability to speak coherently, Lucas began to trick her into saying things she shouldn't say.

Now that she was older, she needed an incentive to put herself on the line.

"You get to cure your boredom and mess with Mom."

"Not good enough." She smirked.

"And I'll give you five bucks."

"Fifteen."

"Seven."

"Ten."

"Deal." Lucas shook the little tyrant's hand. "You know, there was a time I could get you to do whatever I wanted for free. What happened?"

"I got smarter than you." Ava teased. "Oh, and I want my money up front."

"Pleasure doing business with you." Lucas rolled his eyes and slapped a ten dollar bill in her hand. "Now, go before I change my mind."

"Hey, guys." Andy came over before Ava had a chance to find their mother. "How's it going?"

"Okay." Lucas looked hilariously confused, but was willing to keep the conversation going. "So….Kings of Convenience?" He referred to the music that was playing. "I just got their album last week. It's great."

"Oh, you should see them live." Andy nodded.

"I bet." Lucas relaxed. "So, how'd you find out about the club?"

"I'm actually kind of, uh, dating the woman who's responsible for all this."

"Really? You're dating Peyton?"

Ava couldn't take it anymore. She burst into the most unexpected string of laughter that made Lucas give her a look.

"She's got the curly hair, right?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, the cops'll love that." Andy laughed. "No, no, no. Her name's, um..…" He trailed when he saw Karen approaching. "Karen."

"Andy." Karen greeted awkwardly.

"Mom?" Lucas squinted.

Ava just laughed harder, enjoying every second of seeing the two men so uncomfortable.

"Mum?" Andy questioned.

"Oh boy." Karen sighed. "Lucas, this is Andy. Andy…..this is my son, Lucas."

"Little Lucas?" Andy nearly choked on air. "I uh, I thought you were a just little older than Ava..…"

Lucas just laughed and shook his hand.

Ava stopped laughing and whispered something in his ear that made him nod.

"Mama, can I have a drink, please?"

"Of course. What would you like? Apple juice?"

"A dry martini with extra olives, please."

Karen's jaw dropped in complete and utter shock as she processed what it was that her nine year old child just said. "What?"

Now, Lucas and Ava both knew that she wasn't asking for her to repeat herself because she hadn't heard.

No, she was giving her a chance to correct herself.

But Ava was going to make Lucas' ten dollars worth it. "I said, can I have a dry martini with extra olives?"

"Havana-Rose Scott, where on earth did you learn about alcoholic beverages?"

Hearing her full name, Ava tried to make a getaway, but her mother snatched the back of her dungarees, before she could get far enough to be considered safe.

No, she literally snatched her.

Ava swore she could see the vein in her mother's neck throbbing.

"Is it too late to ask for that apple juice?" She joked.

But the look on Karen's face said that it wasn't well received.

"It's all Luke's fault!" She pointed at her brother, making Andy chuckle.

"Ava!"

"It's true, Mama!" Ava ignored the fact that she was throwing her brother under the bus. "He told me to say that! And he paid me!"

Karen loosened her grip on her daughter and narrowed her eyes at Lucas. "Explain."

"Mom, I have no idea what she's talking about."

"Yes, he does!" Ava pulled out the money he gave her. "See?"

"You little weasel." Lucas shook his head, snatching his money back from her. "The deal is off."

"Nuh uh!" Ava took the money back. "I did what you said!"

The two had started arguing intensely, leaving Karen and Andy out of the loop.

Not that they wanted to be involved in that in any way.

"Are they normally like this?" Andy asked just as Ava flicked Lucas' forehead.

"They're just warming up."

"Hey, Ava!"

The little girl furrowed her eyebrows when she heard her name, but didn't see the source of the sound.

"Ava, over here!"

Ava looked in the direction of the call and smiled when she saw her uncle, happily skipping over to him, making her ponytail against her upper back. "Hi!"

"Long time, no see, Munchkin." Keith pulled her in for a hug. "You haven't been stopping by lately, what's up with that?"

"Well, you know…" Ava shrugged. "I've got two brothers I have to keep in line. That keeps me busy."

"I see." He chuckled. "I want you to meet someone. This is Jules."

As soon as he said it, Ava noticed the dark blonde woman standing a little off to the side. She was pretty and she had a nice smile. Ava didn't know why Keith was so nervous about introducing her, but maybe it was one of those adult things she wouldn't understand.

"Jules, this is Ava." Keith kept an arm around Ava. "My niece."

"Hi, Ava." Jules held her hand out for the girl to shake and that's when the nine year old decided that this was the perfect opportunity to mess with her. "Keith's told me a lot about you."

Ava didn't say anything in response. In fact, she forced the smile off of her face. The abrupt change to her mood made Jules shoot Keith a concerned look.

This wasn't the way she wanted it to go. She thought that Keith said Ava was very sweet and friendly...did she have something against her?

"Havana-Rose Scott, stop fooling around before I tickle you." Keith poked her sides.

"Hi." Ava smiled brightly as if nothing happened. "You're pretty."

That was way too easy.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ava." Jules chortled, realizing that the child had been messing with her. "Aren't you a funny one?"

"She thinks so." Keith tugged on her hair.

"Are you guys dating?" Ava asked, looking back and forth between the two adults.

"Uh, we—"

"—Yes." Jules answered for Keith. "We are. Which is why it's especially important for you and I to be friends. Would you like that?"

"Does that mean we can paint each other's nails and watch movies?" She perked up.

She and Haley did that kind of stuff, but it was put on the back burner when she started dating Nathan. Karen was always too busy to that kind of stuff and Ava didn't blame her because she knew that her mother worked hard to provide for her and Lucas.

Having another girl around that would do things like that sounded like a lot of fun.

"That's exactly what that means." Jules winked.

"Uncle Keith?" Ava turned to the man and crooked her finger, waiting for him to bend down to her height so she could continue. "I like her."

"Good. I'm glad." He chuckled. "Now go play."

"So, that's Ava." Jules smirked as the child ran off in a blur.

"That's Ava." Keith confirmed. "What do you think?"

"She's a sweetheart."

"Previously on 'Saved By The Bell'." Chris Keller made his way over to where Haley was sitting with Nathan and Ava.

"Hey, Chris. This is my husband, Nathan." Haley introduced the two, knowing that this wasn't going to go well.

"Married in high school." Chris shook Nathan's hand. "Yeah, that'll work. Peyton told me you bailed on the gig. Guess I was wrong about you."

Haley put her head in her hands and sighed, trying to regain control of her nerves.

With the way news traveled in this town, everyone would know by tomorrow morning.

"Hey, Ava."

"Hi." Ava waved at the man.

"Come see me in the record store sometime. I've got something I want to show you."

Chris decided to take an interest in Ava. Just that one conversation at the record store indicated that there was something special about her musically and he wanted her to know it, too.

"Okay." Ava could feel Nathan's eyes on her, but she tried to ignore him.

She knew that she was going to get in some kind of trouble for this.

It was inevitable.

"You two know each other?" Nathan asked once Chris left them.

"Kinda sorta." Ava cringed, still not looking him in the eye.

"What does that mean?" Nathan turned her to face him.

"Well…..I went into the music store and I was looking for something….and he helped me." She shrugged her shoulders. "It was no big deal."

"No big deal?" Nathan scoffed. "Havana, that's a grown man. You don't talk to strangers."

He didn't like the idea of some adult striking up random conversations with his nine year old sister.

It was weird.

"I tried to tell her that." Haley sighed, letting her husband handle it.

Ava sunk down a little in her seat, not knowing what to make of the situation. Nathan had never been mad at her before, so this was totally new to her.

She didn't like the way it felt either.

This was the brother that let her get away with everything until, suddenly, he didn't.

She didn't see the problem with talking to Chris Keller in a public place. It wasn't as if she went looking for him. She went into the store to buy music and they had a conversation.

It would've been rude if she just ignored him.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Are you gonna tell Mama?" She asked timidly, picking at her shoelaces.

"I should, but I'm gonna keep an eye on you. Your mom has enough to worry about." Nathan pulled his sister's chair closer to his own. "Sit right here and don't even think about wandering off."

"But I— " Ava tried to think of some excuse as to why she couldn't do that, but Nathan wasn't having it.

"—Havana-Rose?"

"But I'm thirsty." She decided.

"You have saliva in your mouth?"

"Yes." Ava furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Then swallow it, because you're not getting up."

Ava made sure her face wasn't in eyeshot before she rolled her eyes.

She could take care of herself. Why were he and Haley flipping out about this?

Ultimately deciding that this wasn't worth fighting over, the child huffed and slumped against her brother with her back facing him, resting her head on his shoulder.

After all, if she couldn't move, she might as well relax.

As she sat there, she wondered if this was what the rest of her life was going to be like.

Sometimes, having two older brothers was a big advantage to her.

Times like these made it irritating.