A/N: Ok, here is the 4th, and sadly, final chapter. I'm nervous. I really hope you like it.
Oh before I forget, I might make a few minor changes to the first two chapters. a couple of small additions. I haven't decided so for now I'm leaving this story as incomplete though this is absolutely the last real chapter. I'll add a quick flash back mention for ch 5 IF changes are made to give you a heads up.
As before, my personal disclaimer: I obviously have no copyrights to either the Lemonade Mouth movie or book. Those privileges belong to Disney and Mark Peter Hughs respectively and it's probably a good thing since I couldn't have written anything nearly as well. Adam and Bridgit are their own persons, and the credits can only go to them and their parents. J I am a horrible poet and never wrote a song in my life so any music mentioned in this piece will have due credits mentioned in the story as well. If I'm doing something wrong here tell me and I'll fix it. Oh, before I forget, while I do own an Apple iPod (and an iPhone) I don't have the Trademark rights, though my daughter does own a share of Apple -D
'Uh-oh, Extraordinary?' Wen thought, pausing in his approach across the back lawn to watch Olivia dancing barefooted, her back to him, her hips rolling in time with the music only she could hear, her arms and head moving around, rocking out as she sang:
"You may not believe in me
But I believe in you
So I still take the trash out
Does that make me too normal for you?
So dig a little deeper, cause
You still don't get it yet
See me lickin' my lips, need a primitive fix
And I'll make, I'll make you love me!
Wen was torn between amusement and worry. The last time he'd caught her singing this song, she was alone in a elevator when the doors opened for him to see and she'd spent a few days afterward acting cool and distant with him, though she never told him why. Mo had suggested that perhaps it was the company he had been seen with earlier that day. That also puzzled Wen since he couldn't think who she was referring to. Just a normal cd signing that they had all attended. Well there had been this girl that had asked him to sign her shirt, and sat and chatted with him for a little while… oh.
Still, watching Olivia's performance couldn't help but bring a smile to his face. The words "rhino on roller skates" popped unbidden into his mind, Olivia's own self-depreciation of her dancing talents not his. He thought it was cute and that she was getting better. Even from behind and not having the advantage of seeing the full effect, Wen had to admire her choice of attire on that hot afternoon. Very "girl next door", the way he liked her best. She wore a lacy yellow-gold cami (all that time on the road with three girls had quickly taught him what those popular little tops were called), a pair of light grey cargo shorts and a deep blue ribbon woven through the braid into which she'd twisted her long blonde mane. That last touch made him smile slightly more, his favorite color, wound thru her hair.
I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary, I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
See me jump through hoops for you
You stand there watching me performing
What exactly do you do?
Have you ever thought it's you that's boring?
Who the hell are you?"
Wen stepped forward at that moment, closing the distance between him and Olivia, reaching out to touch her just as she turned around in her wild dance, stumbling into him in her surprise, his hands caught her shoulders to steady her.
"Liz Phair? Again? I must be in serious trouble," he gave her a sad smile.
"WEN! Gosh," Olivia gulped in surprise and stepped back from him, pulling the earbuds from her ears. "You startled me." Catching her breath she realized he'd seen her unchoreographed dancing, again. Struggling to not blush, after all he'd caught her crazy dancing in the hotel elevator a few months before, the night after that particularly irritating cd signing; she asked doubtfully, "What are you doing here?"
Wen nodded slightly to himself, 'yup there it is, the coolness between us' he though. He sighed in frustration. "I wanted to see you. I thought we could talk."
Olivia felt parts inside of her crumbling but refused to let it show. She felt the best thing would be to appear strong, and then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much when it was over. "Oh." She dropped her gaze a moment mustering her strength, "Uh- I guess we should." She stood watching him, waiting, not knowing if she should start the conversation and apologize or wait for him to speak first.
He solved her dilemma for her, "I tried calling you a couple of times. I sent you some texts too. You didn't answer." He was nervous and trying not to sound needy or accusatory. Seeing her standing there looking shut off from him scared him.
"I dropped my cellphone on the plane. I haven't had it since the flight home. Stella offered to get it for me since she had to go pick up a piece of her luggage that got left behind too, I just haven't seen her yet." Olivia mentally kicked herself. She was starting to babble again. "You could have called the house phone," she pointed out quietly.
"I thought you were angry with me," he replied beginning to register what she had just said. "You don't have your phone?"
"I'm not angry with you," she said puzzled. "I thought you were avoiding me."
A grin suddenly appeared on Wen's face and stepped forward to wrap her in a hug, lifting her off the ground for a moment before releasing her. "I wouldn't do that to you. My dad wanted me to spend some family time as soon as we got home. We were gone for so long and with all the other public events already planned, he thought it would be healthy to be a 'normal teenager' for a while."
"Oh," his words were slowly thawing her brain, though she didn't let herself hope. Not just yet. "I thought you might be upset with me after what I did. I mean with the interview and Mo and Scott."
"Why would I be upset with you? You're my girl, after all," He paused, tilting his head a little a smirk pulling at the side of his mouth. "Unless you really are seeing Scott on the side?"
The twitch of his lips was very distracting to Olivia, though she heard the slightly nervous tone in his words, "Oh NO! There isn't anyone. Um- I mean- anyone else. Be-besides you." Saying those things to him, with him standing so close, was making her stutter nervously. She dropped her gaze to her iPod and couldn't look up again. God, he must think she was crazy. "I just thought that, since you hadn't really said anything before and you seemed irritated after the "Music Scene" interview, I don't know, maybe I misunderstood, um, us." She could feel the burning in her throat again as she uttered the words. Embarrassment was making her voice husky and weak.
Wen stared at her a moment, words of warning from she-tiger Mo just after Christmas replayed in his head, "Don't hurt her, Wendell. I've seen the way she looks at you." Hurting Olivia was the farthest thing from his mind, but maybe in his caution he had done it accidentally. "Hey," He bent his knees and cocked his head trying to see her eyes, "you thought I was irritated? I wasn't. In shock maybe but never irritated. Especially never with you over that." When she refused to look up he sighed and took her hands, "Come 'ere." He led her to the little stone wall around one of the flower beds and sat her down on it. "I guess I should have said something to you a while ago. But I guess I was afraid to." When she still didn't look at him, he knelt in front of her, finally making eye contact with the obviously distraught girl. She didn't say anything but she didn't drop her gaze again. "Honestly I like us the way we are. Natural, comfortable, no pressure. I don't want us to change. I want things to continue to happen naturally. We shouldn't be forced into a situation."
"But I guess I did just that. I forced your hand, very publicly," Olivia said weakly. She could feel the cold spots in her heart starting to warm a little at his words.
"Not really," she raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok maybe, but you were helping out Mo and Scott. Nothing says we HAVE to do anything differently." He sighed again, taking one of her hands in his and resting it on her knee, "Look, I watched my parents' marriage fall apart and I've had friends that I ended up losing because our relationships changed. You know Floey and Azra, right?" he asked.
"Yes," her clipped tone made him stare at her a moment, realization dawning quickly.
"How long has it been, Olivia?"
She didn't answer right away. She could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks at her secret being revealed, "Since that afternoon in 6th grade," she murmured wishing she could look away from Wen's soft green scrutiny.
He smiled crookedly at her, "It's been awhile, then" She nodded, a slight smile pulling at the corners of her mouth and making his heart jump for a second. God that smile! "My point is that things got ruined between them and me. We all stopped being friends when Azra and I broke up," He watched Olivia's smile slip a little so he rushed into his next statement; "You are an amazing person! It would kill me if you and I stopped being friends. I don't like it at all when you don't talk to me or when I can't be near you. Not like in school when I know I get to sit next to you at lunch as soon as it comes around or I know when we'll have the next period together. But like these last few days when you weren't even a guaranteed visit or phone call, when I couldn't even hear your voice on the phone." He took a deep breath steeling himself to get the next words out, "Maybe those others," he waved his free hand vaguely behind him, 'weren't really that important, but I feel like we were meant to be. Together."
The last word had a forever ring to it that caught Olivia by surprise, "Really?" She could feel her smile getting bigger, her heart beating a little more comfortably in her chest.
"Do you want to hear what I've been listening to the last few days? It's a poor substitute for you but it was all I had," he took her iPod gently from her lose grip and to her surprise started searching it. He looked at her sheepishly, "I borrowed this a couple of weeks ago. Sorry I didn't ask but I was hoping I could surprise you. Did you notice it missing?"
"Yeah, I thought I had lost it. I even asked the hotel housekeeping if it had accidentally been picked up in the bed sheets. But it reappeared and I thought maybe I was just imagining I'd lost it."
"Well, no that was me. Sorry. I told the chamber maid that you forgot something in your room and she let me in to get 'it' for you. I returned it the next day when we were all in your room hanging out. I'm sorry that you noticed. I was kind of hoping you'd stumble on this surprise when I was nearby so I could see your reaction. I hope you like it." He handed her the ear buds, turned the volume down a little and pressed play.
Olivia felt her heart leap when her own voice began in her ears:
"When the mellow moon begins to beam,
Ev'ry night I dream a little dream,
And of course Prince Charming is the theme,
The he for me.
Although I realize as well as you
It is seldom that a dream comes true,
To me it's clear
That he'll appear.
She remembered singing this one day. Just after Christmas she and Wen had been in the new music hall after practice. He was messing around on the piano while he waited for his dad to pick him up after school. She was waiting with him to keep him company. He's begun playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, a particular favorite for both of them before playing a few bars of another Gershwin piece. "Do you know this one?" he'd asked grinning. When she'd nodded he'd gotten up, moved off stage, and returned with a mic. He handed her the microphone before starting the second piece from the beginning. She'd played along, as the diva performing her solo despite being overly aware of the lyrical meaning of the song.
But this version was just her voice backed by a bluesy drumbeat, pounding in soft rhythm to her voice;
"Someday he'll come along,
The man I love
And he'll be big and strong,
The man I love
And when he comes my way
I'll do my best to make him stay.
*How oft when thou, my music, music play'st,
Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st
The wiry concord that mine ear confounds*,
Olivia's breath caught as Wen's voice chatted slowly, uttering her favorite sonnet. She stared at him is complete astonishment as his rap intermingled with the husky contralto of her own voice.
He'll look at me and smile
I'll understand ;
And in a little while,
He'll take my hand ;
And though it seems absurd,
I know we both won't say a word
*Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,
At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand!*
Maybe I shall meet him Sunday
Maybe Monday, maybe not;
Still I'm sure to meet him one day
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day
*To be so tickled, they would change their state
And situation with those dancing chips,
O'er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,
Making dead wood more bless'd than living lips.*
He'll build a little home
Just meant for two,
From which I'll never roam,
Who would - would you ?
And so all else above
I'm waiting for the man I love.
*Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.
(repeat)
Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.*
"Wen, I-I don't know what to say," she could feel her heart thundering in her chest, the goose bumps on her skin. "That was beautiful. How did you-"
"Lyle and Charlie. They haven't actually heard the whole thing or know what I did exactly. Lyle helped me isolate your voice from the recording I made that day," he looked at her as if asking if she remembered to which she nodded quickly, "Sorry I was sneaky about that too, " She just grinned at him too happy to care how he sneakily had done it. "Then I asked Charlie to lay a beat to the song but added some extra bars between verses. Then I mashed it with the sonnet overlaid on the empty bars."
She continued to stare at him, overjoyed that he had noticed how well they melded together and had gone to so much effort to prove it. Smiling he took both her hands in his and kissed her finger tips, all the while keeping he eyes on hers as if to say, 'for now.' "So are we good?" He asked.
"We're great," she replied pushing off the stone wall to kneel in front of him and wrap her arms around his chest. Happy and content knowing where things stood with them.
Wen took a deep breath and let it out as a happy sigh, folding his long arms around Olivia's shoulders, resting his cheek on top of her head, "Perfect."
And it was, they could both feel it. The potential of themselves, the promise of their future just waiting for the right, natural time.
Epilogue:
Two days later Olivia had a brief visit from Stella, who smiling mysteriously handed over Olivia's cell phone. "You might want to check your messages," she said before waving and heading back out the door.
Puzzled Olivia looked at her phone, 7 phone messages and 28 texts were waiting for her. All from Wen. Everyone one dated from before two days ago. Except one text from 10 minutes before. "I LOVE MY GIRL" jumped out at her. She quickly sent a message back, "ur crazy :-) 3" Smiling foolishly she skipped back to the kitchen to help her Gram, all the while humming her new favorite song quietly to herself.
A/FN: So there it is. Don't hate me! lol I know I didn't give you all that you probably wanted (believe me I want it too) but I just don't think the time was quite right for them. I'm sure it will be soon. :-D
By the way, if you want to hear a couple of great versions to the song "Olivia" was recorded singing go to you tube and search Linda Ronstadt and "The Man I Love" its a very old song by George and Ira Gershwin in the public domain, though this version was in the TV show "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" and another version that is more bluesy and slightly faster by Carol Weisman. Sonnet 128 (marked by *_*) is by Shakespeare and I thought very appropriate for the Olivia and Wen. The blending of the two works was inspired by listening to "Killing me softly with his song" by the Fugees.
My apologies for all the typos in the original copy of this chapter, I hope I got them all this time. Also, I failed to mention one other thing. I don't really think Bridgit dances like a rhino on roller-skates, I once described my own grace as a cow on roller-skates and after seeing Bridgit's umm- near misses in the movie (Breakthru she backs into the stairs- something I have done, though I fell) I thought I would share the description with Olivia.
I'd love to thanks to LaLaLaGurl, SmilesMC, RandomRandoms14, disasterousperfection, Bubblelina15, tilvy19-it, and tomboy2012 for such positive reviews for the previous chapters. You've all made my last few days and have encouraged me to write a few more shorts.
