Infinite

Three AM

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Everything will be okay
As long as I'm right beside you
I know I'll be alright
If it's you I'm right beside
At three AM
Wishing on a star again and again
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Carrie had to do it. Now or never. If she stopped, it would only prove that she was a complete coward. Plus, after that day, she wouldn't see Julie for another couple weeks, and not even then if Julie didn't want to hear what she had to say.

"The craziest thing just happened yesterday. The senior I met when I moved in, Wyatt, said that he liked me. He wrote a song and played it for me. I can't even begin to explain how horrifying it was," Carrie couldn't believe that it would be horrifying. Wyatt, as she remembered, was rather cute, "when I said I didn't like him in that way." She couldn't believe Julie would turn him down. He was a catch on all counts. And she was gay through and through.

But, it would be the perfect chance for Carrie to tell Julie she actually liked her. And had since junior year of high school. Now or never. "Julie, I have to tell you something."

"What's up?" She knew Julie could sense that Carrie was being far more serious than Julie had been when she brought up her story about Wyatt and his song to her.

"I like you. Like like-like you. I have since junior year when we spent the night watching movies and eating pizza because we both basically failed our history tests." Julie knew exactly what she was talking about. In fact, she thought a lot about that night and how the butterflies in her stomach always seemed to come out every time it crossed her mind. "It was the first time in a long time that I really, really liked the music I made and would've been proud to show it to the world. The one time I would've gladly performed a song." And with her severe stage fright, that was really big for her. "I know you don't like me in that way, but I had to say something before I lost the courage."

"I like you, too. Like-like you." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Julie liked her? Since when? "I only realized it when you sent that text. I thought about everything we'd gone through together and it hit me that I felt like I wanted something more from our friendship.

"I wanted to spend every night eating pizza and watching movies until three AM and laughing until we cried and being able to rant to each other whenever we didn't like how something was going." Carrie felt a thousand emotions in that moment. For one, she had to be in heaven or dreaming because this couldn't have been happening to her. It just wasn't possible. But, when it dawned on her that Julie wasn't kidding, wasn't joking about it, her heart soared into the clouds. She wanted the same thing Julie did.

"I want that for the rest of my life." Carrie said, hoping she didn't sound like a complete idiot. "It's all I've wanted since then."

"I think we can do that." Julie, for whatever reason, didn't want to kiss Carrie, though. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it extensively—her dream about it proved that she had—she just knew she couldn't until her situation with her mom was all wrapped up. And she'd only feel guilty if she kissed her before then. Staring at her best-friend-turned-something-romantic (something she couldn't quite put a label on), she decided a hug would have to satisfy Carrie. And, it seemed to for the time being.

"Hey, don't you have those tickets to the music museum? We should go." Carrie wanted to distract herself from the fact that Julie didn't want to kiss her. It wasn't fair. She'd waited so long for this, and she'd have to wait even longer for a kiss.

"Yeah." Julie smiled as if nothing was wrong while Carrie's heart felt split in two. She didn't want to wait for her first kiss, but she wouldn't force something on Julie that she didn't want. "It's just down the block."

Once they got to the front of the building, Carrie couldn't believe her eyes. If anything ever screamed music, this did. There were metal sculptures of music notes, records, and guitars jutting out from the front of the building. She wanted to use this to create a stunning drawing, so she decided to take a picture to remember it longer. Pictures weren't always ideal, since they flattened everything out, but it would have to do unless she wanted to walk back through the crowds of people that were walking on the streets.

"This is insanely cool," Carrie said as they walked inside and headed to the first wing full of displays. It had guitars from famous musicians and dove into the true meanings behind lyrics that the artist had given. Some of the most famous songs and artists were captured in time in this place. Although music was not where her heart yearned to be, she couldn't believe she was seeing all of this firsthand. Julie's eyes lit up when she saw the first wing and there were three more just like it. It was clear to Carrie that she loved seeing the beautiful richness behind songs and seeing the amazing instruments firsthand. They even had the grand piano that Billy Joel composed "Piano Man" on. Carrie loved music only half as much as Julie did, yet this place brought out that side of her so easily.

The third of the four wings was where Carrie saw the first picture of her father performing on stage. Luckily, it wasn't one of the many he'd stolen from his friends, or else it probably would've been taken down or slandered just like they were in the media. Although it'd been a year, she still saw articles about how Trevor Wilson had stolen music just to make his first three albums.

It wasn't his fault his friends all died in 1995 and left him to pick up the pieces of the band he was left with. He didn't even release a song for years, only choosing to perform every once in a while when someone specifically requested him—which was usually family. No one knew that part of the story. All the media knew was that he stole songs and he refused to tell them any more about it.

"I feel bad for him." Julie stood next to Carrie as she stared at her father's picture. "He released those songs to honor his friends. And I know they weren't mad at him." Carrie was confused.

How would Julie know what his dead friends felt when he released their songs?

"Julie, how could you know that? They've been dead since long before he released them." Julie clenched her jaw. She couldn't believe she let that slip after all this time. She'd been so good about playing it dumb whenever it came to matters about Sunset Curve and Trevor Wilson.

"I just know they wouldn't have been mad at him. It's just a feeling." Carrie didn't believe her.

Then, she remembered how her dad reacted to Julie's band. How terrified he was to see the three guys she was performing with. Carrie figured it was just the fact that it reminded him of when he and his friends were supposed to perform there...

Her band wasn't just a "bunch of guys from Sweden". I mean, who would really believe that? She had for far too long. They weren't holograms.

Her band was three ghosts.

"Your band," Carrie said accusingly. "The three guys in your band used to be in my dad's band back in the nineties. I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"No. They're just normal guys who live a normal life in Sweden." Julie managed to keep a mostly-straight face. She couldn't tell Carrie she'd been lying to her for three years.

"Then how do you explain the time difference? These guys would be performing at three in the morning just to play at your evening gigs. Or later. I do know how timezones work. And that doesn't include setting up or getting the 'Wi-Fi' working." Carrie had never looked into the guys, but she wanted to see if her dad's band was the same as Julie's.

One Google search proved that they were the same.

"Care to explain this?" Carrie shoved her phone with the very same article Julie had found all those years ago when they showed up in her mom's music studio. "I'd say these are the exact same guys in your band."

"Look, it's a lot more complicated than it sounds." Julie tried to calm Carrie down, but she didn't want to calm down. She wanted answers. And she'd get them one way or another.

Author's Note: That didn't go as planned... Julie's in for it now. Vote and comment with your thoughts. All the best, MistyRider921.