Luke is determined to breeze through his senior year and onto mega stardom (which means avoiding school, and Principal Lessa, as much as possible). That is until he's forced to work side-by-side with quiet good-girl, Julie Molina, on the big end-of...
"Why is Luke Patterson staring at you?" Julie's friend Flynn asked as the two stood at Julie's locker between classes the next day.
Julie glanced over her shoulder finding that Luke was indeed staring at her. She dutifully ignored him and turned back to her friend.
"Are you able to help me after school today with some stage ideas?" Julie asked finding Flynn's attention split between her and whatever was happening over her shoulder.
"Ok, no big deal but Luke is totally coming this way." Flynn said through a clenched smile looking panic stricken.
"Hey Julie." Luke greeted her with a smile. "What time should I plan on meeting you after school today?" He asked leaning casually on the locker beside hers.
"I told you yesterday I'll work alone. You can pay off your debt to society some other way." She replied. "Besides, I have my friend Flynn to help me."
Flynn fluttered a wave, a star struck look in her eyes as she gazed at Luke. Julie gave him a smug smile.
"Shoot, I just remembered I have drill team after school today." Flynn said snapping from her trance-like state. "I'm sorry, Jules." She offered apologetically as the bell rang.
"Looks like you could use my help after all, Jules." Luke smirked, crossing his arms.
"Don't call me that. Only my friends can call me that." She said crossing her arms to mirror him. "I'll see you at three. Don't be late." She warned as she and Flynn made their way toward their last class.
"Three o'clock!" He shouted down the hall after her, his tone full of mirth. "I won't be late!"
Julie ducked her head in embarrassment as nearly every student in the hallway stood watching their interaction. Luke managed to draw attention to himself no matter where he went, while Julie was just trying to fade into the background. This was sure to be an interesting experience.
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Luke sat at the piano in the music room, toying with a few of its keys, when Julie walked in after school.
"Hey, Jules!" He said smiling.
Julie shot him a warning look.
"Sorry. Julie." Luke quickly corrected, scooting over on the piano bench.
He patted the space he created beside him, motioning her over with a jerk of his head. Julie eyed him suspiciously as she walked over.
"Show me that song you were playing yesterday." He said as Julie dropped her bag to the floor, taking the seat beside him.
Her body stiffened, "No, I don't think so." She said softly.
"Why not? It was amazing. Your voice is-" Luke stopped short when he saw the stricken look on Julie's face. "Whoa. Hey, forget I said anything, ok?" Luke said as Julie's chin began to quiver.
The silence hung heavy in the air between the two for a moment.
"So what do we need to work on, boss?" He said giving her a gentle nudge.
Julie sniffled and reached down for her backpack to retrieve her notebook. She stared at it intently in her hands as she admitted, "My mom and I wrote that song together." She cleared her throat. "Before she died last year."
Julie tentatively brought her eyes up to meet Luke's. He sat momentarily dumbstruck at the news. It dawned on him suddenly why Julie had seemed so familiar the other day in Principal Lessa's office. Rumors had swirled around school for weeks about her when her mom died. No one their age had really experienced anything like it before and it sent shock waves through their school. Luke hadn't really known Julie at the time, although the more he thought about her, the more he seemed to remember sharing a handful of classes with her over the years. Either way, he was still sorry for her loss.
"Julie, I-" Luke began.
Julie held up her hand to stop him. "Don't say you're sorry. Please." She turned to look at him. "I don't want anyone's pity."
"I was going to say I think she's a really great song writer." Luke recovered quickly.
Julie quirked her brow, then softened her face into a smile. "She definitely was."
Luke snatched the notebook from her hand suddenly and flipped it open to read over her notes for a moment. He furrowed his brow, "Nope." was all he could think of to say.
"Nope?" Julie replied, a hard look crossing her face.
"None of this is going to work." Luke said with finality as he closed the notebook, setting it on her lap.
"You've got to be kidding me." Julie said indignantly, rising to her feet. She gripped the notebook shaking it. "I worked hard on these ideas!"
"I mean, if you want to put everyone to sleep then..." he trailed off with a shrug.
Julie rolled her eyes. "What amazing ideas do you have that are so much better?"
Luke stood from the piano bench and began to pace the room thoughtfully as he spouted off several different ideas.
"Those are pretty good, I guess." Julie muttered begrudgingly under her breath as she jotted them down on the pages in front of her.
"Luke, we gotta go!"
A panicked voice drew Luke and Julie's attention to the other side of the room from where they were working. They turned to find Reggie and Alex standing in the doorway, eyes darting around, twisting to look behind them at the slightest noise. Both boys looked very guilty and very ready to take flight at a moment's notice.
"What did you do?" Luke asked furrowing his brow, sensing instantly that something was amiss.
"Nothing." Reggie answered a little too quickly while Alex gave a thoughtful expression, accompanied by an odd, high-pitched noise that Luke knew he only made when was trying to think of a cover story.
Luke scoffed, pointing at the two, "You guys are going to get me expelled! It's bad enough I'm stuck planning this dumb show, no thanks to you."
Luke turned suddenly to Julie, an apologetic look on his face as he realized the weight of his words. She waved him off as she packed her things.
"Sorry." He mouthed to her as he grabbed his bag making a quick exit with his friends.
