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...
"Alright guys, how does pizza sound for dinner tonight? Haven't done that in awhile, huh?"
Julie looked up from her textbook as her dad came into the kitchen while she was finishing up her homework.
"Yeah, but no mushroom!" Julie's brother, Carlos called from upstairs.
"Got it! Extra fungi!" Her dad yelled back, giving her a wink.
Julie gave him a good natured smile, returning her attention to her studies as her dad phoned in the order.
"So how's the Senior Showcase planning going?" He asked as Julie stuffed her textbooks into her backpack.
Julie shrugged, "It's ok I guess. Only six weeks to go and I think Principal Lessa is punishing me."
"How's that?" Her dad leaned over the kitchen counter toward where Julie sat, resting his chin in his hand.
"She's forcing me to co-plan with this senior guy, Luke Patterson. It's some kind of debt he owes society or something."
Her dad cringed playfully, "He's hard to work with, huh?"
"He's always late, and he's very opinionated and stubborn, and it's very annoying."
"Opinionated? Stubborn? Wonder what it's like to deal with that?" Her dad asked, giving her a pointed look.
Julie rolled her eyes, "He said no self-respecting musician does the showcase, which I guess means he doesn't take any of this seriously."
"Well, be that as it may, I think it's nice of Ms. Harrison to give you this chance. After the year we've had, we could use all the second chances we can get."
Julie nodded as she hesitantly admitted, "I sang for the first time the other day."
"That's wonderful, Jules." Her dad replied, eyes glassy with sudden emotion.
"Yeah, it felt pretty good. It's just hard, though, because it reminds me so much of mom."
"That's all the more reason why you should get back at it." Her dad encouraged, giving her hand a squeeze.
"Ms. Harrison is expecting me to perform in the showcase too, and I'm just not sure if I'm there yet."
Her dad offered her a reassuring smile, "I know you'll make your mom, and me, proud no matter what." He said as he went to the cupboard to pull out four plates. "And as a former teenaged boy, go easy on the guy, ok?"
Julie gave him a half-lidded look as she took the plates to set the table. A short while later she and Carlos raced to the door as the doorbell rang. Julie nudged her little brother to the side as they tussled to be the first to open it.
"Alright, you two." Their dad said approaching from behind. "Who's paying for this thing?"
Julie and Carlos pointed at one another as their dad reached to open the door. Julie's eyes widened when she saw Luke standing at their step, pizza in hand.
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"Luke!" She exclaimed.
"Julie?" He replied looking just as surprised.
"Carlos!" Her brother said with a smile.
"Ray!" Julie's dad said giving a wave.
"What are you doing here?" Julie asked, cheeks tinged pink.
Luke glanced down at the pizza he held in his hand, quirking his brow when he looked up to meet her eyes. Carlos glanced between the two, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
"You're not our normal delivery guy." Ray offered as he handed over the money.
"No sir, he called in sick tonight. I normally just make the pizzas." Luke replied handing over the box with a polite smile.
"Well you can keep the change, Luke, was it?" Ray replied.
"Yes, sir. Thanks, Mr. Molina. Have a good night." Luke said as he turned to leave. "See you Monday, Julie." He offered as he headed down the steps.
"Bye." Julie muttered shutting the door as quickly as possible, and heading for the table without a word.
"Why are you being weird?" Carlos pestered as the three sat down to eat.
"I'm not weird, you're weird." Julie shot back.
"You're both weird. Now let's eat before it gets cold." Their dad admonished.
"So was that the Luke you were just telling me about?" Ray asked after a long silence.
He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at Julie and she felt her face heat with embarrassment. Carlos cackled, earning himself a death stare from his big sister.
"Yes, that's the same Luke." She sighed. "May I be excused? I have some work to finish."
"It's Friday night. Don't you and Flynn have plans?" Her dad asked as she stood from the table.
"No, not tonight."
"Everything ok?" Her dad asked, concern written on his face.
Julie knew what he was worried about. She gave him a good natured smile. "Everything is fine, dad. I just need some time to think." Julie said.
"Think about Luke." Carlos teased under his breath.
Julie shot him another look as she cleared her spot before heading upstairs. Truthfully, she wanted time to think about a song that had begun taking up space in her mind since the day she had sang the song she and her mom had written. Something about that moment had sparked a feeling inside of her again. A feeling that had long been quiet since her mom's death the year before. Julie began to experience the old familiar feeling of chords and melodies running through her head. She had struggled to pay attention in school all week as lyrics coursed through her every thought. She felt alive and inspired for the first time in a very long time and it was exciting. Julie wanted nothing more than to be quiet and alone with her music.
