Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Smitten

"I noticed," Princess Julie said, this time with a frown. "I wonder why."

"Haters," Reggie sighed. He wasn't far off.

Alex came back with Willie, the binder in hand and passed it over to Julie. He slid in next to Reggie and Willie sat next to Luke who had to scoot close to the Princess, their elbows touching for the second time that night. He tried to keep close to himself, but it was impossible. Princess Julie went through the binder, scanning the songs with a grin on her face.

"Who wrote these?" she asked.

"All of us," Luke answered her.

"Mostly Luke," Alex butted in. Luke glared at him but before he could deny the claim, Julie looked at him and he instinctively looked at her.

"You're amazing," she said to him, before looking back down. Luke wished he hadn't changed the lightbulbs in the club weeks before because he knew he was blushing, and he knew at least one of the boys was going to notice. He covered his face, pretending to be leaning his head on his hand to look over at the binder.

After looking for a few minutes, Julie held up the pages to "Edge of Great" to them. "That's a good one," Reggie said, standing up. Alex pulled him back down.

"Rest," Alex said to him. "Willie can play bass." Reggie sighed, but he didn't argue back. Luke knew he'd be asleep when he came back no matter how loud the music was. The three of them had to carry him back to the academy once, and their superiors thought he was drunk until they smelled the throw up.

They stood up and Luke patted Reggie's head, Alex leading Julie over to the stage by the hand. It was strange how fast Alex connected with her, but they were both more level-headed people which made sense. They both grew up with wealthy backgrounds with stricter expectations. There was an unspoken understanding between them like there was with him and Reggie.

People started getting closer as they started getting the instruments ready, Julie setting out the music in front of the keyboard they had at hand. Luke spoke into the microphone, "No recording please!" People started putting their phones away, respecting their wishes.

The princess played a few notes, getting a random woo in the back. She giggled, and Luke knew he'd dream about it later that week. Luke got the club guitar and started playing the same tune, Princess Julie looking at him and smiling. He couldn't help but smile back, looking her in eyes. She looked down at the music sheet and started playing the music, singing. Luke held his breath.

Running from the past

Tripping on the now

What is lost can be found, it's obvious

"Get it, Princess!" someone yelled from the audience. Julie smiled the same way she smiled in the family portrait Luke once stared at.

And like a rubber ball

We come bouncing back

We all got a second act, inside of us

Princess Julie pulled off her microphone, the entire club cheering for her. She came up to Luke, and they started singing to each other. He didn't look away from her eyes for a single moment. With music, it was easy. This was Julie.

I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of

Something big, something crazy