Dancing Queen (Julie and The Phantoms)

11. Understanding Payback

On the middle of the table, there was a pre-written checkbook... all directed to eventually be sent to the Mercer family... with the words 'her medical bills' on parenthesis. The oddest part? The checkbook had been signed anonimously.

He had built me an altar, and payed for my overdue bills. Maybe we had this situation wrong...? Maybe he has a piece of heart after all.

The guys preventing Bobby from leaving stopped me from collaping on sobs right then and there. "Let. Me. Out!" he yelled. Alex blocked the door with his weight. They giggled when he couldn't go over, but they finally let him pass.

Scared out of his mind, Bobby rushed as far away from the crime scene. I shadowed behind him. "Liz, where are you going?" Luke shouted. They had just finished doing a triple high-five.

The back of my palm greeted their faces, working like the stop sign of a crossguard. "Give me a minute."

Do I feel guilty for the scare we'd given him? Kind of. Frankly, I wanted to see his next coarse of action and decide on that.

"Nonononono, Trevor, nothing Dr. Crystal can't handle." he muttered while moving down. His kid, Flynn, and... Nick, was it? were on the living room. "I'm gonna see my therapist. Okay? Okay." My head lowered slightly, desiring to swallow my revengeful thoughts. He goes to therapy? Still? Well, at least I know he feels a touch of remorse. 

I figured that, after he anxiously entered the helicopter, I should get back. I poofed outside the mansion, only to regret my decision. The first thing I saw was the trio mooning the vehicle. They were wooing and shaking their butts to the air. My elbow immediately covered my face. "Oh, my eyes! My precious eyes!"

"Sorry!" Reggie apologized. The end of the sound of clashing belts and zipping meant that I could see them again.

"How old are you guys? Five?" I crossed my arms. I hate the fact that I'm the younger one and the most mature at the same time. I should probably tell them about the mini-altar, too. But that would bring up topics I didn't want to do. I- I'll just try to make them wave a white flag.

"It was Reggie's idea..." Luke murmured.

Julie appeared from the house. She probably followed us here with her best friend. "So, did you guys have fun in there?"

"Okay, you'd do the exact same if he stole all your songs," Luke said while pushing his jeans upwards.

"But you have new songs. With me." Their annoyed stances dropped enough to barely listen. "The best way to get back at Trevor is for this band to do great. And to do great, we have to play at dances, then clubs."

"And tours. I know," the guitarist repeated.

Julie insisted. "I'll see you guys at the school. We go on at 9. Please don't be late. There's gonna be a bunch of people."

Rather than focusing on Julie while talking, Alex fixed his eyes on me. "We got it, all right? Don't worry." she sighed and went back inside to fetch Flynn.

"I don't care what Julie says, I'm glad we scared Bobby. We should've done more, like... written 'thief' on his forehead," Reggie laughed.

I try to reason with them. "I-I think we did what we needed to do." I scratched the back of my neck.

The sun was hitting me and Luke on the face, which is why we had to squint. "And Alex how did you shut the door? You could barely open a garage door."

Reggie grinned. "Learned that from Willie, did you?"

My brother shrunk in himself. "Yeah, well, he taught me some things, and we screamed in a museum."  

I placed a hand on my chest and sarcastically pouted: "So romantic."

"It's a long story," he deadpanned.

An devilish idea had formed inside the head of our guitarist. "You think he has a few more tricks up his sleeve?"

Alex shrugged. "Let's find out."

Okay, this is where I put an end to this madness. "Nonono, you three don't do that. Learn magic or whatever, but leave Bobby alone. I'm gonna stay here 'cause Julie and I are getting ready together. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Your loss." Luke ruffled my hair, and the three of them disappeared.

How am I supposed to stop this revenged-induced monsters? Why is the afterlife so complicated?

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Author's note:

Hi. Um, I know this is a relatively short chapter, but I wanted to highlight the difference in thinking of Liz and the boys. The reason why will be explained later on ;)

I am a firm believer on the theory that Bobby had good intentions, but bad execution, on becoming a solo artist. I like to imagine he wanted to honor his friends— most importantly, he had a soft spot for the only girl on the band.

Also, huge, humongous, big, enourmous, important question I have to ask. I've tried hinting it, but this fanfic is not established 100% as Reggie for a romantic interest. Would you guys like for Liz to offically like Reggie or would you prefer for her to not have a romantic interest (or be interested in another character)? This would change the course of the story, so I would love to hear your opinion. After all, this is written for your enjoyment.

That is all folks, thank you!

~ Winter ❅