You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 19

"I'll never act like that Dad. Seriously." Ray patted his son on the back, wishing he could have filmed this moment to save for the future. His kids were growing up so fast. He wished Rose was here so they could talk about it together. She would know how to help Julie with all this boy talk. And then they would lie in bed, just like they used to, and talk about whatever antics Carlos had gotten up to that day or some way that Julie had made them smile. It would never get easier, being a single father, but Ray was thankful for every moment they had shared together as a family.

***

"Julie, what is going on?!" Alex was flummoxed. That was the only word to describe what had just happened. As soon as they had entered Julie's room, Flynn started talking. If you can call it that. Alex was pretty sure talking involved taking a breath every now and then. This... this was something else.

"Flynn, you gotta slow it down for him." Flynn nodded her head, realizing Alex was not used to how fast she could speak. But she was just too excited, she couldn't slow down. As such, Julie was forced to relay everything again to Alex. "So essentially, Olivia isn't into Luke but is at least bi, because she told Carrie to call her, and Carrie is going to, so that's new."

Alex took this new information in, thought about it for a few moments, and then went back to resuming life. However he really wanted to go back to asking about Jax. "So Julie, how did you know that Jax liked someone else?"

"Oh... uh well he told me. He wanted to know if I thought they would be interested in hanging out with him."

"And would they?" Flynn asked. "I mean, you'd have to be crazy to say no to him. No offense Jules, cause I know you've got it bad for Luke, but you might be a little crazy for not wanting him."

Julie laughed. "I don't know if they'd want to go out with him. What do you think Alex?"

"What do I think?" His voice might have gotten an octave higher. "Um well I mean we only spoke for a little bit, but he seemed cool. I mean, yeah, he seemed cool."

Julie grinned. "Great. I'll tell him that." Flynn immediately understood and laughed while asking why are all the good men gay or taken. Alex looked between the two girls confused. "Don't worry Alex. You've got a phone now, so I'll just tell Jax to text you."

"WAIT! WHAT? JULIE WHATEVER YOUR MIDDLE NAME IS MOLINA YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN!" Alex evidently had started to put two and two together, but needed to hear Julie say it just to be sure.

"Haha my middle name is Amaia. And I'm not going to say anything, other than Jax would be a lucky guy if you were interested in him. Because he may or may not be interested in you."

"First off – your initials spell jam? I feel like there should be a joke or a nickname in there, but also what? He barely said anything to me? How could he like me?"

Flynn and Julie shrugged. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

They chatted a bit more before Flynn left to go home. Alex looked over at Julie and honestly was having a hard time keeping straight if Julie and Luke were on good terms now or if everything was messy again. Still? He really couldn't keep up.

"So Julie Jam-"

"Not my nickname."

"As I was saying Julie Jam, where are things with you and Luke. Like if Flynn had not run in when she did, what would have happened?"

"Again, you will not call me Julie Jam," Alex pouted at Julie. "But I don't know. I feel like we just keep getting our wires crossed. I don't know why it's so hard to talk to him. Well I mean why it's so hard to talk to him about how I feel about him. Why couldn't he have a ghost power that let him read my mind! UGH! If I knew he for sure liked me back it would be so easy, but you've heard him Alex, he's called me just his bandmate so many times. How can I ignore that?"

Alex didn't know what to say. The obvious choice would be to just flat out tell Julie that Luke is in love with her, but he knew he couldn't do that. Not because of some moral high ground, but because he knew that Julie wouldn't believe him unless it came directly from Luke. So he decided to lighten the mood instead.

"Okay so no to Julie Jam. But it's tricky because Luke has like a possessive claim on Jules, so what are Reggie and I allowed to call you? And how come Flynn is allowed to call you Jules? I feel like there are some double standards here."

Julie rolled her eyes. Alex thought they might get stuck there at some point.

"Fine. You can call me Julie Jam. BUT only when it's just us. And I'm going to call you Alexander."

"I don't think it counts if it's my full name as a nickname."

"Well I don't care Alexander."

"Fair enough Julie Jam."