𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 ♫ 𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 ¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟕

"Holograms are good to go," their third Musketeer told them while the two older teens stood off to the side to watch the trio's interaction.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to walk the two of you to the stage," Rob told them before leaving the dressing room after receiving thank yous from the two girls.

As soon as the door closed behind the blonde man, Flynn began to freak out about her backstage pass while Lexi and Julie watched her with small smiles on their faces. "We had sushi with Brandon Urie."

"Good for you. I threw up in the car on the way over here," Julie responded to the energetic girl.

"I can confirm that," Lexi muttered with a disgusted look on her face while picking up on laughter coming from Ryder and Cami before the ginger turned her attention back to Julie, "but you still look amazing."

"You both do," Ryder said to the two girls as the two older teens walked over to finally join the trio's conversation, "we also made friends with the tech crew."

"Yeah! You're gonna love what we have planned for the two of you," Cami added as the smile on her face grew before she took Ryder's hand into hers.

"The guys are here right?" Flynn asked while glancing around the room with a giant grin on her face.

"We haven't seen them," Julie told her before turning away from everyone else in the room to go back to finish getting ready.

"Wait, you don't think they changed their mind and took Caleb's offer, do you?"

"Definitely not. That's the last thing that they wanted," Lexi told her as she sat down in the chair next to Julie.

Ryder's eyes stayed glued onto his sister for a long moment before he and Cami exchanged a concerned look. The Daniels boy then spun both Julie and Lexi's chairs around so they were facing him once again before he took a step back as his small smile reappeared on his face. "You two are gonna kill it. Now, you three have some snacks and relax a little before you go on. While you do that, Cami and I are gonna make sure Mom and Dad aren't freaking out."

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Another hour passed of the three girls hanging around the dressing room and eating snacks while they waited for the ghosts of Sunset Curve. Lexi's legs were bouncing uncontrollably as she sat on the couch next to Flynn while Julie paced back and forth in front of them with a concerned look on her face. The redhead watched her curly-haired friend for another silent moment before finally finding the courage to break it.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak to her two best friends, Lexi got cut off before she even started by Rob knocking on the door once again to take the girls to the stage. The Daniels girl's blood ran cold as Julie called out for another second before the Molina girl turned to face her friends with a panicked look on her face.

"Something's wrong," Lexi stated, drawing the other two's attention toward her before she continued speaking, "the boys were getting those jolts pretty bad when we left.

"And they wouldn't stand us up again," Julie added as the concerned look on her face transformed into sadness, "they must have run out of time. They didn't cross over. They're gone. And I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Before Flynn or Lexi could say another word to their best friend, the Molina girl ran out of the room. Not even a second after that passed when the other two girls exchanged a look and rushed after her. Despite everyone calling out to her, Julie kept running and didn't slow as she raced through the halls. The redheaded girl continued to follow her friend while Flynn stayed behind to talk to the stage manager.

Lexi was able to keep Julie in her line of vision until the latter forced the backdoor open and made her way out into the alley. The Daniels girl watched from the small window in the door as the Molina girl stared up at the dark sky with watery eyes before her attention fell to her shoes. Confusion began to flow through the ginger's veins at the sight of her best friend talking to herself before a woman walked by with a bag of flowers and handed one to Julie. As soon as the stranger was gone, Lexi slowly opened the door to join her friend in the alley and pulled Julie in for a tight hug. The two girls stayed like that for a long time before the Daniels girl gently pushed the Molina girl away while keeping her hands placed on her shoulder.

"Let's get back in there and put on the performance of our lives. We can do this Jules," the redheaded girl said as a single tear slid down her cheek before she slightly tightened her grip around Julie's shoulders, "if anything, we need to do it for the guys."

As soon as her friend finished speaking, a small smile appeared on the Molina girl's lips before she slowly nodded. Sighs passed over the duo's lips as they made their way back inside the building with their arms slung around each other's shoulders to perform for the three ghosts who gave them courage again.

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