Dead and Alive

Chapter 5

"Did you know they rebuilt the Orpheum?" Alex asked. "It looks a lot more fireproof than the first time around."

"My house has been turned into a bike shack," Reggie lamented. "A bike shack! Not even something good, like a taco bar." He sat down heavily on the couch.

Luke went over to where Julie was still standing by the piano. Her beautiful eyes were huge like she couldn't believe they'd heard her play. "That was amazing. Like, so incredibly good. I could hardly believe it! Like, you're so little but your voice is huge!"

The deer-in-headlights look faded as she smiled. "You really liked it?"

"Oh yeah!" Luke nodded his head. "You sing like...like a wrecking ball!"

Her smile faltered. "What?"

"He means your voice is really powerful." Alex moved closer. "Luke speaks his own language."

"Oh, thanks. I think?" Julie said, but her smile was back and Luke couldn't help but return it. She was so pretty. He took a moment to enjoy her: the small gap between her front teeth, the tight coils of her coal-black hair, how smooth her skin looked. His hand twitched with the desire to reach out and touch her cheek, just to feel how smooth it was for himself.

She swallowed and dropped her eyes before looking up at him again. It was like a one-two punch to his heart, and he sucked in a breath. Holy shit, he thought. I'm falling for this girl. It was amazing and overwhelming at exactly the same time.

"Our band is going to be totally awesome!" Reggie said. He was beside them as well, and Luke realized he'd been staring at Julie so hard he hadn't even noticed. He seemed to have recovered from the discovery that his family home no longer existed. "With a new lead singer, we'll be legendary!"

That stung. Luke looked at Reggie. "Hey! I'm our lead singer."

"Dude, she has the voice of an angel! And new band, new lead. It makes sense."

"Plus, we're dead, and she's not," Alex added.

Luke couldn't argue with any of that, but he couldn't help but feel rejected. "You don't gotta be so mean about it," he pouted at Reggie.

"Sorry, man." Reggie looked contrite.

"You sounded really good. On your CD," Julie said. "Maybe we could share the lead?"

Luke beamed at her, instantly in love with the idea of singing with Julie, on stage, feeling the energy from the audience pour over them... "We should rehearse right now!"

Julie bit her lip and then checked her watch. It was one of several brightly colored bands and bracelets around her slender wrists. "Oh wow, I didn't realize it was still so early. Yeah, I probably have time." She beamed at them.

Luke beamed back. His heart thudded in his chest as their eyes met. "Awesome!" He moved to the center of the room and concentrated. His guitar appeared directly in his hands.

Reggie and Alex did the same, and they were immediately ready. Julie frowned. "The electronic keyboard is still in the loft."

"Oh, yeah, right." Luke looked at Reggie, and then both teleported up to the loft. Luke went to pick up one end of the keyboard, and his hands went right through. Just like the cookies. "Damn!"

"Willie said picking up other people's stuff would be hard," Reggie sighed.

Luke glanced down where Julie was waiting with Alex. He really didn't want to let her down. "We can do this. We just need to concentrate."

"Yeah. Imagine our hands gripping it!" Reggie took a breath and reached for the keyboard. The end lifted and he shouted in triumph.

Luke concentrated, and he was able to lift it too. He grinned broadly at Reggie as they picked up the keyboard and carefully took it down the ladder.