Dead and Alive

Chapter 7

Reggie sat up from where he'd been lying sideways on the end of the sofa bed with his feet dangling. "A ghost club? Really?"

"Yeah, I guess? At least that's what Willie was saying." Alex sat up as well. "Could be worth checking out."

"We should do it!" Luke said excitedly. "Maybe we can be famous with ghosts, too!"

Alex laughed. "I'll ask Willie next time I see him."

"You should invite him to the dance," Reggie said. "That would be so cool!"

"Maybe." Alex grinned at his friends. They were so supportive of him. They'd always been like that, for everything. He leaned over and put his hand on Reggie's knee. "You guys are the best, you know that?"

Luke and Reggie smiled at him. "You're not totally awful, either," Luke said.

Julie couldn't believe how things had gone from being so awesome to being so badly so quickly.

Julie and the Phantoms had totally rocked the school dance the night before. She'd looked cute in the rainbow shirt of her mother's she'd found in the chest the guys had brought in from the studio for her, and her singing had been totally on point. The boys had been amazing, hitting every musical cue and playing to the crowd like they were already a famous band playing sold-out stadiums.

And she and Luke had chemistry when they sang together. It was so strong she felt like she could touch it, like she wanted to be able to touch his strong arms with her hands, or his lips with her own...

She shook her head. Now was definitely not the time to be daydreaming about her lead guitarist. Especially not while her father was checking his email from her math teacher, and was two seconds away from realizing she'd missed a calculous test.

"I slept in!" Julie blurted before he'd finished reading.

He looked up from his phone. "What's that, mija?"

"I slept in. After last night's concert," Julie explained. "I told Flynn not to wake me up unless there was a nuclear disaster, and she didn't know I was joking? Anyway, by the time I got up I'd missed three classes, including math. I'm sorry."

Ray blinked at her. "And you decided to tell me this now. Just before I read the email?"

Julie smiled brightly. "Yes?"

"Julie!" Ray stood up from where he'd been sitting at the dining room table. "I can't believe you tried to hide that from me."

Julie opened her mouth to respond when she saw a flash of golden light and Reggie appeared in the kitchen. "Hey Julie!" he said cheerfully. "I know we can't eat or anything, but I really miss food. Can I look in your fridge?"

Julie's eyes widened as Reggie reached for the fridge door. He was so focused on the big chrome appliance that he hadn't seen Ray sitting at his desk. The dining room table had a clear line of sight to the fridge. It would be impossible for her father to miss seeing the fridge door open by itself. And there was no way she could tell Reggie not to do it without freaking her dad out.

"I'm hungry," she said quickly to Ray. "You hungry?" without waiting for his answer she ran to the kitchen and threw open the fridge door.

"Happy?" she hissed at Reggie.

"Yeah, thanks!" he said. He searched the fridge with his eyes. "Oh, you have leftover pizza. I love pizza."

Ray followed her into the kitchen. "Julie, we were talking."

"I'm sorry dad. You know you sometimes can't control the munchies." She laughed feebly.

Ray frowned at her. "Julie, you need to pay attention to this. I don't want to have to yell."