Reggie Peters x OC

Chapter 1: Too Young to Die

The boys and Julie were casually practicing in the garage one morning when something fell from the sky out of nowhere. The band stopped playing to look at what it was. It was a girl wearing a cheer outfit. She groaned then started to get up. "What the heck? Where am I?" Julie stepped around her keyboard. The boys looked at Julie for answers but she was too focused on the girl, her face full of confusion and disbelief. "Lydia?" she questioned cocking her head. The girl quickly sat up, "Julie?" They kinda stared at each other in surprise and confusion for a second before Luke broke the silence. "Who is this?" he asked, gesturing at Lydia and looking back to Julie. "Who are they?" Lydia asked looking at the boys not sure what to think. Everyone's eyes went wide and they all looked at each other. Julie looked at the boys almost fearful. "You can see them?" Julie questioned pointing at them, her voice low. Lydia's confusion deepened. "Yeah?....why wouldn't I be able to? Julie, what's going on? Why and how did I get here?" Julie and the boys looked at each other. "Lydia....they're ghosts," she answered almost fragilely. Lydia cocked an eyebrow. "Stop messing with me." Julie shook her head, "no really. See," she gestured to the boys to come over. They phased right through things in their path. Lydia's eyes went wide, "woah! How'd you do that!?!" A thought came to Julie. A tear slipped down her cheek, "Lydia, what's the last thing you remember?" Everyone looked at her with concern. "Um....I was....falling off the....top....of....the cheer pyramid...." realization hit her, "No. No!" Julie let out a choked sobb. Lydia looked around in a panic then poofed out. Well that confirmed it. "Julie what's going on?" Luke said matching the mood of the room. Julie let out another sobb, "that's my cousin and I think....I think she died." She put her hands to her mouth and cried. The room went silent except for the sound of Julie crying. Reggie put a hand on her shoulder, "we have to find her, she needs our help. Where do you think she went?" Julie tried to even her breathing and stop her crying. Once she calmed down enough she put hand on top of Reggie's and thought for a second, "oh, I think I know. Come with me."

They entered a school not too far from Julie's and found the practice gym. The scene in front of them was tragic. Coaches talking to paramedics with tears streaming down their faces. Huddles of girls all around the gym, some wailing, some crying softly, some retching in the trash cans. The most tragic thing was the shape of a small body on a gurney covered in a white sheet over it with white shoes matching Lydia's poking out the end. There was blood pooled on one spot on the floor. They spotted Lydia in the middle of a huddle. She tried hugging one of the girls repeating the words, "it's not your fault, it's not your fault, it's not your fault...." They watched the scene with much heartache. "Someone should go get her," Julie said through tears. Reggie stepped into the gym slowly approaching the girl. He put a hand on her shoulder. She kept looking at the girls but slowly turned to look at who was touching her. He simply held his arms out to and to Julie and the boy's surprise, even Reggie, she flung herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist and cried into his shoulder. "I was so young. I still had so much I wanted to do with my life. There was so much going for me." He just rubbed circles on her back as she cried. After some time he softly turned to guide her out of the gym. "Come on," he said gently. They left the gym and walked to the others. She looked at Julie and immediately broke from Reggie's hold and into Julie's. Some how she was tangible to her but that didn't matter right now. They hugged for a while before they pulled away. She turned to Reggie, "sorry if I got your shirt wet. Also sorry I put that all on you, you barely know me," she sniffed. He waved it off then smiled, "it's no problem." She smiled for the first time since she appeared. "Let's go home," Julie said.

Back in the garage the air was heavy. They sat in silence processing what they had just seen. Lydia was the first to speak. "How come you can see and touch me and those guys when no one else can?" Julie sighed, "honestly we don't know, but let's not worry about that right now. I bet you want to change into something more comfortable?" Her eyes filled with tears again, "yeah but I don't want to see my family crying over me but all my clothes are in my room." Another tragic thing to add to the list. "I can go get them for you," Alex stepped up. Lydia nodded and explained where her house was. "It's the pink room at the end of the hallway." His eyes lit up at the words pink room for a second. Julie handed him a tote bag and he poofed out. A pause. "I guess I should introduce you to the boys. That's Reggie, Luke, and the one that just poofed is Alex." Lydia gave them a small smile. Soon Alex came back with a few clothes. "I only took a few so your parents wouldn't notice," he explained. "Thank you," she looked like she wanted to say more but decided not to. She took the bag from him and changed in the bathroom. She came back in a grey sweater and sparkly black sweatpants. Her hair was pulled out of the high ponytail and bow. She had shiny light brown hair that just went past her shoulders. Reggie just noticed how pretty she was. She looked at the boys, "thank you for helping me out even though you barely know me." Luke stepped forward, "we helped Julie through some hard things, we're here for you too." She smiled, not really sure how else to respond to that. "So uh....how did this," she waved her hand between Julie and the boys, "happen?" They looked at each other. "It's a long story," Alex said.

"Wow, that's....crazy," Lydia replied after they explained their story. "How are you not freaked out?" They all looked at Alex and chuckled. "I'm still not entirely ok with everything that's happened and is still happening!" he exclaimed. That made Lydia smile and even laugh a little which was nice for Julie and the boys, because they had only seen her cry since she appeared. Then she yawned. "Whoah, I didn't even know ghosts could get tired," she said in surprise. "Yeah we can sleep now too after Julie's magical hug," Reggie explained. Julie checked her phone, "oh yeah it is getting kinda late. I should probably go inside." She hugged the boys goodnight. When she got to Lydia she squeezed her tight, "we are going to get through this together. Everything's gonna be alright," she said quietly to her. "I know, thank you Julie for being there for me." With one last squeeze they broke apart. "The boys will help you get comfortable and get anything you need. Also don't be afraid to wake me, you know which room is mine,"Julie gave one last goodnight to everyone before she left the studio. Once she was gone the boys looked turned to Lydia. "Uh....I don't know if you'd want to but we usually sleep together. Often one of us has nightmares so decided it was best if we stuck together," Luke said. She thought about it for a minute. "Um....I usually stay up late and I'd hate to keep you up," she replied. "Ok well, don't be afraid to say something if you need anything. We'll be in the loft. You can take the couch, there's a blanket and pillow already there," Alex said, with almost a concerned look on his face. She just simply nodded. They all said goodnight then poofed into the loft. She turned off the lights then settled on the coach with the blanket and pillow Alex said there was going to be. Normally she would be up for another hour or so but she must've been more tired than she realized because she was out real quick.