Ghosted

Chapter 1: Ever since the Orpheum

Third person

Despite his friends always being too busy to give him some of their time, Reggie actually is pretty happy, at least that's what he tells everyone and himself.

He always prides himself in being a very positive and happy person. Bringing happiness to others makes him feel worthy and deserving of the happiness and fulfillment he gets from just being around them. He wants to be someone you can count on to lift your spirits and make you smile when you're feeling down.

So, he just reminds himself how lucky he is to have such amazing friends he can call family, they're all together which what mattered most to him, and he still had music. And of course, he always had Ray and Carlos.

So everyone is happy, right? Alex has been hanging out with Willie, going on new adventures and seems to be having a lot of fun. Julie and Luke seem to be spending a lot of time alone writing banger songs for the band to rock on stage to. They're really connecting and both seem happy. Reggie's beyond happy for his friends, and he's happy they didn't have to cross over. So, everyone's happy, right?

Not really. Deep down, so deep down he may not even realize he's buried his feelings in fake smiles that now even fool him, Reggie being alone all the time does bother him. It doesn't just bother him, but leaves him feeling empty... almost invisible even. More invisible than to his lifer friend Ray.

Sure things could be worse, they could have crossed over and never seen each other again, or Caleb's stamps could have ended them, so he thought he really had no reason to complain about anything. But he was the kind of person that thrives when he's with the people he loves, but starts to wither when he's alone. Like a plant. Plants need sun shine, and the band is Reggie's sunshine, but he's been without his sunshine a lot since they've played the Orpheum.

Alex on the other hand has the opposite problem and is afraid he's spending way too much time with Willie. He's afraid that maybe he'll use up all their time together right away even though they have an entirety to spend.  He's just waiting for something to go wrong. Not to mention Caleb randomly disappeared, how can he not worry?

Willie is worried too, so worried that he fears Caleb will come back at any moment and destroy him, or worse destroy Alex and his friends. He felt guilty, that if Caleb did anything to harm them it would be his fault. His biggest regret is telling Caleb about Alex and his friends.

He also thought their time together was limited, and he wanted to make sure he was spending every second he could with his Hotdog before time was up.

Luke handles his emotions similar to Reggie, by ignoring them. At least around everyone else, but when he's alone, he can't hide them from himself like Reggie can. At least he has music still to work through things, but he can't shake the feeling Caleb is out there somewhere lurking, waiting to hurt his friends. He wants to use what ever time they have before Caleb strikes again on the band, and even if he, Alex, and Reggie run out of time, maybe together they'd get the band far enough before that to help Julie begin a solo career.

And Julie was all over. She didn't understand why she can now touch the guys, hug them and hold them. Other lifers still can't see them unless they play together, so what changed?

And now Carlos knows her secret and keeps asking if she can help him communicate with the ghosts. He keeps asking about Reggie specifically ever since he found out he was the one who scared Tia.

And on top of that, she's battling her feelings for Luke, Nick, the band, Carrie, everything and everyone.

After the Orpheum, Nick brought her flowers and congratulated her, and a whole bunch of feelings came rushing back. He was still the same sweetheart and she doesn't think she ever really got over him. But then there was Luke, who was somewhat of an exciting mystery.

After Nicks visited, Carrie stopped by and apologized for the all drama.

She didn't think Carrie would ever do that. Ever since her parents divorce she changed a lot, and was really mad at Julie for not being there for her, but Julie was going through her own stuff with her mom getting sick. Could things really go back to how they were before?

At least she gets a break from school for the summer, she definitely couldn't handle calculus on top of all this.

Julie was over at Flynn's house telling her everything she's missed while she was on vacation with her moms and brother who flew over from Denver. Flynn barley gets to see him since he went to college so Julie's glad she got to spend some time with him knowing how much she missed him.

"So! How's your summer going?" Flynn asks.

"Not sure." She sighs. "There's something I didn't tell you about after we played the Orpheum."

"What happened?" Flynn asks nervously. "Something with Caleb?"

"No, Nick actually."

"Nick?"

"Yeah Nick." She says. "He came over to my house and brought me flowers."

"Well that's nice!" Flynn says.  "Why are you saying it like it's a problem?"

"Because I think I still have feelings for him."

Flynn's eyes go wide. "I knew it." She says. "You can't get over a guy who've had a crush on since like the seventh grade! Right when he moved here you were head over heels. So what about Luke?"

"I don't know, I think I still have feeling for him too, it all just so confusing."

Flynn sighs. "This is why I hate boys." She groans. "Jules I think you need to forget about Luke, forget about Nick, and focus on yourself. Men aren't worth it."

"I can't just get rid of my feelings." Julie says. "Especially when I spend every day with Luke. We are in a band together, I can't just avoid him."

"Exactly! You spend so much time with him you are bound to find something wrong with him or at least get tired of him, or just gradually see him more as a friend than anything else." Flynn says.

"Uh huh, and what about Nick."

"So I'm actually not sure and I don't know how to give you dating advice. I have no clue why you asked an aromatic lesbian about dating and boys."

Flynn recently discovered she's demi-romantic. She doesn't really feel romantic attraction unless she forms an emotional connection first, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want romance. She actually really wants a romantic partner but it's really hard for her to find someone she can connect like that with.

"You actually have good advice for everything." Julie points out. "Anyways I have band rehearsal. Do you wanna come watch us?"

"Duh! When has the answer ever been no?"

Julie chuckles and the two girls head over to Julie's house, Flynn driving with her new licenses. Julie pops in a CD of all their songs Reggie gave to her.

He said it's the "official first copy of their unofficial demo."

Julie doesn't know who uses CDs anymore, but she thought it was sweet gift, and she's not rude. Reggie was so happy to give it to her, so of course she gonna use it and be thankful.

We go into the studio and Flynn sits down and Julie can't help but feel something is off with her bandmates. Ever since the Orpheum they've all been acting strange, and she doesn't know why.

"You guys ready?"

"Yup!" Reggie bounces up and Alex nods, going to his drum set.

"Let's get started." Luke says.