ᴏɴʟʏ | ʟᴜᴋᴇ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀsᴏɴ

Wᴀᴋᴇ Uᴘ (3)

"Wait. Is this the junk that was in the loft ?" He says looking around at the instruments

"Junk ?" Luke says offended

"Some of this stuff's in pretty good shape." Ray says hitting the cymbals, "Hey, maybe we can make a couple bucks."

"What ?" Alex exclaims, "Yo, stop touching my drums. Tell him to stop touching my drums."

Layla and Julie shrug as Ray keeps looking around. "I liked that song you had on."

"Sweet ! We're Sunset Curve." Luke says

"Tell your friends." Reggie says

"It's just an old CD we found." Julie says

"Well, still, it's nice that you're listening to music again." He says to them. They both smile lightly, "Out here you can play whatever you want,
whenever you want." He smiles holding his hands out and bringing them back to him. In the process, his hands go through Luke and Reggie.

"Oh ! That's nice !" Reggie says

"Stay out of this." Julie shakes her head

"I-I'm sorry, honey. I didn't..." Ray says sadly

"Oh no, no, no, no. Not you." Julie says, "I mean... Uh... Er..." She points before leading him to the door, "You know, give me a minute."

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. We'll figure out this music program thing."

"Thanks, Dad." She says before motioning for him to leave. Layla sighs as Julie closes the door behind him.

"He likes our song." Luke smiles

"Oh yeah. He doesn't count. He's a dad." Alex says

"Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts ?" Julie snaps, "Hang out at an old mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice. Ugh !" She groans before leaving. Layla follows her out as the boys watch them leave.

They don't make it far as they're stopped on the steps as Luke pops up in front of them.

"Aah !" Julie yells making Layla jump, "Stop that. I'm serious."

"Oh, I'm sorry." His says holding his hands out as he comes closer

"What do you want ?" Julie says crossing her arms

"I know this is all completely insane, but you do know how rad this is ?" Luke chuckles, "People- Actual people can hear us play."

"Yeah, it's just I've just had a really, really awful day. I gotta go." She says walking past him

"Well, I'm sorry you had a bad day, but three guys just found out that they had a bad 25 years, and then they found out that the one thing they lived for in the first place they can still do. That's pretty rad."

"You're right. It's just-"

"Your bad day." He says looking between the two, "Yeah. I know. Look, I'm sorry we came into your life, but... what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again. We all felt alive again."

"So, you can kick us out if you want, but we're not giving up music. We can play again. That's a gift no musician would ever turn down." He says before he sighs, "You gotta know that. Clearly, your mom is into music."

"Was." Julie interjects, "She passed away."

Luke's face drops as Layla looks down, "I am... so sorry."

"Yeah, we..." They hear as Alex and Reggie appear, "we didn't know."

Julie sighs. "It's all right. You guys haven't seen her anywhere, have you ? From wherever you're from."

"Um..." Alex starts, "No. No, I mean, you two are kind of the first people we've seen."

"Yeah, but they're not dead, so it doesn't answer her question." Reggie says

"Yeah. I think she knows what we mean."

"You haven't seen anyone ? At all ?" Layla asks looking around at the three. As her eyes land back on Luke, the boy shakes his head.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Alex says

"Thanks." Julie nods, "Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good."

"Kinda ?" Luke scoffs, "Y-Y-You know that's like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off."

"Yeah. Do you play the piano too ?" Reggie asks

"No." Julie shakes her head looking to Layla, "No, I don't play. That was my mom's stuff in there."

"No way. She's an amazing songwriter." Luke says

"She was." Julie says before her brows furrow, "Wait. How would you know ?"

"There's a song on the piano. If it's hers..." He trails off, "Your mom was really talented."

Julie gives a small smile as it goes silent. She starts to turn away before turning back, "I guess... if you need a place to stay, you can stay in there. There's a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed if you still use any of that stuff."

"Dibs on the shower !" Reggie exclaims with a smile. "I just really like showers and sometimes the occasional bath."

Layla and Julie's eyes go wide as they watch him. Layla shakes her head, "This... This is just too weird."

"Yeah." Julie mumbles as she turns back toward the gate. Layla follows behind her as the boys quietly celebrate with one another.

Layla holds the door open as she looks back to them. Luke looks over at her as Reggie and Alex laugh together.

Layla smiles softly as him before letting the gate close behind her. Luke's eyes linger on where she previously stood before turning back to his friends.

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Layla knew she was running late. She snoozed her alarm at least five times. So now she was rushing around her room since she knew Julie was already downstairs waiting for her.

She was sifting through her clothes for her jacket. She stops as she hers what she's realizes was a piano playing.

Seconds later she hears singing. She immediately knew it was her cousin.

Her face softens as she listens. From the lyrics, she could tell it was something Julie's mom had written for her. As the song went on, Layla moved around her room grabbing her things. She took in every single lyric as it flowed from Julie.

She makes her way downstairs and out of the door. Julie's voice and the piano fade out as Layla stops on the porch. Carlos turns to her with a knowing smile on his face.

Layla smiles back before looking away.

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