Oozing Chemistry

18th Thing's 18th

Upon entering the studio, Alex has a drumstick up his nose, Luke is stargazing at the chairs hanging from the ceiling, and Reggie is plucking random strings on his bass depressingly, the three of them clearly unraveling before us.

"Snap out of it!" We both say simultaneously, and Alex immediately jumps and falls onto the floor. Reggie and Luke barely even move.

"Jeez, I think you broke Alex," Reggie mutters, going back to his bass. 

I walk over and help Alex back up, forcing Reggie to scoot over so I can sit down. "Do you guys want to play the Orpheum or not?"

Luke scoffs, "They're never gonna let us play," to which Alex describes us as nobodies.

"We're less than nobody," Reggie says. "We have no bodies."

Julie sighs and we share a look. "Someone once told me that you don't ask for permission. You book gigs by doing."

Reggie grins, "That was me."

I shake my head and pat his shoulder, whispering, "No, it wasn't, but good try."

He pouts, "Yes, it was."

"This isn't over," Julie continues, everyone ignoring him. Poor Reggie. "We were brought together for a reason: to help each other."

"Yeah, but like Luke said, people don't just play the Orpheum because they want to," Alex insists. Boy, these guys are really quick to give up. Really, what would they do without us?

Julie fights to hide her smug grin, "People don't, but ghosts do."

After the spark was reborn and the boys were ready to get up and keep trying, Alex reached out to Willie who agreed to help us. Currently, we were standing in front of the Orpheum, waiting for Willie to come back and tell us the opening band for tonight is far away and has no chance of making it. Then, the boys could weasel their way upstairs and plant the seed otherwise known as Julie and the Phantoms.

I, on the other hand, am getting increasingly antsy and can't wait another minute. I trust the boys and their foolproof plan, and by that I mean they are fools and I don't trust them for a second. They'd fight over who gets to use that single brain cell.

But, still, I decide there are other things I need to do before the show tonight, more important than scoring the opening ticket to the Orpheum. Two things come to mind that fall under that category. One, I still need to return Bobby's guitar and make sure that he sees us tonight, and two, what if the Orpheum isn't the boys' unfinished business.

Call me negative, but I'm not entirely sure this will work. They wanted to do thousands of things before they died. Yes, this was one of them, and they happened to be doing this later that night, but the fact that we did, in fact, meet Julie's mom... I mean, come on. That can't be a coincidence, can it?

First thing's first, I poof back to the studio and grab Bobby's dark blue guitar, watching how the light reflects off the body, making it shimmer and glisten like a galaxy.

Reappearing in the middle of Bobby's living room, surrounded by rich people furniture, also known as white and glass everything, I reach up to place it back in the frame, figuring it's done its job, but an idea pops into my head. 

I grin almost wickedly and glance around, watching Bobby walk through the door and greet his spoiled, Skittle daughter. He peeks over her shoulder, taking an interest in what's playing on her laptop, and both of us are more than surprised to find that it's Julie singing.

I guess Ray's photographer friends and YouTube really did work. And the look Bobby's face when he sees us appear is priceless. That is why we're doing this, and that is how we can get revenge on him. I just wish the guys were here to see it. I also hope Willie came through and we're playing tonight, otherwise all this would have been for nothing.