Life is for the living
Death is for the dead
Let life be like music
And death a note unsaid
|Langston Hughes|
|| They both needed each other to feel alive again ||
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"Give your heart to a wanderer who found your soul and called it home." - Ariana
The regrets of staying up late last night hit me like a bus as soon as my eyes opened. It takes a lot to get out of bed, but I manage to find the motivation to keep moving. I finish curling the last strand of my hair when there's a knock at the door. I turn off the curling wand and set it down, before walking to the door. I pull it open to see Julie standing there, chewing on her lip nervously. I shoot her a small smile, "Good morning, Julie! What's up?" She shuffles back and forth nervously, before meeting my gaze, "I-I was wondering if you could come to the studio with me? I uh, I think I'm gonna try to sing and it would just be really great if you were there with me." Shock and happiness flow through my body as the biggest smile grows on my face, "Of course Julie, I'd love to." She nods her head and turns to head out of the house. I walk slightly behind her and her shoulders are stiff as I'm sure the nerves and hesitation are flowing through her. We come upon the studio and Julie pushes the door open hesitantly. The two of us peer around the dimly lit room, searching for any sign of our ghost friends. Memories of last night flash through my mind and I still can't believe it all happened. "Guys?" I shrug my shoulders as we find the room empty, "I guess they went to cause trouble somewhere else." Julie nods and makes her way slowly to the piano, sitting down on the bench. I go around the other side and sit down next to her. My heart pounds as she slowly sets out the sheets from the song that her mom wrote. She opens up the lid of the piano and places her fingers lightly on the keys. I watch as she pauses, furrowing her brows, "Do you want me to start." I can see the emotions flowing through her as she whispers, "Please." I clear my throat and look over at the music as Julie begins playing the song. I can't help but smile as I begin, keeping an eye on the words to ensure I have them right. "Here's one thing I want you to know You got some place to go Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe You don't give up, no, you grow And you use your pain 'Cause it makes you you Though I wish I could hold you through it I know it's not the same You got living to do And I just want you to do it" Luke was right, the song was absolutely beautiful and amazing in every way. Julie smiles up at me before taking over where I left off. It was in that moment where I realized that she was going to be okay, I knew she could finally be happy again. "So get up, get up, relight that spark You know the rest by heart Wake up, wake up if it's all you do Look out, look inside of you It's not what you lost It's what you'll get raising your voice to the rain Wake up your dream and make it new Look out, look inside of you It's not what you lost Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark Wake up, wake up" Our voices blend beautifully together as we finish out the song. I feel the light come in from the window behind us and I know that Julie's mom was there at that moment. By the time Julie plays the last few notes, tears well up in my eyes and I realize that it's moments like this where I feel the healing power of music. Julie reaches over and picks up the last page of music, and at the bottom is a note from her mom. She looks over at me, tears falling from her eyes as my heart aches for my best friend. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close, allowing her to cry lightly on my shoulder. After a moment we pull away and I shoot her a smile as she wipes her tears, "That was amazing, I had almost forgotten how much I love to sing with you." Before she can respond, a voice calls out from across the room, "Carlos told me you would be out here." We look up to see Flynn standing there, her hands in her pockets as she wears a very serious expression on her face. "We need to talk." I let out a small laugh as Julie piles up the music, "Are you okay?" "No, I'm not okay. You just got kicked out of music! I've been up all night thinking about what I was going to say. I might've drank seven sodas, but... I need to get this out." I let out a snicker as our best friend stares at us with a slightly crazed look in her eyes, I wouldn't even be surprised is her eye started twitching. Julie tries to talk, but Flynn is quick to shut her down, "No, it's my turn to talk. You can't give up on music. Your music is like a gift, that would be a tragedy. So you're basically like, canceling Christmas, and I love Christmas." "Flynn-" "Uh, uh, when we were six we promised to be in a band together, double trouble." A pout forms on my lips, "I never got asked to be in the band!" Flynn rolls her eyes, "That's not the point. Jules, if you leave the music program, we'll be apart forever. That's just what happens. I mean you and JJ will be fine because you live together, but soon we'll only see each other in the halls sometimes and we'll have different lives, make new friends." Julie lets out a sigh, resting her elbows on the piano lid, "That's not true." "You're right! I won't be making any new friends. And the only time we'll contact each other is when we'll be liking each other's posts on Instagram." Flynn cries out, her eyes growing sad. "Every time I'll be hitting that little heart, my heart will be breaking because one of my best friends left me and ugh... Do you have any soda? My head hurts." Julie rolls her eyes, "Can I talk now?" "Fine." A smile grows on Julie's lips, "I just played the piano and sang again." Flynn's eyes shoot open wide, "What? Why didn't you just say so?" "Dude your seven sodas kicked in before we could talk. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to you because we're sitting in front of the piano," I joke as she shoots me a playful glare. "But we're so happy for you. We've been waiting for this moment for a long time." Flynn nods her head, beaming with happiness, "Look at you, looking all, I don't know, alive again!" "Right? It's like I drank seven sodas," Julie replies. Flynn's eyes shoot wider than I thought was possible, "We need to tell Mrs. Harrison you can play so you can stay in school and my life won't be that sad picture I just painted for you. My girl's back. Double trouble lives again!" "Not our band name!" A pout forms on my lips as I follow them to the door of the studio, "It's fine, it's not like I wanted to join your band anyway." I walk through the door and see the three ghosts standing there, clearly having listened to our entire conversation, "Hey guys!" Flynn turns around, frowning in confusion while Julie shoots me a pointed look. My eyes shoot open wide, "I just wanted to make sure you could still hear me because clearly, you didn't take the hint that I wanted to join your band." Julie waves goodbye at the guys Flynn to narrow her eyes, "Thank God Julie, that bug has been bothering me!" **** I lean up against the grand piano in the music room as Mrs. Harrison approaches us, "Believe me, Julie, I think it's wonderful that you sang again. I prayed for this moment for almost a year. But it's too late." My heart drops in my chest as I look at Julie, disappointment filling her features, "What if you just hear her play? You know she's amazing." Mrs. Harrison shakes her head sorrowfully, "It wouldn't matter. A new student starts tomorrow. There's only-" "So many spots, and if I don't participate, I'm out. I know." Julie finishes, clutching her books tightly to her chest. "I did everything I could to keep you here this year, but Principal Lessa was very clear that yesterday was your last chance. You'll have to reapply next semester. I'm truly sorry." Mrs. Harrison states as the bell rings. I let out a sigh and grab Julie's hand, squeezing it tightly, "It's okay, Julie. We'll find another way." **** I plunk out a few notes on the piano to get the tune I desired before scribbling some more lyrics in my song book. After the crazy day I had yesterday, I was feeling inspired to write, to both calm me down and keep me sane. So here I sit in this small practice room and avoid studying for a test that I have later this week. "What are you writing there?" I hear a voice say, causing me to jump in shock. I turn around to see Luke standing there with a smirk on his face, obviously enjoying the fact that he scared me once again. I roll my eyes, reaching out to shove him slightly, "I don't see why you're so keen on trying to kill the one living person who can both see and touch you." He lets out a small laugh as he sits down next to me on the piano bench and drapes an arm over my shoulder, "Not trying to kill you, but a guy's gotta have some fun." I look down at what he's wearing and frown in confusion, "I didn't know you guys could change clothes. Where did you even find those?" He looks down at his cutoff and grins widely, "Alex found bags of our clothes in the studio. I thought after twenty five years it's time to change." I giggle lightly, "Poor Reggie has been wearing those tight skinny jeans for twenty five years." "I guess I never thought about that," Luke breathes his smile so wide that his skin around his beautiful eyes crinkles. He takes his gaze off of me and looks over at my song notebook, "What are you working on?" I tense slightly, not used to sharing my music with others aside from Julie, but I ignore the nerves and move my notebook closer so he could see what I wrote. It's quiet for a moment as his gaze flickers across the words on the page. I look down at my hands and twirl the rings I have on my fingers. His fingers reach out to tap my thigh, pulling my attention back to him. I raise my head to see him smiling widely, "Josie, this is really good." Blush creeps across my cheeks, "Thanks Luke." "Will you sing it for me?" One question from the ghost guitarist is enough to send my heart pounding wildly. I shoot him a look, "Are you sure you want to hear it, I don't even have the whole thing done." "Of course I want to hear you. Not to be creepy or anything, but we heard you and Julie this morning and you guys were amazing," he states hesitantly, sending me a small smile. My eyes go wide at the thought of them listening to us, "You heard all that?" "Yes we did, now play please," he begs his lips forming into a pout and that's all it takes to cave in. "Fine." A wide smile grows on his face as his eyes sparkle brightly. I clear my throat and place my fingers on the keys nerves running through me. I take a deep breath and show him a vulnerable side of me that I don't allow many people to see alone. Singing to just one person in my opinion is one of the most intimate moments, but something inside of me is telling me that it's okay to do it for him. "You feel it burn when you're knocked down But let the fire be your crown Come on, come on, come on Come on, come on, come on Go and claim your kingdom Then enslave all your demons Come on, come on, come on, come on I know you you know where you belong Don't look now But you're off the ground Can you feel it now?" I look up from my fingers on the keys to meet Luke's gaze. His smile is wider than I've seen it before. He nods his head on the beat, encouraging me with each note I sing. I lean into the piano smile as I sing. You got the heart of a phoenix So let them see you rise, hey-ey-ey, hey-ey-ey Let them know that you mean it Let them see you rise, hey-ey-ey, hey-ey-ey I pull my fingers from the keys and take a deep breath as Luke remains silent with a smile on my face. I let out an awkward laugh, "I mean it's not finished or anything yet so it's just ok, but I think I might send the lyrics to my mom." He grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze, sending chills up my arm. "Josie that was rad. You're very talented. Julie forgot to mention that you didn't just sing, but have a killer voice. And I'm sure your mom will love it." Blush once again forms on my cheeks as my smile grows wide, "You think so?" He looks down at our hands that rest on my thigh and then back up at me, "Yes I do think so. And this song, it's just really good. Promise me you'll write some music with me soon." "I would love that, Luke." The bell rings, causing me to jump. I let out a sigh as I stand up and grab my music notebook. I let a groan escape my lips, "Time for Chemistry class." He mirrors my actions and rises to tower over me, "That is a perk of being dead, no more high school. See you later blondie." I shoot him a playful glare at the nickname, "Bye ghoul boy." He lets out a chuckle before poofing out of the room, once again leaving me deep in my own thoughts. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Hey guys!! Thank you so much for reading and I love your continued support! I'm open to any suggestions or comments you have so don't be afraid to let me know :) also credit to Olivia Holt for her song Phoenix! Thanks, you lovely people :)
