FAR FROM NORMAL ── REGGIE PETERS

09. START OF SOMETHING

     "I think he's practising his model strut." Reggie leaned in to whisper to Luke.

     "He's so nervous, he's almost making me nervous." Luke grimaced.

     "Honestly, if I wasn't feeling as nervous as I already am, he would probably be making me nervous too." Ashley had perked up a little and was sitting up in the chair now, not slouching, as she trailed her brother with her eyes. "Alex, seriously, what's wrong? You're gonna leave marks on the carpet."

     "Okay, look, you guys know I don't handle change well. All right?" Ashley didn't miss how his eyes flicked to her before going back to the boys. "Death? That was a change. Okay? Then we become ghosts, all right? Another change. And then I found I have a little sister? Oh, look, another change. And... and now we can be seen whenever we play with Julie and Ashley. Big freaking change!"

     Ashley could see where he was coming from but only because she was the exact same and change didn't sit too well with her either. Like brother, like sister.

     "Yeah, but, bro, it was a good change." Luke was looking at Alex directly in the eyes now. "With Julie and Ashley, we can play on stage again and be the band we never got to be. Come on. I mean, you gotta be down for that."

     Ashley was trying to pay attention to what was going on, but she was only catching glimpses of her name and Julie's in a sentence. Her head was too foggy.

     "Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't be? I just-" Alex paused- "you know, I wanna figure out why." The blonde had ceased his pacing for a minute.

     "Forget why." Luke rose from his seat on the sofa, a determined look on his face all of a sudden. "Man, I say we invite Julie and Ashley to join Sunset Curve."

     "Um, Luke, I'm right here?" Ashley chuckled as she smiled at her sheepishly.

     "Pretend you can't hear us." Luke grinned at her and Ashley shook her head, still smiling, but she took his words into consideration. The girl pulled her phone from her pocket, finally deciding to text her mom and tell her what happened.

     It blocked out the sounds of the boy's voices as she communicated with her mom - Ashley was almost sent home, but when her mom found out she was in the studio and was waiting for Julie to get home, her mother changed her mind.

     Ashley was, however, expecting a talk when she got home.

     When the blonde girl looked up at her phone once more, Alex was gone and the only two people left in the room with her were Reggie and Luke.

     "Do I even want to know where my brother went?" Ashley spoke up.

     "He went to clear his head but I don't know exactly where he went." Reggie was still smiling, even after everything. "He's panicking internally."

     "Wow, sounds like me." Ashley coughed out a sarcastic chuckle.

     There was a brief moment of silence between the three of them, as Luke took off into the loft, mumbling something excitedly about trying to write new lyrics with an idea he had had, while Reggie threw himself back onto the sofa. He met Ashley's gaze and patted the spot on the sofa next to him, smiling.

     Ashley didn't even hesitate. If she was able to touch him, she'd have probably leaned on him - it was just the kind of mood she was in.

     "So, are you still not going to tell anybody what happened at school today?" Ashley wasn't expecting Reggie to question her about the reason she was home from school, but she guessed she shouldn't have been surprised. Somebody was bound to question her eventually. "You came to us looking super upset."