"For the last time, mijo. Ghosts are not real." Julie's aunt said to Carlos while Cas, Alex, Luke and Reggie sat on the living room couches.
"Typical adults," Reggie scoffed. Making Cas look at him, wondering where he was going. "Do you remember when we were kids, and they never believed what we said?" He asked.
"I think that was for the best. I one time said that I found a puppy... turned out it was a possum, I had to go into quarantine for three weeks," Cas said and both her and Alex shivered at the memory. "I wonder how Ossie Possie is doing?" She thought out loud.
"But besides that, I'm pretty sure that's just a 'you' thing," Alex said to Reggie. "I was always pretty trustworthy." He finished.
"Shouldn't we be more worried about Julie? Her dad just busted her, okay? He's probably making her quit the band," Luke said but Cas shook her head.
"No, he can see how much the band means to her and it made her sing again. Ray doesn't seem like the kinda guy to take that away from her," She said and Luke nodded in agreement.
"And if he does, there's not much we can do about that now, but... we can still help Carlos," Reggie said and Cas had this feeling that she wasn't gonna like where this was going. "Adults not believing children ends tonight. Showtime." Reggie smirked and he turned off the light.
"I haven't seen them. I—" Carlos said but stopped when he noticed the light and Julie's aunt gasped. "Ghosts aren't real, huh? How do you explain that?" Carlos asked and Cas softly rolled her eyes.
"Light bulbs burn out all the time, Carlos," Julie's aunt tried.
"Ooh! Wrong answer, tía," Reggie said and walked around the couch. "Explain... this!" He exclaimed as he moved the blinds and Cas, Alex and Luke leaned back while Julie's aunt got scared.
"Maybe it's my mom!" Carlos said and Cas's heart slightly broke.
"Aw, that's sad," She said and put her hand on her heart.
"She knows I haven't been replacing the toilet paper!" Carlos exclaimed and Cas's face fell into an unimpressed look.
"And you ruined it." She said.
"Your mama would never scare us. This is the work of a demon!" Julie's aunt exclaimed and Reggie stopped.
"Hey, words hurt," He said.
"Wait! I got to get it on video," Carlos said quickly.
"Yeah, you do," Reggie agreed and Cas sighed as she leaned her head on Alex's shoulder. "Time for an old classic," Reggie smirked as he picked up a sheet and put it over his body.
"Oh!" Carlos smiled while Julie's aunt started squealing and yelling. "Dang, it was in selfie mode," Carlos complained as his aunt picked him up and ran away. Reggie laughed as he removed the sheet and sat back down all while Cas, Alex and Luke just sent him a look.
"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Alex asked as all three of them had their arms crossed.
"Yeah, I do. I've defended every kid who's never been believed. Some might say I'm a superhero," Reggie smiled proudly.
"And some might say you're an idiot," Cas said and Reggie's eyes widened in realization.
"We should probably hide before Julie finds out, huh?" He asked and ran away, quickly followed by Cas, Alex and Luke.
↜✨🎸✨↝
Cas hummed softly as she walked around the park, something she started doing when she needed to clear her head. She wore some ripped mom jeans, a black crop top, an oversized flannel that she stole from Luke, her classic black Convers and her hair hand lose behind her back. She looked to her right and saw a young girl playing on the playground with her older brother and their parents close by. That made her think back to when things were still...normal. She hated her parents for not excepting herself and Alex for who they were. But she couldn't help but long for those simpler times. When home was home.
"What you looking at?" A voice whispered and Cas jumped with her heart racing. She calmed down though when she saw it was just Felix.
"Jesus, Felix. You need to stop doing that," She said while trying to calm her breathing and Felix chuckled.
"Sorry, sorry. But what are you doing here?" He asked as he and Cas started walking again.
"Not much, the guys and I are free to do what we want when Julie's at school, so I just... walk around a bit, trying to clear my head. You know?" She replied and Felix nodded, then something came up in Cas's head. "Hey, when I had that weird pain the other day, you said something along the line of someone having me," Cas started and Felix slowly pale. "What did you mean with that?" She asked and for once, Felix was lost for words.
"I... Uhm..." He stammered and Cas got a weird feeling. "It doesn't matter," He said and Cas pulled up one of her eyebrows in a questioning way. "Hey, I have an idea," He smiled and took her hand, lacing their fingers together before pulling her further. Cas softly blushed as she ran after Felix who brought her to a small beach area that had small pebbles everywhere.
"What is this place?" Cas asked softly, in wonder of its beauty and completely forgetting Felix's hand in hers.
"I don't know, I found it a while ago," Felix smiled sheepishly before letting go of Cas's hand and grabbing a flat pebble. "Check this out," He smirked as he threw the stone and it skipped on the water before disappearing.
"You think that's good?" Cas challenged as she grabbed a pebble and copied Felix, only the pebble got further with more skips. "Boom!" She smiled and Felix chuckled.
"Oh, you're on!" He smirked and just like that, the two ghosts spent their time skipping stones, both of them completely forgetting about their problems. And Cas completely forgetting about Julie for a bit, while as was one of the only things on Julie's mind.
While Cas was having the time of her dead life. Julie was having one of the biggest problems of her life. And that was that while she was dancing with Nick, she was dancing with both Cas and Luke in her head.
↜✨🎸✨↝
"There you are. I've been looking all over for you," Flynn said as she walked to Julie who was sitting behind a piano. "Why'd you run out of dance class so fast?" She asked.
"Sorry. I just needed some air. It was a little intense in there," Julie replied.
"Oh, I noticed," Flynn smirked. "Dancing with a guy you've had a crush on for forever will do that to a girl," She added.
"Yeah, but the whole time we were dancing, I was thinking about Luke," Julie started.
"Seriously?" Flynn exclaimed.
"And Cassie," Julie added and Flynn sighed.
"First off, called it. Second, I know you always want what you can't have, but Luke is next-level. And Cas is next-next-level. Didn't you say she has this new ghost friend she seems awfully close with?" Flynn said and Julie sighed.
"I know. And now I think Nick likes me. Nick!" Julie exclaimed and Flynn smiled.
"He totally does," She said and Julie sighed again.
"But me and Luke just clicked. And I can't get Cassie out of my head. And they're so—" Julie started but Flynn stopped her.
"Not real. You can make all the music you want with Luke and Cas, but... they'll always be a phantom. So... here's what we're gonna do," Flynn said and grabbed Julie's phone. "Send Nick a nice friendly text asking him to come to your party tonight." She said and showed Julie the text.
"Um, I usually don't use that many smiley faces," Julie said.
"You do now. I'm not gonna let you get your heart broken. And trust me. Tonight, you're performing with Luke and Cas, so the key is avoiding those big, beautiful, dead... eyes." Flynn stated.
"You're very pushy today," Julie noticed.
"You're welcome," Flynn smiled.
↜✨🎸✨↝
Cas and the guys were rehearsing for tonight, but Cas quickly realized something was wrong when Alex started playing the drums very fast and very angry.
"Alex, you all right?" Cas her older brother when they all stopped.
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, why?" Alex said but Cas lifted her eyebrow in response.
"I know it's tough, man. People say you never forget your first ghost. Maybe that's true. But... I'm sure there will be others. Like, look at Cassie Taxi, she's already over Julie now that she has Felix," Reggie said and Cas softly looked down, knowing it wasn't true.
"You're over Julie?" Luke asked softly, and Cas knew what she had to answer.
"Yeah, I mean, she can't even touch us and she probably doesn't even like girls." She lied quickly but Alex could sense that she was lying.
"Yeah. But thanks, Reg," Alex said, coming back to what Reggie said.
"And, Alex, you're a great drummer and a great guy, okay?" Luke asked. "I wouldn't let all that stuff get in between you and what you love.
"I don't know, man. Sometimes a little fire can make things better on stage. Like you and Julie," Reggie said before looking at Cas. "And you and Julie." He said and Cas rolled her eyes.
"Uh, wha...What is that supposed to mean?" Luke asked and Reggie chuckled.
"Come on. Everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing. And you should've seen your face when Cas sang with her especially when you knew she liked her," Reggie said and Cas rolled her eyes again. Wanting to be everywhere but there. "You guys ooze chemistry. And so do Cas and Julie," Reggie said.
"Can we stop bringing me into this? We already established that I don't like Julie." Cas snapped and everyone looked at her.
"Reggie should never say 'ooze' again, but I also agree with him," Alex said, trying not to bring his sister into it as she asked.
"Okay, no. I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with. Cas?" He said and looked at the blond.
"Yeah, no thanks," She said quickly and Luke rolled his eyes.
"No but seriously, just watch. Uh... I believe I believe that we're just one dream Away from who we're meant to be That we're standing on the edge of Great" Luke sang to Reggie with a lot of chemistry.
"Wow, I'm impressed," Cas nodded.
"Yeah, I see chemistry." Alex agreed.
"That was pretty hot," Reggie said and Luke kissed his fingers before placing it on Reggie's lips and Cas softly rolled her eyes as Reggie cleared his throat. "Girls. Am I right?" He asked.
"Yeah," Luke said.
"Definitely," Cas smiled as she picked up her guitar.
"No." Alex finished with a smile and the four ghosts started playing again.
↜✨🎸✨↝
"Running from the past
Tripping on the now
What is lost can be found, it's obvious
And like a rubber ball
We come bouncing back
We all got a second act, inside of us" Julie sang as she played the piano and then Cas and the guys appeared.
"I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of
Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great" Julie sang and danced with Reggie and Alex, but she didn't dance with Cas or Luke. Both Cas and Look shared a confused look but Cas quickly shook it off and started rocking out. She eventually spotted Felix in the crowd and smiled softly at him.
"(On the edge of great) great
(On the edge of great) great
(On the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great"
"We all make mistakes
But they're just stepping stones
To take us where we wanna go
It's never straight, no" Luke sang Julie still ignoring him.
"Sometimes we gotta lean
Lean on someone else
To get a little help
Until we find our way" Cas sang and she locked eyes with Julie who quickly looked away.
"I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of
Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great" Cas sang with Julie and Luke as she tried to ignore the weird feeling in her stomach when Julie kept ignoring her.
"(On the edge of great) great
(On the edge of great) great
(On the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of" Julie stood onto the piano and looked at Cas to tell that this was her moment..
"Shout, shout
C'mon and let it out, out
Don't gotta hide it
Let your colors blind their eyes
Be who you are, no compromise" Cas sang with passion which made people cheer.
"Just shout, shout
C'mon and let it out, out
What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive" Cas, Julie and Luke sang together. But Cas realized that Luke was done with Julie ignoring him.
Ooh-oh
"I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of great" Luke smirked proudly after he walked away from Julie and Cas's stomach dropped as she watched the two. And her stomach dropped even more when she realized she'd never be able to beat Luke to Julie.
"Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great"
"(On the edge of great) on the edge of great
(Great, on the edge of great) on the edge
(Great, on the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of" Just like that Cas, Alex and Reggie disappeared. But Luke didn't. He stayed with Julie.
"Running from the past
Tripping on the now
What is lost can be found, it's obvious" The two sang and Cas couldn't help but let a tear roll down her cheek. Alex placed his hand on her shoulder but Cas just shook it off. She didn't stand a chance against Luke.
👻
Cas sat on the stone stairs as the guys played some basketball.
"Cassie, hey," Felix smiled as he sat down next to her. "You were amazing," He said and Cas smile down at the ground.
"Thanks, Felix," She said. "Wait, you need a nickname too. How about... FeeFee," She smirked.
"No." He said with horror in his eyes. Cas laughed as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Fine, then not... Lix," She smiled up at him and Felix smiled back.
"Lix, yeah, I like it," He said but then Cas and the guys got this pain again. "Cassie!" Felix exclaimed as he hugged Cas close.
"Hey, hands off my sister," Alex hissed still in pain and Felix quickly did as told.
"That wasn't like the other ones. It's getting worse," Luke said and Cas looked up at Felix.
"Lix, you have to tell us what's going on," She pleaded and he sighed.
"I don't know how it happens," Felix started.
"But I do," Willie said coming out of nowhere. "It's because you guys are in serious trouble," He said as Cas and Felix joined the guys.
"Willie?" Alex asked.
"We need to talk," Willie said.
👻
"All these jolts that we're feeling is because Caleb put his stamp on us?" Luke asked as he, Cas, Alex, Reggie, Felix and Willie all walked together and Willie was explaining everything. Felix loosely had his arm around Cas's shoulder to give her some form of comfort.
"He's threatened by you. He wants you under his control. I mean you're the only ghosts that can be visible to lifers without his help." Willie explained.
"And you let him do this to us?" Alex asked as they stopped walking.
"You really know how to pick them, don't you?" Cas asked her older brother.
"Say the girl who got her heart broken twice and then wrote 'All I Want'," Alex shot back.
"You wrote 'All I Want'?" Felix asked shocked and Cas sent him a look that meant not now.
"I can't stop him!" Willie exclaimed reacting back to Alex. "He owns my soul. All right? He owns everybody's soul at that club. If he even knew I was here talking to you, he... he would destroy me." Willie said and Cas slightly gasped.
"So if we don't join his club, the weird power outage thing continues until there's no power left at all?" Reggie asked.
"Yes," Willie replied.
"What exactly happens when the power goes out?" Reggie asked again.
"That's... That's it. You're done." Willie stated.
"Uh-huh. Yeah. And what exactly do you mean by 'we're done'?" Reggie asked with disbelieve.
"You just... You don't exits... anymore. Not anywhere," Willie said.
"It happened to a friend of mine," Felix admitted.
"That's how you knew it wasn't good," Cas said and Felix nodded.
"What?" Alex asked.
"So we have no choice?" Luke asked with a hint of anger. "We have to say goodbye to Julie, give up everything we've built together, and work for Caleb?" He asked as Cas started clenching her fists. "That's some club you guys got going on." Luke scoffed as Felix softly grabbed Cas's clenched hands.
"But there is another option. That's why I'm here," Willie tried.
"Another option?" Alex scoffed.
"Just please hear me out. All right. If you guys could figure out what your unfinished business is, you do it in time, you could cross over and be free from all of this." Willie explained and Cas tried to keep everything straight.
"Okay, so, what's our unfinished business?" Luke asked Willie.
"I don't know, but since you all died at the same time, it might be something you need to do together," Willie said.
"Why should we listen to a word you say?" Alex asked and Cas could feel his pain.
"Because I care about you, Alex," Willie admitted and Cas sighed softly. "And I hate that I brought you... and your friends into this mess. I, uh... I can't be away much longer. I'm so sorry. For everything." Willie said with tears and poofed away.
"This is all my fault," Alex started.
"Alex, no," Cas said but Alex stopped her.
"No. I... I met Willie, Willie introduced us to Caleb, and now... now we're screwed." He finished and Cas looked at him.
"We all wanted to go see Caleb. Well, except for Cas, and I think she's in most trouble because she got the stamp sooner," Luke said and Cas looked at her wrist.
"We have to tell Julie," Reggie stated and Cas sighed as she completely forgot about Julie.
"No, we can't do that. This just means more loss in her life. But if we don't want Caleb to own our souls, then we have to figure out our unfinished business." Luke said.
"Yeah, and how do you think we are supposed to do that? All right? Because I don't see a bright shiny board that tells us that," Cas scoffed as Felix dropped his arm.
"Cas's right. There was so much we wanted to do," Luke said and Luke squinted his eyes. "What is it?" Alex asked.
"What Cas said. A bright shiny board." Luke said and all four ghosts along with Felix looked at the shiny board that read 'Orpheum'.