Los Angeles 2020 - Los Feliz High School
A school bell rang and students giggled.
A girl walked through the hall with her head down as she made her way to her locker.
She opened her locker and opened it just before another girl came up to her and greeted, "Hey, underachiever."
"Hey, disappointment," Julie replied.
"Okay, I know you don't want me to ask, but have you figured out what you're gonna do today?"
"I'll know in the moment."
"Really, Jules? That's all you're giving me? Mrs. Harrison said this is your last chance."
"I know. I was there." She let out a sigh.
"See you at the rally!" a girl said.
"Ugh! What is she handing out?"
"Hi!" Carrie greeted.
"Desperation?" Julie guessed.
Flynn snickered. "Mm."
"Here you go," Carrie said. "My group's performing at the spirit rally tomorrow. I'm sure you guys have nothing better to do."
Flynn spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Oh my gosh, Carrie. Thanks!"
"Oh my gosh, Flynn! Don't bother coming!" She walked away and handed another flyer to someone. "Here you go. Come see Dirty Candy tomorrow. Nick?"
Flynn followed her friend's eyes. "Still? You know they're gonna get married and have a bunch of unholy babies."
"Nick's a sweetheart," Julie said.
"You'd actually have to talk to him to know that. And only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby. Demon!" Flynn yelled, looking at Carrie, causing both girls to snicker. "There's that smile. Now, let's go prove everybody wrong."
The girls chuckled lightly.
MUSIC CLASSROOM
A guitar riff played and the students cheered.
"Wow!" the music teacher said as Carrie giggled. "Nice job, Nick. Almost as impressive as your game against Glendale." Nick chuckled. "Okay, we have one last performance." She clapped. "Julie?"
Julie stepped up to the piano and let out a heavy sigh.
"Take your time," the music teacher said.
Julie opened the piano, put her hands on the keys, let out another sigh and stood. "I'm sorry."
Flynn sighed as she stood and Carrie asked, "Is this when we clap?"
"Watch it, Carrie," Flynn retorted.
Students erupted in laughter.
JULIE'S HOME
Julie was sitting at the table doing homework.
Her father walked down the stairs and said, "Oh good. You're home." Julie closed the book and looked at her father. "I was about to go watch your brother's game. I've had photoshoots all day. Didn't even get a chance to eat. But... I got a phone call today."
"Yeah, I figured as much," Julie replied as she pulled off her glasses.
Her father sat. "Yeah. Well, it was my realtor friend."
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, and she says if we are serious about selling the house, then she wants me to take some pictures for the website. Which means we have to do a lot of cleaning and get rid of some stuff. And maybe you can... tackle Mom's studio?" Julie looked away. "You're the expert. You know, your brother and I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's okay, honey. If you're not ready, I-"
"No. It's all right. Maybe I'll try tonight."
"Yeah?" He clapped. "Awesome, mija. Thank you. Oh, and don't forget the loft. You know, those old instruments that were there when we moved in? They need a new home." He stood.
"Mom would like that."
"Yeah, she would. Oh God. I'm gonna be late." He began looking for his keys.
"Under the mail."
He snapped his fingers. "You're a lifesaver." He grabbed his keys and Julie shook her head, chuckling lightly.
That night, Julie slowly made her way to the garage. She let out a sigh and a shaky breath before sighing again. She turned on the lights and pulled the cover off the piano.
Julie inhaled deeply as she picked up sheet music and sat on the piano bench. "I'm so sorry, Mom." She made her way up the ladder to the second floor. "That I haven't been here."
She found a Sunset Curve record and started playing it. The music started and she bopped her head to it.
The sound of guys and a girl screaming filled the air. The screaming intensified.
Julie gasped, seeing four people appear in front of her and the four newcomers groaned. Julie immediately stood.
Reggie groaned loudly and Odette let out a pained whimper.
Luke coughed and gasped for air.
Reggie let out another groan and sat Odette up.
"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed. "Whoa! How did we get back here? And why is Odette with us?"
Odette shrugged. "No clue. You guys are my best friends so maybe that had something to do with it."
Julie screamed, soon joined in by the boys and Odette.
"Dad!" Julie called, pointing and running to meet her father.
"Whoa!" her dad said. "Hey! Whoa! Slow down. You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I have!"
"Cool," Carlos said.
"Not cool!" She grunted, running towards the house. "Run!" She ran inside and up the stairs.
She ran into her room and hid behind her bed, glancing out the window. She sent a 911 text to her friend and sighed. "Come on, Flynn. 911 means 911! Why aren't you answering me?" She exhaled sharply.
"Hey," her dad greeted.
Julie screamed before realizing who it was. "Dad."
"Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Honey, of course I do. Mija, I see your mom all the time."
"This isn't like that."
"I know. It's different for all of us."
"Dad, you're not listening to me. I saw something out there." She gestured to the window.
He sat. "All right. Okay. Okay. I'm listening. Tell me what you saw. It's just you and me here."
Julie sighed. "You sound just like Dr. Turner."
"Well, maybe seeing Dr. Turner again isn't such a bad idea."
"Dad! Can we just drop it?"
"All right. Dropped." He stood and held up his right pointer finger. "We good?"
Julie placed her right pointer finger to her dad's. "Yeah."
The two linked fingers as her dad chuckled, snapped his fingers, and left the room.
Julie looked around her room, made her way to her window, and peeked out. She grabbed a cross from the wall.
Julie made her way to the garage, holding the cross in front of her, and asked, "Are you still..." she exhaled shakily, "whatever you are? I know I saw something. I'm not crazy."
"Well, we're all a little crazy," Luke said as the four appeared behind her.
Julie turned and screamed, holding the cross in front of her.
"Oh my God!" Alex yelled. "Please stop screaming!"
Odette covered her ears and nodded. "Please. You're hurting my ears."
A dog howled.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my mom's studio?" Julie demanded.
Luke stepped closer to Julie and said, "Your mom's studio? This is our studio. Trust me, my..." He sat on the piano while scooting away from Julie. "The grand piano is new, and... and... and..." He giggled. "My couch!" He sighed happily as he plopped on the couch. "That is definitely not my six-string." He sat up, then stood. "Can you give me just one second?" He walked towards the other three. "Just... give me a second. Thank you. Guys, what is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?"
"Maybe... maybe she's a witch," Reggie guessed. "There's chairs floating on the ceiling."
Odette frowned. "A witch? Reg, come on. That the best you can come up with?"
"Why, do you have something better to offer?"
Alex frowned. "Okay, there is no such thing as witches. Odette's right."
"You sure? I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts."
"That's fair."
"Okay, so we're going with witch?"
"No!" Alex and Odette argued. "We are not going with witch."
Odette shook her head as she pointed to Julie. "She's not a witch. All right, look. She's just scared."
"Okay?" Alex said. "Let someone with a softer touch handle this." He walked up to Julie and clapped. "Why are you in our studio?"
"Huh!" Julie exclaimed, putting the cross through Alex, causing a whoosh to sound. "Oh, my gosh! How did you do that?"
"Clearly you're not understanding..." He turned to his friends. "She doesn't get it." He turned back to Julie. "Okay, look. We're ghosts, all right? We're just four ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So, thank you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room."
Reggie glanced between Odette and the flowers. He wanted to give one to her, but didn't know if he could or how she'd react.
"We're in a band called Sunset Curve," Luke said. "Us guys, that is. Odette's one of our biggest fans and our best friend."
"Tell your friends," Reggie added.
"Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change our lives."
"I'm, uh... I'm pretty sure it did," Alex replied.
Odette nodded. "Oh, it definitely did."
"This is freaking me out," Julie said as she breathed sharply, grunted, and pulled out her phone.
Luke and Odette pointed to the phone. "What is that? What are you doing?"
"It's my phone. No! Stop talking to them. They aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts."
"Oh, think we're cute?" Reggie asked, smirking at Odette. "Just like her."
Odette frowned. "Reggie, shush. Can't you see the poor girl is freaking out? Now isn't the most appropriate time for your comments and jokes."
"It wasn't a joke, Odette. Not that. Never that."
Julie tapped the keys and Alex asked, "Who you calling?"
"I'm Googling Sunset Swerve."
"Sunset Curve!" all four ghosts exclaimed.
Julie exhaled shakily. "Whoa. There is a Sunset Curve. You did die. But not last night or the next night for some girl named Odette Sanchez. Twenty-five years ago?"
Reggie frowned. "What? No. No, no, no. Th-Th-That's impossible. After we floated out of that ambulance, all we did was go to that weird, dark room where Alex cried."
Odette nodded slowly. "After I floated out of my house, I went to that dark room as well."
Alex spoke in a high-pitched tone. "Well... I don't think... I think we were all pretty upset. Okay."
"But that was just for like an hour," Luke said. "Maybe like half-an-hour for Odette. We just showed up here."
Julie turned the phone to the ghosts. "Look. I'm just telling you what my phone says. See? You died in 1995. When you were 17, when Odette was 16. It's now 2020."
"So, this is the future?" Alex and Odette asked.
"Wait," Alex said. "So... So, it has been 25 years. I have been crying for 25 years? How is that possible?"
"Well, you're a very emotional person," Reggie told him.
"I am not!"
Odette nodded. "You are. Reggie's right."
"Stop agreeing with him!"
"You know I can't. Not when he's right."
"Thought you were afraid to come out here," Carlos said, entering the garage. "You talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?"
Odette huffed. "Who said a ghost has to be a guy?"
"He can see you," Alex said.
"No, he can't," Julie replied.
"What?" Carlos asked, looking around..
Julie looked back at her brother. "Uh... What do you want?"
"A normal sister, for starters. Stop being weird and come eat." He left.
"He couldn't see you."
"Yeah," Alex answered. "I mean, that's... usually how ghosts work."
"Hmm," Reggie and Odette hummed.
Julie sighed, started to leave, and turned. "Look, I'm very sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn't your studio or her place to hang out anymore. You have to leave." She turned to the door.
"But wait," Luke called, causing her to turn. "We... We didn't get your name."
"It's Julie."
"Cool." He chuckled, walking up to Julie who immediately held up the cross. "I-I'm Luke, by... by the way. And this is-"
Reggie cut him off. "Reggie. I'm Reggie."
"Hey," Julie replied.
"And..." Luke was once again cut off.
"Alex," Alex said. How's it going?"
Odette offered a small wave. "Odette. Nice to meet you, Julie."
Luke gestured to his friends and stated softly, "Ba-da."
"Okay?" Julie replied in a questioning tone as she lowered the cross and left.
"Julie seems nice," Reggie said.
Odette nodded. "Yeah, she does; not counting the fact that we scared the daylights out of her, but yeah. She seems nice."
Alex groaned. "Did you two miss the part where she kicked us out, or..." Odette and Reggie took a moment to consider. "Yes. Okay."
They started walking around the house.
Reggie turned to the brunette girl. "Why are you here? How did you die?"
"Sudden cardiac arrest," Odette replied. "My heart just suddenly gave out. As for this place, I don't know. Maybe because I connected with you guys over music. At least, that's my best guess."
"Good enough for me. Did it hurt? When you died?"
"Not really. There was a brief moment of pain and then it stopped. How about for you?"
"No, not really."
JULIE'S HOUSE
Carlos placed a fourth plate on the table.
Julie's father placed food on the table. "There we go!" Julie placed a bowl of salad on the table. "Okay. Let's do this." He sat.
Julie sat as she said, "Let's do it."
"Your turn, Carlos."
Carlos prayed, "Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave. Amen."
"Amen," Julie repeated.
Their father chuckled as he dished spaghetti. "So... Carlos tells me he found you in the studio."
"She was out there talking to herself."
"I was rehearsing for a play," Julie explained to cover up.
"Hello, hello!" a woman exclaimed.
"Oh, busted!" Carlos said as he got up and removed the dishes from the empty spot.
"Yeah, we're in here," the father said. "Quick!"
Cutlery clattered to the ground as Julie pulled it away and Carlos sat in his chair.
"Huh!" the woman exclaimed. "Spaghetti. Again?" She set the dish on the counter.
"Yeah," the father replied. "Yeah."
"That's took bad. I brought you my pasteles and arroz con pollo."
"Yum."
"Mm," Julie hummed, turning. "Thanks, tia. It smells great."
"You can have it tomorrow." She put the food in the fridge. "I can't let you have leftovers every night. My sister would kill me, may she rest in peace." She noticed the table. "Oh... I see things here are going better?"
"Actually..." the father began and sniffed, "Julie has been cleaning out mom's studio. Hopefully we can get the house on the market and some offers soon." The four ghosts entered the house. "Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only gonna help you move on. You've got to rip that Band-Aid off and get the pain over with."
Julie yelled, seeing the ghosts, and Luke exhaled sharply while Odette gave an apologetic smile.
Julie chuckled awkwardly. "That's me. Ripping off the Band-Aid." She pretended to do so. "Aah!"
Carlos chuckled.
"There's my brave girl," the aunt told Julie, cupping her chin.
"Hey, Julie, I really like what you guys did with the place," Luke said.
Julie turned to Luke. "You shouldn't be here."
The aunt gasped. "Oh, I'm just here to help, mija."
"Oh... I think that's our cue to leave," Alex said.
Odette nodded. "Agreed."
Julie quickly thought of an excuse. "I mean, you should be at Pilates. Thanks for bringing us food." She hugged her aunt.
"Oh," the aunt said before she chuckled.
"We should've called first," Reggie said.
Odette nodded again. "Yes, we should've."
"It's nothing," the aunt replied. "And now that you're no longer in the music program, you can concentrate on classes that matter." She looked at her brother-in-law. "You got the e-mail from the school, right?"
"Yeah," Julie's father replied. "We're still discussing it."
"Bueno. I'm off to Pilates." She blew a kiss. "Mwah!"
Carlos caught her kiss. "Oh yeah!" He pretended to bat it. "Wa-chow! It's gone."
The aunt giggled and kissed the top of Julie's head before saying, "Te quiero muchos." She left.
Carlos said to his sister, "So, Julie, wanna hear how I slid into home and was almost safe?"
"You're a good brother," their father said. "That's not gonna work."
"I tried." He got up and left.
"Why didn't you tell me? You made me lie to your aunt."
"Sorry. I was gonna tell you after dinner," Julie replied.
"Yeah. Mm-hmm."
"I was."
"Honey, I know those classes can be difficult, but you still like music, don't you?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Look, we talked about this, you know? And how painful memories can be, but..." he inhaled deeply and exhaled. "You know, every time I see you and Carlos, I see Mom. It's like she's right here with us. But you know what? I love that. I do. And maybe if you'd give yourself a chance, you'll get there." Distant rock music played.
"What's that?" Carlos asked, entering the room.
Julie stood. "I must have left the stereo on in the garage. I'll go get it."
The rock music continued.
GARAGE
Julie yelled, "Guys! Guys, stop! Enough! Stop! Cut it out!" Reggie stopped abruptly and shouldered his bass. Alex stopped moments later with a final beat on the drums. Odette pulled her microphone down, away from her mouth. Luke finished last and smiled at the angry girl. "The whole neighborhood could hear you. I thought I told you to leave."
"Wait," Luke said. "People can hear us play?" Alex stood.
"Yes! And so did my dad and my brother!"
"W-W-Wait," Alex said as Reggie set down his bass. "Wait. So, only you can see us, but everyone can hear us? I mean, what kind of ghosts are we?"
"Who cares, man?" Luke said. "People can hear us play! They heard Odette singing."
"We might be dead, but our music isn't," Reggie said, smiling at Odette. "You're welcome to join the band to sing. That okay, guys?"
Alex and Luke nodded and Odette shrugged before saying, "Why not. Being dead does have its perks."
Julie's father entered and Julie cried, "Dad!"
"Hey," her father greeted. "Just making sure you're okay."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had to turn off the CD player."
He looked around at the instruments. "Wait. Is the junk that was in the loft?"
"Junk?" Luke repeated in an offended tone.
He studied the instruments. "Some of this stuff's in pretty good shape." He tinkled the cymbals. "Hey, maybe we can make a couple bucks."
"What?" Alex asked. "Yo, stop touching my drums." He looked at Julie. "Tell him to stop touching my drums." Luke and Odette pointed and Julie shrugged.
"I liked that song you had on."
"Sweet!" Luke exclaimed. "We're Sunset Curve."
"Tell your friends," Reggie added.
"It's just an old CD I found," Julie replied.
"Well, still, it's nice that you're listening to music again," Julie's father told her, spreading his arms and his hands went through Luke and Reggie. "Out here you can play whatever you want, whenever you want
"Oh!" Reggie cried. "That's nice."
"Stay out of this," Julie said.
Julie's dad frowned. "I-I'm sorry, honey. I didn't..."
"Oh no, no, no, no. Not you. I mean... Uh... Er... You know, give me a minute." She grabbed her dad's arm and pulled him away.
"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." He placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "We'll figure out this music program thing."
"Thanks, Dad." She jerked her thumb back and her dad left. Reggie and Odette waved.
"He likes our song," Luke said.
"Oh, yeah," Alex replied. "He doesn't count. He's a dad."
"Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts?" Julie asked. "Hang out at a mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice. Ugh!" She left.
Alex turned to the remaining three. "I think she's warming up to us."
"Yeah, I've always wanted to go to Pasadena," Reggie said.
"Hmm."
Luke appeared in front of Julie who cried, "Aah! Stop that! I'm serious."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Luke apologized.
Julie crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
"I know this is all completely insane, but do you know how rad this is? People... Actual people can hear us play."
"Yeah, it's just I've just had a really, really awful day. I gotta go."
"Well, I'm sorry you had a bad day, but three guys and a girl 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."
"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 sighed. "You gotta know that. Clearly, your mom is into music."
"Was. She passed away."
"I am... so sorry."
"Yeah, we... we didn't know," Alex and Odette said.
Julie let out a sigh. "It's all right. You guys haven't seen her anywhere, have you? From wherever you're from."
"Um..." Alex began, looking to Reggie and Odette who shook their heads. "No. No, I mean, you're kind of the first person we've seen."
"Yeah, but she's not dead, so it doesn't answer her question," Reggie pointed out.
"Yeah. I think she knows what we mean." He turned back to Julie. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thanks," Julie replied. "Sorry I got mad. You guys are kinda good."
"Kinda?" Luke repeated. "Y-Y-You know that's like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off. And Odette never sang before and did great."
"Yeah," Reggie agreed. "Do you play piano too?"
"No," Julie replied. "No, I don't play. That was my mom's stuff in there."
"No way. She's an amazing songwriter," Luke commented.
"She was. Wait. How would you know?"
Odette tilted her head slightly. "There's a song on the piano."
"If it's hers... Your mom was really talented," Luke told her.
Julie started to leave and stopped, turning back to the ghosts. "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 cried. "I just really like showers and sometimes the occasional bath."
"This... This is just too weird. Yeah." She turned and walked away.
Alex squealed and the guys and Odette chuckled.
JULIE'S ROOM
Julie spoke as she typed on her phone. ""What would you say if I told you there are four ghosts living in my mom's studio?" You'd say I'm crazy." She deleted the message and sat up in thought and sighed heavily.
ORPHEUM
The boys and Odette appeared on top of the Orpheum sign. They grunted.
"Huh?" Reggie wondered, glancing at himself.
Odette covered her cheeks in attempt to hide her red cheeks, which none of the guys seemed to have noticed.
Luke tapped Alex's knee before glancing at Odette and Reggie before saying, "Hey, I know being dead isn't our first choice, but, I mean, it sure is easy getting around."
"Easy for you, maybe," Reggie said. "I lost my shirt on that one." His shirt appeared. "Ooh, never mind! There it is. Odette, you okay? You're looking flushed."
Odette nodded. "Mm-hmm."
Luke chuckled and the sign buzzed.
Alex spoke. "Okay, so, why'd you bring us here? Just another painful reminder of where we never got to play. Thanks, Luke."
"I mean, boys, Odette, the game isn't over yet." They disappeared from the sign and appeared on the ground. "I'm telling you, we've been given a second chance. Let's find some music. Let's see how many clubs we can hit before sunrise."
A whoosh sounded as someone bumped into Alex.
"Hey!" Alex protested, looking at the man who tipped his hat and walked away.
"Hey, Alex," Luke called. "You coming? Let's go!"
JULIE'S BACKYARD - DAY
Julie made her way to the garage and called, "Guys? Odette? Guys? Odette?"
The garage was empty.
Julie made her way to the piano and spread out the sheet music. She opened the cover and began playing.