Julie yelled at Luke, "Oh, my gosh! I thought I told you to leave that alone!"
"I know," Luke replied. "You just should've said nothing, 'cause now I can't stop thinking about it, so... What's in the box, Julie?"
"It's just my dream box, okay? Whenever I get a thought, I write it down and get it out of my mind."
"Like lyrics?"
"They would be if I still wrote music like I used to with my mom. Now it's just full of stuff that doesn't make me sad."
Alex stood and said, "But I mean, you do play. We heard you this morning." Reggie, Luke and Odette glared and Luke swatted Alex's chest.
"In the garage? So you were there too?"
"Uh... I don't..." Alex began.
Reggie turned to Alex. "Uh... he was, like..."
"We were..."
"Somewhere."
Odette nodded. "Uh, yeah. You're really talented."
Luke, who moved to lay on Julie's bed, holding his head up with his hand, asked, "So where is your kitchen, by the way?"
"Okay, we need to set some boundaries," Julie told them. "For starters, stay out of my room!" She pointed to the door.
The boys shot up. "Mm-hmm. Crystal clear. Let's go."
"We're leaving," Reggie said. "Yes, ma'am! We are out of here."
"Okay."
"Including me?" Odette asked with a pout.
"Are you a ghost?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then yes! Stay out of my room!"
The four ran towards the door.
Alex and Odette popped their heads back in and the former said, "Hey. Um, sorry. We didn't mean to bother you. Did you get back into your music program?"
"No. No, I didn't," Julie replied as she looked down.
"I'm sorry. That really sucks."
Odette nodded. "I'm sorry, too."
"Thanks," Julie replied.
Alex glanced up and Julie asked, "Is that it?"
"Yeah. Yeah," Alex and Odette answered.
"This is getting weird," Alex said.
Julie waved at them.
"Okay," Alex stated as Odette disappeared and pulled him through the door.
---
Julie made her way downstairs. Carlos was laying on the couch playing a video game and Julie's father was sitting on his laptop as he looked at pictures.
"Hey, Dad," Julie greeted as she entered the living room. "What'cha working on?" She pocketed her hands.
"Well, now that the house is on the market, we need to add some photos to the website," Ray replied, ushering Julie over. "Help me pick some good ones."
Julie walked over and as she passed her brother, she moved his foot and he shot her an annoyed look.
Julie stood next to Ray as he showed her the photos and said, "Got this batch right here."
"These are really nice," Julie told her father.
"Yeah?"
Julie chuckled. "Yeah."
"Thanks." He switched to another batch of photos. "These didn't turn out, though." He switched to another picture and there were four glowing orbs near the piano. Julie stared at the screen. "The ones from Mom's studio. It's like... little lights and dots all over the place. Kinda look like orbs, right?"
Carlos shot up and said, "Orbs? I've seen some freaky stuff about those on YouTube." He rested his arms on the back of the couch as he sat on his knees. "People say they're ghosts." Julie turned to Carlos. "Do you think that's Mom and she made some friends?"
Ray chuckled. "That's a nice thought, but there are no such thing as ghosts."
"Sounds like someone's spending too much time on the Internet," Julie teased as she moved to stand next to Carlos. "You can just trash those."
"All right. So trash, trash, trash." He put the photos in the trash bin on the computer.
"Um, Dad?"
"Yeah?" He turned to his kids. "I was thinking, if we're just moving 'cause of me, and you and Carlos wanna stay, I'm fine with that."
Carlos immediately said, "I vote we stay!" He raised his hand and closed his eyes a moment. "I don't wanna have to clean under my bed." He lowered his hand and clapped once.
Ray pointed to Carlos. "Noted. What made you have second thoughts?"
"I don't know," Julie replied. "I suppose a combination of things. I know that tia says that moving is moving on, but I don't think that's the answer."
Ray stood. "I totally agree with you on that. I mean, I think..." he clasped his hands together, "I think moving on has to come from the inside." Julie nodded. "And one of us took a huge step this morning."
Julie glanced down before she pocketed her hands and said, "All our memories of Mom are here, and we should be too." Julie placed a hand on her brother's right shoulder and he looked at his dad with a questioning expression. "Can we stay?"
Carlos squinted and smiled and Ray raised a hand and smiled before saying, "All votes are in." He clapped his hands and smiled. "Yes! Yes. Yes!" He hugged Julie. "Thank you."
"I love you, Dad," Julie said.
"Get in here," Ray told his son. "Come on." Carlos hopped over the back of the couch. "Mm! Big tight group hug." He let out a sigh and released his kids. "Okay. Somebody help me find my phone. I need to call the real estate agent." He began looking in his pockets.
Carlos lifted a finger. "Oh, um, I think I saw it in the kitchen." He pointed to the kitchen.
"Kitchen." He pointed to Julie, who took her father's hand as she sighed and led him to the kitchen.
Once the two were gone, Carlos sat at his father's laptop and pulled up the recently deleted pictures.
Carlos leaned back in the chair and smiled as he said, "Ghosts." He crossed his arms, still smiling.
---
Julie walked into the kitchen and said, "I'm never gonna get used to that." She sighed. "Do you guys even eat?"
Luke shook his head before saying, "I just wanna see what'cha got."
Julie closed the fridge door and Luke protested, "Hey! You know how long it took me to open that?"
"Sorry, I don't believe in wasting power."
"Good. Because that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Our power usage?"
"No. The power you have. Your voices. Your piano playing. Dude, you're like a human wrecking ball."
Julie chuckled lightly. "Is this a pep talk?"
"What I'm saying is that you have the power to move people. To knock them off their feet. There's no way your teachers wouldn't let you back into school if they heard you play like that."
"I asked her. She said I have to wait until next semester."
"That was your first mistake. Asking. Sunset Curve booked gigs by doing. We went into ambush mode. We played in front of clubs. We played in back of clubs. We even played book clubs." He hopped onto the counter.
"Book clubs?"
"Yeah. We didn't get many gigs out of that one, but they did have some gnarly snacks. I'm just saying, don't ask for permission." He kicked the air. "Swing that wrecking ball of talent at your teacher's head, and," he smashed the air, "smash those stupid rules right outta their brains."
"This isn't a club, it's a school, and your plan sounds violent."
Luke poked his head through the cabinet. "It's a closed door, and you two gotta bust it open."
Julie scoffed and Luke said, "Sorry. Once I start with the metaphors, I can't stop. I learned that in book club."
"They're not just gonna let me back in," Julie told Luke as she readied to eat her sandwich.
Luke chuckled lightly. "If getting back into music is what you want, then you two gotta wait for it. Learn it from me. Your tainted hot dogs could be right around the corner." Julie set down her sandwich, having lost her appetite.
"I don't even have anything prepared."
"Figured you'd both say that." He pulled out a song. "It's called Bright. It's a Sunset Curve song I wrote that we never got to record. But it's perfect for both your ranges. Check out the chorus for a moment. If you add some piano, I'm telling you..." The two sang together.
"Go up high," Luke instructed and the two harmonized together.
"Yes!" Luke exclaimed with a chuckle.
"Thanks." Julie chuckled lightly.
---
Flynn was in the music room, waiting for Julie. She'd found a trumpet and blew into it, despite not knowing how to play it.
"What are you doing, and where is everyone?" Julie asked, coming nervously.
"I was waiting for you," Flynn replied.
"Where is everyone?"
"Spirit assembly. I was kinda blowing it off because I wasn't feeling all spirity."
"Spirit assembly. I was kinda blowing it off because I wasn't feeling all spirity." Julie let out a sigh and Flynn sat up, noticing her friend's expression. "You okay?"
"Not really," Julie replied. "I had this new plan to play for Mrs. Harrison, hoping that she'd let me back in, but... I guess I missed my chance."
Flynn smiled and wagged a finger briefly. "No," she set down the trumpet and stood, "you two didn't."
She placed an arm around Julie's shoulders and the two left the music room.
---
The ghosts teleported to Julie's school and Julie asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We wanted to see you stick it to the man!" Luke cried. "Isn't that right, guys?"
"Man, I miss high school," Reggie commented.
Odette shook her head as she watched Dirty Candy perform. "I don't."
They watched the five girls perform.
Carrie's group finished and the crowd cheered.
"I love you!" a girl cried.
"Oh, I love you, too," Carrie replied. "Check out my new YouTube video. Oh, and go Bobcats!"
Dirty Candy walked towards the exit.
Flynn glanced at Julie. "Now's your chance. Go talk to her. See you in music class."
Odette frowned. "Hey, you look nervous."
Alex nodded. "I mean, you look really nervous. Like yak in a bowl nervous."
"I don't think I had enough time to work on the song!" Julie exclaimed.
"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it," Luke told her.
Odette smiled. "You've got this, Julie."
Julie nodded and ran to the stage.
She started and stopped for a moment before sighing and resuming.
The boys and Odette appeared on stage and began playing with Julie. Julie smiled, seeing the ghosts performing with her.
Girls in the audience waved at the ghosts. Reggie and Odette shared a confused look. They were no longer seen by one, but an entire crowd. They realized they could be seen while performing.
Odette's smile widened as she continued performing with the boys. Though she was dead, it was nice to be seen by more than a single person.
The students bopped theirs heads to the beat of the music and dance.
Luke and Julie sang together. Reggie caught Odette's eye and winked at her and she smiled.
The five sang on stage.
As the group bowed, the ghosts disappeared and the crowd let out a collective gasp.