❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉
LUCKILY, ALEX MANAGED TO GET DOWN FROM THE CEILING.
Yet, the members of Sunset Curve hit another obstacle as they tried to run out of the Hollywood Ghost Club. Caleb appeared in front of the stairs, blocking the exit.
"Friends," he greeted them casually. "What's the rush? The party's just getting started, and you have an eternity, after all."
"You know that girl that can see us?" Reggie asked as Charlotte helped Luke shrug on his jacket. Caleb nodded once. "Well, we kinda bailed on her. There's this dance at her school tonight and her friend Flynn is, like a super cool DJ, like--"
"Okay, I don't think he has an eternity to hear this story," Alex interrupted him.
"Basically, we're late for the gig," Charlotte summarized. The boys agreed, Luke adjusting his collar.
Caleb only raised an eyebrow. "But what about my offer?"
"It's very cool of you, Mr. Covington," Luke told him sincerely. "But, as we said, we already have a--"
"A band of your own," Caleb concluded. When the teenagers nodded, he smiled. "I understand." Something about his tone made Charlotte doubt. "But if you ever want to come back and fix that little problem with your friend, the Hollywood Ghost Club is always open."
"We would love to come back," she told him but glanced at the clock. It was now already 12:15.
Caleb grinned. "Music to my ears." He held out his hand for her to shake and she did so without thinking much of it, too worried about Julie. But the second his skin touched hers, Carly frowned. A sharp burning sensation danced on the inner side of her wrist. When she looked down, a bright purple mark sizzled for a moment and then disappeared.
Casting her gaze to the boys, she noticed the same mark appear right after they shook hands with Caleb. All of them looked at each other, unsure.
"Oh, it's just a little club stamp," Caleb waved off their obvious concern with his hand and smiled once more. But this time Charlotte felt wary by the look in his eyes. "Until next time."
Reggie exchanged smiles with the magician and then headed for the door. Luke and Charlotte followed, their hands intertwined. Alex, though, stayed back for a minute. Caleb tilted his head.
"Uh," Alex cleared his throat. "If, if Willie asks, uh, not that he would, but if he does, will you let him know that I was looking for him?"
Caleb's eyes scanned the boy before he offered him a small smile and nodded. Alex's own grin widened. "Thanks."
He rejoined the others, who were waiting for him by the door. Charlotte looked at him with worry. "Everything alright, Lex?"
"I think so," he replied. "But we don't really have time to think about it. Everyone ready for the dance?"
"As ready as we'll ever be for arriving to said dance over three hours late."
❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉
The dance had cleared out.
The only two people left were Flynn and Julie, who sat side by side on the gym floor. Around them was the huge balloon arch, but it was fading away with every pin the girls stabbed into it. Julie was scared of the noise at first, due to the large echo. But the bitterness stirring her gut definitely felt better.
She glanced around the big space. Her frown deepened. "I can never show my face at this school again."
"That's what we get for depending on boys," Flynn grumbled, flicking a piece of a balloon off her knee.
"Yeah, but Charlotte didn't show up either," Julie reminded her best friend. "She's just as guilty as the other three. But what sucks is that I don't know if I should be mad or worried." She let out a sigh and looked at Flynn. "They're ghosts! I don't know what kind of trouble they can get into."
Flynn pursed her lips, knowing Julie had a point. "That's fair." A moment passed before she spoke again. "But you did say Charlotte was with them, and from what I've seen, she's definitely the most responsible. I'm sure she tried her best to get them to come."
"Unless Luke convinced her otherwise," Julie muttered.
On a normal day, she found it adorable how oblivious her two new friends were to their feelings for each other. Now she was irritated. Charlotte was the responsible one, acting as Sunset Curve's former manager. But Luke could easily distract her, aka be the reason they were late to the dance.
Julie had seen it numerous times, whether it be from choosing what to do during a free afternoon or letting him borrow one of her old band tees. Granted, she knew Luke's feelings for Charlotte also made him prone to listen to everything the girl said. The two were each other's weaknesses.
But when it came to buckling down and doing the hard work, Luke didn't like it. When writing songs, he carried his own way. During rehearsals, he hated practicing one over and over again. He'd narrow in on one part then jump to another song -- or run off to start writing another. Julie didn't like working like that.
She could improv when performing but behind-the-scenes, she preferred to stick to a schedule.
"I'mma get us some ice cream from the cafeteria," Flynn's voice broke her thoughts and Julie blinked. Her best friend had stood up, knowing Julie was deep in her thoughts. Right now, she knew Julie needed a distraction.
"We can crash at my place and forget about this whole nightmare," Flynn assured her. Then, she popped another balloon for good measure and headed for the doors.
Julie called after her, "Get me two of everything!"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it!"
Not even a minute later, Charlotte and the boys rushed in through the side entrance. Julie heard Reggie first. "Julie! We're ready to rock this dance..." His voice faded when he caught sight of the empty gym and frowned. "Which is clearly over."
Charlotte nudged Luke with her elbow, noticing Julie sitting by herself. Reggie and Alex turned, too, the bassist snapping his mouth shut from the disappointment clearly etched on her face.
She raised to her feet without a word.
"Julie," Charlotte said her name softly and took a step closer. "We are so...so sorry that we bailed on you. Believe me, it didn't happen on purpose."
"The night just really got away from us," Alex agreed.
Charlotte nodded before a thought dawned on her. She glanced at her best friends. "Yeah, don't you guys find that a little odd, though? Because I said we had twenty minutes but then suddenly, it's midnight. Like, it didn't even feel like it."
"Could be because of all the dancing and pizza," Reggie suggested, and Luke elbowed him.
"Not helping, Reg."
"All I'm saying is I felt like it was a time warp," Charlotte said, but when she caught Julie's heartbroken eyes, she swallowed hard. "But we can talk about it later. It's not important."
Julie shook her head, almost having expected Charlotte to be the one explaining their disappearance. So, she focused more on the boys.
"Just someone other than Char please tell me it had nothing to do with you getting back at Carrie's dad."
The trio feigned innocence, chuckling and glancing at each other. Their excuses were a jumble of, "Of course it wasn't about Trevor!" and "No, we wouldn't do that!"
Julie sighed. Charlotte winced. They really needed to work on their acting skills.
"Seriously?" Julie looked defeated. All she wanted was to hear the truth. "You're lying to me?"
Alex admitted, "Okay, look, it was something we needed to do."
"But we'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you," Charlotte promised, and the boys nodding in agreement.
"Yeah," Luke added. "We'll play the next school--"
"What?" Julie cut him off with narrowed eyes, daring him to continue. "Another school dance where you can bail on me and make me look like a fool? Save it." Her head shook again before she asked, "And you know what really sucks?"
"Our songs were good," Julie stated, Charlotte's gaze falling to the floor out of guilt. "And all four of you know what I've been through and how tough it's been for me to play, and then you do this?"
None of the band could say anything.
Julie told them, "Bands don't do that to each other." Her eyes flickered over all of them. "Friends don't do that to each other." Her gaze settled on Luke, her voice becoming hard as stone. "This was a mistake."
Charlotte stepped forward, "Wait, Julie, you only mean the dance, right? We can fix this, just--"
"No, there's nothing to be fixed," Julie moved away from them, her arms wrapping around herself. "Joining a band with you guys...it was a mistake."
She couldn't look at them anymore. It hurt too much. Neither Charlotte nor any of the boys could stop her from running out of the gym. Never once did she turn back.
Alex and Reggie looked at each other dejectedly, while Charlotte stood in the same place, stunned. One of the first real friends she had gotten besides Alex, Reggie, and Luke, but now she was gone.
"Well, if Julie's not in the band then...."
"There is no band," Luke sighed, finishing Reggie's thought. He noticed his best friend getting more upset, almost on the verge of tears. Instantly, he turned her to face him with his hands on her shoulders.
Charlotte hated feeling abandoned.
"Hey, Lots, look at me. It'll be fine, okay? You know what this band means to me, to us. We'll get it back. Maybe in the morning, we can—"
"Didn't you hear her?" Charlotte interjected and finally raised her gaze from the floor. "She doesn't even want to speak to us much less still be in a band together."
"Tonight, yes, but not forever," Alex tried to support Luke. "If we give her space and then apologize again, maybe she'll change her mind."
"And what's your plan if it doesn't?" Charlotte questioned him. "She was our friend, Lex. And our second chance at living our dream. We need her and I told you all that. I tried to get us to leave early but did you listen? No. And now our second chance is gone."
"Sis, don't you think—"
Reggie got cut off. A sharp, bright pain zapped their stomachs. Reggie hunched over with a groan, Alex gasped for air. The pure shock sent Charlotte stumbling back, her hand springing out to keep her balance. Luke held her up but wasn't in better shape. It felt like the wind had been knocked out from under him.
"What," Alex gulped as he clutched his heart. "What was that?"
Reggie forced himself to open his eyes, but couldn't stand up straight. Not yet. "It felt like we were dying all over again."
Luke looked at the boys worriedly, Charlotte's head feeling heavy. She rested it on his shoulder while he tried to get rid of the shiver rolling down his spine. "How can we die if we're already dead?" he asked.
Charlotte shakily exhaled as she managed to lift her arm and glared at her wrist. The mark had disappeared ages ago, but her skin burned as the pain slowly began to fade away.
"I have a theory."
❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉
Julie woke up late.
Luckily, by the time she scrambled to get dressed, Flynn's mom was still home to drop her off at school. She ran into the gymnasium in her sweats and apologized to her dance class teacher, Mrs. Kelly. However, when she joined Flynn's side, she shot the energetic girl a glare.
Flynn, though, didn't take offense. She believed Julie's words from the night before about never showing her face at school again. Therefore, she let Julie sleep in-- even if it meant the singer would miss three classes.
Julie sighed, moving her arms in-sync with the rest of the class as they stretched. "Nevermind, it's okay. It's those stupid ghosts that I'm really upset at."
When she went to Flynn's house, her best friend did a good job of keeping her distracted. They ate ice cream and watched some late-night television. Yet nothing could fix the ache in Julie's heart as she was reminded of the nights she spent with her new friends doing the same thing.
"I'd kill them if they weren't already dead," Julie muttered.
"Having a band is supposed to help your social life," Flynn told her. "Not ruin it."
"Ex-band."
Flynn glanced at her with a sad smile. "Right, sorry, ex-band." She knew Julie had every right to be furious with Charlotte and the boys, but feared what would happen if they never made up.
Julie had started to find herself with them at her side. Confidence radiated off of her. She moved to a different, truly joyful beat. It was as if she accepted the past and finally began to heal--not into who she was but who she could be.
The last thing Flynn wanted was for Julie to retreat into the girl who couldn't even touch a piano.
"It's all so messed up," Julie admitted, her lips tugged down in a frown. "I thought they were in this with me. But obviously, I was wrong."
"Hey, don't blame yourself," Flynn said. She lunged closer to the gym floor as she shrugged. "You can only be so strong when four cute ghosts ask you to join a band." Her face brightened and Julie looked nervous from the twinkle in her eye. "And speaking of cute, have you talked to Nick today? He was pretty chatty at the dance."
Julie shook her head, reaching out to touch her toes. "No, and I'm kind of dreading it. At least I know I won't see him in this class."
Flynn and Julie stood to turn sideways to complete the rest of their stretches. Julie's eyes widened when she caught sight of the boys' lacrosse team, and Nick, entering the gym.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Flynn glanced over her shoulder, holding onto her hair to keep it from blocking her view of the boys. "What are they doing here?" Julie hissed.
Mrs. Kelly answered, unknowingly, from her place at the front of the gym. She paused the music and addressed Coach Barron, who looked just as uncertain as to the teenagers around him.
"So, students, Coach Barron and I have decided that his lacrosse team will be part of our class for a few weeks," she said. When she saw the skeptical glances, she explained. "Many pro athletes have used dance to help them with coordination and mobility."
Coach Barron glared at his players. "This isn't about flirting with girls." A few boys snickered while Julie noticed Nick keep his eyes on the ground. "This is about making us better so we can actually win a game." His voice grew sharp. "We lost against Burbank. Burbank!"
Mrs. Kelly commented, "Well, that's all remember that composure is a big part of dance." She motioned the boys to move forward. "Everyone pair up."
No one moved.
Coach Barron clapped his hands. "Let's go!"
His team jumped from his volume, rushing to find a familiar face in the dance class. Julie begged Flynn to stay by her side when their classmate, Johnny, approached. But as Flynn saw Nick behind Julie, she only smiled and waved before heading to the other side of the gym.
"Hey," Julie froze when she heard his voice. Nick stood wearing a white cutoff lacrosse shirt, red jogging shorts, and long socks as he offered her a small smile.
"Hey," she dragged out the word, unsure of what to say. "You?"
"So, ladies," Mrs. Kelly grabbed everyone's attention for a moment more. "Let's do what we learned last week and we will perform this with the boys this Friday." She smiled. "Coach Barron and I will demonstrate."
The lacrosse coach stuttered out an excuse. "What? No, I, uh, I don't dance."
"You do now."
Nick moved to stand behind Julie. Then, the two and the rest of the class followed Mrs. Kelly's lead. A lot of girls giggled when the boys had to spin. Julie held back a snort from how Nick's heels slammed into the ground.
"Let's do it again," Mrs. Kelly advised, while Coach Barron eyed one of his troublemaker players. "Half-time, no music."
"You ready for this?" Julie asked her new dance partner.
Nick hesitated before he responded. "Sure?" His nose scrunched before he shyly admitted, "My little sister throws a lot of princess dance parties."
Julie chuckled and got back into her starting position. Mrs. Kelly counted off and then Nick started dancing with Julie again.
"Not so bad, your Majesty," Julie teased him when he started to understand the moves.
Nick smiled, but Julie ignored how her heart skipped a beat. "Thank you." Julie threw her hands up when Mrs. Kelly instructed, but let them fall when Nick brought up last night's dance.
She didn't want to talk about it. However, the next part of the routine required physical touch. Julie figured it was safer to talk about last night instead of analyzing the way he was so close to her. Or how extremely natural it felt for his hand to be interlocked in hers.
She blinked, realizing she still hadn't responded. "Yeah, I was kind of hoping that if I didn't talk about it, it'd be like it never happened."
They side-stepped together, Julie crossing her arms on top of her shoulders.
"You'll be fine," Nick assured her. "Okay? You're tough...and you've been through way worse." Nick lifted her hand so she could spin underneath him but accidentally stepped forward instead of backward.
Before Julie could even process, her dark eyes stared into his blue ones. His hands gripped her waist. But it only lasted a few seconds.
The two immediately jerked back, Nick's cheeks burning red. "I, uh, sorry, I didn't mean," he struggled to form the right words.
"Very good!" Mrs. Kelly smiled at the progress being made, even in a few minutes. "Once more, with music!" She pressed a button on her remote, allowing R&B music to fill the gym.
Julie bit down on her lower lip but started the routine with Nick again. "I'm not used to dancing like this," he confessed, mimicking her movements.
Julie questioned him before she thought it through. "You and Carrie never dance together?"
"Nope," he replied honestly. "And we never will..." Julie spun into him as he said, "We broke up."
Even though her back faced him, Julie couldn't hide her surprise. "Oh...you did?"
They held hands again. Julie was thankful he couldn't see her lips threatening to curl into a smile.
"I'm done with the drama," he said. "And I don't know if you noticed--" Julie spun out so she could look him in the eye. "She's not the nicest person."
Their fingers stayed locked together. Julie was unable to stop herself from mocking him. "What?" she feigned innocence. "I never noticed."
Nick let go of her hand to complete his own jump, but once again slipped. He grunted when his body hit the gym floor. He glanced up at Julie through the hair that had fallen over his eyes and forced a chuckle. "You sure you wanna be partners?"
"No, I want you." Julie was thankful Charlotte nor the boys heard how weird her words sounded. Her eyes widened. "I mean to be my dance partner," she rushed out. She held out her hand. "Let's just...go over it again."
Nick nodded and accepted her help to stand.
"We'll get it eventually."
❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉
Across town, the members of Sunset Curve sat in a nice restaurant.
Luckily, the lifers were oblivious to a few chairs sticking out. A bar was behind Reggie, offering a display of nice desserts at the end near the register. Square tables filled the floor with booths along the walls, all leading to a small stage near the back. The lifers around them ignored it, but Charlotte glanced back once and noticed a few tech guys in black shirts adjusting monitors and lights.
Luke, being the one who dragged his best friends to the place, though, refused to answer any questions. He simply pulled out a chair for Charlotte to sit and then disappeared.
Alex sat on her left with Reggie occupying the seat to her right. Luckily, no one seemed bothered by a few chairs sticking out. Across from her was a female lifer, who was oblivious to the ghosts around her. She just kept snatching photos of a small croissant.
Charlotte scrunched her nose. She might've died young, but she was grateful she would never have to worry about keeping a social media presence, which a lot of people in California seemed to care deeply about.
Reggie looked over the women's shoulder, nodding his head in approval. Unlike his twin, he loved getting close to the technology they missed out on. "Oh, that's a good pic."
Alex stared at him. "Is this what we're here for?" he asked. "To watch people take pictures of food?"
"It's fun," Reggie shrugged before grinning. "Watch this. People never stop looking at their phones." He slid the plate just out of the woman's reach. Charlotte bit back a smile when her eyes still focused on the small screen in her hand. Reggie kept moving it in different directions.
Finally, the woman snatched it, looked warily around, and then left the table. Alex rolled his eyes when Reggie chuckled.
"Don't worry, Lex," Charlotte said. "Luke will be back soon. He promised me this morning on the roof that he had a plan to fix things with Julie."
"That could be why he chose this place then," Reggie agreed. "He said it was like a hot spot for the music industry people."
"He better not be doing what I think he's doing," Charlotte stated, but straightened her back when she saw Luke out of the corner of her eye. He scribbled something on a clipboard by the counter and raced back over to her.
His hands gripped the back of her chair and he smiled down at her before looking at the other two. "Guys, being a ghost definitely has its privileges. I just wrote our names on the playlist for tonight."
Charlotte, who had to tilt her head back to see him, only glared. Luke frowned, expecting a better reaction. He moved away from her while Alex leaned closer to Reggie.
"I'm getting a little worried about him," the drummer whispered as Luke plopped down in the chair the woman had been in. Alex raised his voice. "He keeps forgetting that Julie quit the band."
Luke matched his exact tone. "And that she's gonna come back as soon as she knows we have a great gig."
Charlotte scoffed, turning the boys' heads to her as she crossed her arms. "That's your plan, Patterson? Just hope she comes back? It's not going to be that easy."
"But we shouldn't forget that we do have a backup plan," Reggie hinted towards Caleb Covington's offer. "One that involves playing and eating pizza."
"Dude, I know," Luke agreed. "It was awesome to be seen by lifers at Caleb's party, but..."
"But you have to admit that the place was kind of creepy," Charlotte interjected, once more bringing his hazel eyes to her. She ignored him and looked at her brother. "And don't forget what I told you boys about the stamp thing. No stamp, being a ghost or not, should burn as ours did. It felt more like branding. And with Julie, we already have a great set-up. We don't need Caleb."
Charlotte regretted those words as soon as they slipped from her mouth. A jolt struck her chest, her hand flying to her heart. Pain radiated through her body as she groaned.
"Ugh," Alex coughed and he tightly held his side. "It's that same thing again."
"Just like yesterday," Luke said worriedly.
Reggie commented, "It feels like that time I was fixing my amp in the rain."
"I told you not to do that," Charlotte stated through gritted teeth. "But whatever. You guys...there's no way what just happened was a coincidence. I think it has to do with--"
"All the food we ate last night?" Luke suggested, his head bobbing up and down. "I agree, Lots. We ate ten pounds of pizza yesterday without a stomach."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "That's not what I was going to say."
"It's probably just our bodies working through it," Luke told the other boys, well aware of Charlotte staring at him. He met her eye and the two had a silent argument.
He knew Charlotte blamed Caleb and held theories about the club stamp he gave them. But she couldn't prove any of it. The last thing he wanted to do was make Reggie and Alex panic when they didn't need to.
Charlotte would rather let everyone be aware of the danger now if it was present. It gave them more time to come up with solutions.
Luckily, Alex was too concerned about the pain in his side. Reggie also changed the subject when he asked, "So we're just gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?" He spared a glance at his sister. "I mean, that jerk did a lot more damage than just by stealing our music."
"And he has to live with that guilt," Luke finally broke eye-contact with Charlotte to speak to Reggie seriously. Charlotte rose an eyebrow, curious by his change in attitude.
Before, Luke wanted revenge more than anyone. He was the first to suggest haunting Trevor. After all, Sunset Curve's songs were mostly all written by him. Trevor pretended he did all of Luke's hard work. Unaware to Charlotte, it went deeper than that.
Luke couldn't forget how Reggie mentioned that Bobby wanted to date his best friend in 1995. He remembered those days before their death, too. Bobby was always trying to impress Charlotte. Carrying her keyboard, pretending to be vegetarian, always filling her water bottle...
But then Luke picked up on Charlotte's response. When Julie first told them about Trevor, she seemed more saddened than angry. And at the mansion, arguing with Reggie...well, Luke experienced enough heartbreak in his life to recognize it. Charlotte had liked Bobby.
But now, Luke wanted to move past it. She and Bobby couldn't be together, thank the heavens. Part of him felt grateful he convinced her to eat street dogs with them that night. But the more conscious side quickly argued Luke was the reason Charlotte's life was snatched away. Keeping the band with Julie, to Luke, was the way to get Charlotte the life she deserved. And to make up for the mistakes he made with his parents.
He made a choice the night before. Being in a band with his best friends and Julie and Charlotte was more important than getting petty revenge on things he couldn't control.
"We have a new band," he stated. "We have a new sound, okay? That's what we should be focusing on."
Alex, who had been listening to Luke, got distracted by a familiar face in the window. "Isn't that Willie?" He'd recognize the skater anywhere, but as soon as his friends turned, Willie sped off.
Alex hopped up from his chair and phased through the door, leaving the other three to exchange glances at the table.
"Well someone's not focusing on our music," Reggie joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood. He knew he succeeded when Luke lightly chuckled and Charlotte hid a smile behind her hand.
Alex came in a moment later, wearing a frown. His eyes stayed trained on his hands when he sat back down.
"Don't worry, Lex," Charlotte spoke up to comfort him. "I'm sure he's just being shy after last night. You two really hit it off."
"You think?"
Charlotte smiled and nodded. "Definitely." She noticed Luke staring at her so she shifted the conversation. "But, if you wanna keep your mind at ease, let's hear Luke's brilliant plan on how to get Julie to rejoin the band."
She leaned back in her chair, a ghost of a smirk on her lips. Her eyes flashed as if to say, Your move, birthday boy.
She had surprised him that morning to celebrate, despite the drama with Julie, to make him feel better. The new little charm she had stowed away in 1995 now was perfectly resting on a chain underneath his shirt. It wasn't much, and being ghosts made it harder, but Luke loved the gesture. He had never been big on birthdays though, usually only doing things with Charlotte. He made her promise not to remind the boys today while they watched the sun rise.
"Why do you keep doubting I have a plan?" he asked her. "I have a plan!"
"So what is it?"
❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉
When Julie arrived home that afternoon, she felt much better than she did last night. Most of it was from Flynn making her laugh, and dancing with Nick definitely helped. But seeing a note from Charlotte on her bed instantly made the feeling of betrayal and hurt come back.
The girl ghost had simply requested that they talk in the studio. There weren't any more details than that. Julie contemplated staying in the house, until remembering that if the band wanted to talk and she ignored them, they'd pop into her room.
So, begrudgingly, Julie went to the garage. The doors were already open, she noticed, when hit the last step and walked inside.
"We're sorry," Reggie sung first, appearing behind his sister who stood shoulder to shoulder with Luke.
Alex sang next, waving his hand on Luke's other side. "We're sorry!"
Luke and Charlotte joined in, their four voices nailing each harmony. "We're super-duper, crazy, stupid," Luke and Charlotte knelt down at the last note and spread their arms, "Sorry!"
"In case you missed it," Reggie said when silence greeted them. "We're really sorry."
"Yeah," Julie nodded once, her lips flipped down. "I, uh, I got that part."
"We've been here for, like, three hours," Alex shared, wearing the same grin as Reggie before they high-fived.
Luke agreed as he rose back to his feet. "Yeah, we almost sang to your little brother. He comes in here a lot."
"Mostly to use the bathroom," Reggie said and then made a face of disgust. "It's not our favorite part of the day."
"But none of that matters," Charlotte took over the conversation, shooting warning looks at the boys so they'd stop talking. "We just wanted to apologize that we flaked on the dance last night. We should've kept a better eye on the time. You never should have had to be by yourself. We know we let you down...and we're sorry."
Julie simply stood still and listened with her fingers clutching Charlotte's note.
"Yeah, none of us wanted to disappoint you," Alex added, his hands in his jacket pockets. "You're the best thing that's happened to us since we became ghosts."
"So, in hopes that you'll rejoin the band," Luke left Charlotte's side and took a step closer to Julie with a flyer in his hand. "We booked a gig."
"A mega important, life-changing gig," Reggie clarified.
Charlotte glared at Luke. "A gig we weren't going to tell you about until we had a chance to talk through everything....right, Luke?"
"Yeah, but Julie deserves to know about it," Luke brushed off his best friend's comment. "Just check this out. Tons of managers go here to listen to new bands." He pointed to different sections of the flyer before handing it to Julie completely. "All we gotta do is blow them all away and we're living the dream."
Julie studied the paper in her hands, Charlotte's note tucked behind it. "So...this means a lot to you, huh?"
None of the boys answered. Charlotte couldn't either, but knew this conversation was heading quickly downhill.
"Kind of how playing in front of my whole, entire school meant a lot to me."
Charlotte sighed and moved to be by Luke so Julie could see her better. "Look, we know we messed up," she said sincerely. "And we don't want to brush by that. Everything you feel towards us is valid and we deserve it."
"But we need you in the band," Luke stated. He ignored how Charlotte looked at him in disbelief.
Was he seriously not getting the hint their plan wasn't working?
"Of course you do," Julie answered, her voice sharp. Anger seeped through her words. "Because without me, no one can see you guys playing. You know, I thought the music that we were writing was special, but you--" she pointed the flyer accusingly at Luke. "You are too obsessed with your past to even care."
"I do care!" Luke defended. He stole a glance at Charlotte before he shook his head and refocused on Julie. "Our band has a real chance at greatness," he stressed. "I'm not gonna let that get away from us again."
Julie made a noise of disagreement. "Right, so why then did you bail on me to get back at Trevor?" she questioned him. Charlotte opened her mouth, but Julie held up a finger to stop her. "I wanna hear what he has to say, Char, not you. He's the one who wanted revenge on Carrie's dad the most. And I'll tell you why."
She glared daggers at the guitar player. "You are too obsessed with your feelings," she spewed. "You let them dictate how you act and what decisions you make. I had my doubts, but I see it clearly now. You only care about one thing and that's yourself."
Luke's entire face crumpled, the words striking his heart.
"Julie!" Charlotte snapped.
She understood the girl was frustrated with them, but she held no right to talk about Luke that way. He had been through too much already. If Julie opened her eyes, she would see Luke that. It was true he acted on his feelings, but not because he only cared about himself. He cared too much about other people, especially his loved ones.
But Julie didn't give Charlotte time to defend him. She just stalked off. The band stood there, speechless.
"Don't listen to her," Charlotte spoke after a few minutes, seeing Luke's furrowed brows. Her hand rested on his shoulder. "Especially today, Luke, you have to know she didn't mean it. She doesn't know you like we do."
But Luke couldn't bring himself to reply. He simply vanished out of the studio, leaving Reggie, Alex, and Charlotte by themselves.
"Where's he going?" Reggie asked his sister sadly.
"Where he always goes when he's upset," Charlotte replied with a deep sigh but met his and Alex's questioning glances. "Remember what today is?"
Understanding flickered through their eyes and Charlotte nodded. "You guys go get Julie," she told them. "Sit her down, try to get her to listen--obviously without going in more detail than you have to."
"Where are you going?" Alex questioned.
"I'm going after Luke."