Jo and Willie popped back up in front of the Orpheum just in time to see the three bandmates get shocked by another of Caleb's jolts. "Hey, are you guys okay?" Willie asked immediately.
Jo stepped forward and took Reggie's hand in hers as they recovered from the pain. "Yeah," Alex replied. "Yeah, it's nothing we haven't felt before. How'd it go?"
"Well, when that opening band wakes up, they're gonna find their bus two hundred miles outside of Vegas," he said excitedly, showing off the jacket he'd swiped from the tour bus. "With no chance of getting back in time."
He and Luke slapped their hands together as Jo held up an olive green t-shirt with the same design to her chest. "Cute, right?"
"Adorable," Reggie laughed.
"And that means there's probably a promoter upstairs right about now freaking out," Luke said.
"Nah, this is Hollywood, man. I'm sure he's being very professional," Willie said.
Alex stepped forward anxiously and Jo immediately grabbed both of the other boys' hands and pulled them aside. "Good luck tonight, you guys," Jo told them quietly.
"Good luck? What do you mean?" Reggie said.
"Seriously, Jo, did you think we'd just go on without you?" Luke chuckled.
Jo caught Willie's eye over the boys' shoulder. He nodded and skated off down the street. This time, Alex pulled Luke away from their conversation. Reggie looked between Jo and his friends anxiously. "Jo, please. This isn't goodbye. What are you doing?"
"Reg, I never should have done this in the first place. It was fun while it lasted, but... I've been risking my not-quite-life every single time I've even spoken to you guys. I appreciate everything you've done for me, okay? But this... this is where it ends-"
Jo was cut off when Reggie pulled her into a hug. She melted into his arms and memorized the warm and fuzzy feeling it gave her. She turned her head to the side and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
She laughed lightly when they finally pulled apart. "I'll see you on the other side, okay?"
"Jo... I-"
"Don't," she whispered, forcing a smile though tears welled in her eyes. "I'll see you boys around."
Luke threw an arm around Reggie's shoulder while Alex stepped up on the boy's other side, hands going to his pockets. "We'll see you around, Jo," Luke said.
She finally pulled her hands back from Reggie's. "Goodbye."
While Julie and the boys were back in the garage, the phone rang. They encouraged her to answer it and a voice rang out, "Hi, this is Tasha from the Orpheum in Hollywood." The four jumped up and danced around the space until she said, "Is this Julie of Julie and the Phantoms."
Julie stopped them in their tracks and quietly picked up her phone, clearing her throat. "Yes, it is."
The four returned to their celebratory jumping as the woman, Tasha, asked, "Are you available to open for us tonight?"
"Yeah, totally!" The call ended soon after as Luke and Reggie lifted Alex above themselves. "We're playing the Orpheum, baby! Yeah!" Julie suddenly looked around the group. "Wait, wait, wait... We're missing a band member. Wh-Where's Jo?"
Reggie's smile dropped as Alex was back down on the ground. "They're... They're not..."
"They're done," Luke said bluntly.
"It's dangerous for them to be... around us," Alex added.
Reggie forced a smile and put his hands in his pockets. "I don't blame them."
"Oh..." Julie trailed off. "Luke, do we have to rework..."
"A few songs. Yeah," he said. "The background vocals and the- the pacing are all messed up. Shouldn't take too long, though. We've still got a few songs that work without the rhythm guitar."
"Just... let me know what you choose, then," Reggie said and left the garage.
Jo was sitting on the stage at the Hollywood Ghost Club later that afternoon into the evening, lightly strumming along to one of the songs she and the Phantoms were working on as it played on repeat in her head. She was catching up with a few other band members she hadn't seen much in the past few weeks since Caleb replaced her within the band. Lina was still avoiding her for the most part and Willie was processing privately. Jo was ignoring the problem and decided she'd focus on getting back into Caleb's good graces which meant socializing, associating with some of the other members, and keeping her head down. She was forcing herself to be okay with this because she knew there wasn't a second option.
"Josie!" he called through the space when he saw her near the stage. "Come speak to me, will you?"
Jo forced a smile and said goodbye to the other musicians before anxiously following him backstage. "How can I help you, Caleb?"
He rested a thumb on his lip and smiled at her slightly. "How have you been, Josie?"
She could tell what he was doing. He was waiting for her to give any indication of lingering opposition to the name or resentment towards him. And though it was still heavily present, she wouldn't show it. "Fine. Good, actually."
"I understand you and my daughter aren't speaking."
"Well, you and I had a disagreement and... separated for a while, let the strong emotions settle, I think. That's what Lina and I are doing. Until we can all be civil together. Don't you think?"
"I do," Caleb said, a single eyebrow raising. "And I think you've stewed long enough. I like the new girl in the band, I do! But you're better. Perform with me tonight."
Jo forced a smile. "I'd love to."
"Good. Follow me," he said, jerking his head further into the back of the club. She took a deep breath, but did as he said. "I've got a little errand to run before the performance tonight and I'd like you to accompany me, Josie. How about it?"
"I'd be happy to, Caleb, if that's what you want."
He chuckled lightly. "That's what I like to hear."
Luke circled something on his clipboard a few times before tapping the page. "Julie and I were thinking we'd start with 'Stand Tall,'" he suggested.
"Perfect," Alex replied.
Reggie threw a thumbs up but kept staring down at his shoes. "Sounds good."
"Sounds good?" Luke repeated. "Dude, wake up! I wanna hear, 'It sounds awesome.' I know this isn't how we wanted things to turn out, we gotta be all in tonight. This is our second chance at playing the Orpheum!"
"I get it, I get it... but it's hard when the whole band's not here," Reggie said. "And I don't mean Bobby, I mean-"
"Jo. I know," Luke filled in softly.
"And like, do we even know what's on the other side when we cross over? Do we still get to hang together? You... You guys are the only family I have."
"Yeah, I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen either, but..." Alex muttered. "It's not like we have a choice." As if punctuating the sentence, the boys were hit with another painful jolt.
"Pretty sure we do. And it rhymes with the Hollywood Ghost Club," Reggie said, his mind drifting to the girl it'd never stopped thinking of.
Julie came to check in on the boys, pulling Luke aside and asking him if he happened to see her mom that he would tell her that she loved her and thank her for bringing the boys to her.
The band circled up as a last celebration before their show. "Legends on three," Luke said, bringing all their hands to the middle.
As soon as their handshake was up, Julie's dad honked from outside, drawing her away from her friends. Carlos came in just after she left and revealed that he'd somehow found out about them. "It doesn't matter you guys," Luke said, finally stopping Reggie and Alex's bickering. "We're not coming back here anyways."
"And where is it that you think you're going?"
>author's note
jo and caleb's convo here is one of my faves that i've written for this book. and i love these next few chpaters. woo hoo <3