your pov
We stood on the sandy beach. There was a group of people playing volleyball behind us and seagulls squawked as they flew past.
"A bike shack right where my house used to be." We had been standing and staring here for a little while now. "Right here."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, man." Luke pat Reggie on the chest.
"They made the Meyersons' house into a noodle shop. Why couldn't they have made mine a pizzeria or something?"
"They tore down the whole neighbourhood." Alex said, taking a hand out of his shorts pocket and gesturing ahead of us.
"I guess my folks are gone." Reggie sighed.
"No. Everyone's gone." Alex said. "25 years, gone. Friends, family, Bobby, everyone."
"Bobby, that's right." Reggie crossed his arms. "I guess that vegetarian lucked out. What do you think happened to him?"
"He probably just for old like everybody else and moved on." Luke shrugged.
"Dude, how are you so casual about all of this?" Alex asked. "I mean, don't you wanna figure out what happened?"
"Well, let's be real for a second. It's not like any of us were that close to our families. My folks always regretted buying me that guitar. Reggie, your parents were literally a fight away from a divorce. Y/N didn't even know her parents. Alex, I... your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay."
"Okay, none of us had it great. All right? But at least we had something. You know, what do we have now? And before you say cool teleportation skills, just know I'm not entirely okay with that either. All right? It tingles. In weird places." Alex turned around and looked over at the water.
What Luke said got me thinking. My grandma was already old, so after 25 years...
"I'll tell you what we had." Luke stood up. "It's what we've had since the day we came together. Guys, we have us. Okay, we're the only family we're ever gonna need. You know what else we have?"
"I'm gonna guess death breath." Reggie shrugged.
"Our music, you dork." Luke chuckled. "We have our music, you guys. People, actual people, can hear us play! Okay, they can't see us, fine, but they can feel us. If I had my guitar, I'd play for all these people right now. Just like what we used to down at the pier."
"Yeah, they can't tip what they can't see."
"It's not about the tips, Alex." Luke walked up to our friend. "It's about playing music. Connecting with people. Making a difference in their day. I just... I wish I had my guitar."
There was a flash and Luke spun around, now holding his acoustic guitar.
"Woah." Reggie grinned. "That was rad. How'd you do that?"
"I don't know." Luke held his guitar up in front of him. "I-I-I mean, I wished for it, and then it came in my hands..."
"I-I-I wish I had a puppy." Reggie closed his eyes and held his hands out. "A hamster? Pizza?"
Reggie groaned, kicked some sand and sat on the floor with a frown. The boy really missed pets and food apparently.
"Hey, I think I know something that'll cheer you up." Luke then starts strumming his guitar.
"Come on, Reginald." Alex said from beside Luke and started making a beat with his hands.
I held out my hands for Reggie to take. He grabbed them and I pulled him up to his feet.
"One, two, three, four."
"Can you? Can you hear me?"
"Yep, loud and clear."
"We gotta get, gotta get ready."
Luke wasn't wrong, Reggie already had his usual grin on his face as he sang.
"Cause it's been years!"
"Woah, oh, oh, oh. This band is back."
Luke, Alex and I joined in together.
"Woah, oh, oh, oh. This band is back."
Reggie jumped around on chairs that sat on the grass and people around the beach started to dance.
"Woohoo, ooh, ooh. Woohoo, ooh, ooh. Woohoo, ooh, ooh."
"Can you?"
"Yes, we can."
"Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear!"
We skipped and jumped and spun around. It was fun, like things hadn't changed at all since we died.
"We gotta get, wanna get, we gotta get ready. Cause it's been years!"
I looked up at Reggie who was on a chair dancing with the biggest smile I've had in a while.
"Woah, oh, oh, oh. This band is back. Woah, oh, oh, oh. This band is back."
"You won't find a speaker." A guy told his friend as they sat on the chairs. "It's direct spot audio. I heard about it in a TED talk."
"Cool." The girl he was talking to giggled.
As we started moving away, Reggie grabbed my hands and spun me around a few times while we danced.
---
"You know, guys, I really don't think she'll be very happy if she finds we're up here. Plus, it's creepy." I crossed my arms.
Reggie was lying like a starfish on Julie's bed, Alex tried to pick up a picture, and Luke kept on staring at a box on one of Julie's shelves. I just stood by Julie's closet awkwardly.
"What are you doing in my room?" Julie exclaimed immediately after she walked in.
"Uh..."
"Um..."
"We were looking for the kitchen?" What Luke said sounded more like a suggestion than an answer.
"This... This can't happen. It's creepy." She pointed at Reggie. "Get off my bed, please."
Reggie jumped up and sat at the stool at the end of it instead.
"I'm sorry, Julie. I tried to get them out." I apologized before glaring at Luke. "It's just they never listen to me."
"Hey, Julie." Luke raised his hand. "What's in the box?"
"That's off-limits." She answered.
"Oh. Oh, okay." Luke chuckled. "Girl stuff."
Julie crossed her arms and I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, like butterflies and glitter?" Reggie asked and I sighed.
"Oh, come on, Reg."
"We're sorry about them." Alex apologized.
"It's none of your business. And yes, there might be some glitter."
Reggie smiled proudly.
"Hey!" I looked from Reggie to Alex, who was holding a photo frame. "I actually picked something up."
It fell out of his hands and onto her bed almost as he said that.
"I dropped it."
"Is that your mom?" Luke asked.
"Yes, and it's my favourite picture of us." Julie snatched it off of her bed and away from the boys. "You break it, I'll break you."
"Okay, well, sorry because we're kind of unbreakable at this point." Alex said.
"I don't get it." Julie put the photo beside her bed. "You guys can mess up my bed, pick up your instruments, but you can't pick up other stuff?"
"I know, right? It's hard. But for some reason, our instruments, easy."
"Yeah, like super easy." Reggie then jumped up with his arms out. "Oh, and check out what I learned today."
Reggie's bass appears in his hands and he falls down.
"Ah."
"Yeah, that looked super easy." Julie said sarcastically.
"It's like I always thought, our instruments are attached to our souls." Luke smiled.
"Hey." Julie's dad was at the doorway. Reggie did a roly poly backwards and Alex and Luke grabbed hands. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Okay. I thought I heard you talking to someone."
"Nope. Must've been my laptop... that I just closed."
"Okay. If you need anything..."
"Yeah, thanks." Julie's dad closed the bedroom door behind him.
"Your dad seems like the kind of guy who likes to barbecue." Reggie told Julie. "I bet he has a great ribs recipe."
"I don't know. But if you guys wanna talk to me, we have to do it in the studio." Julie explained. "He's worried about me enough as it is."
"He seems chill. You should just tell him about us." Alex turned around when Luke said that.
"You're kidding, right?" Julie sighed. "This past year, everyone's been watching over me, being super nice, as if they're waiting for me to snap. If I tell my dad I met a ghost band, I'll be back to talking to Dr. Turner three days a week."
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't tell him." Luke went back to staring at the box. "Julie..."
"Oh my gosh! I thought I told you to leave that alone!"
"I know. 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?" Luke looked at her confused. "Whenever I get a thought, I write it down and get it out of my mind."
"Like lyrics?" Of course that's the first thing he thinks of.
"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."
"But, I mean, you do play. We heard you this morning." Alex said, jumping to his feet.
"In the garage?" Julie asked and Luke slapped Alex on the shoulder. "So you were there too?"
"Uh... I don't... We were..."
"Uh... He was, like... Somewhere."
Alex and Reggie struggled to come up with an excuse and I mentally face palmed.
"So, where is your kitchen, by the way?" Luke asked, now lying on Julie's bed.
"Okay," Julie leaned down to Luke's level. "We need to set some boundaries. For starters, stay out of my room!"
"Mm-hmm. Crystal clear. Let's go."
"We're leaving. Yes, ma'am! We are out of here."
The boys all rushed out of the room and I walked a little slowly.
"Sorry, Julie. Just one more thing before I leave." She looked up at me. "Did you get back into your music program?"
"No." She looked down at the floor. "No, I didn't."
"I'm sorry. That sucks."
"Thanks."
We stood in silence.
"Is that it?"
I looked away from the wall I was staring at and back at Julie. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I'll go now."