IV. FALSE PROMISES
Dahlia was unsure why she was still awake. She tossed and turned beneath her duvet, contemplating to herself whether the idea to cut Luke off was a good decision. A part of her—the rational part— knew he had done nothing wrong.
The irrational part, however, disagreed. It was an inner conflict of indecisiveness that left Dahlia losing sleep. She hadn't even remembered closing her eyes, but the situation had only added more exhaustion to her day-to-day life.
When she woke up the next morning, everything ached. Her alarm did nothing but add to the intensity of her pounding headache, with an inhumane force as if she had been run over, and her bones felt like they had been dipped in acid. She attempted to sit up, blinking as she tried to get rid of her upcoming migraine.
Maybe she shouldn't have skipped the coffee yesterday...or maybe she should start trying to sleep for more than three hours a night. Maybe she should just start taking care of herself more in general.
Her vision focused as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, her face glowing as she looked more rested than she had in days.
Hmph. At least Dahlia looked much better than she felt.
While it was too early to make lifestyle changes, it was much too late in the morning to attempt to crawl back into bed for that extra five minutes. Dahlia had to will herself to do so much as stand up, trudging to her closet. She had opted for a sweatshirt, seeing she only had two more clean ones in her closet, and made a mental note to buy more sweatshirts later.
Her cheerleading uniform was messily stuffed into the bottom of her backpack, along with her makeup bag, since she had planned to do it in the school bathroom before first period. She shucked her knapsack over her shoulder, the bag's weight slamming against her shoulder blade as she winced. She closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head against the wall with a soft thump.
Her mind swirled back to memories of her and Luke in the kitchen, shoulders pressed against each other as they wrote the night away. Just as the memory had brought a smile to her face, it was wiped off just as quickly.
Luke was a ghost, and nothing was bound to happen between them no matter what. No matter how comfortable and safe last night had felt, a part of her still felt resentful towards the shaggy haired guitarist for tricking her into writing again; even after she made it clear she promised herself she wasn't interested in her past hobby.
With a huff, Dahlia had tried to forget the entire ordeal as she began walking downstairs, a familiar brunette coming into view.
Julie had been waiting for Dahlia at the bottom of the stairs, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes as she beamed up at her older sister.
"I was just at the studio, and Luke showed me this killer song. He said you guys worked on it together," Julie paused, clicking her tongue as her eyes shifted from the floor to Dahlia's, "I just had to ask...are you writing music again?" The younger sister questioned, sucking in a breath as she followed Dahlia, who had made a beeline to the coffee machine.
"I was just doing Luke a favor. I made it very clear it was a one time thing." Dahlia's voice was monotone, clearly uninterested as Julie's shoulders sagged.
She had really been hoping that Dahlia would say yes, because then she assumed she would be more excited when she told Dahlia that she was planning to perform a song—Bright, to her music teacher in a final attempt to get readmitted into the music program.
Still, Julie knew that Dahlia had been supportive and patient with her younger sister when it came to singing. Just because she was slowly starting to ease into the passion again, didn't mean Dahlia had to follow.
But the Molina's were persistent beings, and Julie knew that nothing made Dahlia happier than writing. She'd be dammed if she let that slip away from Dahlia again.
Julie smiled up at her sister, taking the half drank mug out of her hands as she pulled Dahlia to the front door, ignoring her grumbling protests.
They had taken the long way to school—thank God, because if Julie had attempted to take the dangerous shortcut Dahlia might've cried. Her patience was low today—too low, and if she had to remember almost getting run over she would've lost it entirely.
The sun beaming against Dahlia's cheeks wasn't doing much to lift her attitude, her mind still wandering on her decision from last night. She had decided she was done with music a while ago, and she wasn't sure why this time felt any different.
It might've felt different because maybe there was the slightest chance that she had been feeling guilty at the thought of ignoring the three ghosts that were living in the garage, knowing two of them did nothing wrong, and Luke had just wanted to help.
The Molina girl didn't even want to spend another second thinking of the musician spirits that resided in her house, because she knew dwelling on it would only draw her closer to the situation.
She knew a part of her wanted to know more about the ghosts in her garage, she had questions upon questions that were filling her mind.
Why were they here? Why could she touch them and Julie couldn't?
One too many questions swirled throughout her mind, the uncertainty of it all making her head spin. Dahlia knew she had bigger things to focus on, like her social life and her grades. Dahlia knew she needed perfect grades if she wanted so much as a shot to pursue her dream job.
Dahlia had always liked to plan ahead. She planned so much ahead that she had her future lined up in front of her eyes. She wanted to live in New York City, in a humbly sized apartment downtown. She wanted to be a doctor, and she wanted to study medicine at John Hopkins University.
She knew her heart was set on being a doctor, but deep down Dahlia knew the true career she wanted to pursue was a song writer; but being successful in that industry was nearing impossible.
She didn't have time to dwell on things that would never happen, and she definitely didn't have time to dwell on three people that were quite literally made of air.
It seemed that the three ghosts were all anyone ever talked about, as Dahlia had reluctantly been listening to Julie as she began to rant about the teenage boys, who she had found snooping and looking through things in her bedroom. Dahlia whipped out an amused smile at this, and Julie groaned.
"Not funny, Lia. Plus, I told them if they wanted to find music, my room wasn't the place to search through." Julie said, leaving her comment open ended. Dahlia hoped she wouldn't come home to find her bedroom turned upside down and messy, obviously having been searched through.
Dahlia shoved Julie playfully, ruffling her hair with a sigh. She could live with the ghosts, fine, but she refused to have anything to do with them with it came to music.
Dahlia hadn't even noticed her and Julie were at school until she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts that were beginning to spiral. Julie waved a small goodbye as she began walking towards Flynn, and Dahlia could see in the corner of her eye her own friends approaching her.
They were all wearing red cheerleading uniforms, their backs sporting a bobcat logo and their hair with a bow at the top.
Dahlia turned around, giving her friends her full attention. She knew she had been forgetting something since earlier that morning, and she had completely forgotten her and the rest of the cheerleaders were supposed to start off the spirit assembly with the cheer they had spent all week practicing.
"You didn't forget about today, did you?" Asked one of the cheerleaders, annoyance dripping from her tone as Dahlia sighed.
"No! No, of course not. Just had a weird night, is all," she replied, rubbing at her temples with the pads of her fingers, "give me five minutes to change." Dahlia added, waving the girls off as she quickly made her way over to the locker room.
She could hear footsteps following behind her, and Dahlia had to stop herself from yelling at them to leave her alone. She had definitely woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and she didn't want to take it out on the innocent girls who were simply excited to show the other students what they had been working hard on.
Dahlia reminded herself to take deep breaths as she shrugged her uniform on, doubling checking her hair in the mirror as she stuffed a giant red bow on the top of her ponytail.
She didn't bother with applying makeup, no one would be able to see the difference—and she'd most likely sweat it all off anyway. She was tempted to give herself a pep talk in the mirror, but there wasn't enough time.
So with a final breath for confidence, Dahlia pushed her shoulders back, raised her chin and walked towards her friends with a half-assed smile that only her closest companions would be able to tell was fake.
Dahlia could see the heaps of students making their way to the gym, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Dahlia felt out of place, and although she didn't show it, she'd rather be anywhere but there.
The Molina girl decided there was plenty of time to sulk later, but for now, she had an assembly to attend. She would hate to be the reason her friends missed their time slot to perform their cheer.
Dahlia allowed her shoes to lead her, her pale pink shoes bumping against the tile as she opened the door to the dimly lit gym.
Her eyes scanned the room for Julie and Flynn, though they were nowhere to be found. She felt her face fall slightly, but gently brushed it off as she could hear the jocks obnoxiously whooping as the cheerleaders filed inside.
Dahlia stood in the middle as she watched her group perform, letting herself get lost in the routine as she tried not to think about it too hard, knowing overthinking would surely mess her up.
A good twenty minutes, and a lot of sweating later, Dahlia stood amongst the line of cheerleaders that were soaking in the applause at the end of their routine, walking off to the bleachers in a perfectly straight line. Dahlia caught a glimpse of Julie and Flynn, who were clapping slightly sarcastically as they stood at the bottom of the bleachers.
Dahlia grinned as she broke apart from the group of say hi to her friends, and it was then when she saw Julie's mortified expression as another group filed onto the gym floor.
"Look who spent all her daddy's money on costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer," Flynn sneered, scowling as her gaze rested on Carrie.
"Well, it paid off." Julie admitted, watching as the girls in bright costumes and cheery smiles.
Dahlia glanced over to see Carrie Wilson's band, Dirty Candy, in the center of the gym. They wore neon solid colored costumes with wigs, the sparkles almost bright enough to blind someone.
"Where were you guys?" Asked Dahlia, ignoring their comments about Carrie's friends.
"We were conspiring," Flynn replied with a grin, and Dahlia gave her a look that read for her to continue, "Julie's going to give a surprise performance to everyone at the end of the assembly." she said, and Dahlia moved her focus from Flynn to Julie, who hesitantly nodded and gulped.
Dahlia smiled, knowing how badly her sister wanted to be accepted back into the program. The older sister thought it was ridiculous that she got kicked out in the first place, everyone knew Julie had the voice of an angel.
Dahlia had been standing to the other side of Julie, her arm resting on her younger sister's shoulder. She could see a gust of wind behind her suddenly, glancing behind her as three ghosts came into her line of vision.
Dahlia debated on saying hello—just to be polite, before she remembered that she was going to try and give a little distance between her and the ghosts, and hopefully they'd get the hint and not pester her.
The older sister not so secretly pinched Julie's shoulder as she turned around, making direct eye contact with the boys as she took a step forward.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Julie angrily, her voice hushed to make sure Flynn didn't hear anything.
"We wanted to see you stick it to the man, isn't that right boys?" Luke replied, a smug smirk on his face as Alex nodded.
Reggie, however, had his eyes locked on the group of girls singing, his jaw going slack as he gulped.
"Man, I miss high school."
Luke and Alex gave the teenager an odd look, before turning their attention to see what all the hype was about.
Dahlia had been trying her best to ignore Luke as she focused on the singing in front of her, but the blaring music was honestly just giving her a headache.
"I thought you were kidding about being a cheerleader, Molina," Luke said, an obnoxious, flirty grin tugging at the corner of his lips.
The ghost had appeared behind Dahlia, his voice low as Dahlia tried to ignore the chill it sent down her spine. Still, Dahlia straightened her posture, composing herself as she didn't reply, simply glancing at Like with her eyebrows furrowed.
Luke stood there for a moment, before clearing his throat and walking all the way to Reggie's other side, the farthest spot he could get away from Dahlia.
The oldest Molina sister took a breath, trying to ignore the awkward tension that fell over the small group. She tried to refocus for concentration on the music, and it worked—up until Alex began to dance along to the soundtrack as jabbed her in the rib with his elbow.
Dahlia squeaked in surprise as she glanced at Alex, who apologized with a gentle smile, almost making Dahlia feel bad for what she planned on doing next.
As the music came to a stop Dahlia subtly walked towards Flynn, marking an obvious distance between her and the ghosts. The Molina girl could hear Carrie's high pitched voice as she attempted to promote her newest youtube video, before saying, "Go Bobcats!" and walking off.
The spotlight faded away, Principle Lessa and Mrs. Harrison coming into view with proud smiles.
"Thank you, Dirty Candy," Mrs. Harrison praised, her lips in a tight line.
"Now's your chance, go talk to her," Flynn said, pushing Julie slightly further to the stage, "see you in music!"
"That was sweet," Principle Lessa said, waiting to see if anyone caught onto her pun. Dahlia chuckled slightly, noticing the otherwise solemn expressions as the principle sighed, "okay, before I let you go, we have a few more announcements."
Dahlia had long given up on trying to pay attention to her principle's words as she felt Julie cling to her shoulder, feeling her breathing quicken as her face paled.
"I cannot do this." Julie stressed, her grip tighter on Dahlia's arm as she sighed.
"It's going to be fine, you're one of the most—no you're the most talented singer I know, and—" Dahlia was cut off when she heard the ghosts approaching them.
"What are we waiting for? This is your time!" Reggie beamed, his hand gesturing to the stage as Julie's eyes widened.
Dahlia was wrong when she thought her grip couldn't get any firmer.
"Hey, you look really nervous, like, yak in a bowl nervous." Alex added, and Dahlia rolled her eyes.
They were not helping.
"I just don't think I had enough time to work on the song," Julie admitted, and Luke decided that that was his cue to step in front of her.
"Hey, I wouldn't have given this to you if I didn't think you were gonna rock it. Now, there's a piano on that stage with your name on it." Luke said, smiling at Julie, his gaze flickering to Dahlia who looked at the floor. It was going to be a lot harder ignoring him than she originally planned.
Julie looked up at her sister, who beamed brightly and gave an encouraging nod. This seemed to be the push Julie needed as she finally let go of Dahlia's shoulder, shakily jogging up the stage.
Dahlia sighed, going to walk back to her friends who she had ditched moments ago, before she felt a tap on her wrist making her stop in her tracks.
"We did good with the song, huh?" Luke tried, raising his eyebrows with a confident grin as Dahlia nodded, her expression unreadable as she shook her arm free and began walking towards her friends.
Luke sighed, defeated as he walked to Alex and Reggie.
"That was rough, man," Reggie said, and Luke nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I think she's mad at me." Luke said, shrugging with a slight frown.
Luke tried to not let Dahlia's small rejection bother him, but he couldn't help it. Last night, in his opinion, it was the happiest he had been in twenty five years. Dahlia was just so sweet, and so pretty, and so talented, and now it's like she flipped like a light switch; all cold and bitter and wanting nothing to do with him.
Dahlia could see Luke's frustrated expression from where she stood with her friends, but her main focus was on Julie as she watched her sister walk up to the stage and sit down on the piano.
The first few notes came out shaky, students beginning to file out of the room as they grew engrossed in their own conversations. Dahlia's friends began to walk away, too, though she managed to get them to stay a little while longer, hopefully enough time for Julie to start playing.
Julie looked uncertain as her eyes began to dart around the room, looking for Dahlia, Flynn, or the boys...anyone that could give her the last boost of confidence she needed.
"You got this!"
Julie nodded with a smile, her fingers resting on the piano as she began to play further. The melody sounded so familiar, and Dahlia had to internally fight herself to avoid thinking about songwriting with Luke.
As nice as it was, it wasn't going to happen again.
Dahlia was beginning to lose herself to her thoughts again as she huffed, shaking her head. She returned her focus to Julie, the notes beginning to flow further as a spotlight was placed over her head.
This seemed to draw more attention from the crowd of students as they began to pause, heads moving in curiosity to find where the sound was coming from. The lights dimmed a moment later, and Julie began to sing.
Her voice was amazing as always, and Dahlia stood there with a proud smile as she and her friends made their way to the front row of the crowd. Her excitement all but lasted a minute as she saw the band walk up to the stage behind her, their instruments appearing besides them a moment later as Dahlia blinked in confusion.
Just as Julie was nearing the chorus, the band began to play, accompanying the piano. This seemed to catch the rest of the students attention as they all came rushing towards the stage, people beginning to grab their phones and start recording.
Dahlia could hear gasps of amazement from behind her, and her eyes widened. She realized that the others could see the band.
Dahlia could hear the hushed whispers of her friends who began to nervously giggle, and one of her friends tapped her on the arm.
"Hey, if Julie knows those guys, do you?"
Dahlia froze for a moment, stammering as she shook her head.
"Oh. I was going to ask if the guy in the beanie was single, but I guess you wouldn't know," She said a moment later, and Dahlia rolled her eyes.
"Guess not." She said, a hint of underlying annoyance in her reply.
Dahlia turned her attention back to the stage, knowing every last lyric that Julie sang. She knew that Luke's solo was coming up, and she realized a moment later that his gaze was locked on her eyes.
Dahlia looked back at him, her brown eyes boring into his blue. He began to sing, as the students began to cheer, though Dahlia's face remained still, her eyes refusing to break the contact she made with Luke.
She knew the guitarist was a good singer, but she hadn't exactly realized how good he was. Dahlia swallowed hard.
The music began to die down as it went back to a simple guitar riff, the band bowing as the song officially ended. When Julie came back from her bow to face the audience, she heard a poof noise as students chuckled in amazement.
The boys were gone.
— argentsires
this chapter was so difficult to write, i procrastinated proofreading it but here it is!!
☾ఌ𖦹