Carmen walked through the streets, singing quietly. She'd gone on a walk to clear her head and try to come up with some clue as to how to help the boys play the Orpheum.
"Something big, something crazy, our best is yet unknown. That this moment is ours to own, 'cause we're standing on the edge of great." The girl sang as she kicked a rock. "Standing on the edge of," Another voice cut in to join her.
"Running from the past." She turned to see Luke and smiled. "Tripping on the now. What is lost can be found, it's obvious." The two ghosts smiled. "I didn't know you could sing, Elle." The boy said, joining her on the walk. The brunette shrugged, her hands in her pockets.
"That's cause I don't very often."
"Well you should. From what I heard you've got a great voice." Luke said and the girl smiled.
"Thanks." Carmen glanced up at the boy. "So do you." She nudged him and Luke laughed. She loved his laugh. The boy smiled at her as they walked.
"I–uh, I need to te–" He was about to say something but someone cut him off.
"Oi, Carmella!" The girl rolled her eyes. Luke went to look back at who was talking but Carmen grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Don't look back. Keep walking. Eventually he'll go away." She said and he raised an eyebrow.
"Who–"
"Carmella! I know you can hear me, girl!" The voice called again from right behind them. Once again the dark haired boy tried to turn around.
"Don't." Carmen warned and a man appeared in front of them. He was tall, well built and clearly in his mid-twenties.
"Don't act like you can't see me, Carmella."
"There's nothing to see."
"Oh, you wound me." The brunette tried to walk passed but he stepped in front of her. "Ah, ah, ah. I don't even get a hello?" Luke watched from beside the ghost girl, his jaw clenched.
"Fuck off, Samuel."
"Ooh, harsh." Carmen tried to step around him once more but he grabbed her arm. "Where you think you're going, pretty lady."
"Away from you." She ripped her arm out of his grasp and glared at the man. "I've told you before, leave me alone."
"See, I know you don't mean that, Carmella."
"Yes, I do." Samuel moved closer to her but Luke stepped between them.
"She said she's not interested. So back off." He warned and the man sized him up, laughing.
"Ha, where'd you pick this one up? The dump?" Samuel pushed the boy and Luke fell to the ground.
"Luke!" Carmen exclaimed, worried he might have gotten hurt. The dark haired boy jumped up, looking pissed. "Let's just go." The girl grabbed his hand but Samuel grabbed her.
"Just because you've got some pretty boy walking around with you doesn't mean you're any less mine." Carmen turned around and punched the boy square in the nose, making him back up.
"I never was and never will be yours." She shouted at the man who glared back at her.
Samuel took a step forward but Luke grabbed his raised arm and pulled it behind his back, throwing him forward.
"Back off." Luke warned, going back to Carmen. "C'mon, Elle." He took her hand and they poofed out. They landed in the empty garage and the girl turned to him.
"Are you okay?" She asked and he nodded.
"Who was that guy?"
"Local ghost. He died a few years back and harasses me and a bunch of other female ghosts. He's mostly harmless. I usually just ignore him and poof out."
"You shouldn't have to deal with that." Luke said as he started pacing.
"It's fine."
"No it's not. He touched you." He said, avoiding her eyes.
"It was just my arm." Carmen frowned and walked over to the boy, taking his hand to stop his pacing. "Luke, I'm fine. Honestly, it's not a big deal."
"You sure you're okay?" Luke asked, looking down at her. Carmen nodded and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. The dark haired boy took a breath and visibly relaxed. "Ok."
"What were you trying to say before we were interrupted?" She asked and could see him blush slightly.
"Oh, I–uh... nothing. It's nothing." Luke shook his head, letting go of her hand. The girl frowned but hid it. She didn't want to let go of his hand but forced herself not to think about it.
"You sure?" Carmen asked and he nodded. Suddenly a jolt struck him and he fell onto the chair. "Luke!"
"Ugh, I'm really getting sick of these jolts." Luke said, clutching his chest in pain. The girl frowned.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way for you guys to play The Orpheum."
"Yeah..." Luke stood back up. "I'll see you later, Elle." Before the girl could say anything he poofed out. What was that about?
🌺🌺🌺
Carmen sat in Julie's house, sketching in her notebook as she sat on the stairs. The boys were off doing their own things so the girl was left to her own devices. The door swung open and Julie ran in and up to her room, running right through Carmen.
"What's that about?" The brunette wondered out loud, noticing the girl's smile. Carmen stood up and followed after the girl, her sketchpad in hand. She walked through Julie's door to her room where the girl was jumping up and down on her bed. The dead girl waited until Julie stopped jumping before waving her notebook through the air.
"Ahhh! Oh, hi Carmen." The alive girl said with a smile once she remembered. Carmen quickly wrote down on her notebook. 'Hi. What's with the jumping?' "Oh, uh, the guy I like asked me out today." Carmen beamed and turned to another page. 'Nick asked you out?!' "Yeah, how did you know it was Nick?" Julie asked, raising an eyebrow. 'I'm dead. I don't have anything better to do than keeping up with the drama of high schoolers.' This caused the alive girl to laugh. Carmen wrote down another sentence. 'I'm so glad you guys are finally getting together. I've been rooting for the two of you for a while.' "Ok, that's a little weird." Both girls laughed. "What about you? Is there a special dead person in your life?" This caused Carmen to blush. 'Maybe... I like someone but I'm not sure if they like me back.' "Ooh? Who is it? Spill." 'Promise not to say anything?' She wrote and the alive girl nodded vigorously. Carmen took a deep breath and wrote down the four letters. 'Luke.' "Aww, you guys would be cute, I think." Julie said with a smile and the other girl laughed. 'Thanks.' "Where is Luke, by the way?" She asked and Carmen's smile fell. What do I tell her? The brunette started writing. 'He likes to visit his parents sometimes.' "Oh." Julie looked down. "He's really hurting, isn't he?" In more ways than one. 'Yeah. I wish I could help him but I don't know how.' They sat in silence for a few seconds before Julie jumped up. "I know!" Carmen hurriedly scribbled. 'What?' "That song he wrote for his Mom. 'Unsaid Emily'. What if we give it to her?" 'I don't know, Julie. That's kind of a personal thing.' "But it might give his Mom some closure, which might make him feel better." Carmen thought about it for a minute. 'I guess so.' "Come on." Julie ran out of her room and the dead girl sighed before following her. This is a bad idea. The two girls ran to the empty garage and Julie picked up Luke's song book. 'Are you sure about this?' Carmen wrote down and held the paper up. "Absolutely." Julie said and her confidence was contagious. 'Alright, but I'm gonna stay here.' "That's fine. I'll let you know how it goes." 'Thank you.' With that Julie left the garage.
Carmen sighed and ran a hand through her hair. What did I just do? The brunette paced back and forth, chewing her fingernails. Luke's gonna hate me. I already trespassed on his birthday, now this. Carmen went outside to the front porch to get some fresh air and continued her pacing there. Her mind swam with different worries, everything crowding her head with unease. We have to find a way for them to play the Orpheum. They won't go to Caleb and I can't let them be destroyed. Carmen had no idea what to do. She desperately wanted to help her friends but she didn't know how. The Oprheum wasn't easy to book. The girl was so preoccupied in her mind she didn't see someone walk over until a voice cut through her train of thought.
"Elle?" She stopped mid pace and looked up to see the dark haired boy.
"Luke." Carmen said, noticing that he had been crying. "I-I'm sorry, I knew it was a bad ide–" He cut her off by pulling the girl into a hug, burying his face in her neck. Carmen froze for a second before wrapping her arms around the boy's shoulders. It was silent for a few minutes as the two of them stood there.
"Thank you." Luke whispered and the two stood there for a minute in silence. Carmen wanted to stay there forever but knew she had to say something.
"So I take it that means you're not mad at me?" She asked and Luke pulled back.
"No, I'm not. I uh, I really needed that. So did my Mom. So, thank you."
"It was nothing really. It was mostly Julie's idea." Carmen brushed off, blushing at how intently the boy was looking at her. "I'm just glad you feel better."
"I do. But I'd feel even better if you told me what's bothering you." Luke said, leaning against the railing. The brunette looked at him as she leaned on the wall.
"I don't know what you mean. I'm completely fine." She bluffed and the boy gave her a 'bitch please' look.
"No, you're not. You've been picking your fingers non-stop for the last few days. You only do that when you're nervous or worried." Luke said, motioning to the girl. Carmen looked down to see she was currently picking at her fingers. She pulled her hands apart and crossed her arms.
"No I don't."
"Yeah, you do." The boy walked over to lean on the wall next to her.
"Name one time." Carmen said, turning to face him better.
"The other day when you were showing us the posters you made."
"Psh, no I didn't."
"Yeah, you did." Luke gave her a knowing look and the brunette rolled her eyes. "Not enough for you? How about just now. Or a week ago when you–"
"Okay, I get it. You've made your point." Carmen sighed and the boy chuckled. The girl couldn't help but smile.
Curse that laugh. Luke turned to her and sighed.
"Elle, it's me. What's wrong?" He asked and Carmen started pacing once again.
"I just–I'm so worried! What if we can't book the Orpheum? Even if we do, what if that's not your guys' unfinished business? We don't have time to get it wrong! If we get it wrong you guys will be destroyed! And you can't go to Caleb, he's horrible!" The brunette ranted and Luke walked over, taking the girl's hands to stop her from pacing.
"Hey," The boy said and Carmen looked up into his eyes. "I'm sure playing the Orpheum is our unfinished business. It'll be okay." The brunette looked down. "What else?"
"Even if it is your guys' unfinished business... and you do cross over... I'll still lose you." Luke frowned and pulled the girl into another hug. She buried her face in his chest and sighed. "I spent twenty five years alone. I don't think I can do it again. I don't want to." Carmen whispered and Luke held tighter around her shoulders.
"We don't know what's on the other side. Maybe we all still get to hang out." The boy pulled back to look her in the eyes. "If we figure out what your unfinished business is, you can come with us! You won't be alone anymore." He said excitedly but Carmen sighed.
"I wish. But I've already tried. I don't know what it is." The girl sighed but Luke shook his head.
"I won't accept that. We'll figure out what it is. I promise." Luke rubbed the back of her hands reassuringly and Carmen smiled up at him.
"Thanks, Luke."
"Anytime." The two dead teenagers stood there for a minute just smiling at each other. Luke's eyes glanced down at the girl's lips for a split second and she noticed. Carmen felt the blood rush to her cheeks and the dark haired boy smiled. He looked like he was about to say something but stopped when he noticed something behind the girl. Carmen turned around to see Julie walking over to them.
"Hey." She waved awkwardly as Luke wrapped his arm around Carmen's shoulders. The ghost girl blushed even brighter than before and was glad Julie couldn't see her.
"Hey." Luke greeted the younger teenager.
"I'm sorry for overstepping." Julie apologized but the boy shook his head.
"No, I... I just had to leave. That was–"
"You don't have to say anything." Julie cut him off but Luke wasn't having it.
"Yeah, I do. Uh... I didn't have many regrets in my life except for running out on my parents. Especially my mom, so... Thank you. Both of you." He squeezed Carmen's shoulders and the girl smiled. Julie smiled as well. Even though she couldn't see the other girl she knew what was going on.
"You helped me feel more connected to my mom, so... I wanted to do the same thing for you. Plus it was mostly Carmen's idea." The alive girl motioned to where Carmen was with a smile. The ghost girl inwardly face palmed, having said the same thing to Luke but the other way around. The boy looked at her with a smirk and she shrugged. Okay Julie. I see you.
"Well, thank you, Elle." At his words Julie looked at Carmen with a thumbs up that the boy couldn't see.
"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to tell you. Flynn said the video that my dad made is trending on YouTube." The alive girl told them excitedly and Carmen smiled.
"That's amazing!"
"Uh, Elle says that's amazing but I don't get it." Luke told Julie who nodded in understanding.
"It means people love our music. We'll definitely be getting calls from managers now." She told him and the two ghosts exchanged a look.
"Just tell her." Carmen said and the boy sighed.
"There's something I have to tell you." He told Julie, unwrapping his arm from the brunette's shoulders and stepping forward.
"Oh... Ok." Julie turned to him, looking worried.
"We figured out that we have unfinished business. That's why we came back as ghosts."
"Oh. What is it?"
"We have to play the show we never got to play."
"At the Orpheum? That makes sense." Julie nodded but just then Luke was hit hard by a jolt. He was knocked backwards and Carmen caught him before he could fall to the ground.
"Luke!" She shouted, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to keep him upright. Luke held onto his chest with his other hand to try and soothe the pain.
"And we don't have a lot of time." He told Julie who looked at him worriedly.
"What was that? Are you okay?"
"We did something that we shouldn't have. The night that we missed the dance, we met this ghost, and he put this curse on us. And if we don't do what he says, then those jolts will destroy us."
"Then you gotta do what he says. What does he want?" The alive girl asked and Carmen looked down sadly.
"He wants us to be in his house band for eternity. But if we can play the Orpheum soon, then we can avoid all that and actually cross over."
"'Cross over'? As in, like what? Like go to heaven?"
"That's what we're banking on." Luke said, finally able to stand on his own.
"So it's either you cross over, be in his band for eternity, or be destroyed by those jolts?"
"Yeah." The boy nodded solemnly and the alive girl sighed.
"That's just great." She left, heading into her house.
"Julie." Luke said but the girl was already gone. Carmen frowned but forced herself to stop. Stop it. You're just friends. You're already going to get your heart broken when he... Besides, Julie likes Nick. The girl shook her head and turned to the boy.
"Come on. We should go check on Reg and Alex."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." The two of them poofed into the garage. The other two boys were sprawled on the ground in pain.
"Guys!" Carmen ran over to her brother and he looked up at her.
"Oh, hey Carmen." Reggie grunted as he sat up and his sister helped him onto the chair. Luke helped Alex to the couch and the blonde sighed.
"It's hopeless." He said, laying down. Luke slumped onto the ground and Carmen frowned.
"No, guys. We can't give up now." She said, sitting on the ground across from the couch.
"Why not? We can't just book the Orpheum. It's impossible." Reggie exclaimed, picking up his guitar and strumming it sadly. It was silent between the group for a while. Alex played with his drumsticks, trying to balance them on his face. Carmen drew sadly in her notebook as her brother plucked at his guitar. After a while the garage door opened and Julie walked in. Carmen was the only one to look over at her and she quickly wrote in her notebook. 'Please tell me you can fix them.' She held it up and the alive girl read it. She nodded at Carmen who nodded back, despite knowing she couldn't be seen. Julie turned to the boys and sighed.
"Snap out of it!" She shouted and Alex fell onto the ground, his drumsticks flying to another part of the room.
"Jeez, I think you broke Alex." Reggie said and Julie sighed.
"Do you guys want to cross over or what?" She asked as Luke helped the blonde back onto the couch. "Get it together!"
"They're never gonna let us play the Orpheum." Luke told her and Alex nodded.
"We're nobody."
"We're less than nobody. We have no bodies." Reggie added and Carmen shook her head. Well, he's not wrong there.
"Someone once told me that you don't ask for permission. You book gigs by doing." Julie told them and Luke smiled slightly.
"That was me." Reggie said and they both turned to him.
"No, it wasn't."
"No, it wasn't."
"Yes, it was." The dark haired boy muttered and Carmen placed a comforting hand on his arm.
"It's okay, Reg. You give good advice all the time." She said and Reggie smiled.
"Yeah, I do."
"Look. This isn't over. We were brought together for a reason. To help each other."
"Yeah, but like Luke said, people don't just play the Orpheum because they want to." Alex said but Carmen saw the mischievous look in the other girl's eyes.
"People don't, but ghosts do."
"I sense a brilliant plan about to form." Carmen said and they all smiled.
"Alright. We're in." Luke said and they quickly got to work on a scheme to get booked at the Orpheum.