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Layla wished in this moment that she was literally anywhere else. The school was having an assembly and the girl group, Dirty Candy, consisting of one of Julie's old friends, Carrie, and a few other girls, were performing. They had on colorful wigs with matching outfits.
She turns to Janet who looks just as annoyed and bored as she did. "Shoot me, please."
"Only if you shoot me first." Janet sighs. Layla's eyes catch Julie and Flynn walking in.
"Jules." Layla says getting up. Janet follows behind her as the two walk down the bleachers. Julie and Flynn look over as they stand beside them.
"Are you guys seeing this absolute disaster ?" Layla says standing by her cousin as Janet stands beside Flynn.
"Yeah." Julie sighs. The two girls look over as they hear a whooshing sound.
Luke, Reggie, and Alex appear beside Julie.
"What are you doing here ?" Julie whispers
"We wanna see you stick it to the man. Isn't that right, boys ?" Luke says turning to the other two. Alex smiles, but Reggie's eyes stay on the performance in front of them.
"Man, I miss high school." He gushes causing the other two to finally look over.
"You're actually gonna perform ?" Layla asks
"I was. I'm not so sure now." Julie says as she eyes Carrie.
"No, Jules, you're way better than this pop star bs. You're gonna do great." Layla says
Julie looks over as Alex starts to copy Carrie's dancing. He bumps into Luke who stops him. Layla's eyes widen as Julie becomes visibly nervous. Luke smiles over at them awkwardly just as the performance ends.
The students cheer as the group poses. The girls get into a line with Carrie in front.
"Thank you ! Thank you !" Carrie says
"We love you, Carrie !" A girl shouts
"Oh, I love you too ! Make sure to check out
my new YouTube video. Oh, go Bobcats." She giggles as the students cheer louder. As they walk off, the principal and music teacher step up.
"Thank you, Dirty Candy." The principal says
"Now's your chance. Go talk to her." Flynn smiles, "See you in music class."
She walks off toward the bleachers. Janet decides to follow her to leave the cousins alone.
"That was sweet." The principal tries to joke. When the students stay silent, she clears her throat, "Okay then. Before we let you go,
we have a few more announcements..."
"What are you waiting for ? This is your time." Reggie says
"Yeah. I mean, you look really nervous. Like yack in a bowl nervous." Alex says
"Yeah because that's gonna help." Layla says
"I just don't think I had enough time to work on the song." Julie says
"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it. Now, there's a piano on that stage with your name on it." Luke points
Julie takes a deep breath as she turns to Layla. She gives her an encouraging smile before the boys step aside to let Julie make her way to the stage.
"We look forward to our girls swim team defending our state championship. Go, Bobcats !" The principal says
The students cheer as they start to make their way off of the bleachers. Layla looks around nervously. "Come on, Jules."
Julie sits at the piano as she looks out toward the teens. She starts to play, but stops.
"You got this." Luke says
Julie takes a deep breath before she starts playing again. Janet and Flynn wait by the bleachers as they watch her.
"Sometimes I think I'm falling down
I wanna cry
I'm callin' out." Julie sings. The lights start to come on as students start to notice Julie on stage.
"For one more try
To feel alive
And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark
And find the spark
Life is a risk, but I will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together I think that we can make it
Come on, let's run."
Layla furrows her brows as Luke, Reggie, and Alex appear on stage. She looks to her left realizing that she was, in fact, not hallucinating. They were on stage with Julie.
"And rise through the night." Julie's eyes go wide as she notices the boys on stage. She chuckles as she takes the microphone and stands up performing with them.
"You and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever
And rise through the night
You and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever..."
Layla notices the boys are a little shocked that the students were cheering and dancing as they performed. Everyone could see them on stage.
"Who are they ?" Janet asked from beside Layla
"Remember what I said about the ghosts ?" Layla says looking up at her. Janet's eyes go wide as Layla smiles.
"In times that I doubted myself." Luke sings as the students cheer.
"I felt like I needed some help
Stuck in my head
With nothing left
I feel something around me now
So unclear, lifting me out
I found the ground
I'm marching on."
Reggie comes up beside Luke as they both sing into the microphone.
"Life is a risk, but we will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together I think that we can make it
Come on, let's run."
Julie and Luke begin to sing together, "And rise through the night
You and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever
And rise through the night
You and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever."
Julie looks over as Luke start to sing into the microphone, "In times that I doubted myself."
Julie walks over holding her microphone out to him. He leans over to sing into it as they walk across the stage together.
"I felt like I needed some help
Stuck in my head
With nothing left."
"And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark." Julie sings. As she turns she walks through Luke who plays his guitar.
"And find the spark."
"And rise through the night
You and I
We will fight to shine together."
"Shine together."
"Bright forever."
"Bright forever."
"And rise through the night
You and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever."
As they finish, the students cheer. Julie seeming like she was on Cloud 9. Layla smiles as her cousin looks to her. The teens on stage bow and as they stand back up, the three boys disappear.
The students make noises of confusion as Julie turns around. She turns back realizing that the boys were gone. She looks to her cousin worried as Layla seems just as confused. Julie puts on an awkward smile as she stands there.
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