Julie yelled at Luke and Rellie, who'd returned to the box, "Oh, my gosh! I thought I told you two to leave that alone!"
"I know," Luke replied. "You just should've said nothing, 'cause now Rellie and I can't stop thinking about it, so... What's in the box, Julie?"
"It's just my dream box, okay? Whenever I get a thought, I write it down and get it out of my mind."
"Like lyrics?"
"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."
Alex stood and said, "But I mean, you do play. We heard you two this morning." Luke, Rellie and Reggie glared at him and Luke swatted Alex's chest.
"In the garage? So you were there too?"
"Uh... I don't..." Alex began.
Reggie turned to Alex. "Uh... he was, like..."
"We were..."
"Somewhere."
Luke, who'd moved to lay on Julie's bed, held his head up with his hand and asked, "So where is your kitchen, by the way?"
"Okay, we need to set some boundaries," Julie told them. "For starters, stay out of my room!!" She pointed to the door.
The ghosts shot up. "Mm-hmm. Crystal clear. Let's go."
"We're leaving," Reggie said. "Yes, ma'am! We are out of here."
"Okay."
The four ran towards the door.
Alex and Rellie popped their heads back in and Alex said, "Hey. Um, sorry. We didn't mean to bother you. Did you get back into your music program?"
"No. No, I didn't," Julie replied as she looked down.
"I'm sorry. That really sucks."
Rellie nodded. "I'm sorry, Julie."
"Thanks," Julie replied.
Alex glanced up and Julie asked, "Is that it?"
"Yeah. Yeah. This is getting weird," Alex said.
"Super weird," Rellie agreed.
Julie waved at them.
"Okay," Alex stated as he and Rellie disappeared.
---
Julie made her way downstairs. Carlos was laying on the couch playing a video game and Ray was sitting on his laptop as he looked at pictures.
"Hey, Dad," Julie greeted as she entered the living room. "What'cha working on?" She pocketed her hands.
"Well, now that the house is on the market, we need to add some photos to the website," Ray replied, ushering Julie over. "Help me pick some good ones."
As Julie passed her brother, she moved his foot and he shot her an annoyed look.
Julie stood next to Ray as he showed her the photos and said, "Got this batch right here."
"These are really nice," Julie told her father.
"Yeah?"
Julie chuckled. "Yeah."
"Thanks." He switched to another batch of photos. "These didn't turn out, though." He switched to another picture and there were four glowing orbs near the piano. Julie looked at the screen. "The ones from Mom's studio. It's like... little lights and dots all over the place. Kinda look like orbs, right?"
Julie's eyes widened as she stared at the orbs.
Carlos shot up and said, "Orbs? I've seen some freaky stuff about those on YouTube." He rested his arms on the back of the couch as he sat on his knees. "People say they're ghosts." Julie looked at Carlos. "Do you think that's Mom and she made some friends?"
Ray chuckled. "That's a nice thought, but there are no such thing as ghosts."
"Sounds like someone's spending too much time on the Internet," Julie teased as she moved to stand next to Carlos. "You can just trash those."
"All right. So trash, trash, trash." He put the photos in the trash bin on the computer.
"Um, Dad?"
"Yeah?" He turned to his kids. "I was thinking, if we're just moving 'cause of me, and you and Carlos wanna stay, I'm fine with that."
Carlos immediately said, "I vote we stay!" He raised his hand and closed his eyes a moment. "I don't wanna have to clean under my bed." He lowered his hand and clapped once.
Ray pointed to Carlos. "Noted. What made you have second thoughts?"
Julie shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose a combination of things. I know that tia says that moving is moving on, but I don't think that's the answer."
Ray stood. "I totally agree with you on that. I mean, I think..." he clasped his hands together, "I think moving on has to come from the inside." Julie nodded. "And one of us took a huge step this morning."
Julie glanced down as she pocketed her hands and said, "All our memories of Mom are here, and we should be too." Julie placed a hand on her brother's right shoulder and he looked at his dad with a questioning expression. "Can we stay?"
Carlos squinted and smiled and Ray raised a hand and smiled before saying, "All votes are in." He clapped his hands and smiled. "Yes! Yes. Yes!" He hugged Julie. "Thank you."
"I love you, Dad," Julie said.
"Get in here," Ray told his son. "Come on." Carlos hopped over the back of the couch. "Mm! Big tight group hug." He let out a sigh and released his kids. "Okay. Somebody help me find my phone. I need to call the real estate agent." He began looking in his pockets.
Carlos lifted a finger. "Oh, um, I think I saw it in the kitchen." He pointed to the kitchen.
"Kitchen." He pointed to Julie, who took her father's hand as she sighed and led him to the kitchen.
Once the two were gone, Carlos sat at his father's laptop and pulled up the recently deleted pictures.
Carlos leaned back in the chair and smiled as he said, "Ghosts." He crossed his arms, still smiling.
---
Julie walked into the kitchen and said, "I'm never gonna get used to that." She sighed. "Do you guys even eat?"
Luke shook his head before he said, "I just wanna see what'cha got."
Julie closed the fridge door and Luke protested, "Hey! You know how long it took me to open that?"
"Sorry, I don't believe in wasting power," Julie told him.
"Good. Because that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Our power usage?"
"No. The power you have. Your voice. Your piano playing. Dude, you're like a human wrecking ball."
Julie chuckled lightly. "Is this a pep talk?"
"What I'm trying to say is that you have the power to move people. To knock them off their feet. There's no way your teachers wouldn't let you back into school if they heard you play like that."
"I asked her. She said I have to wait until next semester."
"That was your first mistake. Asking. Sunset Curve booked gigs by doing. We went into ambush mode. We played in front of clubs. We played in back of clubs. We even played book clubs." He hopped onto the counter.
"Book clubs?"
"Yeah. We didn't get many gigs out of that one, but they did have some gnarly snacks. I'm just saying, don't ask for permission." He kicked the air. "Swing that wrecking ball of talent at your teacher's head, and," he smashed the air, "smash those stupid rules right outta their brains."
Julie frowned. "This isn't a club, it's a school, and your plan sounds violent."
Luke poked his head through the cabinet and said, "It's a closed door, and you gotta bust it open." Julie scoffed. "Sorry. Once I start with the metaphors, I can't stop. I learned that in book club."
"They're not just gonna let me back in." Julie finished making her sandwich.
Luke chuckled lightly. "If getting back into music is what you want, then you gotta wait for it. Learn it from me. Your tainted hot dog could be right around the corner." Julie set down her sandwich, having lost her appetite.
"I don't even have anything prepared."
"Figured you'd say that," Luke replied as he pulled out a song. "It's called Bright. It's a Sunset Curve song I wrote that we never got to record. But it's perfect for your range." He pointed to the paper. "Check out the chorus for a moment. If you add some piano, I'm telling you..." The two sang together.
"Go up high," Luke instructed and the three harmonized together.
"Yes!" Luke exclaimed with a chuckle.
"Thanks." Julie chuckled lightly.
---
Flynn was in the music room, waiting for Julie. She'd found a trumpet and blew into it, despite not she knowing how to play it.
"What are you doing, and where is everyone?" Julie asked, coming nervously.
"I was waiting for you," Flynn replied.
"Where is everyone?"
"Spirit assembly. I was kinda blowing it off because I wasn't feeling all spirity." Julie let out a sigh and Flynn sat up, noticing her friend's expression. "You okay?"
"Not really. I had this new plan to play for Mrs. Harrison, hoping that she'd let me back in, but... I guess I missed my chance."
Flynn smiled and wagged a finger briefly. "No," she set down the trumpet and stood, "you didn't."
She placed an arm around Julie's shoulders and the two left the room.
---
The girls made their way to the assembly to see Carrie performing one of her songs.
"Well, look who spent all her money on costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer," Flynn said as she crossed her arms.
"Well it paid off," Julie replied in a glum tone.
The ghosts teleported to Julie's school and Julie asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We wanted to see you stick it to the man!" Luke cried. "Isn't that right, boys, Rellie?"
"Man, I miss high school," Reggie commented.
Rellie shugged. "No, not really." She looked at Dirty Candy's outfits. "I like the glitter. Makes them shine, which I'm sure is what they wanted."
They watched the five girls perform.
Carrie's group finished and the crowd cheered.
"I love you!" a girl cried.
"Oh, I love you, too," Carrie replied. "Check out my new YouTube video. Oh, and go Bobcats!"
Dirty Candy walked towards the exit.
Flynn glanced at Julie. "Now's your chance. Go talk to her. See you in music class."
"You look nervous," Rellie noted.
Alex frowned. "I mean, you look really nervous. Like yak in a bowl nervous."
"I don't think I had enough time to work on the song!" Julie exclaimed.
"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it," Luke told her.
Rellie turned to her brother. "That'll only make it worse."
Julie glanced at the female ghost. "It's okay, Rell." She ran to the stage.
She started and stopped for a moment before sighing.
"You got this," Luke and Rellie told her.
Julie nodded and resumed playing.
The ghosts appeared on stage and began playing with Julie. Julie smiled, seeing the ghosts performing with her.
Rellie, with wide eyes, blipped away immediately. She wasn't one to perform on stage, despite her sweet, soft voice. There was a reason she was in the wings during performances.
Girls in the audience waved at the ghosts. The band realized they were no longer seen by one, but an entire crowd. They realized they could be seen while performing.
Rellie watched the performance, invisible to all but four people.
The students bopped their heads to the beat of the music and dance.
Luke and Julie sang together.
The four sang on stage. Reggie caught Relli's eye and smiled at her and she smiled back.
As the group bowed, the ghosts disappeared and the crowd let out a collective gasp.