THIRD PERSON'S POV.
Flora Rojas and Julie Molina were sometimes opposites, which was what made their friendship work. Right now, their contrast was evident. Flora laid on the couch, humming away the tune of the song the band had currently been working on, Stand Tall, while Julie paced back and forth near the couch. The girls were waiting on the boys who said that Willie would be able to help them out with getting their band to play at The Orpheum.
"Jules, you're giving me a headache," Flora complained as she sat up, but Julie didn't stop pacing. "I'm sure the guys are getting us to open for Panic! right now."
"I know. But so many things could go wrong and have already gone wrong," Julie rambled. "Plus, you know I'm a pacer."
"Indeed you are. Can you imagine if we get to open for Panic! and play at The Orpheum? We'd be legends!"
The boys finally appeared, making Flora look their way. Before she could say anything, Julie began bombarding them with questions.
"Oh, my gosh! What took you guys so long? Did Willie do it? Did you talk to them?" Julie threw questions left and right while the boys grew wide-eyed. "Did they watch? Did they like us? Are we playing? Can someone answer me? Why is no one saying anything?"
"Whoa! That's a lot of questions!" Reggie exclaimed while the rest looked taken back. However, Flora remained neutral because she knew Julie acted like this when she was stressed. "Luke, you wanna take this one?"
"Take a seat," Luke said.
"I was already sitting but okay," Flora muttered as Julie sat down next to her, while the boys kneeled behind the coffee table.
"It's fine. Everything's fine."
"Yeah. You should be getting a call right... now!" Alex said as he pointed to Julie's phone on the table and everyone looked down at it. However, nothing happened, causing all eyes to go on Alex.
"Any time soon, oh wise psychic?" Flora inquired.
"Okay. Right... now!" Alex related himself. He pointed to the screen and everyone looked at it again. Unlike the first time, Alex was right on time and Julie's phone began to ring. Julie let out a cheerful scream and Flora threw her fist in the air, while the boys low-fived each other. "Nailed it!"
They all smiled at each other. When they noticed Julie didn't pick up her phone, the boys ushered her to pick her phone up while Flora nudged her.
"Answer it!" Flora told her.
Julie quickly did so and cleared her throat once she answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hi, this is Tasha from The Orpheum in Hollywood." The band wasted no time in springing up from their seats. Flora got onto the coffee table and jumped on it, while Julie took her phone in her hand and bounced on the couch. Reggie and Luke jumped in the middle of the room and Alex on one of the chairs. The band froze when the caller went on. "Is this Julie of 'Julie and the Phantoms'?"
Julie took the phone off speaker and put it by her hand, prompting everyone else to resume cheering from where they were. Julie jumped from the couch and beside Flora. Both girls grabbed each other's hands and cheered when they heard that the band was going to play at The Orpheum tonight. Luke and Reggie lifted Alex and turned him around, which caused the blonde boy to air-swim. The blonde faced the girls who each gave him air high-fives, erupting in more cheers.
"We're playing The Orpheum, baby!" Julie yelled, pulling Flora into a tight hug. "Yeah!"
. . .
Flora was in a deep sleep on her couch. Her legs were sprawled out, her hand clutched her phone which was connected to the earphones in the girl's ear. She didn't even notice the three musician spirits appearing in front of her and rather enjoyed her dream of playing at The Orpheum.
The said three musician spirits immediately shut their mouths, not wanting to disrupt Flora's nap. Luke had planned on going to Flora's alone, wanting to thank her for what she and Julie did the other day since he hadn't gotten the chance to. However, Reggie was keen on joining him, having no reason in doing so and only wanting to see the girl who claimed his heart, while Alex had nothing better to do and followed along.
Luke sat on the coffee table before Flora, Alex took a seat on the armrest and Reggie crouched down on the floor beside Flora, a smile never failing to leave his face. Because, God, she looked beautiful. Even when she was sleeping, silent snores escaping her mouth, and her messy hair covering her face. To Reggie, she was a beauty to be reckoned with.
"Are we just going to stare at her until she wakes up?" Alex asked in a hushed tone.
"Well, do you wanna wake her up?" Luke inquired.
Alex raised his arms and shook his head. However, Reggie had other plans. His index finger reached the home button of Flora's phone. He ignored the hisses coming from his bandmates and with a curious frown, he pressed it. His brows furrowed as Luke and Alex kneeled beside him and stared at the girl's phone screen.
Over the photo of Flora, Julie, and Flynn that was taken on the day of the dance was an icon that showed what song Flora was listening to. The boys read the name, their faces etched in confusion.
"Burnin' Up — Jonas Brothers," Reggie said aloud as he looked to his bandmates. "Who are they?"
Luke and Alex shrugged, with the former hitting an arrow on the icon which changed the song. The next one neither boys recognized.
"San Francisco — 5 Seconds of Summer," Luke read aloud.
"She's gotta have something better than this," Alex mumbled, next to skip to the next song on Flora's playlist. The boys stared at it in confusion. "Heart Attack — One Direction." The boys hummed in disagreement as Alex changed it. "HOTTIE — BROCKHAMPTON." Another chorus of no's. "watch — Billie Eilish."
"And yet, no songs by AC/DC," grumbled Luke before he looked to Reggie. "What do you see in her?"
"Well, a lot of things," Reggie began. "She's beautiful, she's smart, she's funny, she's creative, she's talented. She does this cute thing when she's angry and twitches her nose—"
"Okay, Romeo," Alex interjected. "We get it."
"But there's more—"
Before Reggie could go on, the girl in front of them finally uttered a sound. Flora let out mumbles as she rubbed her eyelids, wondering why her songs kept changing every two seconds. As her brown eyes finally adjusted to the light around her, the last thing she expected to see was three sheepish faces staring at her. She let out a shriek and the boys let out one of their own too. However, Flora managed to also fall off her couch with a groan. The boys winced as they stood up and watched Flora stand up and dust her grey ripped jeans with a frown.
"What the hell?" Flora questioned as she faced the boys and threw her arms up in disbelief.
"You... You," Alex stammered. "Y-You snore when you sleep."
Flora crossed her arms with a frown, not noticing that in the process her nose was twitching. However, that caused Reggie to smile at her and nudged Luke and Alex.
"See. I told you her nose twitches when she's angry," Reggie pointed out. With wide eyes, Flora held a hand up to her nose before letting out a sigh.
"There are many reasons why I'm glad you guys are crossing over," Flora remarked. She sent them a pointed look before heading into her kitchen.
"That's why I didn't want to wake her up," Alex voiced as he pointed to Flora who was looking for a drink in her fridge.
"You guys wait here. I still need to talk to her," Luke told his bandmates before heading over to Flora. Alex and Reggie shared a confused look, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about.
"House tour?" Reggie suggested.
Alex shrugged. "Eh, why not?"
Thus Reggie and Alex began venturing through the Rojas residence, while Luke approached Flora, who leaned against the counter with a bowl of Doritos in her hand. The chips looked and smelt appetizing to Luke. This was evident to Flora when he licked his lips, keeping his stare on them.
"You still can't eat, can you?" Flora inquired.
With a sigh, Luke shook his head. "No." Flora chuckled and put another chip in her mouth. "Sorry about waking you. I just never got the chance to thank you."
Flora frowned in confusion. "For what?"
"For yesterday. When you and Julie visited my parents. I... I know that moms are a touchy subject for you, so... so thank you. I really appreciated it."
Flora nodded her head with a small smile. "You're welcome. Your mom needed to know how talented you are, as well as your dad. Julie and I were just doing what anyone with a good heart would do."
"You underestimate how much of a good person you are," Luke told her. Flora furrowed her brows in confusion. "I'm serious. You... You helped Julie get back in the program even when your spot was at risk, you helped me with my mom, you listen to Alex's boy problems, you are one of the few people that can stand Reggie." Flora chuckled at the last one. "Your old friends missed out on a good friend."
"Thanks, Luke. I'm really gonna miss your annoying butt and the guys," Flora admitted. Luke chuckled and Flora glanced around the room. "Uh, where are they?"
Luke shrugged, but Flora's answer came sooner than expected. Alex and Reggie trailed into the room, both having their eyes glued on a brown book Reggie was holding. Flora's eyes widened at the sight of the book and she quickly approached the boys before snatching the book out of Reggie's hands.
"Hey!" Reggie and Alex whined as Luke stood beside Flora, chuckling at their reactions.
"We were just getting to the good part," Reggie added.
"This..." Flora pointed to the book. "This is my journal!"
"I thought it was a diary," Alex mused. "Every entry has the words, 'Dear diary'."
"I was ten, okay. I had to let my feelings out somehow."
"Ten-year-old you had a lot of drama and crushes," Reggie stated with a chuckle, earning a glare from Flora.
Luke's eyes filled with curiosity as he reached for the book. "Ooh, can I have a look?"
Flora held it close to her chest. "No!"
"I'll fill you in on the details," Reggie whispered loud enough for Flora to hear. She sent him a pointed look. "Or not."
Flora let out a sigh as she shut her eyes. "When I count to three and open my eyes, you idiots better be gone or else. One..." Alex, Reggie, and Luke shared perplexed looks, while Flora continued, her voice getting louder. "Two..." Okay, maybe now was the perfect time for the boys to scram. Without uttering a word, the three ghosts disappeared as Flora finished. "Three!"
Flora looked around, seeing and hearing that there was no sign of dead musicians. She chuckled to herself before shaking her head.
. . .
Right now, Flora really wished she was obsessed with shopping like most girls her age. Her closet was filled with clothes ranging from winter wear to summer outfits, but none of them screamed 'The Orpheum!'. This was the band's biggest gig and their last too, so everything had to be perfect, including her outfit. Flora groaned as she put her sundress back on the rack and continued to vigorously swipe through the rest of her clothes. It wasn't until she heard a knock that she stopped her actions and closed her wardrobe doors.
"I can't find anything to wear!" Flora groaned, expressing her irritation to her grandparents and dramatically throwing herself on her bed. Her grandparents just look at their granddaughter with a smile and Maria sat next to her.
"Now, I wouldn't say you have nothing to wear, Maria said and Flora sat up.
"You have this," Alberto said, pulling out what he was hiding behind him. Flora's jaw dropped in awe. She stood up and grabbed the hanger out of her grandad's hand. On it hung a one-strap, rainbow, sequenced, cocktail dress that was just about Flora's size. She glanced between her granddad and gran who were both standing.
"How... Where did you guys get this?" Flora asked.
"Well, your papi brought it for you before he died," Maria said. "He always knew you were born to be on stage."
"And today proves that he was right all along," Alberto added before taking something out of his pocket and handing it to Flora. "He also wrote this."
Flora's eyes were filled with bittersweet tears, but she managed to read what was on the piece of paper and let out a watery chuckle.
"'For you, my bright and shining star. You'll always be my rockstar, hija. Love, Papi," Flora read the message through her tears. She hugged the paper tightly against her chest and let out a shaky breath. It was like her dad was right beside her. Like he never left. She pulled her grandparents into a hug and not a single eye was dry in the room. "I love you guys. Thank you for not giving up on me."
. . .
idk if i've already said this but THANKS SO MUCH FOR +30K!! 🥰🥰
if netflix doesn't renew jatp for a second season and doesn't give us a walex rain kiss scene imma throw hands !!
i'm slowly realizing that this book is almost finished... 😭
please don't be a ghost reader :(
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