𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦
Darlene wished that she was able to vanquish ghosts.
Math was already a subject that loathed her just as much as she despised it. No matter what she did, she always ended up with a barely passing C. It was like the universe was working against her and the boy sitting on an empty desk behind her wasn't proving that she was wrong. She had barely been fifteen minutes into the lecture of pre-calculus before she felt her hair being tugged. Annoyance flared within her causing her to whip around with a dangerous look, surprise melting into her expression as she wasn't exactly expecting to see a beaming Luke. Her eyes nervously flickered around the classroom, seeing most were zoned out or barely paying attention.
"What are you doing here?" She hissed out while ducking her face, letting her hair cover it.
Luke hummed from behind her, "We were bored."
We, she thought with wide eyes as she slowly turned to her right, where she could practically feel the warmth. Rosy cheeks and a goofy smile was on display as Reggie slumped over the seat. Her lips parted as she could see Darren shift uncomfortably in his seat, not realizing a ghost was practically sitting in his lap. It was nice to see that cocky smirk drop as the jock was an asshole to most of the student population.
"Get off of him." Darlene nearly begged even though she couldn't hide the amused smile on her lips.
Reggie raised his hands in defeat and hauled himself out of the quarterbacks lap before leaning his hip against the corner of her desk. Her attention was completely away from math as she kept her wary gaze on Reggie's frame. She opened her mouth to try and kick them out or maybe even try to vanish them like some kind of ghost hunter. She smiled at the idea of getting a portable pack from the ghostbusters movie as a joke.
Fingers drummed on the top of her head, "Why are you smiling so creepily."
"Thinking of getting a proton backpack, you know to vanquish some pesky ghosts —"
A huff of laughter spilled from her lips as Reggie desperately ran his hands over his body. She was moments away from telling him they weren't real before he disappeared, the air shimmering around him before settling once more. Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she tried to stifle the boastful laughter that was threatening to break the zoned out spell of the classroom.
"You're warming up to us —" Luke mumbled with a teasing grin as his head peaked over the bundles of curls, "I think I like that look on you."
Her cheeks flushed and began to turn her head to say something, anything to get him to take back his words. His grin was visible for a few seconds before the air shimmered before settling once more. She blinked at the desk behind her and then at the corner of her own before sighing deeply. Her eyes hazed over the board and the notes on it that still didn't make any more sense than it did last year.
"Please tell me you were talking to the boys and not yourself." Flynn begged with a weirded out side glance.
She really wished she could find a proton pack.
Her fingers ran over the grooves that only grew since she had learned how to pick them up. They fit perfectly into them and even had a little wiggle room as Alex's fingers had definitely been larger than her own. The drum stick had seen more damage than its seen good, partially because she has a habit of playing as hard as she could to spite her grandparents. The stool covering was ripped to shreds and was more yellow than it was the black vinyl that once covered it. She thought it made it look unique and well loved, others didn't think so. She had dragged the drum set and stool back to the attic a total of seven times. Her grandparents convinced her father several times to put it on the curb, but she refused to let it go. It was a piece of Alex and an instrument that she adored.
Darlene took a deep breath before allowing the wooden stick to smash down onto the snare while her foot petaled the kick drum. The familiar tune of her favorite song slowly came to life with every flick of her wrist. Her eyes closed as she allowed her body to sway along to the overwhelming drumming. A smile began to tug and stretch on her lips as she licked over them, sweat beading on her hairline. She could practically hear what she knew now was Reggie's deep bass chords to her right and grinned wildly as she could see Luke to her left similar to how it was at the rally. Her fingers twitching and tightening on the drum sticks as the cymbal was dull when she heard it. Her brows furrowed and opened her eyes to meet with the bright ones her mom once carried.
Darlene's eyes slammed shut once more as her heart pounded in her chest at the accidental scare. She could feel the sheepish smile on his lips as she slowly opened them again and saw Alex standing in front of his old drum set. She carefully sat her sticks down and stood up from the stool. She hopped down from the small platform it was on and stood beside him.
"You all need some kind of bell to warn me when you're around." She said, firmly.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry, I always forget how jumpy you are."
"I'm not jumpy!"
Her uncle snorted and adjusted his snapback, pulling it snugly against the top of his head. Her offended expression faded as she knew she really was jumpy and it was just because she had the tendency to be anxious. Her fingers laced together as she nodded her head towards the trap door and he smiled in response. They walked silently down the ladder after Alex gestured for her to go first and dusted off her hands. Alex followed suit and they managed to slip into her room, his eyes automatically glancing around in awe.
"I'm only jumpy because I'm not used to anyone being around me." Darlene admitted, leaning against her desk.
She avoided meeting his eyes as she finally collapsed into her desk chair, twirling around it to have an excuse to not face him. That was painful to admit, especially to her uncle whom she assumed had a much easier time around people. Darlene really needed to stop blurting out everything to Alex. He may have been her uncle and the only family member she saw as anything special, but she didn't really know him.
His hands stilled the back of her chair and turned it to face him, "I had a total of three friends and hated crowds."
"You were in a band."
Alex shrugged as if to say what are you going to do about it and she startled him. Her head threw itself back as laughter ripped from her throat. Her shoulders shook and her chest heaved as a fit of giggles wracked through her smaller frame. Alex smiled broadly and joined in with a few chuckles before he pressed his lips together. His knuckles bumped against her shoulder as she took deep breaths to cool down.
"Luke and Reggie mean well —" He started off slowly to gauge her reaction, "They're pushing your buttons so you'll open up. It's how they got me to be more comfortable."
Her lips parted in surprise as her head tilted as he explained that he was incredibly anxious around everyone and constantly stayed quiet. She watched as he took a careful seat on the edge of her bed, elbows resting on his knees as he hunched over. It was shocking to look at the boy who had snarky comments and often spoke his mind, be compared to an anxious pariah. She smiled faintly and shook her head, holding up her hand to stop him.
"You're not obligated to tell me." She said, heartily.
It was his turn to smile faintly before he stood from her bed and held out his hand, "Believe it or not, I was here for a reason."
Darlene tilted her head with furrowed eyebrows and reached up to grasp his hand, allowing him to pull her from her seat. They stood there for a moment analyzing one another and how similar they really were. Their hands dropped and she waited to see why he really showed up, but he got distracted. His gaze landed on the mural near her window and walked towards it. His fingers traced the painted flowers just as Luke had and her heart warmed at the bright smile on his lips.
"She loved those wildflowers." Alex fondly stated.
Darlene stepped up next to him, "She bought a flower shop a little bit after your death and ran it until she got in a fatal car accident when I was around eight."
It was quiet as she let Alex soak in the information of his sister before she was leaning onto her window sill. Her head tilted to gesture for him to look with her as she glanced out into the backyard. It was more colorful than it had been when he was alive. Kathryn had barely been able to plant one single row of roses, but now it was like an organized jungle. Darlene spent a few minutes pointing out the different types of flowers and how she took care of them after her mom passed.
"I need you to bring your paint and brushes." He requested after she lightly patted his shoulder in comfort.
Her lips parted to ask questions before he smiled softly, "Meet me at the garage in ten."
She found herself standing outside of Julie's garage once more and huffed at her reluctance to go in. She just hated knocking or walking into someone's house unannounced, even though she was sure Julie knew about it. Sucking in a deep breath, her bag of supplies hanging off her wrist, she grabbed the door handle. It swung open before she could really open it and her hand was being grabbed. The warmth trailed over her fingertips and engulfed her palm until she was being spun. She gasped out as her feet stumbled to complete the turn before her hand was finally let go. She wasn't even able to protest when fists bumped into her shoulder in another form of greeting.
"You give me whiplash —" She complained, trying to be more lighthearted, "Every single one of you."
Luke shrugged, still buzzing from the news she wasn't aware of and he saw it fit to express it with his impromptu twirl, "We got a gig!"
"Oh man, we're playing a dance?" Alex said with disdain.
Her lips twitched up at the unenthusiastic look on her uncle's face and sent a more firm smile towards Julie. The pianist gave a genuine grin back as she settled back into her chair, watching as the boys talked. She shook her head and made her way over to the drumset that Alex had wished upon. Setting her bag down, she took a seat on the ground and started to set up the few bottles of paint she brought. Watching carefully, she poured the white, purple and pink onto the palette. She grabbed her small bottle of water that she would use for the brushes before staring at the blank white kick drum. Alex wanted her to paint the Julie and the Phantoms logo on it.
"Of course, dude. That's how we get a following nowadays." Luke jumped in as he sat in a chair, guitar in his lap.
Julie laughed while staring at her uncle teasingly, "Yeah, get with the program, Alex."
Darlene bit back her smile as Flynn was left to gap at her best friend, frame straightening back up. The girl blabbered nervously about how she didn't know the boys were there and attempted to say hi. Only, she was looking in the complete wrong direction as she unfortunately could not see the boys unless they were performing. She looked up from where she had been carefully painting a J on the drumset and caught Reggie's eyes. His eyebrows wiggled and she grinned smally while mouthing an 'oh lala' as she knew Flynn found the trio attractive. The boy positively lit up like a christmas tree at the playfulness he was granted to witness.
"Ok, well, now that Alex and Darling has graced us with their presence —" Luke began as he sent a dazzling smile her way, "Can we start working?"
"Yes! We're going to rehearse. You want to stick around?" Julie added in with a grin towards Flynn.
Darlene ignored as Flynn grumbled about having to blow up five hundred balloons for the dance tonight. Her nose wrinkled at the thought of being on any kind of committee related to decorating. Her eyes fluttered as she dropped the brush from the H on the word phantom, when she realized she basically was on a committee. Julie and the Phantom's quite literally dragged her here to be their designer, which is a knock off of saying their own committee. She was disappointed at how quickly her resolve disappeared when it came to these three boys. It could be because she was finally doing something with her life, talking to people rather than older ladies at Closet Rack. She shook her head, steadying her hand as she delicately followed the rough sketch she had made.
"Hey, Julie!" Darlene's head snapped up as a new voice joined them, "Remember those orbs in Dad's pictures? I think they're ghosts!"
Her mouth dropped as she watched what she assumed was Julie's brother hold multiple pictures. Her eyes flickered to the boys, who looked over the moon to be thought about even if it wasn't exactly them he was speaking of. They were horrible ghosts, they were going to be found out and priests will come by to exorcise them. She carefully leaned over to Luke with wide eyes as the kid passed the photos to his sister.
"Why aren't you freaking out—" She whispered harshly, "What if he gets someone to come in here and like to exorcise the place! You'll— die!" She finished after fumbling for words.
Luke simply winked as the kid spoke up once more, "This room is clean. I'm not getting the ghost tinglies."
Her eyes closed as she slumped back against the platform that held up the drumset. It was nearly done, she had made quick work of painting the lettering and only had three more letters left to do. Her hands were smeared with paint and she could feel her cheeks heat up as she could feel a gaze on her face. So, she really was overly anxious if not even Alex was concerned for the kid that was babbling on. Reggie made an off hand comment before the kid promised to protect Julie and Flynn if they decided to come back to the garage. Her lips twitched and she finally opened her eyes, meeting the mirthy gaze of mossy green before she jutted her chin at him to get him to stop. The mirthy gleam disappeared as salt was brandished from the kids pocket and she held her breath.
Nerves overcame her as he exclaimed, "According to the internet, salt burns their souls out."
"There's nothing to worry about, Darling—" She mocked loud enough for him to hear, "It's a joke!"
She grinned widely at the stern and slightly horrified look that crossed over his face. She leaned back and watched as they retreated into their seats as salt was sprinkled in their general direction. The smile flattered when the kid turned to her uncle and he took a chest full of salt. Her breath caught in her throat and she sat up abruptly, starting to stand to rush to his side in case it actually tried to burn his soul out. Luke's fingers brushed against her wrist and gave her a silent look to stay down as he slid them down to hold her hand instead. She squeezed tightly as a blood curdling scream ripped from his throat, it was impressive really, as he hunched over.
"Oh god, I'm—" Alex cried out before he went quiet and stood up sheepishly, "I'm fine. Totally fine."
She slumped, her forehead resting against the chair that Luke was residing in. A thumb brushed against the protruding bone that was her own thumb and her cheeks got blotchy as she knew exactly who's thumb it was. Taking a sharp breath, she slid her hand away from his and cleared her throat. She was embarrassed she freaked out over both the idea of Carlos believing the boys were there and that she quite literally was holding hands with Luke. She cleared her throat and lifted her heated skin from the wicker like chair. Ignoring the boy sitting above her, she glanced over to Alex to truly make sure he was okay. Flynn guided the kid out of the garage after a not so subtle look from Julie.
Figuring that things are calmed down, she scooted back to her original spot to finish the new logo for her uncle's drum set. The boys began to get ready to rehearse as Alex came to sit beside her, having to wait to join in until she finished the last little piece. She apologized for being slow as there were a lot of distractions, but Alex waved her off saying he didn't exactly give her a lot of notice anyway. She perked up as she heard Sunset Curve songs being mentioned and was surprisingly excited when Julie convinced Luke to show them now. The band really had been a big part of her wanting to get into any kind of artistic path and was the reason she even learned to play the drums or guitar.
"Home is Where My Horse is—" Luke groaned out as he held his notebook, "Reggie, stop putting your country songs in my journal."
A small string of laughter spilled from her lips and she wiped at her face to try and control it, knowing Reggie was very serious about his country music. It was stifled as Luke turned to look at her as he kneeled only inches away from her work station. She ducked her head down to look at her palette of almost dried out paint and tensed as warm fingers brushed against her temple. She looked up, eyebrows furrowed by the touch until a thumb swiped over her cheek bone. She could see traces of purple and white on the thumb before it pulled away and Luke grinned at her, standing up with his notebook. He wiped his paint cover hand on his pants before flipping through it, handing it to Julie.
She couldn't admit she wasn't curious and stood up, her knees cracking from being stuck in one position for so long. Taking the few steps towards Julie, she stood behind her as the girl took the journal from Luke. His eyes flicker to her and back to Julie as he tells them he's dog-eared the ones that they would like and Julie would slay. Darlene tilted her head to be able to read the shockingly semi neat handwriting and found herself with a broad grin. Julie glanced up at her to see if they were looking at the same thing before a similar smile formed on her face.
"Who's Emily?" Darlene asked with a drawl and a teasing tone.
Luke scrambled for the journal protesting it wasn't dog eared as Darlene snatched it from Julie's grasp. Julie allowed her to as it got farther away from Luke's grasp and the girl held her hand out to him, keeping him from advancing on Darlene. She didn't dare glance at the pages as she held it tight to her chest, not wanting him to have it back, but also not wanting to make him uncomfortable for reading it without his permission. Julie, however, didn't have that same moral obligation and leaned back to grab it from Darlene's ginger hold. The curly headed high schooler began to read through it, the words personal and powerful. She bit down on her lip as she watched Luke warily as panic washed over him.
"Wow, Luke. Didn't know you were such a romantic." Julie teased as she leered at him.
Darlene spoke up hastily, "There's no way he could be any kind of romantic, now which ones were dog eared."
Luke's lips twitched faintly as he stared at the senior that quickly looked away from his thankful gaze. It almost seemed like he was awed by her actions, but there's no way because she practically insulted him in an attempt to get Julie's attention from the song. Unsaid Emily, it was called. That was as much as she was able to read over Julie's shoulder and knew it was some kind of personal piece, but wasn't willing to read anything besides the title.
"He's not. That one's actually about—" Alex ignored the death glares coming from his niece.
Luke nudged at Alex with a look, "No one. That's just something I tried — But if you go to the next dog-eared page, I got a tune that's just.. It's got a killer beat."
Julie hummed before she returned back to looking through the book. Darlene leaned against the arm of the chair near the piano, watching as Luke fiddled with his guitar. She smiled as the chords turned into something she knew and was something that was replayed often. Nodding along with the other boys, they all came to a stop when Julie spoke up asking if they had sampled. It didn't make any sense as the song was quite literally on their demo CD and she shared a furrow browed moment with Luke. Who asked what sampling was, Darlene knew what it was, and seemed offended when Julie told him it was sampling other people's music. She blinked in surprise as the singer admitted it was a song her mom and she used to sing their lungs out to. Did Julie's mom have one of the CD's and didn't know it was them? Her mouth drops as she finds out a man named Trevor Wilson had produced it.
"Nope." Luke said with concealed irritation, "It's a classic our song."
Reggie crossed his arms over his chest, "Pure Sunset Curve, never even heard of Trevor Wilson."
"Yeah, it's on the demo—" Darlene cut in glancing at them, "I grew up listening to it."
The name was familiar, she'd give it there, but she wasn't sure she ever listened to any of his songs. She had a habit of sticking to the demo or whatever her mother had laying around her collection. Alex was convinced that Julie was mixing it up with another song as she protested that it wasn't that. Her eyebrow raised at finding out that the demon used to be best friends with the singer before she was stepping out from behind Julie. She slid up towards Reggie, receiving a cheesy grin and wink as usual, while a laptop was produced. It seemed as all words left the boys and she grimaced at the man on the screen, he looked greasy. Her uncle leaned forward hitting Reggie as realization formed on his face.
"That's Bobby." Luke choked out, anger gleaming in his eyes.
Julie groaned in exasperation, "Seriously? I just told you his name is Trevor."
"Okay great then—" Alex cut in desperately, "Then he changed it, all right! That's definitely our Bobby! He was our rhythm guitarist."
Julie was in disbelief and genuinely looked as though the boys were pulling her chain, "Trevor Wilson was in your band?"
Darlene was startled when Reggie mentioned that their former bandmate looked old while her uncle insulted him by calling him substitute teacher. Her gaze flickered to Luke and how tightly he grasped his strap, he couldn't even form any words. She took a small step forward, eyes wary and Reggie continued to stare at the laptop from beside her. Luke with a set jaw had asked the younger girl what his other hits were. Things are about to go down hill, she thought desperately, as if they haven't already.
Song after song was proven to be stolen from Luke himself and she could feel her stomach flip in pity. To see someone living the dream you were meant to as they had died so young. She found herself following Luke's path to the board of darts, choosing to sit on the arm of the chair he was occupying earlier. She watched as he angrily threw dart after dart as hard as he could at the board. She was impressed, she didn't think he had come that far to be able to focus on holding so many things in a small period of time. Julie rambled on about Carrie and Trevor, sorry Bobby, while the others chimed in how unbelievable it was. Darlene jumped slightly when Luke finally exploded.
"He can take all the credit, and he doesn't even mention us!" He grounded out
She winced as he threw the last dart hard enough for the board to rattle as he spun on his heel to stalk forward towards Julie. Her eyes met with Alex, who gave her a thin smile to reassure her that he was just disappointed. The boys only grew more angered and upset as Julie explained to them the things he gained from using those songs. Her teeth dug into her lip as she flickered her gaze around the three, unsure of how to even attempt to comfort them. She fought back a smile as Alex spluttered about Bobby's helicopter.
"It's not about the money!" Luke exclaimed with a thicker accented tone, "It's about the music!"
Reggie's voice cracked as he piped up while Alex echoed it, "It's a little bit about the money."
She shared a glance with Julie as the boys began to circle around each other again, their voices raised as they ranted about their former bandmate. Her fingers rubbed over the assortment of rings that adorned her fingers and tried to think of anyway to cool them off. It seemed like Julie was thinking the same thing as both of their mouths opened and closed as words escaped them. It grew quiet for a moment before three heads turned to face Julie, their gazes serious and their frames tensed.
"Where does he live?" Luke demanded with a dangerous look in his eye.
Darlene's eyes flickered to his in disbelief, "What are you going to do? You're dead, Lucas!"
Her frustration was getting to her as she used the most formal name she could think of for the four lettered name. Her head shaking with bouncing unruly curls as she looked between them all, seeing the same determination. They can't go to Bobby or Trevor's house, it would only make them anger and what if that made their souls worse? She was taking any tip she could get from the Winchesters and took a step forward, close enough that Luke would have looked at her. His gaze was only locked onto Julie's, waiting for an answer as he ignored the outburst and presence of Darlene. She glanced to the girl and shook her head while mouthing no, knowing nothing was going to go well.
"Above the beach in Malibu." Julie admitted, shoulders slumping as she gave in.
Darlene's eyes widened and whirled back around as she had subconsciously turned towards the girl for a response as well. Her slim frame standing between the band as she watched them bustle into action, Luke grabbing his jacket from the chair. Their bodies shifting enough into a familiar position that she knew exactly what was about to happen. Disbelief burned at her chest as Reggie mumbled about teaching him a lesson, not expecting the goofy bassist to be prepared to rough up their old friend. Julie stood up hastily, protesting their departure under the pretenses of the band, hoping it would be strong enough to get them to stay.
"Luke—" Darlene managed to get out, reaching out until her fingers just curled around Luke's wrist.
A gasp spilled past her lips as instead of her fingers being empty with nothing to hold, she felt as though she was stepping out of her own skin. It was pins and needles that prickled, trying to draw blood over every inch of her body. She shivered and screamed as it faded to an airy tingle until she was hunched over, her stomach lurching. Her feet stumbled as they finally found their way back onto a solid group, hands grabbing at her bicep. She crumpled into the person trying to steady her, forehead making a loud thud as it connected with his collarbone. She moaned as she felt like she was going to be sick, one of the hands dropping to loop around her waist. She was shifted until her entire body was nearly flush with his as she tried to gather her bearings.
Warm hands touched upon her shoulder before her hair was being moved away from her face, while the one hand on her bicep decided to join the one around her waist. Taking a deep breath, she finally started to lean backwards until there was a sliver of space between herself and Luke. His jacket being a dead give away of who was holding her steady as it laid over their feet as if it was dropped suddenly. Opening her eyes from where they were barely cracked open, she met Reggie's concerned gaze over Luke's shoulder. She gave a weak smile that was more of a grimace as Alex's voice was soft near her ear. She turned around and shook off Luke's arm, much to his protest of her not being stable yet. Alex was looking over her and his hands that were on her shoulders did a quick run over of her.
"I didn't think that would happen," Luke said miserably behind her, "I thought you'd just slip through my grasp and stay in the garage."
She turned her chin and met his horrified gaze as he quickly switched to look down at his shoes. Alex was still babbling in her ear as Reggie came around to make sure for sure she was alright with his own two eyes. Her chest burst with warmth at the obvious concern of her friends. She licked her lips and assured her uncle she was fine, just shaken up before spinning on her heel. Her hand lightly rested on his forearm, feeling awkward while doing so.
"I know you didn't, I obviously didn't think I'd be able to do that either." Darlene reassured him.
Luke's eyes flickered over her before whispering, "You're alright, right?"
She nodded and allowed her hands to drop back to her side, stepping back so she was between Luke and Reggie. He seemed to look at her once more to really make sure she was fine while she gave a weak smile to confirm she really was. Her gaze flickered to the mansion like a building on the beach. It was stunning, almost all glass work with dark wood, he had a good eye. Warily eyeing the boys and the house, she took a step back from them. They turned towards her with furrowed brows, hands twitching as they assumed something was wrong.
"Fifteen minutes—" She started to say with a stern look, "Then you either come out or I come in."
Julie and Flynn had showed up not long after, but close enough to the time limit she gave them. She asked them if they could go in and check on them, that she'd stay outside in case they decided to leave while they were inside. It felt weird to go into Carrie's house as she was a year older than her and had no connections to her at all. Julie gave her a desperate look as Flynn began to drag her away towards the front door. All the girl got in return was an apologetic smile and a half shrug of her shoulders. They disappeared behind the wide doors and Darlene was once again left to her own destruction. She wandered around the property as sand was slowly filling into her shoes, which would be a pain to get out later. She wished she could sit down, but the option of sand also getting into her pants made her balk.
It seemed like an hour had passed with the amount of anxiety that was coursing through her veins. She paced and chewed the side of her thumb nearly raw waiting for some kind of sign that the boys didn't mess something up. Her head snapped up at the sound of a helicopter whirring and assuming the worst, she took off in the direction. She had just turned the corner into the backyard when she came to see the boys hunched over. A snort of laughter slipped from her as she noticed they were mooning the helicopter that was taking off. The amusement fell away as she realized their asses were out and that they ran Bobby to a helicopter. Rushing up to them as they were fixing themself, she saw three sheepish expressions.
"That was longer than fifteen minutes!" She protested as she hit the closest person to her.
Unfortunately it was Reggie, who cried out as her fist collided with his bicep. He rubbed at the sore spot as the girl began to rant about how idiotic and stupid they all were. Alex had the decency to look bashful while Luke was smiling as he stared at her with raised eyebrows, Reggie was too distracted with his forming bruise.
"So, did you guys have fun in there?" Julie scowled looking incredibly angry.
Luke's hands came up in protest, "You'd do the exact same if he stole all your songs."
Darlene wasn't sure what she would have done if she was in their position. She'd be angry that all of her work, her heart and soul was pawned off to another who gained the credit. Although, she wouldn't have gone after them and just lived bitterly for a few years until things smoothed back over. She watched as Julie argued with them that they had new music and that the best way to get back at Bobby was to continue with it. She ended her lecture with a stern reminder that they had a gig at nine that night. Julie glanced at Darlene as if to ask that they actually showed up to the gig. Darlene merely nodded in one solid motion to reassure her. She ignored the hushed conversation during her own exchange, but her interest peaked.
"Who's Willie?" She asked her uncle with a raised eyebrow.
Her uncle flushed under her gaze causing her to grin at his reaction. Looks like someone has a crush, she thought, good for him. They boys shared a look before all three of them turned to properly face her. She felt as though this wasn't going to be good by the large smile on their faces. She took a hesitant step back with her hands raised as though they could protect her.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Darlene asked warily.
Nothing was said before Luke lunged forward, grabbing at her raised hand until their fingers were interlocked. She didn't even have time to scream in protest when she once again was subjected to pins and needles.