After watching Ray surf through photos for his job and listening to Carlos go off about a dead chef's tragic incident and French dip, I really need something to pick me up. Reggie seems a little bit happier, and Alex not at all. Julie or Luke, I haven't seen them all day, and neither have the boys.
Currently, Reggie and I were up in Carlos' room. Reggie likes using his laptop and checking out rock 'n' roll websites. He's quite amazed by the Internet, and I'm quite amused. At least he figured out how to use it. We struggled day one, couldn't find the power button.
"Woah," Reggie breathes, his eyes glazed over by the white light emanating from the screen. "There's a Star Wars movie marathon at some movie theater nearby."
I peer over his shoulder, and sure enough, there's a little advertisement box in the corner about it. "Cool."
"Cool?" he repeats, slightly upset. "Don't you mean amaze-tacular? Can we go? Please, please, pleeeeease?" I shrug, still feeling numb from last night. I don't know how he can be so positive when everything around us is drenched in darkness. "You don't want me to cross over sad, do you?"
"I don't want you to cross over at all," I mutter, but he manages to hear it.
"Come on, it'll be fun," he urges, grabbing my hands in his, a contagious smile forming on his lips. "Like a date."
"A what?"
"What?" The two of us stare at each other skeptically before he says, "Please? Do me one last favor. I need to see who this Jar Jar person is."
Turns out, the theater is actually really close, but unfortunately, we missed Episodes 4, 5, and 6. Also unfortunately, those are Reggie's favorite and the only ones that existed when we died.
Upon reaching the theater, which I insisted we walk to since no, thank you, tingles, Reggie spends a good five minutes drooling over the butter machine and sticking his head into random people's popcorn baskets like a chicken pecking pieces of bread. To say I'm amused is a major understatement. The desperation on his face for actual food just makes it that much more hilarious.
And to add to that, I walk through the counter, concentrate as hard as I can, and pick up a popcorn bowl, shoveling as much as I can into it and drenching it in butter. For myself, I grab some Whoppers malt balls and Xtreme sour Airhead bites. Yum. I love anything sour, except when I can't feel my tongue for two days after. But it's so worth it!
Maybe I can't enjoy that now, but who's going to stop me? I may be dead and unable to eat, but death to whomever denies me heaven in the form of Airhead bites.
We easily walk past the usher checking for tickets, successfully receiving many, many stares. What? No one's seen floating popcorn before?
Reggie and I sit all the way in the back and get settled. As the lights dim again, he takes a handful of buttered popcorn and sticks it into his mouth, or rather through his mouth because it falls right through him onto his seat.
I laugh, the pout on his face literally the cutest thing I've ever seen.
"Times like these make me want to go to Caleb's club. It may suck, but at least we can eat there," Reggie frowns, and a thick layer of tension suddenly blankets the atmosphere. I slouch over, not very interested in the movie anymore, and rest my head in my hand, leaning on the armrest. "I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean it like that... You know I'd... We'd never leave you or Julie."
"Yeah," I say, mostly to break the silence.
"Plus, if I was gone," he nudges me and smiles slightly, "who'd make sure you owned that awesomeness?"
Against my wishes, a wide smile breaks out on my face and I try as hard as I can to stop it, to no avail. The Star Wars films continue. Before we died, they weren't really my favorite, and the only thing keeping me semi-entertained is the fine specimen who plays Anakin.
Still, he's not enough to keep my eyes on the big screen. Sometime during the rest of the marathon, my eyes drift toward Reggie. I gradually zone out and ignore my surroundings, completely captivated by Reggie's facial expressions, and when he sees Jar Jar for the first time... Priceless.
As soon as he heard Jar Jar's voice, he grabbed my hand and dragged me straight out of the theater. I had to walk twice as fast to keep up with him, and I couldn't stop laughing. I've never seen him this angry.
Honestly, I didn't think he was that bad. He had cute floppy ears and always messed something up, but still looked adorable doing it. Reggie didn't think so.
"That was horrifying," he says as we poof back to the studio. "I'm pretending I never saw that, whatever that was."
"Oh, come on! He was cute!"
"Then you have horrible taste."
I raise my eyebrows. "I think you're cute. What does that say then?"
A small smile dances on his lips, "You think I'm cute?"
My eyes widen when I realize what I just said. I'm suddenly wracked with nervousness, but I play it cool and take a seat on the couch, Reggie following me. "Deaf and cute apparently."
"Hey!" I throw my head back and laugh, clutching onto my stomach. Silence envelops us, a comfortable silence, and it's a while before he speaks again, the humorous atmosphere quickly dropping when he says, "What happens if we do disappear forever? What happens then?"
But I'm quick to shut him down, shaking my head vigorously. "Nothing's gonna happen to you guys. I certainly won't let it, and neither will Julie. I don't know what we're gonna do, but we'll figure it out, I promise."
"Do you think playing at the Orpheum is even our unfinished business?" he asks, his wide, blue puppy dog eyes staring back at me.
I shrug, leaning my head on his shoulder and propping my feet on the table. "We'll play there and see, but honestly, I'm not sure. Either way, there's no way I'm letting you guys go."
Reggie smiles softly. "At least for now, we have music. We'll help Julie as much as we can before our time comes... again." He lets out a short chuckle. "I guess music is our legacy."
"Yeah," I laugh with him. "Music's..." Suddenly, an idea pops in my head, and this time, it's me giving that light bulb face. It's not just any idea, it's the idea. It's my chorus. After twenty-five years, I finally have a chorus! "That's it!"
Reggie gives me a confused look and I ignore it, on overdrive with one goal in mind.
I rush over Luke's pile of jackets and sweatshirts, digging through it in search of his songbook. I toss everything behind me, not caring what I destroy, figuring I'll clean up the mess later, and when I finally find it, I almost squeal in joy.
I bulldoze around the studio, searching for anything to write with, and take a seat behind the grand piano, flipping to the last page in Luke's songbook, or should I say our songbook now that I actually have completed one.
Panic washes over me when I see a page ripped out, and again when I notice which one. The song Luke wrote about his mom is missing. Somehow, I get less and less worried by the second. This isn't Bobby's doing. Maybe Luke took it out? Alex is here with us. We saw him earlier, but both Julie and Luke are gone, too. Maybe that's a good sign.
At least that's what I tell myself for now. I make a mental note to ask him about it later and take advantage of the sudden ocean of creativity flowing in my head. Twenty-five years of drought, so this better be worth it.
I'm overjoyed as I rest the book against the piano cover, scribbling away as possible lyrics ambush my head. I think them up faster than I write, and by the time I'm done, it looks like a page of chicken scratch. It's actually worse than Luke's handwriting, impossibly.
"Time can't defeat us. Death can't defeat love. We won't fade in memory. Music is our legacy," I read, my voice just above a whisper.
Reggie hovers behind me and mumbles something incoherently. I assume he's reading over the lyrics to my now completed song, thank you very much. He starts to nod his head and sway slightly, feeling the non-existent beat, his eyes grazing over the small markings I made for piano and guitar.
Soon after, he grabs his bass and wraps the black strap around his neck, beginning to pluck the strings to how he imagines the song.
A painfully wide smile forms on my face, and I'm shaking, struggling to pull open the piano cover and accidentally play the wrong keys.
After five minutes of trying to get myself together, having a slight panic attack, and a small mid-death crisis, my hands are steady-ish. I lose myself to the music, my fingers having a mind of their own when I finally get comfortable.
"Everyone has a dream
To be who they wanna be
And steal another's heart
And shine bright like stars."
"My light may be out
But that's not what this is about.
There is light in the dark
You just need to find that spark."
"We'll raise our voice
To the crowd.
We'll Play our noise
Out loud.
We'll make our choice
And be proud
Because..."
"Time can't defeat us.
Death can't defeat love.
We won't fade in memory.
Music is our legacy.
Legacy, legacy, oh.
Legacy, legacy, oh."
Reggie slowly drifts toward me, taking a seat on the piano bench beside me and facing the opposite direction. He strums effortlessly, as if the music is speaking to him and telling him what to play, guiding his fingers on where to go.
"Death is not the end.
Don't play, don't pretend.
Feel your power glow
And watch that love flow."
"Find those who are friends.
Laugh and dance again.
Scream at the top of your lungs.
Sing what needs to be sung
Because you only live once!"
"We'll Raise our voice
To the crowd
Play our noise
Out loud.
Make our choice
And be proud
Because..."
"Time can't defeat us.
Death can't defeat love.
We won't fade in memory.
Music is our legacy.
Time won't defeat us.
Death won't defeat love.
We know who we're meant to be.
Music is our legacy, yeah!
Music is our legacy, hey!"
"To live doesn't mean survive.
Go and be yourself, turn that key and start to drive.
To dream doesn't mean to lie.
Don't dress to impress those just along for the ride."
"Time can't defeat us.
Death can't defeat love.
We won't fade in memory.
Music is our legacy, yeah!
Legacy, legacy, oh!
Hey!
Legacy, legacy, oh!
Music is our legacy."
I release the last key, and the cage of butterflies releases. I feel like I'm floating, more than proud to have actually written and followed through with this. If it wasn't for my dad's journal and Reggie's very persistent help, I don't think I'd ever been able to do it. Both have been so influential in my life, Reggie more recently, but regardless, I couldn't have done it without them.
Will Julie and the Phantoms use it? Who knows? Maybe we'll add some banjo and shove it into our country album-in-waiting. Reggie will be stoked about that. Add some fiddle, and bam, top notch country song. Yup, that's not stereotypical at all.
I laugh internally. OK, maybe a little externally, too.
His giant smile matches mine, and he's inches away from my face, the two of us still sharing the same bench. His bright red bass hangs off his neck, and he leans backward against the piano, careful when I pull the cover back on.
Tingles erupt in my chest, and I can't help but gaze into those curious blue eyes brimming with innocence. He's so genuine, so caring no matter who you are. He's just here to make everyone smile, and he does an insanely good job at it.
"Ah! I love it! Reggie, you're a genius!" I lean forward and plant a light kiss on his cheek, leaving him completely still with wide eyes.
I scream in excitement and run out of the studio, on a mission to find Julie, but I instantly freeze when I realize what I just did. I wasn't thinking, I just did.
Oh... Did I just kiss Reggie? I think I did...
---
Hehe, another update. We're looking at about three more chapters, I think? Maybe four? They will definitely not be flush with the show and be completely centered around Izzy instead of through Julie's perspective. We'll still make it to Stand Tall, but there's a little bit of drama to get through, and Izzy still has an investigation to solve, wherever that may lead her...
But more importantly, can we talk about that picture up there? And when he runs his hand through his hair... Is it unhealthy that I can hear that scene from just the picture? Probably. Do I care? No, as I proceed to watch JATP for the millionth time. I just don't understand how he can be so hot, adorable, and funny at the same time, like ???
Anyway, before I write a whole chapter ranting about how perfect Reggie is, thanks so much for reading! Tell me what you think, and vote and comment!
-Kait 🧡
P.S. I love Jar Jar.