REGGIE AND ALEX bring me to a brick house with a small porch and large windows. We hide behind the plants so that Luke can't see us. Plus, I'm sure if his parents saw a girl staring through there window from their front yard, they would be suspicious.
Luke is staring at a woman and man who are probably in their sixties. His brown eyes are rubbed red.
"So...Emily's his mom?" I ask in surprise.
The pieces are finally all clicking together. I feel like such a jerk for teasing him about her. I may not know who my biological mother is, but I can imagine the pain of watching my parents grieve my death without being able to let them know that I'm there and I care. It's heartbreaking.
I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier. After all, the boys only died twenty-five years ago. It's very likely that Alex and Reggie's parents are still alive.
"Yeah, Luke comes here a lot," Alex reveals, blue eyes soft as they look at me.
"He thinks we don't know but...we've been following him..." Reggie trails off. I wonder what kind of demons he's been fighting. I haven't thought to ask what happened with his parents. All I know is that he said a bike shack has been built where his house used to be.
That must have been a shock.
Could Reggie have tried to find them and been unsuccessful? My head spins at all of these new revelations. What about Alex's parents? Did they have a good relationship with him? Was he able to find them?
"I didn't try very hard to look," Alex admits. "And they never were really alright with my sexuality."
My head whips in his direction. "You can read minds now too?"
"I could tell what you're thinking," he explains. "You might wanna know about Reggie's past too, right?"
"Yeah, I can't deny that I'm curious." My eyes shift to Reggie's brown ones.
"My parents are divorced and I have no idea where they are," he confesses, eyes downcast as a new emotion washes him: grief. "But we're not here about our problems, we're here for Luke."
I nod and my attention shifts back to the boy in the brick house.
"All he does is hang out like this and watch his parents," Reggie continues. "They never do anything though."
Luke's eyes trace Emily's steps as she gingerly sets down a chocolate cake on the table and places a large knife next to it. I'll admit, it looks delicious.
"They're having cake," I say, "that's something."
"It's a...it's a birthday cake," Reggie explains, eyes traveling back to mine. "For Luke."
He nods in the boy's direction.
"It's his birthday? Wow," I reply. My heart clenches as tears roll down his face. He bites his lip and looks down at the floor. "I never knew Luke was hurting this much."
"Yeah," Alex says. "It's even worse because when he died, he...left on bad terms. You know, his parents didn't want their seventeen-year-old in a rock band so...he just left."
I can't explain it, but watching him hurt is physically hurting me. I clear my throat. Trying to compose myself, I straighten my clothes.
Emily sits down at their little table and Luke stands to sit between his parents. To feel close to them as if maybe they would notice he was there.
"Did he ever get the chance to make up with them?" I ask.
Alex shakes his head, confirming my fears.
"To think I was such a jerk about Emily," I say, guilt eating me away. "I kept pushing and pushing him...I don't know why."
Luke's father lights a candle in the birthday cake and Luke blows it out, fighting back tears.
"That's why Luke was so angry," Reggie explains. "And if Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then his parents would have known his dream was worth chasing."
"They would have been so proud," I mumble, wishing there was something I could do to help. Was there a way I could help Luke show his parents a song or let them talk? I don't know everything about ghosts, but there must be a way.
His parents light the candle again and hold hands. Luke places his hands over theirs even though they can't feel it. His eyes are puffy and his face is red. Bloodshot. I want nothing more than to rush over and hug him, but I know I can't.
He needs this.
The Pattersons blow out the candle together. I wipe a tear I didn't realize had trickled down my cheek.
Alex stands to speak to me. "We know how bad it hurts whenever someone that should have had your back completely lets you down. We never meant to make you or Julie feel that way."
"Lila, we love our band and Luke does too," Reggie says. "Please give us another chance."
"I would be heartless to say no," I reply.
They offer weak smiles, still disheartened by Luke's pain.
"We just have to get Julie to agree," Reggie says.
The next thing I know, we're back in Julie's studio. After we explained the situation to her, she agreed to rejoin.
I'm sitting on one of the cushions with a microphone in my hand. Julie's playing piano as we begin our newest song, 'Finally Free.'
"Marching on proud, turn it up loud," Julie sings.
I join in on "'Cause now we know what we're worth."
Right then, Luke teleports into one of the chairs. I start to think about how weird it would have been if we moved that chair and he fell.
Lila Mae! That's not nice. I mentally chastise.
I shake the thoughts from my head and refocus.
"Whoa! Julie," Luke says, immediately noticing her. His eyes dart towards me. "Lila, what are you doing here?"
"I couldn't let Julie do this by herself," I say, holding up my arm that's encapsulated. "Grab your guitar. We got work to do."
"What made you come back?" he asks, stepping close to us girls.
"I realized how important music is to all of us," Julie explains, "and we've lost so much already."
I nod, not wanting to add much more.
Alex sends me a look. Right, I owe Luke an apology.
"Luke, I'm so sorry for the way I acted," I say, "but you really hurt Julie, which hurt me."
"I know, and I've apologized," he tells me.
"They sang a 'sorry' apology to me," Julie adds. "You weren't there to see it."
"Sorry." Luke offers a small smile.
"Well I think we were both at fault for our actions," I say, "we can't lose this. We're a band and we're going to stay a band."
Cheers resound from the bassist and percussionist.
"Thanks," Luke replies, staring into my eyes. He's serious. Then he glances down and looks up, jumping into his usual joking personality. "All right, boss, where we at?"
I wonder how much of the Luke I know is an act. It hurts.
"Oh, and by the way, happy birthday," I add with a chuckle.
"Happy birthday," Julie chimes in a second after me.
Luke is silent, but looks back at the boys, knowing they must have told.
Julie chuckles. "Let's go from the pre-chorus."
"One, two, three, four," Alex shouts, tapping his drumsticks to give a beat.
Later that day as Julie and I walk into her kitchen for some snacks, we discover Carlos photographing the house with an iPad.
"What are you doing?" Julie asks her little brother.
"I'm guessing your on a ghost hunt?" I crack a smile.
"Yup! I'm looking for those orb things," he explains. "I'm telling you, this place is haunted. Every time I open my laptop, it's on some...rock music site."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," I say. "It could just be your default browser. You know how Google is always suggesting things it thinks you'll like. Algorithms and stuff."
Julie has her arms crossed and is giving him the big sister look. I think it's a little harsh considering Carlos isn't wrong.
"What? That ain't me. You know I'm all about the rap," he replies.
Julie scoffs and rolls her eyes.
"Reggie," she whispers to me.
Yeah, I guessed as much.
"I'm just trying to protect you," Carlos says.
"That is so sweet! But she's the big sister," I tell him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Let her protect you. Maybe it's time to stop being a ghostbuster."
Carlos shakes his head as I head to the fridge and help myself to a glass of grape juice.
Julie waits for me, then we begin to leave.
"Oh, I'd be careful in there!" Carlos warns. "Dad has that look on his face like when Google maps tells him to turn on the wrong street."
Julie's eyes are downcast. We exchange a glance. He must know about us oversleeping.
"Thanks for warning us," I say.
As we round the corner, we find Mr. Ray with his arms crossed.
"Care to tell me why you missed the first three classes today?" he asks. "Lila, your father called me to ask where you were. Were you two skipping together?"
"No! We overslept at Flynn's house after the dance," Julie explains with guilt. "There was nothing going on in those classes anyways."
"Yeah, maybe if I hadn't shown up I wouldn't have this," I say, holding up my broken arm. The cast rubs against my bone and I wince. "Ouch."
"I won't happen again," Julie assures, "we promise."
I nod in confirmation.
Julie walks away and I follow her warily. I don't think Mr. Molina is done. Where's the punishment?
"Okay," he replies, "but if I know you missed class, it's only a matter of time before..."
The door opens and a woman stomps in. "I came as fast as I could!"
Who's this?
"Exactly," Mr. Ray says.
"Julie, I will not let you fall into the gutter of life," the woman says with a slight Spanish accent.
"Tía, I'm fine. I just overslept," Julie tells her. "And me and Dad already talked about it."
Ah, this is Aunt Victoria.
"You are far from fine, sobrina." She is still worked up. "I called your teacher. She said you missed a calculus test."
Julie and I make eye contact. That important detail had slipped our minds.
"Nothing going on, huh?" Mr. Ray asks, feeling betrayed.
"Oh, hello mija, I'm her aunt, Victoria," the woman says, noticing my presence.
"Lila Mae Williams."
"Dad, I'm so sorry," Julie apologizes.
"This is where you punish her," Aunt Victoria says, hands on her hips.
"I know. Julie, no more going out on school nights," Mr. Molina commands.
"But, Dad, tonight..." Julie protests.
Her aunt clears her throat and jerks her head in my direction.
"And go to your room," he says. "Lila, I'm telling your parents about missing that test."
"What?" I yelp.
We can't bail on the boys, especially after our whole speech about friendship and the band.
The aunt clears her throat again.
"What else? And...and read," he says as she mimes. Aunt Victoria makes another big gesture, putting her hands together in a book.
"Study," he corrects himself. "Calculus. Go! Now."
Julie marches away and I sit there.
This is awkward...
"Lila, go wait in the kitchen, the adults need to talk," Aunt Victoria says firmly, but not unkindly.
My stomach flip-flops. This might just be the worst day ever, at least since I died.
Thanks so much for 4K reads and 200 votes! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. Hope everyone is doing well!
Also, I rewatched "Unsaid Emily" and realized that Luke left when there was a Christmas tree and Christmas lights. That means he was gone from December through the end of July/beginning of August when he died. Since he was seventeen, why wasn't he brought back to his family in all of that time?
xoxo,
Lynn