3rd PERSON POV
1995, Los Angeles
Adira, Alex, and Reggie were laughing and talking while waiting on Bobby and Luke. "Where do you think they are?" Adira asked as her laughter settled down. Reggie shrugged. "I don't know, but it's a little concerning. Luke is always the first person to be here" Alex said as the smile slightly dropped.
A few moments later, Bobby and Luke come in with an angry face. "What's wrong?" Adira's smile completely dropping. "Band meeting, and this is serious" Luke said as he dropped his book on the couch. Bobby not saying a word as his arms crossed over his chest.
"What is it?" Reggie asked nervously. "Somebody stole a song out of my songbook" the three looked around, they know they didn't do it, so who did?
" Adira, tell the truth" Bobby called her out. Adira was taken back, did they really think she did this? "What do you mean? I've helped write those songs. Why would I steal one of them?" Adira tried to defend herself. She knows she didn't do it, the band was all she had.
Adira was an only child with one living parent, who did say much. Her dad was always working but he never loved her being in the band. These guys were her friends, her family. She's not so sure anymore.
" Guys, come on. You know she didn't do this" Alex was the only one who stuck up for her. Reggie was actually scared to get involved. "Alex, she was the only one who knew where my book was. She was the only one besides me who wrote in it" Luke pointed out. He didn't want to accuse Adira, she was his best friend. But, Bobby made a point how it only could've been her.
"Really? Me? What about Bobby? He's always snooping around, being sneaky!" She was now yelling, if there was one thing Adira never liked being called, it was a liar. She was the most honest person she knew. She'd like to think she wasn't born without a filter. But, she didn't like to hold back the truth, if someone asked or wanted to know her opinion of something, she'd tell the truth.
" I don't even know where the book is most of the time. And stop yelling, it sounds like your trying to hide something" Bobby said with a little smirk, but Adira was the only one who caught it. "Reggie?!" Adira turned for him to back her up. She knows Alex had her back, she just needed Reggie.
"Oh... um, I don't know, Midnight. You're the only person who could've done it" Reggie said shyly. The guys liked to call her by her middle name because it fit who she was. Adira was a night owl, loving everything about the night, and coincidentally, always up at midnight.
"Wow, ok. Nice to know who my real friends are" she picked up her things that she brought with her, knowing what was about to happen. "All in favor of kick Adira out the band?" Luke asked as he raised his hand. Bobby and Reggie following. Adira scoffed as she looked at the three.
" Luke, you're taking this a little far" Alex said as he got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Alex. Majority rules, that's how it goes" Luke said as he put his hand down. Adira smiled with hate running through her veins. "It's ok, Alex. Let's talk about majority rules, shall we? Where was majority rules when we voted on Bobby joining? Hmm? I don't seem to remember that" Adira noticed the small smirk on Bobby's face fall.
If she was getting kicked out, she might as well tell the truth. " It was 2 against 1. But we still let him in. We've been a band for years and nothing like this has happened. All the sudden, with him being a couple months in, a song goes missing? Tell me you don't think that's a coincidence?" Adira said as she grabbed her guitar case and gave Luke one last chance for him to see the truth.
"While you're at it Luke, trash the songs that we both wrote. Unless you want to scrap my parts of the song. Get some new lyrics" as petty as it sounded, if the guys were going to kick her out, then they couldn't use her lyrics or her sound at all.
"Leave. You are out of the band" Bobby spoke up before Luke could. She gave a hug to Alex and promised that they'd still hang out before leaving and never coming back to Sunset Curve. She biked all the way home with tears in her eyes. Adira didn't do it, and she knows she didn't. Her dad was right, she shouldn't have joined that band. But she was going to start her own.
A few months later she was on the landline with Alex. "I'm not going. I've already told you" she said as her legs swung back and forth on the counter as she took a bite of pizza. "It's the Orpheum! Come on, you're really gonna miss out on your best friends biggest performance?" Alex asked and she could see the puppy dog eyes he was giving her over the phone.
" C'mon, you know you want to" she looked at the clock. She could still make it. "I'll be there in 30" she didn't even say goodbye as she got dressed quickly and hurried out of the house before her had came home.
One thing Adira always should've listened to her dad about was looking both ways before she crosses the street. She was only a block away from seeing her friend perform before she got hit by a car. Her body floating up to a dark room, sitting there alone.
10 minutes later, the boys also end up dead in their own room. None of them knowing the other is dead. It was funny. Adira had never felt this at peace with being by herself, she'd come to terms quickly that she died. The boys on the other hand, they were freaking out.
" Adira! Oh, my god, Adira!" Alex cried out through his tears. Reggie and Alex looking at him weirdly. "What about Adira? We haven't spoken to her in months" Luke said as he sat on the ground. Reggie nodding his head in agreement. "I still talked to her... seeing as I wasn't the one who betrayed her" Alex mumbled before clearing his throat.
"She was supposed to come to the show tonight. I invited her, she was on her way there" Alex explained. Luke and Reggie felt a little bad. Up to this moment nobody actually had proof that she stole the song. They were really hoping they were right.
After what felt like 45 minutes to an hour, she was suddenly being pulled out of the room and back into an old house. She was scared so obviously she screamed.
"Wow, I'm really confused right now" Adira mumbled after she pushed herself off the floor, dusting off her pants. She turned to face a girl who sat on her bed looking at her wide eyed. Then she started screaming. "Sh! Calm down. Give me a break" Adira whispered.
"Who are you? A-and how did you just magically get in here?" The girl with glasses whispered. " Oh, I'm Adira King. You can call me Midnight" she introduced herself as she held out her hand. "I'm Julie" she went to shake her hand but it went right through. "How did you do that?" Julie asked frightened.
"I thought you knew? I'm a ghost. I died last night. It's still 1995, right?" Adira asked as she sat on her bed, making Julie back away some as she shook her head. "No, it's 2020. You died 25 years ago" Julie explained, making the ghost wide eyed. She was in that room for 25 years.
" I'm sorry, but you can't stay here" Julie set her phone back down and quickly jumped up as her dad came in with a slight knock on the door. "Hey, were you up here talking to someone?" He asked curiously. Julie looked between Adira and her dad, surprised that he couldn't see her. "Nope, I just got off the phone with Flynn. I'll try to keep it down, I promise" she said as she got up and shut the door on him.
"Can I stay, please? I promise I'll be quiet and try not to do anything stupid. You're the first person I've seen in a really long time and I could use a friend" of course, Adira didn't know the girl, but she was going to if she agreed. "Fine, you can stay" Julie said as Adira cheered a little. "But, keep quiet, ok? I don't need people thinking I'm weird. Or weirder" she frowned as she realized something happened.
"Just for the record, normal, is so 25 years ago" Julie cracked a smile at her. "Thanks, Midnight" Julie thought it was a little weird that she asked her to call her that, but she went with it. "See? Besties already" the girl gave her a smile.
It had been about a month since she started living with the Molina's. She lived in the garage, playing music as quietly as she could and still wrote music. She and Julie got really close, both bonding over the lose of their moms and how much they missed them. But when she found out Julie was into music, she tried to encourage her to play. Music was a great outlet for pain and sadness.
Adira hoped nothing would ruin the afterlife she had.
AUTHORS NOTE
What do you guys think? This was just a little backstory to Adira and why she hated Luke and the band. And we'll really get to see an older sister bond with her and Julie, obviously Flynn doesn't know about her. But, the next chapter will be posted soon.
Also, if this is the first book your reading for Luke, I have another one posted, it's called More Beautiful Than The Stars.