3rd PERSON POV
Alex went to give Julie a hug but Adira shook her head no and gestured for them to follow her out of the garage. "Why don't you want me to give her a hug?" Alex asked as soon as they poofed out the garage. "Dude, that's a personal moment for her. She doesn't need for you guys to be in her personal space" Adira explained, and she knew if somebody went through her stuff, she'd be pissed.
" No, I think Luke poofed us out because he can't handle when other people cry. I should know. I cried in a room for 25 years, and I didn't get a hug from either of them!"Alex exclaimed while pointing at Luke and Reggie. "Aw, Alex. Come here" Adira said and gave Alex a hug, which he gladly accepted. It really amazed Luke and Reggie how Adira could be so cold one moment and then so cheery the next.
" All right. Bring it in" Reggie tried to move forward and give him a hug after Adira pulled away. " Don't touch me!" Alex shoved him away as Adira laughed at Alex's face. Luke quickly glanced at her smiling face. " This is why no one hugs you" Reggie reminded him.
" Ok. I think the first thing we should do once we get the courage to go in there, is ask Julie... why she lied about playing the piano" Luke suggested. "It's none of your business why she didn't tell you. You guys aren't exactly best friends" Adira snapped at him.
"Why don't we tell her how amazing she sounded? But what do I know? Just a thought" Alex suggested so he could ease the tension between them. " She's legit. I got ghost bumps" Reggie tried to show the group his arm but Alex put his arm away.
Then Flynn came walking past them with her head down. " Oh my gosh. Was she crying too?" Alex asked a little nervously. "Yes! The only thing worse than one girl crying, is two girls crying" Luke counted on his fingers. Adira sighed as she walked over and sat under the garage light.
" We definitely can't go in there" Luke decided. " But we can listen" Reggie led the way to the windows as the three listened in. Adira used one hand to mess with Alex's shoes. She was quickly regretting asking Julie to let them stay." She's coming!" The boys all stood up and tried to act as natural as they possibly could.
" Oh, hey" Julie shut the garage door. The ghosts gave her a small wave. " Let's hustle!" Julie tried to play it off with her friend. She started waving and acted like she was swatting a fly or something when Flynn turned around. "Don't worry we weren't listening!" Reggie tried to be casual while Luke continued to smile and kicked Reggie in the knee.
Adira got up and was about to follow Julie when Alex's hand grabbed onto her wrist. "Where are you going?" He asked. "I'm gonna hang out with Julie" she was trying to leave but Alex kept talking. "Stay, please? We have questions and we could use your help" Alex pleaded. The look he was giving her made her agree.
" I wonder why Julie didn't tell us that she could shred on the piano" Reggie said as they all walked through the doors. " And sing. Julie can sing" Adira reminded them. " It probably has something to do with her mom. Must've been hard" Alex walked around. " I really feel for her" . As she walked through the garage, Adira found an old jacket of hers and slipped it on."Yea, but she's got music back in her life, just like us" Luke took a seat on the piano.
" Yea, I'm not sure you can call what we have a life" Alex called from upstairs. "Oh, hey. Some of the clothes we left behind are still up here" Alex started throwing down bags. "Sweet. Oh, same clothes since '95, boys" Adira sighed as she closed her eyes, she just wanted to sleep.
When a shirt hit her face, she sat up angrily and looked to see Luke sending her a smirk. She just scoffed and tossed it on the floor.
Julie's dad walk through the door and Reggie. " Oh, that was weird. But somehow I can tell this man has a kind heart" Reggie said. " So, how've you been?" Her dad asked. " Honestly? Not that good. See we are these hot dogs, and-" Reggie got cut off by her dad.
" Julie sang for the first time this morning. Ah! She hadn't done that in almost a year. You would've loved it" Her dad snapped a picture of the room. " Yea, we saw because we were..." Adira told him to shut up. " He's not talking to you. He's talking to her mom" Adira said him. " You are so lucky you can play bass" Luke said.
" She's such an amazing young woman. Everyday she reminds me more and more of you" Her dad now stood at the front of the piano. "He seems like a cool guy" Alex said as he swung his legs. " I'm taking pictures for the realtor website. I don't really wanna move, but... I guess it's best for Julie" her dad sat down.
" Move?" Luke had tears in his eyes as he leaned forward on the piano. " So many memories of Julie playing next to you, and... Carlos trying to sing with his two front teeth missing" Luke started breathing shakily as he covered his mouth. " Oh no, Luke. Not you too" Reggie said in the same sad tone. " Really?" Adira mumbled.
" He... He's talking about moving, but the poor guy, he doesn't wanna move" Luke held back sobs. Julie's dad took a picture of the piano. "It's like they grew up... out here" Alex looked between Luke and Reggie, who both had tears in their eyes. "Ok, how am I the emotional one?" Alex asked in disbelief.
" C- C- Can we go see my family and see how they're doing?" Reggie asked them. "Yea, we should because listening to this feels wrong" Alex agreed. " You remember when the kids were with your sister and we came out here" The boys straightened up quickly. "Yea, no. This is wrong" Luke and Reggie poofed out.
Alex was too, but remembered Adira. "Go away, Alex" Adira said with her eyes still closed. "How do you even know it's me?" Alex questioned. "Two things. One, Luke and Reggie don't have the courage right now to come and ask for me to do anything with them. Two, I felt your presence" she replied with a slight shrug.
"That's fair" Alex mumbled. "But, come with us. I mean, do you really wanna hear this while you try to sleep?" Alex asked. "I can go to Julie's room" she tried to turn over but Alex grabbed her shoulder and poofed them out.
ADIRA'S POV
I was standing right beside Alex with a grumpy expression on my face, I really just wanna sleep. " A bike shack? Right we're my parents used to be. Right here" Reggie said sadly. I kinda felt bad for him. " They made the Meyersons' house into a
noodle shop. Why couldn't they have made mine a pizzeria or something?" Reggie asked. " Doesn't matter. We can't eat" Luke reminded him.
" They tore down the whole neighborhood" Alex pointed down the street. " I guess my folks are gone" Reggie replied in a sad voice as he took a seat in the sand. " No. Everyone's gone. 25 years, gone. Friends, family, Bobby, everyone" I perked my head up at the mention of Bobby. Who the fuck cares about Bobby?
"Um, we care" I looked over at Reggie. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" I asked and they all nodded.
" What do you guys think happened to him?" Reggie asked. "He got old like everybody else and moved on" I turned to Luke who was sitting. " Dude, how are you so ok about all of this? Don't you wanna figure out what happened?" Alex asked.
" Let's be real here for a second. It's not like any of us were close to out families. My folks always regretted buying me that guitar. Reggie, your folks were literally one fight away from a divorce. Alex, I.... Your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay" Luke called them out.
"I mean, do we need to talk about your parents?" Luke and the boys turned to me. "You can. But just know that as soon as the words come out your mouth... it's a hand to the face" I gestured what I'd do. "Take your pick" I added. Luke like he was struggling to make a choice. Either one he chooses is fine by me.
" Ok, none of had it great. But at least we had something! What do we have now?" Alex asked as he looked between us. "And before you say we have cool teleportation skills, just know, I'm not entirely ok with that either" Alex added. " When are you ever entirely ok with anything?" I asked, but still got ignored. " It tingles. In weird places" I scrunched my face in disgust after he started to move his hands over his body.
" I'll tell you what we had. It's what we had since the day we came together. Guys, we have us. We're the only family we're ever gonna need. You know what else we have?" Luke was preparing for one of his stupid speeches. But I know he wasn't including me since he still thought I took the song. But at this point, he can think whatever the fuck he wants.
" I'm gonna guess and say death breath?" Reggie answered. " Our music, you dork" Luke laughed at Reggie. " We have our music, you guys. People, actual people can hear us play! They can't see us, fine. But they can hear us. If I had my guitar, I'd play for all of these people right now. Just like we used to do down at the pier" he reminded us.
" But, they can't tip what they can't see" Alex said. " It's not about tips, Alex. It's about music. Making a difference in people's lives. I just... I wish I had my guitar" Luke stood in front of us. Then, a guitar appeared in Luke's hands.
" That was rad. How'd you do that?" Reggie asked in amazement. " I- I- I don't know. I wished for it, and now it's in my hands" Luke stuttered. " I- I- I wish I had a puppy" Reggie closed his eyes and opened his hands. " I don't think it works like that" I whispered to him.
Reggie opened his eyes and huffed. " Hey, I think I know something that'll cheer you up" Luke then started playing a song. I sighed as Alex stood beside Luke. "Come on, Reginald" Alex encouraged. Luke and Reggie started singing while Alex stayed back a little to wait on me. I sighed and walked behind them as they sang.
I genuinely don't know why Alex keeps trying. Until I get a sincere apology from Luke for being an ass, I'm not playing any kind of music with them.