· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎ 𝑭 𝑨 𝑹 𝑭 𝑹 𝑶 𝑴 𝑵 𝑶 𝑹 𝑴 𝑨 𝑳 ▎
𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ━━ BRIGHT.
࿔·ﾟ*ೃ࿐ ࿔* 🎸🥁🎤🎶
and when i feel lost and alone,
i know that i can make it 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
"HOW did you not notice who the boys were when you first saw Reggie and Luke?" Julie met Ashley's gaze in the mirror as she tied her hair up into a ponytail, taking Ashley by surprise as the question had come out of nowhere.
It was the day after Ashley's miracle run-in with her brother and his band and Julie was going to spend the day fighting for her place on the music program. Luke had given her a song called 'Bright', a song which he had written originally for Sunset Curve but never got to record, which he said would be perfect for Julie's range and she had told him she would try it.
Ashley had come to Julie's home earlier than usual on request of the girl herself - Flynn had agreed to make her own way to school just for that day, so Julie and Ashley could talk - and Ashley knew it was because Julie had questions.
After yesterday, Ashley was pretty sure everyone had questions.
"I never knew what the boys were called or what they looked like." Ashley let out a sigh as she played with her fingers in her lap. "My parents didn't keep pictures of the band in the house, just Alex. I never even knew what the band was called before yesterday and I didn't know who to ask or where to go for answers.
"My parents were always awkward about telling me too much because they didn't want me to 'dwell on what was already lost' as they always used to say. At least, that's what my dad said. It was an unwritten rule of our household. My mom would've been pretty lenient about giving up information if she hadn't been too anxious to break the house rules. She loves my dad and breaking that one important rule would really upset him. I wouldn't want to upset him either.
"When I was old enough to understand why there were pictures of a boy who looked just like me scattered about the house, they told me that I had had a brother and he had passed away when he was seventeen in some kind of accident.
"They told me he was in a band and that he was a drummer, but when I asked what the band was called they wouldn't tell me. When I asked them whether they had any of his music or his band's music, they told me they didn't want me listening to the band's songs as they were gone and weren't coming back and there was no use dwelling on it. It made sense but it hurt more.
"But they let me have the recordings of Alex playing the drums. He used to record himself on one of those small handheld recorders and my parents kept them all. It's how I taught myself rhythm on the guitar. I would listen to his drum recordings every night and try to match my guitar playing with his beat. It's how most of my songs are written, with his drums. He taught me everything I know."
Ashley remembered. She remembered the nights where she had felt so lonely and so lost and the only thing that could bring her out of the dark, lonely place she often got herself trapped in was listening to the steady thumping of Alex's drum beats on record. It was almost like he was there with her.
She could picture him so clearly behind the drums, picture the smile he might've had spread across his face as he played, doing something he loved most in the world. She had been twelve the first time she had played a guitar melody to the beat of his drums, strumming wildly but liking how it sounded. She had written it down and it had quickly developed into an actual tune with lyrics.
But she would never have even begun it without Alex.
Julie was surprised Ashley was being so suddenly open. The blonde had always been pretty closed off about the details surrounding her brother just because it hurt her too much to talk about - Julie knew Ashley was aware of the band but also knew it hurt her too much to talk about that she barely knew them at all.
Maybe Alex coming back had brought Ashley back, too?
"Were you never curious?" Julie had turned to face her friend now, heading towards the bed to sit down beside her. "I mean, did you never want to know who your brother had been? Who he had spent his teenage years with?"
"I thought I did." Ashley frowned a little as she thought about it. "From the stories, my parents told of him, I thought I knew enough. Maybe for the first year or so, I was desperate to know more about the band but who could I ask? I had no idea who even knew about them and my dad had forbidden any of my extended family to talk about them with me, not that many of them knew much.
"I searched through all his old stuff in the attic but it was just books, posters, old clothes, old school work and a few broken drumsticks. I thought I would find maybe a demo or a t-shirt or something of the bands but there was nothing. It was as if when he had died, my parents had erased the band's existence.
"Without a band name or song titles to go off, Google was pretty useless. After a while, it became pointless to even continue looking. My parents weren't going to budge, I had nothing to go off about this mysterious band that my brother had been apart of and I just didn't want to fight for it anymore. So I just settled with knowing my brother as my parents had remembered him, and how I thought I knew him. A drummer, a brother, my brother, a good person."
Julie rubbed her hand across Ashley's knee comfortingly.
"But your music. You do it for them, don't you?" Julie looked over her eyes at Ashely, smiling with a hint of knowledge already tinting her expression.
"Of course I do." Ashley chuckled lightheartedly, trying to push back the tears she could feel building up at the back of her throat. She gulped. "Everything I ever did that involved music was for him and the boys. I had hoped that if they were in heaven or somewhere of the likes, they were watching me creating my music just as they had done, and were proud of me. It's what got me into music in the first place, imagining that the brother I never knew was proud of me.
"It may seem weird, using the brother that I've never met and the band I knew nothing about as a crutch for my musical endeavours but it was the push I needed. I never would've even tried out for the music program had it not been for them. I never would've met you and Flynn had it not been for Alex."
Julie smiled, rubbing Ashley's shoulder, seeing the tears building in her eyes.
"Hey, but now?" Julie met Ashley's watery gaze. "You can get to know him. It may be an interesting little relationship considering you can't touch him, but you can work past that. I would guess this feels like a dream come true for you."
Ashley smiled, bowing her head and nodding.
"See, there's that smile." Julie lifted Ashley's chin up with her finger so they were looking at one another in the eyes. "Cmon, we've got to get going or we'll be late for school. Just because Flynn isn't with us this morning doesn't mean she won't freak and drink seven sodas again if we leave her on her own."
Ashley nodded again, laughing, as she grabbed her bag from Julie's bedroom floor, slinging it over her shoulder as she lifted herself from the edge of the bed.
Julie let Ashley lead the way out of the bedroom, the blonde now smiling.
She pretended not to notice and tried to keep her eyes ahead, but Julie hadn't missed the quick as lightning movement, a flash of blonde hair which had hidden behind one of the doors of her wardrobe as Ashley wandered past, oblivious.
Julie caught her gaze on the wardrobe, watching as the clothes rustled with movement before smiling gently and walking out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her so nobody would enter her room while she was away.
Boundaries were made to be broken sometimes.
WHEN Julie and Ashley made it into school, the music room was empty, all apart from Flynn who was sitting spread across two chairs playing a mournful tune on the trumpet. She hadn't seemed to notice Ashley and Julie coming.
Where was everybody?
"What are you doing, and where is everybody?" Julie looked as dumbfounded as Ashley did to see Flynn playing the trumpet by herself. Ashley was chuckling.
"Spirit assembly." Flynn sighed. "I was kinda blowing it off 'cause I wasn't feeling very spirity." The girl lay the trumpet down in her lap.
Julie gave Ashley a look and sighed.
Were they too late for Julie to fight for her place?
"You okay?" Flynn took her feet off the chair, making to stand. "You too, Ash?"
"After seeing that everyone has gone?" Ashley looked at her. "Not really."
"I had this new plan to play for Miss. Harrison, hoping that she'd let me back in, but... I guess I missed my chance." Julie sighed again, clearly disappointed.
Ashley watched as Flynn frowned a little before she could practically see the lightbulb which switched on in her head, brightening her eyes. Flynn smirked.
"No-" Flynn's smirk widened- "you didn't."
Flynn got up from her seat and stretched both of her arms out, reaching for both girls to come to her. She wrapped her arms around them as they began to walk down the corridor and towards the gymnasium for the assembly.
They weren't even at the doors before Ashley heard the music.
She knew who it was.
It was Carrie and her band Dirty Candy. This must've been what she had been handing flyers out for two days ago, so people would know she was going to be performing. Ashley hadn't paid too much attention to the flyer.
"Look who spent all her daddy's money on costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer," Flynn spoke up as the three of them entered the gym and if Flynn's words were physically poisonous, Carrie would've felt it.
"Well, it paid off." Julie shrugged, nudging Ashley with her elbow.
Ashley had to admit, the song that the girls were singing was good. She would never have said it to Carrie's face mind you, not after everything she had ever said about her before, but that didn't mean she couldn't say it in her head.
For what it was worth, Dirty Candy was actually a decent band.
"𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙠𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚
𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚, 𝙥𝙚𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙡
𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩, 𝙬е 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙩
𝙀𝙫е𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡."
The three of them stared, watching Carrie's performance.
"𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩?
𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝
𝙒𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙢𝙗, 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢
𝙒𝙤𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙤𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙤𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙤𝙖𝙝."
There was a sudden familiar whooshing sound and as Ashley turned her head, Luke, Reggie and Alex were suddenly stood beside her and Julie. Julie turned too, leaving Flynn completely oblivious as she continued to watch Carrie perform.
"What are you guys doing here?" Julie hissed softly, keeping her voice low so Flynn wouldn't think she was talking to herself like a crazy person.
"We're here to see you stick it to the man. Isn't that right boys?" Luke was grinning at Julie and he shot a smile to Ashley when he saw her watching him.
Ashley didn't miss Alex shuffling to the side a little so he was standing basically behind her instead of between the boys. He smiled at her too and she felt a tendril of warmth unfurl in her stomach - after all these years of wanting to have a relationship with her brother, she was finally building one, at last.
Reggie hadn't seemed to hear anything Luke had said, staring towards Carrie and her band, his eyes wide. Ashley met Alex's gaze and he rolled his eyes.
"Man, I miss high school." It was the only words Reggie uttered.
"𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝙍𝙪𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛, 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙞𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩
𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 '𝙚𝙢 𝙨𝙖𝙮 "𝙬𝙤𝙬"."
"Reggie, stop gawping." If Ashley could touch him, she would've shoved his shoulder, maybe hoping he would topple, but her voice caught his attention just fine and seemed to do the job - his gaze shot to her. "You'll catch flies."
Luke snorted, turning away from Reggie as he laughed.
"𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣' 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮
'𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙮
𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤
𝘼𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨."
When Ashley next saw movement from any of the boys, they were all staring at Dirty Candy with wide eyes. The blonde could see Julie wanting to roll her eyes but was caught off guard as Alex started dancing along with the girls.
Ashley coughed out a laugh but Julie wasn't amused.
When Luke realised what was going on, he grabbed hold of Alex by the shoulder and shook his head and Alex let his arms drop, looking sheepish.
"𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 '𝙚𝙢 𝙨𝙖𝙮 "𝙬𝙤𝙬"."
Dirty Candy ended their performance with a flourish and the gymnasium full of students burst into applause and cheering. It went on for a while until Carrie started to speak, taking every ounce of attention she could and applying it to her fake-peppy voice. Ashley wanted to roll her eyes. She was using that voice again after the blonde had just been silently complimenting her in her head.
What was with that voice anyways?
Once Carrie had finished promoting her YouTube channel to the whole school - and had added an extra tidbit of attention in for the school's team - she stalked off in the direction of the corridor with her band, leaving the gym floor empty.
"Now's your chance." Flynn pointed towards the gym floor where their principal was standing with Miss. Harrison, prepping to speak to the student body after making a terrible joke. "Go talk to her. See you in music class."
Flynn looked towards Ashley to see if she would follow her.
"Give me just a second." The blonde smiled at Flynn and the girl shrugged with a nod, disappearing off into the crowd of students that were sitting in the stands.
As their principal started to give some extra announcements, Reggie finally turned his eyes away from the gym floor and looked towards Julie and Ashley.
"What are you waiting for?" He smiled at Julie. "This is your time."
"Yeah. I mean, you look really nervous." Alex looked at Julie, concerned, from where he was stood behind Ashley. "Like yack in a bowl nervous."
"I just don't think I had enough time to work on the song." Julie was trembling lightly and Ashley reached for her shaking hand, giving it a tight squeeze.
"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it." Luke met Julie's eyes and grinned at her encouragingly. Ashley knew he'd have grabbed her hands had he been able to touch her. He just had that look in his eyes.. "Now, there's a piano on that stage with your name on it."
Julie was breathing hard, clearly nervous before she turned towards Ashley.
"Ash Attack." Julie grabbed Ashley's other hand. "You know how you have that amazing talent where you can look at piano music like once, and know how to play it like you've been playing it your whole life? Come and play the piano for me and maybe sing with me, please? There's an extra mic up there.
"I don't want to do this on my own."
Ashley almost jumped back in surprise. She hadn't expected that.
The blonde gave both of Julie's hands a squeeze.
"Jules, I would follow you to the ends of the earth and back if you wanted me to." Ashley looked at her friend in the eyes. "If you want me up there with you, you don't have to ask. As long as it's okay with you, Luke? It's your song after all."
Luke grinned.
"Both of you, up there, now." He sounded the most authoritative he had sounded since Ashley had met him as he pointed towards the piano on the stage.
Julie gave Ashley a nervous smile as they both took off towards the corridor leading to the stage. Ashley's best friend never once let go of her hand, even when they closed in on the stage. Ashley listened for her principal's voice and when she couldn't hear it anymore, pulled Julie along quicker until they were both on stage.
Julie was still trembling when she and Ashley sat down at the piano but she seemed more comfortable now she was up there. She passed Ashley the music Luke had given her and Ashley scanned her eyes across it a few times, mentally jotting down the notes in her head, remembering them clearly.
She could already hear the lyrics and tune in her mind.
The students were slowly filing off the stands, heading towards the gym exit, and amongst the gaggle of people, Ashley spotted Flynn sitting on the steps, her gaze fixed on them. Her eyes seemed to brighten when she saw Ashley up there with her - it had been a while since Flynn had heard Ashley and Julie play together, but she had always liked it - and nodded at them both encouragingly.
Ashley helped Julie navigate her fingers onto the right keys and Julie played a few notes before stopping, looking up to meet the eyes of the boys on the other side of the room. Luke locked his gaze with hers, shooting her a grin.
"You got this." Luke was far away, but they both still heard him.
Ashley flicked her gaze over to her brother for a moment and Alex smiled when she caught his eye. That was all the reassurance she needed to do this.
Julie started playing the piano again, Ashley following along with harmonies, trying to keep her eyes on both Julie and the keys. The notes she had written in her head showed up in her mind's eye on the keyboard, reminding her which ones to press next. The boys watched on the whole time, smiling proudly.
"𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄'𝙢 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙮, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣' 𝙤𝙪𝙩
𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚."
Ashley nudged Julie's ankle with her foot and Julie smiled slightly.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚
𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚
𝙁𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠."
Julie's whole posture relaxed as she started to really feel the music and she nodded at Ashley - from her years of playing music and singing with her friend, Ashley knew that that was her cue to start singing along with her.
"𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩
𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙢𝙥
𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣, 𝙡𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙣."
Ashley thought she was going insane when the boys disappeared from the other side of the gym in a flash. It was only for a second for within the next moment, all three of them were beside the girls at the piano, instruments in hand as if they had been there the whole time, as if they had prepared for it.
Ashley felt her stomach drop seeing Alex behind the drums.
It was exactly the way she had pictured it every time she listened to his recordings, smiling as he did something he loved but this time she could see it and he was looking right at her. Ashley had dreamt of this moment for years.
Julie chuckled while singing, standing from the seat at the piano and dragging Ashley up with her, handing her friend the extra mic which was sitting on top of the piano. The blonde couldn't help but smile as Julie dragged her over to join the boys in the middle of the stage, still smiling as she sang with them.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧."
Julie and Ashley noticed at the same time.
The gathering of students that had been leaving the gymnasium had paused in their tracks when they heard the music but had now gathered at the edge of the stage like they were at a concert. The two girls were thinking the same thing.
They could see the boys.
It didn't take long for the boys to catch on, too as Luke hopped over to join them both in the middle of the stage, his bounces excited and proud.
"Luke, they can see you guys." Ashley leaned in towards him as he grinned.
"Um, is this really happening?" Julie sounded just as confused as Ashley did.
Luke looked at both of them in turn, still grinning.
"Just go with it!" Were the only words he said before he started singing too.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛
𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥
𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩."
Julie practically shoved Ashley towards the drums and towards her brother, grinning widely at her, happiness dancing in the brown of her eyes. If Julie had remembered anything from the things Ashley had told her about her big brother, it was how much she had always wanted to play music with him.
Ashley's heart was racing in her chest as she jumped up onto the drum podium to jam with her brother. He had already been watching her, but when she came to join him, his grin widened, like he had been waiting for her to join him.
"I cannot believe this is happening." Ashley knew he wouldn't be able to hear her over the music, so she prayed he was good at lip-reading while on stage.
"Me either!" Alex understood. "But keep going. You're doing amazing."
Ashley grinned at him.
"𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝙎𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩
𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙢 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣."
As Reggie bounced along the stage towards Luke's mic to sing with him, Julie grabbed Ashley's hand and helped her leap from the drum podium with one last grin at her brother, who couldn't seem to stop smiling as he played.
While Julie and Ashley started hyping the crowd up, Reggie and Luke started to sing together.
"𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩
𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙢𝙥
𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣, 𝙡𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙣."
Julie gave Ashley's hand a tight squeeze as they both got ready to sing.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧."
Julie moved closer towards Luke as the song quietened a little and Ashley felt a presence behind her. When she turned, Reggie was stood with her, grinning. It was that same smile, the smile that could light up a dark room if it wanted to.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛
𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥
𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩."
Julie met Ashley's gaze briefly, raising her eyebrows and waving her hand in a spinning motion, just once - over the years as Julie and Ashley had become accustomed to sharing the spotlight when they sang together, they had accumulated a bunch of hand signals to recognise what each other wanted when they were performing and couldn't communicate using words.
The signal Julie had given Ashley meant 'share'. Julie wanted to sing with her.
Ashley took a deep breath before she heard a cough from behind her. Reggie was signalling for her to follow him to the piano. He had slung his guitar onto his back and before he started to play the remaining notes of the bridge, he pushed the mic-holder towards Ashley - he didn't want her to put it there though.
That was his signal for her to sing.
With one wink at one of Carrie's dancers in the crowd and then a wink and a blinding smile towards Ashley, Julie started singing, dividing the lyrics between her and her best friend and them both singing together during the last line.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚
𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚
𝙁𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠."
As Reggie slipped away from behind the piano, he motioned Ashley towards him with his head and she followed him to his mic. There was something about having him so close and supporting her that made her tingle with warmth.
Alex watched on the whole time, smiling, something dancing in his eyes.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 (𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧)
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 (𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧)."
Julie skipped over to Ashley, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the centre of the stage to be with her - it was a tradition for them to sing beside one another and together at the end of a performance. It had been for almost three years.
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄
𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧
𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧."
As the whole gym burst into applause, Julie began shaking Ashley's shoulder in excitement. Neither of them could believe that had just happened.
After a brief moment, Ashley felt that same presence beside her and couldn't help but smile when she saw Reggie already smiling at her. He winked again
All five of them on stage looked out towards the cheering crowd as they bowed.
It all seemed to happen so fast after that. One moment the students in the gymnasium were cheering for them and applauding, having clearly enjoyed the performance, and the next the room had erupted into one ginormous gasp.
Julie and Ashley met each other's eyes quickly as the room burst into a quiet babble of questions and both girls spun on their heels to see they were alone on stage once more - the boys had disappeared again, almost into thin air.