[1.2]
"she ended up eating a hot dog that killed her, so, maybe he's not the best angle right now"
After a long night exploring LA, which had changed drastically over twenty-five years, the four ghosts agreed that it was time to head back to the studio. They all poofed to the studio, but immediately froze at what they saw — or more specifically, heard.
They had appeared behind Julie, who was sitting at the piano. She was playing and singing a beautiful song, and the emotion they could hear in her voice was truly moving. They had only caught the tail end of the song, but they all knew that Julie was easily one of the most talented girls they had ever heard.
"Wake up your dream and make it true. Look out, look inside of you. When you feel lost, relight that spark, time to come out of the dark. Wake up. Wake up."
After she played the last notes on the piano, Julie grabbed one of the pieces of sheet music. She clutched the paper to her chest and then softly began to cry. Clearly, performing that song had been emotional for her.
Alex stepped forward to comfort her, but Luke caught his shoulder. He shook his head and signaled for them to leave, so they flashed outside so that they could talk without Julie hearing.
"Oh, dude, why'd you stop me? Julie needs a hug," Alex told him.
"Bro, a ghost hug isn't the feel-good moment that you think it is. All right?" Luke said. Mickey couldn't help but scoff — he wasn't exactly a master of female emotion. "Trust me. What Julie needs right now is just a bit of privacy."
"You know what?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes at Luke. "I think you poofed us out because you can't handle when other people cry. I should know. I cried in a room for twenty-five years and I didn't get a single hug from any of you."
"Alright. Bring it in," Reggie said, moving to wrap Alex in a hug.
Alex put his hand up to stop him. "Don't touch me! Go back to wrapping yourself around Mickey like a vine."
"This is why no one hugs you," Reggie muttered. However, he did wrap his arms around Mickey's waist and pulled her into his chest.
Luke glanced at the pair before focusing back on Julie. "Okay. 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."
"Yeah, you know, maybe tell her how amazing she is," Alex suggested.
"Yeah, course, bro," Luke said, realizing that was a better way to start things out.
"She's legit. I got ghost-bumps," Reggie said, showing off one of his arms. Mickey chuckled but still reached to feel his skin, which did in fact have goosebumps.
Then, a young girl, who none of them had met yet, walked briskly past them and into the studio. Her head was down and they could hear quiet sniffles coming from her.
"Oh my gosh. Was she crying too?" Alex asked.
"Yes!" Luke said, clearly in distress. "And the only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying."
"He's right," Alex agreed.
"I'm good at crying on command to get what I want if you want to make it three," Mickey said, rolling her eyes.
"Don't cry. Even if it's fake, it'll make me sad," Reggie said, putting his chin in her neck.
"Guys, we definitely can't go in there," Luke said.
"But we can listen," Reggie said as if it was the most brilliant idea in the world.
The three of them rushed over to look through the garage door windows. Mickey reluctantly followed. However, no matter how high she tried to get on her toes, she couldn't see through. She pouted and leaned against Reggie. However, after just a second, the guys quickly crouched back down, probably to avoid being seen by Julie.
The girl, Flynn, talked for a long time about how Julie had been kicked out of their music program. Clearly, she was distraught about her best friend losing her spot. However, Julie quickly comforted her and let her know that she was going to sing for their teacher at school and try to get back in.
When the two girls left the studio, Mickey and the guys scrambled to not look like they were eavesdropping. Alex turned to inspect one of the lights hanging by the door while Luke casually leaned against the door. Reggie had panicked and toppled to the ground, taking Mickey with him. Quickly, he pulled her onto his lap and they did their best to act normal.
As Julie came through the door, she noticed them all. Without thinking, she greeted them brightly. "Oh, hey!" However, she quickly remembered that Flynn couldn't see the ghosts, so she tried to play it off as speaking to her. "Let's hustle!"
"Don't worry! We weren't listening," Reggie lied as Julie waved goodbye to them. Luke kicked Reggie while Mickey rolled her eyes.
Flynn noticed Julie waving, and she quickly pretended to be swatting a bug away before rushing Flynn back towards the house. Once the girls were gone, Reggie helped Mickey stand and they all walked into the studio.
"I wonder why Julie didn't tell us she could shred on the piano?" Reggie asked, confused.
"And sing! That girl can sing," Luke added.
"It probably has something to do with her mom, you know?" Mickey said. During their night out, the guys had filled her in about how Julie's mom had passed away and had been the previous one to use their studio.
"Must've been hard," Alex added in agreement. Then he headed up the stairs to the loft. "Anyway, I really feel for her."
"Yeah, but now she's got music back in her life, just like us," Luke said.
Alex poked his head out from the loft. "Yeah, I'm not sure you can call what we have a life."
"Speaking of music," Luke said, ignoring Alex and turning to Mickey. "Given that it's been twenty-five years, Sunset Curve is in need of a new rhythm guitarist, what with Bobby not dying with us."
Mickey was quick to shake her head. "No way."
"But he taught you everything you know, Princess. This is the perfect opportunity for you to join the band!" Luke said, grinning.
"I wouldn't call me dying and appearing as a ghost twenty-five years later with no idea where my twin brother is a perfect opportunity," Mickey said, crossing her arms. Reggie put a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"But we need a rhythm guitarist. Please," Luke begged, pouting.
"I don't know," she said, sighing. "It wouldn't feel right just taking Bobby's place."
Luke raised an eyebrow and leaned against the piano. "Do I need to get Reggie to ask you? We all know you can't say no to him."
"Well, last time she listened to Reg, she ended up eating a hot dog that killed her, so, maybe he's not the best angle right now," Alex said, taking a moment to stop his exploring.
Reggie tensed up and looked down at his feet, clearly upset. Mickey quickly took his hand and pressed a kiss to it, letting him know that she wasn't mad at him. "It's not your fault," she said softly. "I would've ended up coming for street dogs anyways."
It was a somewhat lie, but Mickey, as always, was more concerned with comforting Reggie.
"Oh hey!" Alex exclaimed. "Some of the clothes we left behind are still up here. Mick, one of your dance bags is here too!"
"Sweet!" Luke exclaimed as Alex started tossing bags down. He quickly shed his old sleeveless shirt to exchange it for another. "Oh, same clothes since '95, boys."
Mickey caught her dance bag and dug through it. She didn't bother to change out of her leotard, but she slipped off her sweatpants and instead put on a pair of denim shorts that had been in the bag. Reggie's cheeks heated up as she changed, but she wasn't sure why — they had all seen her in a leotard countless times. Then she grabbed a blue flannel shirt that had been balled up in the bag and pulled it on. The flannel was rather big on her, meaning that it was actually Reggie's, but she wasn't planning on giving it back.
Just as she finished changing, an older man who must have been Julie's father walked right through Reggie. Reggie stepped back, shocked from the sensation, and stared at him.
"Oh, that was weird. But somehow, I can tell this man has a kind heart," Reggie stated. Mickey smiled at him before taking his hand in hers.
"So, how've ya been?" Ray asked, looking around the studio, which seemed empty to him.
"Honestly, not that good," Reggie replied. Mickey rolled her eyes and held back a laugh as he thought Ray was speaking to them. "See, we ate these hot dogs, and—"
"Julie sang for the first time this morning," Ray interrupted. "Ah, she hadn't done that in almost a year. You would've loved it."
Reggie walked up to Ray and pulled Mickey along with him. "Yeah, we saw cause we were — oh! Oh, I get it. He - he's not talking to us."
Mickey scoffed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You are so lucky you're cute."
Reggie looked down at her with an open mouth, but couldn't manage to think of anything to say. He wasn't sure if Mickey had ever told him he was cute before.
"Pretty sure he's talking to Julie's mom," Alex told Reggie.
"She's such an amazing young woman," Ray said, walking over to the piano. The four ghosts slowly made their way over to watch him. "Every day she reminds me more and more of you."
"Called it!" Alex said, grinning.
"Oh, I'm uh, I'm taking pictures for the real estate website. I don't really wanna move, but... I guess it's best for Julie."
"Move?" Luke asked, frowning as he leaned against the piano.
"But this is a great house," Mickey whispered.
"There's so many memories of Julie playing next to you, and Carlos trying to sing with his missing front teeth."
Luke took in a shaky breath and covered his mouth. Mickey was also starting to tear up as Ray got emotional.
"Oh no, Luke, not you too," Reggie said, pouting. "Mick, I'll cry if you cry."
Luke held back a sob as he watched Ray. "He... he's talking about moving, but the poor guy, he doesn't want to move."
"It's like they grew up right here," Ray said as he took some photos with his camera.
"I miss Bobby," Mickey mumbled while shoving her face in Reggie's chest. He held her tightly as he too started to cry.
"Oh man, now he's got me too," Reggie said, sniffing.
"Okay, how am I the emotional one?" Alex asked, rolling his eyes.
"C - can we go see my family and see how they're doing?" Reggie asked them.
Mickey nodded into his chest with the other two agreed.
"Yeah, listening to this feels wrong," Alex said, glancing back at Ray.
"Hey, do you remember when the kids were at your sister's, and we came out here on our anniversary..."
"Ew, I'm over it now," Mickey said, cringing.
"Yeah, no, definitely wrong," Luke agreed.
Mickey squeezed Reggie's hand and they poofed out together.
|||
"Thanks for hanging out. I didn't really want to go straight home after school."
"Um, one, you're my favorite person to hang out with, so I don't mind. Two, you live on the beach, Reg. You didn't exactly have to twist my arm to get me to come."
The guys ended up canceling their band rehearsal for the day because most of them had plans. Because Mickey didn't have to go straight to her ballet academy, Reggie had asked if she wanted to hang out. He'd much rather walk along the beach with her than go to the nightmare that he called a house.
So, that's what they did. Reggie had wrapped his red flannel around Mickey's shoulders when the wind picked up, and they spent the afternoon just messing around on the shore. Mickey was Reggie's favorite distraction, and he could never thank her enough for it.
"So, how'd you do on that algebra test?"
"I think I made a B. I definitely couldn't have passed it without your help over the weekend," he said, smiling. Mickey was one of the smartest girls in their year and was in mostly advanced classes. Because of that, she spent a lot of her free time helping the four boys of Sunset Curve with their own homework.
Mickey smiled and grabbed Reggie's hand. "You're plenty smart on your own, Reggie. I just... pushed you to study a little harder."
"Well, how can I make it up to you?"
She thought it up for a moment before grinning. "Smoothies from that place we passed a little ways back?"
Reggie grinned down at her. "You got it, Princess."
Before Mickey could turn on her own to walk back to the smoothie shack, Reggie was already crouching down and picking her up over his shoulder. She laughed and lightly hit his back. "What are you doing?"
"A princess should never have to walk. She deserves the best of piggyback rides."
Mickey giggled and moved around so that she had a better hold on him. She leaned her head in the crook in his neck and smiled. "Thank you, my ever so loyal steed."
|||
The four ghosts stood on the familiar beach with upset looks on their faces, though none of them were as distraught as Reggie. Where his old house used to stand was a bike rental shop. The entire area looked like a completely different place.
"A bike shack right where my house used to be," he muttered in disbelief. Luke leaned against him while Mickey rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Right here."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, man," Luke said.
"They made the Meyershons' house into a noodle shop," Reggie said, looking to where his neighbors used to live. "Why couldn't they have made mine like a pizzeria or something?"
"They tore down the whole neighborhood," Alex noted.
"I guess my folks are gone," Reggie mumbled.
"No. Everyone's gone," Alex said. "Twenty-five years — gone. Friends, family, Bobby, everyone."
Mickey sniffed and Reggie quickly wrapped his arms around her. "I guess that vegetarian lucked out. What do you think happened to him? Clearly, they moved out of the house since Julie's family lives there."
"He probably just got old like everybody else and moved on," Luke said, taking a seat on a piece of driftwood.
"Dude, how are you so casual about all of this?" Alex asked him. "Don't you wanna figure out what happened?"
Luke scoffed. "Let's be real for a second. It's not like any of us were that close with our families. My folks always regretted buying me that guitar. Reggie, your parents were literally a fight away from a divorce. You spent more time with Mickey than with them. Alex, I - your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay. And yeah, Mickey, you and Bobby loved each other more than anything, but that doesn't change the fact that your folks thought we were all horrible influences on you. You got in tons of fights with them about Reggie and Alex staying in your room after fighting with their parents."
"You don't have to be a dick about it, Luke," Mickey said, staring down at the sand and trying not to cry.
"Okay, none of us had it great," Alex agreed. "All right? But at least we had something. You know, what do we have now? And before you say cool teleportation skills, just know I'm not entirely okay with that either! All right, it tingles. In weird places."
"I'll tell you what we had," Luke said, jumping off the driftwood and climbing on top of it. "It's what we've had since the day we came together. Boys, we have us and we have Mickey. That's the only family we're ever gonna need."
Mickey rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut. She'd much rather know where her twin brother was at the moment.
"You know what else we have?"
"I'm gonna guess death breath," Reggie joked, but there was very little humor behind it.
Luke chuckled. "Our music, you dork. We have our music, you guys. People, actual people, can hear us play! They can't see us, fine, but they can feel us. If I had my guitar, I'd play for all these people right now. Just like what we used to do down at the pier."
"They can't tip what they can't see," Alex said, sighing.
"It's not about the tips, Alex," Luke insisted while walking back up to them. "It's about playing music — connecting with people. Making a difference in their day. I just, I wish I had my guitar."
Then, out of literally nowhere, Luke's acoustic guitar appeared in his hands. The sudden force caused him to spin around and he looked down at the instrument with a surprised look on his face, which the other three shared.
"Woah! That was rad. How'd you do that?" Reggie asked him.
"I don't know," he said, holding the guitar out. "I - I - I mean, I wished for it, a - and then it came in my hands—"
"I - I wish for a puppy," Reggie said, suddenly closing his eyes and holding out his hands. However, no puppy appeared. "A hamster? Pizza?"
When his hands remained empty, Reggie groaned before kicking the sand. Then he sat and pouted. He held out a hand to Mickey, requesting that she joined him. She playfully rolled her eyes before taking his hand and sitting next to him, leaning against him.
"Hey, I think I know something that'll cheer you up," Luke told him, smiling.
Reggie gave him a doubtful look and Luke started strumming his guitar. Alex smiled and joined Luke's side before looking down at them.
"Come on, Reginald!" he said before beginning to pat his body to the beat.
Mickey couldn't help but smile and Luke counted him off. Reggie quickly stood, pulling Mickey with him.
"Can you? Can you hear me?" Reggie sang.
"Yup," Mickey hummed, smiling.
"Loud and clear," Alex sang.
"Gotta get, gotta get ready. 'Cause it's been years. Whoa, oh, oh, oh, this band is back. Woah, oh, oh, oh, this band is back."
Reggie grabbed Mickey's hand and pulled her along as they danced along the beach. The living around them could hear them singing and were clearly enjoying it. The ghosts jumped up on chairs and ran around everyone, just having fun as they sang.
Luke started scatting to the beat as they moved further down the beach. Mickey grinned as Reggie twirled her under his arm. The song had effectively cheered them all up and took their minds off of their families.
Sure, the whole being dead thing wasn't ideal, but at least they had each other. And Luke was right — having their music certainly helped too.