· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎ 𝑭 𝑨 𝑹 𝑭 𝑹 𝑶 𝑴 𝑵 𝑶 𝑹 𝑴 𝑨 𝑳 ▎
𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ━━ FINALLY FREE.
࿔·ﾟ*ೃ࿐ ࿔* 🎸🥁🎤🎶
hearts on 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲, were no liars
so we say what we wanna say
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
ASHLEY could've held his hand forever.
It was like nothing she had ever felt from him before. Warmth, her heart beating from the ball of her thumb against his hand, a solid hand to hold onto.
She didn't want to let go. She would've held his hand forever had it not been for the boys calling out for them from the entrance to the studio, doors open.
"Ashley! Reggie!" It was Luke yelling their names. "Are you out here?"
Ashley looked down to their hands which were still intertwined and frowned.
"I don't want to let go." Ashley looked up to meet his eyes and he didn't have to say it, but she could see he was feeling the same way - he didn't much want to let go either. "What if I never get to do this again, I mean, it should be impossible-"
Reggie cut her off by squeezing her hand, tight.
"We'll find a way." He smiled at her and both of them released each other at the same time, Ashley's hand growing instantly cool when Reggie's fingers slipped from in between hers. Just for good measure, Ashley put her hand on top of his to test what would happen and was disappointed, but not surprised, when her hand went right through his. It had been too good to happen again.
He smiled at her sadly before Luke called out for them again.
"Luke, inside voice, you'll wake the whole neighbourhood." Ashley sat up from her laying position to look at the boys over the edge of the roof. "We're up here."
Ashley watched as Alex backed up a little so he was standing on the drive and smiled, something extra glinting in his eyes when he saw Reggie with her.
"Hi, guys!" Reggie grinned, waving at his bandmates.
"What are y'all doing up there?" Luke chuckled when he saw the top of them sitting on the roof. "Come down, we're leaving for the venue in like twenty minutes. We gotta go and get Julie though, we don't quite know where she is."
"You guys go and grab her." Ashley waved them off. "I gotta grab my car keys from the studio otherwise neither Julie nor I am going anywhere."
The boys nodded, poofing away, probably into Julie's home.
Against her urge to keep it on, Ashley started to shrug Reggie's leather jacket off her shoulders to give it back to him - she felt the chill of the night as soon as she did and regretted slipping it off - before he waved his arms out to stop her.
"Keep it on." He smirked at her ever so slightly. "It looks better on you."
Before Ashley could get another word in on the matter, Reggie had disappeared from the roof in nothing but a whoosh, a pop and a slight breeze.
JULIE had been grounded.
Of all the nights that she could get grounded during the week, of all the nights that her father just had to listen to her tias advice, it had to be the night of a really important gig, didn't it? Because that was just Julie's bad luck.
The girl had tried to call Ashley on her mobile, tell her that the show probably couldn't go ahead considering she was confined to her room, but she wasn't answering, so Julie had given up. When it got late, Ashley would come looking.
Julie was sitting on her bed, doodling on her mic, a birthday cake as she remembered the adventure she, Ashley, Reggie and Alex had gone on earlier in the day, when there was a knock on her door, from inside her bedroom, and when she looked up, there was an arm sticking through her door.
Who else was that going to be?
"What are you guys doing?" Julie chuckled as Reggie stuck his head through the wood of Julie's bedroom door so he could see her in her room.
"We're being classy." He pulled a face at her before he was pulled back from the door by a hand and Luke walked through the wood and into Julie's room.
"Why are you still here?" He asked her with a smile. "We're going in, like, twenty minutes. Ashley is just waiting in the studio to drive you both there."
Julie sighed.
"I lied to my dad, so-" she paused, sticking the lid of her pen back over the nib- "now I'm stuck in my room all night. You guys will have to tell Ash, she won't answer my calls and I don't want her waiting here for me all night."
"Yeah, but we were just at the venue. I mean, it's packed. Like VIPs, managers. It's kind of crazy." Alex was getting excited as he spoke, gesturing with his hands.
'So that's where Luke and Alex were,' Reggie thought to himself. He didn't say it out loud, but he had preferred what he had been doing so much more.
"What are we gonna do about my aunt? She's right downstairs."
"Your aunt." Luke scoffed lightly, a smile still on his face.
Reggie poofed from the room suddenly and was only gone around ten seconds before he was back, standing in the same place as if he hadn't left the room at all.
"Where did you go?" Alex looked at him with a bemused expression.
"To tell Ashley to wait at the bottom of the window." Reggie smiled smugly.
Luke bounced over to the window to look out to see Ashley jogging up to the house, standing just underneath the window as she looked up to meet his eyes.
"You alright, Ash Attack?" Ashley smiled at Luke using that name again.
"Yeah, everything's good." She tilted her head to the side, a little confused. "What am I doing here, exactly? And why are you guys in Julie's bedroom."
"Julie got grounded." Luke rolled his eyes out the window and Ashley chuckled. "We were just telling her how she's leaving but not taking the stairs."
The boy stuck his head back through the window and raised his eyebrows.
"You coming, or what?" He nodded towards the window and Julie grinned.
"Okay." Julie nodded. "Let me get dressed. We'll meet you guys there."
The boys disappeared with a pop and a whoosh and after yelling to Ashley from out the window that she was coming in just a second and to hide somewhere, just in case her aunt somehow saw her through the window, Julie went over to the suitcase in her room which had a bunch of her moms stuff in.
She had gotten into the habit of wearing her mom's clothes while performing.
After running her fingers across some of the stuff in her suitcase, mostly tickets, taking her mom in as much as she could from what was left of her, Julie spotted a sleeveless leather jacket and pulled it out, smiling. This was the one.
The girl slipped the jacket over her shoulders and it fit her almost perfectly.
Julie bounced over to her bedroom window and smiled down at Ashley who was trying, and failing, to hide amongst the tall bushes in her front yard.
"Ash Attack." Julie was slowly clambering out of the window, using the front porch's overhang as something to land on and crawl across. "If I fall off of here and break my knees, you'll have to carry me tonight."
"Bold of you to assume these weak arms can even lift you." Ashley frowned at her arms, putting her hands around the non-existent muscles. Julie chuckled as she swung her legs over the side of the porch's overhang and after taking a deep breath, jumped, landing steadily on her feet a few feet away from Ashley.
"That was graceful." Ashley was impressed. "Hey look, we're matching."
Julie looked across at her best friend to see she was wearing a leather jacket that was way too big for her - it was also a jacket she recongised very well.
Sharing clothes with them was possible? She didn't know that.
"I'm going to assume that doesn't belong to you." Julie nudged the girl as they started to sneak away from Julie's house towards the car. "Considering it's too big for you and you weren't wearing a leather jacket during rehearsals."
"If you even say a name, I will leave you here and go by myself." Ashley pointed an accusatory finger at Julie and the girl laughed, shoving the blonde before they both climbed into Ashley's car and began their descent to the venue.
WHEN the two of them finally arrived at the venue they were performing at, Julie realised just how serious Alex had been when he said that the place was packed. Not everyone looked officially like managers, but you could just tell by the way some of them held themselves that they were important.
Ashley spotted Flynn first and grabbed Julie's hand to drag her over to the girl.
"Are we too late?" It was the first words out of Julie's mouth.
"Too early." Flynn rolled her eyes towards the stage as she waved her hand.
It wasn't hard to figure out who it was. Bright outfit, bright hair.
Dirty Candy.
Ashley watched as Carrie addressed the crowd before slipping on a pair of sunglasses and smiling smugly. The blonde was ready to be impressed by yet another performance and then lose that respect right after because there was no way Carrie wouldn't say anything to the three of them if she saw them.
"Dirty Candy?" Julie seemed shocked. "How'd she get on the list?"
"Her daddy probably made a call." Flynn rolled her eyes again before noticing the sleeveless jacket that Julie was wearing, smiling. "I like this! Pretty flower."
Ashley had noticed the flower pin attached to Julie's jacket too. She had felt all warm inside, knowing it was a dahlia flower, Julie's moms favourite.
"Thanks." Julie stroked the flower pin. "It's a dahlia. My mom's favourite."
Flynn smiled at Julie before turning to Ashley.
"And you, wearing a leather jacket that is way too big for you yet you still make it look like it belongs on you." Flynn raised her eyebrows, smirking.
"It was cold." Ashley pouted, wrapping the jacket tighter around her frame.
"Do I even need to ask who that belongs too?"
"You could-" Ashley paused, looking between her best friends- "but I don't see the point when you both clearly already know who it belongs to anyways."
Flynn chuckled as Julie nudged Ashley with her elbow.
The three of them were interrupted by Dirty Candy's music starting.
"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢
𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢
𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣' 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙜, 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨
𝙄'𝙢 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩
𝘼𝙞𝙣'𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝."
There was a light whooshing sound behind the three of them but Ashley didn't turn around, knowing who it was without looking. Besides, she was too focused on Carrie and her dancers. Again, great music but not so great person.
It was a shame, really.
As Carrie and her dancers continued to sing, there was another whooshing sound and before anybody could move any further, Alex was standing on the stage with Carrie and her dancers. Ashley blinked stoically at her brother before turning round to look at Reggie and Luke, Julie doing the same thing having realised they were here now. They both shot them confused, questionable looks.
Reggie shrugged at Julie when the girl gave him a confused glance.
Before she turned back around, Ashley didn't miss Luke looking from her to the jacket she was wearing and back to Reggie. He raised his eyebrows when she spotted him looking and he appeared to be wanting to say something.
"Say anything and I will leave right now." Ashley gave him a, "Don't test me," look and the boy raised his hands in surrender, miming zipping his lips. But he was smiling all the same and couldn't stop looking between her and Reggie.
"𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙜𝙚𝙩
𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙞𝙩
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙚, 𝙤𝙝."
Ashley had to hide a smile behind her hands as Alex danced on stage with Dirty Candy throughout the whole pre-chorus of their song. Before they started singing the chorus, he poofed off stage and was back with them within a second.
"You having fun out there?" Julie chuckled as she looked towards Alex.
"It's not my fault." Alex cleared his throat. "It's my, um... it's my feet."
Ashley couldn't get over the smile on his face.
"Yeah." Julie was smirking at him as she shook her head.
"Put me back in coach." Alex was looking back towards the stage and before they knew it, he had poofed away once more and was back on stage with Carrie. Flynn looked at Ashley and Julie, confused as to who they were talking to.
"It's the guys." Ashley smiled at her, squeezing her shoulder. "My big brother is putting on one helluva show for the people that can't actually see him."
Reggie chuckled from behind her.
"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙚
𝙄'𝙢 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮
𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮
𝘼𝙞𝙣'𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙚
𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙮
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚."
Julie and Ashley chuckled at Alex's dancing. It was definitely entertaining.
"𝙄 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩
𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚
𝙄 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙮
'𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬
𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 '𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬, 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬
𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚."
The song finished and Alex ended with a flourish. Ashley shook her head, still giggling, as he acted as if the crowd were cheering for him, before poofing off the stage and back to his group of friends, all of which were smirking at him.
When Alex was back with them, he exhaled sharply.
"Um-" he paused, clearing his throat- "I was just doing that for you guys."
Yeah, Alex. Sure you were.
"Mhmm." Reggie nodded, not convinced. "Yeah. You can stop smiling now."
Ashley chuckled at them both, shaking her head again.
"I'm not gonna lie. That was..." Julie paused... "kinda good."
"That's what I'm always saying!" Ashley was glad somebody finally agreed with her. "Great songs, great band just bad person. It ruins the whole vibe."
"Yeah. I forgot why I hate her so much." Flynn agreed with them both.
Carrie and her band started to walk off the stage towards them and Ashley had a sneaking suspicion that Flynn was about to be reminded just why she did.
"Hi girls!" There was that peppy voice. "Um, isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Now I remember."
"It really doesn't take much." Ashley rubbed Flynn's shoulder.
"If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come." Carrie was looking at Julie.
"That's not why I'm here." Julie scoffed as she took a step closer to Carrie.
The definition of saved by the bell. Or the mic. As soon as it looked like Julie and Carrie were about to have it out in the middle of the venue, the presenter started speaking into his mic. Ashley let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group." He addressed the crowd of people sitting around the room. "Julie and the Fat Ones."
Carrie's group burst into giggles as Ashley and Julie both looked towards Luke, eyebrows raised. He knew by the looks on their faces that they weren't impressed.
"Really?" Alex was looking right at Luke as he said.
"Yeah, man, my handwriting sucks."
"Wow, I wonder how you came to that conclusion." Ashley shook her head.
Julie smiled at Carrie sarcastically as she and Ashley moved past them to go onto the stage. Before Ashley could start climbing the steps, Carrie put a hand on her wrist to stop her - Ashley had prayed she had dodged a bullet this time.
"Just remember what I said at the dance." The girl was smirking. "About the band name. Don't forget to think about why your name may not be there."
In a sudden burst of confidence that Ashley had never felt before, she ripped her hand from Carrie's grasp. Curling one hand around the inside leather of Reggie's jacket as something comforting to hold onto, Ashley took a deep breath and walked onto stage - completely without a panicked or nervous nerve in her body, for the first time ever since Carrie had started to hassle her.
Ashley had her back to him, but Reggie was grinning at her proudly as Ashley seated herself down at the piano by Julie. The girl looked at her, eyebrows raised, and Ashley nodded, silently letting her know that she was okay this time.
"Hi." Julie slipped her mic into the mic stand and Ashley pulled her own from the pocket of Reggie leather jacket - that jacket had deep pockets. It was like a TARDIS down there. "It's actually 'Julie and the Phantoms'."
The room was relatively silent so Julie just mumbled a quick 'okay' before Flynn flashed them both a huge smile and switched on the hologram projector.
Ashley was excited to sing this song. It had been one she had worked on massively, with Luke's help of course. It was always exciting to hear your own music played live, especially with a band you loved so much. She felt proud.
Julie started to play the piano and Ashley shot her a smile.
"𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚.𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙨
𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮."
Julie shot Ashley a look and the girl took over.
"𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙. 𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜
𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮."
Julie and Ashley met each other's eyes and nodded to sing together.
"𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙛 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 '𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄'𝙢 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧
𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧
𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙮, 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚."
There was the familiar whooshing sound that had almost become second nature to Ashley as the boys appeared in front of them. Both she and Julie stood up to join them on stage as they started to sing the chorus of the song.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚."
Ashley watched as the crowd in the room slowly began to stand and dance.
"𝙉𝙤𝙬 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚."
"𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬.𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨."
"𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙. 𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙
'𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝."
Giving Julie the chance to sing alone with Luke - if anybody was going to encourage them to show the chemistry they had on stage, it was Ashley, considering she was in the exact same position with another ghost in the band - the blonde bounced over to go and stand between Reggie and Alex.
She had officially decided that that was her safe place.
She was always drawn to that spot.
"𝙒𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧
𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧."
Ashley was surprised when Julie pointed at her, signalling for her to sing alone and Luke grinned at her in approval. Why she was surprised when she had written the song, Ashley didn't know, but she listened anyway.
The blonde really needed to write all these hand signals down somewhere.
"𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙮
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚
𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚."
As Reggie jumped forwards to the foot of the stage with Julie and Luke, Ashley followed him, going to stand in between her and Reggie so the four of them were facing the crowd. This was one of Ashley's favourite parts of the song because they all got to sing together. Alex, behind them at the drums, grinned widely.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚
𝙉𝙤𝙬 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚."
As Reggie jogged over to sing with Luke in his mic, Julie placed her own microphone between her and Ashley, nodding her head at the girl to sing.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚
𝙉𝙤𝙬 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚."
Ashley went to stand beside Reggie again, both of them looking each other in the eyes as Reggie played, Luke and Julie singing the bridge together in the background. Alex, from where he was sitting behind the drums, couldn't help but practically feel the chemistry that was burning between the two duos on stage.
Alex couldn't remember ever seeing Ashley as happy as she was with Reggie, on stage and off. He didn't know what was going on there, but whatever it was, he approved of it. If it made his little sister that happy, he was all for it.
Seeing his sister happy was everything.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚 (𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚)
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 (𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚)
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 (𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮)
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚."
Luke and Julie broke apart but Reggie and Ashley were still staring at one another. Ashley probably could've stayed there forever, watching him, had Julie not grabbed her hand and practically tugged her to the centre of the stage.
Ashley didn't miss the smirk behind her eyes when she caught Julie's gaze.
"𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚
𝙉𝙤𝙬 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮
𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚
𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚."
Ashley could see the crowd totally into the music now as they all danced around together. Everyone was smiling and Ashley loved what she was seeing.
The last few lines of the song weren't so many verses, just the chance for everyone on stage to show off some voice - Ashley was big on giving everyone a chance - until the very last line of the song when Julie grabbed Ashley's hand and held her mic between them, wanting her best friend to sing with her again.
One of Ashley's favourite parts about singing with Julie, ever since they first met, had been that tradition. The tradition to sing together at the end of every song, to combine their voices and show off what they both could do.
"𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝."
There was raucous applause from the crowd and a lot of cheering and of course, the gasp from the crowd when the boys disappeared, but the cheering never stopped and Ashley tried to soak it all in. That was by far the biggest crowd the blonde had performed to since the talent show and she had done it.
No running off stage, no crying in the hallway, no Carrie picking at her.
Julie grabbed Ashley's hand, realising the same thing.
"I'm so proud of you." The girl mouthed to the blonde and Ashley thought she might cry. "You did that. You performed in front of all of those people."
Ashley leaned into her best friend as the crowd continued to cheer.
"Thank you. We're Julie and the Phantoms." Ashley spoke over the cheering through the mic and she and Julie said, "Tell your friends." at the same time.
Ashley had a feeling Reggie would be proud of them.
The two girls on stage dashed down the steps and into Flynn's open arms, sharing a group hug between them as they all squealed excitedly to one another.
"You guys were incredible!" Flynn's smile was wide.
"Yeah, we were!" Reggie's voice came from nowhere as there was a whoosh and the boys were suddenly behind Flynn, grinning like madmen.
"Ashley, that song was incredible!" Luke was gushing again and Ashley got a flash to the night they had appeared in her bedroom after the afternoon she had discovered them and Luke had read through some of the songs in her journal. That day felt like a million years ago, even though it had only been a few weeks.
Ashley grinned at him, silently thanking him.
The six of them started to converse until Luke, from where he was sitting on top of the bar, starting shouting hurriedly out of nowhere, pointing forwards.
"Hey. Hey!" He waved his hand to the space behind Flynn, Ashley and Julie, eyes wide. "Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way."
The three girls turned to face the woman that was walking towards them.
"She looks all business." Alex mumbled at the exact same time that Ashley said, "Ooh goodness, she does look important, should we be worried?"
The two siblings met eyes for a brief moment.
"Wait, who should do the talking?" Reggie burst out suddenly until he caught the looks Ashley and Julie were giving him. "Julie and Ashley. Yeah."
"Um, no way." Ashley stepped back a few inches. "I can barely talk to my teachers at school, nevermind someone who looks that important. Julie can definitely do the talking. I'll just stand here and look nervous, that's my job."
Julie looked back at Ashley, grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards her. Even if Ashley wasn't going to talk, Julie still wanted her at her side.
"You got this." Luke looked at them both, nodding.
The woman smiled at them when she was close enough.
"Hi, I'm Andi Parker, and I would love to-" the woman reached out to shake Ashley and Julie's hands before there was an angry voice from behind her.
"Julie." Ashley recognised that voice.
"Dad."
Ray Molina was standing at the foot of the stage, his eyes bright with frustration. Ashley felt a sudden pit of guilt inside her - she had been the one to drive Julie to the gig at the end of the day - as she looked from Julie to her father.
"It's time to go." Was all Ray said, giving Julie a sharp glare.
Ashley puffed out a breath between her teeth.
"Uh oh." The blonde mumbled under her breath. "We are in trouble."