[1.5; 1.6]
"god, luke, you're useless"
"Hey, Mick, have you seen my leather jac — oh..."
Reggie had climbed up to the loft in search of his jacket but trailed off at what he saw. Mickey was up there, as he predicted. She was standing in front of the mirror that was leaning against the wall and twirling around to look over her outfit.
Mickey had changed out of a baggy t-shirt and into the same purple dress that Caleb had gifted her. It looked just as amazing on her as it had the night before, but this time, his jacket was resting on her shoulders. Reggie's lips parted and he leaned against the railing on the stairs as he stared her in.
"Wow," he mumbled, looking her up and down.
Mickey shyly glanced at him while adjusting the jacket. "Sorry, I kind of stole it. I hope that's okay! I just really wanted to wear Caleb's dress again, but then I got cold, and none of the flannels matched it, so I thought I'd try this. But I can take it back off—"
"No," Reggie said quickly, shaking his head. "N - no, you look good in - in the jacket... my jacket. And that, uh, that dress again. Just... wow."
Mickey bit back a smile and nodded before looking back in the mirror. Pleased with Reggie's reaction, she finished getting ready and started braiding back the sides of her hair. "Thanks," she told him. Then she glanced at him in the mirror and saw he was still watching her silently. "You look good too."
It was true. Sure, his outfit was simple — it was just his black, ripped, skinny jeans and a black tank top. But it was a good look. Mickey took the time to appreciate his surprisingly well-defined arms. It was a shame he often hid them under a flannel or his leather jacket because she was certainly enjoying the view.
Reggie continued to just watch her as she got ready. Part of her felt self-conscious, but she wasn't sure why — he had already admitted to thinking she was beautiful. But maybe that was why. Or maybe it was the fact that he had definitely tried to kiss her at the Ghost Club the night before, and she so desperately wished he would've.
"You ready?" she asked, after bending over to zip up her boots. She stood straight and saw Reggie hadn't seemed to have heard her. He was too busy staring. "Reg?"
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of it. Reggie cleared his throat and did his best to ignore the fact that his cheeks were bright red from being caught. "Uh, y - yeah, let's go. Got a show to put on."
Mickey bit back a smirk and walked over to grab his hand. Then they went downstairs to meet the guys. Once they were all together, they poofed to the venue. It was crawling with all kinds of people in the music business, which got them all excited. However, when it was just a half-hour before they were supposed to perform but Julie wasn't there yet, they decided to go back to the house and check on her.
Before the guys could just barge in her bedroom like normal, Mickey suggested that they try knocking. So Reggie reached his arm through the door and knocked on it, which made Julie laugh.
"What are you guys doing?" they heard her ask.
Reggie stuck his head through the door and smiled at her. "We're being classy."
Luke yanked him back so that he could be the first to enter the room. The others filed in after him. Julie was sitting on her bed, still in her outfit from earlier in the day.
"Why are you still here?" Luke asked her. "We're going on in, like, twenty minutes."
Julie frowned and looked down at her bed. "I lied to my dad, so now I'm stuck in my room all night."
The guys all shared a surprised look. Mickey was shocked as well. She couldn't believe Julie had gotten in trouble. She had always seemed so well-behaved.
"Yeah, but we were just at the venue. I mean, it's packed — like VIPs, managers, it's kinda crazy," Alex told her.
"What are we gonna do about my aunt? She's right downstairs," Julie reminded them.
"Your aunt," Luke said, scoffing as he walked over to her window and opened it. "You're not taking the stairs."
Julie looked shocked by the mere thought of sneaking out. Mickey thought it was adorable considering all the times she had climbed out the very same window when she was alive.
Julie shook her head but grinned. "Okay. Let me get dressed. We'll meet you guys there."
"Remember, the trellis is your friend," Mickey told her, grinning. Then the four of them left Julie to get ready.
They had all been a little worried that Julie would get there too late. There was no telling how back the LA traffic would be, but against the odds, she made it out of her house without getting caught and made it to the venue with time to spare.
Mickey caught sight of the brightly colored Dirty Candy costumes and caught Carrie's eye before they got on stage. She smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up, knowing the performance would be great. Though on the inside, Mickey's stomach was turning. She hadn't decided if she wanted to break the news to Carrie about the fact that she was her dead aunt or not. It was a lot to process, after all. But Mickey thought she deserved to know.
"Next up, Dirty Candy," the announcer said.
Carrie stood before the crowd, pink wig and all, waving happily. "Hope you all came to have a great time." She put on a pair of sunglasses before getting into position. Despite how upset she was with her brother, Mickey thought it was interesting that they both were the kind of people to wear sunglasses indoors.
As the performance started, the four ghosts finally spotted Julie and Flynn in the crowd and poofed behind them.
"Whenever I walk in the room. All the focus on me." The other dancers joined Carrie and the crowd clapped for them. "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. The party don't start till I walk in. I'm stealing all the attention. Don't get me started on mentions, yeah."
Sure, Mickey loved the song and the performance. But she could at least contain herself, unlike Alex. They all looked up at the stage in shock when Alex poofed in the middle of all the dancers. Mickey looked at Reggie with a big grin on her face while he shrugged. They turned back to the stage to watch Alex perform, copying the choreography that Carrie was doing the best he could. Mickey cheered loudly as he strutted across the stage.
"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!"
Alex poofed off stage and back next to the guys. All of them but Flynn turned to look at him with amused grins.
"You having fun out there?" Julie asked him.
Alex cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "It's not my fault. It's my, um... it's my feet."
"Yeah," Julie muttered, smirking.
Alex looked back to the stage with a longing look. "Put me back in, Coach."
He flashed back on stage next to Carrie, who continued on, none the wiser. Mickey would've given anything for her to have been able to see Alex. "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."
"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."
Mickey was dying of laughter when Alex model-walked through Carrie. Then he used his hands to play with her wig. She would definitely be telling Carrie all about it later. When the song finished, Alex stayed up on stage, soaking in the applause. Then he finally rejoined the others.
Everyone but Flynn turned and looked at him expectantly.
"I was just... I was just doing that for you guys," he said, clearly lying.
"Mhm. Yeah, you can stop smiling now," Reggie told him, smirking.
"I'm not gonna lie. That was... kinda good," Julie admitted.
"Oh, thank god I don't have to lie about liking it to you, Julie," Mickey mumbled. Reggie smiled and put his arm around her shoulder. "That was such a fun song. Like, I wanna go dance in my underwear on my bed to that song."
"Yeah," Flynn agreed. "I forgot why I hate her so much."
Carrie sauntered off stage with her four dancers following, and they stopped in front of Julie and Flynn. "Hi, girls. Um, isn't it past your bedtime?" Carrie asked them. Mickey frowned, wishing that she would be a little nicer to them even if they weren't still friends.
"Now I remember," Flynn added, sharing a look with Julie.
"If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come," Carrie said, narrowing her eyes at Julie.
Julie scoffed and stepped closer to her. "That's not why I'm here."
"Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group," the guy making the announcements said. "Julie and the Fat Ones."
Mickey let out a singular laugh before covering her mouth. She glanced over her shoulder at Luke, who had been the one to write their name down.
"Really?" Alex asked him.
"God, Luke, you're useless," Mickey muttered, rubbing her forehead. Carrie had to hold back a laugh so that no one knew she could hear Mickey.
"Yeah, man. My handwriting sucks," he admitted.
Julie awkwardly smiled before passing Carrie and her group and heading to the stage. The guys poofed to the side of the stage, waiting for Julie to set up her keyboard, but Mickey stayed back for a second.
"One, you guys rocked it," Mickey said quickly, knowing she had to go. "Two, can I swing by later? I have something I need to tell you."
"Of course," Carrie replied. Then she froze, realizing she had said that in front of her four dancers, who were now staring at her. She smiled and flipped her hair. "Just thinking of a new song idea. I was having trouble with a lyric but then it just hit me."
"Well, can't wait to hear it," the girl in blue said.
Mickey shot Carrie an apologetic look before flashing to stand with the guys. They watched in anticipation as Julie turned on the microphone.
"Hi. It's actually Julie and the Phantoms," Julie corrected. No one really clapped for her, so Julie started playing the opening notes to the song. "Hearts on fire. We're no liars, so we say what we wanna say. I'm awakened, no more faking, so we push all our fears away. Don't know if I'll make 'cause I'm falling under. Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder. I wanna fly. Come alive. Watch me shine."
When the chorus hit, the rest of the band flashed on stage, and Julie jumped up from the keyboard. Everyone in the crowd gasped, not expecting them to appear. Reggie grinned and winked at Mickey as she played from the other side of the stage.
"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. 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."
Mickey hopped up on the stand that Alex's drums were on while Luke ran up to his mic to sing with Julie. Mickey smiled at Julie, watching as she sang her little heart out. That girl definitely belonged on a stage. "We know we can make it. We're not falling down under. Close my eyes and feel my chest. Beating like thunder. I wanna fly. Come alive. Watch me shine! 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."
Reggie grinned at Mickey before running over to share a mic with her as they sang back up. He had such an endearing look on his face as he looked down at her, and Mickey knew she was a goner. She'd spend every day singing with Julie if it meant she could sing with Reggie. "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."
Julie turned to Luke and walked closer, holding her mic in between them. The other three ghosts shared a look, seeing the chemistry going on between those two as they stared into each other's eyes. "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 'til eternity. Now 'til eternity. Been so long and now we're finally free!"
"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. Woah-o-oh. Finally free."
When the song ended, everyone in the building cheered. However, when they took a bow and the four ghosts disappeared, they all gasped. Julie chuckled and smiled before they started clapping even louder.
"Thank you. We're Julie and the Phantoms. Tell your friends." Mickey grinned when Julie used Reggie's little tagline. Then she ran off stage to join Flynn by the bar.
"You were incredible," Flynn squealed.
"Yeah, we were," Reggie said as they poofed in. He had his arm wrapped tightly around Mickey's shoulder.
"Hey. Hey!" Luke exclaimed, pointing behind them. "Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way."
They all turned and saw a tall woman in a nice pantsuit making her way to them.
"She looks all business," Alex noted.
"Wait, who should do the talking?" Reggie asked, panicking. Mickey chuckled and leaned her head on his shoulder while the others gave him pointed looks. "Right. Julie. Julie."
"You got this," Luke told her, trying to ease her nerves.
The woman grinned and shook hands with Julie. "Hi. I'm Andi Parker, and I would—"
"Julie." They all turned to see Ray a few feet away, looking at Julie with a very angry look on his face.
"Dad."
"It's time to go," he ordered in a stern tone.
"Oh shit," Mickey muttered under her breath.
|||
After Ray and Julie left, the four ghosts poofed back to the house and waited. They were all nervous that Ray would make her quit the band. Then all their hard work would be for nothing.
When they got to the house, Carlos was wandering around with his tablet. He was ghost hunting with the lights turned off, though his camera didn't even pick up on the four ghosts sitting in the living room.
"You can't hide forever, ghosties," Carlos whispered. He scanned the room again and jumped when he saw something on his screen. "Gotcha!"
Tía Victoria gasped and flicked the lights on. She gave Carlos a stern look, who was disappointed that he hadn't found a ghost. "For the last lime, mijo. Ghosts are not real."
"I'm literally sitting right here," Mickey muttered, placing her hand to her chest.
"Typical adult," Reggie said. He was perched on the arm of the chair Mickey was sitting in and her head was resting on his knee. "Do you remember when we were kids, and they never believed what we said?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's just a you thing," Alex told him. "I was always pretty trustworthy."
"I conditioned my parents into always believing me and blaming Bobby for stuff," Mickey said, smiling to herself.
"Shouldn't we be more worried about Julie?" Luke asked. "Her dad just busted her, okay? He's probably making her quit the band."
"Well, there's not much we can do about that now," Reggie reasoned.
"Wow, that's a really mature response—"
"But we can still help Carlos," he declared. "Adults not believing children ends tonight."
"Spoke too soon," Mickey muttered with a smile on her face.
"Showtime," he said.
Then Reggie reached back and turned the lamp off. Tía Victoria gasped, and she and Carlos looked over at the lamp, surprised.
"Ghosts aren't real, huh? How do you explain that?" Carlos asked her, smugly.
Reggie shrugged and looked at Tía Victoria expectantly. "Light bulbs burn out all the time, Carlos."
"Oh, wrong answer, Tía." Reggie jumped off the chair and walked over to the window. "Explain this."
He started rapidly opening and shutting the blinds. Mickey sighed and leaned back in her chair, not believing that he was doing something so drastic. Tía Victoria gasped and grabbed Carlos, taking a step back.
"Maybe it's my mom," Carlos said excitedly. "She knows I haven't been replacing the toilet paper."
"You're mama would never scare us. This is the work of a demon!" Tía Victoria declared.
Reggie froze at the word "demon" and turned to look at her with a hurt expression. "Hey! Words hurt."
"Wait! I gotta get it on video," Carlos said, fumbling with his tablet.
"Yeah, you do," Reggie said, pointing to Carlos.
"Reggie, no," Mickey mumbled, sliding down in the chair.
"Reggie, yes," he said enthusiastically. Mickey chuckled as he grabbed a white blanket. "Time for an old classic."
He threw the blanket over his body to make it look like a sheet ghost. Tía Victoria started screaming and grabbed Carlos before he could get a good picture. She screamed the entire time that she dragged him from the house. Reggie laughed and tossed the blanket down and then squeezed himself into the chair with Mickey. Finally, he acknowledged the three unimpressed ghosts.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Alex asked him, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, I do. I've defended every kid who's never been believed. Some might say I'm a superhero." Then he glanced at Mickey, who simply raised an eyebrow. "We should probably hide before Julie finds out, huh?"
Reggie hopped up and ran to the studio. Mickey laughed while Alex and Luke shared a look before following him. However, Mickey didn't tag along. She was finally alone, meaning she wouldn't have to come up with some lame excuse to slip away.
It was time to talk to Carrie.