· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎ 𝑭 𝑨 𝑹 𝑭 𝑹 𝑶 𝑴 𝑵 𝑶 𝑹 𝑴 𝑨 𝑳 ▎
𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 ━━ DEAL-MAKERS.
࿔·ﾟ*ೃ࿐ ࿔* 🎸🥁🎤🎶
sometimes a deal with the
𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹 is better than no deal at all
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
LUCA Martinez was miserable if that was what you could even call his mood.
Ever since he had seen Ashley and Julie perform with their hologram band the night before, his mood had been out of whack. He had seen his ex-best friend in school that day and people were beginning to grow a fanbase around her and Julie and were taking photos with the two of them in the school hallways.
He had always known Ashley was born to be a star, he had seen it in her from the first day they met, he just thought the day she would become one she would be by his side, not Julie's and a band that didn't even live in the U.S.
But that had been his own fault. He had messed up, not her.
And now he had to watch her fall in love with someone else.
Taking a puff of a sigh, he leant forwards slightly so his skateboard slipped down the ramp at the skatepark, swiftly passing a few of his friends. Skateboarding wasn't something Luca did often - most days he didn't even like skateboarding, he would so much prefer to be sitting in his room with his guitar and his writing journal - but when he was miserable and stressed out, it was his boys at the skatepark that always had the power to cheer him up.
But even on that day, they weren't helping. All he could think about was Ashley and how much he had messed up with her, how badly things had gone in a direction he didn't want them to. How she looked at that bassist.
Luca was so unfocused that he almost crashed right into one of his friends. He managed to put a foot down to stop them colliding into each other, but Luca slipped in a moment of unfocused attention and ended up crashing, his shoulder bumping into the middle of the ramp and he ended up flat on his back.
It wasn't as if he hadn't felt that kind of pain before. In the early days, when he had first started to skate and was still trying to teach himself the basics of it all, he had spent more time on the ground than he had on his actual board.
He winced as he sat up, shoulder aching until he saw a hand reach for him.
"Head somewhere else, man?" Luca recognised the voice. He grabbed hold of the hand with his own that wasn't holding his sore shoulder, allowing whoever it was to haul him off the ground. "What's got you looking so bummed?"
It was Nate, a boy from the lacrosse team at school that Luca hadn't seen since he quit the team because of time scheduling issues. Luca gave the boy a confused glance for a moment, knowing how much Nate hated skateboarding with everything that made him who he was - it was all he ever used to talk about.
"Yeah, you could say that." Luca winced again as he tried to roll his shoulder, get the muscles moving. It was definitely going to leave a nasty bruise, that was for sure. "Hell, I haven't seen you in months. What brings you to this part of town, dude? I thought you hated skateboarding with a passion?"
For a brief moment, Nate's eyes flashed with worry, like something in a plan had gone wrong, before it was gone again, as if it had never been there.
"Just wanted to come and see you." The boy smiled a little, but it didn't reach his eyes. "As you said, you haven't seen me for months. Can a boy not come looking for his friend? You were the one who almost crashed into me."
"Yeah, sorry, you're right." Luca tried to ignore the fact that Nate had actually been skateboarding as he winced again, the muscles in his shoulder tensing.
"You need something for that shoulder?" There was a slight flash of worry in Nate's eyes as he looked from Luca's face to his shoulder. "There's a pharmacy up the road, I think. We could take you up there and see if they can just give it a check? I don't trust your pain tolerance. Never have."
Luca tried to convince Nate he was fine, that it was a pain he had felt before - even though it wasn't - but Nate was being insistent and Luca had a feeling there was more to it than the shoulder. Nate seemed to want to get Luca by himself and even though there was something inside Luca that was screaming, "Danger!" he still followed Nate without question when he started to walk down the road.
The boy couldn't help but notice how different his friend seemed. It had been a few months but Nate looked different. He was holding himself differently, walking differently and his whole persona just wasn't Nate. It felt wrong.
Nate didn't say anything to Luca until they were far enough away from their group of friends that they wouldn't hear them if they spoke. Luca didn't miss the smirk on Nate's face and paused on the spot, eyeing his friend with concern.
"Nate, is everything okay?" Luca couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Everything is just fine, Luca. At least, now we're alone, that is."
Luca felt his insides roll when he said that. The look in his eyes when he had said it made Luca feel the most uncomfortable had felt in a long time, but there was something almost holding him to the ground like the universe had bound him to the floor. He couldn't run. He seemed to be rooted to the spot.
"What's going on, Nate?" Luca had tried to step away from his friend but he was frozen in place. Luca didn't know what to do in that moment. "This isn't you. The Nate I know isn't freaky, for a start. He doesn't even skateboard."
Nate rolled his eyes, cursing himself.
"Who'd have thought that Luca Martinez would be that observant to notice such a minor detail like that." Nate's voice had changed now, less caring and tenser. "I thought I would get away with it, but apparently I underestimated you.
"Don't get yourself in a panic Luca, your Nate is just fine, probably at home, I don't know. I, however, am here to talk to you. About Ashley, if that's okay?"
Luca swallowed, his heart pounding. 'Your Nate is just fine'. His Nate?
"Who are you?" Luca breathed the words out, his chest tight as he struggled to catch a breath. "What did you do with Nate? How do you know who I am?"
'Nate', or whoever it was in front of him, huffed in frustration.
"Do the kids of this generation ever listen?" He seemed to be talking to himself as he threw his hands in the air. "I have eyes and ears everywhere in Hollywood. I'm in everyone's business. Walk with me, Luca. I'll help you understand."
Every nerve inside Luca was yelling at him to run, to go and get help, to do something other than follow him, but the curiosity inside him was blazing and before he knew what he was doing, he was walking along the boardwalk beside Nate, eyeing him every now and again to make sure he didn't do anything.
The pain in Luca's shoulder was being ignored for the time being.
"So, by now I should hope you've realised that I'm not actually your friend Nate." Luca's friend looked up to him, eyes blazing. "This shape is just for show. I can't have people along the boardwalk worrying about why you're walking along with a grown man now, can we? We don't even look alike to pass as family."
"Grown man?" Luca looked around him briefly as he caught the gazes of a few passersby, who saw nothing out of sorts with the two boys walking past them and shot them warm smiles. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"
Nate - could Luca even call him Nate? - let out a chuckle.
"My name is Caleb Covington," Nate smirked at Luca and in that moment, Luca saw through whatever wall was tieing Nate to this man. His eyes were different. No wonder Nate had been holding himself differently. This wasn't Nate. "If you're so freaked out by me using one of your old friends as a disguise then I can change into my true shape. I'll warn you though - I'm pretty."
Luca was speechless for a moment before she shook his head.
"No." He said it with a fully serious tone. "Nate is fine. This is already freaky enough as it is without me walking around with a man I don't even know."
Caleb chuckled darkly.
The two of them wandered along the boardwalk, Luca's injured shoulder long forgotten, as they both stayed silent for a while. Luca still didn't fully understand what was going on but this Caleb dude hadn't made any attempt to hurt him yet, so that was a win in his books. Was he really losing his mind this time?
"You said you want to talk about Ashley?" Luca was the first to speak up.
"Ah, yes!" Caleb smiled and it made Luca feel uncomfortable seeing it through his friends face but knowing it wasn't his friend behind it. "The reason I'm here."
"You haven't hurt her, have you?" Luca felt his heart drop slightly.
"No, and I don't plan on doing." Caleb waved Luca's accusation off. "I just need you to tell me what you know about her and the band she's been playing with."
"You know about Julie and the Phantoms?" Luca didn't know why he was telling this man all the details he knew about Ashley and Julie's band but it was almost as if he couldn't help it like a force was pulling the words up his throat.
"They have a name." Luca watched as Caleb seemed surprised. "That's cute."
"People love them," Luca remembered the night before when all of the students gathered in Julie's garden had cheered and applauded for the band. "They're good. Talented. They're going to get somewhere in the music scene."
"I need more details than that, Luca." Caleb sighed heavily. "Tell me about the boys. Who are they, where are they from, what are they like. Tell me everything."
And because Luca still had no idea what was going on and there was no way he could've known how dangerous the man he was talking to could be, he spoke. He spilt every secret he knew about Julie and the Phantoms - which wasn't a lot considering Ashley had only come back into his life a week or two ago.
When Luca had spilt himself dry of secrets, Caleb looked impressed.
"You say Ashley is in love with the bassist?" Caleb's eyes had brightened when Luca had told him this and the boy had expected the man to expand on why that fact made him so excited. "His name is Reggie, by the way. If we're going to discuss him here, we may as well use his actual name."
"I didn't say I was sure, I was just assuming, after last night."
"And you're so bothered by that because..." Caleb paused, catching Luca's look.... "you're in love with her too and you're jealous. Is that right?"
"I wouldn't say I'm in love with her, I mean-" Caleb cut Luca off.
"You don't need to have secrets with me, Luca. If you're in love with Ashley, you're in love with Ashley. Who am I to judge? Who am I going to tell?"
Luca hated to admit it, but he was right.
"What would you say-" Caleb paused in the middle of the boardwalk, turning so he was looking Luca in the eyes, his dark eyes sparkling behind Nate's face- "if I told you I could help you get the two things you want most in life?"
Luca felt like someone had punched him in the chest.
"Wha-" he coughed, chest tight- "what do you mean?"
Caleb chuckled, walking again. The pause had been for emphasis, then.
It had worked, that was for sure.
"I'm getting musician vibes." Caleb waved his hand as they walked, so his gesture encircled Luca. "You're into music, right? I'm getting the correct vibe?"
"Yeah, that's right." Luca was a little afraid at how much this man seemed to see right through him but if he could take someone else's face, what else could he do? "All I've ever wanted since I was a kid was to make music for a living. There's something about performing in front of people that nothing else quite beats."
Caleb smirked at him.
"I have a house band, in my club." The man continued to walk as he spoke. "We have people come and see us all the time, we perform every night and we don't always stick to Hollywood. We travel the world to perform for different people and I'm looking for another guitarist to join me on stage."
Luca looked at the man, wide-eyed.
"You want me in your house band?" The boy didn't believe him.
"Of course." Caleb was still smirking. "If you'll help me, that is."
There was a catch. There always was.
"How am I meant to help you?" Luca was confused. "I don't even know you."
The man let out a deep, dark chuckle.
"What would you say if I told you that your precious Ashley hasn't fallen in love with a hologram or even a real person?" Caleb was giving Luca a sideways look and Luca's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was the band then, ghosts? "What would you do if I told you that the three other members of Julie and the Phantoms, the holograms, were actually ghosts, like me?"
Luca hadn't been serious.
"That's not possible." Luca shook his head adamantly. "Ghosts aren't real."
"Then what am I, Luca?" Luca couldn't help thinking that the man made a good point. "What do you think I am? How do you think it's possible that I'm able to turn into your old friend, Nate? How is any of this even possible?"
"All very good questions." Luca let out a breath. "You're trying to tell me that Reggie, Luke and Alex are ghosts? And you expect me to believe that?"
"Do holograms really make sense?" Caleb raised his eyebrows at Luca. "They come out of nowhere, on a day that Julie needs them most, neither Julie nor Ashley mention holograms ever and then they're in a band with some? I know ghosts may seem like a bit of stretch but if you think about it, it does make sense."
Again, Luca hated to admit it, but he was right. It did make sense.
"So, Reggie, Luke and Alex are ghosts," Luca said the words slowly as Caleb nodded along. "Ashley is in love with a ghost. Julie and Ashley are in a band with ghosts. Julie and the Phantoms are ghosts. You're a ghost."
"The more you say it, the more real it'll become, trust me." Caleb chuckled.
Luca couldn't believe a ghost was mocking him.
"Why do you need my help? If you're such a powerful ghost then can't you just do it yourself? You clearly seem to have all the freaky ghost powers for it."
"I need the boys in my corner but if I was to go looking for them myself, they would recognise me." Caleb shrugged. "They wouldn't have any of it. But you, Luca Martinez, can be my inside man. They won't suspect you to be a spy. My inside scoop. You figure out what you can, or don't, I don't mind, but just keep an eye on my boys. Make sure they're not getting up to any funny business."
"And if I help you?" Luca wanted more details.
"I'll give you more glory than you could ever imagine." Caleb's eyes were bright. "And I'll help you get the girl. Once Reggie is out of the way, Ashley will have no choice but to come to you. I'll make sure she has no choice."
Luca couldn't believe he was even considering accepting the offer.
"And all I have to do is keep an eye on the boys?" Luca raised his eyebrows. "That doesn't sound like much of a deal-breaker. If something happens, how am I supposed to tell you? I don't even know what your real face looks like."
"I need more time to officially get my plan together, Luca, but if I need you at any point, I'll find you." Caleb patted Luca's shoulder. "Trust me."
Luca took a deep breath before nodding.
"Okay. I'll help you."
Caleb was smirking.
"Fabulous!" The man grinned and it was still unnerving to see it through the face of one of his old friends, even though he knew that it wasn't really Nate. "Pleasure doing business with you, Luca Martinez. I'll be seeing you very soon."
The ghost patted him on the shoulder again before he was gone.
Just like that, in the whoosh of air, with nothing but a pop, the man was gone and Luca was standing alone on the boardwalk once more. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed the man disappearing into thin air but there was nobody around them, that end of the boardwalk completely deserted of people.
Luca couldn't help but feel like he had just sold his life away.