Before you read this, I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Fandom_Simp they are working together to write an absolutely amazing season 2 fanfic that deserves way more recognition. So go check em out and give them all the love 💞
Julie's POV
I wake up Monday morning after only getting two hours of sleep. But I'm lucky I got that much. Now is the time for what I've been dreading since yesterday, I have to try to find a way for my dad to let me skip school today and most likely the rest of the week. I don't know how I'd explain the frequent jolts to my teachers and the other students at school.
As if on cue, im hit with another jolt, glad I stayed in bed. Perfect timing, my dad walks in to check on me while I'm still feeling the after pains of the jolt.
"Good morn- Julie are you alright?" He asks, concern written all over his face.
"Yeah just uh cramps" I let out, pain evident in my voice. I know this was a good excuse because when it comes to cramps, my dad doesn't want anything to do with it.
"Oh um right. It seems worse than usual. Are they always that bad? Nevermind, spare me the details. You can stay home if you'd like."He quickly says before walking out of my room. I know I can always get away with using a period/cramp excuse. Dad doesn't even realize that I'll make that excuse at least three times a month, he just gets so awkward and doesn't want to question me. It's really hilarious.
I just lay in bed for another half hour, taking in the excruciating jolts every so often. Then I get a text from my dad.
~I just left for some photo shoots. I have a busy day and won't be home until late. Carlos is going to Tia's after school so you can take some time to be alone. Feel better mija <3~
With that I get out of bed and am about to head down to the studio when there's a knock on my door.
"Come in" I say. The door opens and I see Reggie standing on the other side. "Hey reg!" I hug him.
"I've come to escort you to the studio. I just saw your dad leave" he says. I smile.
"Well then let's head down" I say. He holds out his arm for me to link onto mine,
Right as we get to the doors of the studio, I'm hit with another jolt. I fall to the ground on my knees. These jolts are the absolute worst. Reggie comes down next to me and puts an arm around my shoulders. Luke rushes to me from inside the studio. "I'm fine, I'm fine" I say trying to shake it off. Luke doesn't listen to me. He grabs my hands and helps me to my feet. I can barely stand and he notices. With one swift move, he sweeps one arm under my knees, the other around my back and picks me up carrying me to his couch and lying me down. I'm surprised at first but then I roll my eyes. "I could have walk by myself." I pout, hiding the fact that I secretly liked it.
"Sure" Luke says sarcastically. I sit up, refusing to just lay around while the guys do all the hard work in our plan.
"So are you guys ready for the first part of our plan?" I ask, thinking back to the plan we made yesterday. It's still kind of a rough draft, the rest of the plan depends on the progress we make today.
"Yeah" Alex says "Willie says he'll meet Reggie and I at the beach. From there, we'll split up, meeting back up about every hour or so. Luke, we'll be back around noon to switch out who stays with Julie."
"I still don't need someone to stay here with me. Don't you think it would be more efficient if all three of you go with willy?" I ask, annoyed that I'm really just holding them back from making serious progress. All three of them turn to look me in the eye.
"No" they all say in unison. I roll my eyes.
"Then Reggie, Alex, you guys better get going. We don't have much time." I say.
"Yeah you're right" Reggie says. Alex and Reggie both give me tight hugs.
"Be careful" I say.
"We will" Alex says before proofing away with Reggie. Leaving me and Luke alone.
Luke's POV
It's 10:00 which means I have two hours with Julie before Alex and Reggie come back, even though I'll try to get them to let me stay with Julie all day.
I look over to my couch and see Julie, looking half asleep. "Julie maybe you should rest" She snaps out of whatever trance she was in.
"Oh um I'm fine. Just a little tired. The jolts make it difficult to fall asleep" she says.
"How bout you go lay down in your room and try to sleep now" I suggest. I can tell she's exhausted and worried about the first step of our plan. She needs to just rest, catch up on some sleep.
"Ok. But only if you stay with me" she says quietly "I'm too afraid of the jolts to be alone" she looks down at the floor.
"Jules, anyone in your place would be scared. Of course I'll stay with you." I say with a small smile. I walk over to her and hug her, poofing us to her room in the process. She lets out a yelp then lightly slaps my arm.
"A warning next time would be helpful" she says. I laugh.
She gets herself comfortable under her covers and I sit on the empty side of the bed with my legs crossed, facing her.
"Can you play something?" She asks quietly. I nod and make my acoustic appear in my hands. I think about what to play and decide on what Julie once told me was one of her favorite songs, going on a rant about how it was so underrated. I took the liberty of stealing her laptop to learn it without her knowing. It's by some boy band called One Section or something like that.
I start picking the strings, playing the song slower than usual since she'll be falling asleep to it.
I wanna write you a song
One as beautiful as you are sweet
Just a hint of pain for the feeling
That I get when you are gone
I wanna write you a song
She's a little surprised when I first start, but she replaces her shock with a sweet smile quickly.
I wanna lend you my coat
One that's as soft as your cheek
So when the world is cold
You will have a hiding place you can go
I wanna lend you my coat
Oooh
Everything I need I get from you
Oooh, ooh
Giving back is all I wanna do
I wanna build you a boat
One as strong as you are free
So anytime you think that your heart is gonna sink
You know it won't
I wanna build you a boat
Oooh
Everything I need I get from you
Oooh, ooh
Giving back is all I wanna do
Oooh
Oooh
Everything I need I get from you
Oooh, ooh
Giving back is all I wanna do
I wanna write you a song
One to make your heart remember me
So anytime I'm gone you can listen to my voice and sing along
I wanna write you a song, I wanna write you a song
By the time I finish, Julie's fast asleep with a smile on her face. I know she probably thinks that that was just me singing her favorite song so she could sleep. But the truth is, I meant every word of that song as if I wrote it myself. I think back to my conversation with Alex the other day. I still don't think Julie actually has feelings for me. There's no way. I think about the night back on her porch when we almost kissed. I think? Was she going to kiss me? I doubt it. She probably was just like trying to ... guess what cologne I was wearing, yeah that makes sense. She had to lean in the smell it better. It's obvious. There's no way she was gonna kiss me.
I feel my heart ache, knowing that we can never be together. Even if she did feel the same way, I would always feel guilty for holding her back from someone else, a lifer who could give her so much more than I can. I look at how peaceful she is sleeping. After the past couple days we've had, I love seeing her so calm and peaceful, not worried about anything.
I set my guitar down by the side of her bed and look around the room. I admire all the colors she has displayed around, until my eyes fall on a familiar shape on her shelf. Her dream box. Since I found the poem for Flying Solo, I've been wanting to raid that box for more song ideas, but I haven't had the opportunity considering the fact that Julie has set so many 'boundaries'. I decide now is as good a time as any.
I carefully take the small box into my hands and bring it back to the bed as I slowly sit down, trying not to disturb the beautiful girl sound asleep next to me. I lift the lid of the box and dig through, looking at a couple of the pieces of paper. My eyes land on one particular folded piece of paper. The creases look worn, like Julie has folded and unfolded the paper many times. I unfold it and stare down at it. The top reads 'Perfect Harmony' and there in the corner it says underlined with big bold letters NICK!! She wrote a song about nick?
I read through it. It's a great song, clearly a love song though. And it's about nick. Was this before or after he was possessed by Caleb? She told me she turned nick down! Was Julie crushing on Caleb possessed nick? Eww. Wait, Alex lied to me! He said Julie told him she likes me! Of course, it's just like Alex to lie to me to get me to confess my feelings. I can't believe this. I have so many feelings boiling inside of me. I set the box and the song down on Julie's bed, grab my guitar, and poof out to the studio.
Of all the emotions I'm feeling right now, anger, betrayal, jealousy, the one I feel the most is hurt. Alex let me get my hopes up that maybe Julie had feelings for me. But I should have known it would never happen. I sit down on my couch and decide to do what I always do when I feel upset, I start to write.
After a while I have some good lyrics down. I go to pick up my guitar but stop myself half way. I decide to try something different. I walk over and sit down at the piano. Since the song I wrote is about Julie, I wanted to sing it in the way that reminds me most of her, by playing the piano. Before the Orpheum, when we'd sit and write together, we'd joke around together and it led to her teaching me some piano and then of course me teaching her some guitar a few days ago. I gently place my hands on the keys and start to figure out the piano part along with the melody. Once it's all worked out, I begin the song.
I wonder if I'm being real
Do I speak my truth or do I filter how I feel?
I wonder, wouldn't it be nice
To live inside a world that isn't black and white?
I wonder what it's like to be my friends
Hope that they don't think I forget about them
I wonder, I wonder
Right before I close my eyes
The only thing that's on my mind
Been dreamin' that you feel it too
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you
I wonder what it's like
I wonder what it's like to be loved by
I wonder why I'm so afraid
Of saying something wrong and nevеr said I was a saint
I wonder, when I cry into my hands
I'm conditioned to feel likе it makes me less of a man
And I wonder if someday you'll be by my side
And tell me that the world will end up alright
I wonder, I wonder
Right before I close my eyes
The only thing that's on my mind
Been dreamin' that you feel it too
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you, yeah
I wonder what it's like
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you, yeah
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you
I wonder what it's like to be loved by
Right before I close my eyes
The only thing that's on my mind
Been dreamin' that you feel it too
I wonder what it's like to be loved by you
The last note rings out through the studio. I wipe away the tears that have been falling from my eyes. That's when I hear the blood curdling scream from her room.
Julie's POV
I stand up from my bed after waking up from the relaxing nap. I look around my room and see no sign of Luke. Then I hear a knock on my door. Assuming it's him, I say "come in". My door slowly creaks open to reveal the empty hallway. "Luke?" I call out "Luke!? This isn't funny." No answer. I hesitantly step towards the door, really nervous for what I might find out in the hallway. I peek around the door frame and see to the end of the hallway. Nothing. It's empty. I take a few small steps back into my room, refusing to take my eyes off the hallway until I close my door. Once I'm confident it's shut. I turn around and stop dead in my tracks.
"Nick" I say. He's standing right there in my room. How did he get in here? I back up slowly, remembering that he isn't nick. With each step I take backwards, he takes another step towards me. As he walks, Nicks body or skin or whatever slowly melts away revealing a tall man with dark hair and a suit on. I assume this is Caleb based off of how the guys have described him. I'm still stepping back until my back hits the door, he's right in my face. I'm trapped. I have nowhere to go. He grabs my shoulders and I let out a gasp. Luke please come here!
"I need your help" Caleb hisses at me.
"I won't help you" I try to sound confident but the tears are already falling from my eyes.
"Oh so that's how you want to play." He says. He brings his head right next to my face which makes me want to puke and sob at the same time, he whispers into my ear "I can always make you help" I cringe as I feel his breath tickle my ear. He pulls me away from the door and throws me onto the ground hard. I let out a yelp of pain. Caleb gets on top of me and raises his hand, about to strike my face. The look of pure anger on his face terrifies me. This won't be a soft punch. I close my eyes and scream as loud as I can, then I feel the weight of Caleb lifted off of me.
When I open my eyes he's gone and I'm back in my bed. I'm breathing heavily, still scared from the dream. Where's Luke? I told him to stay with me for this exact reason, and he left me? I look over at where he sat just moments before and I see my dream box and Perfect Harmony in his place. Oh no. He knows.
Suddenly my door bursts open, an out of breath Luke standing there with a worried look.
"Nightmare again" is all I say. He lets out a sigh of relief and walks towards me, wrapping me in his arms, something I've grown to really adore.
After a few minutes I pull away and glare at him. "Now that I feel better, why did you go through my dream box? We've been through this, I have privacy and you have no right going through my personal things." He looks towards the floor.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." He says. I roll my eyes,
"That's not an excuse. These things are personal and I-" pain. Another jolt. I clutch my stomach waiting for the pain to subside. Luke turns around not wanting to look at me like this.
"Julie I know these past few days have been hard for you" He says.
"Ya think?" I say sarcastically "I got cursed by an evil ghost and I might not live to see my junior year!" I yell.
"No its not that" he says turning around. "I'm talking about nick." I look at him so confused. Of course I'm upset that I accidentally dragged one of my friends into this whole mess and I'm a little worried about his safety, but why would Luke be thinking ab- oh crap. I think back to after we performed Great when I wrote down perfect harmony.
'I just have to get this out of my head.' I think to myself. Why do I have to be crushing so hard on a ghost? It sucks. I can't even feel him! He's just air, nothingness. I write down the lyrics to the song I imagined earlier today in dance class. When I finish the last line, I'm so mad at myself. This is just going to get me a broken heart. I scribble on the top in big bold letters NICK!! And underline it. Flynn wants me to be thinking about nick, not Luke. But I just can't help it. He may not be real to everyone else, but he's real to me.
He must have thought I wrote Perfect Harmony for nick. Now he thinks I like him.
"Luke, you read my song didn't you" I say. He nods his head slightly, looking down at the ground.
"I know what it feels when the person you care about the most is in trouble." He queitly says. What does he mean? Is he talking about Alex and Reggie when the three of them had the stamp? Whatever. I think it's time to finally come clean about everything. I know things are really confusing since he's a ghost and I'm, well, not. But I don't care. We won't get anywhere if we don't talk things through. Even though he doesn't feel the same way. I can't keep lying to him. Plus I'll never really know unless I talk to him. I'm about to speak up when he starts talking. "I'm talking about you. To make that clear" he speaks a little louder than earlier. I freeze where I'm standing in front of my bed. After a while I finally gather all the words I want to say.
"Luke, that song, it uhm... well, it kind of uh- it wa- it wasn't about nick" I say. He looks at me confused. "I wrote his name on the top to try to stop myself from thinking about who the song is really about." I look down to the floor "it's about you." I say quietly, not meeting his eyes. He didn't hear me.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you" He says. I look him in the eyes.
"Lucas Patterson, the song is about you."
The end of chapter 10
Actual conversation I had with my mom today
Mom after I finish playing/singing perfect harmony on the piano: "that was so good! It was better than the original!"
Me: *laughs* "mom you've never heard the original."
Mom: "yeah but every time you or your sister play and sing a song that I don't know, it's better than the original"
Me: *plays the original song*
Mom when Charlie finishes the first line: *eyes widen* oh... nevermind. What's his name? He's really good."
Thanks mom
Anyways, juke is finally getting somewhere!! This is one of my favorite chapters. I wanted to add some songs so I added two of my favorite songs and I'm loving it. It took me a while for this one and I'm sorry. I've been wanting to try my best to publish a chapter everyday and I was doing good for a few days, and then school opened again and its getting harder to write! I'll try my best to find free time though cause I really love writing this!
You'll have to wait for the next chapter to learn more about their plan......
Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!
Thank you for reading! It means a lot!
- Anna <3