the next morning, styx texted flynn that she would need to walk to school today, as she was staying back late to help julie get ready to play today. the two had been up late last night working with luke to help julie learn the song, and styx in turn learned the song.
when the girls finally got to school, they rushed to the music room excitedly, only to find it completely empty aside from a depressed looking flynn sadly playing the trumpet.
"what are you doing?" styx asks her as she let out a long note on the trumpet.
"and where is everyone?" julie adds.
"spirit assembly." flynn states plainly. "i was kind of blowing it off because i wasn't feeling very spirity." she explains and styx lets out a small sigh as julie's face falls. "you okay?" flynn asks them, sitting up in her chair.
"not really." julie sighs. "i had this new plan to play for ms harrison, hoping she'd let me back in. but i guess i missed my chance."
flynn's face breaks into a small grin, and styx takes a deep breath, already knowing what she was thinking.
"no, you didn't." flynn tells julie, walking up the girls and wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders.
the three girls made their way down the halls, the sound of dirty candy's newest self-obsessed song growing with each step. they walked into the gym to see the group performing as the whole school cheered for them.
"look who spent all her daddy's money on costumes and katy perry's choreographer." flynn says in annoyance.
"well, it paid off." julie sighs.
as much as it bothered styx to admit it, it was true. carrie may be a horrible person, but she did have a lot of talent.
midway through the performance, alex, luke and reggie poofed into the gym beside the girls, surprising both of them.
"what are you guys doing here?" styx whisper-yells at them, quickly checking to see if flynn noticed her talking.
"we wanted to see you stick it to the man." luke tells julie with a smile. "isn't that right boys?" he turns back to other two, alex nodding behind him while reggie was in a trance watching the girls dance in the middle of the gym.
"man, i miss high school." he mutters, making styx roll her eyes.
she was partly rolling her eyes at herself for the jealous knot that formed in her stomach upon hearing those words. she was not a jealous person, she never got hung up on people. dylan was proof of that. but something about reggie was drawing her in and she couldn't stop the growing feelings.
as dirty candy continued their performance, styx had to stifle a laugh when she saw alex dancing to the music, especially when she noticed julie being slightly annoyed by the blond.
when the song finally finished and carrie was done soaking up the applause for herself, the five girls walked out of the gym together as principal lessa and ms harrison walked into the spot light.
"thank you dirty candy!" she says.
"nows your chance! go talk to her." flynn tells julie with a grin. "see you in music class!" she spins to walk towards the steps, and styx stayed back with julie and the ghosts.
"that was sweet." the crowd falls silent at the principals joke, making ms harrison clear her throat awkwardly. "okay then." she says quickly. "before we let you go we have a few more announcements."
julie and styx ignore the announcements, turning back to the boys.
"what are you waiting for? this is your time." reggie says, all of them noticing julie's lack of movement.
"yeah, i mean you look really nervous." alex informs her. "like, yack-in-a-bowl nervous."
"very helpful." styx tells him sarcastically and he shrugs innocently.
"i just don't think i had enough time to work on the song." julie says, nearly shaking from nervousness.
"i wouldn't have given you this song if i didn't think you were gonna rock it!" luke reminds her. "now, there's a piano on that stage with your name on it."
"come on," styx grabs julie's hand and pulls her to the side of the gym, up the steps to back stage. "go kill it." she tells julie, gently shoving her out from behind the curtain and onto stage.
julie took a seat at the piano, trying to focus on taking deep breaths and not freaking out. she slowly played a few notes before quickly pulling her hands back. she glanced at the ghosts at the side of the gym with nervous eyes.
"you got this!" luke assures her, and she nods slightly and resumes playing.
Sometimes I think I'm falling down
I wanna cry, I'm calling out
For one more try to feel alive
And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark and find the spark
styx held her hands to her face while she watched julie play. it was so nice seeing her play again. she hadn't realized until last night just how much she missed playing with julie. it was one of her the best things in her life.
Life is a risk, but I will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together, I think that we can make it
C'mon let's run
the thought of playing with julie over took styx's thoughts and she suddenly saw a flash of bright light, before seeing the student body in front of her, with her guitar in hand, playing the song.
she noticed the other boys on stage as well, and her mind was reeling with so many questions that her it went completely blank. all she could think about was playing the song.
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
not only was she now freaking out for somehow magically appearing on stage, but she also began to notice that the crowd wasn't just looking at her and julie, but the boys as well.
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
"um, is this really happening?" julie lowers her mic to talk to luke, who couldn't stop grinning.
"just go with it!" he tells her, rushing back to his mic.
In times that I doubted myself
I felt like I needed somе help
Stuck in my head with nothing left
styx turned to reggie with wide eyes, and he was already looking at her. when she met his eyes, she suddenly felt some of her stress fade away, though she was still very confused.
I feel somеthing around me now
So unclear, lifting me out
I found the ground I'm marching on
styx followed reggie with her eyes as he bounced across the stage to share a mic with luke. julie quickly made her way back over to styx, both of them just starring at each other in confusion.
Life is a risk, but we will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together, I think that we can make it
C'mon let's run
julie returns to singing in the chorus and the crowd cheers again. styx had no idea what was going on, but she didn't care because she loved performing so much. she would never say no to the opportunity to play for people.
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
julie and luke shared a mic and made their way to the front of the stage together.
In times that I doubted myself
I felt like I needed some help
Stuck in my head with nothing left
styx watched reggie as he played the piano, admiring the many skills he had. her heart dropped slightly when she saw him wink at one of the dirty candy members but she tried her best to ignore it.
And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark and find the spark
julie spun and walked through luke, making the crowd cheer louder than before and styx laughed slightly.
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together bright forever
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together
Bright forever
after the song finished, the five people on stage bowed for the cheering audience. styx suddenly saw another flash of light and then found herself back behind the curtain where she had been before.
she could hear that julie was talking to the crowd, probably trying to explain what just happened, but she was too focused on her mini panic attack to pay attention.
her breathing was quick as she shook out her limbs, making sure she still worked normally. she let out a small sigh of relief, noticing that she felt fine. she was still extremely confused and couldn't even think straight as she ran into the hall and began pacing around. she wasn't really going any where in particular but she couldn't seem to stop walking.
students began to fill the hallways and she realized that julie would probably be looking for her. on her way back to the gym, she found the three ghosts and the thought of julie slipped away as all the confusion flooded her mind again.
"do you guys know what just happened because i have no idea what just happened and i'm freaking out about what just happened i mean how did that happen?!" styx speaks quickly, taking all the boys by surprise and making them pause for a moment to comprehend what she said.
"i don't know?" reggie shrugs at her and she rolls her eyes.
"i just teleported!" she grabs his shoulders to make him face her. "i'm gonna need a little more than I don't know!"
his eyes widen and all three boys freeze. styx looks around at them in confusion as they all stare at her.
"what?" she asks quickly, pull her hands back to her side. all three boys reached out and grabbed her arms, looking to each other in confusion. "what are you doing?"
"we can touch you?" reggies voice is quiet and he just looks at where his hand is touching her.
"yeah?" she shrugs slightly. "oh my god please tell me you can touch everyone?" her eyes widen as the realization hits her that usually ghosts go through people, and she remembered how julie had walked through luke only minutes ago on stage.
alex shook his head slowly and she let out a loud groan.
"no, no, no! what is happening?!" she took a step away from the boys and ran a hand through her hair. "why aren't i normal?"
the boys ignored her question and suddenly disappeared from in front of her, reappearing a bit further down the hall, where julie had just rounded the corner.
"julie!" they shout together and styx rolls her eyes, walking over to join them. it's clear where their priorities lie.
"ah! you!" julie shouts in fear. "stop doing that, i'm serious!"
"woah, woah! this ones on you. we were already here." reggie holds his hands up in surrender. "well actually we were over there, and then we came over here." he explains and styx sighs, walking past him to stand next to julie.
"are we not gonna talk about what just happened?" luke says excitedly.
"yeah! the whole school saw you." julie said quickly.
"and i fricken teleported?!" styx adds. it seemed like everyone kept forgetting that part.
"yeah, it's kinda freaking me out." julie nods and alex takes a deep breath.
"okay, good because it's kind of freaking me out too." alex starts. "you know, you two can see us, and then people can see us whenever we play music, and my clothes are made of air but for some reason i'm still getting a wedgie." he pauses to take a deep breath. "so many questions." he mumbles and luke pats him on the arm.
"the important thing is that we rocked that place! they were loving you!" he tells julie excitedly.
"are you kidding? they loved us!" she says, wrapping an arm around styx. "that was a great song luke, thanks."
"and did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me?" reggie speaks and styx glances down, trying to keep her face clear of emotion. "at least, i think they were looking at me." he turns to luke quickly. "please tell me they were looking at me?"
"bro, they were looking at you." luke assures him and he lets out a small laugh in celebration.
"aw i knew it!" he says happily.
"i'm so, i'm so confused, you know?" alex says, and styx looks back up to listen to him. "the afterlife should come with instructions or a quick start guide or something."
"well the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms." julie says quickly before looking to styx. "you too." she adds and styx nods. great, now she'll have to act like she knows how to work a hologram machine. "and i got back into the music program."
styx turns to her confused. she sounded sad but that was good news.
"why do you look so bummed?" reggie asks.
"yeah, dude, you're making this face." luke wraps his arms around the other two boys and they each make a pouty face.
"that is not my face." she tells them and the boys, and styx, all make small sounds of disagreement.
"it's your face." luke assures her with a nod.
"and things just got weird between me and flynn." julie explains and styx feels a pit form in her stomach. she hadn't even thought about how flynn would react to the boys. "she asked about you guys and i couldn't say." julie sighs, dropping her arm from around styx.
"sweet, girls are already talking about us." reggie celebrates quietly, subtly high fiving luke.
"stop, i'm serious." julie tells them. "we can't tell her about you guys for the same reason we can't tell my dad. she'll think we've gone off the deep end!" styx nods beside her, letting out a sigh.
"well this dude definitely thinks you've gone off the deep end." reggie points to the janitor walking past them that neither girl had noticed was in the hall.
"i know it probably looks like we're crazy but i promise you, we are not." styx tells him, chuckling awkwardly. he just shakes his head at the girls and continues down the hall.
"we gotta get to class." julie sighs, pulling styx past the boys and down the hall.
"oh! tell those cheerleaders that i'm single!" reggie calls after them.
"oh, and that he's dead." alex adds, making the girls laugh slightly.
"i'm actually gonna head home." styx tells julie as the girls speed down the halls. "i can't handle this right now." she says quietly and julie stops walking to face her.
"you can go to my moms studio if you want?" julie offers. "my dad won't be home until later so you'll be alone."
"thanks." styx nods gratefully and julie offers her a small smile before continuing down the hall.
styx took a deep breath before heading to her locker to grab her things and go.
~*~