𝟏𝟓. 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄
( CHAPTER FIFTEEN ) — 𝐋.𝐏.
"Carlos, what are you doing?" I finally ask, looking up from my history book. Sitting at the kitchen table, my eyes followed him as he continued to snap pictures of each and every angle throughout the house on his iPad.
"Making sure there's no more orbs," He tells me in an obvious voice. "Don't worry Indie, I think this room is clear from ghosts so they won't mess with you,"
Holding back a snicker, I nod back. If only he knew.
Hearing the front door open, in came Ray holding a brown paper bag. Immediately getting up to help him with the groceries, he shooed me away.
"Your Tia's coming over and she's staying for dinner," He tells Carlos before looking back to me. "Go with Julie. I'll call you guys in when dinners ready but don't come in until then unless you want to be interrogated for the next 4 hours,"
"Can I go too?" Carlos suddenly asks, pointing toward the back door that led to the garage where we saw Julie leave off to minutes prior but Ray shook his head.
"No, you're gonna stay here and suffer through the questioning with me," He tells Carlos who let out a groan but nonetheless nodded.
"Fine. But I expect candy as payment fo—" Before Carlos could even reach the end of his sentence, Ray had pulled out two bars of candy from the bag. Eyes lighting up at the sight, the younger boy skips over and takes the chocolate bars. "You know me well,"
"I would hope so," Ray snickers. "Alright, out Indie,"
"I'm sure meeting her now wouldn't be that bad—"
"No," Ray and Carlos say simultaneously.
"Get out now while you can," Carlos adds. Already tearing open the first wrapper, Ray nods sheepishly causing me to sigh. Closing my notebooks and moving them to the counter, I begin my way out toward the back door. The two were talking amongst themselves before I slipped outside.
I smiled noticing Julie standing just before the garage doors but my expression dropped upon seeing how she seemed anything but happy. Slowly walking over to her, my line of view allowed me to see Alex, Reggie, and Luke in front of her. Uh oh.
"Look, we know we messed up," I hear Alex say, his comment directed toward Julie. Making a loud scuffing noise with my shoes, I make sure that they were aware of my presence. The air was already tense and I wanted anything but to be involved but I couldn't go back inside due to Ray's orders, however, I wasn't going to sit back and eavesdrop.
Julie barely acknowledged my existence, giving me a glance over but her expression softened in the slightest of ways indicating that she wasn't anywhere near mad at me compared to the glare she gave the boys.
"We need you in the band," Luke breaks the silence, his voice soft as he looked at Julie.
"Of course you do, because without me, no one can see you guys playing," Julie snaps, a sarcastic smile on her lips causing the three to look down at the floor. "You know, I thought that the music that we were writing was special, but you're too obsessed with your past to even care,"
"I do care!" Luke blurts, eyes narrowing at Julie before he lowered his voice back to normal. "Our band has a real chance at greatness. I'm not gonna let that get away from us again,"
"Uh-uh. Right. So then why did you bail on me to get back at Trevor?" Julie asks rhetorically. "I'll tell you why," She takes a breath, her face contorting up in anger before she spoke again. "'Cause there's only one thing you care about, and that's yourself,"
The sharpness in her tone caused me to flinch. The harsh sentence wasn't even directed to me but the way Luke's face fell at the comment was like she kicked a puppy that was already down. Julie didn't bother to wait for a response, instead she turned around, stomping off toward the house leaving the four of us.
"Julie," I call out softly but she didn't make a budge to turn back. Luke walked a few steps after her but stopped watching her go.
"Dude, she didn't mean it," Alex says softly, attempting to comfort Luke who looked frustrated and sad rolled into one. He barley turned, his eyes settling on Alex for a brief second but it was obvious he didn't believe him.
"Luke, she's just mad right now," I try to reason. My voice seemingly gaining his attention and he studied me for a few seconds. Sad Luke wasn't a Luke I saw often, if not ever, and somehow the way his eyes glossed over made an ache fall over my chest. "It'll be okay—"
I didn't have a chance to finish. Luke had given me one last look before he poofed away. I looked over to Reggie and Alex, the latter seemed worried but Reggie had his brows pinched together before he forced himself to blink out of his daze.
"Where's he going?" He asks.
"Where do you think?" Alex replies back in a monotone voice, his eyes still frozen on the spot Luke disappeared from before looking to me for a brief second, then turning to Reggie. "Remember what today is?"
Reggie shook his head confused but stopped a moment later. The two let out sighs but didn't speak another word, leaving me standing just as confused as before.
"What's today?" I ask carefully, attempting to not pry on the matter in hopes of not overstepping. "I-if I'm allowed to know. If it's personal, uh, if it's personal then you don't have to tell me but I just want to make sure he's gonna be okay, you know? He just looked so sad and I—"
"It's okay Indie," Alex interrupts my ramble, a bittersweet smile on his lips before he nodded toward the house. "We'll show you, but first we need to get Julie,"
. . . . .
"You know, sneaking onto people's property and spying on them could get us arrested right? This is the second time you guys have made me do this and honestly, I don't want to get arrested again—"
"Shh, you'll be fine," Alex cuts me off, holding a finger up to his lips to shush me before processing my words. "Wait—again?"
"I got into it with a white lady who told my Tia to speak english at the store one time," I explain nonchalantly, keeping it short but the looks I received caused me to sigh and continue. "It was a inherently hispanic store for reference, they were the token white people there. We were in line and my Tia was telling me to go grab something so the lady behind us said that and I started arguing with her and her husband came and pushed me away so I used a tortilla packet and... sorta smacked him. That proceeded to escalate and I was fighting with both of them before the cops came. Luckily everyone vouched for me saying they started it and the sheriff was cool with me so I got let go but I still had to be cuffed and brought to the station for paperwork,"
"Badass," Reggie giggles, holding his hand out to me and I motion the air-five with a smile. Julie had a smile and Alex was shaking his head but the smallest of laughs were heard coming from him.
"You took on two grown adults?" Julie reiterated while I nod. "Remind me never to get on Indie's bad side,"
"Wasn't that hard. The lady kept crying and running away. All I had to do to the guy was dodge. Besides, the workers pulled us apart before I could actually do anything," I shrug before turning my gaze toward the house. The previous light-hearted air was shut away as I caught a glimpse of Luke sat on the ledge inside, his eyes wet with tears looking at an elderly couple in the kitchen. " Wait so, Emily's his mom?" I ask softly.
"Yeah," Alex mumbles, eyes trained straight ahead. "Yeah.. Luke comes here a lot,"
"He thinks we don't know, but..." Reggie starts, his gaze set on Luke who was still crying as he watched his dad set two mugs and plates down on the table. "We've been following him. All he does is just hang out like this and watch them. They never really do anything though,"
Watching as his mom, Emily, places down a chocolate cake in the center of the table, my lips tug into a small frown.
"They're having cake.. that's something," Julie says optimistically but Reggie and Alex still had the same pained looks trained on him.
"It's a... It's a birthday cake. For Luke," Reggie tells us. Turning to look at him, my heart drops at the confession. It's his birthday and we didn't know.
"I never knew Luke was hurting this much," Julie says softly.
"Yeah. It's even worse because when he died, he... left on bad terms," Alex explains, head turning to Julie and I. "You know, his parents didn't want their 17-year-old in a rock band, so... he just left,"
Luke got up from his place upon his parents taking seats at the table. Sniffling, he attempts to wipe away a few of the tears as he moves toward the empty seat.
"He never got the chance to make up with them," Alex adds. Our eyes watched as Mr. Patterson lit the candle with a lighter and Luke leaned over as soon as it was lit. Blowing out the single candle, the two parents shared a look and gazed around before Luke took a seat.
"That's why Luke was so angry," Reggie says. "If Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then... his parents would've known his dream was worth chasing,"
Taking a deep breath, I attempt to suppress the pooling tears and clench my jaw. If I ever meet Trevor Wilson—
"They would have been so proud," Julie interrupts my thoughts. Her previous anger and distaste for Luke seemingly disappeared at this point.
My eyes fell upon Mr. and Mrs. Patterson. They were holding hands and leaning over the table. Just as they blew out the candle for their son, Luke had mirrored them. Emily looked as if she had begun to cry and Luke's lips tugged downward. Hearing a sniffle from beside me, Julie was wiping away a tear that had fell down to her cheek.
"We know how bad it hurts whenever someone that should've had your back completely let's you down," Alex stands up as he was talking to Julie. "We never meant to make you feel that way,"
"Julie, we love our band," Reggie adds after him. "And Luke does too. Please give us another chance,"
Her gaze set back ahead, and just as Emily began to bite into the slice of cake she had for herself, Julie's expression completely softened and in an instant, she was nodding.
"Okay," She mumbles. "The band is back," Julie tells the two causing Reggie to let out a cheer, the loudness of his voice causing all of us to dip down out of view in case Luke had heard.
Sending him a glare, Alex moves to smack the back of Reggie's head causing him to let out a muffled whine. Gesturing for us to leave, Julie and I carefully follow the two's lead and successfully make our way back to the main road.
"Okay, now we can celebrate," Alex announces and after a beat of silence, the four of us jumped up. Julie had grabbed my hands, twirling us around while I noticed Reggie and Alex sharing a brief hug before Alex had shoved him off. Noticing him roll his eyes, the tiniest of smiles appeared on his lips but Reggie continued to cheer himself.
"Guys! Guys — I have one condition," Julie announces, stopping us from the celebration. Raising a brow, I turn to her and she gives me a cheeky smile. "Indie. You're in the band now,"
"What?" I laugh. Assuming she was joking, I look between Alex, Reggie, and Julie but my smile drops noticing their serious expressions. "No— absolutely not. No,"
"Too late. Either you play with us or I don't go back to the band," Julie tells me.
"You're giving me an ultimatum?" I scoff. "Dude, I don't even play an instrument. I'm no help—"
"We can always teach you. Besides, you're an amazing singer. With Julie's voice and yours? We're guaranteed to get the music producers attention tonight," Alex reasons, taking Julie's side on the matter with a smile.
"Reggie?" Turning to the last one of the three, I practically beg for his help but he simply shakes his head.
"We've wanted you to sing with us since the other day. I think it's a great idea you joined the band,"
"What— what about Luke? You guys can't just invite me into the band without him right?" I reason, trying to grasp at any excuse I could think of but the pointed looks sent my way indicated I wasn't going to win.
"Indie, he's the one who brought up the idea to us," Alex snickers causing me to let out a groan.
"You guys are impossible,"
. . . . .
"Do you think this'll fit?" I ask, holding up the nearly finished woven bracelet for the three to see. Raising a brow, Julie gives me a confused look upon me barging into the garage.
"Did you make that?" Reggie asks while I nod.
"Figured it was better than nothing for a present right?" I answer before holding it out again. "Now back to my point, do you guys think it'll fit him? Maybe I should make it longer—"
"No that looks good Indie," Alex cuts me off. The smallest of smiles quirks at his lips as he twirls around one of his drumsticks in his hand. "That's why you left? To go make him a bracelet?"
"Well technically I ran to the apartment. I picked up hobbies with my Tia so the old stuff she bought me was still there but then I needed these small beads right? So I called Flynn and she had some that she gave me and I, like, jogged to her house while making it and when I was coming back here I finished it. I just wanted to make sure you guys would think it fit before I tied it off," Rambling through my explanation, I avoid their stares and knot the final piece to complete the white woven bracelet.
It was a small gift. I probably could've made it look better if I had more time but it was something. I just hoped it would fit.
"It looks like yours," Reggie comments, pointing toward my left hand.
"Yeah, he told me he liked mine so I just figured since he already liked it, I could make him one," I mumble. Saying the words out loud seemed dumb, awkwardness taking over me but the three seemed amused. The difference between our bracelets was the color, I had a black woven one with three white beads throughout. Luke's was the complete opposite, the only string I had was white and Flynn ended up giving me black beads.
"You guys have matching bracelets now," Julie teased, the smile brightening up her features causing me to roll my eyes.
"Shut up, it was easy to make and he deserved something after being in limbo for 25 years,"
"I'm sure a simple 'happy birthday' would've made him happy Indie," Alex snorts. "This just screams relationship, it's adorable really,"
"Don't make it weird," I whine, tucking away the bracelet into my pocket before shuffling over to the extra mic stand that I assume Julie had set up for me. "Let's just practice the song alright? We're doing Finally Free tonight, yeah?"
"It's already weird because neither of you want to admit the very obvious tension between you guys," Reggie comments before adjusting the strap of his bass.
"Can we please not talk about my feelings right now? If I'm gonna sing tonight we need to practice or else I'll ruin it," I huff, grabbing hold of the lyric sheet Julie had printed for me.
"Fine," Julie rolls her eyes playfully. "The guys and I marked which parts you would sing. Let's run it through and we can work from there," Nodding over toward Alex, he returns the gesture before hitting his sticks together three times and moving into the beat of the song.
Reggie and Julie followed upon his queue while I stood awkward behind my mic, not having much to contribute other than my voice.
" Marching on proud
Turn it up loud „
Looking over toward me, Julie nods and I take a deep breath seeing my highlighted part was next in the song. Please don't embarrass yourself.
" 'Cause now we know what we're worth „
I had barely finished my first line, getting smiles from Reggie and Alex before Luke popped into the room in a flash. The sudden appearance of him landing in the chair cause the music to stop as he looked around.
"Woah, Julie," Luke says with a questioning look but nonetheless seems happy to see her at the keyboard. Compared to earlier he looked fine, if we hadn't spied on him I would've never had a clue that he was hurting as much as he was.
"Grab a guitar. We got work to do," Julie tells him and Luke takes a second to look between us.
"Inds?" He asks, noticing me standing behind a mic beside Reggie.
"Surprise beanie boy, I'm crashing the band," I smile, hiding the fact that I was absolutely dreading the performance for tonight. Watching as his eyes lit up, Luke let out a small laugh before taking his guitar and slinging the strap over his shoulder. Walking back to Julie, she stands up from her seat as Luke's eyes study her.
"What made you come back?"
"I realized how important music is to all of us. And we've lost so much already. We can't lose this too," Julie tells him, the words had an underline meaning but he didn't know how serious she truly was. Taking a second, Luke nods in the slightest of ways.
"Thanks," He mumbles out. Looking up, Luke's eyes meet my own with a smirk appearing on his features. Making way to stand by me, he flickers his gaze to Julie. "All right, boss. Where we at?"
Rolling her eyes, Julie snickers but looks to me expectantly. Returning her gaze, I raise a brow causing her to dramatically look from me and down to my wrist.
"Oh!" I blurt, the attention falling on me now. Hurriedly digging my hand into my pocket, I pull out the woven bracelet and hold it out to Luke. "By the way, happy birthday. Next time tell me though so I have time to get you a real present,"
Looking between Alex and Reggie, Luke's eyes lit up once more. The tiniest of smiles appeared on his lips before he tucked the guitar behind him and pulled me into an abrupt hug.
"Thank you Inds," Luke mumbles into my neck. In a sudden movement, he had planted a chaste kiss to my cheek before moving away. "I love it. This is a real present so thank you. Mind putting it on for me?"
Not bothering to look up to see the others faces, I keep my head down to ignore how hot my face must've been. Clearing my throat, I simply nod before looping the bracelet around his right wrist. The small contact of my skin brushing over his hand caused my fingers to feel as if they were on fire and I could feel my heart flutter involuntarily. Seems to get worse every time we touch.
"Well look at that, you guys are matching," I hear Alex call out just as I finished securing it on.
"Shut up Alex," Luke replies back without missing a beat. Rolling his eyes, the amusement was still in his tone but he didn't bother to look away from me. "Thank you,"
"S'not a big deal. I remember you liked mine so I just figured it would work," I shrug, waving him off. Turning toward Alex, I send a glare his way and ensure to stick up my middle finger in a childish manner that he could see clearly causing Julie to laugh.
"Alright alright, don't start fighting," She interrupts just as she saw Alex open his mouth to retort. "Let's go from the pre-chorus," She adds, sending him a warning glare to which he childishly stuck his tongue out at me but nonetheless hit his sticks together.
"One, two, three, four!"
. . . . .
"Grounded?"
"Yes,"
"But—"
"Don't argue with your father mija," Julie's Tia scolds, a stern look on her face while Julie let's out a small sigh.
"Go to your room... and read? S-study, study. Calculus," Ray adds quickly, going off of what her Tia suggests. Looking over to me, I awkwardly smile but the look on his face told me enough. "Indie—"
"No no, I get it. I'll be grounded too," I interrupt, following after Julie up the stairs. I knew this was temporary, as soon as her Tia would leave we would be off the hook but it seemed like we were stuck for tonight. "¡Buenas noches!" I call out over my shoulder for extra measure.
"Dude I was actually excited to preform tonight and now we're stuck here," Julie mumbles, opening the door to her room and plopping down on the bed.
"I'm pretty sure your Tia still doesn't trust me and thinks I'm gonna snap and kill all of you," I snicker but Julie just rolls her eyes. "I'm serious! And now she thinks I'm a bad influence cause you missed the first half today,"
"It doesn't matter what she thinks. My dad isn't gonna listen to her when it comes to you. You're here and staying so don't worry about it," Julie tells me for certain. Nodding along, I sit down beside her as she grabs hold of her mic and a pen. Uncapping the marker, she begins to add doodles along the white handle. "What're we gonna tell the guys?"
"I'm assuming you don't want to make your dad mad right?" I ask getting a nod in response. "Okay so we just tell them we can't go,"
With a sigh, Julie just continues to draw. A silence falls over us and I get up to grab my bag before Julie's phone lets out a beep. Watching as she lets out a smile and laugh, she holds it up to me to see his message of a photoshopped him in a dance pose that looked like it was from the 80s.
"Nick and you are texting now?"
"Yeah, we're partners for my dance class. Him and Carrie broke up," She says nonchalantly causing me to raise a brow, but before I could tease her further, I noticed a hand phase through the door and knocking on the inside.
"What are you guys doing?" I call out, pulling Julie's attention from the phone.
"We're being classy," Reggie says a matter-of-factly as his upper half appearing through the door before he was yanked back. Then soon after that, Luke walked into the room first followed by Alex and Reggie. Looking around and noticing how neither of us were ready, Luke raises a brow.
"Why are you still here? We're going in, like, 20 minutes," He questions. Gesturing for me to walk closer to him, I tilt my head but nonetheless move to stand beside him. Luke takes our close proximity to wrap an arm around my shoulder in a fluid motion, dragging me into his side which makes me grab onto his jacket so I wouldn't fall. Great.
"I lied to my dad, so... now I'm stuck in my room all night," Julie answers his previous question but not before giving me a suggestive look. Refraining from rolling my eyes, I turn to the three.
"Inherently I'm stuck here too. Mostly cause her aunt doesn't like me but still," I add.
"Yeah, but we were just at the venue. I mean, it's packed. Like, VIPs, managers. It's kind of crazy," Alex lists off in attempt to persuade Julie.
"What are we gonna do about my aunt? She's right downstairs," Julie shoots back. Noticing how Luke's eyes lingered toward the window, I raise a brow before he meets my gaze and winks.
"Your aunt," Luke mumbles, leaving my side and moving toward the windows to push the farthest to the left open with ease. "You're not taking the stairs," He tells her. Looking around, Julie's mouth falls with disbelief before she shakes her head, a smile appearing at her lips.
"Okay. Let us get dressed,"
"Wait, I'm horrible at outfits. What am I gonna wear?" I ask but Julie walks into her closet and out in a matter of a few seconds. Throwing me a set of clothes, I frown my brows but she shrugs.
"I planned it out for you in my head earlier. You might need a jacket though so... I'm sure one of the guys would let you borrow something," Julie smiles cheekily. Looking down at the items, it was a solid black tube top and a light wash denim pair of shorts that would be high waisted. Of course she planned it out.
Narrowing my eyes at Julie, she turns around to avoid my look but Alex claps his hands together.
"Unless you wanna wear denim on denim or a leather jacket, Luke is your best option. I'm sure he would love to let you borrow something," He suggests.
"No one knows how to be subtle around here, do they?" I ask rhetorically but only get a series of snickers back.
Feeling a tug on my free hand, Luke was softly pulling me toward the window. "Come on Inds, you can change in the garage and pick something out,"
Reluctantly following, I step one foot out onto the roof with Luke's hands holding my waist before hearing Julie's voice.
"I'll meet you guys there!"
Looking back, Alex and Reggie had already disappeared out of the room leaving her by herself. Wiggling her eyebrows, Julie points to Luke, who had his back to her, and blows me a kiss causing me to bite back a laugh.
Stepping out fully from the window, Luke's hands disappear from me before I see him reappear down at grass below.
"Jump," He tells me, holding his arms out expectantly.
"Are you trying to kill me?" I retort, grabbing hold of the tree beside the window that was perfectly usable to get down rather than jumping from the roof top. It wasn't that high, maybe 8 feet from the ground but I was never one that enjoyed high places. Ironic.
"Do you trust me?" Luke shoots back.
"I trust you. But what I don't trust is my weak ass ankles," I reply. Already stepping onto the tree, I grip the branch and move downward. I could feel Luke's eyes watching me but I tried to ignore that so I wouldn't embarrass myself and fall. Getting to the last part I was able to stand on, it was a good 4 feet up before Luke popped in my view.
"You gonna let me help you down or are you gonna continue to be Ms. Independent?" He hums. Rolling my eyes, I hold my arms out while he wraps his around my waist. A second later I was place down onto the grass and met by a smiling Luke.
"Feel better that you helped?" I tease getting a nod back while I snicker. "Alright come on, I need to change," Moving toward the garage, Luke fell in step beside me. Grabbing hold of the shorts in my hands, he holds them up in front of him and his brows frown at the sight. "What?"
"They're really short,"
"Yeah? That's why they're called shorts Luke,"
"You know what I mean," He rolls his eyes. Handing me back the bottoms, I let out a laugh as we enter the studio but it was empty, no sign of Alex or Reggie anywhere. "They must've left already,"
Of course they did.
"I'll be back," I tell him. Moving to the bathroom, I slip inside and shut it behind me. Getting a glance at myself in the mirror, I scrunch my nose up. Quickly changing into the clothes, thankful that Julie gave me a razor yesterday to shave, I move onto my face. Washing it and removing the smudged mascara, I try my best to leave my eyes alone before patting down the frizzy parts of my hair.
I was rushing but the look wasn't as bad as I anticipated on me. Julie had good taste in clothing, the only thing was that the shorts were, well, short like Luke said. The high waisted aspect covered just above my belly button but the bottom half was as if my ass was gonna fall out in any wrong move. Lovely.
Walking out of the restroom after folding my old clothes, I attempt to tug down the shorts the best that I could. Luke, seemingly hearing me walk in, turned from the couch before his eyes settled on me.
"You were right," I joke, folding my arms across my front. This is weird.
"You, uh, you look... you look nice," Luke stutters out, his eyes forcing themselves to stay glued to mine. Raising a brow in amusement, he clears his throat. Gesturing toward the couch, I notice the sprawl of jackets and flannels. "I put stuff out that I thought you'd like. I have hoodies but I didn't think it would match.."
"No, this is more than enough. Thank you," I nod as Luke gives me a smile. Gliding my fingers over a few of the articles of clothing, I stop at a magenta colored button up. Picking it up, I slip my arms through it and the flannel material warms up my body. The shirt fell down past my mid thigh and the sleeves were long. "This look good?"
"Yeah, yeah, you always look good," Luke nods, an awkward laugh leaving his lips as he scratches the back of his neck.
"Thanks," I mumble, looking down at the sleeves and beginning to fold them up but struggle to start. This is embarrassing. Noticing Luke's sneakers appear in my downward view, his ringed fingers gently tug at the sleeve and begin to fold it over. The coldness of his hands caused me to shiver slightly and Luke lets out a snicker. "What?"
"Dude, you're tiny,"
"Shut up," I scoff. "You're not even that tall,"
"Taller than you," Luke shoots back, moving onto my left hand causing me to roll my eyes.
"You have short energy, be quiet," I retort causing Luke to blink and give me an incredulous look.
"What does that even mean?"
"Figure it out yourself Patterson,"
. . . . .
"We're here! Are we late? Sorry, it took longer than expected to— wait. Is that Alex?" A laugh leaves my lips before I could stop it. Watching Dirty Candy preform and having a nearly 6-foot-something blond dancing around the stage unknowingly was definitely a sight to see. "He's totally upselling Carrie,"
"If only people could see," Julie smiles, shaking her head as we watched. Alex had come up just behind Carrie, fluffing her hair in the slightest of ways but her dancing made it seem like it was just from the movement. Skipping over to the left side of the stage in our view, he poses on queue perfectly as the song comes to an end.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Carrie giggles at the cheering crowd causing Flynn to roll her eyes.
"Making me blush," Alex waves, taking his bows for the cheers. Immediately clapping along, I make a loud whooping sound for him and Alex looks in our direction, a bright smile appearing on his lips before he phased off stage and appeared next to Reggie.
"Don't cheer for her," Flynn scolds but I shake my head.
"If you could've seen Alex, you would cheer with me," I tell her. Gaining a confused look back, Flynn decides to drop the matter as Alex cleared his throat.
"I, um... I was just... I was just doing that for you guys," He tells us sheepishly. Luke had a bright smile on his lips while Reggie hummed unconvinced knowing well enough how much Alex enjoyed his small dance on stage.
"Mm-hm. Yeah. You can stop smiling now," Reggie teases.
"I'm not gonna lie. That was... kind of good," Julie compliments, turning to Flynn who scrunches up her nose but nods.
"Yeah. I forgot why I hate her so much," She replies back just as Carrie and her entourage walk in front of us. A sickly sweet smile was plastered across her glossed lips with her hands perfectly posed along her hips.
"Hi, girls! Um, isn't it past your bedtime?" Carrie pouts, looking between Julie and Flynn and not bothering to spare a glance at me.
"Now I remember," Flynn nods to us.
"Hm," Carrie hums in distaste, the previous facade of kindness disappearing instantly. "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come,"
Julie scoffs, taking a step forward. "That's not why I'm here,"
"Last I heard, Nick dumped you. You don't wanna be known as the weird obsessed ex now, do you Carrie?" I add, pouting at her but she tenses up at the mention of the break-up. Seems that she didn't expect anyone to find out yet.
"Last I heard, you're staying with the Molinas' because mommy dearest left you," Carrie shoots back, her voice having an edge to it. "What? You really think no one knew? Everyone knows your mom hops around town, people talk—"
"Inds," I hear Luke say cautiously. From my peripheral vision, his hand was reaching out toward me but Alex had stopped him short, shaking his head as a reminder of us in public.
"Carrie, enough," Flynn defends, taking it upon herself to nudge me behind her.
"Just because daddy dearest has money doesn't mean I'm gonna be scared of you Wilson. Take that bullshit to someone who cares," Taking a step forward, Julie's hand wraps around my wrist to keep me at bay. Letting out a breath, I look directly at Carrie who was picking at her nails to seem impassive but the constant movement of her feet showed otherwise. "You don't know me, Carrie, and quite frankly I would hate to waste my effort on you yeah? So do us both a favor and mind your business before we both end up in situations we'd regret,"
Carrie clicks her tongue, moving a piece of pink hair out of her face but doesn't say a thing in return. Glancing behind her, her group of pastel minions were avoiding my gaze and looking every other way to seem busy.
"Leave, I'm not gonna hold her next time," Julie warns, giving Carrie a look who lets out a huff but nonetheless begins to stomp off. Following her, the rest of Dirty Candy scurries along leaving us alone.
"Indie—"
"I'm fine," Interrupting Reggie, my voice came off harsher than intended. Noticing the way he shrunk back, I close my eyes and take a breath to compose myself before turning. "Sorry Reg, I'm fine, I promise. Just a little annoyed, but I'm okay," I tell him sincerely, apologizing for snapping at him.
"It's okay," Reggie nods, a small smile coming across his lips. "She's a jerk,"
"Yeah don't listen to her, Carrie doesn't know what she's talking about," Alex adds.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Flynn narrows her eyes in the direction the girls walked off to. "If she ever does something like that again I'll get Carlos' baseball bat and—"
"Woah, woah, calm down. I don't need both of you going to prison for attempted murder," Julie interrupts, the smallest laugh leaving her lips in amusement. "Let's just, I don't know, find a different way to get back at her that doesn't involve the police,"
"First, we wouldn't go to prison, just juvie. Second, we don't need to get back at her. I don't like revenge but if she says something again I might commit arson to her house when they're not there," I say a matter-of-factly. Flynn nods intently at my plan while Julie's eyes widen.
"No! I'm not gonna go visit you in jail," Julie scolds as I roll my eyes. "How about this, we go up there and show up Carrie. If we get one of the music producers attention tonight, it'll be the biggest accomplishment imaginable,"
"And if that doesn't work, arson is still on the table," Flynn comments causing Julie to smack her arm. "Hey!"
"No,"
"Fine, no arson. Just bat,"
"No bat either! You're not gonna use my little brothers baseball equipment as murder weapons!"
"Then what are we supposed to do? Use a frying pan like in Tangled?" Flynn shoots back before pausing. "Actually that could work,"
"No!" Julie groans. The bickering between the two causes me to laugh, the entire process taking my mind off what happened minutes ago and instead of having hostility, I was smiling.
"Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group," A male voice rings throughout the building. Up at the stage was a man holding a clipboard, one of the workers — or coordinators — was announcing the next act. "Julie and The Fat Ones,"
The mispronunciation of the band name caused a series of laughs to fill the room. Turning to the guys, Alex and Reggie sent Luke pointed looks while he sheepishly looked between us.
"Really?" Alex sighs.
"Yeah, man. My handwriting sucks," Luke replies back causing Julie to let out a disgruntled noise but nonetheless began our lead to the stage.
"You guys are gonna be great!" Flynn calls out, a small squeeze to my hand was given as I walk past her. Shooting her a small smile in thanks, I turn back around and follow to the backstage.
Now I feel like I'm gonna puke.
"Inds," Luke mumbles, his hand pulling me back into him as soon as we were out of sight from the public eye. "You okay?"
"I'm okay," I repeat. "Little nervous, feel like I'm gonna pass out but, you know, still okay,"
"Do you think you'll have a panic attack?" He asks concerned, hands moving up to hold the sides of my face while his eyes scan over me. The immediate worry causing me to let out a laugh.
"No, no I promise I'll be fine. Just a little bit of performance nerves, you know?" I reassure, looking over to see Julie waiting by the edge of the stage for us to walk out. "Gotta go, I'll see you out there,"
"Hey, you'll be great okay?" Luke tells me sincerely. The puppy dog look he gave me caused the dryness of my mouth to amplify while the rhythmic beat of my heart skipped up. Great.
"You too," Was all I could manage to say back. This weird feelings thing is making you a wimp.
Nodding, Luke smiles. Leaning down, the warmth of his lips were pressed against the crown of my head before he pulled away. Letting me out of his grasp, he softly pushed me toward the stage and I stumbled up next to Julie, my face flushed red while my mind ran a mile a minute.
I was a wreck for an entirely different reason now. So much for helping my nerves.
"I can't wait till you guys finally get together," Julie snickers before walking out on stage. Her comment left me gaping, not having enough time to properly react nor process it before having to run out after her. The bright spotlight had suddenly made me very aware of how many people were in the room and how they all were specifically watching me.
Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip.
Taking my place on stage at the mic stand, I look over to Julie who was sitting herself down at the keyboard and loop panel. She took a breath as she grabbed her own microphone and placed it on the stand, sending the crowd an awkward smile.
"Hi," She starts, gaining everyone attention. "It's actually Julie and the Phantoms," Julie corrects but the bored and impassive looks didn't help the nervousness that I assumed flowed through the both of us at this point. "Ok," She mumbles, looking to me and nodding while Flynn flicks on the fake projector we brought along.
Starting with the initial keys on the keyboard for the beginning of the song, I count along in my head. Shuffling under the lights, I place a hand on the mic and adjust it downward the smallest bit not knowing what else to do. This is awkward. I need to learn to play an instrument.
"Hearts on fire, we're no liars. So we say what we wanna say," Julie starts off the song, her voice coming out beautifully as always and she looks to me with the smallest nod. Taking a deep breath, I avoid the crowds gazes. Please don't mess up.
"I'm awakened, no more fakin'. So we push all our fears away," I sing, trying my hardest to keep my voice steady and my hands from shaking. Looking at Julie, she smiles encouragingly.
"Don't know if I'll make it, 'cause I'm falling under. Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder," The both of us harmonize together.
"I wanna fly, come alive," Julie sings. High note next.
Taking a breath, I grip onto the mic and close my eyes to concentrate. "Watch me shine," Holding out the last note, I could hear the guys appear on queue, Alex playing the drum, Reggie on bass, and Luke on his guitar. Looking around, Julie had pulled her mic off of its stand and stood up, walking closer to the center of stage.
"I've 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 till eternity, hands up if you believe. Been so long and now we're finally free," Luke had joined in on the harmony with Julie and I. The crowd had gotten lively at this point, dancing along and cheering compared to their previous lack of excitement. A rush of adrenaline shot through me, the nerves completely disappearing and confidence gaining slowly but surely.
"We're all bright now, what a sight now. Coming out like we're fireworks," Julie sung, hitting the tambourine against her leg to the beat while Reggie and Luke turn to play facing Alex. The three gave each other smiles causing me to grin.
"Marching on proud, turn it up loud. 'Cause now we know what we're worth," I sing into the mic. Meeting Luke's eye, he winks before moving back over to his stand. Holding my gaze, he sings the next versus with me as practiced.
"We know we can make it, we're not falling down under. Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder," We're doing the thing. The Luke and Reggie singing to each other thing. I'm gonna pass out. Julie was singing with us but all I could see was Luke, his stare intoxicating and it wasn't until I closed my eyes and faced forward did I finally be freed from his gaze. "And I wanna fly, come alive,"
"Watch me shine," Nailing the high note, Julie sung passionately and Reggie jumped up to his mic to sing the ohs that would come next while Alex leaned down to his at his drum kit. Taking mine off the stand, I move over to Reggie causing him to smile as we all began to harmonize the chorus.
"I've 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," Singing to Reggie, I refrain from laughing. Looking at Julie, she was playing the tambourine and walking across stage keeping the crowd lively. "Now till eternity, hand up if you believe. Been so long and now we're finally free,"
Reggie suddenly leaves my side, jumping over to Luke and the two faced each other while singing. There it is. Reggie and Alex continued on the woah-oh's while Luke sung with Julie and I.
"I've 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 till eternity, hands up if you believe. Been so long and now I'm finally free," Bumping my shoulder, Julie shakes the instrument in her hand and nods over to Luke. Noticing how Reggie was now turned to Alex, Luke was looking at me already and she gave me another discreet shove.
"I've got a spark in me," I sing before holding my mic to Luke who immediately leaned down into it.
"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," Breaking the steady eye contact we hand to hold out the note, I could hear the crowd cheering as Alex hit the drums and picked up the beat.
"I've 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 till eternity, hands up if you believe. Been so long and now we're finally free," Julie had been adding adlibs as the guys and I sang, her voice shining through perfectly tying it together.
"Finally free, yeah,"
"Woah-oh-oh,"
"Been so long and now we're finally free,"
"Finally free, yeah," Finishing off the song, Julie harmonizes with me on the final yeah. The music comes to an end but the crowd cheering fills the room to make up for it.
Going only with the bow we had planned before, Julie grabs my hand and pulls me to the front. Just as we bent all the way down, a series of gasps were heard and I took it as the indication that the guys had disappeared from their view. Julie just gives an awkward chuckle into the mic, sending me a panicked look but as soon as the cheering grew louder at the 'holograms,' she calmed.
"Thank you. We're Julie and the Phantoms. Tell your friends," Julie tells the crowd. Smiling brightly, she pulls me off stage toward Flynn in the back. Throwing her arms around us, a small squeal in delight came from the two in our group hug.
"You guys were incredible!" Flynn praises happily.
"Yeah we were," I hear Reggie say. Looking up, the boys were behind us.
"And you!" Flynn continues, completely oblivious to their presence. "I told you! You're such a good singer, that was amazing. Luke's totally in love with you after that. Julie did you see the way they shared the mic and sung to each other? If that doesn't say something I don't know—"
"Flynn," I interrupt. "He's right behind you,"
Eyes widening, Flynn slowly spun around. Facing a few feet off from where Luke was, she clears her throat but nonetheless points a finger at him. "You, ask her out or else," She scolds. Raising a brow at me, Luke's lips pick up in the smallest of smirks. Looking around to ensure no one would see us backstage, he loops our hands together.
"Or else what?" He teases Flynn, the cheeky expression on his features only growing as she jumps back at the sight of him.
"I-I don't know... but when I figure out a solid threat I'll do it," Flynn warns, clearing her throat to recover but Julie only shakes her head. Pulling Flynn away, the two being to talk as she praised Julie on her singing and the petty ghost threat was forgotten in an instant.
"Well she has one thing right," Luke says aloud. Turning to me, his arms suddenly snake themselves around me before I was picked up in a hug and twirled around. "You are amazing Inds,"
"Me? You guys were insane dude," I laugh, hands wrapped around his neck in support before I was placed pack down. Looking to Alex and Reggie, who both were smiling far too wide for my liking, I gesture between the two of them. "Seriously that was so cool. Now I get why you love music, I don't think I've ever felt that... rush before,"
"I know, this performance extra was special," Reggie nods along, arms crossing over his chest while Alex hums.
"You and Luke really set off the crowd," He adds causing me to roll my eyes knowing what they were getting at. Feeling a hand on the small of my back, Luke beat me to a response.
"Very funny," He says sarcastically but the smile never leaves his lips. "Leave Inds and I alone alright? Come on guys we just rocked that, I'm sure that gained the attention of someone out there,"
"Indie!" Hearing my name called, I noticed Flynn and Julie now by our spot from earlier. Waving me over exaggeratedly, a curly haired women in a pantsuit stood in front of them and I immediately detach myself from Luke before she would see him.
Making my way over to the three, I assumed the boys followed. Plastering a smile on my lips, I look at the two confused but the women holds out her hand to me.
"Hi, I'm Andi Parker, and I would—" Before Andi had a chance to finish her greeting, another voice interrupts.
"Julie, Indie," Turning to the sound, my eyes widen seeing Ray. Looking to Julie, she gives me the same panicked glance.
"Dad," Julie gapes, not expecting him to be here. We knew he was working but we never expected his work for tonight was here of all places.
"Hey.. Ray?" I smile, attempting to lighten the air, his stern expression didn't lessen.
"It's time to go," Shit.
— NIKO SPEAKS "
edited ( 24 july 2031 )
[ pre edited a/n below ]
this chapter is over 8000 words long.
i honestly don't understand how i did
that but 🤺
that's all. indie is officially apart of the band
and now i'm tired of slow burn denial of
feelings shit and want relationshipluke!
and i'm so excited ok PLS he's gonna be
such a simp idc (in a good way tho, can't
make fun of him cause i simp too)
ok i'll stop talking. goodnight hope you
have a good holiday and good day <3