vii. Lean on Me

The four ghosts are standing in front of the stage on the sidelines of the crowd. Julie is standing up on stage and the people in the crowd are muttering to each other, asking where the other four people went. The silence is very awkward. The man in charge of the lights and sound system runs onto the stage and asks, "Hey, where'd the rest of the band go?"

Julie looks at the man and before she could answer him, the girl Reggie winked at speaks up, "Wait. Were those holograms?" Carrie looks at the girl, giving her an incredulous look.

Julie and the man look out at the girl wearing a purple wig. Julie then points at her and lightly chuckles, "Yes! Yes, they were holograms. Um, I plugged it into the ceiling projector before the show. I'd explain it, but it involves algorithms and science stuff." She gestures to the projector hanging from the ceiling and waves her arms around. At her answer, the crowd cheers and Julie looks around awkwardly.

Reggie was looking out at the crowd while the twins were smiling toward Julie. The three ghosts turn to Luke when he says in amazement, waving around his arms, "That's wild. Th-they could see us when we were playing, but not when the music ended."

He looks over to Reggie, who then pats the brown haired boy's chest and points at him with his other hand while saying, "We should double check." The raven haired boy runs up the steps to the stage as the three other ghosts watch him. Once he reaches the top step, Reggie moves his butt around in circles. Angelina stifles a laugh and Alex looks at the boy annoyed. Reggie looks over his shoulder before turning around and heading back down the stairs while saying, "Yeah, I don't..."

He trails off until he stands next to Luke again, who looks at the bassist with furrowed eyebrows. Angelina and Alex look at Reggie, the girl with amusement and the boy with annoyance, before he continues, "I don't think they can see us." Luke keeps his furrowed gaze onto Reggie and Angelina bites her lip before smiling. Reggie turns and looks out at the crowd to see if anyone actually did notice what he had just done.

Alex looks back over at Julie before saying, "I wish I couldn't see you." Angelina, who is standing next to Alex, adverts her eyes to him. Reggie looks over at Alex, followed by Luke, who is on the other side of the blonde drummer.

The principal speaks up, addressing her students, "Okay, people, show's over." She turns around and gestures people to start moving while she says, "Let's get back to class, please."

Alex, Angelina, and Luke walk off with the other students and Reggie hangs back to try and talk to the girl with the purple wig. Luke wraps his arm around Angelina's shoulder and says, "You were really amazing out there, Angel."

Angelina looks over at him and sheepishly smiles before saying, "Thanks, but Julie absolutely killed it up there. She did way better than me."

Luke rolls his eyes before squeezing her closer to him and assuring her, "Angel, take the compliment. You were just as good as Julie, maybe even better." He looks over to the blonde girl and looks into her eyes before adding, "Don't tell her I said that, though." Angelina smiles and shakes her head before looking forward, to watch where she is walking. Alex eyes the pair and smirks knowingly. Reggie catches up to them and they walk off to surprise Julie in the hallway.

•••

When Julie walks around the corner of a hallway, trying to catch up to Flynn to talk to her, she abruptly stops as the four ghosts, who are standing in front of her yell out, "Julie!" Reggie and Alex are crouched down so that Luke can stand on one of their legs. Reggie and Alex have one arm wrapped around Luke's legs, so he doesn't fall, and their other arm is in the air. Luke has both his arms spread out wide. Angelina is on Alex's back. One of her arms is up in the air and the other is around Alex's front, so she doesn't fall off him.

Julie screams before she addresses them, "You! Stop doing that!" Alex stands up and Luke hops off the two boys' legs. Reggie stands up as well and Angelina gets off her brother's back before fixing her flannel shirt. The four ghosts chuckle and Julie says, "I'm serious."

"Whoa whoa whoa! This one's on you. We were already here," Reggie says as he holds out his hands and gestures to the spot the four ghosts were standing in. "Well, actually, we were over there, and then we came over here," he explains, gesturing to the spot they were in and the one they are in now again. Alex looks at Reggie annoyed and Angelina smiles at the boy.

Luke looks back and forth between Reggie and Julie before excitedly asking, "Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?" The four ghosts look to Julie, to see what she would say.

"Yeah, the whole school saw you. It's kinda freaking me out," the Molina girl tells them, chuckling.

They all look over at Alex, who leans forward and holds out his hands and says, "Okay, good, 'cause it-it's kind of freaking me out too. You know, you could see us, and then, and then people could see us whenever we play music. And my clothes are made of air, but for some reason, I'm still getting a wedgie." Luke rubs Alex's back while Julie and Reggie give him grossed out looks. Angelina looks over at her twin with concern written across her face. The blonde drummer inhales sharply before adding, "So many questions." Alex turns to the other three ghosts, who are already looking at him.

Luke turns back to Julie as he says, "The important thing is that we rocked that place. They were loving you."

"Are you kidding? They loved us. That was a great song, Luke. Thanks," Julie says as she gestures to all of them. Luke gives her a smile to say 'you're welcome.'

Alex runs his hand through his hair while Reggie looks between them all before saying, "And did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me?" Angelina and Luke turn to look at the Peters boy as he continues, "I think they were looking at me." Reggie then turns to Luke and grabs his shoulders before begging, "Please tell me they were looking at me." Alex stares off into space with a confused look on his face.

Julie chuckles while Luke smiles at Reggie, putting his hands on the boy's face and saying, "Bro, they were looking at you."

"Oh, I knew it!" Reggie says enthusiastically as he pulls away from Luke and smiles over at Julie.

Angelina lets out a laugh before looking over at her twin and noticing his confused face. She puts her hand on his shoulder and asks, "Are you okay, Lexi?"

They all look over at the blonde drummer, Luke doing a double take with a smile still on his face. "I'm so... I'm so confused, you know? The afterlife should come with, with instructions or a quick start guide or something," Alex says while Julie gives him an 'are you serious?' look. Angelina gives her twin a sad smile, knowing that he doesn't do well with change.

"Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms, and I got back into the program," Julie tells them as she looks between the four ghosts.

Angelina smiles at the girl and says, "Oh, Julsie. That is good news!" Julie looks down at the ground in sadness and shoves her hands in her pockets. "It is good news, right?"

At the same time that Angelina asks that question, Reggie asks the Molina girl, "Why do you look so bummed?" Luke, Angelina, and Alex, with a 'what the hell?' face, look over at the raven haired boy.

Luke looks back at Julie and agrees, "Yeah, dude, you're making this face." Luke pulls Reggie and Alex closer to him before resting his arms on the two boys' shoulders while Angelina rests her head on Luke's shoulder. Reggie leans his head closer to Luke and Alex leans his head closer to Angelina. The four ghosts give Julie pouting faces to show the girl what her face looks like.

Julie purses her lips before closing her eyes and saying, "Hmph. That... is not my face." She opens her eyes and gestures to the faces the four best friends are making. The four ghosts stand up straight as Alex gives Julie a tight lipped smile while the other three ghosts speak at the same time.

Reggie scrunches up his face and shakes his head back and forth while saying, "Eh."

Angelina raises her hand and puts her thumb and her pointer finger close together, while scrunching up her face and saying, "A little bit."

Luke nods his head and remarks, "It's your face."

Julie shakes her head and tells them, "And things just got weird between me and Flynn. She asked about you guys, and I couldn't say."

"Sweet. Girls are already talking about us," Reggie exhales as he leans over to Luke. He holds his hand out for a low five and Luke happily gives him one. Angelina turns her head and gives the two boys a pointed and annoyed look.

Julie throws out her hand and gestures to the high five Reggie and Luke just did while reprimanding them, "Stop. I'm serious. I can't tell her about you guys for the same reason I can't tell my dad. She'll think I've gone off the deep end."

Reggie turns and moves closer to the wall while Luke turns and moves closer to Angelina, squishing her between himself and her twin brother. The two boys are making room for the janitor to pass. Reggie points at the man as he looks at Julie and tells her, "Well, this dude definitely thinks you've gone off the deep end." Once the janitor moves past the ghosts, Angelina shoves Luke away from her so she has room to move around again. Luke looks over at her and gives her an innocent smile. Angelina rolls her eyes at the Patterson boy before a smile breaks out onto her face.

The janitor gives Julie a strange look as he pauses in front of her. Julie looks at the man strangely with her mouth open as she realizes that he just saw her having a conversation with thin air. He continues to walk down the hall letting out a, "Hm..." The four ghosts just stand there and watch the awkward interaction with amused looks on their faces.

Reggie points at the receding janitor and chuckles while humming, "Mm."

Julie shakes her head as she tells the four ghosts, "I gotta get back to class."

Julie walks forward and Reggie and Luke move apart again, squishing Angelina into her brother once more, so that the girl can pass. Instead of complaining, Angelina sighs and rests her chin on Luke's shoulder, patiently waiting for him to move. As the girl passes them, Reggie sticks his hand into the air and says, "Later, Julie." Reggie sticks his other hand up in the air as he turns to face Julie while saying, "Oh, tell those cheerleaders I'm single."

Luke moves away from Angelina and turns to watch Julie leave. Reggie turns back around as Alex calls out, "Oh, and that he's dead." Alex and Angelina turn to where Julie was walking away and see her disappear around a corner.

Panicking, Reggie shouts out, "Oh no, no, no! Leave that part out. Leave that..." He turns around, only to see that Julie is already gone and he sighs, "She's gone."

Luke raises his arms a little and lifts up his foot before letting out a ,"Whoo!"

Angelina sighs and turns to face the three boys. She starts walking backward while saying, "I should go after her, make sure she's really okay." Alex nods his head, Luke gives her a smile, and Reggie waves goodbye to her. "See you boys later at the studio," she calls out. She blows them a kiss and Luke jokingly, or so she thinks, catches it before putting it to his heart. Angelina smiles and lets out a laugh. She turns and walks around the corner.

Reggie and Alex look over at Luke with knowing looks on their faces. The brown haired boy looks at them back and forth before asking, "What?"

Alex leans forward and rests his hand on Luke's shoulder before saying, "You definitely have the hots for my sister."

Luke looks at him with a shocked look on his face for a split second before composing himself and saying, "I have no idea what you are talking about." Reggie opens his mouth to explain what Alex meant but Luke cuts him off before he can say anything, "Okay, let's go boys." Alex smirks at the boy, knowing he is trying to change the subject.

•••

Back at the studio, Reggie and Luke are sitting on the couch, watching Alex pace back and forth in front of them. Reggie leans closer to Luke and says, "I think he's practicing his model strut." Luke briefly looks at the bassist before looking back at the pacing blonde.

He then turns back to Reggie and says, "He's so nervous, he's almost making me nervous." Luke turns back to Alex while Reggie glances at Luke, nods, and turns back to a pacing Alex.

Alex runs his hand through his hair and turns to the two boys sitting on the couch. He then starts talking while waving his arms around, "Okay, look, you guys know I don't handle change well. Alright? Death? That was a change." Reggie nods his head in agreement, glancing to Luke and then back to the blonde drummer. "Okay? Then we became ghosts. Alright? Another change. And... and now we can be seen whenever we play with Julie. Big freaking change!" Alex continues waving his hands around while freaking out.

"Yeah, but, bro, it was a good change. With Julie, we can play on stage again and be the band we never got to be. We even have the chance to play with Angelina," Luke tells the distressed Alex while looking at Reggie and then back at the blonde drummer. Reggie and Luke are smiling at Alex while the brown haired boy adds, "Come on. I mean, you gotta be down for that."

Alex holds out his hands and responds, "Uh, yeah, I mean, who wouldn't be? I just..." He pauses and looks between the two boys before continuing, "You know, I wanna figure out why."

Luke stands up and says, "Forget why. Man, I say we invite Julie to join Sunset Curve. And maybe this time we can finally convince Angel to join too."

Luke looks down at Reggie, who stands up and agrees, "Yeah, totally. I mean, like, think about it. With new lead singers, this band would be legendary."

"Hey!" Luke yells at the raven haired boy. Reggie looks over at the upset boy, who adds, "I'm our lead singer."

Reggie turns to Luke and gives him an 'are you kidding me?' face as he says, "Dude, they both have amazing voices. We already knew that Ang has the voice of an angel. And Julie can make us visible. Without her, we're just elevator music." Alex starts to pace back and forth in front of the two boys.

Luke looks at Reggie with hurt written across his face as he sadly tells the bassist, "Well you don't gotta be so mean about it." The two boys look at the pacing Alex as Luke adds, "And we're on the runway again."

Alex stops pacing and stands in front of his two best friends. He throws out his hand to the side as he apologizes, "Okay, I'm sorry, alright? I just..." He pauses and puts his hand back into his pocket. He starts walking to the doors of the studio while saying, "I gotta go clear my head."

Reggie and Luke watch Alex as he walks to the door. Once Alex reaches the door, he tries to grab the handle but his hand passes right through it. He tries again and when his hand goes through the handle once more, Reggie pipes up, "Dude, you're a ghost. Just poof out."

Alex turns to the two boys, throws his arms out to the side and emotionally yells, "Don't tell me how to ghost!" Luke glances between the two boys while Reggie looks at Alex with wide eyes. Alex turns back to the studio door and inhales. He sharply exhales before he poofs out of the studio. Luke glances at Reggie before looking up to the ceiling. Reggie rolls his eyes and whistles as he turns to face Luke.

•••

When Julie and Angelina arrive back at the house, Julie goes into her house and Angelina heads straight to the studio. Angelina walks through the closed doors to the studio. Once she enters, she sees Reggie and Luke playing their instruments. She walks over to the two and they stop playing at the sight of her. "What do you guys think you're doing?"

"Uh, playing our music," Reggie says with a 'duh' tone, like it wasn't already obvious.

Angelina gives Reggie an annoyed look and says, "I can see that Reg." She then looks between the two boys pointedly while elaborating, "What I meant was, Julie will be coming through those doors any minute. When she sees you, she won't be happy that you two are playing your instruments in the studio, alone."

Luke looks at her and says as a matter of fact, "She won't mind that we are playing our instruments because the speaker is set at volume one, which is the lowest volume."

Angelina rolls her eyes and turns away from the two boys. She walks over to the piano while telling them, "Fine, you don't have to listen to me. But when Julie yells at you guys, don't come crying. I will only be here to tell you I told you so." She hops up onto the piano and looks at the boys, her feet are dangling in the air, swinging back and forth. Luke playfully rolls his eyes at the girl before giving her a smile. Angelina looks around the room before asking the two, "Where's Alex?"

Luke turns his head to look at her over his shoulder and Reggie looks up at the girl, replying, "He got upset earlier and decided that he needed to go for a walk to clear his head." Angelina nods before looking away. She stares off into space, feeling guilt consume her. She has spent the whole day making sure that Julie is okay. Not once has she given anytime to her brother to make sure he was alright with this ghost stuff. She knows he doesn't handle change well. He has been going through some major changes and she hasn't been there for him like she usually is. She feels like the worst sister in the world.

Reggie looks back down at his bass while Luke looks at the blonde girl for a second longer, giving her a sad smile. He then turns back to his guitar and starts to play a riff on it. He looks up at the Peters boy and asks, "Reggie, what do you think of this riff?"

Luke continues to play the riff and Reggie starts to smile, nodding his head. "Sweet. I'm feeling that. And then I come in with a little, uh..." Reggie starts to play his bass and the sounds from the two instruments come together and sound amazing.

Luke looks back and forth from his guitar to one of his best friends while adding, "Then Julie comes in with her killer lyrics and Angel comes in with her killer vocals." Angelina is too wrapped up in her thoughts over her brother and how much of a bad sister she is to notice that Luke said her name.

The studio door opens as Reggie finishes, "And Sunset Curve is reborn." Julie walks into the studio and closes the door. Angelina snaps out of her daze and looks over at the Molina girl.

Julie gives the two boys a 'what the hell?' look before saying, "Guys," The two boys stop playing and Reggie turns around while Luke looks up. Once Julie has their attention, she continues, "You aren't supposed to be out here playing alone."

Angelina shakes her head and looks at her lap before muttering, "Nobody ever listens to me."

Reggie moves his bass so that it is resting at his hip. Luke stands up and wraps his hand around the raven haired boy, who says, "But we're not alone, 'cause we always have each other." Reggie chuckles as he glances at Luke over his shoulder and points his thumb at the brown haired boy.

Julie rolls her eyes and lets out, "Ugh!" She walks forward and unplugs Reggie's bass from the speaker before walking over to the other speaker.

Luke takes off his guitar as he says, "But... but we had the volume level on one." He turns around and sets his guitar down, leaning it against Alex's drums.

"But we rocked it on volume ten. You want us to play it again?" Reggie asks Julie as he gestures to the speaker his bass was just hooked up to. Instead of answering Reggie, Julie just unplugs Luke's guitar that was hooked up to the other speaker and shows them the unplugged cord.

Luke leans closer to Reggie and whispers, "I really don't think she does."

Julie lets go of the cord and puts her hands on her hips as Reggie whispers back, "No." Angelina hops off the piano and moves to stand next to Julie, looking at Reggie and Luke with her arms crossed over her chest.

Reggie takes off his bass and puts it back on the stand as Luke points at Reggie while saying, "We've actually been waiting for you to get home. Both of you." Reggie turns around and smiles at the two girls as Luke points to them. Luke then gets giddy and says, "Okay, so we have some pretty major news to tell you. We had a band meeting earlier, and..." Luke bites his lip and points to Reggie, who starts to drum roll on his thighs. Luke brings his arms into the air before throwing them down and saying, "We wanna invite you to join Sunset Curve. And no, you're not dreaming." Luke puts his arms in the air and gestures to the girls. Reggie puts one hand on top of the other in front of his chest as he looks at Luke and then smiles at the two girls.

Julie gets a sad look on her face and says, "Oh." Angelina just looks at the boys with the neutral face she has been wearing. Reggie and Luke's smiles fall off their faces.

"Oh, uh... Oh, she said, 'Oh.' Um..." Luke stutters as he looks scratches behind his ear. The two boys look at each other before looking back at Julie and Angelina. Luke sarcastically chuckles before saying, "That's what you say when you get socks on your birthday, not when invited to join the most epic band ever."

Julie takes a deep breath before apologizing, "Sorry. I'm honored, but I can't think about anything but Flynn right now." Reggie looks at Luke before looking back at Julie with a surprised look on his face. Luke looks at Reggie before looking off at a random part of the studio. "She's still mad at me for lying. She hasn't even texted me back," Julie continues.

Luke looks back to Julie when he speaks back up, "Yeah, you're in a tough spot."

"Yeah," Reggie agrees with Luke as he nods his head.

Luke looks down at the ground. He licks his lips before looking back up at the two girls and asking, "So, you wanna join the band?" Reggie holds out his hands to them, waiting for their answer.

Angelina rolls her eyes and Julie gives them an incredulous look before saying, "Read the room, dude." Julie walks to the door to leave the studio and Angelina follows after her, throwing a glare to the two boys.

"Oh, come on!" Luke shouts after the two girls. He walks to stand on the other side of Reggie, who turns around. Luke points at them and desperately states, "We need you, and you need us because you need music." Julie stops which causes Angelina to stop as well. The two girls slowly turn around and Angelina moves to stand next to Julie. Luke pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and says, "We found this poem that you wrote, and Reggie and I, we added this really cool melody to it." The two boys look at each other and smile before Luke turns back to the two girls and continues, "It sounds awesome." Luke unfolds the paper and Reggie looks down at it still smiling. Reggie looks back up at the girls.

Julie's eyes widen and Angelina's glare deepens. "Where'd you find that?" Julie asks Reggie and Luke. Reggie looks back at Luke, who looks like a deer caught in headlights.

Julie starts to walk forward and Luke shoves Reggie in front of him, blocking Julie from the brown haired guitarist, who says, "Uh... definitely not your dream box."

Luke turns around and looks down at the piece of paper. Reggie throws up his hands and moves out of the way when Julie yells at him, "You went through my stuff?"

Julie passes Reggie and walks up to Luke. Angelina poofs in front of the Patterson boy and tries to grab the paper. At the sight of Julie, Luke turns his head and sees Angelina. He spins away from the blonde girl as he says, "I-I-I know, but..." He runs to the piano and Julie follows him.

Angelina turns and looks at them as she puts her hands on her hips. The Molina girl chases him around the piano as Reggie points at them and says, "Yeah, we can do that now."

Julie yells at them, "No! No, you can't! Boundaries! Give it back!" Julie stops in front of the piano, slamming her hands on top of it as Luke stops by the bench.

Angelina looks over at Reggie and says, "She's right, Reg. It was wrong to look through her dream box. That stuff is private." The Mercer girl then turns her attention back to Julie and Luke as she moves closer to the young girl.

Angelina stands next to Julie as Luke exclaims, "No!" He hops up onto the bench and points at Julie, continuing, "Okay, you need to realize how insanely talented you are." Reggie points to Luke in agreement while his best friend continues, "Okay? Listen to this." He places the paper onto the piano and reads off of it, "'If somebody hurts you...'" Reggie places his hands on his hips and Julie reaches forward, trying to take the paper out of Luke's hands. Luke is faster, however, as he rips the paper away and holds it behind his back. He looks at the two girls and points his finger at Julie before resting his hand back on the piano while reciting, "'If somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too.'" Luke starts to sing the words of the poem and continues to beat his hand in the air.

Luke

And my life, my life

Would be real low, zero

Flying solo

Reggie sticks his finger into the air and sings.

Reggie

Oh-oh!

Luke looks up at Reggie and smiles at him while Julie looks back at the raven haired boy, giving him a pointed look. Luke looks at the girls and tells them, "It's a killer melody."

Julie turns back to Luke and sighs before saying, "Yeah, I know. Angie helped me write that. It's about Flynn and Angie when they were helping me with all my mom stuff." Angelina looks down at her hands and starts to play with them. Luke turns his attention to the blonde girl and his heart beats a little faster. Julie puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head, "I gotta go." Julie turns around and starts for the door. Luke looks away from Angelina when he notices that Julie is leaving.

Before Angelina could follow after Julie, Luke shouts out, "Hey, what about the band?"

Reggie turns to Julie, who opens up the doors while saying, "Oh..." She turns around and throws out a hand, continuing, "I almost forgot." She puts her hand back on the door and starts to close them while yelling at the two boys, "Stay out of my room!" She shuts the doors and Luke hops off the bench, rounding the piano, heading for the doors. Angelina wishes that she had her song journal and it appears in her hands. She flips through it to a blank page.

"Yeah?" He shouts out to Julie. He sticks his head through the closed doors and shouts once more, "We will if you join our band." He backs away from the door and turns around. He sees that Angelina is still standing in front of the piano. "What about you Angel? Are you going to join the band?" Luke asks the blonde ghost, who looks up from her journal.

She sighs and sadly says, "I can't. Not when the only thing I can think about is Julie and Alex." Luke gives her a nod in understanding. Angelina walks around the piano and sits on the bench. She softly starts to play a tune that has been stuck in her head since a certain guitarist has poofed back into her life, trying to get her mind off of Julie and her brother.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I also hope you guys had a great Christmas (if you celebrate the holiday). Hopefully 2021 will treat us better than 2020 did. Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter.