when i walked out of the bathroom and back to my seat, i couldn't help but notice the dance break that was occurring. willie stood in the center, dancing along to what seemed to a reprise of caleb's earlier performance.

"this again?" i questioned to a cheerful luke. he had just eaten his weight in food, and was currently bouncing in his seat with the music.

however, when he saw me, his mood shifted completely. any smile that had been on his face was completely gone when he looked at me. it was obvious that he was upset with me for avoiding our conversation from earlier, and if he hadn't been scooped up by some dancer, maybe we could have resolved things.

it wasn't even a moment later when another dancer came and grabbed me as well. this dancer was a boy, however, and practically did all the work for me. i wasn't exactly in the mood to dance, especially after i had just been given the cold shoulder.

it wasn't like i didn't deserve it, but that didn't mean i had to revel in it. usually, i prided myself on my dance skills. tonight, i just couldn't seem to find the right moves for anything.

the dancer and i said not a word to each other, just moving along to the music and the sound of caleb's voice.

it wasn't long before i heard the clock strike twelve, my heart slowly sinking in my chest. as caleb confirmed the time, the rest of the club cheering with delight, i could practically feel my friendship with julie fading into the darkness.

"fuck." i muttered, pulling myself away from the man who had roped me into his arms.

i ran over to luke, who was currently ripping reggie out of another dancer's hands. whether he wanted to be around me or not, we had all make a huge mistake; a mistake we needed to face together.

"we were supposed to be at the school at nine, it's midnight!" luke exclaimed, reggie's face flushing with realization.

i wiped my face with my hand, hoping we could get out quick enough to meet julie. obviously it was too late for any kind of performance, but if we could just explain ourselves maybe she'd understand.

with my guilt ridden heart pounding in my chest, and the sound of the jazz band going full swing, i could barely hear anything that luke was saying, if he was saying anything at all.

i couldn't stop thinking about how embarrassed julie must be, and how disappointed she was that none of us had shown up.

a million thoughts raced through my mind, including the inquiry about where my real clothes were. while this dress was nice, i really liked the denim jacket i had been wearing before.

"jordan, jordan, come on," luke tugged at my arm, trying to snap me out of my trance, "we gotta go!"

wordlessly, i let him guide me back up the steps, making no attempt to say my goodbyes to willie or mr. covington. i figured i would see willie one way or another, and i'd prefer if caleb didn't know we were leaving. it was safer that way.

luke's hand had travelled down to my wrist, where he kept it to make sure i wouldn't fall behind. i knew he was still mad at me, but for the time being we had bigger issues to deal with.

we approached the top of the steps, and i let out a breath of relief, feeling like we had passed some sort of obstacle. if we could just get out of this place, we could be at the school in seconds.

but all hope felt lost as caleb appeared at the top of the steps, blocking our path.

"what's the rush?" he asked, clearly not in the business of setting anyone free, "the party's just started, and you do have an eternity, after all."

i stared at the all-powerful ghost with frightened eyes, knowing he wasn't going to let anyone through anytime soon. truthfully, if we hadn't had this commitment to julie, i would be looking around for this technical room he had told me about.

i was itching to know what happened to lily. no instagram, no facebook, not even a linkedin, and old people love linkedin. if she had died anytime recently, i would know everything about it with just a simple search.

"you know the other girl who can see us?" reggie asked, beginning to explain our situation to the ghost, who only pretended to care, "we sort of bailed on her and our friend. you see, there's this dance at her school, and she's got this friend, flynn, who's a super cool dj-"

"okay, i don't think he has an eternity to hear this story." alex cut his friend off, knowing we didn't even have enough time to take a proper breath.

luke nodded, cutting straight to the chase, "basically, we're late for a gig."

i nodded, trying to get past the man who had been holding us at the stop of the grand staircase. of course, he held his arm in front of me, and seeing as i was terrified of touching him, i stepped back.

the door was so close, and yet all hopes of getting to it were fleeting.

"but, what about my offer?" he questioned, looking at the boys.

i knit my brows, wondering what they were talking about. i had been so wrapped up in my own thing, i hadn't even noticed they had been given some sort of deal.

i didn't want them to come back here. i didn't want any of us to come back here. i knew there was something dangerous about mixing the spirit and living worlds, and that something is caleb covington.

whatever this deal was, i hope the guys chose to run like hell.

luke smiled awkwardly, knowing loyalty came first for him, "that's very cool of you, mr. covington, but like i said, we already have a-"

"a band of your own," caleb cut him off, giving a tight lipped smile. though he tried to sound as if he respected our decision, it was clear he thought we were making the wrong one, "i understand."

he stepped aside, and i let out a breath of relief. finally, we were being set free. i was beginning to think that we had gotten ourselves in a situation we wouldn't be able to get out of, and while this was a shady night, at least we could forget about it all.

"oh, and boys?" he beckoned to them once again, as they turned around to meet his gaze, "if you ever want to fix that problem with your little friend, the hollywood ghost club is always open."

i glanced at my friends wearily, hoping they were smart enough to see through this act he had been putting on. behind every kind smile is a devious soul.

"yeah, man. we'd love to come back." luke smiled politely at the man, momentarily forgetting his commitment to both julie and the band.

covington clapped, a grand smile appearing on his face once again, "music to my ears!"

he gave each of the boys a handshake, leaving them with some sort of seal on each of their wrists.

and before i could stop it, he had done the same to me too.

•

it didn't take more than a few seconds before we were at the school, running into the gym to find julie. still, i doubted she would appreciate the speed with which we had tried to get there. all that mattered was that we were about four hours late.

"we get a stamp," reggie muttered, as we ran down the halls to get to the gym. luke had overshot our poof by about three hallways, "and you get an evil eye bracelet. what gives?"

i glanced down at the creepy green bracelet that practically burned a hole in my wrist. honestly, i think i would have preferred a stamp embedded into my skin. at least then i wouldn't have to look at it.

"i don't know." i replied meekly, fearing the worst.

it was my understanding that lifers were far more powerful than ghosts, but that didn't seem like the case with this guy. i feared i might have given my soul to a spirit, and there was nothing i could do about it.

i knew that different evil eye colors had different meanings, and i made it a mental note to google all of this later. green eyes must have meant something. for now, there were other problems that needed to be addressed.

we ran into the auditorium, and reggie being ever so optimistic, thought maybe we still had time to play, "we are ready to rock this dance!"

however, when we noticed the completely empty gym, we all stopped running and instead looked around to find julie.

i turned to see her sitting on the ground alone, in what i would call the saddest scene of the night.

i elbowed alex and gestured to the poor girl, who stood before us and stared blankly.

immediately, luke took over, "we are so, so sorry that we bailed on you."

i knew an apology meant nothing to her right now. we had left her embarrassed and alone in front of everyone at school, and there was nothing we could do or say that would change that fact.

"the night really got away from us." alex admitted, hoping that would help.

reggie nodded in agreement, before sticking his foot in his mouth, "and the twins-"

a smack to his arm from luke silenced the bassist, as we waited to see what julie would say to us.

she looked at us with hopeful eyes, knowing there was a possibility that she could forgive us, under the right circumstances, "just please tell me it had nothing to do with you guys getting back at carrie's dad."

almost immediately, they dismissed the idea, refuting her theory in such a way that only dug themselves deeper into julie's rage.

"seriously?" she questioned, in utter disbelief at the amount of gall they had to lie to her again, "you're lying to me?"

i sighed, figuring she needed to hear the entire story before she started to really get upset. we had been tricked and coerced, and she needed to know that we would never intentionally miss a gig.

"julie, i-"

"jordan, don't," she held her hand up to me, barely even willing to let me talk, "i expected this from them, but from you? we've been friends since the first grade, how could you-"

"they found my brother." i said abruptly, stopping her speech from continuing.

i knew it was no excuse, and it definitely didn't warrant my absence, but she needed to know that i didn't care about trevor or the guys or any other thing that wasn't being a good friend to her.

she looked at me in shock, unable to process what had just been said, "what do you mean-"

"jordan." my name rung out, causing all of us to whip our heads in the direction of the gym doors.

there stood adam with a dying carnation in hand, along with a face that would be way harder to block out than julie's. at least if julie was disappointed in me, it wasn't because i had blown her off for a date after leading her on and kissing her in the auditorium.

i looked back to my friends, who i was still in a heated conversation with.

thankfully, julie didn't seem to be as mad at me as the others, "go."

i gave her a small smile of appreciation as i ran to speak with the boy i had both hurt and humiliated.