i sat on the couch, eating a turkey sandwich that i had basically stolen from julie's house. while she was off searching for flynn in an attempt to rekindle their friendship, i had the time to go to the kitchen and make a sandwich.

i sat with my back against the armrest of the couch, my legs crossed on the cushions. while reggie and alex did their thing, luke sat next to me, staring longingly at my sandwich.

i smiled lightly, knowing that he just missed the feeling of eating food,"see something you like, patterson?"

"always," he smirked at me, causing a blush to land scatter across my cheeks, before he continued,"it'd be nice if you didn't eat in front of us."

i rolled my eyes and held out the sandwich for him to bite. i wasn't sure it would work, but i thought it would be at least kind of funny to try,"go ahead, hot dog."

"hey," alex grinned, looking up from his drum set,"that's what my ghost friend called me."

"great minds," i replied casually, not thinking too much about what he had said. i re-offered the food to luke, interested in how this would play out,"my arms getting tired here."

he bit his lip excitedly, leaning over and taking a bite from the corner of my sandwich. it disappeared from my view, making me think that he had successfully eaten a part of my food.

but when he pulled away, the sandwich was still fully intact.

i looked at the corner distastefully, now afraid it had some sort of ghost plasma on it,"um, i don't- i don't want this anymore."

he laughed as i set it down on the plate, pushing the plate away from me.

"hey, jo," alex called out to from his drum set, "what's your range?"

"ummmm," i trailed off, not sure i knew the exact perimeters of my voice,"i don't know, i can go pretty high, but i'm not much of a belter. my mix voice is where it's at."

alex nodded, taking in the information with just the slightest bit of confusion,"so...could you get here for a harmony?"

he jutted the piece of paper towards me and i stood up, walking across the room to take a look.

i scrunched my face up in concentration, as i read through the notes, trying to figure out if i would actually be able to do that. in my head voice, i ran through them quickly.

deciding it was most likely possible for me to complete such a task, i stood up and straight and nodded,"should be fine. who am i harmonizing with?"

"julie," reggie informed me, deciding to explain himself,"she's an alto with a strong belt. we thought you guys would sound good together."

i nodded, walking over to sit back down on the couch.

"i have another, topical question," alex raised his hand. i chuckled lightly and nodded, waiting for him to proceed,"can i ask who the president is right now?"

i smiled lightly, like i was going to give him a nice answer, but instead all that came out of my mouth was,"no."

he gave me a confused look,"but, i-"

"no." i said lovingly, shaking my head once more.

luke turned to me, and with a light smack on the shoulder asked,"why don't you want us to know who the-"

he stopped talking when julie ripped open the doors to the studio, running in and speaking very fast,"we need to do the song."

luke and i shared a look, as he stood up with a boyish grin,"seriously?"

she nodded, before saying probably the most outlandish thing i had ever heard,"i need to prove to flynn that you guys are ghosts."

my mouth gaped open in surprise, as i quickly clamped my hand over it, my muffled voice shooting out,"you need to what?"

she gave me an awkward look, clenching her teeth together. she knew it was completely insane, and definitely ran the risk of getting us locked up,"i know. but she was angry. she felt betrayed, because you knew and she didn't-"

"that's very childish," i pointed out, leaning my back against the couch,"have we considered the possibility that flynn's just over dramatic?"

"we have not." julie shook her head, barely willing to listen to what i had to say.

i chuckled lightly, deciding to drop the subject. it wasn't my jobs to determine the toxicity of their relationship, especially if it worked for them, which it always seemed to.

i stood up, walking over to grab my new guitar, "well, let's get to work then."

•

after thirty long minutes of preparation, julie went to get flynn.

"should we flash you in?" alex questioned, spinning his drumstick around in his fingers.

i shook my head, a small frown forming on my lips,"no, i always feel a little backwards after it happens."

we really had no idea what the flashes were doing to my body, but i had always thought they were fine. until i started to feel what i can only assume are the affects of warping through space and time.

luke gave me a look of concern, placing his hand on my shoulder,"you alright, ace?"

for absolutely no reason at all, i could feel myself blushing at the random nickname. that tied in with the hand on my shoulder was enough to make me melt.

i glanced down at my shoes, trying to make a joke to avoid whatever i was feeling,"no, i've probably contracted situs inversus."

"what's that?" reggie asked, basically ruining my joke.

i let out a sigh, tossing my head back in exhaustion,"i-it's not- it's not something you can contract. that was the joke, reg."

"oh," he nodded, before taking a second to laugh as he thought about it,"funny."

"thank you." i replied dryly, causing luke to giggle to himself.

i glanced over at the door, watching as it slid open to reveal julie and flynn. i turned to my dead friends, shooting them a small smile,"i'll see you guys out there."

"bye, jordan." reggie waved.

i retuned the gesture, walking over to flynn and julie,"hey, guys."

flynn gave me a facetious smile,"oh, look who it is. are you a ghost too?"

i shrugged, ignoring the patronizing tone of her voice,"i'm whatever you want me to be; it's your world, babe."

"is it?" she replied flatly, planting her feet in an inconvenient spot.

julie and i shared a look, knowing reggie wasn't going to like that. he was a very theatrical guy, he needed space to move and flourish.

"can you go over there?" julie asked, pointing to the chair just a few feet away,"reggie needs some space to rock out, and he feels weird walking through you."

flynn laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. she clearly wasn't buying what we were selling, "boy, when you create a world, you really live in it."

i chuckled lightly, gesturing to the seat,"just sit."

she took a seat, with julie deciding to explain how she was going to prove that we were, in fact, playing with ghosts,"if you'll notice, there's no equipment that will produce a hologram. feel free to look around," she walked over to her keyboard, as i took my spot at my designated mic. julie took a deep breath, a little nervous to start,"the guys took a poem that i wrote about you and put it to music."

"aww," flynn said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest,"i wish i didn't have to talk to your dad after this."

i laughed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear,"the song is called flying solo."

julie started to play a beat on the synthesizer, before pressing the repeat button and playing her keyboard,"if i leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note; guess that means i'm buying lunch that day."

"i know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish. guess that means some things they never, they never," i took over, harmonizing with julie as we both sang,"change. we both know what i, what i, what i mean."

julie smirked, knowing what was to come in a few short seconds,"when i look at it you, it's like i'm looking at me."

an excited grin formed on my face as the boys flashed in, julie and i singing the chorus together,"my life, my life would be real low, zero flying solo. my life, my life would real be low, zero flying solo without you."

"hey!"

julie got up from the keyboard, starting to jam out with us. i shot a wink to flynn, though she was currently staring at alex with wide eyes. it was safe to say she was still a little shocked.

i strolled over to luke, nudging him playfully as julie knelt down next to flynn,"you know who i'm liking, way before i like them-"

"duh!" i exclaimed with her, knowing that was my favorite part of the song.

"cause you liked them first," she continued,"and if somebody hurts you, i'm gonna get hurt too. that's just how we work, yeah that's just we work. it'll never-"

"change." i harmonized with her, continuing to strum my guitar.

"we both know what i, what i, what i-"

"mean."

"when i look at you, it's like i'm looking at me." julie pulled flynn from her seat, starting to walk her over to all of us.

flynn walked with her tentatively, not quite coping with what she was seeing.

"my life, my life would be real low, zero flying solo."

reggie and i shared the mic, as luke took a seat on the couch. julie brought her to him first.

"my life, my life would be real low, zero flying solo without you."

"hey!" luke lunged toward the girl, scaring our poor friend.

i chuckled lightly watching as flynn was brought to alex,"yeah, yeah. my life, my life would be real low zero, flying solo without you."

the singing came to a lull, as flynn was brought over to us. she gave me a small smile,"you're still real, right?"

"as real as you can be, this close to los angeles." i joked, continuing to play my guitar.

she laughed, nervously reaching out to touch reggie. her hand went straight through him and she gasped in surprise.

"weird, right?" reggie asked rhetorically, causing me to smile.

"they're ghosts!" flynn exclaimed, finally coming to terms with the new information she had been gifted.

alex spoke up,"uh, we prefer the term musician spirits."

"julie," luke called out, looking over at her,"so does this mean you're joining our band?"

flynn scoffed, resting her arm on julie's shoulder,"actually, i think you're joining her band."

"i'm gonna go with what she said." julie nodded, causing luke to grin.

reggie and shared a devilish look, happy to have actually accomplished our goal.

we wrapped up the song by singing the chorus one more time.

once it was over, i let out a huff of exhaustion, having used up all my energy to try to pull of julie's plan.

i took a seat next to luke, casually resting my head against him.

"still wanna talk to my dad?" julie questioned, already knowing the answer.

flynn shook her head,"no, i'm good."

julie laughed, glancing over at me, and realizing there was a detail we left out,"oh, and also...jo can touch them."

flynn whipped around to see my head on luke's arm,"what?!"

i shrugged, letting out a sigh,"yeah, i don't get it either."