╔══════   °• ♖ •°   ══════╗

𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ  ＥＬＥＶＥＮ:
finally free

╚══════   °• ♖ •°   ══════╝

HERE'S THE BAD news: Julie had been grounded to her room for the night as a result of skipping the first three classes of the day and missing a calculus test (which was totally impossible when Emilia took it, by the way), and had frantically texted Emilia of the situation. Emilia didn't know if she could perform without Julie, especially after everything they had rehearsed.

But as the boys appeared her bedroom while she was applying lip gloss, she felt her nervousness slightly fade.

"Please tell me you convinced Julie to come," Emilia pleaded once she saw them through her mirror.

She twisted the top back onto the lip gloss tube and turned to them. Luke was staring at her with wide eyes and a red-tinted face.

Emilia frowned. "What?"

He shook himself out of his thoughts. "Oh, uh, nothing. Y-Your outfit."

She looked down. Emilia was clad in a red crop top, blue mom jeans with a black belt, and her black high-top Converse. Her hair was securely tied back in in a half-up half-down.

"Is it too much?" she asked.

"No," Luke rushed out. "No, Lia, I was gonna say . . . you look really good."

Her face burned from the compliment. "Oh. Um, thank you." She looked at him for a moment longer before snapping her head to Alex. "Anyways, once again, did you convince Julie to come?"

"Yeah, she's sneaking out," Alex answered.

Emilia blinked. "Well, all right then." A knock was then heard at the door, and she turned to look at it. "One second, Apollo!"

"It's not Apollo," a familiar voice replied.

Emilia froze. Her entire face paled and she slowly straightened up. Feelings and thoughts swirled through her heart and mind as she stared at the door in disbelief.

"Lia?" Luke questioned. "Woah, Emilia, what's wrong?"

Emilia ignored them. She took a tentative step forwards towards her door. Emilia reached out her hand to the doorknob, retracted it for a second, and then finally grasped it. She swung open her door, and standing on the other side was her parents, whom she hadn't seen in over two months.

Theodore and Madelaine Carpenter were dressed in their usual business attire; him wearing a suit and her wearing a blouse, pencil skirt, and heels. Emilia looked in between them, obviously confused.

"Can I help you?" Emilia inquired. "I kind of have somewhere to be."

Her mother looked at her up and down. "In that outfit?"

Emilia gritted her teeth for a second. "Mine and Julie's band is performing tonight. I can't be late."

"I didn't know you were in a band," Theodore admitted.

"Yeah, well, I guess parents don't know a lot about their kids when they're never there." Emilia tightened her grip on her doorknob. "Why are you home?"

"We wanted to take you on our next trip," Madelaine told her. "We've been traveling around the world on this tour. There's work during the day and then exquisite performances at night. I'm confident you and Apollo would love it. It'll be a vacation. As a family."

Emilia glanced down at her mother's wrist. Inked onto it was a purple logo with the letters HGC on it. For some reason, it made her completely uneasy and filled her with nerves. She looked back up at her parents. A surge of anger, one that had built up for three years, was begging to be released. And in the words of the song she was ready to sing tonight, that anger was going to be finally free.

"You're not my family," Emilia shot back before she could stop herself. "Apollo? Julie? Flynn? Even the boys in my band, who I haven't known for that long? They're my family."

Theodore blinked at her. "Is that any way to talk to your mother and father?"

"You stopped being Apollo and I's mother and father the second you went on that first trip when we were thirteen," Emilia argued, the words flowing out of her mouth easily. "You weren't there when I got into the music program at my high school. You weren't there when Apollo made the lacrosse team. You weren't there when I joined the band. You weren't there for anything, and you don't just get to show up again wanting to take me and Apollo away like everything's fine."

The world went silent. She could feel Luke, Reggie, and Alex disappear out of her room. Madelaine and Theodore wouldn't meet her eyes as Emilia glanced in between them.

Her mother finally straightened her back and looked down at her daughter. "Well, if that's what you want, Emilia."

"Yeah," Emilia breathed out. "It is."

Emilia glanced behind her parents to see Apollo in his doorway, completely and utterly shell-shocked, with his hand gripping his jacket tightly. The twins locked eyes. Theodore and Madelaine turned around to see what their daughter was looking at, only to see their son standing there.

"Apollo," Madelaine announced, her voice sweet as sugar. Emilia saw right through her. "Oh, my darling boy. Surely you'd come along with us?"

"A," Emilia pleaded, her voice slightly stern. "Come on. We have a performance to get to."

He had a choice to make: either their absent parents or the girl that had been by his side no matter what. Apollo's hand slowly unclenched on his jacket. He stood up straighter and squared his shoulders, looking Theodore and Madelaine right in the eyes.

"Sorry, mom and dad, but I have to go support my little sister," Apollo said. "Maybe you should also learn to support us like Em and I support each other."

Apollo nodded his head to the stairs. Emilia, smiling widely at him, brushed past her parents. She bounded down the steps with Apollo right behind her. Emilia quickly grabbed her jacket and rushed out the door. She got in the driver's seat of the car and sighed, placing her hands on the steering wheel.

Apollo stared ahead of him. "I can't believe I just did that."

"And I'm so incredibly proud of you," Emilia told him. "We both really told them off. Did they expect us to just drop everything and go with them?"

Apollo shook his head. "We can worry about that later. Right now, our only focus is letting yours and Julie's band rock that stage."

Emilia chuckled slightly. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

She started the car. After a short drive to the venue, Emilia parked and her and Apollo got out. Apollo went off to go find a table while Emilia joined Flynn's side.

"Hey!" Flynn exclaimed, giving her a side hug. "You look amazing, Em."

"Thanks," Emilia replied while smiling.

Julie suddenly came up beside Emilia. "Am I too late?"

"Too early," Flynn countered.

Emilia looked back up the stage. Carrie Wilson stood up there in a pink wig and flashy outfit. She inwardly groaned. Emilia knew Dirty Candy's performance would be completely over the top.

"Hope you all came to have a great time!" Carrie giggled.

She put on a pair of pink sunglasses and walked to the back of the stage.

"Dirty Candy?" Julie inquired. "How'd she get on the list?"

Flynn looked over at her. "Her daddy probably made a call." She then pointed to a patch on Julie's vest. "I like this! Pretty flower."

"Thanks. It's a dahlia. My mom's favorite."

Emilia smiled at her. "It's beautiful, Jules."

Carrie then started her performance. She began to sing about how all of the eyes focused on her when she walked in the room. The rest of the dancers from Dirty Candy then joined her and danced along with Carrie. Pretty much, the song was all about Carrie. Emilia didn't expect anything less.

The next think Emilia knew, Alex appeared on stage with Dirty Candy. Julie shared a confused look with her, Reggie, and Luke, the last two having showed up behind them. Emilia's hand slowly rose to cover her mouth as she let out quiet laughs. Alex then began to make up his own fabulous choreography, and let Emilia just say that he was absolutely crushing it.

"Emilia, we need to talk," Luke whispered in her ear, resting an elbow on her shoulder.

She shook her head and crossed her arms to make herself more comfortable. "Not right now. I have to watch this."

"Lia—"

"Later," Emilia promised.

Alex then appeared back next to Reggie.

"You having fun out there?" Julie asked.

Alex cleared his throat. "It's not my fault. It's my, um . . . it's my feet."

Emilia laughed. "Whatever it is, keep going, honey. You're killing it."

Alex gave her a low-five. "Put me back in, coach."

He disappeared.

"Oh, it's the guys," Julie explained to Flynn's confused expression.

Alex appeared back on stage with Carrie. Emilia watched in amazement as Alex continued to dance around the stage. Unlike what Carrie was singing, it was Alex's show now, not hers. Finally, when the song ended, Alex landed in the most perfect pose. After a moment of basking in the applause, Alex disappeared and re-appeared next to Reggie again.

"Hey, um . . ." Alex trailed off. "I was just . . . I was just doing that for you guys."

"Mm-hmm," Reggie hummed in response. "Yeah. You can stop smiling now."

"I'm not gonna lie," Julie began. "That was . . . kinda good."

"Yeah," Flynn agreed. "I forgot why I hate her so much."

Carrie then walked off the stage and stopped in front of them. "Hi, girls. Um, isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Now I remember."

"Hey, Emilia, heard your parents were back in town," Carrie said. "Did you come here to finally make them proud of you and Apollo?"

Emilia scoffed in disbelief and took a step forwards, and Luke did as well, keeping a hand protectively on her shoulder. "Say all you want about me, but do not bring Apollo into this. And no, Carrie. I don't owe my parents anything. I'm here because—"

The announcer tapped on the microphone, cutting her off. "Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group." He looked down at the clipboard. "Julie, Emilia, and the Fat Ones."

Emilia let out a frustrated breath and looked down at the floor for a moment.

"Really?" Alex questioned.

"Yeah, man, my handwriting sucks," Luke answered.

Emilia shook her head while Luke squeezed her shoulder. She sent Carrie a sarcastic smile before getting on stage with Julie behind her. Emilia grabbed her red microphone that was sitting on a ledge next to the stage while Julie grabbed her personalized one. Julie sat down at the keyboard and put her microphone in the stand. Emilia placed hers in the red stand in the middle of the stage next to Julie's white one that also held a tambourine.

"Hi," Julie greeted. "It's actually Julie, Emilia, and the Phantoms." No one responded. "Okay."

Flynn turned on the projector and sent them a thumbs-up. Emilia looked to Julie and sent her a nod, signaling that she could begin. She then locked eyes with Luke in the crowd and gave him a soft smile. Julie pressed her fingers on the keys and began to play the introduction of Finally Free.

"Hearts on fire, we're no liars, so we say what we wanna say," Emilia sang, the lyrics imprinted in her mind. "I'm awakened, no more faking, so we push all our fears away. Don't know if I'll make it 'cause I'm falling under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder. I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine."

The boys appeared on the stage with their instruments, and Luke and Julie — who got up from the keyboard — joined Emilia on the chorus. Emilia took her microphone out of the stand and turned to Julie, the two of them singing to each other. "I 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."

Emilia and Luke dropped out so Julie could sing the second verse while hitting a tambourine on the side of her hip. "We're all bright now, what a sight now, coming out like we're fireworks, marching on proud, turn it up loud, 'cause now we know what we're worth."

Luke came back to sing with Julie. "We know we can make it, we're not falling down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder. I wanna fly, come alive."

"Watch me shine!" Julie belted.

"I 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," Emilia, Julie, and Luke all sang while Reggie sang back-up vocals with Alex. Emilia stood on the platform where Alex's drum set rested, both of them smiling as the upbeat song continued on. Julie danced around the stage with her tambourine while Reggie and Luke shared a microphone for a moment. "I 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."

Emilia stepped down from the platform. She turned to see Luke at his own microphone, staring at her from a couple steps away. "I got a spark in me."

She placed an inviting smile on her lips and nodded her head to beckon him over. Luke immediately got her message and joined her side, Emilia holding out her microphone to him.

"I got a spark in me," Luke repeated, stepping closer to her so that their faces were mere inches from each other.

"And you're a part of me," Emilia sang with all of her racing heart, because it was true.

His eyes seemed to flash with understanding, as he, too, felt the same. "And you're a part of me."

Julie, Alex, and Reggie all shared knowing looks behind them, and Apollo and Flynn did the same as well in the crowd. Emilia and Luke didn't seem to notice them. They were caught up in their own little world, almost as if everything else had faded away and it was just the two of them in the room.

Emilia now had to incline her head to look at him because they were so close. "Now till eternity."

Luke stared down at her in wonder. "Now till eternity."

She smiled. "Been so long, and now we're finally free."

Emilia forced her head to turn away from him as she belted the high note on free. The rest of the band sang the chorus again. Meanwhile, Emilia and Julie put their microphones back in their stands and faced the audience again.

"Woah, hands up if you're with me, yeah," the two added on top of the chorus in higher notes. "Been so long, and now we're finally free. Yeah, oh-oh-oh. Finally free, yeah. Oh-oh-oh."

"Been so long, and now we're finally free," they all finished.

Julie took the higher note while Emilia went lower to harmonize. "Finally free, yeah."

The crowd all began to cheer. Emilia spotted Apollo clapping the loudest next to Flynn. She let out a slight laugh as she felt her heart glow from the amount of praise they were receiving. Emilia glanced back at Luke for a moment and smiled excitedly at him. She faced forwards again and completely missed the way pure adoration was written across his face. With that, the band all bowed, and the boys disappeared. Everyone gasped before cheering even louder.

Julie chuckled. "Thank you. We're Julie, Emilia, and the Phantoms. Tell your friends."

Emilia and Julie rushed off stage. They immediately squealed with Flynn and all three of them entered a giant group hug.

"You guys were incredible!" Flynn exclaimed once they pulled away.

"Yeah, we were," Reggie agreed as the boys appeared by the counter.

Apollo then came and lifted Emilia off the floor in a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, Em, you were amazing!"

"Okay, okay," Emilia chuckled. "Put me down, A."

He did as he was told and turned to Julie, a bashful smile on his face. "And Julie, you're just . . . wow."

Julie giggled slightly. "Thank you, Apollo."

Luke then began to tap Emilia's shoulder rapidly. "Hey. Hey! Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way."

Emilia turned. Sure enough, a woman wearing a business suit and high heels was walking towards them. Her eyes widened and she grasped onto Luke's hand tightly, not even realizing what she was doing. Luke gripped it back and ran his thumb over the top of her knuckles.

"She looks all business," Alex whispered.

"Wait, who should do the talking?" Reggie asked.

They all stared at him.

"Right. Julie. Emilia."

Emilia and Julie glanced at each other for a moment. Both of them were nervous, but Emilia let out an elated breath. This could be their big break.

Luke squeezed her palm against his. "You can do this, Lia. I believe in you."

The woman held out her hand, and both Julie and Emilia shook it. "Hi, I'm Andi Parker, and I would—"

"Julie," a voice cut her off.

Emilia looked up to see Ray Molina staring at his daughter. She shared a concerned look with Flynn.

"Dad," Julie breathed out.

"It's time to go," Ray told her. "Emilia and Apollo, you're coming too."

"What?" Emilia protested. "But, Ray—"

"Your parents asked me to get you from here."

Emilia gritted her teeth and squeezed Luke's hand once before fishing her car keys out of her pocket. "Fine, but I'm not going back to my house. Come on, A."

With that, Emilia, Apollo, and Julie followed after Ray, leaving behind a talk with a manager that could've changed their lives.

-ˋˏ ༻  ☁︎  ༺ ˎˊ-

hello everybody. party people.

couple of things to say here

1. I have a new ricky bowen fic called perfect harmony yk if you wanna check it out ❤️

2. so we met em and apollo's parents . . . I felt like it was important to touch on that issue, her and the boys will also talk about it in a later chapter

3. finally free is my favorite jatp song

4. this chapter is my favorite chapter of this book ,,,,, probably biased bc it has my favorite song in it <3

5. if luke looked at me the way he looks at emilia I would simply ✨ pass away ✨