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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟕
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘

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While Reggie listened to Luke play a riff on his guitar, Lexi stayed in her chair with her songbook in hand to jot down some ideas for her upcoming project with Carter. Her foot bounced along with the beat of the music as the two boys had a conversation amongst themselves that the redhead didn't pay much attention to. Her ears picked up on the bass beginning to mix with the guitar riff, causing Lexi's brown eyes to flash up to see Luke and Reggie smiling as they played their instruments right. It wasn't long after that when she picked up on them mentioning her and Julie helping them make Sunset Curve popular again.

Just as Lexi opened her mouth to tell them once again that she wasn't playing on stage with them, the door opened to reveal Julie walking in before quickly shutting the door behind her. As soon as the Molina girl turned back around to face them, she sent the two ghost boys playing their instruments an irritated look, only for them to completely ignore her presence and continue playing.

"Guys," Julie called out to them, making the quiet music come to a halt as the two boys turned to face the Molina girl, "you aren't supposed to be out here playing alone."

"But we're not alone. Lexi's here. And even if she wasn't, we always have each other," Reggie countered before Luke slung his arm around the former's shoulder as smiles grew on their faces. Lexi tried, and slightly failed, to hold back her grin for Julie's sake, who simply scoffed in response to the ghost in plaid before she unplugged his amp.

The two ghosts mutter a few words to each other after Julie unplugged the second amp then Reggie put his bass down. While they did that, Lexi placed her songbook on the table before getting to her feet and standing next to Julie. The two girls watched the boys have an inaudible conversation for a moment before the ghosts spun back around to face them once again.

"We've been waiting for you to get home," Luke told the curly-haired girl at Lexi's side as the smiles on the boys' faces grew, "okay, so we have some pretty major news to tell you. Both of you. We had a band meeting earlier before Lexi got here, and..." the boy in the orange beanie paused for a moment then pointed to Reggie, who instantly did a drum roll on his knees, "we wanna invite you to join Sunset Curve. And no, you guys aren't dreaming."

Lexi's entire body stiffened before she found herself staring straight at Reggie, who simply sent her an encouraging nod while Julie's confused expression quickly turned blank. The two girls just stared at the ghosts in front of them for a long moment, unsure of how to respond, before the Molina girl simply let out an "oh."

"Oh, uh...oh. She said, 'oh.' Um...that's what you say when you get socks on your birthday, not when invited to join the most epic band ever," Luke awkwardly rambled for a moment as the smiles on the boys' faces.

"Sorry. I'm honored," Julie sighed as she stuck her hands into her pockets, "but I can't think about anything but Flynn right now. She's still mad at me for lying about you guys. She hasn't even texted me back."

"Yeah, you're in a tough spot," the boy in the orange beanie mumbled with his hands placed on his hips while Reggie awkwardly stood next to him, "so, you wanna join the band?"

Lexi could sense the annoyance in her best friend building up before she glanced over at Julie to see her glaring at the two ghosts. After letting out another scoff, the curly-haired girl made her way toward the door before the Daniels girl grabbed her things and followed her. Just as the Molina girl's hand was on the handle Luke's voice filled the air around them once again, causing the two girls to stop in their tracks.

"Oh, come on! We need you. Both of you. And you guys need us because you need music. You can't let everything that happened hold you back," the boy in the orange beanie told them, slightly glancing over at Lexi during the last sentence, as the two girls glanced back at the ghosts. Lexi's eyes stayed glued to Luke as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, "we found this poem that you wrote, and Reggie and I, we added this really cool melody to it. It sounds awesome."

Just as the Daniels girl was about to ask whose room they went into to get that, Lexi felt the irritation that was once radiating off of Julie turn to anger. The redhead glanced over at her curly-haired best friend as she took her hands out of her pockets while stepping closer to the ghost boys.

"Where'd you find that?" the Molina girl questioned, only for the smiles on Reggie and Luke's faces to immediately drop.

"Uh...definitely not your dream box," the Patterson boy responded while pulling the bassist in front of him as a shield.

While Julie chased Luke around the piano in an attempt to get her poem back, Lexi replayed Luke's words in her head. Another moment of silence passed before a wave of realization hit the songwriter, causing her to spin around so fast that she almost fell over. As soon as she regained her footing, she looked up at a confused Reggie before she shook off all previous emotions and then gestured to Luke, who was standing on the piano seat and having an inaudible conversation with Julie.

"Did you tell them what we talked about back at school?" the Daniels girl asked the boy in plaid, causing his confusion to slowly fade while his eyes stayed just as wide as before.

"Uh, no. I didn't tell them. But, uh..." the raven-haired boy hesitated for a moment as he rubbed the back of his neck before letting a sigh pass over his lips, "they heard everything. Alex told me that they were looking for me and heard us talking. They were on the other side of the door."

Before another word could be spoken between the two of them, Julie stormed past the pair and opened the doors of the studio, only pausing when Luke shouted after her about the band once again. The only response the ghost guitarist received was the Molina girl shouting at him to stay out of her room before she slammed the barn doors. The three remaining in the room just stood there in silence for a long moment before Luke jumped down from the piano and made his way over to Reggie and Lexi.

"What about you, Lex? Wanna join the band?" the brunette smirked while slinging his arm around Reggie's shoulder, "you'd be able to make your comeback appearance and show those losers that what they did doesn't matter."

The two spirits stared at the shorter girl as the stillness of the studio surrounded them before the Daniels girl finally found the courage to speak. "I want to, I really do, but I can't."

Without waiting for a response from the boys, Lexi grabbed her bag and her songbook before following Julie's lead and exiting the studio. As she walked across the driveway and up the steps towards the small brown gate, the ginger-haired girl could barely make out voices arguing in the distance. Confusion filled her entire body as she got closer and closer to the conversation until the voices became clear

"They're ghosts. The boys in my band. They aren't holograms. They're ghosts. Only Lexi and I can see them except for when I, and maybe Lexi, we don't know yet, play with them. When that happens, people can see them." Those few sentences made the Daniels girl stop dead in her tracks before glancing through the hedge to see Julie grabbing into a confused Flynn's shoulders. After letting out a sigh, the redhead rushed up the stairs to stand by her curly-haired friend's side, only to receive a slightly irritated look from her other best friend.

"What do you mean 'ghosts'? Like the kind that rattle chains and go 'boo'?" Flynn questioned as her eyes flickered between the two girls in front of her.

"Uh, no. I'm pretty sure that's just a hurtful ghost stereotype. Then again, I've only met three ghosts so...I don't know," Lexi responded, only to get a small glare from the girl in front of her before a sigh passed over the former's lips, "these guys are just normal studio spirits."

"Well...Reggie's a little questionable," Julie added, receiving an elbow in her side from her redheaded friend then their attention turned back to Flynn. Their friend in pink stared at them for a long moment before pulling out her phone and starting to type out a message. "Who are you texting?"

"Your dad. He told me to text him if I was worried about you. And, um...I'm worried. You're seeing things, Jules," Flynn casually told the Molina girl before glancing up to meet Lexi's brown eyes, "and now I'm adding your parents."

"Alright. So you wanna be difficult?" Julie retaliated as she swiped the phone out of Flynn's hands, only for the latter to send her friend a shocked expression, "meet us in my mom's studio in thirty minutes, and I'll prove to you that we're not crazy." The Molina girl paused for a moment before placing Flynn's phone back into her hand. "And please don't text our parents."

When Flynn nodded in agreement, Julie grabbed Lexi's arm before dragging her back in the direction they just came. As soon as the pair reached their destination, the two girls found the ghosts of Sunset Curve huddled around the piano having an inaudible conversation before their attention turned in Lexi and Julie's direction. While the Daniels girl's feet stayed glued to their spot, her curly-haired best friend rushed over to the guys and explained her plan to them. Throughout the Molina girl's explanation, Lexi picked up her name a few times before gaining the courage to join them.

"Why am I getting dragged into this?" the redhead questioned as she came to a stop between Alex and Reggie before crossing her arms over her chest while keeping her eyes glued to her best friend, "you know how I feel about performing."

"I know but you sing and play the piano in front of Flynn and me all the time. You just have to get used to it in front of the guys," Julie responded with a pleading look in her eyes before placing her hand on her friend's arm, "I need you to do this with me."

"Actually, she did sing in front of us. She just didn't know we were there," Alex said, causing all eyes to fall on him as he swayed awkwardly on his feet. The Daniels girl's brown eyes stayed glued to the boy in pink for a moment before a small smile formed on his face. "You were really good."

As soon as the words finished leaving the Mercer boy's mouth, four pairs of pleading eyes landed on Lexi. She stared back at them with a blank expression on her face before she started to grow uncomfortable under their gaze and copied Alex's actions of swaying on her feet.

"Fine!" she somewhat shouted when the tension was too much for her to bear, causing the three ghost boys to jump at her sudden outburst before Lexi turned and pointed at Julie, "but if I mess this up, don't blame me."

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Their thirty-minute mark finally passed just as they heard a knock on the barn doors. After Julie and Lexi exchanged a quick look, the two of them let out a synchronous sigh before making their way over to the door. At the sight of their third Musketeer, the curly-haired girl let out a chuckle while the redhead stood at her side with a small smile on her face.

"Thanks for coming. We just wanted to rehearse the song so it was perfect, which it's not, but whatever," Julie told her while Flynn continued to stare at them with an annoyed look on her face.

"No, if I'm gonna hear a song from your imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect. So, get back in there," the girl in pink responded while gesturing for us to turn back into the studio then pointed to the space behind us, "all of you."

After Lexi and Julie let out small laughs at their friend's actions, the Molina girl stepped aside to allow Flynn entry to the garage. While her two friends had an inaudible conversation where the lounge area was, Lexi sat down at the keyboard that she and Julie set up as her nerves started to build up within her. Without really thinking, she glanced over at the three boys standing a few feet away from her with their instruments, only to receive thumbs up from all three of them. The Daniels girl sent them a small smile in return before letting out a long breath and placing her fingers on the piano keys.

Once Julie was set up at the microphone, she sent a small nod before Lexi started playing the beat on the synth pad attached to the keyboard. After playing it a few times, she hit the button to lock it then sat back down at the keyboard and began to play right as Julie began to sing. "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 change. We both know what I, what I, what I mean. When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me."

As soon as the Molina girl finished her last lyric, Flynn's smile vanished and a small scream passed over her lips at the sigh of the ghosts of Sunset Curve appearing before her very eyes. Grins formed on Julie, Lexi, and the phantoms' faces as all five of them sang the chorus while Flynn continued to look at the scene in front of her with panic plastered onto her face. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you. Hey, yeah, yeah. Hey, yeah, yeah. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

The redhead's fingers stayed on the keys while they played the notes between the verses as she slowly rose to her feet to bounce around to the beat. As she continued to do what she did best, she was completely oblivious to the smiles being sent her way from the ghosts of Sunset Curve. A small laugh passed over Lexi's lips as she watched Julie squat down to be at eye level with Flynn, who was still glancing between her two friends with confusion in her eyes. "Yeah, you know who I'm likin' way before I liked them, duh, 'cause you liked them first. And if somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too. That's just how we work, yeah, that's just how we work. It will never change. We both know what I, what I, what I mean. When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me."

As they jumped into the chorus once again, Julie pulled Flynn to her feet while the latter continued to look around like she had no clue what was going on. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you. Hey, yeah, yeah. Hey, yeah, yeah." Lexi's eyes followed her two friends with amusement in her eyes and Julie led Flynn over to where Luke was singing next to the couch with a huge smile plastered onto his face. The two girls stood there for a moment before Flynn grew even more confused as Julie dragged her over to where Alex was playing the drums. They danced there for a moment while Flynn sent the blonde ghost a somewhat forced smile."My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

Lexi continued to play the notes as Alex's drumming grew quieter. The joy she felt running through her veins was something he hadn't felt in almost a year and it was definitely noticed by everyone in the room. Her fingers danced across the keys as Alex, Luke, and Reggie shared another inconspicuous smile before Julie and Flynn came to a stop in front of the bassist. Once the girl in pink came to a stop next to the boy in plaid, she put her hand through his shoulder before rapidly pulling it away from him.

"Weird, right?" Reggie asked with a smile on his face that only made the one on Lexi's grow bigger than ever before.

"They're ghosts!" Flynn exclaimed as she looked back and forth between her two friends.

"Oh, we prefer, uh, either musician or studio spirits. Either will do," Alex told the confused girl before he looked over to find Lexi gazing at him with a somewhat blank expression on her face. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment before Alex sent her his first genuine smile since he found out they were related. The smile on the younger girl's face returned as they continued to quietly play.

"Julie. Lexi," Luke called, drawing everyone's attention to him, "so does this mean you're joining our band?"

In response to his question, Flynn took a few steps toward him with her hand raised before coming to a stop next to the Molina girl. "Um...actually, I think you're joining their band."

"I'm gonna go with what she said," Julie said as she placed an arm around Flynn's shoulders.

The notes from the piano came to a sudden stop before everyone quickly turned toward where the music should have been coming from to see Lexi standing like she was frozen in time while she stared down at her fingers. The smile that was once on her face was replaced by panic as she slowly looked up to meet everyone's eyes. The Daniels girl just stared at them for a long moment before letting out a long sigh as she ran her hands through her hair.

"I really liked playing with you guys, but I don't think I can join the band," the redhead told them in a tone just above a whisper as she thought about getting back on stage, "I can't go through that again."

"Do you really think what happened last year is gonna happen again if you play with us?" Reggie asked her as he continued to quietly play his bass so it wouldn't overpower their conversation.

"No, but-"

"I understand how you're feeling, Lexi. No one should have gone through what you did," Alex said, drawing the girl's attention to him as he lightly tapped on his drums.

"Can you at least think about it? Because you also can't deny how happy you are performing again," Luke said right before Lexi's eyes connected with Julie and Flynn's, who were sending her encouraging and hopeful smiles.

"It still isn't a yes, but I'll think about it," Lexi sighed, receiving cheers from everyone in the room as she placed her fingers back on the keyboard. As soon as they made contact, the joy she previously felt returned as she joined in with the ghost banned. While the music played, Julie and Flynn danced around their redheaded friend and her instrument while they sang the last piece of the song.

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

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𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆
Flying Solo by Julie and the Phantoms

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