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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇

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Just as Lexi slid her phone back into her pocket, she and Carter reached their destination before the latter pushed open the door in front of them to reveal the studio. A small smile formed on the Daniels girl's face while looking around the room at all the instruments that she used to write some of her songs. While she sat down at the grand piano in the middle of the room, Carter took down a guitar that was hanging on the wall before sitting down on the stool next to her. The two of them just sat there in somewhat awkward silence for a long moment before it was broken by a question Lexi knew was coming but didn't know how to answer.

"Are you really playing at the dance tonight?" Carter asked without looking up at the girl across from him as he nonchalantly tuned his guitar.

"I...I don't know. I kinda want to but...I don't know," Lexi answered, causing the Wilson boy to stop what he was doing to look up at the redhead. He just stared at her with an emotionless look that made the Daniels girl fidget in her seat for a moment before she let out a long sigh. "Can we just start on the project? Like you said, the sooner we finish the better."

"You can't seriously be considering it," the boy said, completely ignoring her request as he continued to study her. When Lexi didn't respond right away, his blank expression turned to annoyance while he placed his guitar on the stand next to him before moving forward to get closer to the girl. "Why would you even want to get on stage again after everything that happened?"

As his question sank into her head, the anxiety that was once flowing through Lexi's veins vanished and was quickly replaced with another emotion she hadn't truly felt in a long time. An emotion she'd rarely felt throughout her life. Anger. She was mad at the boy and his sister along with their candy-colored minions for what they did. She was mad at how the whole school followed them in attempting to ruin any chance of her getting back on stage. But, most of all, she was mad at herself for trusting two people she always knew would stab her in the back.

"'Everything that happened'? Seriously? You make it seem like what you did was an accident," she scoffed while trying to keep her feelings hidden as her intertwined fingers clenched into fists in her lap. As her eyes stayed glued to the boy before her, one question rang through her head that she never had the courage to ask. Until now. "Why would you and Carrie bring me into your lives if it was just gonna end up like this?"

"In all honesty, we never planned on doing that. Care wanted you in Dirty Candy because you were talented. We never thought you could actually outshine us," Carter told the girl before going back to tuning his guitar again like he was in the middle of a casual conversation, "it was kinda embarrassing that you beat me to our break up but, either way, everything could have been avoided if you just toned down your talent and stuck to being in the background."

All anger that was once flowing through her suddenly vanished as Lexi stared at the raven-haired boy with an emotionless look on her face while replaying what the Wilson boy just said in her head. As he continued to mess around with the instrument in his hands, the ginger-haired girl's eyes wandered to her songbook that was barely sticking out of her backpack. Her brown eyes stayed glued to her now-opened bag before they landed on a guitar pick sticking out of it. Lexi quickly looked around the room for any sign of the ghost boys, only to come up short as she slowly pulled out the worn book. Once her prized possession was in her hands, she flipped it open the marked page to find the lyrics to a song she wrote right after her last performance with Dirty Candy, a song she never thought she'd sing aloud. And written underneath it was a note written in bright red ink.

Music makes your soul shine brighter than the sun.
- Reggie

The Daniels girl's attention stayed on the red words for a long moment with Carter warming up on his guitar cutting through the silence. Lexi's gaze quickly turned to the raven-haired boy before she placed the book on the piano and lifted the cover to reveal the bright white keys, causing the Wilson boy to stop what he was doing as he quickly turned to face her.

"I actually think I have a song that could work for our project. It's short, sweet, and pretty meaningful. Checks off all the requirements," the redhead told him as she placed her fingers on the piano keys, "I actually wrote it about you a while back."

The confused-looking Carter continued to watch the redhead in front of him with curiosity in his eyes as Lexi stared at the keys beneath her hands for a moment. Her fingers were slightly shaking at the thought of playing in front of the boy who caused her stage fright in the first place before she shook out her wrists and let out a silent sigh. After calming herself down to the best of her ability, she returned her fingers to the keys and began to play the opening of the song.

"Do you know I still cry over you? Lose my sleep 'til my eyes turn dark blue. I'm over you. Not over you. Ivory keys and these gold piano strings. Hear my heart, ice the pain from your sting. Wash over me. I'm in too deep," Lexi glanced up at the boy sitting across from her, who was staring back at her with a blank look on his face, as her fingers continued to dance across the keys. As she neared the next verse of the song, she found herself slightly shocked at the lack of nerves within her. "And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Only making my heartache more sore. And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Go on hun, it's your move, take the floor. 'Cause for you I won't cry anymore."

While Lexi played the notes in between her verses, Carter watched the Daniels girl with a slightly opened mouth as he took in the lyrics of her song. The confusion he was feeling began to grow stronger than ever as he began to mix with another feeling that he just couldn't place. "They say what's the real use for those tears. Just a spilled glass of milk, tame your fears. It's over dear. Your make-up's smeared. And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Only making my heartache more sore. And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Go on hun, it's your move, take the floor. 'Cause for you I won't cry anymore."

Right outside the hallway, Julie stood next to the door of the Wilsons' studio while Flynn was distracting Carrie and Nick on the other side of the house. The Molina girl slightly opened the door so that she could hear the music clearer before her eyes landed on a smiling Lexi playing at the piano with her eyes glued to the boy across from her. A grin formed on the curly-haired girl's face that matched the one on her redheaded friend's before she slowly closed the door to continue her search for the ghosts of Sunset Curve. "And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Only making my heartache more sore. And I'm not gonna cry anymore. Go on hun, it's your move, take the floor. 'Cause for you I won't cry anymore."

The smile on her face never faded as Lexi finished playing the closing of the song. A new wave of happiness washed over the girl's shoulders while a weight that had been on her shoulders for as long as she could remember suddenly disappeared. After letting out a small laugh, her eyes left the keys in front of her and landed back on Carter, who was staring back at her with mixed emotions in his eyes. The two of them just stared at each other in silence as one couldn't shake the joy that flowed through her veins as the other was in complete and utter shock at what had happened.

"So...what'd you think? Would you wanna use it for our project?" Lexi asked, the grin on her face not faltering at all while she watched the boy in front of her take in the song he just heard. She tried to keep her smile from growing wider when his brown eyes moved to meet hers as his confused expression transformed into a blank look.

"It, uh...it was good," he hesitated for a moment as he looked away from Lexi and to the floor beneath his feet. A million different conflicting thoughts ran through his head between the lyrics that were on a continuous loop. Carter shook his head to clear his mind before everything became clear as a single emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time took over his body, only for him to quickly shake it off before looking back up at Lexi. "But I don't think we should use it. We can probably come up with something better."

The Daniels girl watched a forced smile form on the face of the boy sitting across from her as he picked up his guitar once again. Not wanting to push Carter any farther after seeing the small flash of guilt that he failed to hide cross over his face, Lexi agreed to his request as she turned to the next empty page in her songbook.

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A few hours passed of Lexi and Carter bouncing ideas off each other before they finally came up with a song to turn in. After rehearsing it a few times to be prepared for class on Monday, the Daniels girl packed up her things before following the raven-haired boy out of the music room and back towards the main part of the mansion while Lexi sent a text to her brother.

🥰LEXI🥰:
Hey! We just finished but don't
worry about picking me up. I'm
walking home with Julie and
Flynn

🤓RYDER🤓:
How'd the project go??

🥰LEXI🥰:
Surprisingly well...

🤓RYDER🤓:
That's good...I guess. You can
tell me more about it when you
get home

🥰LEXI🥰:
Sounds good! Love you Ry ❤️

🤓RYDER🤓:
Love you Lexa 💚

Lexi slipped her phone back into her pocket just as the pair reached the hallway that led to the living room as Trevor Wilson rushed down the stairs in a frenzy. Confusion filled the air at the sight of the panicked man before he announced to his kids that he was going to his therapist. As soon as his dad was out of sight, Carter said his goodbyes to Lexi before walking upstairs, leaving the redhead with Flynn sitting in between Carrie and Nick while talking about a raccoon. The Daniels girl just stared at the trio on the couch for a moment before her eyes traveled to the backyard to see Julie talking to the ghosts of Sunset Curve.

"I'm gonna go in the back to call my brother," Lexi said to no one in particular before walking around the back of the couch and out the backdoor. She made her way over to the four and came to a stop next to Julie before crossing her arms over her chest and studying the three boys in front of her. "Something tells me that you three had the time of your afterlives based on how Trevor ran out of there."

"Okay, the two of you would do the exact same if he stole all your songs," Luke responded as he and Alex adjusted their pants, which Lexi chose to ignore, while Reggie decided to match the redhead's pose by crossing his arms.

"But you have new songs. With me," Julie retaliated with irritation laced between each word, "the best way to get back at Trevor is for this band to do great. And to do great, we have to play at dances, then clubs."

"And tours. I know," the guitarist replied while taking a few steps forward and stopping a foot away from the Molina girl, who simply stared at him with an annoyed look on her face before letting out a long sigh.

"I'll see you guys at the school. We go on at 9:00. Please don't be late. There's gonna be a lot of people there," the curly-haired girl told the three boys before turning her attention to her ginger-haired friend, "I'm gonna head back inside to get Flynn. You coming?"

"I'll be there in a second," the Daniels girl answered, only to receive a simple nod from Julie before the latter turned and made her way back into the house.

As soon as she was gone, Lexi pulled her phone out of her pocket and placed it on her ear to pretend to take a call so she didn't look crazy if Carrie or Nick looked out the window before turning her attention back to the three boys. The redhead just stared at them for a long moment while they looked back at her with confusion in their eyes and quirked eyebrows.

"Look, if the three of you put your a hold on your revenge plans and play at the dance tonight, I'll perform with you, deal?" she told the ghosts of Sunset Curve, only to receive shocked expressions in response before a sigh passed over Lexi's lips as she ran a hand down the side of her face, "Julie's counting on you guys and I haven't seen her this happy since her mom died. Now, do we have a deal or not?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we have a deal," the shaggy-haired brunette boy laughed as a giant grin formed on his face while gazing at the younger girl with a hint of pride in his eyes.

"We got it, alright? Don't worry," Alex reassured Lexi, causing the latter to send her uncle a grateful nod in response before her brown eyes landed on Reggie, only to find him already looking back at her with a smirk on his face.

"We'll be there, Annie," the bassist said before letting a small chuckle pass over his lips at the sight of the girl's face growing pink, "see you tonight."

Lexi's smile returned to her face before she slid her phone back into her pocket and made her way back inside the mansion. Once she was reunited with her two best friends, she threw her backpack over her shoulders while saying her goodbyes to Carrie and Nick then following Flynn and Julie out the door. The trio walked down the street with their arms interlocked as they made their way back towards Julie's house to prepare for the dance.

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𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆
Cry by Evie Clair

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