✨all i want✨
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Annie Walker waited eagerly in her seat with her head resting on the palm of her hand. She tapped her baby blue-colored nails on her desk and anxiously watched the clock as her psychology teacher spoke absolutely nonsense to her ears. She never paid attention in this class and didn't care what the teacher had to say, she was a straight-A student. Annie's eyes wander around the classroom and found a familiar mop of brown curls on the other side of the room, her eyes lingered for a bit before drifting away from them.

The mop of curly brown hair was known as Ricky Smith, her ex-boyfriend, who cheated on her and left her heartbroken. Annie's dated a few people in the past, but none of them left her as devastated as Ricky did. Ricky was the first boy she dated, having only dated girls, she was new to the male spectrum of dating and would rate it 0/10. Would not recommend it.

Annie was snapped out of her thoughts when the bell rang and every student rose from their seats, gathering their belongings. Annie flipped her hood over her head and immediately left the class without making any eye contact with anyone, especially Ricky.

It's surprising how two-faced someone can be and Annie learned that the hard way.

The brown-haired girl walked down the hallway, drowning out the surrounding voices of her classmates and peers. Annie used to never be so closed off and quiet, she was a bubbly and go-happy person until her own father left her and she completely changed. Her love for music was lost and hasn't touched a musical instrument or her songbook since the day he left. She wrote one lost song dedicated to her father before tossing it into her closet to never be seen by a single soul again.

Annie approached her locker and opened it, removing her hood to allow her brown hair to fall free across her back. Next to her, a girl with a cap on her head opened her locker and Annie looked over to see her best friend, Julie Molina.

"Hey, loser," Annie greeted her and Julie formed a faint grin.

"Hey, ugly troll."

The girls shared a smile.

"Ready for music class?" Annie asked, knowing the answer.

"Heck no," Julie replied and Annie giggled quietly.

"Glad I'm not in it anymore," Annie responded and Julie knitted her eyebrows together.

"I wish you were."

Annie didn't care if she was cut from the music program. Her inspiration for music was gone, so why try for something if you have no enthusiasm for it?

"Hey, underachievers,"

Annie turned her head to see her other best friend, Flynn, had approached them.

"Hey, disappointment," Julie and Annie greeted back to her with small smiles.

"Okay, I know you don't want me to ask, but have you figured out what you're gonna do today, Julie?" Flynn asked Julie. "I can't ask Annie, because she dropped out a while ago."

Annie tightened her hood with the strings and looked away, "I did nothing to suddenly be attacked today."

"Love ya," Flynn grinned.

"I'll know in the moment," Julie remarked and Annie scoffed.

"Really, Jules?" Flynn asked with disbelief. "That's all you're giving me? Miss Harrison said this is your last chance."

"I know," Julie replied. "I was there."

"Please do not end up like me," Annie sighed, loosening her hood and removing it off her head. "I need one of us to remain in check."

"See ya at the rally," a preppy voice echoed and the three girls groaned at it.

Annie's eyes glared at the blonde girl that stood a few feet away from her. Carrie.

"Ugh! What is she handing out?" Flynn sighed and Annie was about to walk away, but Flynn took her arm. "Nope, you stay, we can't handle her without you."

"Just because she and I went out on two dates last year does not mean crap," Annie remarked.

Carrie was handing out flyers to the Spirit Rally to the other students and by her side was Nick, her boyfriend.

"I think she's handing out desperation," Julie mentioned and Annie giggled, but it died down when Carrie approached the three.

"Here ya go!" Carrie smiled, handing Annie a flyer. "My groups performing at the Spirit Rally tomorrow. I'm sure you guys have nothing better to do."

"I got homework," Annie mentioned and Carrie rolled her eyes. "Rather do that."

"Oh my gosh, Carrie! Thanks!" Flynn gasped sarcastically.

"Oh my gosh, Flynn. Don't bother coming."

Flynn's smile dropped and Carrie walked away afterward, still flaunting her flyers.

"I hate her, I really do," Annie said, ripping up the flyer and tossing it on the ground.

"Dude," Julie said and Annie looked at her. "You're hurting the school floor with Carrie's trash."

The three girls laughed as Annie bent down and picked up the pieces of paper. Annie stood back up and noticed Julie smiling like an idiot at Nick and Flynn made a face of disgust.

"Nick?" Flynn asked and Julie snapped back into reality. "Still? You know they're gonna get married and have a bunch of unholy babies."

"Nick's a sweetheart," Julie reasoned.

"Yeah, you'd actually have to talk to him to know that," Annie remarked.

"And only one of them has to be a demon to make a demon baby," Flynn added on and looked at Carrie, raising her voice. "Demon!"

Carrie turned around and the three girls turned away, giggling.

"There are those smiles," Flynn smiled, gesturing to Julie and Annie's smiles. "Now, let's go prove everybody wrong."

"Good luck, Julie," Annie said and hugged Julie. "You got this."

"You're not coming?" Julie asked with sorrow.

"I'm not in the class," Annie reminded her.

"You should be," Flynn cut in. "You should still be in it."

"I don't sing or play music anymore, "Annie softly sighed and Julie rubbed her back. "I'm sorry."

The two girls hugged Annie, who smiled sadly.

"One day, you'll get your musical touch back," Flynn told her and Annie grinned.

"Thanks, Flynn," Annie and looked at Julie. "You got this."

"Thanks, Annika," Julie said and Annie smiled at her nickname.

"See ya," Annie waved and Julie and Flynn walked away to the music class.

Annie sighed heavily as she shut her locker and leaned against them.

——

Annie was in the hallway during the last period waiting for Julie to finish and hoping it went well. However, she heard footsteps run by her and she turned to find Julie had just run by her.

"Julie!" Annie called and Julie stopped in her tracks, squeezing her eyes shut. "What happened?!"

Annie looked around and didn't see Flynn anywhere.

"I couldn't do it," Julie admitted and Annie sighed with sadness. "I tried to, but when I went to sing my body couldn't let me."

"Julie..." Annie softly spoke and went up to her. "Please do not do this. I need you to still sing. I need one of us to still have that spark in us, please do not let it go out."

"I tried to keep that spark!" Julie exclaimed to her, "I tried for you, I tried for Miss Harrison, I tried for Flynn, for my dad, and for my mom!"

Annie blinked her eyes and felt a few tears form in them as Julie continued.

"I tried for a whole year. I've been trying, but I can't do this anymore!" Julie cried out and Annie looked down sadly. "I can't...I'm done! I'm sorry, Annie..."

Annie reached out as Julie walked away and she covered her mouth with her hand. Annie turned around and saw Flynn standing there with a look of sorrow, before quickly walking away to go home.

"Annie..." Flynn softly cried but Annie was already out of the building. Flynn walked toward the lockers and slid down them until she was sitting on the floor. She softly began to cry to herself and shook her head, not knowing how to get her two best friends back.

——

-Annie's House-

Annie was sitting on the couch in her living room, playing with her little sister, April. Every day when she comes home, she usually plays with her sister to cheer herself up, especially if she had a bad day.

"You're home, sweetie."

Annie turned and smiled at her mother, Ginger, that descended from the stairs.

"Hi, momma," Annie smiled back.

"So, Flynn's mom called me-"

"I really do not want to talk about that," Annie interrupted her mom. "I'm sorry."

"I understand that. Okay," Ginger nodded, not pushing her daughters' boundaries. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I know it's been rough and it's been rough for me and your sister too. But just remember, you're not alone and I'm here to help you if you need it."

Annie smiled softly at her mom, "thanks, mom."

Ginger kissed her daughter's head, before sitting down next to her and April.

"So, I got another phone call, but it was from Ray," Ginger continued. "He wanted to know if you wanted to help Julie cleanout Rose's old studio."

Annie let out a small breath and looked away, which made Ginger rub her arm.

"I know this isn't easy, but you and Julie are the experts here," Ginger told her daughter. "I do not think Julie wants to clean out her mother's studio alone, she needs you."

"I need her," Annie remarked. "And who knows, maybe something magical will happen."

"Maybe," Ginger chuckled. "Maybe being around those instruments and Julie will bring that spark back."

"Yeah," Annie nodded. "I'll help her."

"Julie will call you when she's ready," Ginger smiled, before getting up and going into the kitchen.

Annie looked down at her sister, who had fallen peacefully asleep in her lap. Annie smiled and kissed her head.

"I love you, April."

——

-That Night; Julie's House-

Annie and Julie stood outside of the studio that belonged to Rose, Julie's mother. They took each other's hand and opened the door to reveal the large studio of Rose's and allowed the gust of wind to brush against their faces. Years of memories hit Annie in the face and she sighed, remembering all the songs she wrote and all the laughs and smiles she shared with Rose and Julie. She loved every second of it and cherishes those moments forever.

Julie went over and turned the lights on. Annie's eyes locked onto the covered grand piano in front of her. Julie and Annie slowly approached the grand piano, while taking a look around at everything else around them. Still looked the same as before nothing changed and the memory still remains the same.

Julie and Annie softly took the tarp covering the piano and removed it to reveal the beautiful, black grand piano they use to play together. Laying on the bench was a song Rose left for Julie before she died and Julie picked it up, setting it on the piano. Julie sat down and looked at Annie, who joined her on the bench. Annie rested her head on Julie's shoulder as Julie looked up with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, mom," Julie exhaled deeply. "That I haven't been in here or that Annie hasn't been in here. She's not doing so great either."

Annie lifted her head and looked up to see stuff on the second floor above them. Annie stood up and went over to it with Julie following behind out of curiosity. She went over to the ladder and climbed it with Julie staying behind, unsure of what Annie was doing.

Annie's head popped up to the second floor and she was met with a clutter of instruments, boxes, books, and something that stuck out to her was the guitar case, drumsticks, and a small keyboard. Her eyes lingered on them before she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She saw a CD laying on the ground and she tilted her with confusion, before picking up the CD that was called "Sunset Curve."

"Hey, Julie, I found a CD."

"By who?" Julie responded as Annie descended back to the ground and showed Julie.

"Hmm."

The girls went over to the stereo and Annie put in the CD before she sat down with Julie on the couch. The first track began to play and Annie instantly felt a smile form when she heard the song.

Julie and Annie shared a smile at the song and continued to listen before they were interrupted by loud screaming. The girls covered their ears as the screams got louder and louder before three teenage boys appeared right in front of them.

Julie and Annie stood to their feet in utter shock and fear at the sight of the random dudes in front of them. The three boys groaned in pain as the girls were almost speechless at them and shared a look of shock. The three boys slowly climbed to their feet still groaning and turned to the girls, breathing heavily.

"Whoa," the boy with brown hair in the middle exhaled. "How'd we end up back here?"

Julie and Annie began to scream out of nowhere, which caused the three boys to scream as well. Julie and Annie rushed out of the studio and ran down the path to get back to Julie's house while screaming until they ran into Ray and Carlos.

"Dad!"

"Ray!"

Ray caught the girls and attempted to calm them down.

"Woah, girls! Slow down!" He told them, "you two look like you've seen a ghost."

"We have!" The girls exclaimed.

"Cool!" Carlos beamed.

"Not cool!" Julie said back, before taking Annie's arm and pulling her inside the house. The girls rushed upstairs and into Julie's room once they made sure it was clear and hid behind Julie's chair. Julie and Annie peeked their heads out to make sure they didn't see any ghosts around before Julie pulled out her phone and texted Flynn.

"Come on, Flynn! 911 means 911!" Jullie whispered and Annie pulled out her phone texting Flynn the same but got no response.

"Why isn't she responding?" Annie asked.

"Hey!"

The two girls yelled, turning around and saw Ray standing there, which calmed their nerves a little bit.

"Dad," Julie sighed as she and Annie stood up with Ray walking in more.

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure you were okay," Ray told the girls.

"You don't believe us, do you?" Julie asked her dad.

"Honey, of course, I do. Mija, I see your mom all the time," Ray remarked and Annie shook her head.

"But this isn't like that," Julie told him.

"I know. It's different for all of us," Ray explained.

"Ray, you're not listening to her," Annie told him and gestured to the window. "We saw something out there."

"All right, okay, okay," Ray said and sat down to listen. "I'm listening. Tell me what you saw. Just the three of us here."

Julie folded her arms, "you sound just like Dr. Turner."

"Well, maybe seeing Dr. Turner again isn't such a bad idea," Ray reasoned.

"Dad!" Julie snapped at her and Ray stopped, "can we just drop it?"

"All right," Ray nodded. "Dropped."

Ray stood up and put a finger out for Julie and one for Annie.

"We good?" He asked and the girls touched their opposing fingers to his.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

They interlocked the fingers together and smiled before they all let go and Ray left the room. However, the girls were still on guard and carefully looked out the window for the three male ghosts. Julie took the cross of her wall before the two girls left the house and over to the studio.

The girls approached the studio with Julie holding the cross out and Annie was hiding behind her the best she could. She's a couple of inches taller than Julie, so she had to crouch down a little. The girls carefully walked inside the studio and didn't see the ghosts anywhere.

"You still here?" Julie asked as they turned around.

"Whatever you are," Annie exhaled shakily.

Julie lowered the cross and Annie let go of her.

"We know we saw something," Julie sighed and looked at Annie. "I'm not crazy."

"Well, we're all a little crazy."

The girls turned around to see the three ghost boys standing there. They began to scream again with Julie pointing the cross at them and Annie grabbing her out of fear.

"Oh my god! Please stop screaming!" The blonde ghost with a hat yelled and the girls stopped screaming. Annie softened her grip on Julie and stood straight up to look at the boys.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my mom's studio?" Julie asked the ghost boys.

"Your mom's studio?" The light brown hair ghost boy asked as he walked forward, but Julie shoved the cross toward him and he swiftly dodged it. "This is our studio! Trust me! The grand piano is new, and... and... and..."

The ghost boy hopped onto the piano and slid across it to get away from the cross. He hopped off and gasped, leaping to the couch.

"My couch!" He giggled and sighed happily, which made Annie smile softly. The ghost boy sat up and looked around, before pointing to the guitar behind him. "That is definitely not my six-string."

He looked around the whole studio and realized what happened, before approaching the girls again. Annie crouched behind Julie again as he got closer.

"Can you just give me one second?" The ghost boy asked, stumbling by the girls to dodge Julie's cross and moved over to the other ghost boys. "Just... give me a second. Thank you."

The ghost boy pulled the other two ghost boys away to speak, but Annie and Julie could still hear.

"Guys, what is going on? How did they get their stuff in here so fast?"

"Maybe... maybe they're witches," the ghost in the leather jacket spoke and Annie's eyes linger on him for far too long. "There's chairs floating on the ceiling."

"Okay, there are no such things as witches," the blonde ghost remarked.

"You sure? I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts," The ghost boy in the leather jacket mentioned and the blonde ghost shrugged.

"That's fair."

"Ok, so we're going with witches?" The first ghost boy asked.

"No, we are not going with witches!" The blonde ghost whisper yelled, "they're not witches. Ok, look, they're just scared. Ok? Let someone with a softer touch handle this."

The blonde ghost approached Julie and Annie, who backed up a little and Annie kept herself settled behind Julie.

"Why are you in our studio?" He asked them.

Julie shoved the cross toward him, but it went right through his body and she pulled it out. Annie's eyes grew and Julie was shocked, looking at the cross.

"Oh my gosh!" Annie gasped and looked at him, "how did you do that?"

"Clearly, you both are not understanding..." the blonde ghost said and turned to his friends. "They don't get it. Okay, look. We're ghosts, all right? We're just three ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So, thank you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room."

"We're actually in a band called Sunset Curve," the first ghost boy informed them and Annie's eyes shifted to the stereo.

"Tell your friends," the ghost in the leather jacket added.

"Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us," the first ghost boy began. "It was gonna change our lives."

"I'm, uh, I'm pretty sure it did," the blonde ghost boy whispered to him.

"This is freaking me out," Julie said and breathes sharply as she gets her phone out, but keeps the cross up.

"Yeah, I'm like mentally freaking out too," Annie agreed, getting her phone out to search up the band.

"What is that? What are you two doing?" The first ghost boy asked, gesturing to the phones.

"It's our phones," Annie told them and Julie nudged her arm.

"No, stop talking to them," Julie told her as Annie searched up the band on her phone. "They aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts."

"Oh, think we're cute?" The ghost in the leather jacket asked with a smirk and Annie grinned, shrugging.

"Maybe..." Annie muttered and the ghost boy winked at her.

"Who you calling?" The blonde ghost boy asked the girls that were typing on their phones.

"We're googling Sunset Swerve," Julie informed them.

"Sunset Curve!" The three ghosts corrected and the girls looked at the information on their phones to see a picture of four boys on the front page. Annie was confused, because there were three boys in front of her, but didn't question it. She was really freaked out and did not want another ghost to appear.

"Okay," Annie smiled. "There is a Sunset Curve."

"You did die," Julie continued. "But not last night.. twenty-five years ago?"

"What? No, no, no, no! That's impossible!" The ghost in the leather jacket denied with a scoff, "after we floated out of the ambulance, all we did was go to that weird dark room where Alex cried."

Annie looked at the blonde ghost boy, who was named, Alex and grinned softly.

"Well!... I don't think... I think we were all pretty upset. Ok?" Alex objected in a high-pitched voice.

"But that was just for like an hour?" The first ghost boy questioned, "we just showed up here."

"Look," Annie sighed and showed them her phone. "We're just showing you what our phones say."

"See? You died in 1995 when you were 17," Julie explained to the ghosts that were looking at Annie's phone. "It's now 2020."

"So, this is the future?" The ghost in the leather jacket asked and Annie shrugged.

"Wait. So... so, it has been 25 years? I have been crying for 25 years? How is that possible?!" Alex exclaimed and Annie grinned with a chuckle.

"Same buddy."

"Well, you're a very emotional person," The ghost in the leather jacket reasoned.

"I am not!" Alex protested.

"Thought you were afraid to come out here."

Everyone looked at the doors to see Carlos standing there and approached the girls.

"You two talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?" Carlos asked us and winked at Annie, "probably not as good looking as me, right Annie?"

"Keep telling yourself that, buddy," Annie told Carlos, who lowered his arms.

"He can see you," Alex smiled at the ghost in the leather jacket.

"No, he can't," Julie objected and Carlos looked around, confused at what Julie said.

"What?"

"What do you want?" Julie asked him.

"A normal sister and a normal crush, for starters," Carlos began and Annie rolled her eyes at him. "Stop being weird and come eat."

Carlos turned away and walked out of the studio.

"He couldn't see you?" Annie said with confusion.

"Yeah, I mean... that's usually how ghosts work," Alex mentioned before Julie took Annie's wrist and pulled her past the boys.

"Look, I'm very sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn't your studio anymore," Julie harshly explained to him. "You have to leave."

"Julie, you can at least be a little nicer to them," Annie reasoned as Julie turned to leave.

"But wait.." The first ghost boy stopped them
and Julie turned back. "We didn't get your names."

"It's Julie," Julie told them.

"Annie," Annie waved softly and the ghost in the leather jacket smiled at her.

"Cool, I'm Luke-" The first ghost boy introduced, but Julie held up the cross and he stopped. "by-by the way... and this is-"

"Reggie. I'm Reggie. Hey," the ghost in the leather introduced and Annie smiled at him.

"And-"

"Alex, how's it going?" Alex greeted last.

"Ba-da," Luke softly gestured.

"Ok?" Julie said, before walking away and Annie stood there.

"I'm sorry about her," Annie apologized. "She's usually a lot nicer. It's nice to meet you tho."

"You too!" Reggie grinned and the other boys smiled at her.

"I'll see you later," Annie waved before she walked out of the studio to head home for dinner.

——

-Annie's House-

Annie had returned home and was sitting at the table with her mom and April, eating tacos for dinner. April had a bowl of meat and cheese and was just hand-eating it, while the other two were eating the food like a taco.

"How did cleaning out the studio go?" Ginger asked Annie, who was in the middle of chewing.

Annie swallowed her food and shrugged, "got distracted by some stuff and listened to an old album we found."

"How you feel about being in there?"Ginger asked Annie and Annie looked up but found Luke, Reggie, and Alex had walked through the door.

"Ahhh!" She gasped and Ginger leaned back, looking around and this made April drop her meat onto her lap.

"Ahhh!" April cried out and Ginger turned to her younger daughter, noticing the mess.

"Oh, sweetie," Ginger said and went over to clean April up.

"Hey, Annie," Reggie greeted and Annie awkwardly smiled at them as he got closer. "We like what you did with the place.

"Please leave," Annie quietly pleaded and Reggie moved back with Luke and Alex slowly walking away.

"Sorry.." Reggie apologized to her.

"I don't think she wants us here either," Luke mentioned to Reggie and Alex.

Once Ginger cleaned up April, she returned to her seat and Annie noticed the boys had left the house.

"All clean," Ginger smiled and April smiled happily as she continued to eat her food.

"Now, what were we talking about?" Ginger asked Annie.

"Studio cleaning thing," Annie reminded her and felt herself calm down.

"Oh, right!" Ginger smiled, "why did you yell?'

"Because... it made me feel so... ahhhh!" Annie laughed as she let out a small yell and Ginger sniffled a laugh.

"Oh, honey, you're so funny," Ginger smiled and Annie smiled back, giving her a thumbs up. "Did it spark any interest in music for you?"

Annie's smile faded and she looked down at her half-eaten taco, "it more like... scared me."

Annie wasn't lying. She was scared to sing because it reminded her of her father. Her father brings back horrible memories and whenever she sings, she gets reminded of him and what he did. He left them and she will never forgive him.

Ginger sighed and put out her hand for Annie to grab, which Annie accepted.

"Sweetie, can I ask you something?"

"Yes," Annie.

"Why did you love to sing?" Ginger asked her.

"Because it helped me relieve my stress and helped get my unspoken emotions out," Annie easily explained. "I felt like a different person when I sang."

"I already knew that, but I wanted to hear you say it," Ginger remarked. "I know you have so much you want to get out there, but you're afraid. When you sang and played music, I saw you express yourself like never before. When your father left, you allowed those fears to take over and you couldn't let out your emotions. You can't let that one thing determine how you feel about something, I know you still love music. I can see it and I know you can too. You need to allow yourself to let those emotions about your father out and let go of it because all it's causing is for you to be scared. Don't give up on something you love just because you're afraid."

Annie smiled at her moms' words and let out a shaky breath, "thanks, mom."

Ginger nodded, "I'm here for you. I'm your biggest cheerleader."

"I know," Annie giggled and Ginger chuckled.

"Now," Ginger said. "Please clean up the kitchen, while I put April to bed."

"Got it," Annie nodded before she stood up and went into the kitchen to clean up.

Suddenly, rock music began to play faintly and Annie's eyes grew, realizing what was happening. Ginger looked up, covering April's ears from the loud music.

"What is that?" Ginger asked and Annie chuckled, heading toward the front door.

"I think Julie and I left the stereo on. I'll go check!"

Annie quickly left her house and headed over there without another word

Once Annie got over there, she and Julie headed over to the studio. They opened the door to see the ghost boys playing on the instruments and marched in front of them to stop.

"Guys, guys! Stop!" The girls yell over the loud music, but they didn't listen. "Enough! Stop! Cut it out!"

Soon enough, the music ended and Annie sighed.

"The whole neighborhood could hear you!" Annie told them.

"I thought I told you to leave," Julie added.

"Wait, people can hear us play?" Luke asked them.

"Yes! And so did my dad, my brother, her mom, and her sister!" Julie exclaimed to them

Alex stood up as Reggie and Luke put their instruments down, "wait, wait. So, only you two can see us, but everyone can hear us? I mean, what kind of ghosts are we?"

"Who cares, man? People can hear us play!" Luke laughed and fist-bumped Alex and Reggie.

"We might be dead, but our music isn't," Reggie smiled and fist-bumped Alex."

The door suddenly opened and in walked Ray.

"Dad!"

"Ray!"

"Hey," Ray greeted the girls. "Just making sure you're both okay."

"Yeah, we're fine," Annie assured him. "Just had to turn off the CD player."

"Is this the junk that was in the loft?" Ray asked, gesturing to the bass, guitar, and drums in front of him.

Luke gave him an offended look, "junk?!"

Ray walked past the boys and looked at the drum set, tapping his hands on the drums.

"All this stuff's in pretty good shape," Ray mentioned and tickled the cymbals. "Hey, maybe we can make a couple of bucks."

"What?" Alex protested as Ray continued to mess with the drums, "stop touching my drums! Tell him to stop touching my drums!"

The girls shrugged, not knowing what to do, but Ray had moved away from the drums seconds later.

"I liked that song you had on," Ray mentioned.

"Sweet!" Luke said, suddenly liking Ray. "We're Sunset Curve."

"Tell your friends," Reggie smiled at Ray.

"It's just an old CD Annie found," Julie shrugged.

"Well, still, it's nice that you're both listening to music again," Ray remarked. "Out here, you can play whatever you wanted, whenever you want."

As Ray spoke, he tossed his hands to the side, which went through Luke and Reggie, who both moved back with shock.

Annie snickered a little at their reactions.

"Oh! That's nice," Reggie smiled.

"Stay out of this," Julie scolded Reggie and Annie whacked her arm.

"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean-"

"No, no, no, no. Not you!" Annie quickly jumped in, defending Julie. "She means.... uh.... well..."

"Actually, give us a minute," Julie took her father's arm and pulled him away with Annie following closely behind. Ray turned around and took Julie and Annie's shoulder to stop them.

"Hey, we're gonna figure out this music program thing," Ray assured Julie and also Annie, who rolled her eyes at that.

"Thanks, Dad," Julie smiled at him, before gesturing him to leave. Ray nodded, before exiting the studio and Annie closed the doors.

"He likes our song," Luke chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. He doesn't count," Alex objected. "He's a dad."

"Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts?" Julie asked the ghost boys. "Hang out at an old mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice."

Julie grunted, before opening the door and leaving again. Annie waves awkwardly, before quickly leaving with Julie.

The two girls headed up the stone steps but jumped back with a yell when Luke appeared in front of them

"Ahhh!" The girls yelled.

"Stop that. I'm serious!" Julie groaned.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Luke apologized.

"What do you want?" Julie asked, folding her arms.

"I know this is all completely insane, but you do know how rad this is?" Luke asked the two girls, "People... actual people can hear us play."

"Yeah, it's just that Annie and I have had a really, really awful day," Julie snapped and took Annie's arm, pulling her forward. "We gotta go."

"Julie," Annie stopped her, "at least listen to him."

Julie paused and turned back to Luke.

"Well, I'm sorry you both had a bad day, but three guys just found out that they had a bad 25 years!" Luke remarked, "and then they found out that the one thing, the one thing they lived for in the first place they can still do. That's pretty rad."

"You're right," Julie softly said. "It's just..."

"Your bad day," Luke finished for Julie. "Yeah, I know. Look, I'm sorry we came into your lives, but... what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again. We all felt alive again. So, you can kick us out if you want, but we're not giving up music. We can play again. That's a gift no musician would ever turn down. You both gotta know that. Clearly, Julie's mom is into music."

"Was," Julie corrected. "She passed away."

Luke's face fell and he shook his head. "I am... so sorry. Annie, you must-"

"No, my parents aren't into music. And... my dad left last year and my love for it died," Annie sadly explained and Julie squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry, Annie," Luke apologized and Annie looked away.

"We... we didn't know," Alex, who had been standing there with Reggie, spoke.

"It's okay," Annie softly sighed.

"It's alright," Julie shrugged.

"You guys haven't seen my mom anywhere, have you?" Julie asked the boys, "from, wherever you're from?"

"No, no, I mean, you're kind of the first people we've seen," Alex explained.

"Yeah, but they're not dead, so it doesn't answer her question," Reggie reasoned.

"Yeah, I think they know what we mean," Alex remarked before turning back to the girls. "I'm sorry for your loss and about your dad leaving."

Annie gave them a sad smile as Julie nodded, "thanks."

"Sorry I got mad, "Julie apologized. "Should've kept my cool like Annie."

Annie chuckled, "you guys are kinda good."

"Kinda?" Luke asked Annie, "y-y-you know that's like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off."

"Yeah," Reggie nodded. "Do you two play the piano too?"

"No," Julie denied and Annie shook her head.

"I don't either. That was her mom's stuff in there," Annie explained.

"No way, she's an amazing songwriter," Luke told them and Julie looked down.

"She was..." Julie nodded, before looking at him with confusion. "Wait, how would you know?"

"There's a song on the piano. If it's hers... your mom was really talented."

It became silent for a few moments and Julie turned, but Annie nudged her arm motioning her to allow them to stay. Julie gave her a faint grin, before letting Annie tell the boys.

"So... if you need a place to stay... you can stay in there," Annie offered the ghosts, who all smiled at her. "There's a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed if you still use any of that stuff."

"Dibs on the shower!" Reggie chirped and Annie raised an eyebrow at him, "I just really like showers and sometimes the occasional bath."

Annie chuckled as Julie shook her head.

"This... this is just too weird."

"Goodnight," Annie smiled before she and Julie left the ghost boys alone.

——

-Annie's House; Midnight-

Annie sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling unable to get to sleep. Her mind had been racing with rapid thoughts that wouldn't stop and she didn't know how to make them stop.

She tried taking melatonin, eating a midnight snack, drinking warm milk. Nothing worked.

The only thing on her mind was music and how much she misses it. She's always has missed it, but she's scared.

But her mother told her to not give up on something you love just because you're afraid and she will remember that. Annie sat up and her eyes wandered over to her closet, which had her songbook stuffed inside. She hasn't even taken a glance at her songbook since the day her father left.

"Don't give up on something you love just because you're afraid..." Annie whispered to herself before letting out an exhale and standing up.

She went up to her closest and opened the door to reveal a small mess of clutter that she hasn't cleaned up for a couple of months. Annie bent down and went through the clutter of stuff before she felt a familiar leather cover of a book she knows too well and pulled it out.

Her eyes stared at the object and felt herself smile at the sight of her songbook. It wasn't dusty or dirty, it was still in perfect shape. It still had the teething marks from her sister when she was younger and Annie sighed.

"Good to see you, old friend," Annie smiled, before opening the book and flipping through the songs she wrote a while back.

Her eyes fell on a particular song that struck a memory of a certain boy that broke her heart a while ago.

Ricky.

Annie felt herself stand up and she walked out of her room without any hesitation. She headed downstairs and into the living room where a grand piano stood tall and hasn't been touched in over a year. Annie stares at this piano every day and feels nothing but fear and sadness, but today she felt confident and determined.

"I don't think my mom will mind a little midnight music sess," Annie whispered before she let out a shaky breath and sat down at the piano. She gently touched the piano and lifted the lid to reveal the beautiful white and black keys. Annie opened her book again and laid it in front of her before she rested her fingertips on top of the keys. Annie shut her eyes and let out a final exhale, before allowing her fingers to play the notes.

The music filled her ears and she began to sing softly to the music.

(Annie)
I found a guy, told me I was a star
He held the door held my hand in the dark
And he's perfect on paper but he's lying to my face
Does he think that I'm the kinda girl who needs to be saved?
And there's one more boy, he's from my past
We fell in love but it didn't last
'Cause the second I figure it out he pushes me away
And I won't fight for love if you won't meet me halfway
And I say that I'm through but this song's still for you
All I want is love that lasts
Is all I want too much to ask?
Is it something wrong with me?
All I want is a good guy
Are my expectations far too high?
Try my best but what can I say
All I have is myself at the end of the day
But shouldn't that be enough for me?
Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh-ooh

As Annie was singing, Ginger appeared at the top of the stairs with April in her arms and saw her daughter singing. Ginger covered her mouth with happiness and felt tears form out of pure joy.

And I miss the days
When I was young and naive
I thought the perfect guy would come and find me
Now happy ever after it don't come so easily
All I want is love that lasts
Is all I want too much to ask?
Is it something wrong with me? Oh
All I want is a good guy
Are my expectations far too high?
Try my best but what can I say
All I have is myself at the end of the day
And all I want is for that to be okay

As Annie finished her singing, she let out a soft sigh and had no idea that Luke, Reggie, and Alex had been standing behind her the whole time she was singing.

——
Up Next: bright

hiii, welcome to my new book! I'm sure some of you aren't surprised to see this story this has been in my drafts since March and I'm so excited it's out now. i absolutely love jatp and so happy I'm writing a fanfic for it. yes, this is a Reggie story and I have so many ideas for Reggie and Annie. so excited for this.

i have seen many stories and hope this grows like those because I've worked hard on this book and hope people enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. if you liked my Henry Danger series then you'll enjoy this book a lot.

yes, this will include all the episodes and one or two originals I plan on doing. i have a playlist of songs i will use and one or two of those are duets for Reggie and Annie :)

so I hope you enjoy this series and see ya in the next chapter <3

love you guys!

song(s) used in this chapter: All I Want by Olivia Rodrigo