✨bright✨
————————
-Next Morning-

Annie descended from the stairs with a bright smile on her face. Her mother immediately spotted her and gasped, running up to her and hugging her.
Annie hugged back giggling at her mother's excitement and sighed happily.

"You sounded amazing! I'm so proud of you!" Ginger expressed proudly and pulled away, taking her daughter's face in her hands. "You sang for the first time since your dad left."

Annie nodded with her smile still plastered on her face, "I did and it felt... so great! My spark is back!"

"It is!" Annie giggled and gasped, "I should tell Julie!"

"Yes, go do that!" Ginger told her and kissed her daughter's forehead before Annie sprinted out the door and picking up her backpack on the way out.

——

Annie arrived at the Molina's house and walked down to the studio, assuming Julie could be here. She walked in and saw Julie sitting at the grand piano with her fingertips on the keys.

Annie smiled brightly at her friend and listened carefully as Julie began to sing her heart out.

(Julie)
Here's one thing I want you to know
You got someplace to go
Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe
You don't give up, no, you grow
And you use your pain
'Cause it makes you "you"
Though I wish I could hold you through it
I know it's not the same
You got living to do
And I just want you to do it
So get up, get out, relight that spark
You know the rest by heart
Wake up, wake up if it's all you do
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain
Wake up your dream and make it true
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark
Wake up, wake up
Better wake those demons
Just look them in the eye
No reason not to try
Life can be a mess
I won't let it cloud my mind
I'll let my fingers fly
And I use the pain 'cause it's part of me
And I'm ready to power through it
Gonna find the strength, find the melody
'Cause you showed me how to do it
Get up, get out, relight that spark
You know the rest by heart
Wake up, wake up if it's all you do
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain
Wake up your dream and make it true
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark
Wake up, wake up
So wake that spirit, spirit
I wanna hear it, hear it
No need to fear it, you're not alone
You're gonna find your way, oh
Wake up, wake up if it's all you do
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain
Wake up your dream and make it true
Look out, look inside of you
When you feel lost
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark
Wake up
Mm-mm, wake up

Once Julie finished singing, Annie walked out from behind the wall. She covered her mouth that held a smile and felt tears form in her eyes. Both girls got their spark back and aren't afraid anymore.

"Julie..." Annie softly spoke as Julie looked up from holding the song lyrics. The three ghost boys quickly vanished from the room before Annie could spot them.

"Annie," Julie smiled, standing up and immediate embraced Annie. "Did you hear it all?"

"Every word," Annie chuckled, wiping her tear away. "We got our spark back."

"We?" Julie asked and Annie nodded, which made Julie gasped. "Did you sing?!"

"Last night, I sang," Annie nodded and Julie beamed, hugging her tighter. "I'm so proud of you! Both of us!"

"Me too!" Annie giggled and the girls pulled away, "maybe we can join the music program again."

"You ready for that?" Julie asked as she sat back down and Annie joined her.

"I'm ready for anything," Annie nodded with a smile. "Singing really made me feel alive and so confident. I felt fearless and like I can do anything. I'm no longer afraid."

Julie smiled softly at her, "I'm so proud of you for letting go of what happened."

"And I'm proud of you," Annie remarked. "It wasn't easy."

"But it was worth it," Julie finished for her and Annie grinned happily.

Seconds later, Flynn walked into the studio and Annie gave her a smile.

"Carlos told me you both would be out here," Flynn began and Annie went to protest, but Flynn interrupted her. "He saw you walk over here, Annika."

"Of course he did," she chuckled lightly.

"We need to talk," Flynn told both girls, who were both worried about her.

"Are you okay?" Julie asked, piling the lyrics to the song she sang together.

"No, I'm not okay!" Flynn exclaimed. "Julie just got kicked out of music! I've been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say. Might've drank seven sodas, but... I need to get this out."

"Wait, we have something to tell you-"

"No, it's my turn to talk," Flynn interrupted Annie's sentence. "Neither of you can give up music! Your music's like a gift, that would be a tragedy. So, you're both basically, like, canceling Christmas, and I love Christmas!"

"Flynn, we-"

"Uh-uh!" Flynn stopped Julie, who shared a look with Annie.

"When we were six, we promised to be in a band together. Triple Trouble." Flynn explained and Annie grinned with a chuckle.

"Neither of us agreed to that name," Julie objected and Annie nodded.

Flynn sighs and walks around to face them, "that's not that point. Annika, Jules, if you both leave the music program we'll be apart forever. That's just what happens. We got lucky with Annie and didn't lose her. I mean, sure we'll see each other in the hall sometime, but... we'll have different lives, make new friends."

"That's not true," Annie denied. "I've stuck around cuz I love you both so much whether I'm doing music or not."

"You're right!" Flynn agreed, "I won't be making any new friends. The only time we'll contact each other is when we'll be liking each other's post on Instagram." Flynn pretended to like a post with the palm of her hand, "every time I'll be hitting that little heart, my heart will be breaking because my best friends left me, and... oh, do you have any soda my head hurts?"

"Can we talk now?" Julie asked Flynn after she finished her rant.

"Fine," Flynn agreed.

"I just played the piano and sang again," Julie confessed and looked at Annie.

"I played the piano and sang again too, but last night," Annie smiled.

"What?!" Flynn gasped, " why didn't either of you say so?!"

"We were trying, then your seven sodas kicked in," Annie remarked.

Flynn beamed happily, "I'm so happy for you both! And me!"

Julie and Annie giggled at Flynn's excitement.

Flynn smiled softly at both girls, "look at you both, looking all, I don't know, alive again."

"Right? It's like we drank seven sodas," Julie agreed with a bright smile.

"What made you both play again?" Flynn asked.

Annie sighed softly, "my mom made me realize that I shouldn't give up on something I love just because I am afraid. I shouldn't let my fear of my father get in the way of that and last night I let go of that fear."

Flynn smiled at Annie, "I'm so proud of you. That horrible man can't control Annie Walker."

"Nope he can't," Annie grinned and fist-bumped Flynn, before nudging Julie. "Jules?"

Julies reached over and showed Flynn the show her mom wrote for her. "I found this song my mom wrote for me." Both Flynn and Annie looked over the lyrics and both thought it was a beautiful song.

"Whoa," Flynn said with surprise, before putting it down.

"I said the same thing listening to it," Annie smiled.

"I know," Julie sighed and looked at the lyric sheet. "I was so afraid to play it. Anything involving music reminds me of her. And then I woke up this morning... realizing that's why I should play it. To keep her memory alive."

"Aw," Flynn said and opened her arms. "Group hug."

The three girls embrace each other in a tight hug, but Flynn gasped and pulled away scaring the two.

"We need to tell Ms. Harrison you both can play so you can stay in school and my life won't be that sad picture I just pictured for you two."

Annie and Julie chuckled at Flynn as she continued, "my girls are back! Triple Trouble lives again!"

Flynn strutted out of the studio, holding both of their hands as they walked out.

"Not our band name," Annie sighed, picking up her backpack along the way.

"I gave you both a t-shirt in the 7th grade that says otherwise," Flynn protested before the three girls exited the studio to reveal Luke, Reggie, and Alex standing and sitting casually right outside the door. Right as Annie walked out, Reggie's eyes followed her every move, and smiled at her. Flynn walked out, but Julie and Annie turned around to shut the door and saw the ghosts.

"Hi, guys!" Annie greeted the boys, and Reggie grinned at her.

"Hi, Annie!" He waved and she waved back shyly at him.

"Hey, guys!" Julie greeted the boys, but Flynn heard and turned, giving her and Annie a weird look.

Annie jogged over to Flynn and pulled her along, "let's get going!"

"Yes, let's hustle!" Julie laughed awkwardly, joining the girls.

Once Flynn turned away, Annie and Julie waved at the boys. Reggie waved back, mainly at Annie with an idiotic smile on his face.

Flynn faced the girls with a confused expression.

"Don't worry! We weren't listening," Reggie assured them, but Luke kicked his arm. "Ah!"

Julie and Annie noticed Flynn staring at them and both girls pretended like they were swatting a bug.

"Stupid bug!" Annie groaned, swatting away the fake bug before she and Julie pushed Flynn out of the gate that led to the studio building.

——

-High School; Music Room-

"Believe me, girls, I think it's wonderful that you both sang again. I prayed for this moment for almost a year, but it's too late," Ms. Harrison informed the girls. Julie and Annie had asked Ms. Harrison for their spots back in the music program, but they were too late.

"What if you just hear them play?" Flynn asked Ms. Harrison, "you know they're amazing."

"It wouldn't matter," Ms. Harrison remarked. "A new student starts tomorrow and someone already filled Annie's spot a couple of months ago."

All three girls were left disappointed as Ms. Harrison talked.

"There's only-"

"So many spots," Annie finished for Ms. Harrison, who gave her a sad smile.

"And if we don't participate, we're out. We know," Julie continued for Annie.

"I did everything I could to keep you here this year, Julie," Ms. Harrison told Julie. "And I did everything I could to convince Annie to stay, but you didn't. But Principal Lessa was very clear that yesterday was Julie's last chance. You both have to reapply next semester."

Annie looked down at her shoes with a sad sigh as the bell rings.

"I'm truly sorry," Ms. Harrison apologized to the girls before students began to fill the music room. Flynn sighed and put her arms around Julie and Annie as they left the music room together.

——

-Julie's House-

After school, Julie and Annie went home and went up to Julie's room laughing about something. The girls walked into Julie's room but stopped when they saw Luke, Reggie, and Alex there messing with Julie's stuff. Annie couldn't help but giggle at Reggie making snow angels on Julie's bed. She just found the leather jacket ghost so endearing and it's only been a day since she met him.

"What are you guys doing in my room?!"

The three ghost boys froze when they heard Julie's voice and attempted to come up with an excuse that failed.

"Uhhhhh-" Alex and Reggie stuttered.

"We were looking for the kitchen?" Luke lied as Annie put down her backpack, which was open and was exposing her songbook. Reggie's eyes spotted the book immediately and grinned a little.

"This! This can't happen," Julie ordered. "It's creepy."

"I personally wouldn't mind three cute ghost boys in my room... or girls ya know?" Annie shrugged casually.

"I know they're cute, but it's still creepy," Julie remarked and gestured to Reggie. "Get off my bed please."

Reggie bounced off the bed and onto his feet, landing a few feet in front of Annie. Annie moved away bashfully and he gave her a grin in return.

"Hey, Julie..." Luke called, pointing to Julie's dream box. "What's in the box?"

"That's off-limits," Julie told him and Luke smiled.

"Oh. Oh, okay," Luke chuckled. "Girl stuff."

Both Julie and Annie folded their arms at his response.

"Butterflies and glitter?" Reggie asked and Annie grinned, shaking her head.

"Oh, come on," Alex groaned. "I'm sorry about them."

"It's none of your business," Julie told the boys. "And yes, there might be some glitter."

"And butterflies added by me because they're like my favorite thing," Annie added on, gesturing to her top that had butterflies on it and her backpack that had butterflies on it as well. Reggie gave Annie a cute grin and took note of the butterfly thing.

Alex gently picked up the photo of Julie and Rose and gasped, "hey! I actually picked something up!"

As he moved over to Julie's bed, he ended up dropping it on the bed and pouted.

"I dropped it."

"Is that your mom?" Luke asked Julie, who went over and snatched the photo off the bed. "Yes, and it's my favorite picture of us. So, if you break it I break you."

Julie placed the photo on her nightstand and Annie sat down on Julie's bed, sitting criss-cross apple sauce.

"Ok, well, sorry because we're kind of unbreakable at this point," Alex told Julie and Annie looked at the boys.

"I don't get it. You guys can mess up Julie's bed, pick up your instruments, but you can't pick up other stuff?" Annie asked and her eyes grew. "Can you touch any of my stuff?"

"Uhhh," Luke and Alex trailed off as Reggie casually looked around, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Reggie?" Annie asked, noticing his behavior.

"Reggie went through your room," Luke admitted and Reggie looked down embarrassed, and cleared his throat.

Annie's cheeks flushed bright pink as Reggie chuckled.

"For only like five minutes," Reggie laughed. "By the way, the butterfly lights are a nice touch."

"Thank you," Annie smiled at him, before looking at the other ghosts. "So, you can't pick up other stuff?"

"I know right, it's hard. But for some reason our instruments, easy." Luke remarked.

"Yeah, like super easy," Reggie said and gasped, standing up. "Oh, and check out what I learned today!"

Reggie put his arms out and his bass appeared in his arms, which caused him to fall back down onto Julie's beanbag chair again. Annie giggled lightly.

"Yeah, that looked super easy," Julie sarcastically replied as Reggie groaned.

"It's like I always thought, our instruments are attached to our souls," Luke explained, before Ray popped into the room.

"Hey," Ray greeted and Reggie rolled back and stood to his feet as Annie stood up to greet Ray.

"Everything okay?" Ray asked.

"Yeah!" Julie nodded, "we're fine."

"Okay," Ray said. "I thought I heard you both talking to someone else."

"Nope," Annie shook her head and gestured to Julie's laptop. "Must've been Julie's laptop."

"That I just closed," Julie finished for Annie, who smiled.

"Okay," Ray said. "If you both need anything..." Ray trailed off and gestured to the doorknob

"Yeah," Both girls nodded, wanting the door closed. "Thanks."

"Your mom wants you home in an hour, Annie," Ray told Annie, who smiled at him, and Ray shut the door after that.

Annie rubbed her face as Julie covered hers.

"Your dad seems like the kind of guy who likes to barbecue," Reggie randomly mentioned. "I bet he has a great rib recipe."

"I don't know, but if you guys want to talk to us, we have to do it in the studio. He's worried about us enough as it is," Julie explained to the boys.

"Yeah, my mom gets insanely worried about me along with my sister," Annie added.

"He seems chill," Luke shrugged. "And from what I saw, your mom seems nice. You guys should tell them about us."

"You're kidding, right?" Julie asked Luke before sighing.

"This past year everyone's been watching over the both of us, being super nice, as if they're waiting for us to snap," Annie explained to them and sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "By the way, I have snapped, way too many times. It's all because of my low life of father..."

Annie sat down on the bed again and Julie took her shoulders as she spoke.

"Yeah, if either of us tells our parents we met a ghost band, I'll be back talking to Dr. Turner three days a week," Julie told the boys and Annie scoffed.

"Therapy didn't do crap for me."

Luke sighed, "yeah, you probably shouldn't tell them." Luke moved closer to Julie's dream box. "Julie..."

"Oh my gosh!" Julie exclaimed. "I told you to leave that alone!"

"I know! You just should've said nothing cause now I can't stop thinking about it, so..." Lule paused for a moment and pointed to the box. "What's in the box, Julie?"

"It's just my dream box, okay?" Julie admitted, "whenever I get a thought or something, I write it down and get it out of my mind. Sometimes Annie puts her thoughts in there."

"That would explain the butterflies," Annie smiled.

"Like lyrics?" Luke asked her.

"They would be if I still wrote music like I used to with my mom and Annie," Julie remarked. "Now it's just full of stuff that doesn't make me sad."

"Well, I think Annie still writes music," Reggie mentioned and Annie turned to see him holding her songbook in his hands.

"Reggie, give that to me please!" Annie exclaimed and took the book from his hands, holding it to her chest. "Don't go through my stuff, okay?"

"Sorry, I wanted to take a peek," Reggie shrugged. "And if your songs are as great as the one you sang last night..."

"Wait, what?" Annie asked and looked at the other two ghost boys.

"Yeah, I mean, we heard you and Julie play the piano and sing," Alex chimed in, standing up and Annie's eyes grew along with Julie's.

"In the garage?"

"In my living room?"

Luke smacked Alex's back.

"So you were there too?" Both girls asked the boys

"Uhhhhh..." Alex and Reggie both trailed off in a high-pitched voice and tried to come up with an excuse as Luke hopped onto the bed and smiled up at Julie.

"So, where is your kitchen, by the way?" Luke asked her with his chin resting on his hands.

"Okay, we need to set some boundaries," Julie began, bending down to his face and Luke smiled up at her.

"Major boundaries," Annie emphasized, staring right at Reggie, who just whistled and looked away.

"For starters, stay out of mine and Annie's rooms!" Julie yelled, pointing to the door.

All the boys headed toward the door in a rush.

"Mm-hm!" Reggie nodded.

"Crystal clear! We're leaving!" Alex announced.

"Yes, ma'am! We are outta here!" Reggie added as all three boys left the room.

Annie opened her songbook and looked through her songs, but Alex popped his head through the door.

"Hey!"

Both girls looked up at him.

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you two. Did you both get back into your music program?" Alex asked and Annie smiled sadly at his kind gesture.

"No, no, we didn't," Annie sighed, feeling Julie take her hand in hers.

"I'm sorry, that really sucks," Alex apologized.

"Thanks," Both girls said and it was silent for a few moments, just feeling the awkwardness form.

"Is that it?" Julie asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, this is getting weird," Alex mentioned, awkwardly and Annie grinned at him.

The girls waved at Alex, who grinned and moved his head out of the room.

"That will never not be weird," Annie mentioned. "His head was through your door."

"I know," Julie said with a chuckle.

——

-Annie's House; That Night-

Annie had just finished brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. She left her bathroom and walked back into her room, but gasped with shock when she saw Reggie sitting on her bed, swinging his feet off the side of it.

"Reggie!" She quietly gasped as she shut her door and he smiled at her with a wave.

"Hi, Annie!" He greeted and pointed to the butterfly lights that decorated her room, "I was just checking out the lights. They are so cool, where did you get them?"

"Amazon," Annie told him as she set down her phone on her bed.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," she dismissed and folded her arms at him. "Why are you here? Julie told you to stay out of our rooms."

"But, Julie's not here," he reasoned and Annie raised her eyebrow. "Besides, Luke wanted me to talk to you about a song he wrote."

"Um okay," she said and sat next to Reggie on the bed, which made him flustered and he stuttered over his words seeing her so close to him.

"Uh-I-uh," he stuttered and Annie chuckled at him. "So, uh, Luke wrote this song, and it's called Bright and we think it's perfect for yours and Julie's vocal range."

"Wait, wait," Annie stopped Reggie, who had just pulled out the song from his pocket. "You're expecting Julie and I to sing this? For what? I'm not ready to perform or anyone."

"But you have the voice of an angel!" Reggie reasoned and Annie instantly blushed and he chuckled nervously, rubbing his neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to blurt that out, I-"

"It's okay, it was nice, thank you," Annie smiled softly and Reggie smiled back at her. It was silent for a moment and the two just looked around the room, not knowing what to say next. "I guess I should say you have a really great voice. I decided to look up your music and you're a great singer."

Reggie grinned at her, "well, thanks. Luke's our lead singer, but I have my moments where I shine."

"I enjoy those memories," Annie remarked and Reggie blushed with a chuckle.

"So, um," Reggie began and Annie looked at him. Reggie seemed very nervous and it worried Annie for a moment until he exhaled. "I did skim through your songbook, but!" He stopped Annie from saying anything and continued, "I didn't read any songs, except I skimmed through one song that caught my eye. It was called "Angel" and it was very moving from what I read. Didn't read all of it, but it was very beautiful."

Annie smiled softly at him and exhaled deeply, "thank you... I wrote it for my sister when she was uhhh..." Annie paused and felt herself choke up and Reggie gave her a worried look. "In the hospital for cancer."

Reggie's lips parted and felt his heart sink to his stomach. The little four-year-old bouncy girl had cancer.

"Annie... I... I'm so sorry," Reggie apologized and Annie shook her head, looking down at the floor. Reggie noticed some tears form in her eyes and so badly wanted to hug her, but he couldn't. He's a ghost and she's human.

"It's in the past and she's fine now," Annie assured him and whipped her tears away, sniffling. "I wrote her this song on the night where we didn't know if she would wake up the next morning. I was terrified of losing my baby sister and knowing she had to go through that at the age of two is even more heartbreaking. So, I wrote that song for her because she is my Angel and I love her."

Reggie smiled as Annie talked about her little sister and how close they were. He didn't have siblings and wasn't close with his parents, who were about to get a divorce, so he really didn't have much of a family. His heart arched knowing Annie had to deal with the pain of almost losing April and having her father leave, he hated seeing her like this.

"Has she heard the song?" Reggie asked and Annie shook her head.

"No," Annie shook her head. "She's not old enough to understand it I think, so I'm waiting till she's older."

"Maybe you can give me a preview?" Reggie asked with a cheeky grin and Annie giggled, shaking her head.

"Nice try, Peters, but my songs are private until further notice," Annie winked and Reggie chuckled, snapping his fingers.

"I tried," he shrugged and Annie smiled. "So, the song."

"Right," Annie nodded as Reggie opened the song. "The song."

"So, Luke wrote this and we never got to record it, but it's perfect for you and Julie," Reggie explained. "Here."

(Reggie)
"And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever."

Annie smiled softly as Reggie sang and he motioned her to join in.

(Annie and Reggie)
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever

When they sang the last note, Annie instinctively sang higher and Reggie smiled brightly at her.

"Yeah!" He chuckled and Annie blushed, looking away for a moment. "That was beautiful."

"Thanks," Annie smiled at him with her blush intensifying and Reggie grinned at her, before looking away shyly.

"You know um..." Reggie began, twiddling with his fingers, and chuckled lightly. "You're really, uh, really pretty."

Annie giggled quietly, "well thanks, you don't look too bad yourself."

Reggie grinned and looked away as Annie rubbed her neck still blushing.

Annie was so thankful the lights were off and the butterfly lights weren't bright enough for Reggie to see her bright red face.

But the butterflies on her wall weren't the only butterflies she had.

——

-Next Day: High School-

Annie and Julie walked into the music room to find Flynn playing the trumpet very horribly and gave her a look. Both girls had a plan to convince Ms. Harrison to let them back into the music program, but they were too late.

"What are you doing?" Annie asked Flynn, who stopped playing and looked at both girls.

"And where is everyone?" Julie added

Flynn sighs, "Spirit Assembly. I was kind of blowing it off cuz I wasn't feeling very... spirity."

Annie and Julie sighed as they shared a look and Flynn sat up with concern.

"You both okay?"

"Not really," Annie sighed. "We had this new plan to play for Ms. Harrison, hoping that she'd let us back in, but..."

Annie trailed off and Julie continued, "I guess we missed out chance."

Flynn smirked, putting down her trumpet, and stood up.

"No, you didn't."

Flynn walked up to the girls with a huge smile and put her arms around them. She led them out of the music room and toward the Spirit Assembly.

——

-Spirit Assembly-

(Dirty Candy)
See 'em look
Hear 'em, "Ooh aah"
Hands up, throwback, booyah
We're the best, no doubt
Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"
Made moves
On the rise now

Carrie and her band, Dirty Candy, were performing and the crowd was going crazy for them. Julie, Annie, and Flynn walked in from the side doors to watch.

"Look who spent all her daddy's money on costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer," Flynn mentioned and Annie scoffed with a grin.

"Well, it paid off," Julie remarked.

(Carrie)
Yeah, we're going sky-high and we never gonna settle
Living in the fast lane, pedal to the metal
We see it, we want it
We get it, we got it
Everybody lose control
We came to play, where you at
We're going hard
Just like that, yeah
We're the bomb, chain react
Blow their minds and watch them
(Gasp)
See 'em look
Hear 'em, "Ooh aah"
Hands up, throwback, booyah-

Suddenly, Luke, Reggie, and Alex appeared and Annie and Julie gave them wide eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Annie asked and Reggie gave her a smile before his attention was drawn to Dirty Candy.

"We wanna see you two stick it to the man," Luke smiled.

"Man, I miss high school," Reggie gawked and Annie huffed, folding her arms and looked away. Everyone else looked at Dirty Candy continue to perform.

(Dirty Candy)
Made moves
On the rise now
Run stuff, get a piece of that pie now
We're the best, no doubt
Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"
Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"

(Carrie)
Come follow me, we're goin' make history
Cause we are the champions like Freddie Mercury
Yeah, we gonna rock you, never gonna not too
Always making headlines, yeah, we're the hot news

(Dirty Candy)
See 'em look
Hear 'em, "Ooh aah"
Hands up, throwback, booyah
We're the best, no doubt
Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"
Wow, wow
Wow, wow
Wow, wow
Wow
Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow."

The performance ended and the crowd roared with cheers and applause for the rainbow-colored band. Carrie snapped her fingers and her band formed a line behind her before she spoke to the audience.

"Thank you!" Carrie smiled.

"We love you, Carrie!" A girl shouted.

"I love you too!" Carrie called back, "make sure to check out my new youtube video! Oh, go Bobcats!"

After her speech, Dirty Candy walked off in a nice formation and Principal Lessa and Ms. Harrison took their places.

"Thank you, Dirty Candy!" Principal Lessa announced.

"Now's your chance!" Flynn told Annie and Julie, "go talk to her. See ya in music class!"

Flynn gave them a smile before walking into the audience to watch.

"That was sweet!" Principal Lessa said and the audience remained silent, not laughing at her pun. Principal Lessa cleared her throat and continued, "okay then, before we let you go, we have a few more announcements..."

"What are you guys waiting for? This is your time," Reggie encouraged the girls, who were nervous and not ready.

"Yeah, I mean, you both look really nervous. Like yack in a bowl nervous," Alex mentioned to the girls and Annie held her stomach, exhaling.

"I might," she pointed out. "I don't think I can do this."

"Yeah, I don't think either of us had enough time to work on the song," Julie mentioned and Annie nodded, trying to take more breaths to calm herself.

"We wouldn't have given you guys the song if we didn't think you were gonna rock it," Luke told the girls and pointed to the stage. "Now, there's a piano on that stage with your names on it."

Julie ran off to the back of the stage moments later, but Annie hesitated for a moment.

"Annie," Luke began and she faced him. "You got this."

"I don't know, I don't-" Annie stopped when Reggie went up to her and she looked up at him.

"Just look at me when you're performing, okay?" Reggie told her and she hesitated for a second, before nodded.

"Okay," she softly replied and Luke and Alex gave her a smile, before running off to join Julie.

The assembly ended shortly and the students had started to leave the gymnasium. Julie and Annie walked out onto the stage and Julie sat down at the piano as Annie held a microphone in her hand. Annie was nervously twiddling with the hem of her dress and her breath was shaky, but she spotted Reggie and took a deep breath. Flynn was the only student sitting down and waiting for her friends to perform while the others were leaving.

Annie took Julie's shoulder and Julie played a few notes but stopped. Both girls looked out to the boys, who were watching them.

"You got this!" Luke encouraged and Reggie gave Annie a thumbs up.

"We got this," Annie told Julie, who exhaled and began to play the notes to the song.

A few seconds into the music and Annie began to sing.

(Annie)
Sometimes I think I'm falling down
I wanna cry, I'm calling out
For one more try to feel alive
And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark and find the spark

Slowly, all the students, Principal Lessa, and Ms. Harrison, all stopped and watched Annie and Julie sing. Annie's eyes looked right at Reggie, who was smiling right at her and she smiled back.

(Julie)
Life is a risk, but I will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together, I think that we can make it
Come on, let's run

Right as the girls got to the chorus, Luke, Reggie, and Alex appeared on stage singing and performing with her. Luke had his guitar, Reggie had his bass, and Alex had his drums. The girls were shocked by their appearances and the crowd gasped at them, but the girls continued to perform. Both girls went up to the guys and went along with whatever the heck was happening. The crowd instantly got into it and started to dance and cheer for them.

(Julie and Annie)
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever

Annie went over to Reggie, who was also confused.

"What is happening?" She asked him.

"I don't know, but just go with it," he told her before Luke started to sing.

(Luke)
In times that I doubted myself
I feel like I needed somе help
Stuck in my head with nothing left
I feel somеthing around me now
So unclear, lifting me out
I found the ground
I'm marching on

Reggie slid over to Luke and sang into the microphone with him as Julie and Annie were hyping the crowd up.

(Luke and Reggie)
Life is a risk, but we will take it
Close my eyes and jump
Together, I think that we can make it
Come on, let's run

(Julie, Annie, and Luke)
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever
And rise through the night, you and I
We will fight to shine together, bright forever

(Luke)
In times that I doubted myself
I feel like I needed some help
Stuck in my head with nothing left

(Julie)
And when I feel lost and alone
I know that I can make it home
Fight through the dark and find the spark

(Luke, Reggie, Alex; Annie and Julie)

And rise (rise) through the night (through the night)
You and I (you and I)
We will fight to shine together (we will shine together) (shine together)
Bright forever (bright forever)
And rise (rise) through the night (through the night)
You and I (you and I)
We will fight to shine together (we will shine together)
Bright forever

As the song ended, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause and the five performers stood there taking it in. Annie and Reggie smiled at one another before the five bowed to the crowd. When they stood up straight, the boys and the instruments vanished and the crowd gasped in shock and murmured about it to one another.

Julie and Annie turned around and noticed the band had disappeared and stood there speechless, before facing the crowd with a nervous smile.

"Oh, no..." Annie mumbled as she and Julie shared a look.

——
Up Next: flying solo

and.... the second chapter is finished. this chapter wasn't hard because having three songs fills up most of the space as well. i tried my best to tell you who sings what at the end of 'bright' but you've probably watched the show and know who's wants haha.

we got a little bit of reggie and annie fluff and it was pretty cute haha. it will slowly grow each chapter and i have a duet song for them ready to go.

annie loving butterflies will be a constant thing in the book and something reggie finds cute about her :)

see ya in flying solo <3

songs used in this chapter: Wake Up by Madison Reyes
Wow by Savannah Lee May
Bright by Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner, and Jeremy Shada