✨flying solo✨
————————

Annie and Julie continued to stand there awkwardly as the crowd stared at them dead silent. Annie didn't know what to do or say, because she's even unsure of what just happened. She just played with a ghost band with one of her best friends and now they're gone. She was so confused about the situation and had no idea what to say.

"Hey," Julie and Annie turned to see a male student had approached them. "Where did the rest of the band go?"

"Wait, were those holograms?" Kayla, a member of Dirty Candy, asked and Annie beamed, pointing to her.

"Yes! Yes!" Annie nodded and Julie agreed with a nod. "They were holograms!"

"We plugged it into the ceiling projector before the show," Julie explained to the crowd and Annie nodded, going along with it. "We'd explain it but it involves algorithms and science stuff."

"More like sci-fi and the paranormal," Annie whispered and Julie whacked her back. "Ow...."

The students began to cheer for the two girls, who just stood there. To the side of them, Luke, Reggie, and Alex were there.

"That's wild," Luke said. "They could see us when we were playing, but not when the music ended."

"We should double-check!" Reggie suggested, before hopping into the stage and shaking his butt at the audience, who couldn't see him. "Yeah, I don't..." Reggie stopped and ran off the stage. "I don't think they can see us."

"I wish I couldn't see you..." Alex mumbled and Reggie gave him a hurtful look.

"Okay, people!" Principal Lessa announced. "Show's over! Let's get back to class please!"

The crowd dispersed from the gymnasium and Annie turned to Julie.

"That was pretty cool, ya know," Annie told her and Julie shrugged with a smile.

"Yeah, it was, but it doesn't make sense," Julie remarked.

Ms. Harrison approached Annie and Julie at the stage and the two girls sat down to confront her.

"Ms. Harrison, we are so sorry for not asking for permission!" Annie quickly apologized to her.

"We just wanted to show you we belong here," Julie finished, taking Annie's hand.

"As amazing as that was, your spot's already been filled by another student, Julie," Ms. Harrison informed the girls. "Annie, I can't kick out a student so you can have your spot back."

To their left, a younger student was pulling what looked like a cello that was twice his size. The girls winced as the cello smacked on every step he took down the stairs and Julie rolled her eyes.

"Come on, that thing is way too big for him!"

"He'll grow into it!" Ms. Harrison protested, "I wish that I could help you girls, but my hands are tied."

"Mine aren't," Principal Lessa interrupted. "And as much as I didn't approve of this little stunt that you pulled. I will not go down in history as the principal who kicked Julie Molina and Annabelle Walker out of the music program."

Both girls smiled happily, "thank you!"

"But!" Principal Lessa stopped them, "when you both win your first Grammy, I want to be thanked."

"Definitely."

"Hundred percent."

"Thank you," Principal Lessa said, before walking away.

Ms. Harrison beamed at the girls, "congratulations!"

She hugged Julie and Annie, who hugged back with giant smiles on their faces.

"Welcome back!" Ms. Harrison told them, before walking away.

Julie and Annie spotted Flynn and went up to her with a smile.

"Wow!" Flynn began, "you guys did it."

"Thanks to you," Annie remarked but the girls noticed Flynn's downcast mood.

"Hey, you okay?" Julie asked her.

"Uh... I'm great," Flynn dismissed. "When did you start playing with a hologram band?"

"Oh, it was just one song. We're not a band," Julie explained and Annie nodded. "They're a band, a hologram band. Definitely holograms."

"Yeah, holograms," Annie added in with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, I saw," Flynn said and gave them a look. "Why have you been keeping those cute boys a secret?"

"There's a reason for that," Annie began and looked at Julie for help. "It's just really... crazy."

"Oh, I'm all about crazy. Let's hear it," Flynn remarked and Annie and Julie shared a look before Julie spoke.

"Ok. Um, so they're..." Julie stopped for a moment. "From Sweden!"

Annie smiled with a nod, going along with her. "Yeah, turns out they're not only great at making meatballs, but also great a making music."

"Yeah, so they play there, we stream them here, we play together, then they leave, and that's it," Julie explained and clapped her hands together. "Anyway, who's excited that Annie and I are back in the music program!"

Annie and Julie put an arm around each other with large smiles and did jazz hands.

"Annika, Jules, are you lying to me?" Flynn asked them and both girls stopped, slowly having their smiles fade.

"Yeah," Annie admitted. "Yeah, we're lying."

Flynn gave them a hurtful look, "since when do we lie to each other?"

"Flynn..." Julie began with a sigh. "We're sorry."

"We're sorry..." Annie repeated.

Flynn scoffs, "We're sorry?" That's all you've got."

Flynn rolls her eyes, before running out of the gymnasium.

"Flynn!" Annie calls chasing after her with Julie next to her. "Please!"

"No! Flynn! Come on!"

The girls ran into the hallway to stop Flynn, but she was ignoring them.

"Flynn! Wait," Annie pleaded.

"Wait!" Julie called, but both girls got blocked by the kid's cello and sighed

"Really?" Annie scoffed before Ricky stopped her and she gasped lightly. Julie ran ahead, but Annie didn't follow.

"Hey!" Ricky smiled and Annie rolled her eyes, walking away. "Annie!"

Ricky ran past her and took her shoulders, "hey, Annie..."

"Sorry, I don't talk to cheaters," Annie muttered darkly and Ricky chuckled.

"It was one kiss-"

"Boyfriends don't kiss girls they don't aren't dating," Annie snarled and Ricky rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"If anything, her breath tasted like tuna salad," he mentioned and Annie rolled her eyes. "You still on about this? It didn't mean anything to me."

"Why'd you do it then?" Annie asked him and pushed him off her.

"She kissed me!" He protested, "and I tried to get her off."

"Sure," Annie mumbled.  "Just leave me alone."

"Your hologram band was great by the way," Ricky added. "I didn't know you got back into music."

"Yeah, cuz I didn't tell you. I only tell people who care about me," Annie remarked, before shoving past him.

"You're being ridiculous!"

"Piss off!" Annie called back, before running up to catch up with Julie.

Annie found Julie, who was by the lockers up ahead.

"Was that Ricky?" Julie asked and Annie nodded with an annoyed look, "he didn't do anything, did he?"

"Besides be annoying and stupid, nope," Annie remarked and Julie sighed with relief.

"Good, because I will beat him up if he does," Julie assured her and the girls continued forward, looking for Flynn.

"Thanks."

The girls turned a corner and the ghost boys were with Luke standing on Reggie and Alex's thighs.

"JULIE! ANNIE!"

"Ahhhh!" Annie and Julie yelled out and groaned.

"Stop doing that!" Julie exclaimed to them as Luke hopped down.

"Seriously," Annie added on.

"Woah! This one's all on you. We were already here," Reggie objected and Annie raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, actually, we were over there, and then we came over here."

Annie giggled at Reggie, who gave her a cheeky grin.

"Are we not gonna talk about what happened?" Luke asked the girls.

"Yeah, the whole school saw you," Annie smiled. "It's kinda freaking us out."

"Okay, good cause it's kind of freaking me out too," Alex remarked. "You know, you two can see us, and then people could see us whenever we play music. And my clothes are made of air, but for some reason, I can still get a wedgie."

The group gave Alex a weird look as he ends his panicked rant and Annie gave him a sad smile.

"So many questions," Alex added on with a deep exhale.

"Just take a breath, Alex," Annie assured Alex, who took a deep breath. "There ya go. Just calm down."

"Thanks, Annie," Alex smiled and she returned one.

"The important thing is that we rocked that place!" Luke smiled. "They were loving you!"

"Are you kidding? They loved us!" Julie corrected and Annie nodded, "that was a great song, Luke. Thanks."

"And did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me? I think they were looking at me. Reggie added on and Annie rolled her eyes, looking away from him. Reggie grabbed Luke's arms, "please tell me they were looking at me."

Luke grabbed Reggie's face with a smile, "bro, they were looking at you."

"Oh, I knew it!" Reggie chuckled happily and Annie sighed quietly, folding her arms.

"I'm so- I'm so confused, you know?" Alex mentioned, "the afterlife should come with instructions or a quick start or something."

"It would be nice if life did too," Annie remarked.

"Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms," Julie told them. "And Annie and I got back into the program."

Both girls looked down sadly at this.

"Why do you both look so bummed?" Reggie asked the girls.

"Yeah, dudes, you're making this face," Luke said and pulled in Reggie and Alex before all three of them made a pouty face.

Annie giggled lightly and shook her head as Julie rolled her eyes.

"That is not our faces," Annie told them with a grin.

"That is your faces," Luke shrugged as the boys pulled away from one another.

"It's just that things got weird between Flynn and us," Julie explained. "She asked about you guys and we couldn't say."

"Sweet! Girls are already talking about us," Reggie smiled with a chuckle, and he and Luke hi-fived.

"Stop! We're serious," Annie sighed, pushing away her feelings of jealousy. "We can't tell her about you guys for the same reason we can't tell my mom or Julie's dad."

"She'll think we've gone off the deep end," Julie added on and Annie nodded.

"Well, this dude definitely thinks you've two gone off the deep end," Reggie mentioned, moving back so the janitor can walk by and he was giving the girls a strange look.

He stopped for a moment, before sighing and walking past the girls.

"We gotta get back to class," Annie sighed before walking by the guys with Julie.

"Later, Annie and Julie!" Reggie waved to them. "Oh, tell those cheerleaders I'm single!"

"Oh! And that he's dead!" Alex added and Annie laughed.

"Noted!"

"No, no, no! Leave that part out! Leave that-" Reggie sighed, stopping his calls. "They're gone!"

"Wooo!" Luke cheered.

——

-Annie's House-

Annie arrived at her house and walked in the front door. She saw her mom typing on her computer and walked up to her with a smile.

"Mom!" She giggled and Ginger smiled at her as they hugged.

"Hey, sweetie," Ginger greeted and they pulled away, which allowed Annie to see what her mom was doing.

"Whatcha doing?" Annie asked her.

"Oh, uh, I was searching online for music programs and private music lessons, ya know..." Ginger chuckled and Annie gave her a confused look. "Because I want you to be in a music program and be able to perform."

"Well... good thing I got back into the music program," Annie winked, standing straight up and Ginger gasped with a shocked smile.

"Seriously?! What?!" Ginger exclaimed and Annie nodded with a laugh.

"Yeah!"

Ginger stood straight up and hugged her daughter, spinning her around happily.

"I'm so glad! I can stop this music program searching now," Ginger said with relief and closed her laptop.

"Yeah, Julie and I performed today with some ghosts- I mean go-getters and Principal Lessa let us back in," Annie explained and Ginger smiled at her.

"Well, I'm glad," Ginger remarked and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Me too," Annie smiled. "Hey, I'm gonna go see Julie."

"Okay! Just be home by seven for dinner!" Ginger called as Annie walked away and out the front door.

"Okay! Bye!"

——

-Julie's House; Studio-

Annie and Julie went over to the studio because they heard the guys playing music again. It was low volume, but still loud enough for them to hear from Julie's house. The guys aren't allowed to play music unless Annie or Julie is with them.

The girls walked into the studio to see Luke and Reggie playing on their instruments and the girls stopped them.

"Guys, you aren't supposed to be playing out here alone," Julie informed the two.

"But we're not alone," Reggie reasoned and Luke hugged him. "Cause we always have each other."

Annie smiled softly at him, "Aw."

Julie rolled her eyes and pulled out the cord to Reggie's bass as Annie waved at the boys.

"Hi, Annie," Reggie greeted Annie.

"But... but we had the volume level on one," Luke protested.

"But we rocked it on volume ten," Reggie chimed in. "Want us to play it again?"

Julie responded by pulling out Luke's guitar cord.

"I really don't think they do," Luke whispered to Reggie.

"No," Reggie mumbled back and set down his bass.

"We've actually been waiting for you guys to get home," Luke began as Annie walked over and stood by Julie. "Oka, so, we have some pretty major news to tell you two. We had a band meeting earlier, and...

Reggie did a drumroll on his thighs for dramatic effect and Luke spilled the beans.

"We wanna invite you both to join Sunset Curve!" Luke announced, "and, no, you're not dreaming."

"Oh..." Julie sighed

"Um..." Annie trailed off.

"Oh, um, they said "oh" and "um," Luke said, inching his ear. "That's what you say when you get socks on your birthday not when you're invited to the most epic band ever."

"Guys, we're honored and think it's great, but neither of us can think of anything but Flynn right now," Annie explained to the boys.

"She's still mad at us for lying. She hasn't texted us back," Julie continued on

"Yeah, you're both in a tough spot," Luke nodded.

"Yeah," Reggie agreed.

"So, you two wanna join the band?" Luke asked and Annie rolled her eyes.

"Read the room, dude," Annie shook her head, and Julie and her headed for the door to leave.

"Oh, come on!" Luke protested, "we need you, and you need us because you both need music! We found this poem that either Julie wrote or Annie wrote or both of you wrote and Reggie and I, we added this really cool melody to it. It sounds awesome."

Both girls looked at Luke, who was holding the poem in his hands.

"Where'd you find that?" Julie asked Luke, who pulled Reggie in front of him.

"Uh... definitely not in your dream box," Luke lied.

"You went through my stuff!" Julie exclaimed, marching toward Luke and Reggie moved to the side.

"I know, but!" Luke stammered over his words as Julie chased him around the piano and Annie remained still with Reggie.

"Yeah, we can do that!" Reggie smiled.

"No, no, you can't!" Julie protested and Annie shrugged.

"It's an invasion of privacy," Annie agreed.

"Annie's right! Boundaries! Give it back!" Julie demanded Luke, who hopped onto the piano.

"No!" Luke protested, "hey, you and Annie need to realize how insanely talented you are! I don't know which of you wrote this poem but listen to this. "If somebody hurts you-" Julie reached for the paper, but Luke snatched it away. "If somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too. And my life, my life would be real low, zero. Flying solo."

"Oh-oh!" Reggie added on and Annie smiled at him.

"It's a killer melody," Luke added. "Who wrote it?"

"Julie," Annie said.

"I wrote it about Annie and Flynn," Julie admitted and Annie gave her a smile. "When they were helping me with all my mom stuff and when Annie's dad left, she went through a really hard time, not wanting to be here anymore..."

Annie let out a soft sigh as Julie turned away, "I gotta go..."

"Julie..." Annie trailed off and Julie opened the door.

"What about the band?" Luke called as Julie pulled Annie out the door.

"Oh... I almost forgot," Julie began. "Stay out of my room!"

Julie closed the doors and pulled Annie away from the studio.

"Julie, wait," Annie stopped her and Julie turned to her. "Did you seriously write that about me? Well, part of it."

"Yeah," Julie nodded. "Hearing you talking about suicide and not wanting to be here anymore really broke my heart so, I wrote it into a poem. That the guys stole..."

"Still, that was really sweet, thanks," Annie smiled and Julie gave her a grin.

"Of course, I'm always here for ya." Julie nodded, "okay, um, I'm gonna go talk to Flynn. I'll text you if she says anything or if I find her."

"Got it," Annie nodded before she headed toward her house. "Good luck!"

——

Julie called Annie and Annie rushed back to the studio to help prove to Flynn that they are playing with a ghost band. Julie and Annie practiced with the boys for thirty minutes before Flynn showed up at the studio.

Annie and Julie opened the doors and greeted Flynn.

"Thanks for coming," Annie smiled.

"We just wanted to rehearse the song so it was perfect," Julie told Flynn. "Which it's not, but whatever."

"No, if I'm gonna hear a song from your imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect," Flynn objected and waved the girls to go back in. "So, go back in there. All of you. You too."

Annie giggled, "they're not out here."

Both girls allowed Flynn to enter and Flynn tapped Annie's shoulder.

"Oh, I know."

Annie and Julie sighed with a smile, before shutting the doors.

"Alright guys, you ready?" Julie asked the guys, who weren't visible right now.

"Uh, actually, can you go over there?" Annie advised Flynn, "Reggie, needs some space to rock out and he feels kind of weird walking through you."

Flynn laughed, "boy when you two create a world, you really live in it."

"Just sit!" Julie sighed and pulled a chair out for Flynn. Annie pushed Flynn down onto the chair and Julie gestured around. "If you'll notice, there's no equipment that will produce a hologram. Feel free to look around."

Julie and Annie went up to the keyboard and Annie picked up her microphone.

"The guys took a poem I wrote about you and Annie and put it to music," Julie informed Flynn.

"Aw, I wish I didn't have to talk to your dad and your mom about this," Flynn remarked and Annie shook her head with a smile.

"It's called "Flying Solo," Annie told her before Julie sat down. "Hope you like it."

Julie began to play the beat on her keyboard and left it on repeat, before playing the piano and singing.

(Julie; Annie and Julie)
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 the girls got to the chorus, Luke, Reggie, and Alex appeared with their instruments playing and singing along. Flynn yelped with fear and jumped back at the sudden band that appeared

(Annie and Julie; All)
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
Hey, yeah
My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you

Annie kneeled next to Flynn, who was quite scared, but Annie took her hand as she sang next.

(Annie; Julie and Annie; All)
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

Annie pulled Flynn onto her feet as they got back into the chorus and Flynn was still scared. The girls showed her around to each of the boys as they sang

(All)
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
Hey, yeah
My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you

An instrumental break came on and the girls were stood in front of Reggie. Flynn stuck her hand through his shoulder and pulled it out with shock, seeing that he is an actual ghost.

"Weird, right?" Reggie chuckled.

"They're ghosts!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Oh, we prefer, uh, musician spirits," Alex corrected and Reggie agreed with him.

"Julie, Annie... so does this mean you're joining the band?" Luke asked the girls.

Flynn approached Luke, flipping her hair back. "Um... actually, I think you're joining their band."

Julie put her arm on Flynn's shoulder, "I'm gonna go with what she said."

"Same here, buddy," Annie winked at Luke, who shook his head with a smile.

The drums kicked in again and the singing resumed.

(All; Julie and Annie)
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
My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you
You

The three girls held hands and touched their foreheads together for a moment, before pulling away.

"Still wanna talk to my mom and Julie's dad?" Annie grinned.

"Nah, I'm good," Flynn remarked and Luke and Alex chuckled.

The girls smiled, before embracing in a tight hug.

——
Up Next: i got the music

yay, the third chapter is finished and it's a little shorter than the last ones, mainly because it focused on the guys more. like alex and willie hehe :)

very excited for the next chapter i love the beginning and the song it's one of my favorite moments. also, i have a song that annie might sing in the next chapter by herself, but ill see how it works out.

got to see annie get jealous a little with reggie talking about girls. thought i would add that in. don't plan on having too much jealously between them, because it's not my thing. i have lots of ideas i just hope i get to use them.

anyway, hope you enjoyed it and see ya in i got the music!

song used in this chapter: Flying Solo by Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner, and Jeremy Shada