Chapter 2: Bright

Just as Alex was about to give Josephine a hug, Luke poofed himself, Alex, and Reggie outside of the garage.

"Dude, why'd you stop me? Josephine needed a hug," Alex asked

"Bro, a ghost hug isn't the feel-good moment that you think it is. All right? Trust me. What Josephine needs right now is just a bit of privacy."

"You know what? I think you poofed us out because you can't handle when other people cry," Alex said, "I should know. I cried in a room for 25 years, and I didn't get a single hug from either of you."

"All right. Bring it in," Reggie said as he went over to hug Alex

"Don't touch me!"

"This is why no one hugs you," Reggie whispered

"Ok…," Luke said, "I think the first thing we should do, once we get the courage to go in there, is ask Josephine...why she lied about playing the piano."

"Yeah, you know, maybe tell her how amazing she is," Alex said

"Yeah, of course, Bro."

"Ok."

"She's legit," Reggie said, "I got ghost bumps."

Just then, Flynn walked by them and into the garage, also crying.

"Oh my gosh. Was she crying too?" Alex asked

"Yes!" Luke stressed, "And the only thing scared than one girl crying is two girls crying."

"He's right," Alex said

"Guys, we definitely can't go in there," Luke said

"But we can listen," Reggie suggested

The three boys then proceeded to peek their heads over the small windows on the garage door.

"Something told me you'd be out here," Flynn said, making Josephine look up from the piano, "We need to talk."

"Are you okay?" Josephine asked

"No, I'm not ok! You 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, I have something to tell you-"

"No, it's my turn to talk. You can't give up music! You're music's like a gift, so that would be a tragedy. So you're basically cancelling summer, and I love summer!"

"Flynn, can I talk now?"

"Fine."

"I just played the piano and sang again."

"What? Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was trying, then you seven sodas kicked in."

"I'm so happy for you! We've got to go show Mrs. Harrison."

Josephine was then pulled out of the garage by Flynn before the two girls walked to school.

"Believe me, Josephine," Mrs. Harrison started, "I think it's wonderful that you sang again. I've been hoping that you finally would. But it's too late."

"What if you just hear her play?" Flynn asked, "You know she's amazing."

"It wouldn't matter. A new student starts tomorrow. There's only-"

"So many spots," Josephine finished solemnly

"You'll have to reapply next semester."

Just then, the bell rang.

"I'm truly sorry."

After coming home, Josephine headed straight for her room. Although, when she opened the door she saw the boys in her room: Reggie was lying on the bed, Luke was looking at things on her shelves, and Alex was attempting to pick up a picture.

"What are you doing in my room?"

"We were looking for the kitchen?" Luke said

"This. This can't happen. It's creepy. Get off my bed please."

"Hey, Josephine," Luke said, raising his hand, "What's in the box?"

Luke then pointed to a small box on her shelf.

"That's off limits."

"Oh, oh, ok. Girl stuff."

Josephine just folded her arms at that.

"Oh, like butterflies and glitter?" Reggie asked

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

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

Alex then picked up a picture. Although, the picture that he picked up was one of Josephine and Hermione back when they went to the Yule Ball together in fourth-year.

"Hey!" Alex cheered, "I actually picked something up-"

Just as he said that, the frame fell out of his hands and onto the rug on the floor.

"I dropped it."

"Who's that?" Luke asked as the three boys looked at the picture

"No one!" Josephine said, snatching the picture up

"Why can't you tell us? We told you about a lot about us," Luke pressed

Josephine stood there for a moment, dwelling on Luke's words.

"Fine," She said, making the decision to tell them, "That girl is Hermione...she was my girlfriend."

"Was? Did you break up? 'Cause that's pretty weird of you keep an photo of you ex on your wardrobe," Reggie said

"No! She died," Josephine explained, shocking all three boys.

"How...?" Alex asked tentatively

"It was the final night of the war, and she was hit by the killing curse. Well...it was actually aimed at me, but she pushed me out of the way. It killed her instantly…"

"I'm so sorry," Luke said, instantly filled with guilt.

"It's okay...it was actually good to get it off my chest….But could you not play with it anymore, Alex? It's my favorite picture of us together."

"Yeah, of course."

Luke then gazed at the box before looking back at Josephine.

"Oh my Merlin!" Josephine yelled, "I thought I told you to leave that alone!"

"I know. You just shouldn't have said nothing 'cause now I can't stop thinking about it, so….What's in the box, Josephine?"

"It's just my dream box, ok?"

Luke gave Josephine a confused look.

"Whenever I get a thought, I write it do and get it out of my mind."

"Like lyrics?" Luke asked

"They would be if I still wrote music like I used to for Hermione. Now it's just full of stuff that doesn't make me sad."

"But, I mean, you do play," Alex said, "We heard you this morning."

"What?" Josephine yelled "So you were there too?"

"Uh...I don't…," Luke and Alex nstarted

"We were somewhere," Reggie said

Luke then jumped onto Josephine's bed.

"So, where is your kitchen, by the way?"

Josephine then bent down to Luke's level before answering him.

"Ok, we need to set some boundaries. For starters, stay out of my room!"

The three boys then rushed out of the room, fazing straight through the door.

"Hey," Alex said a moment later, sticking his head through the door, "Um, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. Did you get back into your music program?"

"No, no I didn't."

"I'm sorry. That really sucks."

"Thanks."

Alex then left the room, leaving Josephine to her own thoughts.

Walking down the stairs, Josephine made her way to the kitchen for her midnight snack.

As she turned the corner she jumped, seeing Luke standing there gazing into the fridge.

"Ah! I'm never gonna get used to that."

She then made her way over to the fridge.

"Do you guys even eat?"

Luke shook his head sadly.

"I just wanna see what'cha got."

Josephine just grabbed some water before closing the fridge.

"Hey!" Luke yelled, "You know how long it took me to open that?"

"Sorry, I don't believe in waiting power."

"Good. Because that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

"My power usage?" Josephine questioned

"No. The power that you have."

"My magic?"

"No! Your musical power. Your voice. Your piano playing. Dude, you're like a human wrecking ball."

"Is this a pep talk?"

"What I'm saying is that you have the power to move people. To knock them off their feet. And there is no way your teachers wouldn't let you back into school if they heard you play like that."

"Look, she said that I'd have to reapply next semester. And that's only part of the reason…"

"What's the other?"

"Um….I just….You know what? You might as well go wake the guys so I only have to say it once."

Ten minutes later, the three boys and Josephine were all sitting in the studio.

"So...the reason I stopped playing and singing and writing music is because…because I didn't want to play music in a world where I couldn't share it with the love of my life…"

All three boys immediately frowned. Alex felt terribly sad, Luke felt a bit jealous since he had a growing crush on Josephine, and Reggie just frowned, not knowing what to think.

"But I also know that she'd want me to be happy, and do the things I love...so that's why I played this morning. That's why I went to Mrs. Harrison. But I guess it was all for nothing since she's already got another student lined up."

"No," Luke said, "It's not over," he then pulled out a piece of lined paper from his pocket, "I have a Sunset Curve song that I had written but we never got to preform it. It'd be perfect for you."

For the rest of the night, the four teens rehearsed the song, and by dawn Josephine had a lot more confidence in her self than she had previously.

After getting to school, Josephine quickly found Flynn and told her that she was going to rush onto stage after Carrie and her band, Dirty Candy, did their performance at the pep rally.

Once the painful performance was done, Josephine rushed to the piano, and started playing the song.

As she got to the chorus, the boys appeared out of no wher are started playing with her. It was insane. They immediately worked as one single unit. Plus, the crowd loved it.

Just as Josephine finished up the song, the boys disappeared, leaving the crowd in a state of shock.