Chapter Notes

I really don't hate Carrie as much as everyone else does. And Kenny clearly took time to show how she and Alex would get along well, and that coupled with her clapping at the Orpheum? I'm ready for some good ol' redemption.

Julie was on a warpath the next day at school, fire in her eyes as she marched through the halls. People jumped out of her way as she stormed on by. She needed to talk to Carrie. Now. She passed Flynn while she was walking.

"Hey girl, what's got you so- Woah!" Flynn cried when Julie marched right past her, barely sparing her a glance. Flynn didn't see her friend like this often, but she knew better than to resist when it did happen.

"Carrie!" Julie yelled, bursting into the gymnasium. She expected to find Carrie and her troop in there, practising their dances. Only, the gym appeared to be empty. She would have left, if not for the shallow breathing and sniffles she heard.

Julie looked around confused. She then pinpointed the location of the noise. It was coming from under the bleachers. She made her way to them, ducking under the steel bars and weaving her way to the middle of them. That was where she found Carrie, curled up in a ball on the ground, shaking and rocking back and forth. Julie couldn't see her face, but she knew the girl was crying. She had only ever seen it this bad once before.

"Carrie? Carrie! Are you okay?" Julie asked, slowly approaching the girl so as not to spook her. It became clear that the girl hadn't heard her. Couldn't hear her. She was having a panic attack.

Julie couldn't believe the girl still got them this bad. Back when they had been friends, Carrie had quite a few panic attacks. They got better when she started seeing her dad's therapist. But one look at the girl proved she wasn't seeing him anymore. Luckily Julie remembered exactly how to deal with this.

"Carrie, I'm here, you're okay," Julie continued to whisper as she slowly approached the girl. Even though the girl couldn't hear her, she knew it helped with approaching her. Julie came towards her, moving slow, she reached out, lightly tapping her shoe against the other girl's. Carrie jumped a little, meaning she was able to feel her. She wasn't completely gone.

Julie sunk down to the ground. Continuing to whisper reassurances, she reached out and touched the girl's ankle. Carrie jumped again. Julie placed her other hand on the girl's knee, then moved her first hand to her shoulder. She then slowly pulling her into a hug.

"Try to match my breathing, Carrie," Julie whispered to the girl. She took a deep breath, then released it. Nothing. She did it again. Still nothing. Once more, Julie took in a deep breath, and this time Carrie matched her. Julie exhaled. So did Carrie. They did it again until eventually, Carrie stopped shaking. She was still crying, but this was progress. After a few long moments, Carrie hugged her back, letting her know she was okay. Or at least getting there.

"Thank you," she whispered to Julie, refusing to meet her eyes and let her see all the tears. "Why are you here?" She asked after a few moments, her voice quivering as she spoke.

"Because you needed help, Carrie," Julie responded in a strong tone, not letting go of the girl. "I know we're not friend's anymore, but I'll still always be here for you. Especially when you need me. Especially when you're having a panic attack. Do you want to talk about it?" She asked gently, pulling back enough to see the girl's face, but not letting go of her for a second.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Carrie asked instead of answering Julie's question.

"Us not being friends now doesn't erase all our history, Carrie." Julie still wanted to talk to the girl about that first part, how their friendship fell apart, but now wasn't the time. They could talk about that later. The two sat in silence for a few more moments before Carrie broke it.

"My dad yelled at me last night. It's the first time it's happened in years, I didn't know what to do," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes again.

Julie panicked a little, knowing this almost definitely had something to do with her. He didn't yell at his daughter often, he loved Carrie more than anything. But whenever it used to happen, it would absolutely destroy Carrie. It wasn't the source of all her anxiety, but it did always cause the worst attacks. One time the girl passed out and didn't wake up for a full thirty-six hours. That one started out a lot like the one Julie had seen just now.

Carrie knew that if Julie hadn't come along, it might have turned into the same thing. Only this time, instead of being in her home, with two adults and a friend who could rush her to the hospital, it would have happened with her being alone. Under the bleachers. Where it was likely no one would find her for quite some time.

Julie tightened her hug on the girl, whispering apologies into her hair, over and over. This helped stabilise Carrie a little. Feeling the girl's arms around her stopped her from spiralling once more.

Julie was considering telling the girl about her encounter with her dad the previous day. In the very least, it would assure the girl that her dad's bad mood hadn't been her fault. Because Julie knew that was what Carrie was thinking. She was blaming herself like she always used to. Then Julie reconsidered. Carrie might now even believe her.

"This morning he wouldn't even look at me," Carrie whispered again, starting to shake again. Julie pulled her in even tighter, continuing to whisper. She was okay. She was here for her. She wasn't going anywhere. They would get through this together. The bell for their first lesson rang, but neither girl moved.

It took a while, but soon Carrie calmed down enough to pull away. She looked Julie in the eyes and thanked her, hugging her again. This time not out of needing comfort, but wanting to express her gratitude. Julie returned the hug, making Carrie tear up a little. She didn't deserve this girl's kindness.

"Hey Carrie," Julie trailed off. This still wasn't the best time to ask about this, but it would be better to get it all up in the air and dealt with. Carrie looked up at her, encouraging her to continue. "I was talking with my dad yesterday. I found out that my mum and your dad got into a huge fight, around the same time you stopped talking to me. I was wondering if you knew anything about it?" She eventually said.

Carrie looked at the girl in confusion. Why was she asking about that now? Julie had never come to her to ask why she didn't want to be friends anymore. It was this that proved to her what her dad said was right. When he told her that Julie didn't care about her, she acted out and pulled back. And her friend didn't follow her. It had hurt. A lot more than Carrie tended to admit.

"That would make sense," Carrie answered after a few beats. "Dad told me that your mum started accusing him of being a thief and a liar," Julie's eyes widened at this. Her mum must have somehow found out about Luke's music. That was why they fought? "He told me that it was only a matter of time before you started trying to turn me against him. Told me you didn't care about me as a friend. That you only wanted to be friends with me to try and slander him." Carrie looked down again, unable to meet the girl's eyes as she told her this for the first time.

"So that's why you pulled back?" Julie whispered in shock, the pieces all starting to fit together now. Carrie shook her head, confusing Julie.

"No. Well, yes, but no." She stuttered out, looking up at her again before looking away. "When he told me that, at first I didn't want to believe him. I lashed out at everyone, including you. And I pulled away. But you never followed me. You never asked why. You just accepted it. That was when I knew he was right." Carrie started to cry again.

Tears welled up in Julie's eyes as well. She couldn't believe it. All this time, she blamed Carrie for pulling away. She didn't even consider that her friend was hurting. She never tried to fix it. Never even asked her best friend if she was okay. It all made sense. If Julie had heard something like that about one of her friends, she would try to prove it wrong too. And if any of them had responded the way she did to Carrie, she would have given up on them as well. She yanked Carrie in even tighter and cried.

"I'm so sorry, Carrie. I had no idea. I understand now," she wept against the girl's shoulder. The two girls sat and cried together. Another bell rang, signalling that over an hour had passed. They were both about to miss their second class as well. Again, neither of them moved.

"I'm sorry too, Julie. It was petty of me." Carrie hugged the girl back even tighter. "I should have come to you after your mom..." she trailed off. She couldn't say it. "I knew how much you must have been hurting and I still didn't come and talk to you. I only made it worse."

"Turns out we're both pretty bad friends then, hey?" Julie and Carrie both laughed, their tears coming to a stop as they continued to embrace. "It's nice to know you're not as bad as you pretend to be, to be honest," Julie looked down at Carrie's questioning look. "You changed so much from when we were friends."

"Julie," Carrie sighed, weighing out if she really wanted to admit this. "When I pretend to be confident, I feel confident," she whispered. "It helps. People can't walk all over me if I stepped on them first." She felt so bad admitting this. She had basically told the girl that she was mean on purpose, to save her own skin. She had no idea how Julie might react to that. What if she shunned her? Refused to be her friend again? Pretended these past few hours never happened? What if they returned to how they were a few days ago? She began to shake again, as the fear set in.

"Hmm, I guess that does make sense," Julie eventually muttered. Carrie looked up at her in surprise, her spiral halted. "Don't get me wrong-" Julie shook her head-"I don't agree with it. But I get why you felt the need to do that." Carrie breathed a sigh of relief. How did she ever let this girl go? She got her more than anyone else in the entire world ever could. Even her dad. Especially her dad.

"Since you're being so honest, I want to tell you something." Julie trailed off, unsure if she should say this. They'd come so far, the last thing she wanted was for Carrie to call her a liar, and for things to go back to how they were before.

"What is it?" Carrie asked pensively. She saw the look in her friend(?)'s eyes and could tell she was unsure if she wanted to say whatever it was. "You can tell me. You didn't judge me for being a bitch on purpose. I'm sure whatever it is it couldn't be worse than that," she laughed bitterly. Julie still looked unsure. Carrie opened her mouth to try and encourage her again when Julie burst out,

"Your dad came over and threatened me!" Carrie paused. She tried to process what the girl had said. They sat in silence for a few suffocating moments. Then Carrie realised she was joking. Getting her bad for two years of torment. She laughed at the joke, even though it made her sick. Only Julie didn't laugh with her. Her laughter faded.

"You're not joking?" She asked, scared of what the answer would be. Julie nodded her head. Carrie couldn't believe this. Actually, no. She didn't want to believe this. She didn't want to, but she could. Not only could she believe it, but it also didn't surprise her all that much. The more they spoke earlier, the more she entertained the idea. The idea that maybe Rose and her dad hadn't fought because Rose lied about him being a bad person. Maybe he actually was one. She eventually asked what happened that lead to the threat. She didn't want to know, but she owed it to Julie, and herself, to find out exactly how twisted her father was.

"I found out that your dad lied about all his early music." Carrie looked at the girl questionably. "He didn't write those songs. He stole them from his old bandmate back in 1995. After his bandmates all died," Julie whispered.

"How do you know this?" Carrie asked. She saw the hurt in Julie's eyes and rushed to say, "not that I don't believe you!" She waved her hands all around before dropping them. "I-I want to know is all."

"I-" Julie trailed off once again before taking a deep breath. "My mom met him and the band before they died. They even used to rehearse in the studio at my house. My mom and dad moved in about five years after they passed away. They were friends with your dad at the time," Julie repeated what her dad had told her the day before. "I found a notebook full of all the songs a little while ago. Along with the last name of the person who wrote them. Patterson." She knew she couldn't give Luke the credit, Carrie might recognise his name. But maybe she could at least give the credit to Emily and Mitch.

"Do- Do you think that your mom found that? And that's when they fought?" Carrie asked, already knowing the answer. The name Patterson sounded familiar for some reason, but she pushed that to the back of her mind. For now anyway.

"I think so," Julie nodded her affirmation. "Patterson wrote all the songs, but then he died and your dad stole them and claimed them as his own. And yesterday, I don't know how, but he found out that I knew about it. And he came and warned-" she said, making quote marks with her fingers-"me not to tell anyone about it." Carrie nodded, understanding what she was saying.

"Is there anything I can do? This isn't right. My dad can't be allowed to benefit from this anymore." She was determined not to let him get away with this any longer. Their music was one of the most important things to songwriters, and for him to take that? Claim it as his own? It wasn't okay. Julie thought about it for a second.

"Well," she trailed off, smiling at Carrie a little evilly. "We were planning on haunting him a little." She only realised what she had said when Carrie's eyes narrowed in confusion. "We. Being me. And Flynn. We're gonna, ya know, prank him. Haunt him. Haha." She tried to write it off. Carrie pursed her lips. There was something else going on, but she wasn't going to push it. Not yet anyway. More information she stored in the back of her mind for later.

"I know exactly how to help," Carrie grinned back. The third bell rang moments later, signalling the start of their next class. Only then did the girls realise they had missed two full classes. Together, the two rushed to music.

When the teacher questioned them, Carrie quietly told her about her panic attack. She explained how Julie had helped her through it. They were let off with a warning, and went to their seats, smiling at each other as they parted.

Julie sat next to Flynn. Her friend leered at her, letting her know she owed her an explanation. Julie nodded before facing the front and trying to focus on class. Instead, all the prank ideas ran through her head. Now she had three ghosts, a parent, and Bobby's daughter all on her team. Needless to say, she wasn't successful in focusing.

Chapter End Notes

Why is Caleb so intent on keeping Julie and Carrie apart? Seems a little weird... Hmmm...

Coming up next: a scheme on how they can drive Bobby insane. They weren't going to out him. Or at least not yet. They were going to drive him so crazy, he would out himself. Hopefully anyway. A little bit of a Carrie centric coming up. Already half- written, see you guys soon xx