Julie lay on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. What the hell had happened last night? She had been able to touch Luke and the boys. And that strange glowing? Julie didn't know why the boys hadn't crossed over but she was glad that they hadn't. She cared about all of them, and if she was honest with herself, she cared about Luke just a little bit more than the others. One moment in particular kept replaying in her mind. The moment after Luke had told her that they didn't want to make music if they weren't making it with her and she'd hugged him. He had said that he had no regrets and she hadn't been able to stop herself. She hadn't even thought about it. By all rights, she should have gone right through him and landed on the floor but she hadn't. He had caught her and held on tight. Once they both realized what was happening, she had reached out to touch his face. She felt her heart beat faster but then he'd touched her and it felt like her heart stopped. He had said that he felt stronger. There were so many questions, they would work it out together but first she had to try to work out what to do with her feelings for Luke. Growling in frustration, she grabbed a pillow, put it over her head and screamed into it.
Not only had she had all of those questions buzzing around in her mind but as soon as she had come back into the house, Carlos had cornered her and told her that he knew about the boys. That he had found the cd which of course had a picture of the band with the tour date of 1995. He had done exactly as Julie had done when she'd first met them. He had done a Google search and found out everything. Julie explained as best as she could and then made him promise to keep it quiet. Carlos had nodded and told her that hers and the boys' secret were safe with him. When she had finally gotten to bed, her dreams had been about the show at the Orpheum as well as everything that had happened since. Now she had to get ready, life was moving forward and she had to figure out what that was going to look like.
Luke was resting on the couch and even though he had his arm thrown over his eyes, he could feel his friends watching him. Lowering his arm, he turned to look at them. Reggie was leaning on the piano, with his face cupped in his hands and Alex was standing beside him. They were staring at him.
"What?" he asked as he swung his legs off the couch.
Alex and Reggie looked at each other before Reggie spoke.
"Um, that was pretty intense last night."
"Yeah it was. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to us. What do you think that glow meant?"
"That is an interesting question but it's also not what I was talking about. You and Julie, that was what I was talking about. I mean, we…" he looked at Alex before continuing, "knew that something was going on but dude, that was intense. The way she touched you and then you touched her. I was touched just watching it."
Luke just looked at his friends. He didn't know where to begin. What he felt for Julie was something he'd never felt before, not even when he was alive. Sure, there had been girls from school and then the girls who had come to see them perform. But Julie, it was so much more. He didn't know if he wanted to talk to anyone about it. He shrugged his shoulder and dropped back down onto the couch.
"I don't know," he said in frustration, deciding that talking to his friends wasn't such a bad idea. "It's stupid, I'm a freaking ghost."
"Ah yes, we are aware," replied Alex, "so, what are you going to do?"
"Didn't you just hear me, I DON'T KNOW."
Jumping off the couch, he started to walk around the room, running his hands through his hair. He couldn't expect Julie to be interested in him. There was nothing that could come from it. He had been right when he'd told her that they had an interesting relationship.
"Have you told her?" Alex asked him quietly.
"I won't do that to her. She's sixteen; I can't expect her to be tied to me. I know that nothing can come from this. Plus I'm way too old for her. And, oh yeah, I'M A GHOST!"
Reggie waved him off, telling him that he was only seventeen, well eighteen and that wasn't such a huge age difference. Luke looked at him, shaking his head.
"Reggie, I died at seventeen. We've been dead for twenty five years. That makes me…." Luke did the calculations in his mind, "damn, I'm in my forties. Way too old."
Reggie opened his mouth but Alex put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head before taking a step towards Luke.
"OK, true. If we had lived, we would be old but we didn't. You are still young, young enough to be with Julie if that is what you both want. Yeah, the ghost thing is something that you both need to talk about. But Luke, don't deny what you are feeling and I believe that Julie feels the same way. I've seen the way that you two look at each other and not just when you sing. You both look away before the other sees but it's there mate."
Luke sat back and looked at both of his friends with hope rising in his chest. Could they figure this thing out? He looked outside, seeing the sun shining and he wondered if he should go and talk to Julie. Glancing back at the others he smiled at their encouragement, they told him to go now, to talk to Julie before it got too late. Nodding, he found himself standing outside of Julie's bedroom door. Looking around to make sure that neither Carlos nor Ray would hear, he raised his hand and knocked on the door. When Julie didn't answer, he popped his head through the door. Sure enough, the room was empty.
He then heard the front door bell and Julie answering it. Poofing downstairs, he watched as Nick gave Julie some flowers. He didn't mean to eavesdrop and he wished he hadn't because as soon as Julie invited Nick in, he told her how happy he was for her, how her show had been amazing and then he asked her if he could take her out for a coffee or something. Luke closed his eyes as he realized that he had left it too late. Nick was more suited for Julie, as much as he hated to admit it. Luke poofed out and landed back on the couch in the studio letting his head fall backwards. Alex and Reggie looked at their friend, knowing that something had gone wrong.
Julie looked at Nick, trying to figure out why he was asking her out again. She had already turned him down and now she had to do it all over again. She couldn't believe that this was happening. She had liked Nick for so long and now, when he liked her, she was in love with Luke, a freaking ghost. But it was what it was. She didn't want to give Nick any false hope so she took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Nick, you are sweet and thanks for your support but I told you before that I like someone else and I don't think that we should go out on a date."
"I know Julie, but how about one friend taking another friend out for a celebratory drink?"
Julie looked at him, and she could see that he honestly meant what he was saying. She could be friends with him. Nodding her head, she asked him to wait a sec while she grabbed her purse. As soon as she had that and after she told her dad where they were going, they headed out the door.
Caleb smirked as he watched Julie walk away from him. He'd probed this young man's mind, looking for answers and clues to what Julie had said about the boys. All he could see was that everyone seemed to believe that stupid story about them being holograms. Lifers could be extremely gullible at times. He could feel Nick fighting him, trying to gain control of his body but Caleb just pushed him further down. Nick was no competition for him. He'd been a ghost for longer than this kid had been alive and as long as he needed this body, he would use it. He didn't care if he left it damaged after he had finished with it. He needed those boys to be under his control, he would not let them stay out there with the power that they had. As Julie walked back towards him, he watched her and he knew that she had something to do with the boys power and he was going to use her to get to it.
Luke stepped through the studio doors and watched as Julie and Nick left the house. It broke his heart to see it but it only reinforced his decision to step out of the way and to let Julie have a normal life with a living boyfriend, not a ghost one. He needed to get out of here, so he poofed over to see his parents. Alex and Reggie looked at each other after seeing Luke disappear. Could they fixed things like they had before or should they stay out of it and let the two of them work it out together?
"Carlos, have you heard from your sister?"
"No, not since this morning."
Ray looked at his phone again, checking the time. It wasn't like Julie to not at least text if she was going to be gone for this long. Dialing Flynn's number, he waited for her to pick up and then asked her if Julie was at her place. Flynn told him that she hadn't seen or heard from her since the show the previous night. Ray thanked her and hung up. Now he was worried. If anyone would know where Julie was it would be Flynn. Walking around the room, he kept glancing at his phone, hoping that something would appear. He was so preoccupied that he didn't see Carlos come downstairs.
"Dad, what's going on? Where's Julie?"
"I'm not sure son. I haven't seen her since she left with Nick earlier today and she hasn't contacted anyone since. If she isn't back in time for dinner….."
Carlos looked at his dad, worry showing in his own eyes. He had to do something. He couldn't just wait around for his sister to show up. He told his dad that he would be back in a moment and he bolted out of the front door and went directly to the studio. He may not be able to see the boys from the band but he was fairly certain that they would be in there. He would ask for them to help look for Julie. He assumed that they would be able to get around quicker than him and his dad.
Reggie looked up in shock as the studio doors flew open and Carlos came running in. He was calling out for them. Reggie knew that he wouldn't be able to see him but he stood up anyway and went to stand in front of Carlos.
"What is it little man?"
Carlos leapt back in shock, staring into Reggie's eyes, or at least that was what it looked like to Reggie. They stood facing each other for a moment before Carlos reached out and stuck his hand through Reggie's chest.
"Cool" he whispered. "You really are here."
"You can see me?"
"Yep and hear you. Where are the other guys?"
"Hang on. How can you see and hear me? Only Julie can do that. And other ghosts as well. Oh and anyone at the Hollywood Ghost Club. But regular people can't see us."
"I don't know and I don't really have the time to discuss it right now. Where are the other guys?"
"Alex is with Willie and as for Luke, I don't know. Why?"
Carlos told him all about Julie being missing, or at least not contactable for the whole day which was so not like Julie. He explained how no one had heard from her since this morning when she left with Nick. Reggie listened, nodding his head and asking questions when he needed to. Finally he had all the information that Carlos had and he told the little dude to wait whilst he poofed out to find the other two boys. Minutes later Reggie, Alex and Luke all appeared out of thin air in front of Carlos who just took two steps back, shaking his head from side to side. He knew that the guys were ghosts and had set up in the studio but knowing and seeing were two different things. Taking a deep breath he walked up to the boys and started to talk. He told them everything that he had already told the first guy and then asked them to help look for his sister.
"Did you hear where Nick was going to take Julie this morning?" Alex asked Luke. Luke shook his head and said that as soon as Nick asked her he had taken off and poofed back here. Frustrated beyond belief, Luke ran his hands through his hair and turned to Carlos. He asked him if Julie had a favourite place to go. Carlos thought for a moment and then told him that the best person to ask would be Flynn and that he would call her straight away. The boys waited impatiently while Carlos talked to Julie's best friend. When he ended the call Luke jumped in straight away and asked him what she had said. Carlos told them that the one place that they both would go to was a little café about ten minutes away.
"What's the name and where is it exactly? We need to know so we know where to poof."
No sooner had Carlos told them then Luke took off, not even waiting for his friends. He was so worried about Julie. He knew that something was wrong, he couldn't explain how but he just knew it. Poofing in just outside the café he looked in through the window and was just walking through the wall when Reggie and Alex turned up. The three of them looked all through the café, not only the front but the rest rooms and the kitchen. It was only as they were about to give up and leave that Reggie noticed something on the floor behind the front door. As he bent down to get a closer look he called the other boys over.
"Is that Julie's purse?"
Luke pushed him out of the way and focused on the spot that Reggie was pointing at. Sure enough it was Julie's purse and it caused his heart to stop, if it were actually beating in the first place. Something was wrong. Julie would not leave that behind and even if she did by accident it wouldn't be behind the front door. Someone had taken Julie and he knew exactly who it was.
"Covington has her."