Episode Three

Be As One

Reggie looked at the small garage TV in the corner of the room, looking certainly dumbfounded. "Shit…"

"Today in pop culture news, musical talent Trevor Wilson released a shocking email to his fan club about former band, 'Sunset Curve,' The details certainly reek of a psychotic breakdown, but his devoted fans are quick to come to the star's defense, claiming his experience with "Spectral Phantoms" from his former band are in fact real. Take a look:"

Reggie shook Alex awake quickly, pulling him up to look at the TV with the news reporter, a picture of Trevor Wilson then displayed on the TV.

"Dude… let me sleep!" Alex whined, pushing his friend away so he could get some more beauty rest.

Reggie, however, did not abide by his childish slapping. Hegrabbed Alex's face, turned it towards him urgently, then narrowed his brows. "You have to see this, Alex," He said. On the TV, the channel displayed the performance that the band had performed in the backyard that was uploaded to YouTube. It then transitioned to the album cover for Sunset Curves 1995 tour, the four members pictured together.

"Holy shit," Alex swallowed, visibly nervous. He didn't say anything else, just watched in horror.

"This video uploaded to YouTube last Friday shows a local LA band named, "Julie and The Phantoms" performing their song Edge of Great. The three men in the video, which lead singer Julie Molina claims are holograms, are allegedly three deceased members from Trevor Wilsons old band Sunset Curve,"

The broadcaster continued, "In Wilson's email, he says, "…my best friends and bandmates were extinguished by means of staphylococcal." With the deaths being ruled an accident, and Trevor Wilson cleared of all allegations and as a suspect."

"Where is JULIE?" Alex said anxiously, "WHAT DO WE DO?!" He panicked, standing up on the squeaky couch with his hands on the back of his head. The last thing he needed right now was even more bad news on top of the bad news he already had, causing his anxiety to bubble up into one big, anxious mess inside his head. All he could think to do at that moment is ask for Julie, needing Julie to return the favor of comfort he had given to her.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down Alex!" Reggie said, trying to reassure his friend, grabbing his hand to pull him back down to a sitting position. Alex obeyed his order to sit down, but not the one about calming down.

"Can't you see I am TRYING to calm down?" Alex said, struggling to take a breath in as he held his chin in contemplation, staring at the television.

"Although Julie Molina of, 'Julie and The Phantoms,' claims the men are merely holograms, Wilson refuses to believe she did not just duplicate his friends via advanced technology. In his email, he continued to disclose, "Despite the risk of allegations of lying, I must say that they have taken the form of spectral phantoms, and lack of proof is for naught," The woman said, reading her line off of her stack of white papers.

Reggie and Alex stared blankly at the screen, Alex playing with Reggie's brown hair nervously. "I did not see this coming," Reggie said, biting his bottom lip nervously.

"You know, I was actually afraid of this exact thing happening, but no one ever listens to little old Alex…" Alex trailed off, pouting at the television screen.

Reggie scoffed. "Who cares about that now? The media is gonna be on our asses like crazy," He said, pulling Alex's hand away from his hair.

"I was just saying that you guys never want to hear what I have to say–"

"Alex," Reggie cut him off, "let it go," He said, obviously annoyed. The room stayed silent for a second, the only sound coming from the TV until Reggie spoke again. "Gosh, we might as well just kiss the future of the band goodbye," Reggie sighed.

"Is Trevor Wilson amidst an emotional collapse, or are Molinas holograms really the ghosts of music's past? I got to say Phil, the guy just seems off his rocker to me…" The lady trailed off. Alex slowly picked up the remote, paused the TV and set the remote down on the small stool in front of the couch in an anticlimactic fashion.

"Julie's gonna kill us," Alex whined, putting his head into his hands.

Reggie turned towards Alex with an annoyed look, crossing his arms and leaning back against the couch. "You think?"

"I was just pointing out the fact we were going to be in big trouble, that's all."

"I don't need another reminder!" Reggie spat back, seething through his teeth.

"Well obviously you do because you seem to forget everything," Alex scoffed.

Reggie grumbled. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, you know exactly what that means," Alex replied.

As the two continued to bicker, Luke, interrupting at the worst times like always, blinked into the front yard outside the garage. He cracked his back from his uncomfortable chair nap, then walked into the chaotic scene.

"Hey guys…" He said, his presence immediately stopping the fight, "have you seen Julie?" Luke said as he entered the garage, his eyes immediately drawn to the TV.

"Come sit," Alex said blankly, pointing towards the recliner chair. Luke obeyed, plopping down on the seat as he looked at the small television, squinting to better read the words. Luke didn't even have to fully read the news headline before realizing what was going on; Bobby had blabbed about what he saw… to the world.

"Aw, shit," Is all Luke could exasperate from his mouth. Not only did he carry the burden of needing to sort out things with Julie, he now also had to figure out a way to prove he wasn't a ghost, which he most definitely was.

"Well, we have to do something," Luke pointed out.

Reggie turned towards his friend, still looking annoyed. "Obviously, dude. The question is how though?" He said.

Luke just shrugged at Reggie's question. "We need to find Julie first," Luke continued to push, "Does anyone know where she is?" He asked. The two on the couch shook their heads, glancing over at each other.

"Well, the priority right now is to find Julie, got it?" Luke said, deciding the group's decision for everyone with Alex and Reggies input. The three simultaneously looked at each other, the silence of the room deafening. Luke sprung up abruptly, leaving the TV idle, the other two left sitting on the couch. Alex turned towards Reggie awkwardly then said, "Are we gonna…?"

"Yes, now let's go," Reggie answered, pulling Alex up to follow Luke like his little posse. The most logical place to look for Julie first was her bedroom, so they did. As the trio blinked into the hallway outside Julie's bedroom, they all stood there stiff.

"I think you should go in," Luke said to Alex, sighing.

"Why me? I didn't get in a fight with Julie, you did," Alex replied defensively.

"Reggie?" Alex tried to ask, but Reggie just slowly shook his head no before the question could even get out of his mouth. They all finally acquiesced to let Luke go in the bedroom first, so reluctantly he did. He covered his eyes, stepped through the door blindly to find his friend, and tried to navigate his way throughout the room without his sight.

"Julie? Are you dressed yet?" He asked, standing in the bedroom with his eyes still covered.

Julie looked sternly at him, turning away from her dream box as she shut it with a loud smack. "Take your hands off of your eyes, Luke," She said coldly as she crossed her arms in an annoyed fashion.

He lowered his hands with a sigh. "I take it you are still a bit mad at me?" He joked, smiling at her. However, Julie was not amused at his little quip. "Listen, Julie… I came to apologize."

"About time," She replied.

"Uh–" Luke bit his lip, "Anyway, I walked out on you in your time of need and I–"

"Damn right," She stared blankly.

Luke scratched behind his neck nervously, realizing this was gonna be harder than he thought. "Please let me finish, Julie. Instead of getting angry at you, I should have been there to comfort you," He swallowed, "But… unfortunately I can't change the past. That's why I really hope you can forgive me, and realize that I know what I did was wrong."

"How long did you practice that one for?" Julie asked, head cocked to one side. Luke just frowned in embarrassment. Julie exhaled out, walking towards a nervous Luke. "I can tell that's not what you came here for," She said, standing still in front of him as she tucked a tangled curl behind her ear.

Luke nodded. "You're right. There is a bigger problem than before..." He trailed off nervously, "You see, Bobby is now–" Luke stopped, having his conversation interrupted by a certain father. The door to Julie's bedroom abruptly flew open, Ray standing there with an upset look on his face. He looked at Julie and her pink pajamas up and down, looking her in the eye through her glasses. "Julie, what the hell is going on outside?" He asked her, arms crossed.

"What do you mean?" Julie asked innocently, not knowing what he was talking about. Ray gestured towards the window in her room, pointing a crooked finger at the blinds. She slowly looked over at Luke nervously, pausing for a moment. What had possibly happened to warrant this response, she thought. She walked towards the blinds curiously, gently lifting one of the many panels up to see what her father was so angry about. Outside stood multiple news vans with reporters bustling around the front porch, cameras capturing pictures of her house.

She looked over to Luke again with a terrified face, him fidgeting with his fingers. For a moment before explaining the situation, Luke stayed quiet as a mouse. "Bobby told everyone," He finally said quickly.

"Oh my god..." She said, her face reading dissociation, looking like she was a second away from bursting into tears,"Oh god."

Carlos looked excitedly at the television as he sat around it in his room. The reasoning for his elation was not because he craved celebrity drama, but because he no longer had to prove anything to his decrepit old dad, all his proof was on national television. All his work had been done for him, so his desperate searching for evidence was no more, so a day off for Carlos was what he had.

Lately, Carlos's efforts had been idle. He had been terribly spooked the last time he had snuck into the garage, and as his Aunt Victoria always told him, 'a sign is a sign.' He took that whole situation as a reason to give up, but in the back of his mind he always had hope of the truth coming out one day, and to fruition it came. Now Carlos wanted to hope for a million dollars, and maybe that would come true too. As he continued to watch snippets of coverage on entertainment channels, he heard a ton of noises down the stairs.

Though odd, he tried to ignore it, focusing his attention on the TV. However, the noises grew so loud he had no choice but to respond to the aggravating clanging. He grabbed the remote, lowering the volume to listen closely at the string of noises which seemed to grow even louder than before. He didn't want to stop his entertainment television marathon, but no one else seemed to be responding to the noise, so reluctantly he got up. An inquisitive Carlos slowly crept down the stairs towards the front door, noticing a ton of people gathered outside around it through the window, his father and Julie looking extremely worried in front of it.

"I think we should just open the door and get it over with," Julie suggested to her father with a stoic look on her face.

Ray crossed his arms in frustration. "No, Julie, I will not have strangers try to enter my home," He huffed, "I mean, this is crazy, honey. Are you sure they are here because of the band? We only got half a million hits," He explained.

Carlos walked towards the two, butting into the conversation uninvited. "What are you talking about? Aren't they here for the gho–"

"Autographs!" Julie said, staring Carlos down, "They are here for autographs after the Orpheum show. I told you that place makes stars, ha," She chuckled nervously. At that moment, Carlos realized that his father had not checked the news today, nor even picked up a phone or newspaper– and Julie was trying to hide the number one story in California from him. Amusing, Carlos thought.

"Listen, I'll speak. You don't have to say anything, alright?" Julie reassured Ray, unlocking the door to step out before could put up a fight. Ray tried to grab her hand and stop her, but she had already shut the door behind her. As soon as she was on the front porch however, Julie was swarmed by a flood of paparazzi and flashing cameras. She wasn't expecting the sudden mob that approached her, but she quickly adjusted to the light.

Julie straightened her posture, leaning into the slew of microphones before her. What was she gonna say, she thought. There were so many things to address and clear up, and Julie did not want to risk messing up her career and making a fool of herself on national television, so she spoke slowly so she could decide her words very carefully.

"Uh… hello. My name is Julie Molina as you probably know, haha..." Julie started awkwardly, "and I just want to let you all know that I've known Trevor Wilson for a long time. His daughter and I used to be friends," She said. A camera was shoved a little closer to her, causing her to back up a couple inches. "Uh–" She said, flustered by even more cameras in her face, "and in the time I've spent with Mr. Wilson, I never would have expected him to do something like this. I think this would be common sense, but my holograms are not ghosts," She continued, "When my gimmick was in the works, I needed some members.. and my inspiration just happened to be the members of Trevor's old band Sunset Curve," Julie swallowed the lump in her throat. "Trevor is my friend, I think it only makes sense that I am inspired by him, right?" She finished, the crowd of reporters waiting with baited breath for her to be done talking.

"Wait, Miss Molina! How does your technology work?"

"Have you talked to Mr. Wilson about the situation?"

"Can you tell us any more information?"

"You know what?" Julie said under her breath, retreating backwards to her front door, "goodbye everyone!" Julie called out as she closed the door and locked it, exhaling as she leaned her back against it. Julie realized she had been in her pajamas for the whole interview, an embarrassment that made her eyes flutter close frustratingly.

"Was that as easy as you made it out to be?" Ray asked his daughter, crossing his arms in a way that you could tell he was grumpy.

"It really wasn't too bad," She lied to her father, "they were just a little… wild," She said.

"Really?" Ray asked sarcastically, "and what did you say to them?" He continued to question her.

"Oh, nothing really," She bit her bottom lip nervously, "Just giving the people something to tide them over until we release an album, right?" She chuckled, clearing her voice awkwardly.

Ray did not look amused however. "I'll watch it on the news later, okay?" He said, walking away towards the stairs, leaving Julie with that dismantling statement. Julie made a sour face, whining as she hung her head back. How was Julie supposed to explain to her father how she got into this scandal, she thought. What about trying to explain her "super advanced technology" to the public? Shutting Bobby up? All these questions were and more were weighing Julie down, and all she wanted to do was to write her fucking song for Nick.

Carlos put his hands on his hips as he watched his father walk away. "Julie, why are you lying to dad?" He asked her.

Julie played with a stray curl on her head nervously as she thought of an answer to his question. She really didn't want to continue lying, but she felt like it was the only option at that point. So reluctantly, she asked her brother, "What am I lying about?"

"Two things," He said, "One, you're telling dad those paparazzi are outside because they want autographs," Julie frowned at Carlos, "And two, I know you don't use holograms Julie. I have a video of you talking to yourself and your little ghost pals shut my other attempt at evidence off," He said.

Julie looked dumbfounded, whimpering a bit, not knowing if he was joking with her or not. Her question was answered when Carlos started to talk again, saying, "You don't have to lie to me, okay? I promise."

"Oh my gosh," She whimpered, starting to cry for what seemed like the billionth time that week. Carlos opened his arms without a second thought, taking in his older sister for an embrace. He didn't reprimand her for lying, didn't criticize how she handled the situation, just held her. Ever since Carlos overheard her talking to her ghosts about his mom, the way Carlos felt about the little shits changed. Those ghosts were not just spectral ghouls, those ghosts meant everything to Julie. The last thing Carlos wanted to do was to ruin that for her after they had helped her bring music back into her life. Carlos continued to hold his sister, hoping it would somehow fix the situation at hand, and tried not to say a damn thing about her.

"I just want this all to be over," She cried into Carlos' shoulder, snotty sobs getting all over his navy blue sweatshirt. Julie didn't want to keep breaking down, needing to be comforted, then repeating that cycle over and over again, but she couldn't help but be overwhelmed at all the conflicts in her life. She tried to stop the tears this time, but the way her brother continued to pat her head in solace, responding with a gentle, "Everything will be okay," under his breath made it impossible for her to stop now.

"Listen, Julie," Carlos pulled back, cupping his much smaller hands around Julie's jaw, "I won't say anything, I promise," He said, frowning a bit.

"Thank you," Julie whispered back softly, trying to smile through her tearstained face. Little did she know, Trevor would be ready and waiting to respond to her rebuttal.

"LINDA!" Trevor yelled from his office, not taking his gaze off of the bay window in his office. Just like he had planned the night before, the email he had concocted for his fans to spread did just that: spread. Trevor was pacing anxiously back and forth as he watched by the window waiting for his publicist to make her way up his grand staircase, the light still coming through the blinds bathing his body in stripes. Outside of his window, it seemed like hundreds of paparazzi swarmed around his privacy fence with cameras, microphones, and whatever else they needed for their journalism, their bustling loud enough to be heard down the block.

Linda clambered into the room, closing the glass door behind her with her hip as she had full hands. "Yes sir, what can I help you with?" She asked politely, a clipboard in her hands.

Trevor stopped his endless pacing to turn towards his publicist, a coy smile on his face. "I assume many people are waiting to talk to me, huh?" He asked, crossing his arms proudly, "ABC? CNN? Fox, maybe?"

Linda only made a sour face, looking down at her clipboard nervously. "Yes, of course, sir. However, Julie Molina has already put out a public statement," She swallowed, "and I think you might want to hear it," She said. Trevor raised an eyebrow, walking around his desk and expensive leather chair to Linda. She pulled out her phone already queued up with the interview, handing the screen to Trevor.

Trevor watched intently, making an unamused face as Julie talked. "Trevor is my friend, I think it only makes sense I'm inspired by him, right?" Echoed throughout the room.

"Of course making herself the victim is her defense," He trailed off after the video ended, "What else did I expect?" Trevor said more to himself than to Linda.

"I don't know, sir," Linda sighed, taking the phone back from Trevor.

"Well, I think it's about damn time we respond," Trevor swallowed, "Get me on air, now!" He declared, walking out of the office abruptly. Linda watched him walk out, her phone autoplaying to another video in her hands without her noticing.

"I am well acquainted with Julie Molina as she now owns my deceased son's old recording studios. A couple weeks ago, she kindly brought me some sheet music that my son, Luke, had written about me. Julie is a very genuine soul, and I want to thank her for sharing new memories about my son with me, which is exactly why I am on your show today," A female voice echoed out of the speaker.

"And how does this situation make you feel? What do you think of Trevor Wilson?" Another voice spoke.

"Although I did not know Bobby very well, the time I did spend with him was unpleasant. He is an ill-mannered, arrogant man who is tarnishing the legacy my child has created with Julie Molina. I have no qualms with her using Lukes face, and I think anyone who is delusional enough to feed into Bobby's stories is idiotic and uneducated."

"Thank you for talking with us Emily."

"Thank you."

Linda looked down at the phone with a worried look on her face. "Shit," Is all she could manage to choke out at the video, recognizing the woman as the mother of one of Trevor's band members; they looked identical. It wasn't long before things were going to get even more out of hand, just a matter of time. Before Linda could form any more thoughts however, she heard her name shouted from the lower level.

"LINDA!" Trevor called from downstairs, "are we doing this or what?" he called. She clicked the side button on her phone, shoved it in her back pocket, then through the doorway Trevor had left open towards the stairs to talk to her impatient boss.

When she got to the bottom of the staircase, she was greeted with an, "I am ready," Trevor fixing stray pieces of his hair in the reflection of his platinum record for Crooked Teeth. He turned around, tugged on his unzipped leather jacket, and clicked his tongue. He then took a swig out of a bottle of vodka left out on the living room coffee table, and headed for the door with a motion for Linda to 'come on,' Linda followed behind him like a lost puppy dog, rushing to get in front of him so she could open the front door for him without a word.

As they both made their way up the outside stairs, ignoring the slew of journalists and paparazzi behind the barbed wire fence, the whirring of Trevors helicopter started. "Don't forget to buckle up, Linda, the driver's new," He commented cheesily as he stood on top of his roof, one foot on the first step of the helicopter.

"Where are we going exactly?" She asked him, clipboard still in her hands.

Trevor looked over at the crowd, exhaling out loudly. "Well, who's first on your list?"

"Of stations?" Trevor nodded. "Uh… Entertainment News."

"Then that's where we are going." Trevor said blankly, climbing into the helicopter. Linda just sighed heavily, walked towards the helicopter to clamber in behind him.

"Look at it this way," Flynn said, trying to cheer up her friend in dire need of comfort. The two were on the bed, Flynn's hand on Julie's shoulder. "This is probably the easiest scandal to fix. As long as they aren't delusional, the people are gonna be on your side."

Julie scoffed. This was coming from the girl who was about to call Julie's therapist because she said her band was made of ghosts, so she was really one to talk about delusional people. "That's easy for you to say," Julie sighed, "Trevor Wilson's fanbase is mostly metalheads; y'know, the kind that bite bat heads and have orgies? There are a lot more crazy people than you think there are, Flynn," She explained.

Flynn raised the side of her lip grumpily. "I get that, but you really shouldn't worry about it, okay?" She told her friend, "You need to focus all that energy into writing some music for your show in two days instead," Flynn told Julie, Luke awkwardly blinking into the room behind Flynn at the same time.

This reminder made Julie feel a little bit better until she noticed Luke standing in the corner of her bedroom. "Well, Nick actually asked me to write a song for him," She said as she stared at Luke, "I don't know what to write though," Luke's brows narrowed, his arms crossed.

Flynn smiled widely, placing her other hand on Julie's shoulder so that both were on her now. "Wait, I totally forgot to ask about your date with him!" Flynn said excitedly, "Was it good?" Her best friend asked, sitting criss crossed on her bed.

Julie sure felt awkward disclosing the details of her date in front of a boy she had a previous keenness for, even if he seemed to be getting along well with a new girl, but she couldn't just keep the details from her best friend. Luke walked over to sit down on the bed beside her, his presence making a large indent in the quilt as he listened in on the conversation. "It was good," She admitted.

Flynn smiled again. "Well I assumed that considering he requested a song from you," She said in a giddy tone. Julie just nodded with her lips sucked into her mouth.

Luke frowned, looking at Julie despairingly. "You didn't tell me about that," He said coldly.

"Do I really have to tell you everything that goes on in my life?" She said, looking at Luke with a bit of an annoyed gaze on her face. She hadn't intended for that line to come out so harshly, but Julie couldn't help but feel a bit irritated at the fact Luke had just interrupted the conversation she was having with her best friend so coldly. Why was he so jealous, she thought. He was with Lisa, he had missed his chance.

Flynn raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" She asked, obviously confused there her best friend turned so harsh all of the sudden.

"Not you, Flynn. Luke is here," She said as she gestured towards the air beside her. Flynn just bit her lip awkwardly. The room stayed silent for a second, the only sound coming from the birds tweeting outside.

Luke wasn't used to Julie not telling him things anymore, a harsh reality that he couldn't seem to swallow. He had noticed after the whole Bobby-Abandonment situation, things hadn't been quite the same even though he tried to apologize to her. Of course that was only one explanation, it also could have been the fact he keeps hanging out with Lisa instead of her. Luke just laid back on the cushy bed, arms crossed in a grumpy fashion trying to ignore the discomfort he felt, letting the conversation between Julie and Flynn continue.

Julie just scoffed at Luke's immature attitude, looking back at Flynn so she didn't give him any of her attention. "Anyway..." Julie continued her story. "The dinner was good, and we.." She looked over at Luke for a split second, "We kissed," She choked out.

"What?!" Luke and Flynn both said in unison. Luke sat up from sprawling on the bed to sitting criss crossed just like Flynn was at the shocking news, his arms still crossed.

"It was only a cheek kiss! Nothing too raunchy, I swear," Julie explained defensively, her palms facing her friends.

Flynn smiled even wider than she was smiling before. "Damn, Julie," She said, cocking her head to one side, "looks like you have found yourself a little boyfriendddd," She stretched out, half congratulating Julie and half teasing her.

"No, she doesn't," Luke said to Flynn despite not being able to hear him, "Tell her you don't have a boyfriend," He said, his chest hurting as he said it.

Julie swallowed hard as she looked at both of her friends. She didn't really like the way that Flynn automatically jumped to the conclusion of Nick being her boyfriend; she agreed with Luke more because the idea of that wasn't entirely satisfactory if she was to be honest with herself. Sure, Julie had a really fun time out at Barley's the night before, but was it fun enough for her? Did she just enjoy the experience of being there, or being with him? Not because she was with Nick, but because she wanted to get Luke off of her mind?

"Flynn, c'mon," She said with an annoyed tone, "Look, we have bigger things to deal with than talking about boys all day. I need to get some writing done with Luke over here," Julie said as she watched Luke's eyelashes flutter, "and I need you to keep refreshing the E! Site, alright?" She asked Flynn.

Flynn shrugged. "Alright, if you want to be boring," Flynn said begrudgingly. Luke just flashed a snide look at her, obviously disgruntled.

Julie got up off her bed and held out a hand towards Luke, welcoming him to come with her. He crossed his arms again, turning his defined jawline away from her purple painted hand. "I thought you didn't want me interrupting your life, huh?" He asked.

Julie scoffed, narrowing her brows at him. "For your information, I forgive you," She said.

"You do?" Luke said softly, his posture straightening a bit.

"Just come with me, Luke. We have a lot to get done," She told him. Luke eventually stuck his hand out, taking her much smaller palm in his. She pulled his lightweight ghost body up, lugging him out of the room, leaving her best friend alone in her room. Flynn watched as they left, shaking her head in an act of appraisal.

Reggie fiddled with his bass guitar as he tried to craft a melody, the paparazzi outside dwindling down to just a few. Alex, as anxious as he was, still sat by the television as he watched entertainment and gossip channels talk about Julie's statement she had made just an hour beforehand, not being able to get the whole situation off of his ghost mind.

"Personally, I think celebrities these days can get away with saying just about anything, no matter how unbelievable, if they have a big enough fanbase. I think Trevor Wilsons claims about this teenage girl's band are absolutely ludicrous. What do you think, Josh?" A female voice said on the television.

"I completely agree, Sara. As you have mentioned before, Trevor Wilsons seems to be going down– some sort of a psychotic spiral. However, I've seen some other news networks agreeing with the old man, especially those channels that often make up scenarios for publicity; you know, the ones that always cover conspiracy theories and all that," A male voice said this time.

"Oh, absolutely Josh. You can't expect everyone to be reasonable, can you?" The reporter laughed.

"Look Reggie," Alex said as he pointed to the TV with the remote in his hand, "Some people are siding with Bobby. I mean, how could they?" Alex whined, letting his head rest in the palm of his hand lazily.

Reggie continued to strum on his guitar as he peered over at the small box TV. "Well, you gotta admit, we didn't think ghosts existed either until we became some," Reggie tried to explain to Alex, continuing to pluck chords on his bass guitar.

"Are you really trying to play devil's advocate right now?" Alex huffed, brows narrowed, "Go work on your stupid riff, will you?" Alex demanded, motioning with his hand for Reggie to go away. Reggie just sighed, turning his back to the television so he could continue practicing his chord progression. Alex continued to watch the television intently until the anchors switched over to a new segment: Trevor Wilson's statement.

"Thank you for having me, Sara," Trevor started to speak, "I know that many people are doubting me, and honestly I didn't think this story would last for longer than a day," He admitted. Alex scoffed, resting his head in the palm of his hand as he watched intently for Trevor to call the whole thing bullshit.

"I want to address a number of things on the air today. First off, I can completely understand why you would not want to believe me. Gosh, if you had told me just a week ago I would be on the news talking about ghosts, I would call you crazy," Trevor laughed, "However, if my proof I have provided is not enough for you, the only question I have to ask Julie Molina is this: How did a 16 year old girl manage to make the technology for such advanced holograms that can stream video taken in 1995?"

The camera panned back to the anchors who looked at each other with confusion, yet clarity on their faces. "You do make an interesting point, Mr. Wilson," The female anchor said, turning to Josh beside her.

"Uh– Speaking of that, we have here engineer and technological scientist Dr. Daphne Katz to answer that question for you," The screen then split, showcasing a woman with glasses and dark brown hair on the right side of the TV, Sara, Josh, and Trevor on the left.

"Thank you for having me this morning," Daphne said, "Now, after studying the videos you had provided in your fan club email Trevor, I have concluded that the technology used for the holograms can only be recreated with devices that cost from around $100,000 to $400,000. It would be virtually impossible to get the same effect that Julie has with amateur technology and amateur skills," She said to the anchors.

Josh looked surprised into the camera, turning to Sara briefly with confusion. "Well that definitely raises some questions…" He said.

Daphne nodded. "It does make me question things. Although I don't know if I believe Julie's holograms are actually ghosts, I do think something definitely fishy is going on here," The engineer said. Daphne and Trevor then began to bicker over ghosts back and forth, but Alex couldn't help but tune them out. He had a lot more going on in his mind now that scientists were hounding them.

"Oh, fuck me," He said, "What are we going to do?" Alex panicked. It seemed like he had said it a million times before, but he had always been a nervous wreck and no one really knew how much time he wasted worrying. His older sister used to run away every other night when he was a pre-teen and his parents practically berated him to nothing for being gay, so it only made sense that these situations left Alex always on edge. Whether it was worrying about if his sister was safe or how he was gonna speak to his parents ever again, it seemed Alex never had a moment of quiet in his mind.

Reggie finally set down his guitar to walk over towards the TV. "Alex, I know saying this isn't gonna help you any, but I promise everything is going to be okay," Reggie now stood behind the couch, playing with Alex's hair gently, "I get it. I am worried too."

"You don't understand, though," Alex sighed, placing his head into his hands defeatedly.

"I get that," Reggie said, continuing to massage his blonde locks, "and I know I will never be able to truly understand, but I hope you know I try to," He swallowed, bending down closer to Alex so he could hear him. Alex just sighed into his hands until he was disrupted by his two other bandmates.

Julie walked into the garage with Luke behind her, hands interlocked together so he was being dragged behind her. Julie let go of his fingertips when she stopped at the couch, standing idle next to Reggie as he continued to play with Alex's golden locks. Luke just crossed his arms, fitting awkwardly around the small loveseat.

"Look at this Julie," Reggie pointed at the small television, lifting his hand away from the bass strings for a moment.

Julie made an uncomfortable face. "I'm tired of watching this shit. Turn it off," She said grumpily as she read the headline, "Trevor Wilson Claims Local Bands Holograms Are Ghosts, Science Proves Tech Unfeasible," Alex reached for the remote, but hesitated to turn it off.

"Can't we just watch it a little bit longer?" Alex whined, "This whole situation is making me really nervous so I–"

"That is precisely why we should turn it off," Julie explained, swiping the remote from his hand, "We have music to make, and I need a drummer," Julie said, turning the television off and tossing the remote onto the couch lazily. She walked around the love seat towards Alex, grabbing his drumsticks off the table as she walked past it, then said, "Get up. I have been thinking about this way too long, and I know you have too," She then held out the sticks for Alex to take, so he reluctantly took them, pushing himself off of the couch.

After she handed the wooden rods to him, she skipped over to the microphone propped up by the rest of the instruments in the garage, her hands enclosing around the stand. Luke walked over to her, picking up his electric guitar that had been laying on the ground. "Don't you think it is a little silly writing a song for Nick?" He sighed, "Just because he told you to make one doesn't mean you have to, Jules," Luke told her.

Reggie raised an eyebrow as he adjusted his guitar strap, walking to the corner of the garage as well, Alex tagging along behind him. "Nick told you to write a song for him?" He asked inquisitively. Julie shrugged her shoulders.

"He did, but I am not sure what type of song he wanted," She explained, "I assume he means a love song," Julie said quietly. She then promptly pulled out some crumpled sheets of line paper from her back pocket, scribbles marking the pages when she unfolded them. She shuffled through the pile of pages, landing on one that had less writing than the others. "Here's what I got for now…" She trailed off, handing one of the notes to Luke.

Luke skimmed the pages with his eyes, mumbling the words under his breath in a sing-song fashion, "Way past friends I'd say, pretend is child's play, and I don't feel like holding back…" He nodded, "No– no, this is good. I can work with this. Is this all you got?" He asked Julie, looking up from the paper. She nodded, biting her bottom lip.

He adjusted his guitar strap, the guitar bouncing against his figure. "Well, looks like we have a lot of writing to do, huh?" He asked her.

"I suppose so," Julie answered back.

Linda slammed the door behind her, ready to interrogate Trevor at the drop of a hat. After the interview Trevor had done, she had been angry. Really angry. "Are you satisfied with what you're doing?" She asked begrudgingly, her clipboard pressed to her stomach like always. After that interview she saw from Luke's mother Emily and the way he talked about Julie on national television, she felt differently about the situation. Even though the story Trevor was telling was somewhat true, he was sacrificing a lot by telling it. He was torturing a teenage girl and a grieving mother, and he didn't seem to care at all.

Trevor turned around, adjusting the sunglasses on the top of his head, his bottom lip under his top teeth. "I am completely and utterly satisfied, Linda. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked his publicist.

"Because what you are doing is fucking a lot of things up," She said. She sat still for a moment waiting for Trevor to respond, but he looked confused. "You could ruin that Julie girl's career, you know that?" She questioned him.

Trevor sighed, taking off his glasses to bite the rims nervously. "I do realize that," He admitted, exhaling loudly.

Linda stuck her forehead in the crevice between her thumb and forefinger, clearly annoyed at her client. "And what do you hope this accomplishes?" She asked, looking back up at Trevor who was still gnawing on his sunglasses, "Genuinely. What do you want to come of this?"

Trevor stopped biting his glasses for a moment, letting his hand fall slack at his side for a moment. The whole reason he wanted this story to blow up in the first place was a reason that no one would understand, especially Linda, so he hadn't told her why. She wasn't the one whose bandmates died when he was merely a teenager, she wasn't the one who struggled so hard to move on from their deaths, and she certainly wasn't the one who felt the only way to cope was to release the music his dead friends couldn't, so he didn't tell her.

"Linda, this is something I don't think you will understand," Trevor frowned.

"Maybe I could if you would just tell me why you're doing this," Linda responded, cocking her head to one side.

"I want Julie to realize that she can't just use my friends' faces," Trevor said. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but hesitated.

"How so?" She asked.

"When I used their music, I didn't do it out of selfishness Linda," He paused, "I did it out of love. That girl is profiting off of the deceased, and it isn't fair," He admitted. Trevor was one word away from tears welling in his eyes, so he stopped talking. He didn't want to say anything else, couldn't.

Linda paused, setting down her clipboard on the table next to her. "If you loved them enough, you would stop hurting an innocent girl," She said to Trevor, only looking down at his feet as she looked him in the eye.

Trevor looked understanding at first, but then his eyebrows started to narrow and his lip quivered. "Why do I always have to be the bad guy?" He said angrily, arms spread out wide, "All I wanted was for Julie to realize exactly what she was doing, and somehow that's a problem to you," He said.

Linda crossed her arms, looking over at the front door for a moment. "Did you ever stop to think about how she felt about them?" She asked, turning back towards Trevor.

Trevor bit his lip at her question. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't really care about how Julie felt about his friends. It was childish and immature, he understood that, but he couldn't help but claim them as 'mine,' like they were his possession. He knew what Linda was saying was right, but his pride seemed to prohibit him from admitting he was wrong. Besides, he was in way too deep now, so he inhaled a deep breath and started his sentence again.

"I am really trying Linda, I swear," He huffed, "This whole situation is bat shit crazy, and now the guys playing with another band is just another hard pill to swallow," He said as he put his glasses back on, making his way towards the door.

"But you can still fix this, Trevor. I know–" Linda started to say, but was interrupted.

"Just tell Carrie we are eating here tonight," He finished, walking out of the living room.

Lindas eyes followed him as he left the room, her shoulders dropping frustratingly. She understood his point of view, but it didn't change the fact that what he was doing was incredibly selfish. She just hoped she could convince him to come around, and that this whole thing could be over and done with, but that would be up to Trevor to decide what was right.

Lisa peered through Julie's garage window, head in the palm of her hand as she watched the band practicing. The night before, after her talk with Luke, she had come to the realization her sentiments for him had… altered. She had laid on a hotel lobby couch thinking about their exchanges; the anomaly of having romantic feelings felt foreign to her, which is why she felt so strangely about this. Somewhere along the way, Lisas pensiveness about Luke that he was just a tense ghost had transformed into a slow burn without even realizing it herself. How foolish of her, she thought.

Yes, he was all worked up over Julie all the time, but that didn't make him uptight; It made him compassionate. He was a simple ghost with such powerful feelings, and simplicity was something Lisa needed in her life. Her foolishness to realize that she didn't want Luke to just be a ghostly acquaintance made her want to slap herself in the face, and rightfully so: Luke wasn't just gonna come out and say he wanted to be with Lisa, he wasn't like that, so she had not only wasted his time, but her own.

Confronting Luke was going to be a difficult thing to do, and she didn't know how she was gonna do it, so she continued to creepily watch him through the window with the band. Of course, it was in a way that was kind of stalker-ish, but she'd never admit that. She continued studying the gentle wisps of hair that fell in Luke's face when he laughed, those crystal blue eyes he adorned, the way he could stand there looking so beautiful without knowing… It was all so unfair how Lisa just couldn't be brave enough to say a simple sentence that would fix all of her problems:

You are everything I want.

"Alright, I want you to look at these lyrics," Julie said as she handed the chicken scratched paper to her bandmate, her eyes studying his face nervously. For the past half an hour, Julie and the guys had been brainstorming lyrics, a hook, chorus, verses… basically everything for the gig tomorrow, which made them feel pretty unprepared. Julie had managed to get the pre-chorus of the song written down, but now it finally came to the hard part: the chorus.

She was struggling pretty hard to come up with lyrics regarding a boy, especially Nick, because she wasn't used to writing love songs. Another driving factor of the asperity was the fact that Julie couldn't decipher what she felt for Nick, so trying to put into words would be even more difficult. Julie watched as Luke scanned the paper with his darting eyes, the paper crumpling a bit around his fingers.

"This is great, but now we need to work on this chorus. Any ideas?" Luke asked, looking around the room at the guys.

Julie shook her head. "I've been struggling with writing past the verses and pre-chorus on this one; I don't know what I am gonna do," She said, shoulder dropping in frustration.

Luke scratched his head, making his beanie bobble around a bit. "This is supposed to be a love song, correct?" She nodded, "Then you need to draw from a place of love if you want it to be good," He explained, the paper crumpling even more in her hand.

Julie thought about what he said, and how she was gonna sing about love if she hadn't been romantically involved with anyone. Nick was attractive and he seemed to like her, sure, but was he love song material? The only love she had really experienced was with her family, and that felt really incest-y to draw from her love for them. "Give me that," She said, holding out her hand to take the paper back from Luke. Once he handed it back she swallowed hard, staring down at the note for a beat, then got up off of the floor to walk over to the microphone.

She adjusted the mic to her height, Reggie and Alex staring at her intently as she did so. Julie then cleared her throat before she started to sing, nervously looking at the ground. She knew it probably wasn't smart to come up with lyrics completely impromptu in front of such great songwriters, but she hoped they would suffice. She looked at Luke for a moment, suddenly getting the inspiration she needed.

"I think we can be as one," She sang low, looking into Luke's eyes. She paused for a second, thinking about the next line, then continued singing. "Who cares if it's forbidden love?" She ended with a run.

"Keep going," Luke whispered to her on the floor from across the room with two thumbs up.

She swallowed hard, smiling back at him. "My heart is on the line, it's on the chopping block," She said, not looking away from Lukes enamoring eye contact for a second, "I'm being weighed down, fist is full of rocks. But does it matter what I think? Can we be as one?" She stopped.

Luke and Alex clapped with smiles on their faces, looking at each other with amusement after her little show. Luke pushed himself off of the ground so he could walk towards Julie, a smile on his face.

"Did you think that was good?" She asked him, her hands still around the microphone stand.

"Well, duh," He said, "Damn, we gotta write that down. Alex, get me some paper," He said, turning around to order his friend.

"I think it needs a little fine-tuning, actually–"

Nonono, I think it's perfect," He said. The room then got really quiet all of the sudden, the only sound coming from Alex's rummaging for a notepad. "Y'know, it never ceases to amaze me how talented you are Julie," He praised her, taking the notepad from Alex once he finally found it.

Luke plucked a pen out of his jean pocket, handing it to Julie after he bit the cap off with his teeth and spat it out. "Show me what you've got in that wonderfully gifted brain of yours," He said, Julie looking down at the empty notepad nervously.

"I'll try," She said, quite unsure of herself. Luke then left her there, walking towards the couch.

As he went to plop down at his favorite spot however, he had no chance to relax. As he laid his head back against the squeaky leather, his eyes caught wind of someone. He noticed a familiar face in the window, one that was staring right at him: Lisa. Luke looked around to see if anyone else noticed his fellow ghost friend in the window, but to no avail. Julie was at the piano plucking notes as she wrote lyrics (not like she could see Lisa even if she was paying attention), and Alex and Reggie were seeing who could crack the most knuckles in under a minute like the imbeciles they were.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, and then awkwardly waved at Lisa through the dusty glass. "I'll be right back," He commented without looking away from the window, pushing himself off of the couch so he could walk through the closed garage door without waiting for a response from anyone. As he made his way around the siding however, Lisa turned towards him with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Now what the hell are you doing back here?" He said, "Stalking?" Luke asked, his words coming off more harsh than he had intended them to.

"I– I'm not stalking," She swallowed, "I just wanted to watch you guys practice for your show coming up. That's all."

"And you didn't think to come in?" Luke chuckled, crossing his arms.

Lisa sighed. Although Luke was laughing, she couldn't help but feel she was making him uncomfortable and embarrassing himself all at the same time. "You seemed busy," She swallowed, "I, uh– I can come at a later time if you want me to," She stuttered.

Luke placed a gentle hand on Lisa's shoulder, sitting down on the bench next to her. "If it keeps you from watching me creepily," He joked, "Come over tomorrow when we're done practicing, okay? I'd like to see you," he said.

Lisa smiled widely at Luke. She didn't just see this invitation as being able to be with Luke, it also was an opportunity to get exactly what she wanted: him. She knew if she could manage to get him alone that night she would finally have a chance to tell him how she really felt. "I will be there," She said, coming off very enthusiastically, "You guys sound great in there by the way."

"It's all Julie," He smiled back, "Her name is in the title after all," He said. Lisa just frowned.

They sat there on the bench for a moment, the outside silent except for the occasional piano key you heard from inside the garage. Lisa looked over at Luke who had his head hung back, staring at the clouds, wisps of his hair gently whipping around in the gentle wind.

"Are you okay?" Luke said, glancing over at Lisa once he noticed her frown.

She nodded. "Uh– of course," She paused, "Yeah, it's just… it's nothing," She swallowed. It wasn't actually nothing, it was more of the absence of feeling. She couldn't sit still next to Luke, and even though she didn't have one, she felt like her heart was gonna beat out of her chest.

"Are you sure?" He pressed, lifting his head back up.

She forged a smile, nodding yet again. "I'm sure," She bit her bottom lip nervously, "Go back inside now, you have a show tomorrow," She told him, gesturing towards the door.

Luke got up as she insisted, but hesitated to leave. He turned back towards Lisa, smiling widely. "What?" She questioned him, his smile growing more coy.

"Your hair looks nice today," He said, rubbing his palm on the top of her head until her hair was all messy. Then, just as quick as the interaction had lasted, he walked away with a chuckle.