Episode Four

Closeted

"Julie, you need to tell me what the hell is going on," A loud voice echoed from outside, coming closer and closer in proximity to her, "I've been watching the news for the last hour and I find out you lied to me?" Ray said, barging into the garage even more angry than he was when he entered Julie's room. Despite his aggravated tone, he didn't exactly look angry. His oversized yellow sweater was neatly pressed, his stance wasn't a demeaning one, but his tone wasn't a calm one in the slightest.

Julie looked up from the piano keys, glancing over at Reggie and Alex in confusion who just stood there like deer in the headlights. "What are you talking about?" She said nervously, her fingers still gently pressed on the piano keys.

"You lied to me Julie, and now I don't know what to believe," He said, "That interview you did, you lied about it," He said, his arms now crossed.

"Are you really gonna believe that crap they put on TV, dad?" Julie tried to deflect, "They are only saying–"

"Do not BULLSHIT me, Julie," He yelled, "You are all over the news, the press are making claims about your holograms, and now Trevor Wilson is involved," He said. Julie just looked down at her fingers on the piano keys. "Just please explain to me what is going on," He said more disappointedly than angrily.

Julie bit her lip, chewing the inside of her cheek nervously. She had no idea where she was gonna go with this, but she set down her sheet music, got up from her piano's little brown bench with a scared expression on her face, and started rambling. "What do you want me to tell you?" She asked, her voice raising a bit. "What?" She demanded.

Ray cleared his throat. "You are lying about those boys, and you are lying about your band, and you're lying about the paparazzi so why should I trust you with your music anymore, huh?" He spat back, "Tell me Julie?"

"I lied!" Julie yelled, Reggie and Alex cowering back awkwardly, "I lied, dad, and I am so sorry I did. You– you said you see mom all the time, and I see the band. Those ghosts are the few people in my life who make me feel so happy ever since mom died, And– I don't care if you believe me or not, I just didn't know how to deal with all this so I LIED," She spat, "And I just really need you to tell me everything's okay right now. Please," She admitted, choking out a bit of a sob at the end of her sentence.

The garage was quiet for a moment, the only sound coming from birds chirping outside and Julie's heavy breathing. "So they are ghosts?" He asked, stone cold.

"Yes," She nodded, anger still on her face. How is it that all he got from her declaration was the fact that her holograms were ghosts and not the fact that she was sorry, she thought. She tried to hide her vexation that was one sentence away from showing, but she was terrible at hiding it, so she didn't bother. She wanted her father to see how angry he had made her.

He huffed. "I am gonna call Dr. Turner…" He said, turning around slowly with a hand on his face, looking down at the floor annoyingly.

Julie swerved around the piano, running towards her father in a fit of despair, all while Alex and Reggie watched helplessly. "NO, dad please!" She cried, grabbing at his forearm to stop him, "Please don't."

"Do you really expect me to believe you?" He snapped, "Do you mistake me for a damn fool?!" Ray lashed out, turning back around to face his daughter.

Julie swallowed hard, the tears seeping from her eyelids no matter how hard she tried to hold them back. "No, I just– please just listen to me," She said, letting go of his sweater so she could grab the microphone off the stand beside her. She knew the only way her father was ever going to believe her is if he saw it for himself, not heard it on some gossipy TV show, so that's exactly what she was gonna do.

"Heart's on fire, we're no liars," She started to sing frantically. Alex and Reggie stared at her for a second, until Reggie slowly bent down to sling on his bass guitar. He then motioned for Alex to follow behind him, standing behind Julie.

"So we say what we wanna say," She sang shakily as she swallowed her salty tears, Alex plucking his drum sticks out of his back pocket as he went to straddle the drum seat.

Ray stopped, looking down at his feet in what seemed like a fit of vicarious embarrassment. "Stop, Julie," He begged, almost hysterical in confusion.

"I'm awakened, no more faking, so we push all our fears away," Julie continued to sing despite her fathers rejecting, continuing until Reggie started to flicker into mortal sight as he kept a steady bass line. "Don't know if I'll make it 'cause I'm falling under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder," She continued to exasperate, Alex's drums growing louder from behind her.

Ray just chuckled softly under his breath, biting his bottom lip so hard that metallic taste entered his mouth. "Stop your goddamn singing," He choked out. Despite trying to ignore his daughter who he thought had totally gone off the deep end, Ray looked up once he heard the drumming. He noticed that Julie was now surrounded by her fellow bandmates as her tear covered face glistened in the sunlight, and that maybe, just maybe, she was telling the truth.

"I want to fly, come alive, watch me fly," She choked out, "Do you believe me now?" She asked him, Reggie still plucking away beside her to the beat.

Ray swallowed hard, looking terrified as he stared at Julie. The thought he seemed so secure in, the thought that, "ghosts aren't real" crumbled in that very moment. Julie couldn't tell by looking at his concerned face if he was thinking 'what the fuck?' or if he was in awe of what he was seeing in front of him. There was no equipment around him, no sort of technology that could produce any projection, and certainly no way for the holograms before him to make eye contact with him the way that Reggie was.

He didn't say a single word, only walked out of the garage with a look of disdain on his face. Ray was angry, at himself or Julie, he wasn't quite sure at the moment himself. He had realized only after his long rampage of vindication that Julie's ghosts paradigm was not fiction, but he was too ashamed to accept what he had done, so like a coward, he walked away. He left his teenage daughter all alone in the middle of what seemed to be a breakdown, not knowing if he was mad at her or not, and he didn't say a word. Julie pushed her microphone back into its stand, wiping away tears that streamed down her face as she watched her father walk away.

"Are you okay, Julie?" Alex said, frantically setting down his drumsticks to get up from his seat. Julie didn't look back at him at the call of her name, however, she only stared down at the concrete floor. Reggie looked back at Alex, then took his guitar off to give his obviously distressed friend a hug.

Alex walked over to Julie, hesitating to wrap his arms around her. When he placed a single hand on her shoulder however, she turned around to face him. She then opened up her arms a little before collapsing into a hug. Reggie followed behind, whispering a gentle, "Oh, Julie..." as he embraced her and his bandmate. Thetrio stood there in that garage alone, the quiet and solace almost deafening at the absence of her father.

Luke walked towards the garage door after his conversation with Lisa, Ray walking past him with what looked like a single tear on his cheek, which was easy to spot with the sunset reflecting off of it. What kind of tumult had taken place during his absence, he thought. It seemed that Luke was only gone a second, and somehow things had turned into an immense ordeal without him. Luke could hear the heaving sobs of his friend inside the garage, and knew that facing an upset Julie was inevitable.

"Julie?" He asked, peering his head into the garage.

"Goodnight," Is all she whispered. As the sun set, all Julie could think about was crying herself to sleep in bed, so she ignored him. She wiggled her way out of Reggies and Alex's grasp, walking past Luke silently, and made her way to her bedroom so she could forget about that night. She wasn't sure that was going to be possible, though.

Trevor looked up at his grand ceiling from his bed, nursing a cup of whiskey as he sat comfortably underneath the blanket. He had thought a lot about what Linda said to him, and he was slowly starting to realize what he was doing was, well– wrong. It was definitely a hard pill for him to swallow considering Trevor was on the more egotistical, prideful side, but he knew deep down she was right about his friends. Luke, Alex, and Reggie would not want him to be messing with their bandmates life, and who knows, maybe she loves them just like he did?

Despite knowing he was wrong, he didn't know how to fix what he had already done. His plan had gone exactly the way he hoped it would, and the fact it was actually successful was going to make trying to kill the story that much more difficult. Trevor was not exactly sure where to start if he was going to try to get his ghost story off the front page of every pop culture magazine and news headline, so he just continued to lay idle in his bed, hoping with every fiber of his being that the damn thing would just die by itself. Cop out or not, that's exactly what he wanted.

He set his mostly empty cup of whiskey on his oak side table, the sweat from the glass leaving a sticky ring of residue on the wood. Julie was in between a rock and hard place, and trying to get her out was going to be nearly impossible. And to tell you the truth, Trevor just wanted to give up after thinking too hard about the whole ordeal. But after replaying the same words that Linda echoed over and over again in his head, he couldn't stand the idea of making that decision.

He tried to go to sleep

"Hey, Julie," Caleb quipped, stepping under the black curtain he lifted up with his hand. Julie turned away from her vanity to look at him, mascara smudging all over her under eyes as she blinked emptily at him.

"It's 7 AM, what are you doing here?" She sniffled, frantically rubbing the black makeup from her face in embarrassment. She had been getting things prepared for the show by herself even though Reggie and Alex had come along, but they were too busy enjoying the outside to bother to help her. So for the past half hour she has been crying and worrying trying to get ready for her show, her father the only thing on her mind.

Caleb raised an eyebrow at Julie's disheveled appearance; it looked like she had been through hell or at least seen it, he thought. "I think more importantly, are you okay?" He asked her, adjusting the neckline of his burgundy button down with his finger. He walked towards her with two long strides, stopping in front of her abruptly to get a better look at her.

She looked away from him in embarrassment, still standing below his frame. "No… I thought today was gonna be a good day just a couple days ago, but now I don't know," She sighed, holding her head in her hands, "My dad found out about the ghosts, and he's angry at me," She whispered, turning to look at herself in the vanity mirror.

Caleb bit back a smile. "Why would he be mad at you?" He said, reaching a hand out to pat Julie on the shoulder. He knew what he had already come to do, but this was just the icing on the cake, so he bent down next to her to look her in the eye through the mirror.

"I don't know, I thought he wasn't like this. He was supposed to be there for me, and he just walked away…" She trailed off, looking back at Nick with a hard swallow, "I don't understand at all," She said, placing her head defeatingly in her hands.

Julie seemed like she was in the middle of either a fit of existential dread or a second away from snapping, and neither option was all that good. Like Caleb had mentioned before, "There is no better way to trick someone than getting a little intimate," And that was still true, so this could be used to his advantage.

"That's not fair, Julie," Caleb said as he consoled her, rubbing her shoulder softly and tentatively, "I assume you're not taking it well, are you?" He asked her.

Julie nodded, her mascara still smudging all down her cheeks. The only thing she could think to do was be in Nick's embrace, so she hummed a little as she slowly opened her arms, silently asking for a hug after the long day she had yesterday. Caleb looked down at the floor after the offer, clicking his tongue awkwardly. He reciprocated the hug anyway, although unwillingly, shoving his head in the crook of Julie's neck.

She cried into his shoulder, something she had been doing a lot lately, leaving snot all over his shirt. If she was going to be honest with herself, Julie hadn't been completely sincere with everyone lately; when she said she was fine, she wasn't really fine, when she said she was okay, she wasn't really okay. Every night before she shut off the lights and shut her eyes, she always had a good cry before she went to sleep. She couldn't help herself. And what Julie meant by a good cry was a really ugly, sloppy, heart wrenching cry into her pillows.

Julie had felt so depressed lately and it was all because of this stupid Trevor situation and her dad. The only thing that could keep her sane was her brother, her bandmates, her best friend, and Nick. Julie backed up out of the hug, looking up at Nick with the glossy eyes of a babydoll. She stared at him for a second, then made a split second decision in a fit of desperation and sadness.

Caleb was kissed. He was kissed by a girl half his age, half his height, with half her makeup on. His eyes remained open, however, and he stared at himself locking lips with Julie from the vanity mirror behind her. She wrapped her arms around him, eyes closed, pulling his dark red shirt closer and closer to her as she bunched the fabric behind his back. Caleb did not know what to do in that moment, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. After he realized she wasn't letting go anytime soon, he just let his eyes flutter closed as he took in the not so intoxicating kiss.

She continued to makeout with him until she realized he wasn't kissing back, like at all. So she backed away, looking like she was going to cry again. "Is something wrong?" She asked, brows furrowed.

"No, no– nonono! Everything is just fine… baby," He said, struggling hard to get the word 'baby' to seeth through his pearly white teeth. His face looked more horrified than he had hoped it would have looked, so he let his shoulders drop frustratingly.

"I can tell you are lying to me, Nick," She said, gritting her teeth, "What is wrong?" She pushed, her brows narrowing angrily.

Caleb swallowed the lump in his throat, placing a hand behind his neck nervously. "I.. I just wanted to hear the song you wrote for me," He fibbed, his tongue glossing over his front teeth.

Julie frowned. She did have the song, and she had tried to write it for him, but the meaning of the song had leaned away from its original intention and seeped into a song about Luke. Of course, Julie didn't want to admit that to herself and certainly not to Nick, so she lied. That seemed to be her new thing, she supposed.

"You'll hear it later tonight. First song, I swear," She told him.

"Oh, come on Julie. Please? For me?" He pleaded with Julie, hoping she would relinquish his request. He didn't want to go through with his plan already, it felt like too early.

Julie sniffled, wiping the snot that dripped from her nose. "No," She told him gently.

Caleb sighed after the rejection, realizing that there was nowhere left to run. The unfolding of his little scheme was inevitable at this point, and Caleb caught a twinge of having second thoughts. Second thoughts, he pondered, but it was more likely that what he was feeling was actually dread. He took pride in his work, yes. This needed to be done, yes. But was it something he exactly wanted to do? No, it was not. Caleb still had some means of ethics, and this situation was a clear example of it.

"Julie, can you show me your show costumes instead?" He whispered, "Y'know, if you're not gonna let me hear my song," He asked her.

Julie wiped her nose again, the tip of it becoming red at the constant rubbing. "Sure. Yeah- sure," She said, grabbing his finger tips to lead him to her costume closet. They walked past the vanity, landing in front of a small one foot by one foot closet that could not hold much, but it could probably fit a person in it. The wood doors' old rusty hinges creaked a bit when Julie nudged it open, revealing a slew of sparkly outfits and glitter puddles on the floor inside of it.

"Wow," Caleb said, raising his eyebrows in a show of false amusement.

"Yeah…" Julie trailed off awkwardly.

"Which ones are your favorite?" He asked, trying to make small talk.

Julie leaned into the closet, plucking out a purple sparkly dinner gown. "This. This is my favorite," She said, holding up the dress beside her face proudly. The glitter seemed to get everywhere even though she only held it up, somehow ending up in Caleb's mouth by the end of the night "Purple is my favorite color," she said.

Caleb smiled. "I like purple too," He said. The pair stood in front of the open closet for a moment, relishing in the silence of the stadium before the show; sold out.

"Nick... can I ask you a question?" Julie asked, letting the beautiful gown dangle at the floor as she lowered the metal hanger.

Nick looked over at Julie inquisitively. "Of course," He said, not knowing if what she was about to say was good or bad, "What's up?" He said casually.

"Did you know?" She asked.

Caleb raised an eyebrow, letting Julie know without a word he did not know what she was talking about. Julie was sure that Nick was well aware she had been crushing hard on him since high school started, but apparently he was oblivious just like every other boy in Los Feliz High School.

"Huh?" He said, completely unaware.

"I'll take that as a no," She chuckled, hanging the dress back up in the closet, "What I mean is, did you know I liked you? Ever, before our date?" She asked him, turning her whole body towards him now.

Caleb swallowed the lump in his throat. "Uh, no," He said, "I never knew until Barleys," He said.

"Oh," Julie whispered, looking down at the dress in her hand.

"I'm sure that's not the answer you really want," He admitted, his blonde locks falling in his face.

Julie looked down at her sparkly sneakers, the soles turning inwards because of her awkward stance. "I suppose, but I'm not mad at you," She said, "I was just… curious, y'know?" She spat.

Caleb nodded, looking away from the teenage girl towards the innards of the closet. He paused for a beat, then continued talking. "Show me that… red dress," He asked, pointing towards another sparkly gown hidden inside the closet.

"Oh, yeah– sure," She quipped, smiling at him. She placed the dress that was already in her hand back onto the rack, then leaned in towards the red dress he had gestured to. When she leaned in however, she felt a sort of pressure on her back: Nick's hand. That small ounce of touch that Nick supplied soon turned into a full on shove, and Julie was thrown into the closet.

"What the HELL?" She said, frantically turning over to see what happened. She whimpered as she heard the click off the lock, encapsulating her in darkness until the only light she could see was from under the door.

"It's for your own good," Caleb shouted through the door, keeping his hand placed on the lock like it could magically spring open any second. He heard shuffling from inside the closet, the door rumbling a bit.

Julie panicked, realizing the door wouldn't budge as she rapidly shook the handle. No matter how hard she tried to get that stupid thing to budge, it wouldn't, even if she kicked the bottom with her sneakers. This must just be some sick joke, she thought; or maybe she fell and it accidentally locked herself in. That's what Julie wanted to believe, but that hard pressure on her back was definitely a shove, unmistakably. Julie sat on the closet floor, sparkly gowns in her face in the darkness, causing Julie to start giggling a bit, her panicking turning to laughing. "You can let me out now, okay Nick? Jokes over," She said. Nothing. After no response, her small chuckled turned into a hysterical laugh, "Get me out of this fucking closet, Nick. Now!" She spat, pushing herself up off of the floor.

More silence. Caleb just stared blankly at the door, the wood rectangle shaking ever so slightly because of Julie's reckless pounding on the wood. The knocks grew louder as time went on, and it seemed as if Julie was throwing her whole body against the door in a fit of desperation. She couldn't keep in her tears any longer; she was already about to cry when she wasn't locked inside a closet, so this was only her breaking point.

"How could you do this to me?" She said, evident by her cracking voice that she was now crying behind the door. The high school crush she had once thought was a benevolent Prince Charming had been a little too charmful, and now Julie was paying the price for her ignorance.

"You made me feel vulnerable… and you tricked me? How could you, Nick?" She asked, "Are you out there?" She cried from inside the closet.

Caleb sighed. A part of him knew this was very wrong, of course, like all brains his dead one knew how to rationalize like it should. However, Caleb did not care; not one bit. There was no need to explain why he needed that ghost band, it was completely self explanatory considering their powers. His club was already one of the hottest clubs in Hollywood and it was earning him major cash, and having more ghosts with the ability to do what made him famous in the first place could probably triple his already heaping profits. So despite that voice in his head that told him to end all this, he didn't listen.

"I didn't make you feel vulnerable, Julie. You chose to be," He said, turning away from the door. All Caleb had to do to set the last piece set and stone was simply walk away. One foot after the other, and the phantoms would be his. Caleb glanced back at the still shaking door for one last look, the door still rattling wildly at Julie's prying. Caleb turned around and stood in the empty room, the only sound coming from Julie's desperate yelling.

"HELP!" He heard Julie call from inside, her hold on the door growing weaker from exhaustion. Caleb was only one moment away from leaving her there, crying and alone, her phone still on the vanity.

And that moment had just passed.

"Hey Carlos," Ray greeted his son, a stern look on his face. As he looked down at his son, Carlos could see that Ray's eyes were all puffy and gray, and his hair was a disheveled mess, a clear sign that he didn't get any sleep. That was true; he had stayed up all night anxiously since his fight with Julie, and to say he felt horrible was an understatement.

He had done exactly what a father shouldn't: shun his kids. Ray knew he had messed up terribly as dad the night before the second Julie started to cry, so he wanted to somehow make it right, though it seemed impossible. He felt incredibly selfish by the fact that Julie had only asked for one thing from him: his own love and comfort. He didn't give her that. Because he was confused or hurt, he didn't know exactly.

He now knew she only lied because she was terrified, a feeling that could have been prevented if Julie had let Ray in so he could be there for her, but he wasn't. He should have known the impossible is always possible, maybe just stopped to think he was wrong for one second, given her the benefit of the doubt before he lashed out at her… but he didn't and now he was paying the price for it. Ray still had on his mustard yellow sweater with red and blue detailing on from yesterday, wrinkled as it was. Carlos looked up from his iPad to his father at the sound of his name, looking disappointed.

"What you did to Julie wasn't fair," He said to his father point blank, putting down the iPad on his lap.

Ray ran a finger through his graying hair, realizing that he was gonna get shit from Carlos the rest of the week. Well deserved, he thought. "How did you know about that?" He asked, bloodshot eyes on Carlos.

Carlos frowned. "You guys were really loud," He said, resulting in a big sigh from his father, "Though that's not really the point, dad," He said, frowning even harder, "The point is Julie isn't lying, she's telling the truth. And no, she didn't pay me to say that," He explained to his father.

Ray looked down. Even though it was definitely a tough situation to accept, Ray knew he had to swallow the pill for the sake of his daughter. Ghosts were certainly the last thing he expected out of the hologram band, and it still perplexed him a little, but after "sleeping" on it… Ray knew she wasn't lying. That look in Julie's eyes was sincere; she hadn't looked at him like that since their mother died. Ray stared down at his scuffed brown shoes, thinking about how the ghosts that looked him in the eye when they performed yesterday. No way Julie was genius enough to program that, so Ray knew he had to apologize to her, but where was Julie?

"I know," He replied.

"Good to know you're finally become aware," Carlos spat, looking back down at his iPad.

"Wait, you knew?" Ray asked him, his brows narrowing tiredly. Carlos just bit his bottom lip, not saying a word to his father. "Where's your sister?" He asked.

Carlos shot his father a look that said, 'Are you serious?' "She's at Barleys getting ready for her show tonight. I'm guessing you forgot?" He said snarkily, biting back a laugh.

Ray sighed again, looked back down at the ground. "I get it. I messed up, Carlos. I'm going to apologize now," He said, fishing his hand into his pocket to get his car keys. "It was foolish of me to treat her like that regardless if she was actually lying about the holograms or not."

"Did she show you?" Carlos asked. Ray nodded slowly.

He hadn't exactly prepared an apology, because he had been a father for almost 17 years now; he was pretty sure he knew how to make his daughter feel better. However, he knew this situation was different. A small apology was not going to cut it for Julie, and Ray was aware what he had done stung like a bee. That didn't change the fact he had nothing prepared, though.

Carlos unpaused the video he was watching on his iPad, looking down at it and away from his dad. "I sure hoped so. She was really upset," He mumbled.

Ray sighed, walking towards the front door to unlock it. As he swung it open, he said, "Look: no paparazzi today," After no answer from Carlos who had his eyes glued to his screen, Ray walked down the concrete path, locking the door behind him.

He realized as he started the engine to his red car that he probably should have at least put together something, but it was too late now, because Ray was already backing out of his driveway and making his way towards Barley's at light speed. Little did he know that he was not going to find his daughter sitting at her dressing room packing blush and eyeshadow on her face. Perhaps, he would find her sobbing on the floor of her stage closet?

Perhaps.

"I want to end this, okay? You were right Linda,"Trevor confessed, sitting on his off white sectional couch. He stuttered a bit as he enunciated the sentence, seeing as he hated to admit he was wrong. However, this situation was different for Trevor. He had seriously fucked up, and Trevor had no choice but to face the music rather than hide behind his fame. "I don't know how to though," He admitted to her.

Linda sighed, crossing her arms which for once lacked a clipboard. "Wow, is Trevor Wilson actually learning compassion?" She teased him, standing in front of the couch before him.

"Don't ridicule me, okay? At least I am trying!" He said, "Go try to deal with a celebrity like Justin Bieber or Jennifer Laurence, see how far that gets you," He lashed out.

Linda smirked a little, sitting down next to the star casually. "I was just joking," She reassured him, "I am actually quite proud of you for switching things up and becoming all soft," She teased again, his face falling in a clear display of misunderstanding.

"That was another joke," She explained.

Trevor didn't want to deal with Linda's foolishness right now, he just wanted her to come up with a foolproof plan that would get him out of deep shit, make Julie and her phantom band feel better, and make the media forget everything that happened. However, Linda continued to dodge the question he had asked and poke fun at him for the bitch he was.

"Can you answer the damn question, Linda. How do I fix this?" He reiterated.

Linda sighed, looking over at Trevor. "I didn't get you into this problem, Mr. Wilson. This is something you need to figure out yourself," She sighed, placing her hands between her thighs, "Besides, even if I wanted to help you I don't know how," She told him.

Trevor scoffed. "You wrote the email, Linda," He said, obviously irritated, "You are a part of this as much as I am."

"And who asked me to write the email Mr. Wilson?" Linda replied coldly, hoping Trevor would let the whole thing go and get to work on the plan he so desperately wanted, "Because I sure didn't come up with this dumbass idea," She said.

Trevor looked down at his marble floor, realizing he should probably shut up right about now. "Whatever," He huffed, "I'm gonna go meditate so I can think," He said, getting up from the couch to walk towards the staircase.

Linda watched as he went to his room up the glass steps, not really believing he would be able to get himself out of the mess he created. She wanted to help him, truly, but as she had mentioned beforehand, she didn't know how. The whole situation was so bizarre, it seemed like the only way to get out of it was for the whole world to get amnesia.

Trevor locked the door behind him, sitting down on his knees on top of a pile of cushions that were strewn across the floor. His candles were already lit, the lights already dim, his music was already popped into his record player, so all Trevor had to do was think. He knew the first thing he had to address if he was going to backtrack his statement was why he would lie about Julie's holograms being ghosts in the first place. There was no real reason to if they were not spirits, and they were, so a reason was almost inapplicable. He couldn't tell the press he did it, 'Just because!' or he would make himself look like a fool, and that wasn't what he wanted to happen.

He also needed to find a way to get Julie in on it, but he doubted she would be open to a declaration of remorse from the man who almost ruined her career. Also, he needed the media to forget the whole damn thing ever happened. Trevor continued to exhale air out his nose, inhaling it back in through his mouth as the candles surrounding him flickered. Just Think, is all he could hear in his mind.

Just Think. Just Think. Just Think.

And as those candles continued to melt beside him, the wax pooling at its base, Trevor just thought. That thought turned into an idea, and that idea turned into a plan. Trevor got up from his pile of pillows, crawling across the wooden floor to grab his cell phone off the nightstand. He opened the cell app, dialing in Julie's number he had somehow remembered from his call on Carrie's phone. The dial tone rang out, and Trevor crossed his fingers just hoping the damn thing would work.

No answer.

Lisa dragged her fingers along the garage siding, stopping in front of the closed white door. She knew that behind that door, even though she couldn't see through the windows as the sun began to set, was an eager little ghost who had invited her over earlier today. She couldn't begin to express her excitement, just funneled it into small hums under her breath. As she clipped through the door, on that mahogany colored, ripped leather couch was exactly who she was looking for: Luke. She walked over to him, quiet as a mouse in her bare feet ever since she ditched the fateful heels, trying not to make a loud disturbance.

As Lisa peered over the leather couch, the boy she had come to meet lay there with eyes closed. At least she knew he wasn't dead, she thought. Lisa wanted to awaken him from his slumber, but hesitated to shake him awake. As she looked down upon him, she noticed just how beautiful he looked; his skin was all freckled, his lashes rested on his cheekbones, and his jean jacket folded around every muscle on his body. Although his hair was a disheveled mess from his nap, it was a cute, pretty, disheveled mess.

"Hey, Luke?" She whispered, reaching at the tip of his nose with her fingertips. She brushed against his cheeks, trying to gently awake him. Nothing. "Luke...?" Nothing again. Lisa continued to brush small strands of his brown hair out of the way of his closed eyelids, brushing a little harder to see if he would respond. After a couple seconds of brushing, he grumbled.

His eyes snapped open, his crystal blue optics staring up at Lisa. "Hey," He smiled coyly, groggy from his nap.

"Where is the rest of the band?" Lisa said, realizing the two were all alone, "I thought I was gonna be able to see you all practice?" She asked, offering her hand for Luke to pull himself up with.

"I thought that too, but Julie, Alex, and Reggie decided to go to the venue early," He groaned, pulling himself up with Lisa's arm, "I wanted to nap before showtime," He said, throwing out jazz hands as he said, 'showtime.'

Lisa giggled softly, reaching her hand back down to his temples to continue brushing the stray hairs out of his face. She knew he liked it by the way he brought his hand up to clutch her hand as she traced his forehead, letting his eyes flutter close at her gentle touch. She continued holding his hand as she walked around the couch, reminding her of the ballroom dancing classes she took in middle school at the way their hands were outreached. She sat down beside Luke. "Is it still okay for me to be here, or do you need some more sleep?" She teased him, her hand still clutching his as their touch dropped onto the beat up leather couch.

Luke smiled wide, letting a small exhale that acted as a laugh when he nodded. "Totally okay," He said, his tone changing when he said, 'totally.' The silence stirred in the empty garage, golden hour cresting upon them as they sat together. Lisa knew she had planned to make her move with the ghostly boy that night, but was she gonna be able to go through with it, she thought. That was something she didn't know.

She continued to look at Luke, and she couldn't help but bite her lip at his stillness. The quiet was so loud, even though he didn't say a word. It was a peace that screamed he needed someone to disrupt it, to make his emotions take over, and Lisa could do that.

And she did.

She gently raised her hand towards his cheek like she had done before, letting go of his calloused-guitar-playing palm. His face didn't move a bit, but his eyes looked down at the presence of her hand, pupils dilated.

"Lisa..." He trailed off, still staring at her chipped red nail polish.

Luke scooted a little closer to Lisa, his gaze locking her in. During their staring contest, his hands had managed to land on her forearm, rubbing up and down Lisa's arms soothingly. And then they kissed. They kissed and even though the only thing in their ghostly mouths were teeth and a tongue, he seemed to push his down Lisa's nonexistent throat. The room was silent, the only sound was the traffic of Los Angeles and each gentle smack of their desperate kisses.

Luke placed his hands on her chest, pausing for a second to make sure it was okay with Lisa, pushing her down on the couch. He leaned over her, their lips touching again as his jeans pressed against her body. He tucked his fingers a centimeter under the elastic around her pants, just enough so that it sent a slight shiver down her spine. He wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her close to him so there was no space between the two anymore. Being near him gave Lisa a sense of comfort, of longing that she never knew she needed, and that was a damn good feeling.

He pulled back for a second, pushing himself into an almost push up position as his brown hair hung down on her nose. "Lisa, this is not going where I think it is going, right?" He asked, "Right?"

No response from Lisa, hair still on her face. "That's not what I wanted to hear," She said after a few seconds, looking away from him towards the black box TV.

Luke sighed, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Obviously not," He frowned. The garage then returned to the quietness it was used to, and it stayed like that for about a minute.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked, biting her nails.

"I'm not ready," He replied, "The closest I've gotten to having sex with a girl was maybe a couple handjobs back in the day, that's it. Please, just let me have a minute," He said as he got up off of the couch, pacing around the garage with his forehead in between the crevice of his thumb and forefinger.

Lisa huffed, adjusting her pants back up to the top of her waist after Lukes tugging. Lisa knew she had to respect Lukes boundaries regardless of how much she wanted this, but it still hurt. It wasn't her fault that despite her death she still felt emotions, and she still wanted to just waste an hour or two on some pleasure. She sat up on the loveseat, her eyes scanning Luke as he continued to walk back and forth around the room.

Luke stopped his pacing for a second. "Lisa," He said softly. "Is this why you came over?" He asked her, his tone a mix between horrified and inquisitive.

"Yes," She admitted without hesitation. Luke only frowned. "I am sorry. You're more than... Y'know?" She said, gesturing to his crotch with her hand. Luke thought long and hard about what Lisa had said for a moment, inhaling a breath he didn't have the lungs for. He wasn't lying when he said he would like to wait, but the more he looked at Lisa, her cheeks sunken in from pouting, her lips cherry red, the more he felt the desire to spend the afternoon before the show intertwined with Lisa. Tangled.

"You really only came here to have sex with me?" He asked.

Lisa didn't say a word. Just looked down at the floor embarrassingly.

Luke laughed. "Lisa…" He sighed, walking back over to the couch.

"What?" She said annoyedly, "Are you gonna laugh? Make fun of me?" She said, looking away from him towards the windows on the garage door.

"If you were anyone else I would," Luke sighed, "but I think my little nervous spell is calming down," He said.

"What now?" She asked him.

"I've made up my mind," He said, biting his lip.

Lisa looked up at him, her eyebrows saddened. "That a no?" She said, misunderstanding. Luke sat down beside Lisa, staring at her red lips. He held up a finger, his pointer finger, pointing it directly at her. "One night. One. And this will be over," He replied, looking at Lisa's dark brown eyes.

Lisa sat up a little. "But- but you just said you wanted to wait–"

"Hey, hey, hey," Luke interrupted her, "I know I did."

"So what changed?"

"I looked at you a little harder," He smiled, "So you get one night."

Lisa chuckled. "One night?" She asked, "I couldn't have made you change your mind that easily?" She asked, chewing the inside of her cheek, "So what else?"

Luke sighed. "It would cool the nerves before the show," He said.

"Is that the only other reason?" She replied.

"I also like you. Is that more what you were looking for?" He chuckled, grabbing at her thigh. She nodded. That nod was all Luke needed before he dived back into their unfinished kiss, holding her close as they sat adjacent to each other. He got up without pulling away from the kiss, opening his arms to take Lisa up into them. Her legs fastened around his torso, and that was the last moment things were fully PG before their clothes were ripped off and they had messed up Julie's bed.

Maybe don't tell her that.

Reggie playfully shoved Alex down onto the turf outside of Barleys, green splotches adorned on his knees from the roughhousing. "You little bitch," Alex shrieked, landing on his back, legs propped up.

"You really gonna let me get away with that?" Reggie jeered, "Come at me Alex," He said, running in place as he motioned with his hands for Alex to come over, golden hour practically blinding Reggie.

"If I can get off the damn ground after such a violent shove," He said, pushing himself off of the grass. Reggie started to run around in a circle as Alex trailed behind him, arms open. As the two chased each other around like children in the front of Barleys, they heard an unfamiliar voice behind them.

"Hello boys," Caleb said, approaching the two teenagers who were acting more like toddlers.

Reggie stopped first, causing Alex to run into his back with a loud eugh. "Do you think he's talking to us?" Reggie whispered to Alex, raising a pointed finger towards Caleb.

"We're the only ones here, dumbass," Alex whispered back, his arm rubbing his elbow after the collision.

"Okay…" Reggie sighed, taking a step closer towards the blonde boy, "Uh, hi? Are you a ghost?" Reggie asked, clearing his throat.

Caleb sighed, looking down at his teenage appearance that made him much less menacing with the Power Rangers patch on the jeans he was wearing. He snapped his fingers to reveal himself as the ghost the two boys hated, watching their blank expressions curve into sour ones. His once teenage appearance complete with side swept blonde locks and burgundy button up transformed into a long peplum jacket with matching pants, adorned with a top hat neatly stacked on Caleb's head. "Recognize me now?" He said, leaning against a metal cane he held in his right hand.

Reggie looked over at Alex who looked frozen in fear, his facial expression shocked, but his body completely still. "What the fuck," Alex whispered, coming out more breathy than he intended.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Reggie said coldly, stepping in front of Alex to act as a shield for him.

"Can I not visit an old friend?" Caleb jeered, putting his body weight on the cane, "I just wanted to see the lovely band before the show; it's good luck," He said.

"Go away," Reggie said, "GO away."

Caleb just chuckled loudly, twisting his cane as it rubbed against the concrete. "Look, boys, I don't want to cause a struggle," He said.

"So what do you want from us?" Reggie replied, straightening his posture to appear more frightening than he actually was.

"You," He said, "You have the most extravagant powers, and I think you would fit perfectly in my house band," He snickered.

"First off, that cane just makes you look old," Reggie said, pointing a crooked finger at his pole, "and second, what are you gonna do if we don't go with you?" He asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Your choices are you can come with me, or you blip out of existence," He said calmly, "Like I said, I don't want to cause a struggle."

Alex gently nudged Reggie out of his way so he could walk around him, going up to talk to Caleb with himself without Reggie The Human Shield. "What's in it for us?" Alex said, trying to remain calm.

"You get to do what you love for the rest of your life," Caleb smiled, twisting the cane again, "Play," He said.

Alex sighed, tapping his foot as he looked to the ground. "You did the exact same thing you're trying to do now less than a month ago," He swallowed, looking back up at him, "Why can't you just accept that you failed?" He asked, brows furrowed.

Caleb cleared his throat, biting his bottom lip. "Last time I was ignorant," He paused, "But this time, you don't have Julie to help you," He said, smiling coyly at the two boys.

Reggie and Alex looked at each other, worried adamant on their faces. "What?" Alex asked.

"Oh, I forgot," He said, placing a hand on his chest, "You don't know!"

"Spit it out already you ancient bastard," Alex spat, flecks of spit flying out of his mouth.

Caleb clicked his tongue, narrowing his brows at the boys. "Julie isn't here to save you this time around. You could say she's… hidden," He scrunched his nose up, laughing a bit, "So are you coming or not?"

Reggie pushed past Alex just as he had done to him, inches away from Caleb's coy face. "What the HELL did you do to Julie!?" He said, grabbing at Caleb.

Caleb tore Reggies hands off of the vest underneath his jacket, pushing Reggie back a bit. "I did what I had to," He said, his voice getting angrier after Reggie's scrapping, "If you want your Julie back so bad, I can make that happen if you just come with me," He said.

Reggie shook a little because of all the bottled up rage inside his phantom body, one moment away from hounding him again and punching the sucker in the face. Before Reggie could grab him again, Alex grabbed his shoulder, his other hand grabbing the tip of his chin. "Reggie, it's a trap," He whispered.

Reggie huffed, turning around to meet Alex's eyes. He let his tongue slide over his front teeth, turning back around, eyes narrowed at Caleb. "Is this a fucking trap?" He said, jutting his head out, "Huh?" He yelled, getting back up in Caleb's face prepared for another shove back.

"It's not, as you so colorfully put it, 'A fucking trap,'" He said, "and you don't just have to trust me, I can show you proof that I have your little friend," He said, gesturing for the boys to follow behind him.

"And then what? You let her go?" Reggie asked, still very much angry.

"No," He said blankly, "but I can convince you to come with me, unless you want something bad to happen to her instead," He said, twisting the cane once more.

"I told you this is a trap, Reggie," Alex sighed, "We can't go with him,"

Reggie turned around, his eyes still narrowed. "And what if it isn't?" he huffed, "what if he really does have Julie hid somewhere, scared and alone waiting for us?" Reggie said.

"You're not fucking spiderman, dude," Alex replied, getting angrier, "tell me why I should trust the guy that almost killed us? Huh?" He asked accusatory.

"We'll figure that out once we find out if Julie is safe or not," He said, "Now come on." Reggie yanked at Alex's arm, tugging him along behind him to follow Caleb.

If only poor Reggie had listened to Alex, because he was exactly right about Caleb.