"She loved too much, and you could see it in her eyes: where she kept all the hearts she put ahead of her own." - Ariana

If someone would have told me a few weeks ago that I would be climbing the barbed wire security fence of our ex-best friend's house to stop three ghost musicians from haunting their old band member, I would have been very concerned about their health. Despite all odds of ghosts not being real, here I was, climbing a dangerous fence with Flynn and Julie to get to our ghost band members. After an embarrassing ten minutes of trying to get over the fence, we manage to plant our feet on the other side of it with minimal injuries, well except for the scrapes running up my left arm.

I let out a groan as small amounts of blood begin to pool in the scratches, "If this doesn't describe our old friendship with Carrie, I don't know what does."

Julie rolls her eyes as we make our way to the door, "Let's just find them and get out of here, I don't like being back here."

My shoulders deflate as I reach out and press the doorbell, sending a loud noise echoing through the entirety of the place. Carrie opens the door with a surprised expression which she quickly masks with annoyance.

The three of us flash her a forced smile, "Hey."

Her brows are furrowed in confusion, "What are you three doing here? How did you get over the security gate?"

"Teamwork," Julie replies with a laugh.

I hold up my scratched wrist for her to see, "Do you have a Band-Aid? The barbed wire's new."

Carrie narrows her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, "What do you want?"

Flynn looks over at us, the gears of her mind hard at work, "Uh.... Just thought you should know that Julie and JJ's band is playing the dance tonight."

"You guys are acting weirder than usual," Carrie states, annoyance washing through her.

Julie shrugs her shoulders, "Probably because we're thirsty."

"And injured," I add, holding up my arm again with a grimace. "Can we come in? We won't be long, I promise."

Carrie rolls her eyes again, "Ugh. Fine, if it'll make you leave faster." She moves aside, allowing the three of us to walk through the door into the all too familiar home. "Don't break anything."

With that she walks away growling in annoyance, leaving us to roam freely about the house. Julie nods her head and leads us further inside the immaculately clean home... they without a doubt hire a maid. My eyes rake along the platinum albums lined up on the well. For years I obsessed over the way he wrote these songs, but instead, I was falling in love with the way Luke wrote music. In a matter of hours, he had taken the place of my music role model. The fallen star that deserved much more than what was given to him.

"Where are you?" Julie calls out softly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I'm... I'm right here," a voice calls out. We jump slightly, turning around to see Nick sitting on the Wilson couch.

Julie stiffens from beside me, "Nick! Look, Flynn and JJ, it's Nick. Nickster, Nicky-poo, Nick-a-licious."

I resist the urge to facepalm, elbowing the sputtering girl slightly, "Please stop with the nervous rambling."

Flynn turns to Nick with a wide grin on her face, "Hey! Glad you're here, Nicky-poo. We wanted to tell you that Julie and JJ's band is playing at the dance."

I shake my head at the girl, as her voice resembles that of a child reciting a passage for a play. We should've just snuck inside to avoid the very awkward conversations we've had so far.

"Oh yeah. No, I... I saw your post," Nick replies, a genuine smile on his face as his eyes remain trained on Julie. Too bad he's dating the devil in a pink wig, he's always been so nice to her.

Speaking of the said devil, she clears her throat as she walks in with two glasses of water and a washcloth, "Are these girls bothering you, babe?"

He shakes his head, turning to the girl, "No, just telling us about the dance tonight."

Carrie plasters her signature fake smile on as she makes her way over to us, "Right. Julie, JJ, and their hologram band are playing. How'd you learn how to do all that hologram stuff anyway?"
Flynn and Julie take the waters from the girl and I grab the washcloth, wrapping around my wrist as I immediately feel relief from the warmth of the cloth. I look back at the devil, who has returned to her spot on the couch next to Nick, "The internet. It's not just full of makeup tips."

Carrie shoots me a glare, lips parted with a comeback no doubt ready to be fired back. Before she can do that, Nick grabs her hand, "Uh... what do you say, babe?"

"Sure. Let's check out the hologram show. That's a lot of people staring at you." Carrie replies, her tone taunting.

I narrow my gaze at the girl, annoyance running through me. Silence falls between the five of us as I realize we've run out of anything we can talk about. Turns out the devil isn't too chatty. I look down at my wrist, letting out a fake gasp, "I think I may just need to patch this up before we go, I don't want to get blood in the car or anything. I know where it is." I look over to Julie, bumping her shoulder lightly.

She jumps slightly, "Yeah, I should probably help you... we won't be long."

I grab her hand and pull her along with me. As we make our way upstairs, I hear the constant babbling of Flynn... that should keep them busy for a while. That girl sure does know how to talk.

"Guys! For your sake, you better not be up here!" Julie growls out as we make it to the top of the staircase and begin weaving our way through the countless rooms in this house for any sign of the three vengeful ghosts.

After coming up empty upstairs, we make our way to the balcony. My gaze narrows in on the three ghosts, whose pants are half down as they moon Trevor's helicopter, "You've got to be kidding me. These guys are literal children." We push through the doors, catching the attention of the three ghosts. I put a hand over my eyes, "Please pull your pants up. Nobody needs to see your pale ghost butts."

They are quick to follow my command as Julie crosses her arms over her chest, "So, did you guys have fun in there?

"Okay, you'd do the exact same if he stole all of your songs," Luke defends with a pout on his lips as he continues to adjust his pants.

I let out a sigh, the annoyance running through me subsides with one look into his hazel eyes, "But you have new songs. With us."

"The best way to get back at Trevor is for this band to do great. And to do great, we have to play at dances, then clubs." Julie adds, frowning in frustration.

"And tours. I know," Luke replies as he makes his way closer until he towers above the two of us. He glances over at me, his eyebrows furrowing as his gaze locks in on my arm. He looks up at me, concern crossing over his face. He reaches out and gently takes hold of my left hand so he can get a closer look. His hazel eyes flicker to meet my own once again, 'What happened here?"

My heart melts at his concern as a smile grows on my lips, "I cut it on the barbed wire gate getting into this place to find you guys. It's nothing."

He lets out a sigh, his body relaxing a little, 'Well still, you'd better get that wrapped up."

My smile grows wider as I squeeze his hand, "I will. Now, we will see you guys at school. We go on at 9:00. Please don't be late. There's gonna be a lot of people there."

Alex shoots us a recurring smile as Luke lets my hand slip from his, "We got it, alright? Don't worry."

Julie and I look at each other, before sending the boys one final look as we make our way back inside.

****

Being plagued with nerves before performing was nothing new to me, but performing in front of the school has brought an amount of anxiety that I did not know was possible. I chew on my thumbnail as I stand on the side of the stage, searching the crowd for any sign of Julie or the boys.

Relief washes over me when I see Julie making her way over to the stage. I leave the comfort of the shadows and step out on the stage to stand next to Flynn and crouch down to talk to Julie.

"How are you two feeling?" Flynn asks with a small smile.

Julie winces slightly, "I'm a little nervous."

"Agreed," I reply, forcing a smile as I fiddle with the sleeves of my jean jacket.

Flynn puts a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze, "You'll be fine. All your gear's backstage. Come on."

Julie walks over to the stage side entrance and we meet her on the side. Flynn's eyes widen as her gaze flickers back and forth between the two of us, "Oh my gosh! You two look amazing."

A smile manages its way on my lips as I shoot the girl a look of admiration, "Thanks, Flynn. So do you."

Julie holds out her arms, motioning to her mesh tye die shirt, "Thanks. It's my mom's. I finally went through her stuff."

I smile proudly at the Molina girl, "She would have loved that you wore that."

Flynn's gaze moves around the area behind her as she flips her hair behind her shoulder, "Are the guys here?"

"No, but they will be. They know how important this is to us," Julie replies, holding confidence in the guys. Let's just hope that she's right.

9:15

I chew aggressively on my bottom lip as I pace back and forth. They're fifteen minutes late, which to most people wouldn't be a huge deal, but ghosts don't have traffic. They could poor here in a matter of seconds. They should be here, they know how much this means to both of us.

I perk up at the new name Flynn calls our band upon announcing that we were coming on later. I make my way over to Julie as Flynn joins us on the side of the stage.

Julie's eyes dart between the two of us, "J.J. and the Phantoms?"

"I had some free time during French class," Flynn replies as she links her arm with my own, smiling proudly.

"Thanks, Flynn." I reply, impressed by her creativity and devotion to the band.

Flynn's smile grows even wider, "You'd better like it because I registered it on Insta, Snapchat, Twitter."

I check the time once again before looking up at the two, "We love it, don't worry. We'd love it even more if the actual Phantoms were here."

Flynn's eyes widen as she points behind Julie's shoulder where Nick was standing. A smirk creeps its way on my face as I grab Flynn's hand, leading her on stage away from the two.

10:00

The minutes tick by slowly as I begin to brainstorm ways to kill the three musician ghosts... again. In the almost three weeks of knowing them, they are almost never late, in fact, they're almost around too much or at least at the wrong times. When we need them, suddenly they are nowhere to be found. I'm not sure if we should be worried about them or angry.

10:45

Julie and I sit on the ground, tired from standing around waiting. Footsteps pull my focus from the ground to where Flynn stands above us, "I can only stall for so long. It's almost eleven o'clock. I think you two should just play it by yourselves. I mean, holograms or no holograms, you two will be amazing."

I let out a sigh, hugging my legs close to me, "We can't those songs were specifically made to be performed by the whole band and upbeat enough for a dance. It wouldn't sound right if we played it just the two of us."

My eyes widen at the feeling of my phone vibrating against my thigh. I pull it out of my jacket pocket to see a rare text from my mom.

Sweetheart, that song was absolutely beautiful. I love and miss you so much. - Mom.

My eyes widen as I look up from my phone to look at my two best friends, "I have an idea. What if we perform this new song I wrote. Julie all you would have to do is play the piano."

"We can work with that. I'll stall just a little bit longer for you guys." Flynn exclaims, running back on stage before either of us could reply.

Julie's eyes are wide as she shakes her head, "JJ, I don't think I can do that. This is the whole school we're talking about.

"We have no other choice, we're going to have to do something," I reply, my heart pounding in my chest. I stand up and grab my songbook from the table backstage and return to sitting next to her. I pulled the sheet music to the piano part of the song I had written and run by Luke only two weeks ago. "It's not perfect, but it can work."

Julie's brown eyes rake across the sheet music as she hums along to the beat. She looks over at me, "JJ, this song is beautiful. Are you sure you want to do this?"

I chew on my lip as I fiddle with the rings on my fingers, "I have no choice, we have to."

11:30

I pace back and forth as I grip my guitar closely to me. Julie and I are about to go on and I swear I could go into cardiac arrest at any moment. My hands shake as my heart pounds at a rate that is not healthy.

"You ready for this?" Julie asks, shooting me a sympathetic look.

I suck in a deep breath and let my eyes flutter closed for a second, gaining my composure. I release the air in my lungs and return my gaze on my best friend, "Yeah. It'll be fine."
"Please welcome J.J. and the Phantoms!" Flynn calls out, pulling the two of us from our conversation.

I grab my mic stand and make my way on stage, immediately blinded by the bright lights as I walk to the middle. My stomach churns as I take in the piercing gazes of just about the entire school.

I swallow thickly, before plastering a smile on my face, leaning into the microphone, "Hey Bobcats!" The cheers my comment receives is enough to give me the strength to keep going, "Unfortunately, we are unable to connect with the boys in Sweden, but we will go on without them. This is Phoenix, hope you like it."

The crowd settles down and I turn to Julie who sits at her piano just a few feet from me. I take one more deep breath, before nodding at her to begin as I start strumming my guitar. I lean close to my mic and push past the nerves plaguing my body as I begin.

"Why you hanging in the background

Like a painting that's been turned 'round

Come on, come on, come on, come on

Come on, come on, come on, come on."

With each word I sing, I find my confidence. This is what I was meant to be doing and ghost band members or not, I was going to find happiness in performing my music. I let go of my guitar and grab onto the mic.

"Why you humming with the mashup

It's like Aretha singing back up

Come on, come on, come on, come on

Come on, come on, come on, come on

You know the words go write the song

Make it alone

It's your time now

Can you feel it now?"

My grin grows wide as the crowd cheers for me. I return to playing my guitar as I feel the music taking over. The fear and anxiety that swarmed my body are long gone as I look over to Julie who nods her head to the beat.

"You got the heart of a phoenix

So let them see you rise, hey-ey-ey, hey-ey-ey

Let them know that you mean it

Let them see you rise, hey-ey-ey, hey-ey-ey."

As the song continues, I make my way around the stage, staring into the excited eyes of my classmates. I cannot help but think about Luke and when I showed him this song. While I am angry that they ditched us, I can't help but wish he was here watching. I try and push the thoughts from my mind as I finish out the song with Julie alongside me.
When the music fades away, the crowd begins to cheer, sending my heart soaring as I grin widely at them. My body fills with gratitude for their support.

"Oh JJ, did you really think just you singing could replace the entire band. Sweetie this a school dance not some amateur performance." My heart stops in my chest as I look over to see Carrie standing there with a condescending smirk on her face. The grin my lips adorn drops as I struggle to form an answer. My eyes begin to burn as I fight back the tears. She lets out a laugh, rolling her eyes, "This must be so embarrassing for you... Who wants to hear dirty candy?"

The crowd cheers loudly before Flynn pulls one of the knobs off the soundboard, "Whoops the knob's broken."

Carrie ignores the heated gazes of my two best friends as she turns back to the crowd, "Party at my house!"
The tears break through the barrier and begin spilling down my cheeks. My heart quivers in its place as I push past the three girls and bolt off the stage. I ignore my name being called as I go deeper into the shadows of the dressing room. Tears blur my vision as I lean against the door, my legs collapse beneath me as I slide my way down the door. Exhaustion and embarrassment run through me as I remove my guitar from around me and place it on the ground.

I chew on my lip as I pull my legs in close to me, letting my forehead rest on my knees. The fabric of my pants become wet with the tears that now slip freely down my face. Who was I kidding, my song wasn't good enough and I never would be. No matter how hard I try, Carrie will always win and I will be left looking like an idiot every time.

12:00

As my tears dry up and my breathing evens, I raise from my spot on the ground, grabbing my guitar. I push through the doors and return it to its case, before making my way back to the gym level, which is now empty with the exception of Julie, who sits below the balloon arch.

When her gaze falls on me, she's quick to scramble to her feet. Within seconds, she's wrapping her arms around me, "JJ, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
As she pulls away I shoot her a tired smile, "Yeah I'm okay. Just a little embarrassed."

"Julie, JJ we're ready to rock this dance... which is clearly over, " Reggie's voice calls out. I look over to see the three ghosts, finally gracing us with their presence. The three make their way over to us, guilt clouding their features.

Luke's gaze rakes over my face as he furrows his eyebrows in concern. Gosh, I probably look like a mess. "Look, we are... so, so sorry that we bailed on you guys."

Alex nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, I mean, the night really got away from us."

"And the twins," Reggie chimes in, causing him to get an elbow to the ribs.

Twins? You've got to be kidding me.

I let out a sigh, trying to keep my voice even, despite the frustration, "Just please tell me it had nothing to do with you getting back at Carrie's dad."

The three let out nervous laughs, lies bright as day, "Of course not."

Julie's gaze is fiery as the anger rolls off of her, "And now you're lying to us? Seriously?"

The remaining humor falls from their faces as they struggle to find the words, "Okay, look, it... it was something we needed to do."

Luke's hazel eyes swirl with guilt and regret as he steps forward, "B-But we'll do whatever it takes. We'll play the next school-"

"What? Another dance where you can bail on us and make us look like fools?" Julie's words are enough to halt the ghost boy in his tracks as he winces at her tone. "JJ sang her new song she wrote, Phoenix. Carrie laughed at her and made fun of her song in front of everyone. You could've been there, our songs were good. And all three of you knew what we've been through and how tough it's been for me to play and then you do this? Bands don't do that to each other. Friends don't do that to each other. This was a mistake."

Luke's face pales as he frowns, "You mean the school dance, right?"

"No. I mean joining a band with you guys."

Pain washes over the three ghost's faces. Luke's gaze meets my red-rimmed eyes as he silently begs for me to object to take back what Julie said. I can't bring myself to do it, and I look away. The betrayal is too strong, exhaustion plaguing my body. All I want is to curl up in my bed and silence the thoughts swirling in my mind.

Julie takes my hand and pulls me along as we slip out of the gym, trying to put as much distance between us and the ghosts as possible.

"Josie!"

"Julie!"

****

My body feels heavy as I finally walk through the doorway into my room. Julie decided to stay at Flynn's house, but I just wanted to be home in my own bed. I flip on my lights, my eyes widening as the light illuminates Luke's figure, who stands warily in the corner of my room.

I let out a sigh as I set my keys and phone on my desk and my guitar case on the floor next to it, "Not now, Luke, please."

His shoulders slump as he inches closer to me, "Josie I am so sorry about what happened tonight. We should've been there, we really messed up."

My gaze remains at my feet as he comes even closer. I can't look into his eyes, if I do, I'm for sure a goner. I fiddle with the rings on my fingers, "If you're here to try and talk me into coming back to the band, it's not going to work. We just need time to think, Luke."

His thumb brushes gently under my chin lifting it slowly as he wills me to look at him, "I get that, I do, you need space. But I needed to make sure you were okay."

My heart melts as my anger lessens. Not all the way, the betrayal is still there, but doesn't sting as sharply, "I'm tired and a little embarrassed. I basically cried in front of the whole school. I'll be fine, I just want to forget this day ever happened."

His hazel eyes soften as he reaches out to grasp my hand, "You know she's wrong, right? You are so talented. I meant what I said, that song was amazing."

I flash him a weak smile, gently pulling my hand away from his. His presence is intoxicating and it's taking everything in me to not give in to his pleading eyes. A single tear drops from my eyes, I'm quick to wipe it away, "Thank you, Luke. But I just really need to get to bed. Thanks for checking on me."

Hurt flashes across his features as he lets his hand fall back to his side, "Okay, but just know that Bobby stealing my songs means more to me than just the fame. There's more meaning in my music than that."

I take in a shaky breath as questions swarm my mind, but I push them back. "I get it, Luke. Goodnight."

He lets out a sigh, scratching the back of his neck, "Goodnight Josie."

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hey guys!! Thank you so much for your continued support! You are amazing, each and every one of you!! A huge thanks and credit to Olivia Holt for her song Phoenix. All of the credit for that goes to her and her only. Keep up the support and I'm always open to suggestions and comments! Thanks all!