Wake Up| JATP

Chapter 19

"I don't know anymore Luke."

Those words cut deep, they cut everyone, in the most painful ways, slashing, slicing every band member. Nicole wasn't sure if she meant those words, or maybe she did but didn't want to admit it. Who would? She had been friends with these boys all of her life, shared everything with them, they had planned their lives around each other and all it took was one big mistake to potentially drive them apart forever. Though Nicole knew it wouldn't last that long, she was very very upset with them all, however they were the oxygen in her life and without them she just couldn't breathe. She also knew what day was creeping up and knew she couldn't leave Luke on his own. Despite all of this, there she was, standing in the middle of a school gym, her heart aching, mind racing and her friends a few feet away with the most solemn look on their faces.

"What-what do you mean you don't know?" Luke's voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes rimmed with tears and his bottom lip quivering. "Nicole, we need you, I need you, y-y-you can't leave us, not now, o-o-or ever, Nicole, please." Nicole uncrossed her arms from her chest, placing them by her sides. "Luke, you promised me, all of you promised me and you broke it, you've never broken a promise to me! Never! Now that we're all dead, everything just feels so wrong, strange, misplaced. Everything feels different." Luke walked closer to Nicole, grabbing her hands in his, expecting her to pull away he paused, when she didn't and instead looked into his eyes, he spoke. "Nicole, I'm sorry, I will say it everyday if I need to, and trust me I know everything feels different alright? But it's not, we're still the same, all of us and I still feel the same." Nicole sighed and pulled her hands away from his, watching as his face dropped. "That's what you don't get, Luke. Nothing is the same." Before he could talk again, the small blonde had disappeared out of sight, leaving the three boys of Sunset Curve alone.

Nicole poofed herself to her favourite spot. Marley's. The house was quite, everybody was sleeping, it was peaceful, no noise or bright lights shining through the windows to disturb them. Nicole would like to think that she would've had a life like this, nice home, children that ran around the house and played all day, a husband to kiss her when she came home, now she was dead, it would never happen. She made her way to the garage, passing hallways of beautiful photos of the Smith family that hung nicely on the walls, there was even some of Marley and Nicole too, which made Nicole smile. When she got to the garage, she turned the light on and headed straight to her piano. There was a small layer of dust, where it hadn't been touched in a while, Nicole was glad that Marley still played once in a while though, it showed that she had courage, and that she wouldn't end up like Nicole because she let her emotions get in the way of what she loved doing. Nicole brushed her fingers across the keys, a small sound coming from the piano. She began playing a tune, a song she had written a while ago, when she was alive.

"I dare you to love me, the pretty and the ugly, if you're alone, I'll make it better, we could be alone together."

The tune began to pick up.

"Oh, I could really like it, maybe we could carve it in the woods, oh, Florence in the spring time, love me in the meantime, wish you would."

"But if we're all alone in a crowded room, maybe we could be alone just me and you, baby if you jump then I'll jump too. I dare you to love me, the pretty and the ugly,if you're alone I'll make it better, we could be alone, together."

Luke, Alex and Reggie appeared, hiding out of Nicole's eye sight. They were planning on finding out how Nicole died, they wanted answers. They didn't expect Nicole to be there, though they should've.

"Oh strangers in the nighttime, there's never a right time to say hello, yeah everyone's your best friend till you get to know them, but I know you, and if we're all alone in a crowded room, maybe we could be alone just me and you, baby if you jump, then I'll jump too."

"I dare you to love me, the pretty and the ugly, if you're alone, I'll make it better, we could be alone, together. I dare you to love me, the pretty and the ugly, if you're alone, I'll make it better, we could be alone, we could be alone, we could be alone, together."

The boys shared a look of confusion, Nicole had never written something so, emotional, or maybe she did and didn't show them, but why? Who were these songs about? Luke watched her, so carefully, the way her hands moved so easily along the piano and the way her voice just, came out so beautifully as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Nicole Jones always had been and always will be the most beautiful thing in his eyes, she has a heart made of pure gold, that people would make her cry so they would be rich from it, skin so fragile, like glass, and bones that are just built of courage, bravery and stubbornness. Nicole Jones wasn't just beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well, and every time Luke looked at her, he wanted her more and more, he wanted all of her, nothing more, nothing less, he wanted Nicole to be his person, the person he would love endlessly, the person he would love forever, he wanted to love Nicole Jones with all of his heart.