To him, rhythm is the pattern of music. To her, rhythm is movement on a page.
JATP season 1
[reggie x female oc]
[alex x male oc]
Disclaimer: I do not own Julie and the Phantoms and the associated characters. I own all original characters and orig...
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"Sorry. We saw you up here and wanted to say hi."
AS Jess sits atop the pier balancing on the fence, she stares out at the crashing waves of the ocean and the sun shining down on the beachgoers, whether they are playing volleyball, surfing, or simply talking to each other. It's normal, unlike her life. People just being people, living their lives without thinking about their last moments.
When she got back to Justin's house the night before, she contemplated becoming a blanket burrito and never stepping out into the world again. That, and burning her favorite t-shirt from the sheer embarrassment of having the band see it. After 25 years, only one in which she was sentient, she sees three of her favorite people in the world. And they called her car crash girl.
She couldn't blame them though. They were legends in school. The top of the food chain. Jess wasn't even on the food chain—she was always just there. Even Zoe managed to find some way to fit in, but Jess always found comfort in pencil lead over people. Even if she had a massive crush on one of the boys, which may not have gone away with time.
Now, as she stares ahead of her, she wishes she had her Walkman. If she did, she could just play some classic Sunset Curve songs and fall deep into her creative pit to let out all the tension making her body ache. Maybe, for just a moment, she could let go of the pain she still feels from the accident and listen to music the boys were brave enough to share with the world.
Balancing on the railing, her feet swing from side to side as she sketches in her book. Lead stains her skin as her eyes dart between the page and the ocean, the crashing waves never stopping, not even for a moment. She wishes she could be like them: changing all the time and crashing through problems like they didn't exist.
Acoustic guitar floats into her mind, bringing a genuine smile to her face. She bites her lip and lets her gaze drift from her canvas to the beach to see everyone—every single soul—swaying to the beat though she cannot find its source. Letting it consume her whole, she turns back to her notebook and drags the pencil across the page before rubbing the new line with her ring finger.
Can you, can you hear me? (loud and clear) We gotta get, we gotta get ready (cause it's been years) Woah, this band is back Woah, this band is back Woo-hoo, woo-hoo Woo-hoo, woo-hoo Woo-hoo, woo-hoo
Can you (yes, we can) Can you hear me? (loud and clear) We gotta get (wanna get) We gotta get ready (cause it's been years, hey!) Woah, this band is back Woah, this band is back Woo-hoo, woo-hoo Woo-hoo, woo-hoo Woo-hoo, woo-hoo
Jess continues swinging her feet to the beat until even it drifts away like everything else. As she feels it leave her soul, she looks down at her almost complete picture with a frown; after a moment, she leans in to add a dolphin swimming through the waves by the rocks across the way. She can almost hear the animal crying out in glee as if it wanted to say hello.
As she finishes, she smiles down at her drawing. "Perfect," she whispers to herself, tilting her head.
"Hey!"
The excited voice scares Jess enough to make her jolt forward off the pier. She screams, pulling the sketchbook into her chest before she feels her body disappear and reappear, this time solidly on the pier itself. When she cracks an eye open, she only finds living people.
When she turns, she shouts at the three bandmates standing in front of her. "Holy flipping flappity gosh darn...ugh!" She mutters to herself as she looks around wearily. "You scared me off the pier!"
"Sorry," Reggie says, scratching the back of his neck. "We saw you up here and wanted to say hi."
"Next time, don't scare me into a second death," she says. After a moment, her eyes widen almost comically. "I-I didn't mean—I'm sorry, I just—"
"Dude, it's fine," Luke laughs, waving his hand. "Sorry, we scared you."
Jess takes a deep breath which does nothing to actually calm her, especially since Reggie freaking Peters is standing in front of her with a stupid grin on his face. She runs a hand through her hair only to grab her pencil and grip it tightly. "So..." She drawls, bending her knees awkwardly. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, we were just getting away from Julie's dad," Alex replies. "He was having a conversation with Julie's mom that was most definitely private."
Jess nods. "I'm sure." She stares at them a moment too long. "Well, anyways—"
"What were you drawing?" Reggie asks as he takes a step closer as if he could see through her notebook.
She grips it tighter. "Just the ocean." Unable to resist the look in his eyes, she slowly loosens her grip and turns the notebook around. "It's not great or anything, just what's there."
All three boys lean in to look at the sketch before they look back at the ocean in unison. "That's amazing!" Alex says as he looks back at her. "How did you learn to do that?"
"Same way you learned music, I guess," she says with a small shrug.
"What, came to you in a dream?" Luke jokes, lightly slapping Alex's chest with his hand.
Jess frowns. "No, I picked up a pencil and started drawing. And then practice." She returns the notebook back to her chest with a shy smile.
"What about the dolphin?" Reggie asks. "I don't see one."
Within seconds, people on the beach crowd around the edge, all shouting and pointing towards the rocks. The boys look over at the group of people as Jess walks over to the edge of the pier and smiles at the rocks: a fairly large dolphin jumps through the waves with water sprouting from its head. She laughs as it disappears below the waves once more.
"That's amazing," Reggie breathes, now right beside her. His voice makes her jump as she finds all three boys hanging onto the railing next to her with Reggie close enough to brush against her arm. "How'd you know?" He looks down at her, his eyes sparkling in the sun.
She finds her voice lost. Somehow, she manages to croak out, "I thought I heard one."
He seems satisfied with the answer, looking back out at the ocean. Jess finds herself staring at the side of his face, only to see Alex watching them with a grin. A squeak escapes her lips as she turns, saying, "See you later," and poofing away.
✿✿ Author's ✿ Note ✿✿
I guess I lied. I wanted to separate this chapter from the next because of the different perspective, but we got some more ghost bonding! I hope you guys like Jess' character because I know she's a bit different from the typical Wattpad protagonist who is usually the epitome of badass, but I thought a more subdued character would work better with this storyline and this show.
Also, in the beginning, I might publish two chapters a day to start the ball rolling so, yeah--I guess you get a double update today!
