SING ME HOME ✰ l. patterson [jatp]

𝐯. 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬

AFTER YESTERDAY, I WASN'T really sure if music class could get any worse than it had that day. But today, it proved me wrong. It wasn't bad by any means– music class is always a fun time. But it was just...different, without Julie there. Sure, even if being in music class was tough, to begin with for Julie, just the three of us being there together made it all worthwhile. And I made it known to Julie on our walk home, just how miserable we were without her there. To which, of course, she just laughed off because at this point...there really isn't anything she could do about it. She would just have to wait until next semester to apply...or at least, wait until my seat was up for grabs because I highly doubt it would still be mine come the next progress check.

"I'm just saying," I said, stretching out on the couch in the studio. "If we like, maybe write a nice letter to Principal Lessa and plead your case, you can totally get your seat back."

"You and I both know that that won't work," she sighed, walking around the setup instruments. "I'll just have to wait until next semester."

"How sure are we though, that it won't work?" I asked, pushing myself up onto my elbows. "70%? 40%?"

"Try 100%" she laughed, stopping at the keyboard that was set up. "I wonder where the guys are."

"Strangely enough, I don't," I replied, lying back down. "In fact, I think I'm going to take a little nap and pretend you never brought them up."

"Yeah? And how are you going to do that?" She laughed, walking over.

"By simply closing my eyes and affirming that I was just tired and seeing things." I looked over at her and nodded. "Affirmations are seriously all the rage right now. Just look at TikTok."

"Well, how about you affirm that our calculus homework doesn't give us a headache for the rest of the day?" She grabbed my hands and pulled me up off of the couch. "That sounds like a good affirmation to me."

"Eh, I'll add it to the queue I guess," I replied, picking up my backpack and walking out of the studio with her. "But my number one is that I was definitely seeing things this morning. And that maybe you're a little sick or something. Fevers make you have hallucinations you know."

"I'm fine," she said, nudging my hand away before I could press it to her forehead. "And the guys are real. You saw it for yourself this morning."

"No, I saw what my subconscious imagined because I was half-awake and remembering how you said ghosts were haunting your garage," I smiled, walking into the house. "That's what I saw."

"You know what that sounds like to me?" She asked, walking up the steps.

"The truth?" I replied, reaching the top of the stairs.

"No, it sounds like denial." She smiled, looking over her shoulder. "I don't know what I have to do to get you to believe that they're real."