Stand Tall // Julie and the Phantoms (Luke Patterson)

08

Reggie, Luke and Emilia sat on the couch, watching Alex pace back and forth, deep in thought.

"I think he's practicing his model strut," Reggie guessed.

"He's so nervous, it's almost making me nervous," Luke said as Emilia rested her head on his shoulder a moment.

Emilia nodded. "We're all nervous, Alex."

Alex looked between them. "Okay, you guys know I don't handle change well. Excluding Em joining the band, as she was already part of it in a way. All right? Death? That was a change. Okay? Then we became ghosts-"

"Another change," Emilia interrupted.

"Yes, thank you. And now we can be seen whenever we play with Julie. Big freaking change!"

"You have to admit it was a cool change."

"Yeah, but still."

"With Julie, we can play on stage again and be the band we never got to be," Reggie said. "With Em as a band member."

"I mean, who wouldn't be? I just - you know, I wanna figure out."

"Forget why," Luke told him. "Man, I say we invite Julie to join Sunset Curve."

Emilia nodded. "Having another girl in the band would certainly be nice."

Reggie grinned. "Yeah, she could be the new lead singer."

"I'm the lead singer!" Luke argued.

"Dude, that girl has the voice of an angel and can make us visible. Without her, we're just like elevator music."

"You don't have to be so mean about it. And we're on the runway again." Luke pointed to Alex.

"I'm sorry, okay?! I gotta clear my head," Alex said as he walked to the garage and tried to open it in frustration.

"Dude, you're a ghost," Reggie told him. "Just poof out!"

Emilia nodded. "It would be a lot easier."

"Don't tell me how to ghost!" Alex inhaled and poofed out.

Reggie turned to Emilia. "Why does Julie keep looking at you weirdly? It's like she recognizes you, but also doesn't."

"I-I don't know," the brunette stammered. "Maybe my face just looks like someone she knows."

"But there is some faint resemblance to her."

"Reg, I don't want to talk about my apparent resemblance anymore. Please."

"But-"

Luke intervened, seeing how uncomfortable Emilia was getting. "Drop it, bro. Can't you see she doesn't like this?"

"Glad to see you still love her," Reggie muttered.

Luke's eyes widened as he turned to Emilia who seemingly hadn't heard the bassist's words. "I'll tell her in my own time. For now, let's just focus on our music."

Reggie nodded. "Yeah, okay."

---

Alex walked the streets of LA, trying to clear his head.

He saw two men walking towards him who looked like Ghostbusters. Had Emilia been with him, she would have commented something about Ghostbusters. She'd talked about the movies a lot and had sung the theme countless times before her death. Even now, Alex could hear her singing the theme and the band laughing before joining in with her, always bringing a smile to their faces.

"Oh God, I'm busted," Alex muttered. "Oh God! No!" He cowered into himself, but the men went through him.

Alex stood straighter. "Okay."