The Other Side of Hollywood | Luke Patterson

TWENTY-THREE✨

I saw the boys walking across the street as I poofed onto sunset boulevard; the disappointment and sadness was apparent on their faces; Willie told them everything; I was too late to even try and defend myself. Still, I poofed over, landing beside Luke; all of the boys turned their attention to me.

"Hey," I greet breathlessly; Luke shifts uncomfortably, moving further away from me as if he was nervous about being around me.

"Let me guess," Alex scoffed, turning his attention back to Willie, "Harper already knows all about this?" I'm shocked Willie hasn't already told them about my involvement with Caleb's plans; I expect him to blurt out now how much I knew, but he doesn't; instead, we share a sad glance, both nodding our heads to confirm Alex's question. "Unbelievable," Alex mutters, shaking his head, "and you just let him do this to us?"

"I can't stop him," Willie argues, raising his voice slightly, "he owns our souls," he lowers his voice slightly, "all right? He owns everybody's souls at that club." I glance over at Luke to see him turn and face me, disbelief written all over his face, "if even knew I was here talking to you, he-"Willie hesitates, taking in a shaky breath.

"He would destroy you," I mumble, more to myself than to the boys; I can't imagine Caleb doing anything to harm Willie, I mean, Caleb is the closest thing I have to family, and he knows Willie is one of my best friends; yet, I'd heard stories of him "destroying" ghosts who didn't abide by his rules, would he really do that to Willie too?

"So, if we don't join his club, the weird power outage thing continues until there's no power left at all?" Reggie questions.

"Yes," Willie answers, glancing down at the ground guiltily.

"and, what exactly happens when the power goes out?" Reggie continues, I go to answer, but Willie speaks before I get the chance.

"That's-"Willie hesitates, "that's it; you're done."

"Uh, huh yeah," Reggie nods sarcastically, "and what exactly do you mean by "we're done?" I take a breath; Willie doesn't deserve to be the one explaining all of this to them; he hasn't done anything wrong.

"You're gone," I answer for Willie, "you just don't exist anymore, not anywhere." Hearing those words makes my heart sink into my stomach; I've gone 25 years without Luke, Alex, and Reggie; I can't lose them again; they have to join the club.

"What?" Alex asks, his voice laced in disbelief.

"So, we have no choice?" Luke exclaims, stepping forward slightly, "We have to say goodbye to Julie, give up everything we've built, and work for Caleb permanently?" He glances back at me as he says the last part; I'd promised him he wouldn't have to leave their band and be at the club forever; I'd told him we could have both, and now seeing him react, I wish I never lied to him, "that's some club you guys got going on." Luke scoffed, turning away from me; I go to argue that even though he won't have their band, he'll have me, isn't that enough?

"But there is another option," Willie reassures before I have the chance to speak. My eyes widen at his words; he can't be serious; doesn't he know that means we'll never see them again? "That's why I came to see you."

"Another option?" Alex scoffs.

"Just please, hear me out." Willie pleads with the guys, "if you guys could figure out what your unfinished business is, you do it in time, you could cross over and be free from all of this."

"Okay, so what's our unfinished business?" Luke asks; he sounds desperate as if he's really considering this.

"I don't know," Willie answers, "but since you all died at the same time, it might be something you need to do together."

"Why should we listen to a word you say," Alex argues, I can see hurt flash through Willie's eyes, and I speak up before he can answer Alex's question.

"Because he cares about you," I exclaim; Luke and Reggie glance back at me, but Alex's gaze softens slightly as he watches Willie, "none of this is Willie's fault, okay? be mad at me, but please, don't be mad at him; he doesn't deserve it." Willie's gaze moves from Alex over to me; I'm just as shocked as he is, to be honest; that was the most selfless thing I've said in my entire afterlife; the new Harper that he knew would never take the blame.

"Alex," Willie says, causing all of the boys to turn their attention back onto Willie, "I hate that I brought you and your friends into this mess," He admits, tears brimming his eyes, "I can't be away much longer, I'm so sorry." Willie poofs away, leaving just the boys and I; I shut my eyes, prepared for one of them to yell at me and tell me how much I've let them down; but none of them do.

"Harper," Luke finally says something, the three boys turn to face me, "was this all a lie? Were you pretending the whole time, just so we would join Caleb's club?"

"At the beginning, yes; Caleb sent me to finish off what Willie started," I explain, staring at the ground guiltily. "but after a while, I wasn't pretending anymore; I realized how much I missed you guys. Luke," I pause, glancing up at him, "I realized I still love you." I wait for Luke's expression to soften; he's never been one to stay mad for a long time, especially not at me, but his expression remains hurt; I'd betrayed all of their trust. "Listen, I know being at the club full time isn't what you wanted, but it's better than not existing at all, right?" I try reasoning with them; despite how mad they are at me, they have to see joining the club is their only option.

"What are we going to tell Julie?" Reggie asks the boys sadly; I let out a breath, he was going to come to the club; even Reggie was smart enough to know that was the only thing that made sense.

"No, we can't tell her; this just means more loss in her life," Luke shakes his head, "but if we don't want Caleb to own our souls, then we have to figure out our unfinished business."

"Y-you're what?" I ask, raising my voice slightly; sure, I thought the boys would be mad at me for a while, and if I'm being honest, I know I deserve it; but crossing over, Luke would rather cross over than be with me? "you want to cross over? But what about-"

"Us?" Luke asks, cutting me off; I've never heard Luke sound so harsh before, "you really think there's going to an us after all you've done is lie to me?" He scoffs, shaking his head; I flinch as his voice gets louder. I've only ever seen Luke yell like this a few times, and usually, it was towards his mother. "Harper, you made me feel like the worst guy on earth for leaving you, yet here you are, lying to my face, while I apologize for something I did 25 years ago."

"But you keep doing it," I yell, causing Alex and Reggie to flinch, "Luke, I've never been your first choice; you have chosen your stupid band over me not once, but twice and you'd rather die or go to wherever it is you go when you cross over then be with me." I hate the fact that tears brim my eyes; I take in a breath, not allowing them to fall, "all you've ever done is pick me last, and for once, I thought maybe you changed," I admit, lowering my voice, Luke opens his mouth to argue, but I cut him off, "but you've never cared about me, and I'm done waiting for you to decide I'm good enough to stay with." Luke steps forward, prepared to argue back, but he gets cut off again.

"Okay, Harper, Luke," Alex steps forward, gesturing for us both to calm down, "yelling at each other is not going to fix anything; you're gonna say something you regret."

"Yeah," Reggie nods, fidgeting with his hands, "stop fighting, please." I take in a breath, remembering how often Reggie's parents got into fights and how he'd come to Luke's or even my house to get away from it; he's never liked people fighting, I knew that.

"I'm sorry, Reg," I apologize, genuinely meaning it, "I hope you figure out what you need to do," I say, keeping my eyes on Reggie and Alex, completely avoiding Luke, who is standing right in front of me.

"Harps," I poof out before Luke can speak; I don't want to hear more reasons why he's choosing this over us; I'm done being his second choice.

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