Dear Dahlia // B1

[26]

"Where are the boys?" I ask Julie as I step into the studio in the morning. "Thought you guys wanted to rehearse some last minute music."

"Well, we were going to," Julie huffs. "But they found out about Trevor Wilson."

"Trevor Wilson? What's that got to do with anything?" I laugh.

"Evidently he used to be in their band. Something about he stole their music and slapped his own name on it," she puts her head in her hands and sighs. "They think he stole their success and they're going to go do something to him now."

"Well, why are we just sitting here then?" I ask. "Shouldn't we be going after them or something?"

"And just walk into Carrie's house? Are you crazy?" Julie's voice rises an octave.

"I just don't want them to do something stupid," I attempt to reason with her. "We've unleashed three angry ghosts to the world. We've gotta go get them back."

"No, okay?" Julie yells. "There is no 'we'. There hasn't been for a long time. So you can go if you want, but I'm not chasing him."

"What? What do you mean there's no 'we'?" I ask. "What do you mean 'chasing him'? Do you mean the boys because-"

"Lia, just stop talking," she says. "Just - go."

I feel my voice grow weak. "If you're upset about something I did, I'm sor-"

"Just go, Dahlia."

I close my mouth and nod once, turning on my heels to walk out of the garage. I guess Julie and I aren't getting as close as I thought we were. On top of that, she's obviously upset with me for something.

I take a bus to Malibu, heading toward Carrie's house. I buzz in at the security gate and talk to the guard.

"Hi, I'm Dahlia Molina," I say, looking up at the camera. "I'm a friend of Carrie's."

"Come on in," he grumbles before the gates open. I head up to the house and knock on the door.

"Dahlia?" Carrie asks, opening the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I was a -uh- just stopping by," I lie. "Wanna check in."

Carrie analyzes me for a moment before opening the door wider. "Come in."

"So how are you doing?" I ask, stepping through the doorway.

"Id be better if your sister and her little hologram band weren't playing the dance tonight," she says plainly.

"Crap," I mumble, pulling my phone out of my pocket. "I forgot to tell Tyler to pick me up by the garage instead of the house."

"Tyler?" Carrie laughs. "As in Tyler Marks?"

"Yeah," I blush.

"The Tyler Marks sitting on my couch right now?" She points into the living room. I can see two boys sitting in front of the TV, both of them with headsets on. The one on the left turns to look at us.

"Yep," I sigh. "That Tyler."

"Hey, Dahlia!" He shouts, a little too loud for the short distance between us. I wave and he goes back to his game. I look around the rest of the open house from where I'm standing, seeing if I can spot the boys anywhere. I don't have any luck.

"So why are you really here?" Carrie asks.

"I don't know honestly," I lie again, more effortlessly this time. "Guess I just needed to get out of the house. Mostly get away from Julie."

"I can understand that," Carrie rolls her eyes and walks into the living room. I follow her, she takes a spot on the couch next to Nick. I awkwardly stand, still scanning the room for any sign of three troublemaker ghosts. "You can sit, Lia."