You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 1

Julie had her eyes tightly sealed shut. She was afraid that if she opened them, everything that happened last night would have been a dream. Yes, playing the Orpheum was a dream in itself, but losing the boys would be a nightmare. She thought back to the moment when she finally held them in her arms. Reggie and Alex were so happy... and Luke, well he seemed happy that the band was sticking together.

She couldn't live her life without music anymore. She had felt so empty after she stopped playing when her mom died. She was determined to never do that again. She knew that whether the boys were still here or not, they would be watching over her, and she couldn't let them down.

"Julie! Downstairs! Now!" Her father yelled from the kitchen.

That didn't sound good. Julie quickly threw on her slippers and ran down the stairs, nearly slipping on the last step.

"Care to explain why there are 3 boys currently passed out in the studio?"

Julie felt such a rush of emotions in that moment. Relieved that the boys were still here, confused because her dad had seen them, and panicked as to what she was going to say in response to his very valid question.

"Oh, um... I'm not sure?" She stumbled out the words. Come on Julie, she thought to herself. She knew that wasn't going to fly with her dad. "I think it must be the band? We had talked about how there would maybe be some management reps at the show last night, and we figured it would be best if they came out here just in case." That sounded legitimate, right?

"Why didn't you tell me, mija? And why are they out in the studio? Why not a hotel?" Again, very valid questions.

"Um, well they probably were just so exhausted from the show... they must have hopped right on a plane to get here. Um, I guess they wanted to surprise me? And obviously it worked! So why don't I go check on them and try to figure out what the plan is?" Or figure out how we're going to explain all of this.

"We're not done talking about this," Ray said sternly. His face softened as he continued, "But please bring them inside – I want to thank these boys that brought my baby girl back." Julie smiled softly at his words, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course, Papi." She contemplated staying in her pyjamas, but decided to change into something cute. For herself of course. There was nothing wrong with wanting to look cute. Not that any of the boys would notice. Well Alex probably would, but that's just because he cares. Not that the other boys didn't care. Oh gosh, Julie was getting herself all flustered just thinking about... no one.

Not wanting to waste any more time, she ran up to her room and put on a red button up top and some high waisted jeans. She left her hair down and did a quick one over in the mirror. It said 'cute and casual', she didn't want to look like she put in too much effort.

Who was she kidding. She had tried on at least 5 different outfits before returning to her original choice.

She started back down the stairs when she heard the doorbell ring. Had the boys decided to make a proper entrance? She didn't know if they could still poof – they were visible now, so maybe they were lifers? Lifers who could date other lifers? UGH! Stop thinking like that, Julie mentally smacked her head. She reached the front door and opened it to reveal –

"Hi! Nick!" Julie was pleasantly surprised. She had figured with everything that had happened this past week that things might be awkward between them. It was so strange to go from seriously crushing on this boy for years, to turning him down because of Luke. She knew there was nothing go on between the two of them, but it didn't feel fair to go out with Nick if she was now crushing on Luke. Heck, she day dreamed it was Luke when they were dancing – what would she do if she dated Nick. Picture herself in Luke's arms? Not that she hadn't already done that, but still.

Back to reality – Nick handed her a bouquet of beautiful pink peonies. He really was sweet.

"Thanks," Julie said. And she meant it. While she normally would have been polite and carried on a conversation, she didn't get the opportunity. Nick bowed his head and lifted his hand, almost as if he was tipping his cap, before turning around and heading away from the house.

Julie walked back inside to find a vase for the flowers. As she walked into the kitchen, her dad gave her a curious smile.

"Who are those from?" He asked.

"Oh just Nick from school."

"Nick?" Carlos questioned as he walked into the room. "Is that your booooooyfriend? What happened to your 3 ghost boyfriends? Did they decide they could do better?"

Julie blushed while giving Carlos a death glare. "No. Nick is not my boyfriend, and remember we talked about this last night, my band has holograms – not ghosts." Julie couldn't believe he had just said that in front of their dad. Carlos had confronted Julie after hugging the boys last night, and while she had tried to deny it, once he pulled out the Sunset Curve album, she knew she had no choice but to tell him the truth. But Carlos had promised not to say anything in front of their dad. And Julie had to pay him $20 and do his chores for a week to guarantee that. Guess she was going to need to get that money back now.

Carlos smirked, "So they are your boyfriends though?" His smirk quickly faded as Julie started chasing him around the table. He hid behind Ray who was chuckling softly.

"I'm going to go check on them now, they are my FRIENDS after all," Julie said with a huff as she walked outside.

Julie took a deep breath as she arrived at the studio. She steadied herself and opened the heavy doors.