Stormy Days To Drown Out The Screams - Luke Patterson

Chapter 1

"Julie? Carlos? Have you seen my keys?" Papa yelled as he frantically searched the living room. 

"Under your hat," I sighed. He couldn't hear me, of course. No one could. But it was still nice to pretend. Standing to my feet, I stepped forward, walking straight through the kitchen table. I shivered slightly at the sensation. It had been two months since I died and I still wasn't used to the freaky powers that came with being a ghost. 

"Under your hat," Julie echoed as she entered the room. Not that she had heard me say it. I hated being invisible to my family. I wanted nothing more than to hold them close and hug them tightly. But instead I had to go and die and turn into a freaking ghost. My younger sister was beautiful, her thick brown hair braided tightly against her head, showing her warm brown eyes. She was a year younger than me and it had killed me to watch her suffer after I died. Papa smiled gratefully at her when he moved his hat, finding them hiding underneath. 

"You are a life saver, Jules," he exclaimed, quickly scoffing down a piece of toast before grabbing his bag and heading out of the door. "I'll see you this afternoon, make sure Carlos gets to school on time, be safe," he said, Julie and I both zoning out as he continued to talk. I rolled my eyes, tapping my fingernails against the kitchen bench as I waited for him to finish his morning spiel. 

He finally finished talking and had driven away in the car for a long day of photo shoots. I followed Julie around the house as she got Carlos ready for school. Sorrow stabbed through me at the sight of her helping Carlos. It should've been me. It was always my job to help Julie and Carlos get ready for school but now Julie had to help Carlos. All because if my selfishness. Instead of joining Julie and Carlos on the bus, I simply poofed in to Julie's school. I had gone to this school and the only good thing that came of my death was escaping this place. Julie finally arrived and we walked to her locker. She had a red cap covering her face and I face palmed at the sight. Did she think that wearing a red cap inside a school would make her stand out less? It's just going to make it worse. Sometimes my sister's logic astounds me.   

Julie was grabbing her books with a solemn expression clouding her features as loud footsteps came closer to us. I turned to come face to face with Flynn - Julie's best friend. Her braids spilled across her shoulders, smile wide, highlighting her beautiful features. 

"Hey underachiever," she greeted. 

"Hey disappointment," Julie returned. The girls began to converse about Julie's performance today. Julie hadn't played music since Mom died and when I died she completely cut it out of her life. She wouldn't listen to music, play a single note or even hum. Julie had lost a part of herself and I was determined to help her get it back. Of course, it would be helpful if she could actually see me. 

"What's she handing out?" We all turned to look at Carrie Wilson who was dressed in her full highlighter outfit complete with the terrible quality wig. The girl was quite pretty when she wasn't wearing all of this shit but hey, if she likes it she likes it. 

"Desperation," I answered in unison with Julie. Carrie Wilson stalked over to the girls, offering them pieces of paper advertising her performance at the spirit rally. 

"Oh my god, thanks Carrie," Flynn said sarcastically. 

"Oh my god, Flynn, don't bother coming," Carrie returned. Gotta admit, that was good. Even if I hated the girl and her smug little smile and fluro hair, I couldn't deny that she could play the game annoyingly well. Carrie stalked off, Julie casting a longing glance at Carrie's boyfriend Nick. Still. It. Has. Been. A. Whole. Year. I wanted to scream. This crush of Julie's is not going away and she hasn't even had a decent conversation with the guy! The girls teased Carrie and Flynn joked about her and Nick before going off to their first class. I hoped Julie would play. She had to, or she would get kicked out of the music program. Sending a quick prayer for my sister, I hurried after the girls as the bell rang. School was in session. 

A/N : Writing tips are always welcome and the start is a little slow but once the boys arrive, the plot will begin to move a lot faster. I will be taking some creative liberties with the plot and borrowing some aspects from the show's plot line while creating new ones to add in. Feel free to point out typos in my writing. Also this chapter is really short, I promise they get a lot longer as the story goes on