You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 9

Even though Ray was a cool dad, he had his limits. Tomorrow was a school day, and so Flynn and Carrie had to go home. Julie said goodnight, and then immediately texted them to ask for a group FaceTime.

💋💋JFC💋💋

Jules🌺

SOS. 20 mins – just have to say nite to the guys and dad and then I'll call yous

Flynnie😈

JFC is backkkk🍾🍾🍾

Care💃🏼

Why did no one warn me Alex was gay! That was so embarrassing🤦🏼‍♀️

Flynnie😈

Girl literally the first thing he said to you was about your dancing.

Care💃🏼

...

Flynnie😈

Plus aren't you and Nick endgame?

Care💃🏼

Idk. He's been acting supes rando lately. Plus I'm trying to be a new me. The old me? I'm going to be Carrie 3.0.

Jules🌺

I see we're skipping 2.0 version.

Calling you guys now xo

Once the girls all connected online, Julie got their attention.

"Okay so Luke asked me out. At least I think he asked me out. He said it's a date. But like sometimes people say that but they don't mean it's a date. You know what I mean?"

"Okay Jules just walk us through what happened."

"Okay so he asked if we could hang out after school tomorrow. So at first I thought maybe it was a date. And then he said so we could find a job cause my dad said the guys need to get jobs if they're not going to be in school,"

"Wait – why would they not be in school?" Carried asked.

"Uh they graduated early in Sweden." Julie replied. "Anyway, so then I was thinking, not a date, right? But then he said that Alex and Reg had already figured out something so it would be just the two of us. Then I said okay and he said, and I quote, 'so then it's a date'"

"Okay I see how that is confusing." Flynn said. "What jobs did Alex and Reggie get?"

"Well see that's the other thing. Luke said that Reggie was going to see if my dad needed help at the studio. But you've seen how he acts around my dad. I'm like 1000% sure if they were going to be working together, Reggie would have told me by now. He probably would have made like a cake or something. And Luke didn't give any details about Alex, so yeah I don't know."

"Well the way I see it, there's still one more important question," Carrie said. Julie stared impatiently at Carrie, urging her to go on. "Do you want it to be a date?"

Julie didn't know what to say. She'd been replaying everything her tia had said to her earlier that day. And if someone had asked her if Luke was the one, she would have said yes. Her life would be incomplete without him in it. But at the same time...

"I don't want to ruin what we have. What happens if he doesn't think it's a date? And I show up expecting more than he is willing to give."

"But what he thinks it's a date and it's amazing?" Flynn nodded at Carrie's comment.

"Okay but what happens to the band if we break up? Or they leave me... and go back to Sweden?" Julie and Carrie were just becoming friends again. It seemed a little hasty to dump the whole 'my bandmates are actually ghosts not holograms who died 25 years ago after being in a band with your dad who then stole all of Luke's songs to become famous' thing after less than 12 hours of friendship.

The girls talked like this past midnight. You wouldn't think it could last that long, but every time Julie landed on one conclusion, she would flip back to the opposite point. After deciding it wasn't a full on date, but more of like an appetizer, they agreed to go to bed. But not before another half hour of picking out what Julie would wear on her appetizer-date. Julie felt more relieved. She just hoped she was on the same page as Luke.

***

"So if Julie asks, you guys have already figured out your jobs, kay?" Luke had sat Alex and Reggie down to fill them in on what had happened with Julie. He was tired of pretending that he didn't care about Julie, and, well, this was his first date in 25 years. He could use all the help he could get.

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to, you know, ask her out like a normal person?"

Alex made a fair point. The date hadn't even happened yet and he already felt like he had messed up. Luke flopped down on his couch in the studio. Even though Ray had set up rooms for them in the house, they still felt more comfortable out here.

What did girls even expect on a date these days? Could dating have changed that much in the past 25 years. Not that Luke had a ton of experience. He had never dated anyone seriously – he found that girls were always too clingy and didn't get how important the band was. Not like Julie. Julie shared the same passion as Luke did, as they all did. And if anything, he was the clingy one now. Without Julie, he had nothing. He was nothing. Literally. Well maybe figuratively? They still didn't know what to call themselves. Ghosts? Lifers? Musician spirits?

"Ahem. Luke, there is something I think we need to talk about."

"What's up Reg?"

"Well as Julie's older brothers, you know, we have to like, intimidate you so you don't hurt her or anything."

"I mean, I don't know where he's going with this, but I agree. We all love Julie, but you know we'd pick her over you. So don't make us have to pick." Reggie threw his arm over Alex's shoulder, delighted that he agreed to play protective big brother with him.

Luke rolled his eyes but nodded. The guys were right. Julie was important to all of them, and Luke couldn't afford to mess this up. If he hadn't already. Suddenly Luke was doubting himself. Had he ruined everything by asking Julie out? What if she felt pressured to say yes, but didn't actually want to go out? He might have not listened to everything his mom had said to him, but she did make sure that Luke knew to respect women and that forcing them into anything was not okay. Oh god. When Julie ignored him during Edge of Great, not only did it make him feel horrible, but part of their success as a band was their chemistry. Was this going to be the future of the band?

"Dude. You look like you just ate a bad hot dog. Are you okay?" Reggie was getting concerned. Luke had been having crazy eyes for the past 15 minutes. Luke didn't respond.

"Luke. Luke? Luke!" Luke shook out of his trance at Alex's yells.

"Um right. I guess I was just thinking about how big of a deal this could be if it doesn't work out. So you know, no pressure right?" Luke was trying to lighten the mood, but seemed to be failing terribly.

Reggie put his hands on Luke's shoulders. "It's one date man. You're not asking her to marry you. Just chillax."

Reggie was right. It didn't happen very often, but now was one of those times. Though strangely, when Luke pictured the idea of marrying Julie, it calmed him down rather than make him anxious. No time to dwell on that now though.

Sensing that Luke had calmed down, Alex went to poof back to the house and their bedrooms. "Come on guys, we should go to sleep. I don't want to be lying to Julie, so we should actually try to find jobs tomorrow while she's at school."

"Do you think they have any jobs where I can eat pizza and play with puppies? Cause that would be the best I think!" Reggie asked excitedly.

Luke smiled at his friends before they poofed out. They could drive him crazy at times, but they were his brothers and he loved them.