You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 16

Well shoot. Alex couldn't just leave it alone now. Julie obviously hadn't seen this note, and even if she had, it took Alex years to read Luke's horrible handwriting, how could Julie have possibly understood it?

Alex wasn't one to brag, but he was pretty good at art, which meant he had become pretty good at copying people's handwriting. Knowing that he was safe to do so as Julie was asleep in the basement, Alex snuck over to Julie's dream box. "I'm doing this in the name of love." There. Conscious cleared. He pulled out the top piece of paper. "Perfect Harmony. Cute name." He studied Julie's handwriting for a few moments, and then took a fresh piece of paper. It took him a few tries, but eventually felt good enough about what he wrote. Before he went to sneak it under Luke's door, he took one more look at it.

Luke,

I went to the café because I wanted to make things right between us. I hadn't seen your note till I got home. Can we talk tomorrow?

Julie xo

Was the xo a little much? He didn't think so. Plus, Julie definitely wanted to xo him, so what was the harm?

*** The Next Day ***

When Julie awoke, it took a moment for her to register where she was. Everything came flooding back to her, including both the sadness from her interaction with Luke as well as the excitement for seeing Jax again tonight. It was only 6:00am, so trying to be as quiet as she could, Julie snuck up the stairs to her own room. Right as she was about to open her door, Luke came out of his room. He certainly seemed in a much better mood than last night.

"Hey Jules"

"Luke? Why are you up right now? Don't you normally like to sleep in?"

"Downside to being the newbie at the café – I get the early morning and late night shifts. But hey, let's talk when I get home from work. Um, sorry we didn't get to chat last night. I guess I just misunderstood. But yeah, we've got a lot to talk about I guess." Before he could overthink it, Luke gave a quick kiss on her cheek and headed to work.

Julie flung her door open and jumped onto her bed where Alex was sleeping.

"ARGGGH! JULIE!"

"Oh shut up Alex! The craziest thing just happened! Luke wants to talk now and he kissed me before he left for work!" Alex's jaw dropped. "Okay well it was a just a kiss on the cheek, but still!"

Not gonna lie. Alex felt pretty good about himself. He had just successfully fixed everything with three sentences. Not that he was going to tell Julie that. "Well that's great Julie! I guess he just needed to sleep on it." And also have me solve your communication problems but whatever 🤷🏼‍♂️ "And Julie, I'm happy for you and everything, but I don't start work for another 5 hours, so I was planning on sleeping for at least another 4. Sooo..."

Julie laughed and reminded him that they were in her bed, so he could kindly poof out to go sleep in his own room. Julie however had no intentions of going back to sleep. She had her plans, and was going to make today the best day. She spent time doing her make-up, styling her hair just right, and picking out a bomb outfit. She then went downstairs to make breakfast, and because she was in a loving mood, made enough for everyone.

She next texted Carrie to pick her up so she could fill her in on all the details from the past few days. By the time they got to school, Flynn was waiting in the parking lot. Julie finished off by telling them about reconnecting with Jax and Luke's kiss this morning.

"Okay, Flynn that's it. After school we are so going to this café. Julie has already found 2 good looking guys there. She needs to share the wealth" Carrie linked her arms with Flynn to confirm the plan.

"Well let me just remind you that I did know them both before I saw them at the café, but you do you girl."

You know those days, when school is practically a joke because nothing happens? This was not one of those days. From presentations, pop quizzes, and prepping for exams, the day was hectic. Julie finally got a break at lunch when she saw she had a new text from an unknown number.

(213) 555-1234

Hey Jules! It's Jax. It was so great seeing you again last night.

I know we had said we would go out tonight, but I'm meeting up with some old friends at a house party. Could I pick you up after school and we could go grab a coffee or something?

With all the school work Julie had, the idea of a break between hours of homework sounded amazing. She texted Jax back right away to say she would be waiting for him outside the school shortly after 3.

Luckily, Julie's afternoon classes went better. Plus she had study hall so she was able to get a bit ahead of schedule. Normally she would have spent that class day dreaming about Lu... song lyrics. Definitely song lyrics. But she knew she would be kicking herself later if she wasted the period now.

As soon as the final bell rang, Julie rushed to her locker. Honestly she was grateful that Jax was going to be picking her up because her backpack currently had about seven textbooks and was so heavy. She yelled by to the girls as she went outside to wait for Jax. She didn't have to wait long though as he was already sitting outside the school on the hood of his car. She noticed a few girls, and boys, were checking him out. He admittedly looked pretty cool. When Jax saw her come out of the school he jogged over to her, gave her another massive swinging hug, and grabbed her bag like it weighed nothing.

"Okay Jules – you ready for a jam packed good time that comes complete with deep meaningful catch ups? We've got about 10 years to make up for in one day?"

"One day? I thought you said you moved back? You're leaving already?" Julie couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"No, but I want to start making new memories with you, not just hearing about what you've been up to in the past decade. Now c'mon girl! You look like you could use some fun!" She couldn't help but giggle. Jax always had made her smile, and she was so happy to see that hadn't changed.

"Okay JJ. Where are we going to have this amazing time?"

"Don't worry Jules. I've got it all planned. First, ice cream on the boardwalk. Next, I kick your butt at games at the arcade, followed by hot dogs on the beach." Is it bad that Julie really wanted a hot dog? She had pretty much given them up once she met the guys, but the idea of having one without feeling guilty just was so enticing.

"I'll hand it to you. That does sound pretty awesome. But I'd like to make one modification."

"Okay?"

"I'm going to be kicking your butt at the arcade!" Jax barked out a laugh as they drove away from the school.