Believer // Julie and the Phantoms

20

"Thank you," Emily said as she held the paper to her heart, letting sobs escape her lips.

"You have no idea," Mitch told Julie.

Julie smiled. "I write music in the same room that he did, and I can tell you that it's a magical, happy place." The two adults chuckled.

"That's nice to know."

"I know he was only 17 when he -- but he lived doing the one thing he was born to do. Not many people find that, but Luke did. He was so lucky."

Luke poofed away.

Julie smiled. "It was so nice to meet you."

"It was nice to meet you, too," Mitch replied.

Julie left the house and looked for Luke, but he was gone.

OUTSIDE JULIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

"Hey," Julie greeted.

"Hey," Luke replied.

"I'm sorry for overstepping."

Luke moved from the pillar and closer to Julie. "No, I... I just had to leave. That was..."

"You don't have to say anything."

"Yeah, I do. I don't know if he has anything to explain, but I do. Uh... I didn't have many regrets in my life except for running out on my parents. Especially my mom, so... thank you."

"You helped me feel more connected to my mom, so... I wanted to do the same thing for you."

Julie and Luke tried to hold hands, but hers went through his.

Luke let out a sigh. "This is an interesting little relationship you and I have."

Julie chuckled lightly. "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to tell you. Flynn said the video that my dad made is trending on YouTube." Luke stared at her, confused. "That's a good thing. That means people love our music. We'll definitely be getting calls from managers now."

"There's something I have to tell you."

"Oh... Okay."

"We figured out that we have unfinished business. That's why we came back as ghosts."

"Oh. What is it?"

"We have to play the show we never got to play."

"At the Orpheum; that makes sense," Julie said as Luke was jolted back.

Luke yelled in pain and groaned before saying, "Julie, we don't have a lot of time. You gotta help us."

Julie frowned. "What was that? Are you okay?"

"We did something we shouldn't have. The night that we missed the dance, we met this ghost and he put a curse on us. And if we don't do what he says, the jolt will destroy us. For good."

"Well then you gotta do what he says! What does he want?"

"He wants us to be in his house band for eternity. But if we can play the Orpheum soon, then we can avoid all of that and actually cross over."

""Cross over"? As in like what? Go to Heaven?"

"That's what we're banking on."

"So it's either you cross over, be in his band for eternity, or be destroyed by jolts?"

"Yeah."

"That's just great."

"Julie-"

Julie walked into her house.

---

A knock on the door sounded and Flynn said, "Hey. I got your text."

"Don't come too close," Julie muttered. "Anyone I seem to care about disappears."

"You can't get rid of me. I'm like the crazy glue of best friends."

Julie frowned. "I just don't get it. Right when my life starts to get good. Great friend, great band, great guy... then bam!" She showed a picture of something imploding.

"I seriously don't know why this is happening to you, but that's gonna be a great album cover one day." She knelt next to a trunk of clothes and folded Julie's sweater.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I get to check out all your mom's cool stuff."

She looked through the trunk. "Whoa... Did you know this was in here?" She held up a bedazzled Sunset Curve shirt from Julie's mom's stuff.

Julie scoffed. "What the heck?"

"How do you think she got it?" Flynn wondered.

"I... I don't know, but the guys said they didn't know my mom. Why would they lie?"

"Maybe they didn't. Maybe she knew them. She could be a fan!"

"I mean, Sunset Curve was playing the Hollywood scene around then," Julie replied.

"Oh my gosh. What if you were right? What if the guys are connected to your mom? You know, through music or something."

Julie frowned. "Because she bought their T-shirt?"

Flynn looked at her friend. "Think about it. They were the ones who made you wanna play music again. Maybe she knew they could help you."

"So, you mean to tell me that my mom is somewhere out there planning all this? If she wanted me to play music again, why wouldn't she just tell me herself?"

"Maybe she can't. Maybe she has to do it another way. You know, through signs. You've been through these clothes how many times and haven't found this T-shirt?"

"Why now?"

"This is another sign."

"I'm just saying."

"It's not over, Julie!"

"Really? "Signs"?"

"You're in a ghost band. It's a crazy world. Look... you're gonna lose them no matter what. And it sucks. But they helped bring you back to life. Now it's your turn to help them. They have to cross over. Let them go."

---

The three ghosts sat in the garage. Reggie plucked on his bass strings while Alex tried to balance his sticks on his nose. Luke was laying in front of the couch.

Julie entered the garage and studied the mess before saying, "Snap out of it!"

Alex grunted and fell to the floor. One of his drumsticks flew into the air.

Reggie looked at him and stopped plucking his strings before saying, "Jeez, I think you broke Alex."

Julie looked between them. "Do you guys wanna cross over or what?" Luke pushed Alex back onto the couch. "Get it together!" She clapped.

"They're never gonna let us play the Orpheum," Luke said.

"We're nobody," Alex added.

"We're less than nobody," Reggie corrected. "We have no bodies." Luke snapped, pointing to Reggie.

Julie frowned. "Someone once told me that you don't ask for permission. You book gigs by doing."

Reggie smirked. "That was me."

"No, it wasn't," Julie and Luke said.

"Yes it was."

"This isn't over!" Julie exclaimed. "We were brought together for a reason! To help each other!"

"Yeah, but like Luke said, people don't just play the Orpheum 'cause they want to," Alex reminded them.

"Yeah," Luke agreed.

Julie smiled. "People don't, but ghosts do."

The four shared a look.