You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 24

Julie would later regret her next question – or maybe regret not asking it sooner, if she could have gone back in time, she would have told herself to focus on that current, precious moment. When they were all happy, and all laughing. When they were all together.

"So, Reggie, Alex, what did you have to tell us that was so urgent?" Julie asked, looking expectantly at the boys. She figured Reggie wanted to talk about Butter, and Alex probably had boy talk.

Alex and Reggie shared a glance.

"Listen, Julie it's probably not a big deal," Alex started to say. "But, um Carlos never came home from school."

Julie didn't realize she had been holding her breath after Alex started talking. "Seriously? Guys that's not a big deal. He is probably just with a friend or something." Reggie immediately smiled whereas Alex still looked concerned.

"Right... okay I guess we were just overreacting. Uh, Luke, don't you have to go to work now?"

Luke checked his watch and his eyes bulged. "Shoot, Jules he's right. I gotta go! But we'll talk later? We've got a date to plan, and this time, nothing and no one is going to ruin that!" He looked to Reggie and Alex, "Do you guys need a ride to work?" They both shook their heads and said how they didn't have work tonight. Luke gave Julie a quick peck on the cheek, which in turn made Julie blush. Luke hopped back in the car, and sounds of Rush faded as he drove away.

Julie looked back at Reggie and Alex. "Soooooo who is Sam? Do you have a crush Reginald?"

"Who me? No. Nope. No way." Alex and Julie looked at Reggie with their arms folded. "Okay. Maybe. Yes. Absolutely. I don't think she notices me though. Well I mean technically she does because she doesn't walk through me. Hey remember when people would walk right through us? That was weird. It felt like we were Jell-O. Do people still put weird thing in Jell-O? My mom used to make this gross Jell-O tomato salad. It would jiggle all over the place. Super weird." Reggie stared at Alex and Julie with wholesome eyes.

Julie smiled back at Reggie. "Reggie, don't ever change."

"I mean I died, and then became a ghost, and now I don't know what I am, but I think that's enough change for a life time. Or after life time."

***

Julie was in her room doing homework when there was a knock on her door. "Come in!"

"Hi Mija," said Ray. "Have you heard from Carlos? It's almost dinner time and he hasn't checked in with me."

Julie knew she had to cover for Carlos. The family rule was you had to check in with Dad before going to a friend's house or something like that.

"Oh yeah, sorry for not telling you earlier Papi! It must have slipped my mind. Carlos called the house before you got home and said he was going to..." Shoot – Julie was blanking on the names of Carlos' friends. "Mark's house. They have a big project or something." While Julie felt like she was pretty smooth with her lie, it did make her a little anxious that no one had seen Carlos. Sure he was a smart kid, he discovered that the guys were ghosts, but he was still a kid. He shouldn't be out without letting someone know where he was going.

"Who is Mark?"

Double shoot. "Oh you know, Mark. Marky Mark. The Markster. Um he's in... science with Carlos."

Ray was puzzled. He thought he knew names of all of Carlos' classmates. "Carlos knows the rules. I'm going to call him again"

"NO!" Ray gave Julie a funny look. "I mean, no Papi. I promised him I would tell you, so it's my fault. He seemed really uh stressed about the project and he knows how important grades are so um he was nervous. I think he left it to the last minute and didn't want to get in trouble with you." Again, Julie felt bad about lying to her father, but now really felt like she needed to handle this situation on her own. She would be in trouble if her dad found that she had lied to him again. He'd probably tell her she needed to quit the band!

Ray looked at Julie with wonder. She was still a teenager, yet she had been forced to take on the role of parent after Rose died. Ray had lost himself in grief. Luckily it wasn't for very long, but Julie had taken care of all of them in those first weeks. She had pushed her sadness down and looked after Carlos when Ray couldn't. Ray suspected that she had given up music because she hadn't allowed herself to initially grieve the death of her mother. Ray knew he should be upset with Carlos, but Julie's love for her brother made his heart soften, and he decided to let it go. He wrapped Julie in a big papa bear hug, and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Thank-you Mija."

Julie looked up confused. "What do you mean Papi?"

"Thank-you for being such a great big sister. Sometimes I forget that you're still my little girl." He smiled at Julie. "In fact, I think you deserve a break. Why don't you go out yourself? Maybe have some fun with Flynn and Carrie? Carlos is out, and I'm going to be busy with work. Invite the girls over, order a pizza, and have a sleep over. I'll head back to the office to give you some space. But remember, no boys in your room! That goes for Flynn and Carrie too!"

Julie was definitely not in a mood for forced fun, but she hurriedly agreed. She needed her dad to leave and not worry about her or Carlos. And more importantly, she needed to figure out where Carlos was. Logically, she knew that he probably wasn't in danger at all. But a few months ago, she would have said logically, ghosts don't exist. She wasn't sure if anything was really that logical anymore.