Stupid Deep (Julie and the Phantoms)

07

[Emily's outfit above]

Julie yelled at Luke, who'd returned to the box like a curious puppy, "Oh, my gosh! I thought I told you to leave that alone!"

"I know," Luke replied. "You just should've said nothing, 'cause now I can't stop thinking about it, so... What's in the box, Julie?"

"It's just my dream box, okay? Whenever I get a thought, I write it down and get it out of my mind."

"Like lyrics?"

"They would be if I still wrote music like I used to with my mom. Now it's just full of stuff that doesn't make me sad, as is hers."

Alex stood and said, "But I mean, you do play. We heard you this morning." Luke and Reggie glared at him and Luke swatted Alex's chest.

"In the garage? So you were there too?"

"Uh... I don't..." Alex began.

Reggie turned to Alex. "Uh... he was, like..."

"We were..."

"Somewhere."

Luke, who'd moved to lay on Julie's bed, held his head up with his hand and asked, "So where is your kitchen, by the way?"

"Okay, we need to set some boundaries," Julie told them. "For starters, stay out of my room! The only one allowed in is Emily!" She pointed to the door.

The boys shot up. "Mm-hmm. Crystal clear. Let's go."

"We're leaving," Reggie said. "Yes, ma'am! We are out of here."

"Okay."

The three ran towards the door.

Alex popped his head back in and said, "Hey. Um, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. Did you two get back into your music program?"

"No. No, I didn't," Julie and Emily replied as they looked down.

"I'm sorry. That really sucks."

"Thanks."

Alex glanced up and the girls asked, "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Yeah. This is getting weird."

Julie and Emily waved at him.

"Okay," Alex stated as he disappeared.

Emily glanced at Julie. "Well, this is interesting. A ghost band only we can see and everyone can hear play."

Julie nodded. "That's one word for it. I'm going to see what my dad is doing."

"I'll join since my house is empty."

---

Julie and Emily made their way downstairs. Carlos was laying on the couch playing a video game and Julie's father was sitting on his laptop as he looked at pictures.

"Hey, Dad," Julie greeted as she and Emily entered the living room. "What'cha working on?" She pocketed her hands and Emily folded her hands.

"Well, now that the house is on the market, we need to add some photos to the website," Ray replied, ushering Emily and Julie over. "Help me pick some good ones."

Julie and Emily walked over and as Julie passed her brother, she moved his foot and he shot her an annoyed look.

Julie and Emily stood on either side of Ray as he showed them the photos and said, "Got this batch right here."

"These are really nice," Julie told her father.

"Yeah?"

Julie and Reyna chuckled. "Yeah."