"and they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused / 'cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used"
--
Josephine "Jo" Newton is the rhythm guitarist for Caleb Covington's legendary house band at the Hollywood Ghost Club. Playing her in...
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Later in the night, Jo and Lina rejoined the quartet of boys, Willie now alongside them. The bandmates still seemed to be stuffing their faces, having eaten for the first time in twenty-five years.
"Reggie, are you kissing that meatball sub?" Jo questioned.
"It's what you do with the things you love," he explained, a moment later, after everyone had looked away, winking in Jo's direction. She rolled her eyes, but smiled, so Reggie considered his mission accomplished.
"I take it you're all enjoying the feast?" Caleb said, having taken up a spot on the stage. The crowd applauded loudly. "So many delicious tastes, so many tantalizing sounds, but! Your eyes still hunger for more. Something sweet!" The crowd yelled in agreement. "Something... savory. How many newcomers do we have in the club tonight?"
The boys' hands went up along with a few others in the crowd.
"Ladies... let's show our guests how we do dessert," Caleb said, causing the band to jump into loud swing music as the dancers performed exuberantly. Caleb scatted alongside the introduction before singing into a reprise of the earlier song.
Lina and Willie encouraged the boys to sing along with the harmony. A moment later, Willie stood and Lina followed, pulling Jo along with her, into the fray of dancers. Jo got wrapped up in the excitement of the floor and the stage, as she always did, and followed along with the choreography and the lyrics enthusiastically.
"So welcome to the brotherhood where you won't be misunderstood!" they all sang. "Life is good on the other side of Hollywood!"
The boys were pulled up from the table and Caleb spun the girls into Luke and Reggie's arms. "I should warn you, I'm very gay!" Lina yelled over the music to reach Luke's ears.
He shrugged. "I'm still down for a dance."
Reggie's hands immediately found a spot on either side of Jo's waist as she laughed from the adrenaline of the moment, her arms eventually resting around his neck. Reggie carefully moved one of her hands out to the side as their faces hovered close, stepping across the floor rhythmically.
Jo smiled as she led Reggie across the floor to the last repetitions of Caleb's tagline, eventually spinning him back towards her as they both laughed. The rest of the crowd turned to Caleb and applauded, but Reggie and Jo stayed at their close proximity, breathing heavily from the swing.
"You're... a great dancer," Reggie told her quietly.
"You're not so bad yourself. Could use a little help, though," she joked.
Reggie held his chest as if she'd wounded him. "You're cold, Jo."
"Well, I seem to remember leading the whole time!" she laughed.
The clock chimed above them. "Oh! The haunting hour is upon us!" Caleb announced, the performers ooh-ing in response before the music kicked back up.
