Don't tell me how to ghost

Chapter 3

Lucy's POV

We appear in a very familiar place. 

"Woah, how'd we get back here?" Luke asked just as a girl started screaming.

Then we start screaming, and the girl runs out, arms flailing.

"What's going on?!?" Alex half-screams "I don't know, but it seems pretty cool" Reggie, being himself, said "Not cool!" me and Alex said in unison.

 "Guys, come on stop panicking, there's got to be a reasonable explanation for all this," Luke said, trying to be the bigger person.

"Since when has there ever been a reasonable explanation, I mean we're teenagers, nothing normal ever happens"I say.

Just as Luke was about to reply, the girl came back, holding a cross.

 "Are you still here...whatever you are? I know I saw something. I'm not crazy."

"Well we're all a little crazy" 'Smooth move Lukas Patterson.' I think to myself.

The girl turns around, and starts screaming, "Oh my god, please stop screaming!" Alex asks, half-yelling. 

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my mom's studio?"

"Your mom's studio? This is our studio. Trust me, my... the grand piano is new, and... and... and" Luke goes on. 

"My couch!" Luke sighs happily, going over to sit on it, but he stands up 'Huh, weird, Luke can never get off 'his' couch, something must be wrong'

"That is definitely not my six-string." 'Ahh, that explains it...I guess'

"Can you give me just one second? Just... give me a second. Thank you."

We all huddle up together, making a group circle "Guys, what is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?" Luke asks. 

"Maybe... maybe she's a witch. There's chairs floating on the ceiling." Reggie suggests.

"OK, there is no such thing as witches." Alex says, clearly frustrated with Reggie.

"You sure? I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts." he replies.

"That's fair." Alex says, plainly.

"OK, so we're going with witch?" Luke asks 'That idiot.'  I think to myself.

"No! We are not going with witch. She's not a witch. OK, look. She's just scared. OK? Let someone with a softer touch handle this."

Alex moves away from us and looks at the girl,  "Why are you in our studio?"

'Jeez, Alex, that was not gentle at all'

The girl sticks her hand through Alex's abdomen.

"Huh? Oh my gosh, how did you do that?!?"

"Clearly, you're not understanding... She doesn't get it. OK, look. We're ghosts, all right? We're just four ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So, thank you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room."

"We're in a band called Sunset Curve." Luke explains
"Tell your friends." Reggie said.

"Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change our lives." Luke says

"I'm, uh... I'm pretty sure it did." Alex sighs.

"This is freaking me out." The girl says.

"What is that? What are you doing?" Alex asks.

"It's my phone." The girl answers "No! Stop talking to them. They aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts." 'Hey, I'm real!'

"Oh, you think we're cute?" Reggie says flirtatiously 'Reggie, if I could fix your brain I would!' 

"Who you calling?" Alex asks

"I'm Googling Sunset Swerve." 'G-g-googling?'

"Sunset Curve!" We all shout in unison, correcting the girl. 

"Whoa. There is a Sunset Curve. You did die, but not last night." The girl said, opened mouthed.

"Twenty-five years ago? What? No. No, no, no. Th-Th-That's impossible." Alex panicked

"After we floated out of the ambulance, all we did was go to that weird, dark room where Alex cried." Reggie

"Well... I don't think... I think we were all pretty upset. OK." Alex replied, in a high-pitched tone.

"But that was just for like an hour." Luke said.

"We just showed up here." Alex replied

"Look. I'm just telling you what my phone says. See? You died in 1995. When you were 17. It's now 2020." The girl shoved her phone at us.

"So, this is the future?" Reggie asked

"Wait. So... So, it has been 25 years. I have been crying for 25 years? How is that possible?" Alex asked, as confused as ever

"Well, you're a very emotional person." Reggie tried to but in,
"I am not!" But Alex refused to believe it.

"Thought you were afraid to come out here." A boy walked in, about 10 years old,

"You talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?"

"He can see you." Alex punched Reggie playfully.
"No, he can't." The girl said, clearly missing the point.

"What?" The boy asked

"Uh... What do you want?" The girl asked

"A normal sister, for starters. Stop being weird and come eat." The boy replied

"He couldn't see you." The girl said, with a blank face.

"Yeah. I mean, that's... usually how ghosts work." Alex tried to explain.

"Hmm." Reggie replied in agreement.

The girl sighed

"Look, I'm very sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn't your studio anymore. You have to leave." The girl said, clearly frustrated

"But wait. We... we didn't get your name." 

"It's Julie." Julie replied coldly.

"Cool. I-I'm Luke, by... by the way. And this is.."

"Reggie. I'm Reggie." Reggie replies.

"I'm Lucy, Reggie's cousin" I say.

"Hey. Alex. How's it going? Ba-da." 'Ba-da?'

"OK?" Julie walks out.