Their Second Chance

After the Orpheum

Chapter 1

Julie

I can't believe that I am touching them- that they are solid underneath my fingers. This shouldn't be possible, and yet, here we are hugging each other close and laughing. I mean, I guess having three ghosts fall out of thin air and being able to play music with them shouldn't be possible either. I have learned as of late that anything is possible.

I wipe the tears from my face and sneak another glance at Luke, who is already looking at me.

"So what does all of this mean? I mean yes, the band is back, but... does this mean you get to... stay?"

I can't help but sound cautiously optimistic. It may be selfish, but I don't want to lose them too. I have lost so much already, and they have ironically brought so much life back into my soul. I can't imagine my world without them in it.

Alex starts to pace a little, which tells me that he is starting to overthink it and stress himself out. Luke is the first to speak up.

"I have no idea. All I know is that I have never felt this... ALIVE before."

Reggie tosses himself onto the leather sofa with a smile on his face.

"Well I'm ok with that! Who knows what would have been on the other side anyways? At least now we have each other." He pauses for a moment as a thought passes through his mind. "Dude... do you guys think that now that we can touch things we can also eat pizza again? Julie, we should totally order a pizza!"

I give Reggie a loving "seriously?" glare with a small smile on my lips so he knows that I am just teasing with him when I say, "Reg, seriously? It's like Midnight. No pizza place is going to deliver a pizza at this hour."

Luke interjects, "Yeah, and besides, we can save that for another day. To be honest, I kind of just want to sit and enjoy this moment with you guys. We just did something we NEVER thought that we would do. It might not have been our unfinished business, but it was still a really EPIC night. And the fact that we are still here, together, and we don't have to worry about just going..." Luke slices his finger across his neck. "I just kind of think that is a win for tonight."

Alex nods his head. "You have a good point. I mean, I would still really like to know what the heck is going on. Now would be a FANTASTIC time for that ghost manual, but... yeah, it was great night." He looks over at me as a small smile plays on his lips. "And Jules, you give the best hugs. Unlike SOME people," He finishes with a tone as he glares accusingly at Luke and Reggie.

Luke laughs and holds up his hands in defeat. "Hey, I give GREAT hugs thank you. Just ask Julie," He teases with a little wink in my direction as if we are conspiring together.

"But seriously," Alex interjects, going back to the topic at hand. "Do you think we can feel Julie now because she's like a part of us or something? And how does that have anything to do with Caleb's stamp? Do you think Willie knew that could happen?"

I tentatively reach out and touch Alex's shoulder. It's still surreal to me that I can feel him. "Hey, we'll figure it all out. I promise. Don't let yourself get too caught up in here," I say as I tap on the side of his head.

I sit down in the bean bag chair near the drum set and sigh. I'm still trying to piece everything together myself. My heart wants to explode with happiness that they are still here, but I can't help but feel the same trepidation that Alex is feeling.  I know we are all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Luke sits down next to me, leaning on the other side of the bean bag chair. My mind wanders, and I start to think about how I could technically run my fingers through his hair right now if I wanted to...No Julie. Now is NOT the time to be thinking about these things. Focus!