𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟏𝟗 | 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡

A wave of silence covered the room. I mean, who was I? Why was I there? None of us really had an answer for that. Sure, we didn't have an explanation for why the guys were there either, but their description was more straight forward than mine ; they were a ghost band. Me? I was a ghost that just happened to ghost alongside them.

"Oh, me?" I pointed at myself. "I'm Ruth."

I stood up from the couch and made my way over to Flynn to shake her hand, only for that plan to fall through. Literally. My hand went right through hers.

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "You're a ghost too!"

"I am," I pursed my lips.

"Touchy subject," Reggie whispered.

Flynn gathered herself. "So, you're ... ?"

Flynn waited for me to finish her sentence - we all waited, in fact - but how was I supposed to finish that? Ruth? No, she already knew that. A ghost? Nope, that had also been clarified. Did she expect me to be a musician or something? I could barely whack a triangle.

Just before the silence became a bit too deafening, Julie brought her hands together enthusiastically.

"Ruth, here, also happens to be," Julie gestured to Luke. "Luke's girlfriend!"

"I knew it!" Flynn exclaimed.

I felt my cheeks go red, which was weird because I was pretty sure ghosts didn't exactly have blood. I could not bring myself to look at Luke, but I saw Alex and Reggie exchange surprised looks.

Flynn pointed an accusing finger at Luke. "I saw the way you looked at her!" She turned to me. "And the way you looked at him!"

I saw Alex whisper something to Reggie that made them both chuckle and made a mental note to ask them about it later.

"How cute!" Flynn clapped enthusiastically. "You two are so my new OTP!"

"What does that - "

"We'll have plenty of time to catch up on internet slang later," Julie said cutting off Luke. "For now, let's give these lovebirds some alone time."

With that, Julie guided Flynn out of the garage. As soon as they were out of range, Alex turned to look between Luke and I.

"Congratulations, guys!" He chimed.

"Yeah, we literally had no idea!" Reggie beamed.

"Shut up!" Luke threw his pick in their direction.

"Whoa!" Alex mocked his aggression. "Easy there, Lover Boy!"

As the boys chased each other around the garage, I decided to get some air ... whether I could feel it or not.

———

The night sky had completely taken over and I was still sitting on the roof of the garage.

It wasn't easy trying to figure out why I was a ghost. At least the guys knew it had something to do with each other and their music, but me? Who knows! Or maybe it was the hot dogs. Yeah, that would explain a lot. Maybe they had some kind of magical abilities.

My extremely productive train of thought was interrupted by a whirring noise beside me. It was Luke, of course.

"Not now," I pressed my palms into my face.

"Still thinking about earlier?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Me too."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"What?"

"You're also questioning my existence?" I asked.

"What? No!"

"Then what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," He shrugged.

"No way," I teased. "You're totally thinking about the whole boyfriend thing."

"What? No, I - "

"You know, there are worse things in the world than being my boyfriend," I joked.

Luke paused. "I know."

We sat in silence for a moment, staring up at the stars. Every now and then a cloud would pass by and cover them briefly, only for them to reappear much brighter when it passed.

"That wasn't what I was talking about," Luke said out of nowhere.

"Oh?" I chuckled teasingly. "What was it then?"

Luke paused, as if he was contemplating what he was going to say next. "Never mind."

"No, you have to say it now," I encouraged. "Don't leave me hanging."

"Nothing it's just," Luke let out a small smile. "I saw you blushing earlier. You look cute when you blush."

"I do not!" I blushed. "Blush, I mean. I do not blush!"

"So, what are you doing right now exactly?"

"It's cold up here."

"Oh, is it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, would you like my hoodie, girlfriend?" Luke said mockingly.

"No," I pouted.

"So, you're not cold?"

"I am."

"Then take it."

"No."

"Here just - "

Luke took off his hoodie and handed it to me. When I refused to take it, he wrapped the arms around my shoulders and tied a loose knot.

"Are you cold now?" Luke asked.

"No," I gave in.

"Problem solved."

"Not entirely," I looked up at him.

"What? I don't have anymore clothes to spare," Luke laughed.

"It's not that," I squinted my eyes. "I don't think that was what you were going to tell me."

Luke gulped.