Rekindling Passion (JuliexLuke)

Chapter 1: The Concert at the Party - Julie POV

"Julie c'mon already!" Flynn pulls Julie along, practically dragging her up to the mansion-like home that belonged to none other than their ex-best friend—Carrie Wilson. "I know this isn't where you wanna be right now but you've got to get over yourself!!" Her voice softens when she sees the annoyed look on her friend's face. "You need this."

"Ugh, Flynn." Julie stops, looking up at the gigantic house. The colorful lights and booming music overwhelm her, proving exactly what she already knows—this isn't her scene. But one glance at Flynn's face and she knows that the girl is just trying to get her to come out of her shell. It's almost been a year since her mom passed, and she was sick of everyone looking at her like she was gonna break at any second. She wasn't fragile, she just felt like it hadn't processed completely. When it happened, she'd cried for days, barely eating, ignoring everyone, and going completely deaf to any music. Music had been the tether that tied Julie and her mom together. They spent hours, days, writing songs and composing melodies. It was too painful to remember. Out of her whole family, Julie definitely took her mom's death the hardest, and she hadn't quite figured out to be normal again. Her life was flipped practically upside down, and she just wasn't sure it was right side up yet.

"Fine. I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Julie finally said, wondering how good this could possibly go. "Why did we come again?"
"She did invite us...and even though it was probably to shove her popularity in our faces, it's a party, so c'mon!" Flynn led Julie up to the front door and marched right into the mansion. As the duo walked through the loud house, Flynn shouted to her over the music. "Did you know that those four guys from music class are playing tonight?!!"

"What!!" Julie yelled, following her best friend. "Didn't they name themselves Sunset Swerve or something!!"

"Yeah!!! It's no wonder Miss Perfect invited them with the way all the girls at school fawn over them!! I think they're playing out back!! C'mon!!" Flynn grabbed Julie's hand and pulled her through the crowd of dancing people.

They walk out the sliding glass doors and around the pool to the large grassy field behind Carrie's house. A small crowd of students bustle around talking and joking loudly. Almost everyone has a red solo cup in their hand, and Julie has to think that there must be alcohol in them. Near the crowd, a small platform has been set up with musical equipment like microphones, amps, and a drum set with the words Sunset Curve painted on it messily.

Julie spots the four boys Flynn mentioned earlier. She knows who they are, but only by reputation. There's Alex Mercer, the drummer. He's tall, blond, with fluffy hair and salty grey eyes. He's pretty quiet compared to the other three and seems to have the most common sense out of the four. The boy himself is currently checking his drums, tapping them softly in a perfect rhythm. She can see his drumsticks sticking out of his back pocket.

One of his friends, Reggie, calls to him from the side of the platform. They talk quickly, gesturing to the stage and the crowd. Julie watches Reggie. He has raven black hair and never wears anything but black and red. His bass guitar is red too and at some point Julie decided that res is most definitely his favorite color. Despite the black clothes, Reggie is something like a Labrador puppy, a goofy airhead, who, despite lacking common sense, seems to be passing all his classes. His personality is all sunshine and rainbows. Flynn thinks she doesn't know, but Julie's seen the way her best friend has been looking at him lately. This performance is probably why she wanted to be here.

Julie's eyes drift to the other two members of the band. Bobby and Luke. The two stand off to the side, Luke talking excitedly, waving his arms around in animated, exaggerated gestures, and Bobby just listening calmly with a completely straight face. They both play electric guitar, but personality-wise are complete opposites. Bobby's responsible, quiet and smart. He seems to mostly follow Luke's lead.