Sit Still, Look Pretty · Julie And The Phantoms ·

Private Shows

"What do you mean, we can't see our contracts?" Luke exclaimed, following the owner of the Hollywood Ghost Club across an undressed stage, cladded with instruments, sat out and ready to be played, as others began gathering. "Don't you think that's a little─"

"And what, pray tell, do you need to see your contract for?" Caleb was dressed unusually casual for someone Luke had only ever seen in full grandiose show gear. He wore jeans and a button up shirt with a sweater vest over it that looked awfully similar to something his dad may have owned once upon a time. The man regarded Luke with mild annoyance, before sighing heavily, rolling his eyes. "We have a show to prepare for. Focus on that, not your contract."

"A lot of what's in our contract was never explained to us," he continued, ignoring the older ghost as he clapped twice to get the attention of the other ghosts. "We need to adjust some of the conditions."

"You had that chance when we were discussing signing, you gave your conditions and they were added," Caleb reminded Luke, meeting the boy's eyes and smirking coldly. "You shouldn't have been so eager to return."

"Your freaky magic made us agree before we had a chance to read it." Luke and the guys had agreed far too quickly for either of their liking and it hadn't entirely felt like they'd agreed of their own free will. "Legally, you shouldn't have allowed us to sign─"

"Oh, enough about the contract," Caleb waved off his adamance, "there is no grace period. And legalities are for the living, Luke. Now, we have a rehearsal to get started, so I advise you to join your friends and shut up. This matter is closed."

The matter of their contracts were just opening for Luke, Reggie and Alex. Luke was adamant that he was going to read them before the day was through, however, he had no way of actually accomplishing his aim. He had no idea how to get to Caleb's office, where Luke imagined all of the legal documents, such as resident contacts, were kept. Navigating the club was going to take a while to learn.

They'd followed a couple others earlier to get to the dining area and Ellis had shown them the way to the rehearsal space. They hadn't had the chance to make any solid alliances yet, it was still very early days, so he couldn't just ask someone to show him the way or hall to get to the big boss's office.

Luke was starting to regret dragging his friends back into the club. Perhaps this wouldn't be as easy as he thought it would be.

The three sat at the edge of the group, watching as Caleb instructed smaller groups to start working on separate aspects of the upcoming show. He rattled off names of songs, dances, and the groups knew what he meant. A group of four dancers had already gotten started practicing choreo, the black haired woman from the dining area, Vanna, being one of them.

Over by the stage, closer to Caleb than Luke liked, Alba was peering up at him, nodding her head as he spoke to her. She was dwarfed by him. But the way that he smiled down at her made Luke's stomach feel uneasy. He was not looking at her the way that an older family member would look at a younger family member.

"Hey, so...why do you think they have the same surname?" Luke asked Alex and Reggie, one on either side of him, both leaning in. "Are either of you grossed out by the way he's smiling at her?"

Alex and Reggie glanced over at Alba and Caleb, both pulling odd expressions. They found it as confusing as he did. "Maybe she's older than you think?" Reggie suggested, like that made any kind of difference. Alba looked like a teenager, like they did.

"Or maybe it has nothing to do with us and we shouldn't interfere?" Alex interjected. Of course he'd suggest they not get in the middle of anything. "We have enough to deal with. Their relationship isn't our business."