Ghostly Guitar | Julie and The Phantoms

Chapter Three : The Beach.

Chapter Three : The Beach.
June 1994

Stephanie shook her head at the rest of the band. This was a really bad idea. She tried to tell them that but they wouldn't back down. It was just an unused piece of wood at the edge of the boardwalk. Thankfully it wasn't closer to the water.

Because Stephanie knew that if they were any closer to the water Reggie would electrocute himself. Cheryl seemed just on edge about this whole plan, but she was less open about it. "Okay. So now that We're officially trespassing, you four ready?" Stephanie asked her band mates, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

"Ha. Ha. Steph. And it's not trespassing. It's temporarily using property that doesn't belong to us." Luke fought back, all Steph did was roll her eyes.

Reggie gave a stupid smile, "Plenty ready."
Bobby plugged in the amps. "You better be ready."
Steph grumbled a repons  but turned up her mic volume so the whole beach could hear. Alex started to bang his drumsticks together in a count so they started a rhythm.

Steph played the first cord and her fears melted away. It was just her and the vibrations from the strings. Luke started to sing, irongicaly starting with the song 'My name is Luke'

    Cheryl was their number one fan as always screaming at the top of her lungs as they started to draw a crowd at the in-promt-to gig. A wind picked up, blowing Stephanie's flannel to the side and she could hear a few cat calls from the crowd.
    Her hair below into her face as she started a solo. When she thought about it the fact that she was playing a solo scared the crap out of her. But when she played it? Nothing could stop her.
    They ended the song and the crowd roared with cheers. Stephanie looked back at Alex as he started the next song's drum beat. Reggie jumped on the cord, making it louder than it had to be but it still fit the song.
    That was how most of the day went and, fitting to the name, as the sunset, Sunset curve finished their last cord for the day. Stephanie and Cheryl left the boys to pack up while they ran up to the boardwalk to get ice cream for all six of them.
    It was a simple day to mark the real start of summer vacation and Stephanie loved every second of it.

Her hands hurt from pressing into the string but every musician knows at the end of a good day something will ache. Whether it's your hands. Or your vocal cords. Or if you play a violin, even your neck. But to a musician that just meant you did what you were meant to.

Luke held up his ice cream cone, "To another day as Sunset Curve."
    Stephanie laughed, 'clicking' her cone to his, "Here ye, here ye." She fought so hard not to shove the ice cream in Luke's face. It took more than she was willing to admit as her legs hung over the edge of the stage.

Stephanie's flip flops fell off and her teos dug into the warm sand watching as the sky turned dark. Her ice cream was long gone but the whole band was still here. They were all leaning back so their heads were to the sky.

Out of the corner of her eyes Stephanie could see the city lights turn on. She thought back to the beginning of the year and how much her life had changed in just six months.

But more importantly how she wouldn't change it for the world. She wouldn't change the way Reggie would always ruffles her hair when she showed up for rehearsal. She wouldn't change all the times Luke held her close as she cried. Once even over her ex-boyfriend cheating on her.
    She loved everything around her. She just didn't love herself. She didn't love the way her hair fell over her shoulders. She didn't love how her eyes were slightly uneven. She didn't love how her eyebrows were lighter than her hair color. She didn't love the way her feet never sat even. She didn't love the way the joint in her wrist stuck out. She didn't love herself .

And that was something no one seemed to see.

~

    Stephanie had fallen asleep on the small wooden stage, and woke to the sun in her eyes. Bobby was still laying next to her but all of their instruments and band members were gone. Bobby was snoring slightly next to her.

    Stephanie started stretching herself out, hopping down from the wood. Her toes curled in the sand, and her hair got caught in her clear lip gloss. She watched the waves crash against the sand as she walked closer to them.

    The water was foaming around a bed of rocks a little ways away from the stage. She could still hear Bobby's snores in the background. The water sent shivers up her spine.

    She pulled her flannel tighter as the sun started to rise. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was telling herself right now she was meant to meet her soulmate. And he was meant to show her that she was perfect, and nerve knew she played the guitar until he heard her playing sadly in the studio. The whole damn fairytale played through her mind.

    But that was real life. There was no one else on the beach. She was alone with her brother snoring behind her. The waves crashed into her legs as she walked farther into the water.

    For a second she thought of walking into the water so deep her head was under. Under so long she let the water in and sunk to the bottom, wisping into the sky. Or maybe the core of the earth, melting in the fires.

    Her breath hitched at the thought. Stephanie jumped from the water and rushed back to her twin. "Bobby." She shook him awake, "Bobby?"   
Bobby groaned, "Steph what? What?" 
   "Can we go. I- I don't want to be here."    "What?" He repeated deliras as he started to stir. "Why? You love the beach?" 
    "Can we just- Go home." Stephanie started to fight tears, "Please. Robert." Stephanie called her brother by his full name.  That's when he knew something was wrong.
    "Yeah. Yeah Steph, sure. Let's uhh. Let's go." Stephanie whipped at her tears, digging her shoes out of the sand as her brother pulled her into a hug. She let a few of her tears fall onto her shirt as Bobby grabbed her close. "Hey. It's okay. I promise."
    "I-" She choked on her tears, "I just want to go." And so without question, Bobby draped his jacket over his little sister's (by two minutes) shoulder and the two left. The sun now fully up.

~