Jasper figured that when his parents found out about him skipping three classes that day they would be mad at him and ground him. But they didn't even care enough to talk to him about it and just said 'don't do it again'. Don't get him wrong, Jasper wasn't complaining about not being grounded, but he just wished that his parents cared about him or at least acted like they cared.

Jasper was currently laying on his bed on his back, holding his electric guitar and playing some random chords. He had texted Julie earlier to see if she was ready to go yet, but she had told him that she wasn't allowed to leave the house because she skipped three classes. He understood why she was grounded, but it sucked because how are they going to perform at their gig without Julie? She's the lead singer.

"Dude," Jasper immediately sits up, letting out a surprised yelp when he heard Alex and glances at the blonde ghost with wide eyes. "Why aren't you at the venue?" Alex grins. "It's crazy how packed it is. This could be the night we get noticed."

"First of all," Jasper sighs, setting his electric guitar on his bed beside him. "I wish you guys would warn me or something before you show up unannounced. And second of all," He looks at Alex, tilting his head to the side. "Did Julie not tell you guys she's grounded?"

"Yeah, she literally just told us." Alex replies. "But Luke suggested for her to sneak out and she said she'll meet us there. She wanted one of us to tell you the plan though." He shrugs, smiling slightly at him. "So that's why I'm here."

Jasper smiles with relief, happy to know that Julie was performing with them, but he was worried that she would get into more trouble for sneaking out. "Okay. I'll get ready and let her know when I'm on my way."

Alex smiles' widen. "Great. Oh, and also," He puts his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket, looking at him curiously. "How are you doing with the whole liking Julie thing?"

Jasper's shoulders drop in defeat and he groans. "It's hard. I don't know how to tell her I like her and I think she likes Luke." He frowns. "So I don't wanna get in the way of that."

Alex looks at him with surprise. "You-You think she likes Luke?" He chuckles. "She doesn't." He shrugs. "I mean, yeah, she likes him as a friend, but that's all." 

Jasper perks up at hearing that and looks at him with a hopeful expression. "Wait, really? You better not be lying."

Alex raises his eyebrows at him. "Why would I lie about this?"

Jasper shakes his head in response and he smiles widely. "Maybe I can finally tell Julie how I feel about her." His smile smell and he suddenly looks nervous. "If only I was confident enough to tell her the truth."

Alex smiles sympathetically at him and then he grins when he thought of an idea. "Maybe you could write a song about your feelings for her and sing it to her? She would probably like that."

Jasper brings his gaze to the floor as he thinks about that idea, the song 'being around you' he had been working on coming to mind, and a smile made its way to his lips. "Yeah, that's a great idea." 

"Cool." Alex smiles. 'Well, we will see you at the venue." And with that Alex poofed away, leaving Jasper to get ready.

Jasper stands up and walks over to his desk where his journal laid and opens it up to where he wrote 'being around you'. He had decided that at their next gig he would ask the boys to help him perform this song. He could perform it by himself but he had never performed with just him, but he doesn't have the courage or the confidence to do that. At least not yet.

****

After Jasper got dressed he got his electric guitar in its case, taking it with him and he skateboards to the venue the gig was at. He rushes inside the venue, spotting his best friends near the stage. "Sorry, if I'm late."

"You're not late." Flynn assures him. She rolls her eyes. "Dirty Candy is performing." Jasper glanced at the stage, noticing that she was right. He wonders how he didn't realize who was performing when he got inside the venue. He was probably too busy worrying if he would be late to notice who was already performing. 

Flynn smiles when she notices what he wore. "Nice fit, Jas!" 

(this is what jasper is wearing for this chapter)

Jasper wore a black leather jacket with white stars scattered on it over a plain black t-shirt, he wore black ripped jeans that had white stars on them and he also wore black sneakers. Jasper looks down at his outfit and chuckles. "Yeah, thanks. Wasn't really for sure what to wear," He gestures to his outfit, glancing at his best friends with a smile. "So I ended up going with this." 

"You look great, Jas." Julie smiles at him. Her eyes widen upon realizing what she said and her cheeks turn a light pink color. "I-I mean, your outfit! Your outfit looks great."

Jasper raises his eyebrow at her, a bit confused as to why she was acting a bit weird around him, but he smiles at her. "Thanks, Julie. Your outfit looks good too." He glances behind him, just then realizing the ghost boys were there. He smiles at them. "Hey, guys." They smiled back at him in response, Reggie being the only one who waved at his brother. Jasper chuckled quietly, waving back at Reggie before the four of them looked back at the stage to continue watching Dirty Candy.

A few moments later, Jasper was surprised to see Alex standing in the middle of the stage. His eyes widen and he glances back at Luke and Reggie, who both shrug and look just as confused as he was about what was happening. He shares a look with Julie and they both look back at the stage to see Alex dancing along with Dirty Candy while Carrie sang the bridge of the song they were singing. 

Jasper had an amused look on his face as he watched Alex danced. He had to admit that Alex wasn't that bad at dancing and the blonde looked like he was enjoying himself up there. Julie glances back at Alex with an amused smile. "You having fun out there?'

Alex clears his throat, looking at his friends nervously. "It's not my fault. It's my, um...It's my feet."

Jasper rolls his eyes playfully. "Uh huh, sure."

Alex stares at the stage with an excited smile. "Put me back in, Coach." He poofed away and ended back on stage.

Flynn glances at Jasper and Julie with confusion since she didn't know who they were talking to. Julie smiles at her. "It's the guys." Flynn nodded in understanding and smiled.

Alex stayed up on stage for the rest of the song, loving each moment. At the end of the song he stood off to the side of the stage, standing in a pose. He smiled from ear to ear when the crowd applauded and pretended to act shy. He then poofed back to stand by Luke and Reggie. 

Jasper, Julie, Luke, and Reggie glance at Alex with amusement. Alex glances at them with an embarrassed expression. "Hey, um...I was just...I was just doing that for you guys."

"Mm-hmm. Yeah. You can stop smiling now." Reggie spoke in a teasing tone. Alex chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully.

"I'm not gonna lie. That was...Kind of good." Julie admitted. 

"Yeah." Flynn agrees, furrowing her eyebrows and tilts her head to the side. "I forgot why I hate her so much."

Speaking of Carrie, she and her girl group walks over to the three best friends. "Hi, kids." Carrie smiles at the three teens, putting her hands on her hips. "Um, isn't it past your bedtime?"

Jasper crosses his arms, looking at her with a glare. Flynn nods in realization, glancing at her best friends. "Now I remember." She then glanced at Carrie with an annoyed expression.

Carrie looks at Julie. "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come."

Julie scoffs, taking a step forward. "That's not why I'm here."

"Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group, J.J. and the Fat Ones." The announcer read off the sign up sheet. Carrie and her girl group laughed along with some other people in the venue. 

Jasper and Julie glance back at the ghost boys with an annoyed expression. Alex looks at Luke with an 'are you serious' expression, putting his hands on his hips. "Really?"

"Yeah, man." Luke sheepishly smiles. "My handwriting sucks."

Jasper sighs and shakes his head. Julie glances back at Carrie with a forced smile, chuckling awkwardly. Jasper handed his skateboard to Flynn for her to watch over it, smiling thankfully at her, and Jasper walked on stage with Juile. Carrie huffed angrily after seeing the two teens walk on stage and walked away with her girl group. Jasper set his guitar case towards the back of the stage and got his guitar out while Julie sat at the keyboard. 

Jasper puts his acoustic guitar's strap over his shoulders, moving to stand in front of his microphone stand which was right beside where Julie's microphone was at on the left side. Thanks to the people who set up the stage for them he had a small amp beside him and so he plugged his acoustic guitar in to make it after turning it on to make it sound louder when he played.

Jasper glances at Julie, and after seeing the nervous expression on Julie's face he whispers to her, "You got this." 

The nerves started to slowly fade away for Julie after he whispers that to her and knowing Jasper was confident in her that she would do great gave her enough courage to begin. Julie smiles brightly at him and glances at the crowd. Jasper glanced at the crowd as well with a nervous smile. He hated having all eyes on him. He was just glad he wasn't on stage alone. His eyes lands on Flynn, who stood in the middle next to where she set up the projector and his skateboard was laid beside her. He smiled a bit, happy to have a friend like her that would keep an eye on his stuff while he was performing. Flynn gave him and Julie a thumbs up and smiled encouragingly at them. Jasper smiled at her nervously and looked over at Julie to see if she was ready to play. She locked eyes with him, smiling nervously and she nodded. 

Julie smiles awkwardly at everyone when she looks at the crowd. "Hi. It's actually J.J. and The Phantoms." A sheepish expression is on her face and she nods when she saw no one cared. "Okay." She gets ready to play and then begins to play 'Finally Free' on the keyboard. Jasper had to glance back at her to make sure he would play at the same time when she started playing and he looks back at his guitar as he continues.

(stop video at 0:41)

https://youtu.be/Vn25z4rmirk

"Hearts on fire. We're no liars. So we say what we wanna say. I'm awakened. No more fakin'. So we push all our fears away."

Jasper harmonizes his voice with Julie for the pre-chorus. "Don't know if I'll make it 'cause I'm falling under." Then it was just Julie. "Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder."

 Jasper sings with Julie for the last part of the pre-chorus. "I wanna fly. Come alive. Watch me shine." 

Just before the chorus hits, the ghost boys poof onto stage with their instruments and equipment, playing the song right when they got on stage. The crowd cheers when the three boys appeared. Julie stands up and moves to the front of the stage where her microphone stand is at. She sings while she walks to her microphone stand and Luke joins her on singing. "I've got a spark in me." Meanwhile, Jasper stops playing his acoustic guitar and sets it one of the guitar stands that was on stage. "Hands up if you can see." Jasper sits at the keyboard and plays along with the band. "And you're apart of me. Now 'till eternity. Hands up if you believe. Been so long and now we're finally free."

Julie picks up the tambourine that was in a holder attached to her microphone stand, beginning to play it during the second verse. "We're all bright now." Jasper glances at the three ghost boys, smiling as he watches Luke and Reggie step on each side of the platform Alex's drums are on. "What a sight now. Coming out like we're fireworks." Jasper brings his attention forward, singing the next part with Julie. "Marching on proud." Julie glances at him with a grin while they sing together and Jasper grins back at her. "Turn it up loud. 'Cause now we know what we're worth." 

Luke jumps off the platform to where his microphone set up is, singing the pre-chorus with Julie this time. They smile at each other as they sing. "We know we can make it. We're not falling down under. Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder."

"And I wanna fly. Come alive." Luke steps back, glancing at Jasper and Julie as they belt out the last lyric of the pre-chorus. "Watch me shine."

Reggie jumps off the platform just as Jasper, Julie, and Luke sing the chorus. While Jasper, Julie, and Luke sing, Alex and Reggie did the backup vocals. By now everyone watching was standing and/or jamming along to the band's performance. "I've got a spark in me. Hands up if you can see." Julie goes over to the keyboard Jasper is playing, sharing a smile with him while they sing. "And you're a part of me. Hands up if you're with me." She walks back over to the center of the stage and walks to the other side of the stage, smiling at the crowd. "Now 'till eternity. Hands up if you believe. Been so long and now we're finally free."

Jasper notices Reggie went over to share a mic with Luke which he found a bit amusing, but the crowd seemed to love it. Julie goes back over to the keyboard Jasper is at, jumping up and down as she sings and smiles at the crowd. "I've got a spark in me. Hands up if you can see." Julie turns to face Jasper, sharing a smile with him before she turns to face the crowd. "And you're a part of me. Hands up if you're with me. Now 'till eternity. Hands up if you believe." Alex and Reggie stop singing backup vocals and Reggie moves back to his place. "Been so long and now we're finally free."

Julie faces Jasper at the bridge of the song which surprised him because what they planned was for her to sing the bridge with Luke, not him. Julie smiles at him. "I got a spark in me." 

Jasper looks at her with nervous eyes, shaking his head as she sings. This was not part of the plan. This was his first time having a small solo in a song in front of people. But since Julie thought he could do it he might as well try. Julie smiles encouragingly at him, mouthing to him 'you got this'. Jasper takes a deep breath before he sings, "I got a spark in me."

Julie smiles from ear to ear, happy and proud of Jasper for doing this. "And you're apart of me."

Jasper completely forgot about his nerves as he sings with Julie. He doesn't know how it happened. "And you're a part of me." 

Unbeknownst to each other, the two teens felt like they were the only ones in the room as they sang together, staring at each other fondly. The crowd cheers a bit louder while the two teens sang. The three ghost smile knowingly at each other as they watched their friends sing together. It was clear to see that the two teens had feelings for each other whether they realized it or not.

"Now 'till eternity." Julie sang.

"Now 'till eternity." Jasper repeated

Then it's only Julie singing her heart out for the last part of the chorus while Jasper looks at her with a soft smile. "Been so long and now we're finally free."

For the last time singing the chorus the band switches things up. Alex and Jasper sang backup vocals, Reggie and Luke sang the chorus while Julie ad-libed and belted out some of the chorus. 

"I've got a spark in me. Hands up if you can see. And you're a part of me. Hands up if you're with me. Now till eternity. Hands up if you believe." When Jasper looks out at the crowd enjoying their performance, he didn't miss the upset expression on Carrie's face which made him happier to know that they were good enough to make her upset. "Been so long and now we're finally free."

"Yeah." Julie sang.

Now Reggie and Luke join Alex on singing backup vocals and Jasper joins Julie with belting out ad-libs. "(Woah, oh, oh) Oh-oh-oh. (Woah, oh, oh) Finally free, yeah. (Woah, oh, oh) Oh."

Everyone harmonizes their voices together to sing the last part of the chorus. "Been so long and now we're finally free."

The crowd cheers loudly for the band as just Julie sings. Only Jasper and Luke are playing their instruments while Julie sings. "Finally free." Jasper watches Julie sing with awestruck expression. He knew she had a beautiful voice, but he was always amazed by her talent. "Yeah."

The venue is erupted into cheers and applause for the band. The five teen smile widely at the crowd and they all b ow at the same time. During the bow, the three ghost boys poof away along with their instruments and equipment, causing the crowd to gasp. Jasper and Julie stand up from bowing, exchanging a smile when they look at each other. The cheers grew louder after Alex, Luke, and Reggie had poofed away. The only ones in the venue not happy were Dirty Candy.

"Thank you." Julie smiles at the crowd. "We're J.J. and the Phantoms. Tell your friends." While she was talking, Jasper got his acoustic guitar and put it back in the case and turned off the small amp that he had used. He followed Julie off the stage with his guitar case in hand and noticed she was going over to where Flynn now stood by the bar. He smiled as he watched his best friends hug each other.

When he gets to the two girls, Flynn pulls him into a hug after she pulled away from Julie. Jasper chuckles and hugs her back. They pull away and Jasper stands by Julie. Flynn grins at her best friends. "You guys were incredible."

"Yeah, we were." Jasper looked in the direction he heard his brother's voice and noticed the phantoms (he just decided on calling them that since it sounded cooler than ghost boys) standing by them. Well, Alex and Luke sat on the counter and Reggie leaned against it.

"Flynn," Jasper faces Flynn with a nervous expression. "You still have my skateboard, right?" He assumed Flynn would still have it, but he overthinks things...A lot.

"Yes, yes. I got it." Flynn chuckles, picking up his skateboard off the ground. She looks at him with an amused smile, handing him his skateboard. "Calm down." 

"Thanks." Jasper smiled at her, taking his skateboard from her. He set it up against a nearby chair, turning around when Luke said someone Carrie was trying to impress was coming their way. 

"Oh, it's..." Julie turned around, thinking she might have known who Luke was talking about, but she grew confused when she saw a curly-haired woman she didn't know walk over to them. She exchanged a confused glance with her best friends.

"She looks all business." Alex noticed.

"Wait. Who should do the talking?" Reggie panics. His friends and brother look at him with an 'are you serious' expression and he nods in realization. "Right. Jasper and Julie."

Jasper smiles at him with amusement, tilting his head to the side. "You think?" He looks over at Julie, noticing how quiet she suddenly got and knew she must be nervous by the way she looked. His heart was pounding out of his chest as reaches down to intertwine his hand with hers that was by her side. She glanced at him with a shocked expression, it was clear to see she was still nervous, but she was also shocked by the fact that Jasper was holding her hand now. She had to admit she didn't mind it. 

Jasper squeezes her hand gently, smiling encouragingly at her. "We got this, Jules." Julie nodded, smiling at him and squeezed his hand. They both turned to face the curly-haired woman, who was now standing in front of them and they let go of each other hands as the curly-haired woman introduced herself and moved to shake Julie's hand. 

"Hi, I'm Andi Parker, and I would-"

Jasper's eyes widen when he notices someone familiar walking over to them and he hits Flynn, who stood beside his left side, to get her attention and points in the direction he saw Julie's dad.  A wide-eyed look forms on Flynn's face when she saw Julie's dad and the two teens exchanged a panicked look. They both knew they were all in trouble.

"Julie." Ray, Julie's dad, spoke, gaining Julie's, the phantom's attention, and Andi's attention. 

Julie's eyes widen and panic is seen on her face. "Dad."

Ray had an unreadable expression on his face which only made Jasper even more worried for Julie. Jasper had never seen Ray mad either of his kids before. "It's time to go." 

A/N okay please tell me im not the only one who didnt realize reggie was singing along with luke during the chorus at the end. i thought it was julie singing, like they just added a layer of madi singing or smth.