I hadn't realized how much time I spent putting the flier in Julie's dad's car until I poofed into the café; Julie, the boys, and some girl I hadn't met yet all stood at the front of the club, watching the stage as a bunch of girls in multicolored wigs performed on the stage.

"Well, this is..." I pause, trying to find a word to describe the girl group in front of us; while they were talented and entertaining, they definitely weren't my style per se.

"I know right," Luke nodded, chuckling lightly; I hated how he knew what I meant without me having to say anything, I could feel Luke watching me, but I kept my eyes forward; at one point, Alex poofed onto the center of the stage, dancing along with the five girls on stage. I bit my lip, trying to keep my expression neutral, but it was hard not to smile at the scene in front of me.

"You having fun out there?" Julie asked Alex as he poofed back over; the four of us looked over with smirks on our faces.

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

"Oh yeah, for sure," I agree sarcastically, nodding my head.

"Put me back in, coach," He mumbles, poofing back onto the stage; I shake my head in amusement, giggling as he begins dancing once more. I can feel Luke's eyes watching me again, and this time I give in and look back; he's smiling so brightly that his eyes are squinting happily, it shocks me a little bit, what did I do?

"What?" I chuckle, squinting at him in confusion.

"It's just," Luke pauses, thinking over what he's about to say, "You laughed." I hadn't even realized I'd done it; it felt like second nature to laugh at Alex's weird antics, but I shouldn't be doing that; I cannot get attached again.

"Oh?" I said it came out more like a question than a statement.

"It's a good thing," He reassured me quickly, noticing that my expression had fallen, "I missed hearing your laugh." I wait for him to crack a joke or turn away to watch the performance going on, but his eyes stay locked on mine, showing he was being genuine. Even during our relationship, I rarely laughed; I was pretty uptight in high school, but Luke was always the one person who could make me laugh. I can remember many nights he'd be able to get me into fits of giggles; he always told me my laugh was his favorite sound. Snap out of it Harper, I tore my gaze away from his, looking back onto the stage; I am supposed to be the one charming him into coming to the club, not the other way around. I'd been so busy talking to Luke that by the time I turned to look at the stage, Alex was posing for the applauding crowd; he poofed over seconds later.

"Hey, um," He greeted us awkwardly, breathless from all the dancing he'd been doing, "I was just... I was just doing that for you guys."

"Mm-hmm," Reggie hummed in response, sarcastically nodding his head, "yeah, you can stop smiling now." Alex chuckled, smiling bashfully at the four of us who were watching him.

"I'm not gonna lie," Julie turned away from us to speak to the girl next to her, "that was kind of good."

"Yeah, I forgot why I hate her so much," The other girl admitted; Just as she said that the girl with the pink hair strutted off stage, the rest of the rainbow following behind.

"Hi, girls, um, isn't it past your bedtime?" She greeted in an annoying high-pitched tone; while everyone else's expressions fell, I held back a smirk, finally someone who isn't dull and polite.

"Now I remember," Julie's friend pointed out, completely ignoring the pink-haired girls greeting.

"Hmm," She hummed in annoyance, "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come," I wasn't sure who Nick was, but I didn't really care; this girl had an attitude, I respect her for it.

"That's not why I'm here," Julie scoffed, stepping forward confidently; I lowkey pray the two of them will start a physical fight or something; this is getting too boring and juvenile for my taste.

"Okay, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group," The announcer spoke into the mic, breaking apart the potential fight that was about to occur, "Julie and the Fat Ones."

"Let me guess," I whisper to Luke; He shivers slightly as my warm breath hits his neck, and I can't help but smirk proudly at the effect I have on him, "you wrote on the sheet?"

"Pfft," He shook his head, "How do you know it wasn't Reggie or Alex." I stare at him blankly; I helped him study for a solid two years, his writing is impossible to understand, "Alright, fine, it was me, my handwriting sucks." Ignoring the pink-haired girls snickering, Julie struts past her and onto the stage; the boys follow behind.

"Break a leg," I call out as they follow behind, preparing themselves at the side of the stage to poof in. Julie starts singing, and I'd be an idiot if I didn't admit she's talented. As the chorus starts, the boys poof in, causing the audience to gasp excitedly, and even though I had been in the room while they rehearsed this afternoon, a small smile grew on my face as I watched them; this was what Luke, Alex, and Reggie were meant to do if only they'd see how much the club really had to offer them. Even though I was standing on the side of the stage where Reggie sang, Luke kept glancing over out of the corner of his eye, almost as if he was checking that I was still here.

"I got a spark in me," Julie sang, moving over to where Luke stood.

"I got a spark in me," Luke sang, leaving his mic to sing into the one Julie held out.

"And you're a part of me," She sang; I expect Luke to keep his eyes connected with the girl he's singing with, but he doesn't; instead, he looks back at me, locking his eyes with mine.

"And you're a part of me," He sang; I took in a shaky breath, unable to look away from him; the rest of the crowd around me fell away, and it felt like Luke and I were the only people in the room.

"Now till eternity," Julie sang, stepping away, so she was no longer blocking Luke from my vision; I swear I saw her smile at the two of teasingly, but before I could check, she was singing to the crowd once more.

"Now till eternity," Luke repeated, moving back to his mic, not once disconnecting his eyes from mine.

"Been so long, and now we're finally free," Julie sang the high note, breaking me out of my trance; I finally averted my eyes, looking down at my hands instead. I tried acting as if I was paying attention to the rest of the song, but my head was rushing with too many thoughts; why couldn't I look away from Luke? Why am I suddenly laughing and genuinely enjoying my time around them? This isn't good; I'm getting attached.

"Thank you, we're Julie and the Phantoms," Julie speaks into her mic once the song is finished, the crowd cheers loudly, and I shake myself away from my thoughts, clapping my hands together as well, I hate admitting this, but they're really good. I watch as Julie runs to her squealing best friend, pulling her into a hug; I poof over to them, the boys appearing next to me at the same time.

"You were incredible," Her friend squealed, pulling away from their hug.

"Yeah, we were," Reggie exclaimed; I glanced back at Luke, who was sitting on the bar behind me, making him a few feet taller than me.

"What'd ya think?" He asked; he seemed almost nervous to hear my opinion.

"I loved it," I smiled; I hated how genuine my response was; this can't be happening, snap out of it Harper, "We should perform together sometime," I add, and just like that, I'm back on track, sure I have moments of weakness, but I refuse to break so easily.

"I'd like that," He smiled, nodding his head, he looked as if he was going to say something else, but Alex nudged him, breaking him away from our conversation.

"Hey, look," He announced, loud enough for Julie to hear as well, "whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way." We all looked over at where he was pointing, heading towards us was a woman in a pantsuit; she looked like a big deal, crap, where the heck in Julie's dad?

"Wait," Reggie exclaimed as she got closer, "who should do the talking?" We all stared at him blankly in response, "right, Julie," The woman was getting closer, and Julie's dad was nowhere in sight; if some hotshot manager offers them a deal, there's no way they'll come to the club.

"Hi, I'm Andie Parker," The woman greeted, holding her hand out to Julie, "and I would love to talk-"

"Julie," I held back a smirk, Julie's dad's timing was impeccable.

"Dad," She greeted breathlessly; the three boys stared at him with wide eyes.

"It's time to go," He nodded for her to come over; Julie glanced at us sadly; before walking over to her father, "she'll see you tomorrow Flynn," He said, before walking away, Julie trailing behind him. Andie glanced at Flynn before shrugging her shoulders and walking off; Luke sighed in frustration from behind me.

"I can't believe it," He mumbled, "we were so close."

"I know," I frowned, placing my hand on his knee reassuringly; finally, something had gone my way tonight, "we'll figure it out, I promise."

🤍
Harper is slowly breaking down her walls...
What'd y'all think of other side of Hollywood so far?