After Julie ran off, I followed behind Luke, poofing into the studio, where Alex and Reggie were hanging out. They were a little shocked to see me, but after a brief explanation of everything that went down today, they were quick to forgive me.

"Poor Julie," Alex frowned, sitting on the couch after we explained what happened on the girl's porch moments ago, "Should we go check on her, or?"

"I don't know," Luke muttered, running his fingers through his hair, "I'm not too sure if we'd be much help, considering we're the reason she's upset."

"I can try," I suggest, shrugging my shoulders; honestly, if Julie is going to be upset with anyone, it should be me, not the boys, "I mean, if you want me to?"

"That isn't a terrible idea," Reggie snapped his fingers, pointing at me. "Maybe she'll listen to another girl better anyway," the other boys nodded in agreement, still a little unsure of my idea; I felt sad for them; I know the last thing they wanted was to hurt Julie.

"It'll be okay; I'm sure she'll come around," I reassure all three of them, placing my hand on top of Luke's, "I'll be right back." Luke squeezed my hand before nodding for me to go; I poofed into Julie's house, walking up the stairs until I was in the hallway; Julie's door was wide open, and she was sketching in a notepad. I took a deep breath, knocking on the open door.

"I'm not in the mood," She muttered, not even bothering to glance up.

"I'm coming in anyway," I inform her, stepping into her bedroom. Her room screamed Julie, it was colorful and cozy, with pictures and fairy lights hung randomly all around. "Look, Julie," I sit on a closed trunk, folding my hands together, "If you're gonna be mad at someone, please be mad at me, none of this is the boy's fault; if it were up to them, they would never leave your band."

"You don't get it," Julie said, finally looking up from her sketch pad, "I keep losing people, Harper, and right when my life was finally starting to get good; I had great friends, a great band..." She dragged off; I frowned at her; I did get it; maybe Julie and I had more in common than we thought, "then bam!" Julie exclaimed, holding up her drawing; it was a volcano erupting, with her name at the bottom; I assume to symbolize how her life just keeps blowing up around her.

"I'm sorry, Julie," I say, unsure of what to say to make the younger girl feel better, "I really wish you didn't have to go through all of this," Julie frowns, glancing down once more, "if it helps that's gonna be a great album cover one day," I add, trying to lighten the mood.

"It doesn't help," She mumbles, standing up from her bed; I furrow my brows when she gestures for me to stand up from the trunk. I guess Julie is done with the conversation because a second later, she's folding up the clothes she wore today, placing them back in the trunk, "You don't need to help," She mumbles, folding up the multicolored sweater she had on earlier.

"Well, it'd be pretty weird if I just stood there and watched," I shrugged, placing her jeans back in the trunk, "might as well help," Julie glanced at me; she didn't seriously think I'd give up that easily; I'm not leaving here until she agrees to speak to the boys. She huffed in annoyance but continued folding and organizing the trunk of clothes; I kneeled beside her, furrowing my brows when a familiar logo flashed by.

"Hmm," I hum, picking the shirt up, unfolding it, "did the boys give you this?" I ask, holding it out for her to see; it was a white sunset curve shirt, one I remember helping the boys design long ago before they ran out, except this one was rhinestoned; it definitely looked like something Julie would wear.

"What the heck?" Julie mumbles, furrowing her brows in confusion, "I've gone through my mom's clothes hundreds of times, and I've never seen that." She admitted, so this is her mom's stuff then, gotcha.

"How do you think it got in here?"

"I... I don't know," She tripped on her words, clearly very confused, "but the guys said they didn't know my mom; why would they lie about that?"

"I don't think they lied," I say instantly; the boys were honest people; they only lied to protect someone. If they knew Julie's mom, they would have said something, I know it, "Maybe she knew them?" I suggest, "she could've been a fan?" Julie thinks over my idea for a second before reluctantly nodding in agreeance.

"I mean, sunset curve was playing the Hollywood club scene around then." Julie shrugged nonchalantly.

"How are you so relaxed about all this?" I ask in disbelief; Julie furrows her brows at me, "your mom and the boys are obviously connected somehow."

"Right?" Julie scoffs sarcastically, "because she bought their T-shirt."

"Think about it, didn't the boys help you play music again?" Julie nodded her head slowly, "Maybe, your mom knew they could help you,"

"So, you mean to tell me that my mom is somewhere out there planning all this?" Julie clarifies; I nod. Honestly, I've been a ghost for 25 years, and I still don't know all the ins and outs of being a ghost. Still, I know what Julie needs right now is hope, and this T-shirt is the only glimmer of hope we have. "If she wanted me to play music again, why wouldn't she just tell me herself?" Now, this I knew the answer to.

"I honestly don't know why you can see us," I admit, "but I do know that ghosts who cross over can't communicate with anyone on earth, no matter if you're a ghost or lifer." Julie nods, gesturing for me to go on, "but, there have been tales of people communicating with their loved ones through signs," Julie shakes her head, "I'm serious, from what you've told me, you've been through these clothes how many times, and you've never found this T-shirt?" I ask, holding it up once more; Julie nods, "So, why now?" Julie doesn't respond like I hoped she would, so I continue my rambling, "I'm just saying, this is clearly a sign from your mom; it's not over, Julie."

"Really?" Julie rolls her eyes in annoyance, "signs?"

"You're in a band with ghosts, and you don't believe in signs?" I laugh, shaking my head in disbelief; I was hoping this joke would lighten the mood, but Julie just averts her gaze, glancing down at her lap sadly. Geez, this girl is stubborn.

"Look," I kneel down, catching her gaze, "When the boys told me they wanted to cross over, I was upset too; I yelled at them and said things I regret; but then I realized something," Julie finally looks at me, "We're gonna lose them no matter what; so, would we rather spend our last days with them, or would we rather ignore them and regret not spending that time with them?"

"I just-"Julie pauses, holding back tears, "I just don't want to lose anyone else."

"I know," I frown, "I don't either, but we have to help them cross over; we need to let them go; it's for the best," I reassure myself at the same time; just because I'm all for helping them now, doesn't mean I don't want to lose them.

"I hate that you're right," Julie grumbled, wiping away a stray tear that had fallen. I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding; seeing how distraught the boys were over Julie being upset with them made me feel terrible; as much as they reassured me I shouldn't feel guilty, this still was partially my fault, "I should probably go talk to them."

"Do you want me to come, or...?"

"Yes," Julie nodded quickly, "I'll see ya there," She said, gesturing for me to poof away; I did, landing in front of the studio. I stay outside, walking behind Julie once she arrives. The boys had moved since I'd last seen them; Alex was laying on the couch, attempting to balance his drum stick on his nose, Luke was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling in an almost dream-like state, and Reggie plucked the chords of his bass randomly, playing a sad sounding melody.

"Snap out of it," Snap out of it, Julie yelled, saying precisely what I had been thinking. I held back laughter as Alex fell off the couch, the drum stick he was attempting to balance clattering off the floor.

"Jeez," Reggie mumbled, no longer playing the bass, "I think you broke Alex."

"Do you guys want to cross over or what?" Julie asked, ignoring Reggie's comment and getting straight to the point. I watched them expectantly, waiting for a response; all the boys did, though, was help Alex back onto the couch.

"What happened while I was gone," I furrow my brows; the boys were down when I left, but now, it looked like they were giving up altogether.

"Seriously..." Julie nodded in agreement, turning back to look at me, "get it together!" She yelled, clapping her hands at the boys.

"They're never gonna let us play the Orpheum," Luke responded glumly; I wasn't used to seeing Luke like this; he was usually the optimistic one, not me.

"We're nobody," Alex continued.

"We're less than nobody," Reggie corrected him, "we have nobodies." I rolled my eyes as Luke snapped his fingers, agreeing with Reggie's statement.

"So, I'm a nobody?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at the boys teasingly; Luke tensed up, rapidly shaking his head in disagreement.

"You know, someone once told me that you don't ask for permission," Julie said, changing the subject; I glanced down at Luke, that sounded like something he'd say, "you book gigs by doing."

"Wow," I nod approvingly, moving so I'm kneeling near Luke, "they sound pretty wise."

"It was me," Reggie nodded.

"No, it wasn't," Julie and Luke said simultaneously.

"Yes, it was," Reggie mumbled, glancing down sadly.

"Boys, this isn't over," I say, placing my hand on top of Luke's; I frowned when he shook his head, turning away from me. Julie and I shared a glance, and I nodded for her to say something.

"We were brought together for a reason, to help each other."

"Yeah, but like Luke said," Alex responded, pointing at Luke, "People don't just play the Orpheum because they want to."

"Oh Alex," I shake my head, looking up at me, "poor, sweet, innocent Alex," I cooed, tapping his leg, "I think you forgot one crucial detail; we're not normal people." I remind him, gesturing between the four of us, "we're ghosts."

🤍
Julie and Harpers budding friendship is my favourite🙈
Hope y'all enjoyed💛