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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

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Lexi walked across the street back to her house, only for her to stop in her tracks when she saw the driveway empty. Normally it would contain two cars at this time of night, which meant that her parents still weren't home from work. A quiet sigh passed over the redhead's lips as continued her journey home before climbing the porch steps and opening the front door. As soon as she entered the house, loud music and a mouthwatering aroma filled the air before she walked into the kitchen. When the young girl arrived at her destination, Cami was dancing around the island and singing along to the music as she waited for the oven to finish cooking the pizzas.

A silent giggle escaped Lexi's lips as she watched her older brother's smiling girlfriend act like she didn't have a care in the world. Just as the redhead was about to make herself known to the older girl, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. It wasn't long after that when her feet left the ground then she was spun around while her brother's laughter filled the air. This continued for a good minute or two before Ryder carried her over to the kitchen and sat her down on one of the chairs at the table.

"Mom and Dad called and said they were gonna go to grandma's for dinner so Cami and I made pizzas," the redheaded boy told Lexi as he opened the oven. The younger Daniels sibling watched her brother's movements as he pulled out three single-serving pizzas from the oven and placed the tray on the counter. As soon as the hot metal was set down, Cami began to cut them up and dish them out while Ryder leaned against the marble with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Maybe if you finish your homework early, you can finish that new song I heard you working on the other day."

Lexi paused mid-bite as her brown eyes landed on her older brother before she glanced over at Cami, only to see the curly-haired girl standing next to her boyfriend with the same smirk on her face. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"What you have so far is amazing, Lexa," Cami told the younger girl as she sat down at the table across from the skeptical-looking redhead, "so, Ryder and I were wondering if you wanted to sing it at our gig this weekend."

As if sensing the panic growing within his sister, Ryder sat down next to Lexi and placed a comforting hand on her shaking knee. "It's just a small crowd at that tiny coffee shop downtown. No one from your school would be there."

Lexi just stared at the now unappetizing slices of pizza on the plate in front of her while she tried to take in their words, only for her brain to replay the memory of her last on-stage performance. A knot in her stomach began to form at the thought of singing in front of a crowd as her knuckles clenched so tightly that they began to turn a ghostly white. A long, silent breath passed over her lips in an attempt to calm down her nerves before her eyes left the plate in front of her to meet the two pairs of brown ones staring back at her.

"Thank you for the offer but I think I'm gonna have to pass," Lexi told the two of them barely above a whisper, "maybe next time?"

The pair's faces almost unnoticeably fell in disappointment before they sent the redhead forced smiles. It wasn't long after that when they fell into an awkward silence as they continued to eat their dinner. Lexi shifted uncomfortably in her seat due to the stillness as she forced down her last slice. Once her plate was clear, the redhead put it in the sink before thanking the older teens and rushing upstairs to her room.

A long sigh of relief escaped Lexi when she heard her door click. It wasn't long after that when she made her way to her desk to finish up the homework she was working on before she went to Julie's. As she was making her way down the page in her workbook, faint rock music filled the air, causing the redhead to look out the window in front of her and across the street at her best friend's house. Her attention was quickly drawn to her curly-haired best friend as she stormed out the front door. When Julie disappeared into the brightly lit garage, Lexi's suspicions about the oddly familiar boy band causing Julie unwanted trouble were confirmed. A small smile appeared on the girl's face before a small laugh passed over her lips then she turned her attention back to the math problems in front of her.

After working on the page for about an hour, Lexi looked over it one last time before placing everything she needed for tomorrow in her bag. Just as she zipped up her backpack, her eyes landed on her bright red songbook sitting on her keyboard. She simply stared at the closed book for a moment before she sat down in front of the instrument and opened to the pages of the lyrics that she finished yesterday. A long breath passed over her lips before her fingers flew across the keys and began the introduction to the song.

"Seems like a part of me will always have to lose. Every single time I have to choose. Swore that it felt right, but was I wrong? Is this where I'm supposed to be at all? I don't have the answers, not today. It's like nothing makes the questions go away. What I'd give to see if the grass was greener," Lexi sang as her fingers continued to dance across the keys while the event the lyrics were inspired by replayed in her head. She tried to fight back the growing emotions within her as she continued to sing the song about the worst day of her life. "On the other side of all I've had and lost. Would it be enough? Or would I still be wondering?"

"If I could go back and change the past. Be a little braver than I had. And bet against the odds. Would I still be lost? Even if I woke up in my dreams, would there still be something I'm missing? If I had everything, would it mean anything?" Unknown to the singer, Ryder and Cami listened to the redhead sing about the day her stage fright began as they cleaned up the mess they made while cooking dinner. The two older teens shared a sad look, wishing they had been there that day to stop the incident before it happened.

"Feels like I might have broke the best thing that I had. I said too much to ever take it back. Scared I'll never find something as good. And would I even know it if I could?" Lexi continued to sing as her fingers glided across the keyboard, completely unaware of the three wide-eyed ghosts watching her from the other side of the room. As she played a short instrumental in between verses, the boys behind her shared high fives as they continued to listen to the redhead's music. "From the other side of all I've had and lost, would it be enough? Or would I still be wondering? Or would I still be wondering?"

"Maybe I should turn around and take the other road. Or maybe I'm just looking for what I already know. I'm just wondering." Images of the sibling duo who caused her so much embarrassment flashed across her vision. Their smirking faces taunted her through the tears in Lexi's eyes as the two of them and their followers surrounded her while her peer's laughter filled the air. "If I could go back and change the past. Be a little braver than I had. And bet against the odds. Would I still be lost? Even if I woke up in my dreams, would there still be something I'm missing? If I had everything, would it mean anything to me?"

Her gaze stayed glued to the keys of her keyboard as she slowly brought her hands into her lap. Clapping cut through the silence that began to surround the girl, causing Lexi to jump before slipping off her piano bench and onto the floor. A groan escaped her as slowly opened her eyes to see two of the ghost boys from Julie's garage staring down at her with smiles on their faces while Alex watched her with concern in his eyes. As soon as the scene fully sank into her head, the brown-eyed girl's heart began to race faster than ever before as she rushed to get to her feet. Lexi stared at the three of them for a long moment before she finally found the courage to speak.

"How long have you guys been in here?" she questioned as she closed her songbook while keeping her eyes glued to the studio spirits.

"Pretty much the whole time," Reggie said nonchalantly while looking around at the items that covered the walls of Lexi's room. A huge smile formed on his face at one of the only familiar posters before looking back to the ginger-haired girl. "You like Star Wars too?"

"Uh, yeah. My parents got my brother and me into it," Lexi responded with a small smile before her mind went back to its panicked state as she looked at Luke and Alex once again, "why are you guys here? And why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"We decided to give Julie some space," Alex answered with his hands in his pockets as he awkwardly stood next to the boy in the sleeveless blue jacket, "we talked some things out with her but it seemed like she's going through a lot so we didn't wanna push it."

"And we also didn't wanna interrupt your awesome song," Luke added while Reggie continued to study the posters on the walls before coming to a sudden stop at the sight of a familiar acoustic guitar that rested against the wall, "why didn't you tell us you could sing and write songs like that?"

"You know what...just forget it. It's not that important," the redhead replied as her attention turned to the boy in the plain white t-shirt, who was still staring at the guitar like it held all the answers in the world. Lexi's eyebrows came together in confusion as she studied Reggie's expression for a moment before he broke his gaze away from the instrument to stand next to his bandmates once again.

"Was that you guys I heard playing a while ago?" Lexi asked, receiving nods from the three boys in response as the small smile from when Reggie was excited about her Star Wars poster returned to her face, "you were pretty good."

"You know that's like twenty-five years of rust just getting dusted off," Luke responded while waving his hands through the air as the three of them returned the girl's smile.

"Do you play the guitar too?" Reggie asked as he gestured to the instrument he was staring at just a few moments ago, causing the two other boys to look at the guitar before turning their attention back to Lexi with a hint of curiosity in their eyes.

"Kinda. I'm still learning. My mom gave that to me for my birthday a few months ago. It was hers when she and my dad were in a band together," the brown-eyed girl responded as the grin on her face grew, completely missing the looks of realization exchanged between the ghosts of Sunset Curve.

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𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆
Wondering by Olivia Rodrigo and Julia Lester

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