Phantom Next Door

3. Wake Up

It was 6am. The sound of an annoying alarm woke up Rosie from her dream. She got out of bed and picked up her workout clothes. The girl changed her clothes, put her hair in a ponytail, got down from the loft and left the garage without waking up the boys. Everyday no matter what Rosie woke up early so she could go for a run. It was one of the things that helped her clear her mind. 

The light breeze, the lack of people was just what she needed. Last 24 hours had been exhausting and all she wanted to do was scream from the top of her lungs and cry. The young girl ran and ran until her legs felt like they were made of jello. Luckily she wasn’t that far from her new home. When Rosie got back, the guys weren’t there, so she could go to shower and do her morning routine in peace. After she was done she climbed back to the loft to take a short nap before she had to leave for school. 

She woke up to the sound of music… it was Julie. Rosabella walked quietly to the edge and sat down so her legs were dangling towards the ground below. She felt so happy for the younger girl - her mother had died a year ago and she hadn’t played or sang after that but maybe this meant that she was letting music back in. Rosie noticed the three bandmates standing behind her best friend, but just like her, they tried to go unnoticed. Just when Julie ended the song Luke, Alex and Reggie poofed out - probably couldn’t handle a girl crying.

“Jules that was amazing.” The older girl commented while getting down the ladder. 

Julie wiped the tears of her face “Oh Rosie I didn’t know you were still up there.”

“Yeah I umm… might have taken a nap before school.” Rosie laughed and gave a comforting hug to her friend. 

“Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you, Rosie the sleeping beauty.” Julie giggled.

The girls were laughing when someone entered through the garage door. It was Flynn the third member of their friend group. Judging by the look on her face and her crying Julie and Rosie knew she must have heard the news. 

“Are you okay?” Julie asked the girl.

“NO I’m not okay. You just got kicked out of music. I’ve been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say. Might have drinken 7 sodas but I need to get this out” Flynn told the girls.

“Wait I have something to tell you…” Julie tried to say.

“It’s my turn to talk. You CAN’T give up music. Your music’s like a gift so that would be like a tragedia. It’s like you're basically canceling christmas and I LOVE christmas.” Said Flynn without letting Julie talk.

“Flynn I…” Julie tried again but was unsuccessful.

Flynn shook her head and continued “When we were six and Rosie was seven we promised to be in a band together. Ro and double trouble.”

“We never agreed to that name.” Julie commented.

Rosabella felt like she was invisible since Flynn still hadn’t noticed her presence. But she had to admit that Flynn was right - Julie needs to fight for her place in the music program. 

“That’s not the point. Jules if you leave the music program we’ll be apart forever. That’s just what happens. Sure we’ll see each other in the halls sometimes but we’ll have different lives and make new friends.” Flynn wasn’t going to give up.

“That’s not true. Think about Rosie, she's not in the music program and we're still friends.” Julie tried to reason with her.

“We’re not talking about Rosie right now but you’re right. I won’t be making any new friends. And the only time we’ll contact each other is when we like each other's posts on Instagram. Every Time I’ll be hitting that little heart my heart will be breaking because my best friend left me. And do you have any soda? My head hurts.” Flynn hopefully finished her lecture.

Rosie loved Flynn but sometimes she could get a little carried away. Just like now. The girl was so busy lecturing to Julie that she completely ignored the older girl. But Rosie was used to being unnoticed and in this case was kinda relieved about that. She agreed with Flynn but didn’t want to hurt Julie's feelings in any way. 

Julie took the opportunity to open her mouth “Can I talk Now?”

“Fine.” Flynn responded.

“I just played the piano and sang again.” Jules calmly told the girl.

“What?! Why didn’t you just say so.” She asked, sounding surprised.

“Well I was trying and then your seven sodas kicked in. Rosie over there can prove it.”  Julie said and pointed towards Rosie who had moved to sit on the couch. 

Flynn turned around to face Rosabella who just giggled and waved at the younger girl.

“Oh, hey Rosie.” She waved back to her friend and turned to Julie once again. “But back to you. I’m so happy for you. And ME!” Flynn stated full of excitement. 

Julie just laughed in response.

“Look at you, looking all, I don’t know, ALIVE again.” Flynn added.

“Right it’s like I drank seven sodas” Julie commented and pointed to herself.

Then a question popped into Flynn’s mind “What made you play again?”

“I found this song my mom wrote me.” Julie showed her the song.

“Woah…” Flynn commented.

Julie replied “I know. I was so afraid to play it. Anything involving music reminds me of her. And then I woke up this morning. Realizing that’s why I should play it. Keep her memory alive.” 

“Ooh… come here. You too RoRo!” Flynn yelled to Rosie so they could have a group hug.

RoRo was a nickname that Flynn had given her years ago. So Rosie got off the couch and sprinted to the other two girls and tackled them into a hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Flynn realized something.

Flynn gasped “We have to tell Mrs. Harrison that you can play again so you can stay in school and my life won’t be that sad picture I just painted for you. My girl’s back Ro and double trouble lives again!” 

“Not our band name.” Rosie and Julie commented at the same time.

“I gave you guys T-shirts in the seven/eight grade that says otherwise.” Flynn said while walking towards the door.

When the three girls left the studio Julie and Rosie spotted the guys hanging in front of the other door. They tried to say they weren’t listening to their conversation but Rosie had caught them in the act. Flynn must have thought that Julie was going mad when they were leaving. 

“Oh, hey!” Julie greeted the boys.

That caused Flynn and Rosie to turn around. Flynn looked kind of confused but Rosie gave them a small wave that Flynn didn’t notice. Julie remembered that Flynn couldn’t see the three ghosts and made up something.

“Let’s hustle!” She said and jogged to her friends. 

After Flynn had turned around Julie started waving to the trio. Flynn who had turned around questioning the other girls actions. The boys waved back and Reggie being Reggie had to open his mouth and Luke kicked him because of that.

“Don’t worry. We weren’t listening.” Reggie told her.

Julie played it quite nicely when Flynn caught her waving to air “oh - uh - oh” She giggled awkwardly and started moving her hands around like she was trying to get rid of a fly.

 Now that Rosie wasn’t there, Alex took the opportunity to climb up to the loft. He found some of their old stuff and some fresh clothes. He noticed the many boxes that Rosie had labelled with her name and even though the boy was super curious he didn’t even try to touch them. But something else did catch his eyes… it was an old picture - of Sunset Curve. He was able to pick it up. Alex took the picture down with him and showed it to his friends. None of them thought much of it - they had probably left it there before they died.