Phantom Next Door

7. Family

All three ghosts were mind blown. Sure it made sense now that they thought about it. The picture, brother who died, her character and the way she spoke - she was just like Alex. Now they understood why she could see and touch them - the girl had formed such a deep bond to her brother and his friends even though they never met. Sometimes when things got rough, she would go through Alex's stuff and tell him how her life was going.

Alex didn't know how to cope, now that he knew he had a sister - especially when he remembered what Julie had told them about her parents... his parents. So filled with anxiety, he poofed out.

Reggie had a sympathetic look on his face "I'm sorry Rosinald... I'm sure he'll come around, he just needs some time."

"Yeah. We'll talk to him." Luke assured.

Luke poofed out first, then Reggie. Rosie ran to the bathroom with tears on her face. She felt like she couldn't breathe. What if Alex doesn't want anything to do with her? Does he hate her? All these negative thoughts clouded her mind. With shaking hands she searched for her phone from her pockets - she needed Julie. So that's exactly what she did - she sent her a text. The two girls had created code names for different situations. That way it was easier to know what was going on and when they needed help.

Julie ran through the bathroom door. The sight in front of her broke her heart... Rosie was sitting on the floor with her head on her knees. She sat on the opposite side of her friend and gently stroked her hand. Many years of being friends had taught her how she could help Rosie in this kind of situation. She needed to be distracted.

"Hey... you saw Dirty Candy perform right?"

"Y-Y-Yeah..."

"Guess how Flynn commented on it."

"I-I umm... don't k-know. Tell me."

"She said that Carrie spent all her dad's money on their costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer."

Rosie chuckled nervously.

"I mean it did pay off. What do you think?" Julie asked.

"Yep. It really did."

They spent a while talking since Julie wanted to make sure Ro was really okay. After Rosie had calmed down Julie asked her if something happened with the boys. And Rosabella told her everything, even though there was actually not that much to tell. The bell rang.

"Oh Jules... I made you leave your class - I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You are way more important and I'm sure my teacher understands when I tell her."

"Are you sure?" Rosie wanted to be sure.

"Yes, definitely. Now come on let's go." Julie said and got up and helped her friend up too.

Rest of the school day went by rather quickly and before they knew it was time to go home. The walk home was quiet. Usually chatty Rosie had lost her voice. Who could blame her after the day she'd had. Luke and Reggie were playing when Rosie came in. Alex was nowhere to be seen.

Luke was the first one to greet the girl "Hi Rora!"

The blond girl didn't react. She just threw her bag on the floor and made her way to the loft. The boys were confused - did they do something wrong.

"Maybe she doesn't see us anymore." Reggie suggested.

"Or maybe she's in a bad mood."

Luke shook his head and continued playing since the girl clearly didn't want to talk. Maybe music would bring up her spirit. Then Julie marched in, complaining how the guys shouldn't be playing in there alone.

"But we're not alone, 'cause we always have each other. And Rosie's up there." Reggie mentioned and pointed towards the loft.

"Is she okay? She didn't say a word when she came in." Luke asked.

"Yeah, she just had a really rough day that's all." Julie told them.

Two out of three of the ghost band told Julie about their bandmeeting. They broke her the news - they wanted Julie to join Sunset Curve. Julie was honored, but wasn't really in the mood at the moment. All she could think about was Rosie and her fight with Flynn. Luke didn't really look at the timing from Julies perspective. So she grew annoyed.

"Read the room, dude." Julie said.

She was leaving the garage when Luke brought up this poem that they had taken from Julie's room. She got quite mad about that one. The boys had not respected boundaries. Julie chased Luke while he was trying to explain. Eventually she got enough and left the place. Rosie had been listening to their conversation. She agreed with the guys - Julie was extremely talented and the whole world needs to see that.

Alex poofed himself on the piano where Reggie and Luke were working on this new song. Rosie stiffend when she heard his voice. Thankfully they didn't mention anything about the girl's presence.

Rosabella was surprised when her friend came back and told the band that they had 30 minutes. They needed to rehearse the song so Julie could prove Flynn that she was not crazy. The song sounded amazing. Soon it was time to show it to Flynn.

The boys had poofed out - they would come back at the certain moment. Julie let their friend in and explained to her what was going to happen. She started playing and singing. Rosie made her way to the edge of the loft when the guys poofed in. Flynn slowly warmed up to them.

"Julie... so does this mean you're joining our band?" Asked Luke.

Flynn stepped in "Umm... actually, I think you're joining her band."

"I'm gonna go with what she said." Julie answered and they continued the song.

Julie had noticed Rosie and whispered to Flynn that they should give the others some privacy. Rosie gave her friend a knowing look as in an approval that Julie could fill Flynn in. So the two of them left. Alex had already made his way up before the blond girl even had a chance to come down.

"Look guys - I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you earlier. I just didn't know how and this was kind of a big thing...you know?" Rosie said.

Alex sighed "No Rosie. It's not your fault... I'm really sorry how I reacted this morning. It was a new thing and I don't know how to deal with them that well."

"I understand. I'm not that good with them either - they really freak me out." She chuckled.

Alex looked at his little sister and pulled her in a hug. He had always wanted a sibling. Though this was not quite the way he had imagined it.

Rosie felt complete "Oh, you have no idea how much I've wanted this. I just didn't think this could actually happen. I love you big bro."

"I love you too... lil sis."

Luke and Reggie had appeared behind the siblings.

Rosie giggled "Well, what are you two waiting for? Come on already!"

The other two boys chuckled and joined the hug. She was now officially part of their family.