Phantom Next Door

14. The Orpheum

The sun shined on the blond's face, who was sleeping on the couch. She hadn't felt that great when she woke up this morning. The boys and Willie had come up with a plan that should get them to play the Orpheum. Rosie was just hoping for it to work - 'cause maybe when they cross over, Rosie's jolts would go away too.

A jolt buzzed again - she still hadn't gotten used to them. Ro tried to breath out the pain and concentrate her mind on positive things, like... food. She could kill for a pizza right now. Julie came into the studio.

"Are the boys back yet?" Julie asked.

"Nope, haven't seen them yet. But... I have been sleeping most of the time, so I'm not entirely sure."

Jules chuckled "Once again, you are literally sleeping beauty."

The boy band appeared in the middle of the garage floor.

"Oh my gosh! What took you guys so long? Did Willie do it? Did you talk to them? DId they watch? Did they like us? Are we playing? Someone answer me! Why is no one saying anything?" A mouthful of questions came out of Julie's mouth.

"Whoa! That's a lot of questions! Luke, you wanna take this one?" Reggie said.

Rosie sat up on the couch "Chill J."

Luke told Julie to take a seat, so the girl sat down next to Ro.

"It's fine. Everything's fine." Luke said shortly.

Alex added "Yeah. You should be getting a call right... now!"

He pointed at Julie's phone but nothing happened, so everyone looked at each other for a brief moment.

"Ok. Right... now!" Alex repeated.

This time it worked - the phone started ringing. Julie answered it and talked to the woman on the phone while they were doing happy dances. Luke and Reggie even lifted Alex up in the air.

The boys were planning on the songs and the girls were in Julie's room, trying to decide what to wear. Julie decided on this beautiful purple dress and a leather jacket. Rosie on the other hand settled for a more simple black dress that had golden stars on it. The blond was taken aback by those jolts when they were walking to the garage.

"Are you okay?" Julie sounded concerned.

"Not really... but I will be." Rosie replied and made her way to the door.

"Are you ready? What's wrong?" Julie asked.

"Yeah. We just got rocked pretty hard by one of those jolt things." Alex commented.

"Ahh... Rosie had just one too." Julie mentioned.

Something clicked in the band's mind. How could they have forgotten about Rosie. They felt so stupid. But Ro was okay with that, the boys had so much to do, so she didn't blame them. Julie asked Luke to make sure they would thank her mom for her.

"Guys, band circle." Luke informed.

They gathered around and talked for a little while before the girls left. Caleb poofed into the studio - right on top of the piano. The yelling competition started. Caleb took the boys with him.

Julie and Rosabella were getting ready in the dressing room when Flynn came. They were all so excited for the night.

"The guys are here, right?" Flynn asked.

"I haven't seen them." Jules answered.

"Wait. You don't think they changed their mind and took Caleb's offer, do you?"

"No. No, that's the last thing they wanted. And they wouldn't risk Rosie like that." Julie said.

"And if they did I'll perform with you tonight. I already know the song. And later I'll kill the guys." Rosie mentioned.

The girls chuckled. That really was something Rosie would do.

"You are going to kill it. We should get some snacks." Flynn told.

They all chuckled. Rosie said "Now you're talking" and she skipped to the snacks.

Minutes went by and the boys hadn't shown up. Everyone was getting worried. They all knew that he wouldn't take Caleb's offer but maybe they had run out of time. Rosie got jolted - twice in a row. At least that showed that the boys were still "alive" or she would not be able to get rid of the jolts.

"Oh my god! Rosie are you okay?" Julie asked.

"Mhm..."

Someone knocked on the door. It was time to get on the stage, but instead Julie ran out. Rosie found her in the alleyway, crying and talking to her mom. A woman walked by and gave Julie a flower, it was a dahlia - her mothers favorite flower. Rosie jogged to her friend and hugged her as tightly and comfortingly as possible.

"Come on Jules, we can still make it. I'll do it with you. You will NEVER be alone and that's a promise."

The two girls marched towards the stage. Julie placed the flower on the piano and talked into the mic.

"Hi. I'm Julie and This is Rosie. Um... tonight, I'd like to dedicate this song to my mom, who's been there with me every time I've played. And thank her for... not giving up on me. I'd also like to dedicate tonight's performance to... three special friends... who have changed my life completely, who have brought music back to me. It was their dream to play here, and... this is for them. This song is for anyone who's lost their way. Step into your greatness. Don't give up. Stand tall. Thank you."

Julie put the microphone to it's holder. Rosie took her friend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. They remained standing up down together, both placing their hands on the piano.