imagination || julie and the phantoms

sixteen

❉ ╧╧╧╧ ✿ ╧╧╧╧ ❉

"AM I TOO LATE?"

Flynn sighed, relieved to see Julie appear in the restaurant. For twenty minutes, she stood anxiously near the stage, watching band after band perform. It was just as Alex described: packed.

Every small table filled two or three people, with groups lingering along the sides and back walls. The lights had been dimmed to bring more focus on the stage constructed in the middle. Julie didn't recognize the faces but expected some of the strangers to be potential managers or producers.

But her eyes widened when Carrie walked on the stage in her pink wig with a headset microphone. Julie thought she looked like a lollipop with tall white socks, silver shorts, and a see-through, long pink shirt. Carrie giggled at the applause. "Hope you have a great time!"

Then, her face fell stoic as she put on her sunglasses and swiftly turned.

"Dirty Candy," Julie furrowed her brows and looked at Flynn. "How'd she get on the list?"

"Her daddy probably made a call," Flynn remarked. Though her smile returned once she caught sight of Julie's outfit. "Awe, I like this!"

Julie said, "Thanks but all the credit goes to Char. She helped pick out some stuff from my mom's chest."

"I think the flower is my favorite part," Flynn pointed to the small pin.

"It's a dahlia," Julie glanced down at it to make sure it was straight on her vest. "It was, uh, my mom's favorite."

Pop music bursting through the speakers kept Flynn from replying. The two girls turned to the stage just in time to see Carrie beginning to sing. The other members of Dirty Candy strutted down either side of her.

They moved perfectly in sync, throwing their sunglasses dramatically to the side. Julie scrunched her nose once she heard some of the lyrics. It's not that the song wasn't catchy, because it was. The lyrics were just very self-centered.

Julie didn't even notice her bandmates flash in behind her until Charlotte snorted from Luke's side, the boy's arm around her shoulder. Like her, they watched Dirty Candy's performance in amusement.

It got even better when Alex appeared on stage, looking panicked only for a moment until he started catching on to the routine. Carrie continued to obliviously sing, twirling straight through Alex multiple times.

"That's my best friend!" Charlotte cheered when Alex threw his hands up in the air.

Julie raised an eyebrow once Alex flashed back by their side. Reggie and Luke held back their giggles. "Having fun out there?"

Alex cleared his throat. "Er, well, it's not my fault. It's my, um, it's my feet."

Julie playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah."

Alex stared at the stage longingly until Charlotte leaned over Reggie to hit his arm. "What're you waiting for? The only people who can see you are us. Go have your fun!"

Alex was about to argue but the encroaching smiles from his best friends changed his mind. He grinned. "Put me back in, Coach."