Stupid Deep (Julie and the Phantoms)

05

[Bright]

Alex stepped forward to hug Julie, but Luke pulled him back and teleported out of the garage.

The blond boy frowned. "Dude, why'd you stop me? Julie needs a hug!"

Luke faced him. "Bro, a ghost hug isn't the feel-good moment that you think it is. All right? Trust me. What Julie needs right now is a little bit of privacy."

"I think you poofed us out because you can't handle when other people cry. I should know. I cried in a room for twenty-five years and I didn't get a single hug from either of you."

Reggie moved to hug Alex. "All right. Bring it in-"

"Don't touch me!"

"This is why no one hugs you."

"Okay, I think the first thing we should do is get the courage to ask Julie why she lied about playing the piano," Luke said.

"Yeah, you know, maybe tell them how amazing she is."

"Yeah, 'course, bro."

"Okay. And what about Emily? How good do you think she is?"

Reggie held up his arm. "She's legit! I got ghost bumps. Probably really good. She is Luke's sister, after all. Sorry I was listening in."

Flynn walked past, crying, with Emily following, and Alex asked, "Oh my gosh, was she crying, too?"

"Yes!" Luke exclaimed. "And the only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying!"

"He's right."

"Guys, we definitely can't go in there."

"But we can listen," Reggie said.

They moved to stand outside the garage and listened.

"Carlos told me you'd be out here," Flynn said. "We need to talk."

"Are you okay?" Julie asked.

Emily shook her head. "No, she's not. I had to listen to her rant. Ten minutes!"

"No, I'm not okay! You two just got kicked out of music school! I've been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say. Might have drank seven sodas, but I need to get this out..."

"Wait, I have something to tell you-" Julie was cut off.

"No, it's my turn to talk. You two can't give up music! Both your music is like a gift and it would be a tragedy! You're both basically cancelling Christmas and I love Christmas-"

"Flynn-" Julie and Emily began.

"Uh-uh! When we were six, we promised to be in a band together! Triple Trouble!"

Emily smiled lightly. "They accidentally said double instead of triple. But we scribbled out double and wrote triple, made it our own."

"I never agreed to that name," Julie said.

"That's not the point," Flynn told her. "Jules, Em, if you two leave the music program, we'll be apart forever. That's just what happens. Sure we'll see each other in the hall sometime, but... we'll have different lives, make new friends."

"That's not true," Julie and Emily told her.

"You're both right. I won't be making any new friends. And the only time we'll contact each other is when we'll be liking each other's posts on Instagram. Every time I'll be hitting that little heart, my heart will be breaking because my best friends left me, and... Oh!" She put a hand to her head. "Do either of you have any soda? My head hurts."