~ nothing to lose : a luke patterson book ~

4. Wake Up/ Bright (part 1.)

The next morning, we all poof in behind the piano, which Julie is standing at singing. Holy..wow. She's incredible.

Look out, look inside of you. When you feel lost, relight that spark. Time to come out of the dark, Wake Up. Mm, Wake Up.

She finishes singing and sits back down, finishing the piano part. She sighs in content as the four of us look at each other with shocked expressions. She picks up a sheet of music and hugs it close to her chest. Alex takes a step towards her, but Luke holds his shoulder. He motions towards outside, and we poof outside into the courtyard.

"Dude, why'd you stop me? Julie needs a hug." Alex asks Luke.

"Bro, a ghost hug isn't the feel-good moment that you think it is. Alright?" Like he'd know. "Trust me. What Julie needs right now is just a bit of privacy."

"You know what? I think you poofed us out because you can't handle when over people cry. I should know. I cried in a room for 25 years, and I didn't get a single hug from either of you." He says, pointing to Luke and Reggie. He knows not to point at me, he was crying into my shoulder for about the entirety of the time, and I comforted him. I smirk slightly.

"Alright, bring it in." Reggie starts to bring him in for a hug.

"Don't touch me!" Alex snaps.

"This is why no one hugs you." He whispers, though everyone definitely heard.

"Oh..kay. I think the first thing we should do, once we get the courage to go in there, is ask Julie.. why she lied about playing the piano." Luke declared.

"Probably because of her mom, L." I say.

"You know, maybe tell her how amazing she is.." Alex mumbles.

"Yeah, of course bro." Luke says while punching Alex's shoulder. "Good point, Emerson.." he points at me. I smile.

"She's legit. I got ghost-bumps." Reggie pulls up his sleeve to show us his "ghost-bumps." Once he puts his arm down, a girl comes speed walking past us and into the studio, sniffling.

"Oh my gosh. Was she crying too?" Alex wonders.

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

"He's right." Alex agrees, looking at me.

"Um, rude." I scoff.

"Guys, we can't go in there." Luke says.

"But we can listen." Reggie makes a solution. The three of them run up to the door and listen. I stand watching with my arms crossed.

"This probably isn't a good idea.." I mutter, but go stand next to them anyway. The girl sulks up to the piano, where Julie is still sitting.

"Carlos told me you'd be out here." She sniffled. Julie looks up at her, and we duck down so she doesn't see us eavesdropping. "We need to talk."

"Are you okay?" Julie asks the girl, while fixing the music sheets.

"No, I'm not okay!" The girl yells. "You just got kicked out of the music program!" 

"Oof." I whisper.

"I've been up all night thinking about what I was gonna say. Might've drank seven sodas,"

"Dang, that's a lot." Luke says behind me. 

"I need to get this out." The girl continues. 

"Wait, I have something to tell you-" Julie says.

"No. It's my turn to talk." The girl cuts her off. "You can't give up music. Your music's like a gift, that would be a tragedy. So, you're basically, like cancelling Christmas. And I love Christmas!"