the lucky one || reggie peters

> nine

Jo showed up to practice a week later with Willie in tow. "Dude, just come in and say hey. This will not be the final straw in Caleb finding out. Like, how would that even work?" she complained.

    "Just... you go. I'll go back and keep covering for you like I always do."

    "You sounded pissed there. You know you don't have to keep covering for me. Caleb isn't letting me back in the house band, that much is obvious, okay?"

    "How have you gotten all optimistic all of a sudden?"

    Jo laughed lightly and glanced back at the garage. "They're a good influence. Which is why I keep ignoring the fact that if Caleb finds out... Well, it won't be good for me. But I'm done walking on eggshells all the time. I want to enjoy playing music again. And I love playing music with them."

    Willie smiled. "I can tell. I'll see you back at the club."

    "See you." She turned and walked through the garage doors, seeing the boys toying with their instruments. Alex looked up and smiled while Reggie waved at her sweetly.

    Jo fell back into the open armchair across from Luke and beside the boys on the couch. "Awesome timing, Jo. I was just thinking about the chorus. Like, if we add your echoes here, then when Julie comes in with the melody, it- it's gonna sound perfect."

    "Yes, sir," she said with a playful salute as the boys smiled at each other.

    There was a thud by the doors. They turned to see Willie's head poked up in the window. "Again? What's that all about?" Reggie said, directing the question to Jo. She shrugged, feigning innocence.

    Alex poofed out to catch Willie before he skated away.

    "You really don't know?" Luke asked.

    "I mean... Listen, I've been friends with Willie for a long time. And there are things you don't know. About us, about the club..." Jo stared off a bit, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

    Reggie leaned forward and put a hand on her arm. "What do you mean, Joey?"

    Thankfully, Alex poofed back in and ushered them over to their instruments so they could practice the song. They tried running it through with Jo singing the lyrics quietly. It didn't seem to be going well, though, as Alex was playing the drums sporadically and it wasn't blending with the rest of their chords. Not that Reggie really noticed as he was mesmerized by Jo's voice drifting up from beside him.

    "Alex, you alright?" Luke finally interrupted.

    "Yeah," he answered immediately. "Yeah. Yeah, why?"

    "Hey, I know it's tough dude. Lina and I always said, you never forget your first ghost," Jo said with a reminiscent smile. "It's super true. But there'll always be others."

    "Yeah. Thanks, Jo," Alex said.

    Reggie looked between her and Alex anxiously. "Wait, can we come back to the first ghost thing?"

    "And Alex, you're a great drummer and a great guy, okay?" Luke encouraged. "Don't let all that stuff get between you and what you love."

    "I don't know, man. Sometimes a little fire can make things better on stage," Reggie argued. "Like you and Julie."

    "Wh- What is that supposed to mean?" he laughed.

    "You guys are so cute together," Jo added.

    "Seriously, everyone can see the way you guys look at each other when you sing," Reggie continued. "You guys ooze chemistry."

    "You should never say 'ooze' again, but yeah. I agree," Alex said.

    "Okay, no. I have chemistry with everyone I sing with," Luke excused. Reggie raised his eyebrows at him disbelievingly. "Seriously, watch, uh... I believe. I believe that we're just one dream..." Luke stepped up close to Reggie and stared at him meaningfully, then held onto the side of his neck. "Away from who we're meant to be. That we're standing on the edge of... great."

    "Wow, I see the chemistry," Alex admitted.

    Reggie cleared his throat. "That was pretty hot."

    Jo chuckled and looked down at her guitar. "Anybody got headphones? This thing sounds like shit and I need to hear it up close to really fix it." Luke ran over to his bag and handed her a pair.

    "Girls, am I right?" Reggie coughed, still flustered.

    "Yeah," Luke agreed.

    "No," Alex said brightly.

    Jo shook her head and sighed as she fell back on the couch, positioning the headphones over her ears. Luke waited a moment before turning back to Reggie. "You don't really mean just girls, though, right? I mean, you always said bisexual, but..." His eyes cut over to Jo. Reggie glanced at her nervously. "Don't worry, they're noise-canceling."

    "Just admit it, dude," Alex sighed.

    "Y-Yeah. I mean, duh," Reggie said quietly. "Jo is... I don't know. One of the coolest people I'd ever met. Like, right away, I just..."

    "Trailed after them like a puppy dog? I noticed," Alex laughed.

    "How could I not?! I mean, they're just, like, genuinely gorgeous and then they just kept getting better the more I got to know them, ya know? Like, their taste in books? Their skateboarding. And then they're also a crazy good musician! Like... they're perfect."

    Luke's shit-eating grin was enough for Reggie to know he got what he wanted out of that line of questioning. "Whoa, dude."

    "Sorry, it's just..."

    "Jo's right," Alex said. "You never forget your first ghost."

    On the other side of the garage, Jo tried to focus on her guitar as her breathing grew shallow. The right headphone, facing away from the boys, had been displaced from her ear since she put them on so she was still aware of her surroundings. And aware of her surroundings she was.

    Luke came over and tapped her shoulder. She moved the headphones down around her neck. "You good? We wanna run it again."

    "Yeah, for sure," Jo said, quickly pushing off the couch and taking Luke's spot on the opposite side of the drums from Reggie. The guys shrugged off the change of positioning, but Jo could feel Reggie's eyes on her for the rest of their practice.

>author's note
sorry this is a short one but the next one is much better :)