Melody - JATP x Soulmate AU

Chapter 11

"Forgot to ask this, but how's the band? Still hot? Still talented? Still... dead?" She whispers the last word so only I can hear it, but the lunchroom is loud enough that I know no one else can hear her unless she starts screaming. I should know—she's done it before. But, that was only because her favorite band was doing a concert in LA and she got front-row tickets for the both of us. It was also my favorite band and the only reason I wasn't completely embarrassed by her display of excitement.

"Doing well. We wrote a ton of songs over the weekend. It was like music was flowing in my veins. Do you want to hear some?" I ask, using my head to gesture towards the music room. It's always empty during lunch and, outside of class times, no one really goes in it. There are plenty of other practice rooms to use, so no one ever thinks about that room.

"Uh, yes!" Grinning, I stand up with my lunch tray, tossing what little food I have left on it plus the garbage piling up on it away, and walking into the unlocked music room.

"So, here's a bit of the first one," I start, before singing a few lines of "Great".

"'Cause we're standing on the edge of great
Great
Great" Finishing off on the piano, I can tell Flynn is already excited by the song.

"That's amazing!" Flynn says, hoping to hear that I agree with her.

"Yeah, I think we've got an anthem with that one." Flynn nods in agreement.

"Definite Gaga vibes for sure." That's where I pulled a lot of my inspiration from, so it's really good to hear that it paid off. Especially since Luke didn't know who Lady Gaga was. But, that was more because he wasn't alive at all during the time Gaga became famous. Or a ghost, for that matter.

"Here's the second. My mom and I were working on this one before she, you know, and Luke and I finished it." Remembering the lyrics to Stand Tall, it's almost as if my mom is right here with me.

"And it's one, two, three, four times
That I'll try for one more night
Light a fire in my eyes
I'm going out of my mind" Honestly, this weekend was the best.

"That's..." Flynn pauses, trying to think of the right word to say. "That's beautiful." A light blush creeps along my cheeks, which she manages to notice. "My girl's got a crush and his name is Luke." Flynn, right now is not the time to be trying to set me up with a ghost. I can't touch him, no one else can see him, and it'd be a disaster before it started.

"What? No. Luke's a ghost." All of those facts aren't hindering my crush on one of the millions of undead spirits that I can now see. Not that I've actually seen any outside of the three I've met. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume ghosts don't find my house or my school all that interesting to haunt. Or whatever it is you do when you're a ghost.

"A cute ghost." Oh, I know.

"With a perfect smile," I add, giving into the pressure. He's great, but if he's not my soulmate, which he isn't, there's no real way to make a relationship.

"Ha! I knew it!" I shouldn't have given in. What was I thinking? "Just remember he's made of air."

"Cute air," I retort, as if it makes the sting any less real.

"Julie, I know one of those ghosts out there is your soulmate, but I don't want you to get your hopes up." Trust me, Flynn, I'm well aware of the predicament I'm in. "Oh, and everyone was wondering when you guys were going to play again."

"Play again? The band and I have just been working on writing songs." Granted, Reggie is trying his hardest to convince us all to play a country song, but Luke and Alex aren't having it.