What I'm Dreaming Of

04

[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 met his eyes. "Trust me. What Julie needs right now is a little bit of privacy."

"I think you just 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 any of you!"

Reggie moved to hug Alex. "All right, dude, bring it in-"

"Don't touch me!"

"This is why no one hugs you. Okay, I think the first thing we should do is ask Julie why she lied about playing the piano."

Reggie turned back to his bandmates and held up his arm. "She's legit! I got ghost bumps."

Flynn and Laila walked past, the former crying, the latter doing a double take, and Alex asked, "Oh my gosh, was she crying, too? Hi, Laila."

"Yes!" Luke exclaimed. "And the only thing scarier than one girl crying is two girls crying! Guys, we can't go in there!"

"We can listen," Reggie said.

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

"Are you okay?" Julie asked.

"No, I'm not okay! You 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-"

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

"Flynn-"

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

"I never agreed to that name. Laila didn't either."

"That's not the point. Jules, if you and Laila 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 Laila argued.

"You're 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 you have any soda? My head hurts."

"Can I talk now?" Julie asked.

"Fine." She removed her hand.

"I just played the piano and sang again."

"What? Why didn't you say so?"

"I was trying to, and then your seven sodas kicked in."

"Look at you looking alive again," Flynn said proudly.

"Right, it's like I drank the seven sodas."

Laila raised a brow. "So not healthy for you. What made you play again?"

"I found this song my mom and your dad wrote. I was so afraid to play it. Anything involving music reminds me of her and then I woke up this morning realizing that's why I should play it. To keep her memory alive." She looked down at the piano.