[1] Blank Slate || Julie and the Phantoms ✔

CHAPTER 15: The Truth ✔️

REGGIE AND ALEX bring me to a brick house with a small porch and large windows. We hide behind the plants so that Luke can't see us. Plus, I'm sure if his parents saw a girl staring through there window from their front yard, they would be suspicious.

Luke is staring at a woman and man who are probably in their sixties. His brown eyes are rubbed red.

"So...Emily's his mom?" I ask in surprise.

The pieces are finally all clicking together. I feel like such a jerk for teasing him about her. I may not know who my biological mother is, but I can imagine the pain of watching my parents grieve my death without being able to let them know that I'm there and I care. It's heartbreaking.

I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier. After all, the boys only died twenty-five years ago. It's very likely that Alex and Reggie's parents are still alive.

"Yeah, Luke comes here a lot," Alex reveals, blue eyes soft as they look at me.

"He thinks we don't know but...we've been following him..." Reggie trails off. I wonder what kind of demons he's been fighting. I haven't thought to ask what happened with his parents. All I know is that he said a bike shack has been built where his house used to be.

That must have been a shock.

Could Reggie have tried to find them and been unsuccessful? My head spins at all of these new revelations. What about Alex's parents? Did they have a good relationship with him? Was he able to find them?

"I didn't try very hard to look," Alex admits. "And they never were really alright with my sexuality."

My head whips in his direction. "You can read minds now too?"

"I could tell what you're thinking," he explains. "You might wanna know about Reggie's past too, right?"

"Yeah, I can't deny that I'm curious." My eyes shift to Reggie's brown ones.

"My parents are divorced and I have no idea where they are," he confesses, eyes downcast as a new emotion washes him: grief. "But we're not here about our problems, we're here for Luke."

I nod and my attention shifts back to the boy in the brick house.

"All he does is hang out like this and watch his parents," Reggie continues. "They never do anything though."

Luke's eyes trace Emily's steps as she gingerly sets down a chocolate cake on the table and places a large knife next to it. I'll admit, it looks delicious.

"They're having cake," I say, "that's something."

"It's a...it's a birthday cake," Reggie explains, eyes traveling back to mine. "For Luke."

He nods in the boy's direction.

"It's his birthday? Wow," I reply. My heart clenches as tears roll down his face. He bites his lip and looks down at the floor. "I never knew Luke was hurting this much."

"Yeah," Alex says. "It's even worse because when he died, he...left on bad terms. You know, his parents didn't want their seventeen-year-old in a rock band so...he just left."

I can't explain it, but watching him hurt is physically hurting me. I clear my throat. Trying to compose myself, I straighten my clothes.

Emily sits down at their little table and Luke stands to sit between his parents. To feel close to them as if maybe they would notice he was there.

"Did he ever get the chance to make up with them?" I ask.

Alex shakes his head, confirming my fears.

"To think I was such a jerk about Emily," I say, guilt eating me away. "I kept pushing and pushing him...I don't know why."