Finally Free -- JATP Luke x MaleOC

Chapter 7

The crowd began to disperse and Jay whispered in Julie's ear.

"I'm gonna go, uh...disconnect the holograms," Jay said, eying Ms. Harrison and the principal as well as Reggie's attempts to flirt with the purple haired girl that provided Jay and Julie their excuse.

Julie nodded and went down to talk to her music teacher while Jay took the guitar and keyboard off the stage, placing them back where they wouldn't get in the way of anyone passing through.

He had just performed in front of his classmates.

He performed music in front of his classmates.

A wide grin appeared on his face as Jay went to the tech board backstage, pretending to "uninstall the holograms" but taking care to not mess with the settings already programmed into the ceiling projector.

Every part of performing was addicting to Jay. The adrenaline rush that came with being on stage in front of a large crowd, the satisfaction of applause and bows after you finished, even the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm him moments before they started. It was so addicting and he wanted more. He wanted to perform in sold out crowds, to just play music with his friends and soak in the applause.

If only he could.

The grin on Jay's face quickly disappeared as he began to walk away from the tech board and down the very stairs where Reggie was trying to show his butt off.

"Flynn, no, wait!" Julie's voice exclaimed.

Jay's attention was immediately brought to the two figures that left the gym and he quickly followed after them, pausing briefly when he saw Julie talking to Nick and Carrie.

"Yeah, then maybe you can study the chemical properties of manners or something," Julie said acidly as Jay walked up behind her.

"Was that supposed to be a comeback?" Carrie scoffed. "Wow."

"Alright, that's enough," Jay said, making all three of them look up at him. "Great show back there Carrie. But you two need to get going."

Carrie glared at Jay before walking away and Nick followed, giving a quick apologetic glance to Julie.

"Alright, now you," Jay said, turning to Julie. "What happened with Flynn?"

"She wanted to know about the guys and I may have lied and told them they're a band from Sweden," Julie explained, clearly disappointed in herself.

Jay sighed, putting his hands on Julie's shoulders and leaning down to look her in the eye.

"You and Flynn are the closest friends I've ever met," he began as the bell rang. "I know you can work through this, but don't go after her right now. Give her some time to cool off, okay?"

Julie nodded and Jay smiled softly.

"Good. We can work out the Flynn thing afterschool, yeah? Let's get going."

As Julie and Jay turned a corner, they were shocked by the three ghost boys, who had built themselves up in a pyramid formation and yelled when they saw them. Julie startled back into Jay, who quickly put a hand on her back to stabilize her.

"You..!" Julie growled, cutting herself off. "Stop doing that, I'm serious."

"I thought it was pretty funny," Jay said, shrugging when Julie turned to look at him.

"Hey, this one's on you, we were already here," Reggie said. "Well, actually, we were over there, and then we came over here."

"Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?" Luke asked, clearly excited about the prospect that they were seen.

"Yeah the whole school saw you," Julie said. "It's kinda freaking me out."

"Okay, g-good, cuz it's kinda freaking me out too," Alex said, anxiety in his voice. "You know, y-you could see us, and then Jay could see us, a-and then people could see us whenever we play music, and my clothes are made of air but for some reason, I'm still getting a wedgie."

"Okay, TMI buddy," Jay said as everyone fell silent. "Take a breather."

"TMI?" Reggie repeated under his breath.

"I have so many questions," Alex sighed.

"The important thing is that we rocked that place!" Luke said, looking at Jay and Julie. "They were loving you two!"

"You mean they were loving us," Jay corrects with a chuckle.

"That was a great song Luke," Julie agreed. "Thanks."

"And did you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me? I think they were looking at me," Reggie said suddenly, as if he were just waiting to speak up. He then turned to Luke and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Please tell me they were looking at me."

Julie chuckled and Jay rolled his eyes, unable to help the smile on his face as Luke held Reggie's face.

"Bro, they were looking at you!" Luke said with a grin on his face, making Jay chuckle again.

"I'm so-I'm so confused, you know?" Alex said, clearly still in his own anxieties. "The afterlife should come with-with instructions or a quick start guide or something."

"Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you were holograms and I got back into the program," Julie said, putting her hands in her pockets with a sad look on her face.

"Why do you look so bummed?" Reggie asked as Jay put an arm over Julie's shoulders.

"Yeah, dude, you're making this face," Luke said, grabbing the ghost boys by the shoulders and pouting at Julie with them.

"That," Julie scoffed, "is not my face."

Reggie made a sound and Luke went for a direct 'it's your face' line as the three boys separated.

"And things just got weird between me and Flynn," Julie kept going, not noticing the boys' comments. "She asked about you guys, and I couldn't say."

"Sweet. Girls are already talking about us," Reggie said, giving Luke a high five.

"Okay boys, seriously," Jay said. "We can't just tell her you guys are ghosts, she might just call Dr. Turner and get Juju back into therapy."

"She'll think I've gone off the deep end," Julie agreed.

"Well this dude definitely thinks you've gone off the deep end," Reggie said as he and Luke moved aside to let the janitor pass by. He gave Jay and Julie a look that reflected what Reggie had said and Jay quickly moved aside to let him pass, giving him an awkward smile.

"I gotta get back to class," Julie said dismissively.

"Urgh, I hate AP Government," Jay groaned, making Julie roll her eyes and grab his hand, practically dragging him off to class.

"Later guys," Reggie gave a small wave as they walked past. "Oh, tell those cheerleaders I'm single!"

"Oh, and that he's dead!" Alex's voice said.

"No no no, leave that part out, leave that-"

Jay laughed as Julie let go of his hand, both kids going their separate ways to their respective classes.